Murderous Emperor’s Inconvenient Behavior

Birds were chirping as the two people walked through the forest.

The sweet smell of flowers and the fresh smell of grass filled the forest.

When the Emperor arrived in front of the mansion, her body finally stopped being so tense.

Claire took a deep breath of the forest air. Eiden walked beside her at the same speed.

They didn’t talk as they walked through the forest.

Not a single word.

Almost no noise.

“Right there, Your Majesty.”

“Do you want to say something?”

‘I don’t have anything to say, of course. I’m someone who was brought against my will to your kingdom, and you’re the Emperor.’

She saw again how far away they were from each other.

“It’s way too quiet.”

“I like the quiet.”

“I see.”

She wondered if she should talk to him to make him feel better, but it was fine. Claire had a happy mood as she walked.

Since she came here, this was the first time she had a sense of freedom. She had also never left the house before.

Was it because things had changed? The same air didn’t feel the same. She felt like she had gone to a faraway place.

“But, you see.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Claire was suddenly aware that she wasn’t alone when she heard his voice. She was with the Emperor, who had a huge presence.

“Whither went the dog? Did it run away?”

“If you’re talking about Tos, he should already be at his home, eating a monster, er, I mean, his prey.”

“Is it true? He’s probably eating a monster with a lot of gusto at home, right?”

She didn’t say that, but Eiden had a weird way of knowing what she meant.

“Did he tell you when he was coming back?”

“Of course!”

When he made fun of Tos, Claire’s cheeks turned red.

“Tos is a clever kid. He already knew I couldn’t keep him at the ducal house. He said he would be at home and could return at any time.”

“How?”

“…With hand motions?”

“Really, that’s great. A woman who can communicate with animals.”

He was obviously making fun of her, but his face was so serious that she couldn’t say anything back.

“Anyway, I’m glad he’s not out somewhere hungry and looking for food. After we said goodbye at the palace, I was a little worried.”

He laughed out loud for some reason.

“What’s making you laugh?”

“It was him who took my game. Why should you worry about such a thing?”

If it were up to the Emperor… It was a scary thing. And Tos ate that monster with a lot of hunger.

She suddenly wondered if it was normal for puppies to eat monsters.

Most likely not. She had never heard of dogs or any other animals hunting and eating monsters.

If people find out what Tos eats, they won’t leave him alone.

They might try to kill Tos by saying he’s a possessed dog or that he might turn into a monster.

“Tos ate something scary. What do we do?”

Claire looked very serious as she asked.

“Doesn’t that sound good?”

“Is it normal for a cute little dog to eat a monster?”

“That’s not the norm.”

“…”

“I’ve never heard of an animal eating a monster before. Don’t monsters have poisons in their bodies?”

Claire’s mouth dropped open in shock. Tos had eaten a poisonous monster, which was very tasty for him apparently.

“So Tos is going to die, right?”

“He probably won’t.”

“Really?”

“Animals naturally stay away from monsters. Even if they are dead, they don’t eat them. Because the poison kills them as soon as they put it in their mouths. But how did he do that?”

“You mean putting it in your mouth kills you right away?”

“Yes.”

Tos not only put it in his mouth, but also tore it into pieces and ate them.

“Tos didn’t die…”

“Then don’t worry about anything. He might have gotten stronger from eating the monster.”

He said it in a soft, low voice.

Claire gave Eiden a look. When she heard what he said, she thought that’s how it would really go.

The wind blew his short hair around. Suddenly, she was interested in how he looked behind his mask.

What did he think at that moment?

Even though they hadn’t met very often, Eiden was always up to something.

In the past, he told her with a cold face that he would kill her, but now, when she was afraid about Tos, he looked at her with a kind eye.

Eiden, who had been looking off into the distance, turned toward her all of a sudden.

“Sh, should we turn around now?”

In a hurry, Claire turned her head away.

“There’s something else I need to tell you before that.”

“What’s that?””

“You will soon go to the empire.”

“Yes.”

“We’re going together.”

“Whaaat? What do you mean, Your Majesty, by going with you?”

The sweet atmosphere went away, and a look that seemed angry came right at her.

“I mean that we’re going to the empire together.”

“Why? What’s the point of this?”

She thought that after the walk with the Emperor today, she wouldn’t have to see him again. She was going to live in the kingdom with as little attention as a dead mouse. Because it’s likely that everyone who is a hostage would do the same thing.

“Why is your reaction like that?”

He turned his head just a little bit.

“I’m surprised, of course.”

“Is it so weird that I’m going to the empire with a woman?”

“Yes, of course.”

“I just don’t see why.”

“What do you think people will think about when the Emperor and his hostage arrive together? It will also seem strange to other people.”

“What other people think of me has nothing to do with me.”

She didn’t know what to say to that. The ruler was in a place where he didn’t care what other people thought of him.

But for her, things were different. She didn’t want to go to the empire because she was afraid that her true name would be found out.

“Why are you not answering?”

Behind the mask, his eyes got narrow.

“It’s a pleasure to be with you.”

Claire took a light hold of the dress’s hem and bent her knees.

If she said no when he was so insistent, it might make him wonder what was going on. It would be better to just give up and figure out what to do instead.

Eiden told her that they should go back, which she quickly agreed to.

On the way back to the ducal house, he was kind to Andre and didn’t drive him too fast. He let Andre do whatever he wanted.

Andre took a slow step. He would stick his nose into flowers, stand still and chew grass, and wag his tail while watching flying insects.

