* * *

Zerkan took Raffine to the Empress Palace.

The Empress was startled to see the two soaked in the rain and ordered the maids to bring towels.

Sophia gently wiped Raphine's water, and Zerkan looked at her with a blank look.

It was when the maids who approached were about to wipe Zerkan's wet hair with a towel.

"Come here, Zerkan."

The Empress spoke to Zerkan and reached out to the maid. The maid immediately handed the towel to the empress.

Zerkan approached awkwardly and stared blankly at the Empress who was wiping her wet hair.

The Empress frowned and said.

"How the hell did this happen.... I told you not to lose your dignity under any circumstances."

Raphine, who listened quietly, thought to herself.

'Ugh. Start nagging again.'

Raphine said.

"Mom. I got lost, and Zerkan's brother came to find me. So it rained."

As she mumbled loudly as if speaking to her mother, the Empress closed her mouth and focused on wiping off Zerkan's water.

After a while.

The two children wrapped themselves in blankets and squatted in front of the fireplace.

"Stay like this until the maid comes with a change of clothes."

Because the Empress gave orders to the two children.

Raphine glanced at the empress and mother talking over there and thought about it.

'I've got to get things done a little faster.'

Then he turned his head and looked at Zerkan next to him.

Zerkan, who blinked slowly while basking in the light, looked just like a cute cat.

In fact, Raphine had thought of Zerkan as a time bomb.

But the Zerkan was not a time bomb.

There were only 'adults' who made Zerkan like that.

* * *

a few days later.

Raphine came to Hwangseong while waving her sketchbook.

And while the mother and the empress were having a conversation, they said that they would go to meet Zerkan and left.

"I want to go down that road today."

"The road to Seogung is over there, miss."

"But I want to go over there. Let's go for a walk, okay?"

Raphine asked, and the maid nodded her head as if she couldn't help it.

The two took a walk in the corridor and admired the beautiful scenery of the garden.

Raphine apologized to herself.

'Pretty maid, I'm sorry.'

Orphana, now!

A stream of water came from a small fountain right next to it! and started jumping.

"Damn!"

When the water suddenly rose right in front of her, the maid took a step back and shouted.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Just then, a knight walking from the opposite side ran and supported the bewildered maid.

'This is the time.'

Raphine leaned over and ran to one side, avoiding their gaze.

* * *

It was when Raphine, who was running frantically, turned a corner.

puck!

Raphine shattered after bumping into someone.

No, I almost would have been ripped off.

"are you okay?"

Unless someone caught Raphine.

Raphine blinked and looked intently at the person holding her.

He was a young nobleman, very tall and handsome.

"You have to be careful. This is the Sun Palace where His Majesty the Emperor resides, so you must not run around."

The man slightly bent his knees, made eye contact with Rafine, and explained kindly.

Then he picked up the dropped papers one by one. Raphine also picked up the documents accordingly.

"thank you. You are a sweet girl."

He said kindly and tilted his head and asked.

"But who is the little girl...."

"I am Raphine Aston. I'm here to see His Majesty the Emperor!"

"Huh, then the Duke of Aston.... But what did you say? Your Majesty?"

"Yeah!"

"... Do you have any promises with your Majesty the Emperor?"

Raphine nodded her head in quick succession at those words.

"Hmm.... Then I'll pick you up. Oh, my name is Peter Grint."

The man who introduced himself led Raffine to the emperor's office without a single doubt.

He didn't seem to have thought that the daughter of the Duke of Aston would lie.

'Are you naive or stupid?'

Raphine glanced at the man. There was no doubt about the straight face.

'Oh, I see.'

Raphine frowned. It was because I thought I had seen this person's name in the original.

'Oh, I remembered!'

A person who died while giving advice after the 2nd prince became emperor!

He remembered Antonio as he was the first person to be executed after he became emperor.

'I made Antonio angry by spewing out only the first words.'

Upon arriving in front of the office, the man explained the situation to the servant and secretary who were waiting at the door.

"... So, your Majesty has an appointment with this little girl?"

The secretary stared at the man with a look as if he was joking.

