Chapter 51

There were implicit rules in the Imperial palace. On the second floor where the emperor’s office is located, no one should ever run no matter what. A decade ago, a messenger who ran to the office to deliver urgent news died because of the noise. Since then, courtiers have also taken care to quiet their steps in the hallway on the second floor.

Therefore, the sound of footsteps echoing in the hallway on the second floor felt very different.

Tak, tak, tak.

The sound of fast footsteps broke the silence and rang the hallway.

‘Who the hell is running around on the second floor?’

An aide screamed inside. Serwin also crumpled his forehead when he heard the sound. Baron Avery, who was reporting to Serwin in the midst of his change in expression, also stopped talking.

‘Hiik, I’m going to see blood.’

At that moment, pink hair popped out as the door opened.

“Amelie?”

“Your Majesty! Are you okay?”

Amelie rushed to Serwin’s front and began to look around. She looked carefully, but there was no black smoke anywhere. In addition, Serwin did not look much different than usual.

“What’s going on?”

“No, that’s—”

Amelie gasped. How fast did she run here? Her chest was constantly rising and falling, and her breathing was rough. Sweat was dripping from her forehead, and her well-groomed hair was in a mess. With one glance at her, he could tell that she had run frantically.

“Water.”

“Yes. Your Majesty.”

The servants hurriedly took water and handed it to Serwin. Serwin patted Amelie on the back and gave her water.

“Ah, thank you. Phew— Is Your Majesty okay? What about your body?”

“What’s going on? Are you okay?”

Serwin’s voice was filled with worries. There must have been something going on if Amelie had to run in such a hurry. Chad who followed behind her came in. Serwin interrogated Chad with his eyes while looking at Amelie.

‘It’s nothing!’

Chad shook his head violently.

‘But what’s wrong with her?’

‘There’s a little misunderstanding—’

Chad looked embarrassed.

While the two people were talking, Amelie slowly began to figure out the situation. There was no trace of disaster, and Serwin was perfectly fine. The people around him just looked at her and Serwin with surprised faces, but their lives were well connected.

“I thought something bad happened to Your Majesty— Sir Chad—.”

“I just told Miss Amelie to go to the palace with me. Miss Amelie didn’t listen and ran away—”

“Ah—”

Only then did Amelie realize what she had misunderstood.

‘Well, If Serwin was in danger, Sir Chad wouldn’t have waited around for me and then asked for a favor!’

She misunderstood what the other person had said and barged into Serwin’s office during work hours! Amelie looked around her with her bewildered look. His aides and attendants were looking at her with a puzzled face. Serwin had an absurd expression as well. Her face flushed with embarrassment. Amelie shook her head to hide her face.

‘I mean, you came running like this for me. Without knowing what danger lurks— only for me.’

Serwin lowered her gaze to the top of her round head. The ears sticking out from between the strands of hair looked red. His heart was pounding as he stood there watching it.

“What were you worried about?”

“—I should have listened to Sir Chad until the end.”

Amelie said in a voice crawling with regret.

“I’m sorry to interrupt your work. You must be busy—”

“Amelie. Raise your head.”

“Now, it’s a little—”

Serwin put his finger on Amelie’s chin. Amelie’s face easily followed even though he only raised it lightly. Her face was red as expected, and her eyes wandered vaguely in the air.

“Haha, is this something to be so shy about?”

“I really ran all the way here. I’m sure there are a lot of people who watched it!”

It was noticeable how much Mrs Enard would nag if she knew. Because she threw away all her dignity and elegance like that.

“Yeah? That’s how you came running. To protect me.”

“—Don’t make fun of me. I promised to protect Your Majesty.”

How can such few words make him so happy? As if there was magic in her words, Serwin was instantly immersed in joy. A smile leaked from his mouth.

“Cough—”

Someone was coughing. It was because they were so surprised by Serwin’s laughter that they couldn’t breathe for a moment. Others were also unable to calm down their surprise and stood there with their mouths open.

‘Is that the Emperor?’

‘Is that tyrant also an ordinary man in front of his lover?’

Ordinary. It was a word ten billion light years away from Serwin. They couldn’t believe it at all.

“I took up too much time. If you’re okay, I’ll leave now!”

Amelie tried to go back quickly.

‘Oh, no!’

The aides thought in unison. With her appearance, the tension was completely eased. If she left, they might go back to that ice-like atmosphere.

“It’s okay. I just need to see and hear from the Baron. Wait.”

When Serwin caught Amelie, Amelie was very uncomfortable here, but she decided to obey him. It was because he was happy, and it was kind of sad to go back after coming all this way. Besides, he also seemed to welcome her.

