Chapter 18

[Wait until the Emperor tries to kill the Silver Lily.]

Rahu gazed toward the inside of the Lily Palace.

The yellow chicks the Silver Lily had brought in because she was lonely were cutely chirping away.

It was quite nice, watching them look for their mother as they moved their short little legs.

At the end of the chicks’ march, there was always a pale girl wearing a sorrowful smile.

Although the window was closed, he could hear her voice when he listened carefully.

“Let’s name you Ari.”

Ari?

It must be from byeong-ari.

TL/N: Chick in Korean is byeong-ari.

It was simple yet intuitive.

As he’d thought, she was quite innocent and naive.

After Rahu made that short judgment, he started observing the pale girl once more.

Because he was tasked with doing so, he’d been observing the Silver Lily every day since she’d come to the palace.

“Haa. When will…”

Ah, it was that facial expression again.

The pale girl made that sorrowful expression several times a day.

She was lost in thought while staring into the far distance.

Tears would occasionally fall from her eyes, and whenever they did, Rahu would be taken aback and not know what to do.

Even from afar, it was difficult for him to watch a lady—a very beautiful and pure one, at that—crying.

The girl, who’d been staring at the chicks with a sad expression for a long time, finally spoke with a calm voice.

“My little Aris, you have to grow up and become big, okay?”

‘You have to grow up and become big, okay?’

From that one phrase, Rahu understood.

That woman was aware she was just Duke Valkirino’s chess piece, which was why she was wishing for the chicks, at the very least, to survive.

At this, Rahu decided.

If this poor woman died, he would save the chicks’ lives even if he couldn’t save her life due to his leader’s command.

…Was that really the case, though?

Did a woman who nobody knew really have to die?

Rahu was swept up in agony once more, before abruptly freezing.

He stopped his thoughts immediately and jumped to the highest part of the palace to hide his presence.

“Y-Your Majesty the Emperor.”

He could see the maids who’d been sweeping the garden rush to bow their heads.

The black-haired Emperor had suddenly arrived, his eyes turbulent.

Why did he keep coming to the feeble woman’s dwelling with such brutal energy?

If he didn’t like her, couldn’t he just not come at all?

The Emperor beelined to the bedroom without responding to the maids.

Rahu’s yellow eyes contained the gradually-disappearing Emperor’s back as he slowly became hidden by the buildings.

He disapproved of him.

As expected, emperors were people he truly did not like.

* * *

“Your… Majesty.”

The chicks must have been excited to see a new person, for they started chirping even louder.

He simply looked down and wordlessly watched me play with the chicks.

I didn’t know how to start the conversation, so I just opened and closed my mouth before realizing that I shouldn’t be wasting time like this. I composed myself.

“I greet Your Majesty.”

I grabbed the hems of my dress and slightly lifted them, then bent my waist to curtsy.

When I lifted my head and made eye contact with Hadel, he was still looking back and forth between me and the chicks me with a disturbed expression.

One of the chicks dashed towards Hadel’s feet and flapped its wings.

Hadel froze while watching the endlessly small and cute entity rubbing its face onto his feet.

Mm. This might actually be an opportunity.

I’d brought these chicks here to use them like this anyway—I didn’t know I’d use them immediately, though.

I carefully lifted one of the chicks playing at my feet and held it in my arms.

“The Lily Palace was lonely, so I made them get me two chicks from a chicken farm.”

“…”

“Mm, is it perhaps not allowed to raise animals in the palace?”

“…”

Oh my goodness.

He seems to be pretty shocked.

Hadel remained silent.

He just kept staring back and forth in confusion from Ari 1, who was sitting on my hand, and Ari 2, who was chirping and waddling near his feet.

“I even named them. The baby acting all cute by Your Majesty’s feet is ‘Ari.’ Do you want to try calling its name?”

“…!”

Hadel’s pink eyes widened an unbelievable amount.

Ah, was that too shocking? Maybe I should’ve taken it a bit slower.

Many thoughts came to mind, but it was already too late.

It would be strange to stop now.

“Try holding it, Your Majesty. Its soft texture is quite nice.”

With my index finger, I gently caressed the head of the chick which was sitting on my hand.

Hadel’s forehead slightly wrinkled as he watched, but he didn’t make any more gestures or say anything.

I opened my mouth, smiling a bit wider.

“Since we brought strong ones from the chicken farm, they won’t die just from touching them a little.”

Hadel’s body started trembling.

I slowly approached Hadel, who had frozen in place.

Chirp! Chirp!

The chick which had been staying by Hadel’s foot dashed toward me.

I took it and lifted it into my arms alongside the other one.

“Ari, your vocal cords are pretty strong, huh? What a relief.”

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I continued speaking while rubbing Ari’s chin.

