Enya seems to think he helped her, but she was always the one who kept Dale alive.
Her smile was always as bright as sunlight, and her very presence gave him room to breathe.
Enya hasn't changed a bit.
She was the same girl who had smiled so broadly as a child, and still did.
“…Your Majesty?”
Then Suho's breath reached his ear uncomfortably.
clink.
Dale, who was writing Enya's name without thinking, frowned.
“What are you thinking like that?
I asked for Your Majesty’s opinion on whether it would be better to suspend or investigate what I just mentioned.”
“…….”
He was so busy thinking about Enya that he sometimes lost his mind.
“There you go again, lost in love.”
All his assistants knew why he was doing this.
Whenever His Majesty, who was always cold-hearted, raised his lips slightly, it was when he was thinking of her.
The aides wanted to leave, wondering if it was a good thing that the Emperor did not hear everything at once.
“I will submit my report then, Your Majesty.”
He looked at Dale and read from the papers.
“There has been a noble woman who has recently been extorting huge sums of money from merchants and commoners alike, treating them like servants.”
“…….”
Dale's eyebrows rose.
It was the kind of inconvenience he hated.
But it was not of the kind that could be reported to the Emperor himself.
Dale listened to what Suho said for now.
“Private gambling house, reported twenty-six times.
Two hundred and eighty thousand Crobats in damages.
Eighty-eight complaints of tampering.
Three nobles complain of bribes and disappearances.
Goods taken without payment.”
Hmm.
The list went on for pages.
“Housing was also taken without paying for it, and the total damage between the two amounted to seven million Croats.”
“You are late in investigating.”
Dale handed over the papers and checked the time frame of the incidents.
It's been happening slowly and steadily for a while now.
“Who is responsible for this?”
“As written below.”
Suho spoke, his face full of justice.
“Princess Enya Lockhart.”
“Princess Enya Lockhart.”
Dale closed his eyes tightly.
The assistant pulled Suho to sit down, and the atmosphere in the room turned cold.
He knew what the princess meant to the Emperor.
And it was Lockhart.
Precious daughter of the Duke of Lockhart, the current Chancellor.
“Why wasn't this reported before now?”
“Because she's Princess Lockhart.”
Dale looked at the records and how the case was handled.
His aides must have known about this for a long time.
The records made that clear beyond a reasonable doubt.
They covered it up
“You covered it up because she's from the Lockhart family.”
POV.
Dale threw the papers onto the desk.
“This is pathetic, Suho, and you know it.”
"I knew.
I was wrong."
The Emperor's stern behavior left his aides speechless, and they bowed their heads.
He tapped on the papers.
“Investigate this further.
Leave no doubt.”
“Yes?
But…….”
“I thought you were talented people selected through a test, but maybe you were fools.”
He whispered in a low voice.
"Don't you dare say you did it for me, Suho.
Are you a servant or someone performing official duties for the Imperial Palace?"
"……I apologize."
Suho bowed deeply.
With a short sigh, Dale turned to the case record.
“This is the work of those who know that Princess Lockhart has escaped.
Impersonation.”
Reports had come in from all over the empire, enough to make anyone who knew Enya doubt that it was really her.
It had only been a month since his aides had been informed.
The empire was large, and the local lords, fearing the Lockhart family, did not report the incidents to the Imperial Palace.
This was discovered during a county examination during which the lords were questioned.
Aides tried to cover it up.
“We have not had any casualties recently, and the timing coincides with His Majesty’s meeting with the princess.”
Suho spoke cautiously.
“As much as I would like to believe it wasn’t the princess herself…….”
There was circumstantial evidence, as well as accounts and testimonies of traders.
But there was also something strange on Suho's mind.
He had never met her in person, but he noticed how she made the Emperor smile, how his mood became more sour when she was in the countryside, and how she actually saved Grunwald's life and made a deal with him this time.
From afar, she was the perfect empress.
Suho was equally embarrassed.
“My apologies, sir.
I intended to find out more and tell you more.”
“People who know Princess Lockhart is on the run.”
Dale mumbled, running his hand along his sharp jawline.
"I."
Dale wrote his name.
“And you, and the assistants.”
“Yes.
Your Majesty.”
“And the people of the Duchy of Lockhart.”
and…….
The faction of the ancient aristocracy.
Those who know about her escape.
Those who want to slander Princess Lockhart.
Those who want to get closer and get information.
“Is the advisor in the palace?”
Dale, agile as a black panther, rose from his seat.
“I must see Duke Lockhart now.”
* * *
“This is crazy.”
The words came out without me realizing it.
But it was exactly the truth.
'Is this me?'
Was there someone else besides me?
Incarnation was an incredible thing, the soul could be divided into two parts, however.
“Where are the clothes you ordered?”
“It's in the room reserved for you.”
“The carpet is rough.
I don't walk on bad carpets, and you know how annoying it is when my shoe soles are worn out.”
She looked nothing like me except her taste in dresses.
She stared silently at the back of her head.
click.
The door to the room she entered closed behind her, and the staff let out a collective sigh.
I asked quietly.
“Are you sure it's the princess?”
"Yes, Princess Lockhart.
She's famous."
The employee whispered in a low voice, as if she was careful not to be heard.
“When Princess Lockhart comes, the whole day is tense, because as scary as she is, she is the best customer who spends their money well.”
"…… truly?"
Then the shop door opened again.
This time, two women entered.
“Where did Miss Lockhart get into?”
“The rose room.”
“You should have told me before I asked, you made my mouth hurt.”
"correct."
'What is this?'
Surprise camera?
“They are the princess’s maids.”
“Maids?”
“The one who spoke, they say she is the princess’s favorite maid.
She has been with her since she was a little girl.
She knows everything, and she is very beautiful.
Her name is probably…….”
“Emma”
“Yes, Emma.”
“And the other one?”
“I don't know, but I think she's a maid in the same Lockhart mansion.”
“…….”
Suddenly, I felt as if I had fallen into a parallel world that I did not know.
Is that Princess Lockhart, and is Emma that girl?
'The Emma I know is much prettier and smarter.
I have to tell her about this.
Sue
You like this.”
It bothered me that I hadn't seen Emma since I came to DC, but I knew she would be happy to hear it.
“How do you intend to help me, noble princess?
If you have pity on me, give me some bread, or… treat me.”
Emma and I first met in a dark alley.