The man looked at Raphine in bewilderment. It was an attempt to explain.

Raphine opened her mouth.

"Right. When I met your majesty at your palace, I made a promise to your majesty."

"Hmm...."

When the Empress was mentioned, the secretary narrowed her eyes with a long gazing and told her to wait for a while.

Then went inside. It looked like he was trying to see if it was real.

'I made a promise.'

Raphine was proud.

Soon, the secretary came out and let Raffine in with a confused expression.

'Also. The emperor is a person who can't contain his curiosity, so if I told him I'd come, he would be puzzled and let me in.'

If you hadn't let me in, I might have been lying here.

Upon entering, I saw the emperor and his secretary sitting on a large sofa.

"... Really. I thought the secretary was joking."

As soon as the emperor saw Raphine, he mumbled that. It was a face full of tiredness.

"Let everyone go out."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

At those words, the secretaries 'lived.' went out with a smirk. Everyone looked at Raphine like a benefactor.

Raphine clicked inwardly as she looked at the papers and coffee piled up on the large table.

Then he sat on the sofa and looked at the emperor.

"Yeah, did you make an appointment with me? When did you make that promise? Did the Duke of Aston tell you to lie?"

The emperor was also quick-tempered and curious.

To the extent that he asks such questions one after another to the child.

Raphine said proudly.

"When I saw you at the palace of the Empress, Your Majesty said: 'See you later.' like this."

"What?"

The emperor frowned and traced his memory.

Then I remembered the words that came out of my mouth.

It was empty to anyone looking at it.

The emperor thought as he looked at Raphine with his eyes wide open.

They say you have to be careful with your words in front of small children.... It seemed that he did not accept the empty words as empty words and thought that they were real.

Anyway, what I said was true, so the emperor coughed in vain.

In fact, it was true that I was curious because it was the first time this had happened.

A noble child, and also the daughter of the Duke of Aston, is coming to visit him. It was something I had never imagined.

I was still in trouble because I was sleepy, but as if it was okay, the emperor looked at the child and asked.

"Okay, what's the purpose of coming to see me?"

"I want to show you a picture I drew. I learned painting from a court painter."

"Yeah, I heard about it, but...."

The emperor looked at Raphine with a slightly puzzled expression on her sketchbook.

'Aren't you afraid of me?'

How was Crown Prince Zerkan around this time? .... Maybe they didn't even make eye contact.

Second Prince Antonio was equally afraid of him.

Perhaps because of his sharp impression, it was not an appearance that children liked and felt comfortable with.

Moreover, when the emperor himself was this young, he thought his father was the scariest thing in the world.

"Aren't you afraid of me?"

With such thoughts in mind, the emperor asked impulsively.

Raphine answered the unexpected question while looking at the emperor with her eyes wide open.

"... I am not afraid of handsome people."

At those words, the emperor smirked as if he was stunned.

Observing the emperor's reaction, Raphine breathed a sigh of relief inwardly.

To be honest, I'd be lying if I said it wasn't scary.

However, whether the answer to the social life max level skill was satisfactory, the emperor's expression softened.

Eventually, the emperor turned to Raffine's open sketchbook.

"I drew hard to show off to His Majesty the Emperor!"

At Raphine's words, the emperor looked at the painting seriously.

The drawing skills weren't bad. It really makes me wonder if it was drawn by a child. There were some clunky corners, but it was pretty good.

'Thank you, Ruby.'

Seeing the emperor's reaction, Raphine said to Ruby inwardly.

This painting was drawn with the help of Ruby.

While the baby teddy bear was painting hard in front of the easel, Raphine watched.

"Hmm, that's pretty good. Are these your father and mother?"

The emperor beckoned to the figure in the picture and asked.

In the picture, men and women who looked like young men and women were standing in front of a certain river.

Raphine shook her head and said.

"This is your Majesty the Emperor, and this is your Majesty the Empress."

"What?"

"Your Majesty the Empress did that. I once went for a walk along the Ren River with His Majesty the Emperor, and the weather was very nice."

"... Did the Empress say such a thing?"