Chapter 24

“Y-Your Majesty! Your Majesty!”

Derrell, who had advanced to the position of the Emperor’s direct Grand Chamberlain three months ago, was worried about hair loss these days.

Surprisingly enough, he was only 20 years old, but he had started to lose hair.

It was because of the scary Emperor that he served.

“P-Please go slowly, Your Majesty!”

The Emperor had emerged from the Sun Palace in the middle of the night, looking as if he was about to slice someone up.

As he’d bowed his head in fright, the Emperor had said “I’m going to Lily Palace. Everyone follow me.” Even though they were stunned and taken aback, the attendants had no choice but to follow.

He had no idea what the reason was. But Derrell was sure about one thing.

That Queen Silver Lily had definitely done something wrong.

If not, there was no explaining the Emperor’s turbulent behavior.

Even when he begged for him to slow down, the Emperor simply went forward.

His Majesty charged forth with his long legs, making it difficult for Derrell to keep up, even running.

That’s how they arrived at Lily Palace so quickly, and Derrell caught his breath, preparing himself to announce the Emperor’s arrival.

However, the Emperor did not wait any longer and went right in.

“Your Majesty!”

In the end, Derrell couldn’t catch his breath and hurriedly followed the Emperor inside the castle.

Due to all of the Sun Palace’s attendants following behind him, it ended up becoming a long parade of people.

Hadel, who had entered the Lily Palace, even ignored all of the maids’ startled greetings.

Even though the Head Maid kneeled and greeted him, he didn’t spare a glance, and just directly entered the bedroom.

“Y-Your Majesty. The Silver Lily is sleepi…”

“Move aside if you don’t want to die.”

At Hadel’s icy words, the Head Maid closed her mouth.

Then, the Lily Palace bedroom doors opened.

Due to Hadel’s noisy entrance, Asha was blinking herself awake.

At the sight of her slow blinks and hazy silver eyes, Hadel emitted a low groan.

It was because she dawned an obviously haggard face.

* * *

“What’s going… Y-Your Majesty?”

At that moment, I almost called him Hadel, but managed to stop myself and bolted up.

I must’ve dreamed about something, for my whole body was damp with sweat.

However, what was even more flustering than that was the serious expression on Hadel’s face as he looked down at me, and the line of Sun Palace attendants standing behind him.

“W-What…”

Since I’d just woken up, I couldn’t grasp what the situation at hand was.

I blinked a few times, before getting down from the bed.

Since all of the maids and attendants were watching, I had to greet the Emperor.

“…Ah.”

However, the moment my feet touched the ground, I could feel my vision flicker and my limbs give out.

I couldn’t stop my body from swaying to the side and staggering.

As I watched the floor getting closer, I reflexively shut my eyes, but what I felt was actually Hadel’s body, which was sturdy and secure.

Not to mention, Hadel’s familiar body scent, which flooded toward me.

And his arm, which firmly grasped my waist.

I opened my eyes and stared up at Hadel.

What the.

Why was his expression so dark?

“…Your Majesty. What is it, so late at night?”

I’d definitely told him to come to meet me tonight.

However, I hadn’t meant for him to come with all of the attendants following him like this?

Hadel’s expression softened slightly as he placed his hand on my forehead, as if he sensed how flustered I was.

But for some reason, his face crumpled up once more… Uh, um. What was with him?

“Since when?”

“…Pardon?”

“Since when was the condition of your body this bad?”

“No, I’m fin-”

“Head Maid.”

I tried to tell him I was fine, but Hadel cut off my words and called the Head Maid.

His expression and voice were so cold, that I’d believe it if someone had said he was a different person.

Why was he so mad?

Was it because of me again?

“The Silver Lily’s condition is this bad, so why is the palace this cold?”

“…Your Majesty, that’s because-”

“And what about the doctor? Did you give her medicine?”

Before the Head Maid could even finish speaking, Hadel kept pouring questions.

At his sharp approach, the Head Maid couldn’t give a proper reply, and just kept her head bowed.

“I apologize, Your Majesty. I think Miss Silver Lily has caught a light col-”

“A light cold?”

Surprised, I looked back up at Hadel.

It was because of the icy tone of his voice.

“A light cold.”

Hadel’s pink eyes looked particularly red today.

“It appears that even though you were aware she had a cold, you were unaware the palace was this cold.”

“Y-Your Majesty. That’s because…”

At Hadel’s interrogation, the Head Maid uncharacteristically stuttered. It was my first time seeing her this taken aback.

“There should be an allocated budget for the Lily Palace.”

The Head Maid did not reply.

Hadel started asking questions even more sharply.

“Bring the ledger right away. And you.”

“Y-Yes!”

“Bring the Imperial Doctor immediately.”

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“U-Understood!”

Hadel summoned the Head Chamberlain, who darted off, his face turning blue.

Ah, gosh. If he suddenly took care of me like this, Duke Valkirino would definitely suspect something.

I grabbed and pulled on the hems of Hadel’s clothes so that no one could see.

Darling, calm down.

Hadel must have felt my pull, for he turned his gaze toward me.