Because of this, Claire had to spend a long time in the emperor’s arms.

By the time they got to the ducal house, she was worn out. Her whole body felt like it was melting like wax.

“I didn’t think we’d get there so soon.”

Eiden put her down and made a statement that wasn’t funny.

“I liked today. Please come back safe.”

Claire just managed to steady herself enough to say goodbye.

“As soon as I get back, I’ll make the plans…”

But before he was done talking.

Thump, thump, thump, thump.

There was the sound of horses running. It seemed very important, like someone’s life was at stake.

Eiden and Claire turned to look at the person who showed up out of the blue.

“Big brother?”

When she saw the person on the horse, Claire mumbled.

With a serious face, Richard kept a tight hold on Chandler. Chandler finally stopped in front of them, making a cloud of dust. Chandler’s heavy foaming and breathing made it look like he had run for a long time without stopping.

“Big brother, what’s going on?”

Claire tried to talk to Richard. But before she could move, someone grabbed her wrist.

“… Your Majesty?”

Claire was confused as she looked up at Eiden, who had her wrist in his hand.

Eiden was giving Richard the evil eye. He looked at her as if she had taken away some of his precious time.

“It’s dangerous to get too close.”

Eiden looked like she was worried about what Chandler might do when he was upset.

“If it’s Chandler, that’s fine.”

“That’s not fine to me.”

Eiden took his eyes off Richard and looked at Claire instead.

“Your Royal Majesty.”

Richard said something. His face, which had been put together, showed that he was relaxed. Only the tiny beads of sweat on his temples showed that he had been riding hard until just then.

“Duke Stanton.”

Eiden lifted his chin in a proud way to show that he knew.

“Why are you here without telling me?”

“I did. Yesterday.”

“Hoo… why did I only get the letter today?”

Richard took a long, angry breath out.

“Isn’t it lucky that the message made it? Is there anything wrong?”

“As the head of the house, I was afraid I might have been careless by having a guest over.”

Claire’s eyes got really big.

The words ‘head’ and ‘guest’ were stressed in a strange way.

It could mean that the Emperor was just a guest at Grizmen’s house and not the owner.

She thought it was strange that Richard was making trouble for the Emperor.

Did this matter to the Emperor? Claire stole a quick look at Eiden.

Behind the mask, his eyes looked funny. No, was it mockery?

“You think too little of your younger sister. Thanks to the Lady, I was given a very warm welcome.”

Richard looked at Claire when he said that.

“Don’t worry about anything. She took very good care of me.”

“Taken very good care of? Whatt?”

Richard raised one eyebrow.

“I served tea and then went for a walk.”

“A walk?”

Richard looked back and forth between Claire and Eiden in shock.

It made sense that Richard would act that way. Eiden wasn’t the type to do things like drink tea or go for a walk that kids do.

“So, now…”

Richard looked down and saw that Eiden was still holding Claire’s wrist with her hand.

Claire was surprised. She was thinking about Richard so much that she didn’t notice the Emperor still had her wrist.

“We were in the middle of saying goodbye.”

As Eiden gently took her hand, he bowed his head a little. The back of her hand was touched by his lips.

His mouth moved away from her hand after he gave her an embarrassingly loud kiss.

“Today was fun for me.”

The mask had blue eyes that looked right at Claire.

Thump, thump. Again, her heart beat fast. Her lips parted on their own.

When Eiden saw this, the tip of his mouth turned up.

“Then I’ll see you at the Empire, Your Highness.”

Richard spoke as Eiden turned to leave.

“You don’t seem to know.”

When the Emperor said something threatening, Richard’s face changed.

“The Lady and I have both agreed to go to the Empire together.”

He talked like they went to a flower fair with just the two of them in a way that made it sound like he was bragging.

“With Your Majesty?”

“Right.”

“I’ve never heard of it before. What’s more, why would you bother to do something like that?”

“Isn’t Lady Alicia already on her way to the Empire? So am I. Is there a good reason why we shouldn’t go together?”

“But.”

“I’ve made that choice. If you don’t agree, give a good reason why.”

He couldn’t bring any with him. Even though the Emperor’s words were crazy, they couldn’t be proven wrong.

The Emperor and Richard looked at each other at the same time.

“Understood. Do I need to know anything else?”

Richard reluctantly agreed, but his face was dark as he did so.

“There’s more, but it’s very private, so I can’t talk about it. Right, Lady?”

As he said these strange words, Eiden looked at Claire.

Richard looked at him in a serious way.

Claire didn’t know what to do when she was stuck between the two guys.

“Hmm, I’m excited about what’s coming.”

After he said those words, Eiden left.

After the Emperor and his group had left, not even an ant could be seen moving around in the house.

Claire and Richard were left alone in the empty place.

Richard finally looked at her.

“Claire.”

His deep voice called her. The fact that he didn’t call her Alicia shows that he was in a very bad mood.

“Yes, Duke.”

“I’d like to know what went wrong.”

“You must. Ask me anything.”

“Let’s go into the study.”

Richard turned his back on Claire and walked away coldly. Claire walked slowly after him.

But someone was already sitting in the study when they got there.

“Richard!”

Lady Stanton got up and her face was pale. Alicia, who had been sitting next to her, also got up.

“Brother! You may have seen the Emperor. How terrible he looked!”

“Why did you have to leave the house on this most important day! I thought I was going to die trying to greet the Emperor by myself.”