Chapter 22: CH 22

Juliana gritted her teeth, trying to figure out how to get out of this situation in her head.

“It’s okay, Julie.”

As if noticing her feelings, Louis slowly turned and met her eyes.

Blue eyes that did not move were reminiscent of the calm sea without a single wave.

Juliana felt sorry for the man who comforted her without expressing difficulty.

She sincerely wanted to protect him.

‘Oh, Come to think of it!’

Al came and went this morning. She had forgotten that she had to inform Louis as well. The very moment Juliana was about to open her lips.

Knock knock.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door.

Juliana was startled and turned her gaze to the door. It was already past midnight for her. Who the hell?

Her question was immediately answered.

With a click, the door opened and the lunatic’s crazy butler came in.

The butler had visited Juliana and Louis several times, but never came at such a late hour… In the urgent atmosphere, Juliana’s expression became serious.

‘Is the lunatic looking for him again?’

Juliana turned her head. She had already seen the wounds he had made on Louis’ back. What if he intended to inflict more torture or threaten him?

‘I can’t let you do that!’

Her thoughts were brief.

“Where are you going to take Louis?”

Juliana hastily ran in front of Louis like a shot and spread her arms wide. Although it seemed to be in vain because of the obvious height difference…

“…?”

After a moment, both of her arms were lowered. Juliana lifted her head and looked up to see Louis.

“Don’t worry, Julie.”

Louis said, looking straight into her golden eyes.

“I’m not the one Juliana should be worried about.”

Without much fuss, the man calmly raised the corners of his lips beautifully and took a step.

“What? Louie, wait a minute.”

Juliana, who came to her senses belatedly, tried to catch him. She didn’t know when Louis started being bullied by the lunatic, but now she knew. She could never let Louis go to the madman.

“I’ll be right back.”

But before Juliana could say anything more, Louis finished his words and languidly left the room. Juliana stared endlessly at the closed door where the man had disappeared in the blink of an eye.

She didn’t think it would be the worst case, but why did anxiety come over her?

“… Since you said you would be back soon.”

Juliana comforted herself, and pushed her anxieties away.

So.

He would definitely be back soon.

***

At that time.

Inside the conference room composed of high-ranking people from Counts to Dukes.

A man with gray hair was seated at the top of the table. The man wore a red coat embroidered with long golden threads.

“Let’s just finish the meeting.”

At the man’s words, everyone stood up at once and greeted politely. Emperor Felix, who scanned the crowd with indifferent eyes, got up to leave.

“His Majesty the Emperor…”

At that moment, his assistant Mark stood in front of him with a look of embarrassment.

“What’s going on?”

“That is, Grand Duke Teflano……”

Louis Teflano.

As soon as his name was brought up, buzzing came about. Felix raised his hand to silence the crowd. The mouths of the nobles were temporarily closed, and a brief silence fell.

“……”

Felix looked at his capable aide.

It was his cousin, Louis, who was usually absent from the conference room.

***

The last time Louis appeared publicly was 7 years ago. Louis would not show up in the conference room, so this time, he had asked Louis to come under an Imperial Order, but none of the seeds were eaten.

[T/N: Not sure what this expression means but I’m guessing it’s about Louis not taking the bait (appearing in the meeting) or something]

He was the only one who had not appeared in the conference room.

However.

Why was his capable aide talking about Louis now?

“…What’s going on?”

“That is…….”

Mark opened his mouth to the Emperor’s question.

“Your Majesty.”

But before he could finish his words, a low, monotonous tone cut into the conversation.

“…!”

Black hair and black eyes.

Even without revealing his identity, all the prominent figures who were said to be insiders of the Empire were unsurprisingly astonished by his appearance. Emperor Felix’s eyes widened in shock at the man’s appearance.

“The meeting is already over.”

Louis entered the conference room with a relaxed attitude. It was too late and the meeting was already over. He showed no signs of regret.

The only Grand Duke of the Emmivelden Empire.

Just as small waves split in front of a huge wave, the nobles made way for him.

A man who disappeared after leaving a myth-like track record was still being talked about in people’s mouths. The nobles had already calculated in their heads the wave that his appearance would cause.

Louis slowly passed the crowd before reaching Felix. At a time when all the attention was focused on him, the man’s attitude was still relaxed. Felix stared at him, suppressing his startled emotion.

‘What kind of change of heart did you have?’

After almost 7 years, Louis made an official appearance.

You could hear the heads of these scoundrels turning.

“…Yes. It has been a while.”

Felix gave a brief reply and blinked at Mark. He had met him four days ago. But the meeting had to be kept secret, so he had to act as if they had just reunited after seven years.