“The chick I raised in the past had some kind of problem, so it couldn’t make a sound. I’m happy that, luckily, this Ari can cry—Kyaa!”

A strong wind suddenly blew in front of me. The moment I wondered what kind of wind it was, my breathing stopped.

I could feel something cold on my neck.

Under my chin, there was a sword aimed at me, as if it was ready to pierce my skin at any given moment.

The chicks in my hands must have been startled, for they started flapping their wings.

While being careful not to drop them, I stared into Hadel’s pink eyes.

He was lost in chaos—no, he was angry.

At what? At whom?

Breathing roughly, he spoke like he was forcing his voice out.

“Tell me.”

“…Your Majesty.”

“Who are you? What relations do you have with the de Ach family? How…”

I couldn’t help but become tense.

Even if he brought up Ashella, I could cover my tracks to a certain extent. For example, if Madame Chunet and Duke Valkirino interrogated me about something, I could just say I heard it from the de Ach Viscounty.

However, that depended on what was about to come out of Hadel’s mouth.

“Haa… No. Me wanting to know about you so badly is probably your goal.”

…But Hadel didn’t ask any more questions.

I opened my mouth to speak.

“Your Majesty, this chick—”

“Shut up.”

Before I could finish speaking, I felt a sting join the cold feeling on my neck. Shortly after, I felt warm blood drip down my throat.

“If you don’t want to die, don’t let me hear you say another word or breath.”

Hadel sounded like he was crying, despite the fact that he spoke quietly.

To me, your furious face makes you seem like you’re sobbing, Hadel.

There was a momentary standoff, then silence.

Hadel twisted the corner of his lips and contorted his signature deep pink eyes.

“You can try to struggle. Even if you do, the fact that you’re a fake doesn’t change.”

I couldn’t breathe.

Knowing that my Hadel could now make this kind of expression was heart-wrenchingly painful.

Hadel had always been naive, warm, and kind.

Shing.

The sword that’d left a wound on my neck quietly returned to its sheathe.

As if there was nothing more to see here, Hadel turned his body.

“But you’ll need to take responsibility for what you’ve done.”

Only his icy last words lingered in the place where he once was.

Once even the strong scent of Hadel by my nose disappeared, I collapsed onto the floor.

The reason people called Hadel a crazy tyrant…

Now I thought I knew why.

* * *

Time passed by quickly.

Hadel didn’t come looking for me again after that—he was probably very confused. Should I wait a bit more? Or should I take the initiative and act first?

While I was having all sorts of concerns, one week flew by.

Could Hadel really… kill me if I made a mistake?

The answer to that final question was “no.”

Even if he couldn’t recognize me as Ashella, Hadel wouldn’t be able to kill me. I could sense it. I was almost certain about this.

If he could kill me, he would’ve slit my throat last week instead of saying such harsh remarks with those sad eyes.

“Let’s move. I have to move.”

Mumbling this to myself several times to harden my resolve, I put down the teacup I’d been drinking from and stood up.

“Madame Chunet.”

Madame Chunet, who was standing by the door and doing some work, stared at me with her signature blank face.

“I think I’ve been indoors too much. I feel rather suffocated and want to go outside.”

“Would you like to go to the garden?”

“Hm. I’ve seen the garden every day, so I’m tired of it. You won’t even let me plant flowers under the excuse of not having enough funds.”

“…It’s not an excuse. It’s the truth, Miss Silver Lily.”

“Yeah, okay, okay. Anyway, what’s important is that there’s nothing to see in the Lily Palace.”

Madame Chunet subtly knitted her eyebrows.

It was like she was saying “what do you want to do, then?” with her expression.

I smiled widely as if it was a trivial matter before responding.

“The central garden! I heard about how pretty it is from a maid. I want to take a walk outside of the Lily Palace.”

Madame Chunet didn’t respond.

She simply stared at me.

I felt annoyed by her gaze, which seemed like it was looking into my soul.

“Madame Chunet. Am I a criminal?”

“…No.”

“Am I a maid?”

“No.”

“What is my identity within the palace?”

After a brief moment of silence, she slowly responded.

“…The Queen.”

As if there was nothing more to hear, I got my shawl myself.

“Nobody can stop me from wandering inside the Imperial Palace, then.”

With an unwilling expression, Madame Chunet didn’t budge from her place.

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“You must be busy. I can go by myself, so you can stay if you want.”

Although I spoke lightly while leaving the bedroom, it was enough to crack through Madame Chunet’s blank face.

She, whose job was to constantly watch me all day long, would have to follow me even if she didn’t want to.

“No, I’m the Head Maid, so of course, I have to follow you.”

Madame Chunet followed after me with a blank mask once again as if her expression had never cracked at all.