Chapter 12: CH 11

Time seemed to pause for a moment.

Levi shook his head, and Andrei stared at Yul with his mouth open and astonished eyes. Michael closed his eyes with a deep sigh.

Yul, who gave different shocks to the three people, was busy breathing in the fresh air.

After taking in enough fresh air, Yul rolled his round eyes and began to grasp the situation.

At first glance, that blonde man sitting on the throne must have been the emperor. Fortunately, no one else was present.

Mikael had told him to be quiet because other people might think of him as an evil spirit, but what could he do about dying from stuffiness? If this was going to be the case, Yul would rather Mikael bring him out from the beginning or let him rest in the wagon. Why did he have to bring him and make him suffer?

If Mikael had not brought him outside in the first place, this would not have happened.

Yul looked at Mikael resentfully and then smiled awkwardly as he looked at the amethyst eyes dyed with astonishment towards him.

“Hahaha, hello…? Oh, no, I mean, greeeetingsss to His Majesty the Emperor!”

Yul, who greeted casually, remembered that the other person was the Emperor, and copied the greeting Mikael had given earlier. And as he bowed his round head to say hello, his head was relatively heavy compared to his body, so he fell forward and almost fell to the floor. Yul was terrified and grabbed Mikael’s jacket as hard as he could.

“Eek, eek. I thought I was going to die.”

Yul, who held the hem of Mikael’s jacket as tightly as a lifeline, sighed in relief. The problem was that his fabric was made of very soft satin, and Yul’s hand was also soft, so no matter how hard he held it, he slid down smoothly.

“Mikael, lift me up!”

In the end, Yul called Mikael for help.

Mikael, who had been staring at all of these with red eyes, let out a long sigh. To be exact, he took a deep breath. It was because of the troublemaking cotton doll that didn’t even listen to him.

“Just fall.”

“Ehh? How can you say that, uwahhh! I’m slipping, I’m slipping!”

Yul, who was about to protest his cold words, slipped and fell to the floor as the hem of Mikael’s jacket slid from his grasp. Mikael, who had neither blood nor tears, was so tall that it was no different from falling from a distant high-rise from Yul’s point of view.

Thud!

The stuffed cotton doll fell and bounced off the floor.

It didn’t hurt as much as he thought it would for a fall with a sound of death. Yul raised his face and tilted his head.

What, it doesn’t really hurt? Is it because it’s cotton?

“Help me a little, you are such a vile person!”

His body was fine, but his heart was severely wounded. Should he call it betrayal or resentment? He begged him to catch him, but he didn’t help, Mikael was such a terrible guy. Yul gazed up at Mikhail, huffing and puffing.

“Mikael.”

“… Yeah.”

“Did you fall into black magic these days?”

Mikael shut his mouth firmly at Andrei’s question.

He knew this would happen. It was obvious how people would react if they saw a moving doll. Like himself, most people would think that there was an evil spirit in it. It’s black magic in a good way, but the meaning is roughly the same.

“Don’t worry, it’s absolutely not.”

“Then what the hell is that?”

“… A doll.”

“Hello, my name is Park Yul. It’s Yul. Mikael calls me Yuri, Your Majesty, call me whatever you like.”

Mikael replied that it was a doll to Andrei’s question, but he knew that many questions would remain at least.

In the meantime, Yul introduced himself without even being addressed.

“Um, no matter how you look at it, I think we should burn that doll.”

“Gasp, no! Mikael, Mikael, say no, hurry!”

Yul was startled by Andrei’s words and hid behind Mikael’s trousers.

Although he was the most evil jerk in the world who had let him fall to the ground earlier, in this situation, the only human he could trust and rely on was Mikael.

“… Suspicious, but not a bad doll. Without harm.”

‘That’s right, good job! Well done!’

At Mikael’s defense, Yul vigorously supported him in his heart.

Yul peeped out his face from behind Mikael’s legs and looked into the Emperor’s eyes. There was still deep suspicion in his purple eyes, but it didn’t seem like he was as wary as before.

“First of all, well, if you say so, then fine. Let me know later if you ever need an exorcism. I’ll tell the pope and send him a useful exorcist.”

“Alright.”

What do you know, man!

Yul was startled by the word ‘exorcism’. No matter how suspicious he looked, it seemed too much to think that he could be exorcised, who was nothing more than an insignificant cotton doll.