The Emperor wanted to have a meeting with him alone. Mark noticed this and beckoned the nobles to get out. The nobles left the conference room with regret.

Only Louis, Felix, and Mark remained in the conference room.

***

Amidst everyone’s tension.

There was one person whose legs trembled.

That man was Count Melian.

A kid with no blood on his head was a higher Duke than him. Count Melian used to regard Louis as a thorn in his eye. But what was that oppressive aura?

He tried to calm himself by digging his claws into his thighs. He suddenly remembered something a friend of his once said.

‘The Grand Duke is crazy! He never put down the head of the enemy King even for a moment until the day he returned home to the Empire! With his bare hands, he squeezed the head, blood dripping!’

‘He was crazy… the disgusting smell would make your nose rot.’

It was not an anecdote that would not evoke great fear. If you look at the history of the Empire, there have been many more serious incidents. But was it because of the bloodshot eyes that he met by chance? When he thought of the Grand Duke and remembered what happened, his heart was still terrified.

It was known that the Grand Duke’s childhood was miserable. It was the previous Emperor who played a big role in that. The late Emperor harassed the Grand Duke, who had lost his parents and became a young head of state.

After returning from the battlefield under Imperial Order, the Grand Duke cut off the head of the Emperor and proudly displayed it in front of the Imperial Palace. Just recalling it made the blood on Count’s face drain.

The Melian family grew in power during the previous Emperor’s reign. In fact, he rode the line of the previous emperor, and used to offer the Emperor women while he was still alive.

All the documents that proved he had evaded taxes had been destroyed without hesitation, but if they were discovered. Perhaps…….

‘Gulp.’

The Emperor’s head perhaps would have been his future. Just thinking about that made his heart nervous.

‘…Still, isn’t that too much.’

Wasn’t he supposed to be respectful of his superiors?

Rather, the Grand Duke went back and revealed every detail of the Imperial Family’s dirt.

7 years had passed.

Seeing this man who had become more beautiful since then, Count Melian was deeply impressed.

‘This is… Nothing would be better than to be attached to this Gyeonggukjisaek.’

[T/N: Idiom for a woman (I guess in this case a man) so beautiful that it could cause the rise and fall of a country]

Wasn’t he the same age as his wife Rosa? He was a menace to be an enemy, but if they were on the same side, no one could be stronger than that.

The nobles who already knew what kind of person Louis was, were surprised by his appearance after a long time. They couldn’t let go of the tension and started calculating the gains in their heads.

And.

The new generation of nobles who met him for the first time could not hide their surprise.

***

‘Is he that lunatic?’

Mark stared at the man with dark hair and cold black eyes. The man proudly sat in the Emperor’s seat with his legs outstretched on the table. And in front of him stood the Emperor in a robe with heavy ornaments hanging on it.

“Are you… Are you going to die soon?”

[T/N: Like doing something uncharacteristic of you]

Felix, who had already thrown away the Emperor’s dignity, made a fuss beside Louis. He was sincere. Otherwise, the lunatic wouldn’t have shown up in the conference room.

“No, let’s see.”

Felix bellowed loudly.

“Looks like something good has happened! Your face is glowing!”

Louis gave him a puzzled expression.

“Haha! I guess that’s right. Perhaps a woman…”

“If you’re going to say something st*pid, I’ll just leave.”

Seeing Felix’s happy expression, Louis frowned.

‘..How bothersome.’

Even so, his heart was troubled by the dream he had at dawn.

‘I’m going crazy…’

Juliana’s soft hair suddenly came to mind. Louis was embarrassed by the s*xual desire, which he had felt for the first time. He felt like he couldn’t control himself.

‘I’m crazy, but I’m not trash.’

Louis briefly blamed himself. He couldn’t swallow his laughter.

Even when he had faced dozens of enemies at once, he didn’t sweat at all. But then he woke up sweating all over.

‘I must have gone crazy somewhere.’

Louis let out a sigh and ruffled his hair nervously. As he recalled the woman’s soft shoulders and slim waist, he felt an unbearable thirst. It was so unfamiliar.

‘……F*ck’

Veins popped out of Louis’ neck. He got up from his chair to cool down.

“Hey, hey, wait!”

Felix was taken aback by Louis’ move to leave.

‘Are you going to leave already because I made fun of you?’

He hadn’t even gotten to the point yet, so he couldn’t let him leave. Felix knelt down and clung to his leg.

“Hey, I was just kidding, is that enough reason to leave? I was surprised! I was just wondering why someone who usually used the back door appeared through the front door!”

He relentlessly clung to Louis.

‘Annoying..’

Louis kicked Felix’s side with an irritated look.