Chapter 11

After glancing down at Sylvia and pondering for a while, I came to two conclusions.

First, I'm not good at using my head.

Second, but I have power.

This means I have to proceed firmly. With that thought, I finally opened my mouth.

"Do you know that I am in a position where I cannot accept your request purely?"

I raised my chin slightly and spoke as calmly as possible. Hearing that, Sylvia began to tremble like a drowning rabbit.

Hey, if I keep doing that, my heart will be really weak...

Looking at her like that, I shut my eyes tightly and made up my mind.

Don't be fooled by the face. Our Emperor also has a great face, but isn't he actually the world's crazy person?

"Oh, I understand. However..."

She was now about to burst into tears.

I was slowly starting to feel a sense of crisis. What if she, who starved for five days, fainted on the spot because of this? Then, do I have to wait until she wakes up with only this gloomy feeling inside eating me up...?

Eventually, I waved my hand.

"Oh, don't cry. I'm not pushing you."

At the soothing words, she lifted her head.

The moment I saw that expression, I flinched.

She was trembling with her lips as if she had received her salvation. Needless to say, she had a face that was difficult to think of as acting.

"Your Majesty, please save me."

Her voice, which seemed to be speaking rationally until a moment ago, was mixed with pleading.

"What is the use of hiding it from Your Majesty? I was raised only for the purpose of becoming a companion if the Emperor is a man, and best maid and friend if they were a woman. Most of the time, I was confined inside the home to avoid rumors, so I, Sylvia Jacques, had no personal endowments at all."

After hearing Sylvia's words, I turned towards Cisen with a bewildered face.

She looked at me and quietly nodded her head as if she was right. It seemed that they had conducted a background check on Sylvia in advance.

No, she was sensitive to her daughter's blemishes, too, that Sylvia had been locked up in her house to avoid making her a defective product...?

It was a feast of surprise that I do not know how many times it is today.

"Now that those two have been deprived of their positions as the Vice Minister and the head handmaiden, and have fallen into lowly prey... there is no place for me to stand."

That was why my maid's seat was desperately needed.

A woman from a family that fell due to her mother attempting to frame the Empress and disturbing the Emperor's mood... No one would try to take a girl from such a family if they had any common sense.

To borrow their words, it was because their lives may end if they are mistakenly caught by the 'cold and hot' Empress.

'Ha, this is so...'

...I know very well what happens to a beautiful fallen nobleman who has nowhere to go, even more so if it was in this weak being devoured by a strong worldview.

So, there were only two people in this Empire who were certain that they would not be disadvantaged even after taking her in with compassion...

The Emperor, Raniero Actilus, with unconditional power.

And I, the party involved in the case, Empress Angelica Unro Actilus.

It was clear that it would be useless to go to Raniero, so she came to me with the intention of grabbing at straws.*

[ T/N: To depend on something that is useless; to make a futile attempt at something. ]

"As I said, I was raised to be an empress or maid. I assure you that I can do my job better than anyone else if you would allow me to. ...Family? Of course, my heart aches. Even if they treated me like that, we still share the same blood. However, Your Majesty, before that..."

Sylvia slowly clenched her fists as if scratching the carpet. The next moment, thick tears fell on the red carpet. As it began to get wet, the color changed to dark red.

"...I want to live."

I gazed down at her, pale and tired.

Yes, Sylvia.

I just want to live, too.

I couldn't sleep until late.

Sylvia, whom I met in the audience room, was crying so sadly and desperately.

There would only be Raniero Actilus whose heart wouldn't move, seeing her like that.

Nevertheless, it wasn't something I could decide with compassion. No matter how tragic her story was, there was a good chance she may have a grudge against me. If I took her in because she was pitiful, there might be a situation where my throat would be slit.

When I withheld her reply and said I would decide as soon as possible, Sylvia drooped her shoulders and stepped out of the audience room as tears dripped down with a devastated face.

'Oh, really. It's bothering me...'

Cisen opened a bottle of a good bottle of alcohol for me.

So, I leaned against the railing of the terrace and sipped my drink while gazing out. Gradually, as the alcohol intake increased, my body became warmer and my cheeks heated up as the disturbing mood seemed to subside a little.

"What should I do...?"

However, the worries did not go away completely.

Sigh.

Keeping my head down, feeling like everything got messy.

"Aakk!"

