Chapter 74

“Your Majesty, let’s go together.”

“Together?”

Amelie nodded.

“You made a promise before, right? You said you’re going to take me out of the palace again. But you haven’t kept it yet. So, let’s go together this time.”

When Amelie looked at him and begged, Serwin inadvertently tried to hold back his nod and grab at his last shred of reason.

“There could be a witch’s attack.”

“Your Majesty is the strongest in the empire. And I’m going with Your Majesty. What’s the problem?”

Serwin was shaken once again. It wasn’t easy to say no to that.

‘I’m there, and the knights will be mobilized if anything happens—?’

It was Amelie, who had never asked anything before. The opportunity to do her a favor was rare. In the end, Serwin had no choice but to nod.

“Wow! Then while we’re out, please show me around the capital.”

Amelie smiled with a big smile. Her mint-color eyes sparkled.

‘I can’t refuse the request just because it’s dangerous—.’

Seeing her happy, his worries were overshadowed. The more dangerous it was, the stronger he had to be. Didn’t he struggle to get strong for that reason?

“Yes, we went to the square last time, so where should we go this time?”

“I’m not sure, I can’t think of any specific place—. Oh, that’s right. I have a tour booklet! I’ll bring it over!”

As Amelie jumped up, Serwin grabbed her shoulder and pressed her down.

“It’s late. Go to bed and look for it tomorrow.”

He laid Amelie on the bed, took the magic book from her lap, and put it down on the bedside table. Then he laid down close to her.

“Good night.”

Amelie put her hands on his hands.

‘Even if I sleep like this, I will wake up in his arms in the morning,’

It was a little uncomfortable, but she didn’t hate it or feel like it was unpleasant. This was because she knew well that he had no impure intentions. Amelie thought his behavior was comparable to a young child hugging a doll and sleeping.

“Good night.”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Serwin closed his eyes as he held Amelie’s hand.

‘I can’t sleep anyway.’

Just having already disappeared from sight made his heart flutter. This anxiety stemmed from the fear that she would disappear. So he had to make sure that she was real by his own side to feel calm. So while she was asleep, Serwin hugged her as if it had happened in his sleep.

The night was always long and endless. It got better thanks to her, but it was she who brought him long nights again.

*****

The carriage carrying Amelie and Serwin passed through the gates of the Imperial Palace. In order not to attract attention, they rode discreet wagons, but when they came to Mrs. Enard’s town, they still stood out.

When Amelie and Serwin got off the carriage, they could feel the eyes of the people focused on them.

“It’s okay because Milena has taken care of this area. Let’s go inside.”

Mrs. Enard flustered. It was a shabby house with nothing to treat. It was very embarrassing to have Serwin in such a house.

‘How can I imagine that in my lifetime I would have to take His Majesty to my home.’

If her husband was alive, he would have been glad and thought it was a great honor. Mrs. Enard guided the two inside with a bitter heart.

Yesterday, she gave money to her neighbors and cleaned the house, so she was able to raise her head and show the house.

Serwin looked around the house with an indifferent look and looked at the stairs. There stood Mrs. Enard’s daughter, Ellie. The child was looking this way, hiding her body behind the railing to see as if she was afraid of strangers.

“Ellie! Come here and say hello.”

Mrs. Enard called the child. Ellie ran and hid behind Mrs. Enard.

“Because she’s shy— I apologize, Your Majesty.”

Mrs. Enard was wary of Serwin. She was worried that her daughter might have offended him. He won’t hurt Ellie because Amelie is here, but she had seen and heard of his evil deeds for many years. She couldn’t relax easily.

Serwin glanced at Ellie. Then, as if frightened, Ellie slipped back, clenching Mrs. Enard’s skirt.

“Your Majesty, if you look at her like that, she will be scared.”

Amelie hit Serwin’s arm slightly.

“I didn’t threaten her.”

“If you look up at Ellie’s height, Your Majesty looks like something really huge, like a tower. Your face is shaded, your eyes flash.”

Amelie copied Serwin’s expression. It was only cute to do that with her round eyes.

Serwin laughed.

“Then what should I do?”

“You need to make eye contact and introduce yourself first.”

“You don’t have to do that—!”

Mrs. Enard hurriedly stopped Serwin, but Serwin waved his hand and said.

“Don’t worry about it.”

He lowered his body by putting one knee on the floor. Mrs. Enard’s face turned pale as if she were about to faint.

“My name is Serwin Henesia. I’m the Emperor of this country.”

“Smile.”

Following Amelie’s advice, Serwin smiled. Then Ellie looked at Serwin from behind with only her head out. It was better than before, but she still looked scared.

‘They said that the Emperor was a scary person.’

Ellie remembered the words of the adults. In particular, the nanny used to say that the Emperor would catch her if she cried.

Amelie, who was watching Ellie’s reaction, stepped up to help Serwin.

“Hello, Ellie. I met you last time, right? Do you remember?”

When Amelie greeted her, Ellie opened her eyes wide.

“Rabbit!”

Ellie pointed her finger at her and shouted.