His pink eyes were full of worry.

“I’m okay, Your Majesty.”

So don’t get upset.

I smiled at Hadel as I shouted the latter words through my eyes.

Then, for some reason, Hadel lifted me up and laid me down on the bed.

“Your Majesty?”

“I’ve called for the Imperial Doctor, so just wait a bit. I think it’d be best if you closed your eyes if possible.”

“Why close my…”

Why close my eyes? Was what I was trying to say, when Hadel’s big hand came and covered my face.

This was not just a case of closing my eyes, but of covering my entire face.

During that time, the Head Maid had brought the Lily Palace ledgers and had prostrated herself on the ground in front of him, offering them.

I heard the sound of the ledger being unrolled, and then a short silence fell.

Ah, Hadel’s hand. How warm. His hand on me made me slowly feel sleepy.

What would I do, feeling this sleepy when the situation was this serious…?

Before I could drift off into dreamland, I heard Hadel’s low voice ringing through the room, slightly waking me up.

“The allocated budget is 10,000,000 Gelles. But even if you add up all of the money spent in the ledger, it doesn’t go over 1,000,000 Gelles.”

Wow. So there had been 10,000,000 Gelles allocated to the Lily Palace per month?

She’d kept on denying me things, saying there wasn’t any budget for it in the past.

I was feeling surprised on the inside, but Hadel’s voice was slowly getting more menacing.

“Where did it all go?”

“Y-Your Majesty.”

“It’d be best to say it while I’m still speaking nicely.”

I couldn’t let this go on any longer.

I grabbed the wrist of Hadel, who was still covering my face, and pulled it away.

Everyone’s gazes turned toward me.

Laughing awkwardly, I sat up from bed.

“Your Majesty, I’ll confirm the rest.”

“…Didn’t I tell you to lie down?”

“I’m fine. Lily Palace is my palace, so I’ll take care of it. So Your Majesty, you can go back…”

Bang!

And when I was in the middle of my sentence.

I heard a slamming sound near the entrance, and the fluttering sound of something falling.

Wondering what it was, I took a peek, and saw a person who appeared to be the Imperial Doctor lying on the ground next to the Grand Chamberlain.

Not to mention that the Grand Chamberlain’s entire body was trembling, his mouth wide open, giving the impression that he was in even worse condition than me.

“What are you doing? Tch. If you’ve arrived, Imperial Doctor, hurry and look over the Silver Lily.”

At such a foolish sight, Hadel tutted his tongue, as if he was used to it, before moving aside so the Imperial Doctor could approach me.

With a pale and haggard face, he half-crawled to me, before reaching out his hand.

“U-Uh, Miss Silver Lily. P-P-Pl-Please g-give me y-your wrist… Eeeek!”

Why was he stuttering so much?

Was this Imperial Doctor really someone you could trust?

To make matters worse, before he could even finish speaking, he froze in shock and shrunk away.

Wondering what I should do, I stared at Hadel.

He was looking at the Imperial Doctor, and when he felt my gaze, he grabbed my hand.

“If you need to feel her pulse, then just accurately touch and measure this finger, right on top of the pulse.”

Then, he pulled my wrist toward the Imperial Doctor.

Wait, was it really necessary to limit all contact like this?

I stared up at Hadel with a dumbfounded expression.

The way his right eyebrow was slightly higher than the other was the exact expression that came out when he was feeling jealous.

…It was definite that he was acting like this because he didn’t like the fact that the Imperial Doctor would touch my hand.

“I-I-I apologize! T-Then this unworthy vessel will f-feel for the pulse…!”

I think people in this palace all had the habit of stuttering their words.

In the end, I had my pulse taken with my hand atop of Hadel’s own.

The Grand Chamberlain was still collapsed on the floor with his mouth open, and the Head Maid was still prostrating.

Just what kind of a fuss was this, all of a sudden?

After glancing at Hadel, he must have been in a good mood, for he smiled while looking at me.

I was about to say something, but the Imperial Doctor must have been finished taking my pulse, for he let go of my pulse and bowed down again.

“I-It seems she’s caught a cold.”

“A cold with such a high fever? Are you sure?”

“Y-Yes, Your Majesty! H-H-H-How c-could I-I dare l-lie to Y-Your Majesty?”

Wow, this person’s stutter was really bad.

It was my first time seeing someone with a stutter this bad.

I think he originally had a stutter, but it had gotten worse because of the terrifying atmosphere Hadel was currently exuding.

At this rate, he’d continue to tremble in fear from being on his toes with Hadel, so I decided to assist the Imperial Doctor.

“Okay, thanks. Then please give me some medicine.”

But even though I spoke with the nuance that he could leave, the Imperial Doctor trembled and didn’t move.

It seemed he was frozen like a stone because it wasn’t the Emperor’s order.

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Grabbing Hadel by the hem of his clothes, I softly shook him. He must’ve understood my meaning of letting this guy go, for he said something with a displeased expression.

“Go ahead. Bring the medicine right away.”

“U-Un-Understood!”

It was then that the Imperial Doctor finally took some steps backwards and disappeared outside.

Nice, then what was left was…