"Oh. Is it a chronic disease to scream out of nowhere, too?"

"Euaak—!"

I turned around hurriedly like someone struck by lightning. There, Raniero Actilus was within reach of my nose.

With my eyes wide open, I stuttered.

"Wh, wha—what, what brings you here, hiik?"

I was so surprised that I even hiccuped!

Raniero locked me in his arms with both hands placed on the railing. He then asked softly as he approached closely with his upper body.

"Should I come only when there's something?"

Yes...!

It's not good if you come without anything happening... You have to forget about my existence! Of course, I suggested a game that His Majesty liked very much, but that was something I had to do because I thought I would die if I didn't do it then...

Nevertheless, I couldn't tell the truth so I continued to hiccup and shook my head.

"Well, I think it's time to eventually come back here, isn't that so?"

"In, in that obligation—hiik... Please, feel free. Hiikk."

"Oh, you're hiccuping."

Saying so, he pressed my lips and whispered.

"Poor thing."

I know you don't feel sorry for me at all!

Moments later, he pushed my chin with his thumb and parted my lips. I had no choice but to obey. Raniero then turned his head to conceal my lips.

I was breathing heavily, to the point where my chest was filled with air and to the point where I was narrowly dizzy.

Then, as I fell, the breath I had been holding back rushed out at once.

Raniero watched with interest as my face turned red.

"It's okay now, huh?"

"...."

The hiccup really stopped. This person's talent seems to shine even in the small areas of stopping other people's hiccups...

How annoying.

I looked at Raniero with a preposterous face.

"Thank you."

Huhu—Even though I think like that in my head, I was sincerely expressing my gratitude with my mouth.

I'm so fed up with my immobility, but I can't help it if I want to live.

As I smoothly tried to sneak out of his arms, Raniero tightened the hand holding the railing as if he had sensed my intention. There was no way I could beat his power, so I had to be locked up in this little prison.

"Did you have fun today?"

"What about Your Majesty?"

I sneakily tossed the question back to Raniero. At that, his eyes widened softly at the question.

"Ah, I had a lot of fun. The prey went into this training... Oh, yeah. I added two more rules to the hunting game, huh? Would you like to listen?"

I nodded slowly as a reply.

"One was to give weapons to the prey. If they survive for three hours, they win and will be released, and—Ah, I added the rules at my disposal without telling the Empress in advance. However..."

His eyes, which had been chattering like an excited child, fell and stared at me. It seemed that at night, his eyes glowed even more dangerously against the light of the room.

I shrank a little.

"You won't have any complaints, will you?"

Squeak.

At the tension, my saliva dried up.

I nodded again. After all, hunting was done by Your Majesty, anyway, wouldn't it be all right as long as you enjoyed it...?

Raniero's thin lips drew soft arcs.

"I asked first how your day was."

However, he murmured without explaining what the second rule was instead. His right hand climbed up my arm and rubbed the tip of my hair, before stroking my neck.

"How was the Empress's day today?"

Thinking that I might be strangled, I responded quickly.

"I, I've been busy. There is talk of re-landscaping the garden, reporting and surveying..."

Although I quickly came up with an answer, Raniero had a face that didn't look pleased. Seeing that, I glanced at him and slowly stopped talking. He was wearing an expression like he was about to die of boredom.

"Hmm. Anything other than that boring thing?"

Aaaahhhh—! We need to find a more provocative event...!

"Well, actually..."

In the end, I had no choice but to tell him what happened with Sylvia. After a few moments, Raniero's eyes finally had a lukewarm interest.

"Take her in."

"Yes...?"

I widened my eyes wide because Raniero spoke so easily and simply.

No, this person is talking without thinking...

I'm not a person who possesses both a powerful force and position like Your Majesty. What will happen if I accept this wrongly...?

With that thought, I tried really hard not to utter the word 'but.'

Raniero, who had been fiddling with my lips, which was constantly trying to hold back what I wanted to say, smiled.

"It sounds fun."

What? What's fun?

The days that I worry about whether my food would be poisonous or not...?

However, it wasn't just that. Raniero Actilus's way of thinking was beyond imagination...

"It would be fun to set her up on the hunting grounds as a hunter. Oh, if you do that, wouldn't you be able to wash away the past and prove your loyalty to me?"

Hiik.

After all, it was unimaginable for a criminal like me.