A very skinny man.
He looked like he hadn't eaten in days.
“What do you think you're doing to trip me up like this?”
The man shouted angrily.
“From your appearance, you are neither a maid nor the mistress of the house.
What are you doing in the lord’s storeroom?
Do you have permission to be here?”
The man with the most suspicious appearance was trying to turn the tables and make me the suspicious one.
‘He, with those dark circles that seem to reach his cheeks, is definitely the most suspicious person here.’
I took off my dirt-covered gloves and put them aside.
"I have permission.
My name is Anne.
Didn't the lord tell you about me?"
"that?"
He muttered as if he had never heard of me before.
“And who are you?”
“I, I…”
Before he could finish, the man collapsed.
“Excuse me?”
I approached him and checked his pulse.
He was still alive.
“So...hungry...”
“….”
Roar, roar.
The sound was almost loud.
* * *
“Maybe it's a good opportunity to re-evaluate the boundaries of each region.”
“Every area?”
Dale sat frowning, processing the piling up paperwork.
“Is this impossible?”
“No, that's a great idea!”
Since Enya exposed corruption in the border regions, all other regions are now under investigation as well.
The maps defining the boundaries of the empire's territories were ancient, and many changes had occurred over the years due to regional wars.
The main reason was the misconduct of the previous emperor.
He turned a blind eye to those who expanded their lands without justification, and even rewarded them for it.
When territory expanded, the taxes payable should have increased, but tax rates remained unchanged.
This meant that the previous emperor deliberately allowed the princes to pay less in taxes than they were entitled to, allowing them to illegally increase their wealth.
“Proceed with caution.”
"Where should we start?
West?
East?
I suggest we start investigating Duke Hexagon since he is currently under house arrest."
“How long has Max Hexagon been detained?”
Dale put down his pen and looked at his chief aide, so upright that he looked stiff.
“Nine years and seven months.”
“There are six months left, then.”
Dale frowned slightly, picked up his pen, and began quietly writing on the document.
“Your Majesty, this is an official document.”
“It's a petition to reinstate the Hexagon.
Do you want to see it, Suho?”
“I will get rid of it immediately.”
Suho obediently took the document Del handed over without looking at it and threw it away.
'I can't read His Majesty's mood anymore.'
Since meeting the missus, he seemed in better spirits even though he was tired.
But lately, it was hard to tell if he was in a good mood or not.
'He's not the type of person who usually meditates.'
As for the Emperor, he was a man who always carried out his decisions.
Finding Miss Lockhart was one such example, and his bold move of personally going to fetch her was - in Soho's eyes - quite remarkable.
Suho remembered the past.
‘…What does it mean when someone disappears the morning after receiving a marriage proposal?’
The examination questions for entering the capital were not more difficult than this question at that time.
He remembered how depressed His Majesty had been even though he had finally found Miss Lockhart.
'But even an emperor cannot maintain a false life indefinitely.'
For some reason, their workload had increased over the past three years, as if someone had cursed them to work them to death.
It was clear they were going to get busier.
The examination to reform the entire empire had not yet begun.
Once careful examination is completed, conflicts are bound to arise between regions.
By then, Duke Hexagon will most likely appear in chains and…
“I have to go.”
As Suho was filled with worry, he saw Dale standing up.
Night had already fallen.
“I will find a way for Your Majesty to move to the capital.”
“Are you planning to tell Miss about me?”
Dale looked at him as if he wouldn't forgive him if he did that.
“But, Your Majesty, your health is deteriorating.”
“Enough.”
Dale gave him a sharp look before tearing open a magic scroll.
Without another word, he disappeared to Grunwald.
“You are truly wonderful, Your Majesty...”
Instead, Suho put on the emperor's robe, hid his face, and headed to the emperor's room.
He dutifully played the role of the emperor's doppelgänger, and lay down on the spacious bed.
And shed a single tear.
'I want to go home.'
It was an ordinary night, as almost three months had passed without leaving the palace.
***
“I'm back...”
"Dale!
Are you back?"
Dale froze when he entered.
“…Something seems strange in this house.”
Dale looked at the man with an expression one might reserve for the unwanted litter in a newlyweds' home.
He looked a little pale.
He looked at the man as he hurriedly ate his meal.
"Him?
Well, he collapsed so I brought him here."
“It collapsed, as you say.”
Dale's expression darkened as he looked at the man.
“The most dangerous individuals are often those who appear helpless.
Enya, you should come here.”
“He collapsed in the Lord's castle.”
“In that case, he must be handed over to Lord Grunwald.”
For a moment, Dale's face grew darker.
“Did he catch your eye?”
“No, he’s a thief.”
She was sure who this man was.
“When I caught him, he smelled like weed.
And look at his fingertips.”
The man's fingertips were stained yellow.
The stalks of grass had dyed his mouth yellow from the juice.
The same reason explains the yellow color around his mouth.
Dale hid me behind his back, still looking at the man suspiciously.
“burp”
“….”
“Ah… I feel alive again.
Thank you.
Really, thank you, miss.”
“He says he ate it because he was starving.”
I whispered to Dale.
This man was a newly hired servant in the Lord's Castle.
He was mainly responsible for keeping the castle clean.
“I'm sorry, miss.
I had a lot of work to do, my salary was very low, and there was nothing to eat…….”
"But theft is still theft, so I brought him here.
We can't let him escape."
“How much compensation do you want to get?”
Dale asked me quietly.
However, this man did not seem to have much to offer in terms of financial compensation.
The anxiety caused by his pitiful appearance was just an added annoyance.
However, it may be useful.
“Given that he chose the herbs to eat, he must have some knowledge.”
“...!”
Suddenly, the man's eyes widened.
He quickly covered his face and looked stunned.
His unusually thin frame, his voracious appetite, and the way he lived in which he concealed his identity, reminded me of a scene from the original novel.
[She couldn't escape the room.
The lock, which was made with the utmost care by a man reputed to be the greatest alchemist and blacksmith, could not be opened by any means.]
[Getting a new key was impossible.
Fearing that someone would help her escape, the Emperor killed the man who made the lock].
[The capital was thrown into chaos when the man who played an important role in making weapons for the Knights disappeared.]
The alchemist had exchanged some words with the original heroine.
The Empress, who was bored and had little to do in the capital, wandered into the palace and came across him while he was working.
This was the beginning of it all.
The Empress praised his skills and recognized his abilities.
And that alchemist is probably...
[He was rumored to be an eccentric, engaging in strange research, which made him a target of scorn, causing him to wander around the region.]
He had a distinctive trait.
One of the reasons the Empress had initially taken an interest in him was precisely this reason.
“Did you really eat them because you were hungry?”
"… I'm sorry."
The man trembled, kneeling in front of me.
His cheeks were thin, and dark circles were prominent under his eyes.
And there was a smell.
The smell of deep sickness.
There was a reason the alchemist from the original novel couldn't resist death.
That reason was the illness he suffered from.