Of course, the real Annabelle doll was also a trivial-looking cotton doll, but she and I are fundamentally different! She was a real evil-spirited kid! I mean, I’m just a person!

Still, Yul, who could not complain since his opponents were the Emperor and the Archduke, so he could only glare at them intensely.

Andrei burst into laughter as soon as he saw the little cotton doll staring at him with all his might.

It was still suspicious and he wanted to call the exorcist right away and proceed with the exorcism ceremony, but it was because the appearance itself seemed terribly trivial.

He wondered how dangerous it would be if an evil spirit was inside a doll that looked like that… Anyway, he was less worried than before.

“So, these days, has the great Archduke Orlov been having fun playing with dolls?”

“What fun, it’s quite annoying.”

What did you say, dude?

At Mikael’s words, Yul immediately narrowed his brow and glared at him. In order to stare at Mikael’s face from Yul’s eye level, his neck had to be bent terribly and his head had to be raised, so even that didn’t last long.

Whether he knew what Yul was thinking or not, Mikael shook his head when he saw Yul’s cheeks bulging out with dissatisfaction. Moreover, since he already had a chubby face because of the cotton, because his cheeks were protruding out even more, only his cheeks could be seen from the top.

“Well, it’s a good situation in any case.”

“What is good?”

Andrei, who was watching the two of them silently, burst into laughter. Mikael narrowed his eyebrows in response. Based on his long experience, Andrei’s ‘good situation’ didn’t do him any good at all.

""

“Isaac, bring it in.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

When Andrei called Isaac, his guard knight, Isaac answered from somewhere. Perhaps because he was the Emperor’s exclusive guard, he was hiding out of sight.

Yul thought there were only three people except for himself, but he was startled when he heard an answer from somewhere.

Mikael and Levi were accustomed to this kind of situation, so they did not mind Isaac’s answer. However, Andrei’s words to Isaac, ‘bring it in,’ bothered him.

For some reason, it seemed that what he had asked him to bring would be a very annoying and troublesome thing.

“It is ready.”

Isaac appeared pushing a small cart. A large jewelry box was placed on the cart.

Mikael glared at the jewelry box with an uncomfortable look, and Levi’s green eyes showed little curiosity. However, no matter how much Levi was curious about what was inside, it wasn’t as much as Yul.

Yul’s eyes shone brightly in the gorgeous jewelry box. He was looking forward to seeing what kind of rare thing would be inside the box that was large enough to fit his body in, and was ecstatic.

“It’s a gift from the Principality of Aeneas, and you take it, Mikael.”

“What?”

“I was reluctant to accept it because it was given during marriage talks, but that doesn’t mean I can give a present from the Principality to anyone. Well, if I said that I gave it to Archduke Orlov, then Aeneas would understand.”

“You’re dumping it on me.”

“Even so. They said that it was a precious item many times. They said it drives away evil spirits and brings good luck.”

What?! At Andrei’s words, Yul immediately made a face. He was expecting it to contain expensive jewels, but he couldn’t believe it was going to ward off evil spirits.

Yul shivered when he realised that the words Andrei had just said were aimed at him. Still, Yul’s expectations of the items in the jewelry box were not completely lowered.

“Open it.”

Andrei’s words could not calm Mikael’s discomfort. Whether it be jewelry, art, or whatever, many valuable items were already scattered around the Archduke’s residence. He had no desire to possess more, and it was even more inconvenient if it was an item Andrei didn’t want.

However, no matter how troublesome Andrei was with how he did as he pleased, he was the Emperor.

He would not have handed over things from the Principality to Mikael without any procedures, so he must have already followed all the procedures that the Imperial Family needed to do. Rejecting such an object would be the equivalent of rejecting an Imperial decree, and it would have disgraced Andrei.

So Mikael didn’t really want to accept the goods Andrei gave him, but he had no way of refusing. Eventually, as Andrei said, he approached the jewelry box.

“I want to see it too! Mikael, I want to see too!”

Yul jumped at Mikael’s feet and shouted. Who knew what he was expecting, but Yul was absurdly excited.

Mikael laughed and lifted Yul and placed it on his shoulder. Then Yul sat down on Mikael’s shoulder and grabbed his collar tightly.

As Mikael opened the tightly closed jewel box, Andrei spoke in a smirking voice.

“Take care of it.”

Inside the box was a large black egg with a brilliant array of light cast on it.