In complete darkness.
Those who could not confirm each other's existence held a secret meeting.
“We succeeded in undermining the Emperor’s power, didn’t we?
We made sure that the medicine is effective even against that monster.”
An ominous voice mixed with a metallic hum began to speak, and another answered:
“But, didn’t this lead to the appearance of the Emperor’s partner?”
Even they themves did not know how many people were present in this place.
Another new voice intervened:
“We shouldn’t just think about it negatively.
If we can find the Emperor’s partner this time and get rid of her...”
A moment of joy passed in silence.
That monster.
The woke one who got the absurd SSS rating.
If only he was eliminated, the empire would collapse without resistance.
This was the ultimate goal they aspired to.
“We have to find her first.”
“We have planted a spy next to the Emperor.”
“Using witches is best.
Don’t you think it might be a good idea to plant seeds of suspicion that Duchess Ariel is involved?”
Fortunately, wizards and awakened people were almost enemies.
It is enough to provide one piece of evidence to make them start attacking each other like dogs and cats.
The person representing them raised his hand, and the loud voices calmed down.
“The guide who is secretly hiding.
To find this person, we must use the portals.
Fortunately, we seem to have a great bait that can move the two groups.”
A mischievous smile crossed the lips of all the meeting participants as they continued speaking softly.
One breath, inhale.
Another breath, exhale, then inhale.
'I can never lose control here.'
Even now, I realized, if my mental state was shaken, the system would open and take control of my body to protect Hilaria's identity.
But relying on will alone will not enable me to overcome the coming things.
However, that face...
'Very scary.
How could this be the face of someone looking at their guide after half the marking had taken place?'
I saw the Emperor sitting reclining on a luxurious chair, crossing one leg over the other, looking at me from above.
Aside from his beautiful face, the aura emanating from behind him was truly terrifying.
'I want to escape.'
There is no doubt that my intense fear of the Emperor goes back to memories of my death.
'I've never been a welcome guide, so I've gone through all kinds of trials, but I've never had an enemy this terrifying.'
I hid my hands, wet with cold sweat, and tried to relax my facial muscles to appear as calm as possible.
I imagined the image of Hilaria, which I imitated over and over until I got bored.
A woman who does not avoid the Emperor's gaze.
An unflinching witch against an SSS Awakener who imposes a breathtaking aura.
'I can do it.
I have to do it to live!'
This was the character I had to play.
“May I ask why you invited me while I am busy, Your Majesty the Emperor?”
It seems my sarcastic tone was perfect.
I clearly saw the Emperor's portrait-like eyebrow raise in annoyance.
He wiped his chin with a calm attitude and looked me up and down.
Every time his gaze passed, I swallowed, but I didn't show it.
This Emperor's calm is fake.
By now, his body must be boiling.
To put it colloquially, his eyes are half crazy.
'He's on the verge of madness.'
You have always been a skilled guide, and have been promoted to S-class.
And now, that power that she had calmed with direct contact was about to explode.
She was screaming for help, in pain.
“You're too good at pretending, Duchess.
Don't you really know why I invited you?”
I was impressed with myf.
What a truly toxic human being.
From the outside alone, no one can imagine enduring pain that tears apart the body.
“So Your Majesty would be so kind as to speak your precious words directly, how can I guess what is in the Emperor’s heart?”
“Is it an illusion?
You sound more impudent than usual, Duchess.”
“And you, Your Majesty, seem to be using a more rude tone than usual as well.”
Tsk, it felt like invisible sparks were flying.
In fact, I was suppressing the trembling of my legs by pinching my hidden hand behind me, but I held on!
“A few days ago, something very important happened to me.
Needless to say, you know.”
“I said I didn't know.
Thinking that the world revolves around your majesty, well, it seems to bring up more shame than you might expect.”
The Emperor's aura became more ferocious.
Um, I'm doing it right, aren't I...?
I felt a little uneasy when the Emperor's lips curled frighteningly.
His beautiful lips were clearly visible in my eyes.
Yes, when I think about what happened a few days ago...
'Are you crazy?' Why are you thinking about this now?'
When I closed my eyes and opened them, the Emperor seemed to misunderstand something, so he raised his hand from the armrest of the chair and placed it on his chin.
“I almost lost control.”
I know.
I know very well.
“There were those who tried, disloyally, to make me lose control, and collected that medicine.
Of course… you have nothing to do with this matter, do you?”
The corner of my mouth twitched.
Yes, this was enough to doubt the Duchess, her constant enemy.
But for me, I was the one who was arrested and...well, the important thing is that I guided, this is a very unfair misunderstanding.
“As I expected, I don’t understand what you mean, Your Majesty.
At that time, I was, as usual, working overtime to complete heavy tasks.”
“You sent Luis away first, didn’t you?”
The emperor's narrow eyes looked like those of a monster.
“It's like you knew something was going to happen.
Was that your foresight, or did you really know something was going to happen?”
I really wanted to break the window and escape.
It's scary.
Very scary!
“How will I know if your unstable power will explode or not?
I don’t know if you will believe this explanation, but I am not involved.”
“Yes, it should be.
But, Duchess, our relationship is very tense, so it is difficult to believe your innocence on your words alone.”
And what next?
Is it possible that this man...
I wanted to avoid his eyes staring directly at me.
I really wanted to.
The more I looked directly into those eyes, the clearer the memory of that day that remained for me alone became.
Then the Emperor said:
“But you, Duchess, do not ask how I survived the loss of control.”
“As if you already knew the outcome.”
What a ghost-like man!
My heart was now beating as if it was going to explode.
If the pulse increases further here, the system window will definitely take away control of my body.
'No, it's okay.
This man doesn't know that I'm that guide.
He doesn't know this at all.'
The other day, when I secretly tried couning while struggling with anxiety, I discovered something startling.
My face in the mirror.
Rather, my eye color changed.
In fact, among the description of the person the Emperor's Knights were looking for was golden eyes.
Completely different from my usual red eyes!
'So, this is not a test to see if I am that mentor.
If he really doubts me, it will be for another reason.'
Because I'm a witch.
“My loyal knights are searching for the guide who calmed the loss of control.
And... they have found no one.
Do you know what this means, Duchess?”
Cold sweat flowed.
The man's eyes narrowed, bent as if he was having fun, and gripped my heart tightly.
“My knights suspect that my guide may be among the witches.”
An involuntary curse came out.
“If it turns out in the future that my guide is a witch, the leader of the witches will be accused of deliberately concealing it to embarrass me.”
This was pressure and threat.
“Before that happens, Duchess, wouldn’t it be better if you took action yourf?”
"What?"
I exhaled and said:
“What do you want from me?”
And looking into his eyes that I wanted to avoid.
As if the words he wanted had finally been said, the Emperor smiled deeply as he looked at me as if I were a trapped mouse.
“Look for her.”
He was so handsome that he gave me goosebumps.
“Find my guide yourf, Duchess.
This is the only way to prove your innocence.”
I felt as if my soul was being pulled out.
Instead of erasing the evidence and running away, I get into a ridiculous situation where I have to find myf and introduce myf to this man.