“It’s the rabbit warrior I’ve seen before! She scolded a strange man!”

Ellie looked at Amelie and said clearly.

Ellie clearly remembered the moment Amelie saved her.

After a cute little rabbit defeated the villain, she didn’t have to take strange medicine and didn’t get sick. The nanny who she hated disappeared, and her mother no longer had a hard time. Like a story from a fairy tale.

“I’m sorry, Miss Amelie. She loves children’s books so much!

Mrs. Enard was embarrassed.

“It’s okay. It doesn’t mean anything bad.”

It was a little embarrassing, but it was cute because it was a childlike idea. Next to her, Serwin burst into laughter.

“She said rabbit warrior.”

Her chubby body and round eyes didn’t match the warrior wherever he looked. He couldn’t hold back his laughter when he imagined a rabbit standing proudly in front of the villain while flapping its ears that looked unfair.

“Ah, don’t laugh!”

Amelie protested, but couldn’t stop his laughter.

Ellie looked at Serwin. The frightening yellow eyes that turned to Amelie had softened.

‘His eyes are shining like a mother’s ring. Even a scary Emperor becomes kind in front of the Rabbit Warrior!’

Ellie was a quick-witted child, so she noticed that Serwin kept caring about Amelie.

‘Oh, the Emperor seems to be a subordinate of the Rabbit Warrior!’

In fairy tales, there was always a scary-looking subordinate next to the rabbit warrior like a bear or wolf.

‘Awesome! As expected, you’re a warrior!’

Ellie’s respect for Amelie grew even more.

The child ran and hugged Amelie. And patted Serwin’s shoulder.

“You’re working hard to serve the warrior.”

“Ellie!”

The surprised Mrs. Enard quickly tried to cover Ellie’s mouth, but Serwin raised his hand to mean it was okay.

“Our rabbit warrior wants to ask you something. Can you help me?”

Serwin looked a little awkward dealing with the child. It was only natural when she said “Rabbit Warrior.” Still, he didn’t frighten the child and treated her well.

“What is it?”

“I want to know how healthy you are.”

When Ellie looked at Amelie, Amelie smiled at her with her ears red. The child nodded.

“Then let’s go up.”

When Serwin hugged Ellie, the child screamed and then burst into laughter.

“I guess it’s fun to go higher.”

Amelie said.

“Is this fun?”

Serwin raised the child high, even though he was puzzled. The child’s laughter grew louder.

“Stop playing and go up.”

When Amelie pushed his back, Serwin finally headed to the room with Ellie, and Amelie followed him.

“I’ll make some tea and go up. You can go first.”

Mrs. Enard hurried to the kitchen. Her eyes were slightly wet.

She went to the kitchen and set up a chaotic table, but she was overwhelmed with emotions and buried her face in both hands.

‘I can’t believe my baby is laughing so brightly like that.’

She was a child who always smiled faintly as if not to worry. When she saw her laughing out loud like a normal child after a long time, she realized that the child was really getting better.

‘It’s all thanks to Miss Amelie.’

Without her, the child would have been addicted to strange drugs, stuck in a trance like daze. It would have been a miracle to even see a smile let alone to see her laughing. She must have been relieved that she was no longer crying without knowing that the child was dying.

Mrs. Enard raised her head and blinked several times. Because if Amelie knew she cried, she would be worried about her.

‘She’s so kind. To have met such a person is the greatest luck of my life.’

Once again, she decided to do her best for Amelie.

*****

An old man lived in Mrs. Enard’s neighborhood. Watching people through his windows was his only hobby, so no one was suspicious of him peering out through the curtains.

Even today, the old man was looking outside with his head sticking out through the curtains. What was different from usual was that there was a brown mouse sitting on the old man’s shoulder.

“As you said, I don’t even care about staring.”

Charlotte showed off her pride as if she had been told to.

“You should have this kind of usefulness to make it worthwhile.”

Lira gave Charlotte a finger flick on her forehead and began to observe the house in front of her again. Charlotte grumbled but failed to counterattack Lira. It was because she could return to being a human by showing her well.

After confirming that Amelie was in the imperial palace, Lira tried to enter the imperial palace. However, even if she tried to hide in disguise, she couldn’t enter the imperial palace. It was because there was magic hanging to prevent intruders from entering if she went near the imperial palace.

‘Even the trusted Charlotte is useless.’

Charlotte was unable to enter the imperial palace as she went missing on the day of the party, so the two had no choice but to wait for Amelie to leave the imperial palace. And after a long wait, Amelie finally came out of the imperial palace.

Lira and Charlotte followed Amelie right away. And they aimed for a chance to attack Amelie.

However, Serwin was by Amelie’s side, and numerous knights were protecting her. She couldn’t see any way for her to intervene.

The moment Lira reached out to Amelie, it was clear that the knights would surround her.

Then, Charlotte came up with a trick. Seeing Mrs. Enard going together with her, it was clear that she was going to her house. She was supposed to arrive first, disguise herself as her next-door neighbor, and get an opportunity to approach her.

‘But I still can’t see the gap.’

Lira bit her lips.