"Shit?"

Lyle was stunned.

As he sat in bed, waiting for the servants to bring Medea, his stomach boiled.

The fact that the maids and the escorts didn't know that the Empress had escaped meant that she didn't go out through the bedroom door. In short, through the window.

Seeing the natural escape route from the window, railing, and balcony, Lyle immediately went out of the window and followed Medea's trail.

The thought of Medea traversing this dangerous way, in a skirt no less, aggravated him.

'That's right, I wasn't angry or worried. It didn't matter to me if she died, so why would I be mad?'

However, he is annoyed to be put in this embarrassing situation of having to search the Imperial Palace after a run-away Empress in the middle of the night.. ... .

"It seems even now you are looking for an escape and trying to run away."

Lyle was so thunderstruck he thought for a moment his soul was going to ascend to heaven.

"Why am I, the Empress, alone in this place? Am I forgetting my identity?"

Medea could die from embarrassment, but upon seeing Lyle's angry visage, decided to use her prepared-in-advance "getaway" card early.

She continued with her rehearsed excuse.

"I remember being worried because you didn't come no matter how long I waited, so I went to search for you."

"Alone? In the middle of the night?"

"Because there was the possibility of you not coming, and I didn't want to attract humiliating rumors." So she sneaked out without a maid or guard; this was the alibi Medea had spun. It was watertight while pointing some blame at him. Lyle couldn't be mad after this.

"This isn't the path to my office."

"Oh, really?! My memory is incomplete, and I got lost. The Imperial Palace during the day and the Imperial Palace at night are different."

What a shameless lie.

This point did not change significantly before or after losing her memory.

Lyle frowned.

"You could have asked for directions."

"But if I did, it would have surely caused a big commotion. I wanted to avoid the attention."

"Isn't it night?"

The sight of Medea not losing a word between them filled Lyle with anger.

"I'm sorry if I unintentionally made your Majesty uncomfortable."

Lyle watched Medea politely bowing her head to apologize.

Even though it was a blatant lie, between her smooth-talking and plausible deniability, and the futility in arguing over it, Lyle decided to leave it be for now.

"It's very late."

Lyle spit out coldly. He sensed them and turned his head toward the approaching servants.

"Get a bedroom nearby. The Empress and I will rest there."

* * *