Amelie sat on a sofa on one side of the office. Even before her hips touched the sofa fabric, the servants quickly brought tea and refreshments. It was very sincere treatment.

*****

The aides glanced at Amelie while flipping through sheets of paper. The hottest potato in the capital right now was Amelie. Every day, stories about Amelie came and went, and rumors abounded. (T/n : hot potato means something like a hot issue. Something that is currently talked about by a lot of people.)

‘I can’t believe the rumors. What about the beauty of the century?’

‘She looks normal, but how did she end up with Your Majesty?’

‘Her life must be so hard—I can’t believe she has to see that tyrant every night.’

People who didn’t know the details envied Amelie, who is loved by Serwin, but they were not aides so they didn’t know that there was no one else as poor as her to be in the position of having to see Serwin daily.

‘Oh, why are you looking at me like that? Is it because I disturbed you?’

Amelie sat with her back straight. She habitually tilted her teacup up, but the teacup never made it higher than her neck.

“So you couldn’t find it?”

“I apologize.”

Baron Avery bowed his head deeply. He was under Serwin’s order to conduct a background investigation of Count Manvers. While Serwin was away, Count Manvers’ gang committed embezzlement, and Serwin was chasing a man who had laundered money, which the Baron had missed earlier.

He closed his eyes waiting for Serwin’s punishment. Serwin was a lord who never tolerated mistakes, so there was nothing strange if Serwin were to cut his neck here. Contrary to his expectations, however, Serwin did not get angry. Baron Avery raised his head wondering. Serwin was looking at Amelie, not him.

‘I’m nervous again when the momentum will strike again.’

If he looks closely, the fingers that lift the teacup are very stiff. Every action she does is so insignificant and cute, it seemed the Emperor couldn’t take his eyes off her.

“Your Majesty?”

Baron Avery was perplexed. This was an issue that Serwin put a lot of thought and effort into. But now he wasn’t interested at all.

‘Is it because of that person?’

From the moment Amelie entered the office, Serwin seemed to have become a different person. The cold eyes became friendly, and the voice that had had an edge sharper than a blade softened. The aides who were experiencing this change for the first time seemed to be very confused.

“Your Majesty, maybe she should be waiting somewhere else—”

“Baron Avery”.

Serwin’s golden eyes looked at Baron Avery. The way he was looking at him was as sharp as the tip of his sword.

“It will not end with apologies. We need him to destroy Count Manvers’ group. Baron, you know it well.”

Serwin suppressed his anger and spoke as if to blame him. It pressured Baron Avery more. He tightened his throat to hide his shaking heart. Even he, who can be said to be Serwin’s closest aide, was not well adapted to Serwin’s brutality.

“I’ll give you another chance. You’re lucky today.”

Originally, he thought of holding him responsible for the failure. However, Amelie was in the office, so he couldn’t make a loud noise, punish him, or make her see blood. It’s obvious that she’ll be scared.

‘How did they get close, he can’t even make her feel a little scared.’

Serwin got up from his seat and strode toward Amelie. When Serwin talked to her, Amelie also stood up smiling. There was an indescribable familiarity between the two. Baron Avery looked at the two without saying a word. Amelie seemed to have dug deeper into the Emperor’s heart than expected.

‘I don’t want any trouble to happen.’ 

Baron Avery sighed.

******

Serwin took Amelie to a room. It was a room connected to the stairs at the end of the hallway where the office was located. It has been the personal room for Emperors to relax or sleep near their office for generations. He didn’t like anyone else entering this room, he even restricted the entry of servants.

Amelie’s eyes rolled and widened as she looked around the room. It was a very different atmosphere from her room. The interior was calm due to indirect lighting, and the dark wood and dark fire created a heavy atmosphere in the tapis tree. It was the antique and yet dignified room of an Emperor.

“Amelie.”

Serwin pulled out a chair from under the table and called out to her. Amelie sat down, paying attention to how her dress layed.

‘Do you feel happy?’

She carefully looked at Serwin sitting across from her. He looked happier somehow even though he had the same expression as usual.

In fact, Serwin felt very good. He had been annoyed and nervous for no reason, but now he felt surprisingly fine. He was about to laugh just by looking at Amelie’s bouncy curly hair. The most changed thing after coming to the imperial palace was her hair. With the efforts of the maids, the fluffy head shrank and calmed down and silkier shinier hair flowed. Her hair, which had become bushy when she was running over, reminded him of the moment he met her in the forest.

Serwin casually reached out. A hair, thin like a thread, touched his finger. Amelie opened her eyes a little wide in surprise, but didn’t block Serwin’s touch.