ALL NOVEL chapter 13
13 – Emperor 6
I was kidnapped again this time. I wasn’t surprised because I had expected to be kidnapped this time.
I was kidnapped, and there before my eyes stood the emperor.
I was experiencing something no one else could.
“Sigh…”
I heard the deep sigh of the emperor.
What’s going on?
“Your Majesty, you seem deeply troubled. Is something the matter?”
The emperor looked at me in response to my question and pressed his temple as if in pain.
“Last night, a rogue cardinal appeared at Marquis Ash’s estate. And the story spread throughout the empire overnight. Was it your doing?”
“Of course! Didn’t you say there was a good way for me?”
Who else but me could come up with such a good idea in an instant?
The emperor’s response to my answer was a bitter laugh.
“Well, it was indeed a good idea. Thanks to it, everyone in the empire has started to take an interest in the rogue cardinal.”
As the emperor said, everyone had started to take an interest in the rogue cardinal because of this incident.
People who were around during the time when the rogue cardinal was active speculated about his sudden movement after more than 20 years.
Those born after the rogue cardinal’s activities ended learned about him through this incident.
Everyone began to take an interest in the rogue cardinal, but no one could know that the rogue cardinal was the emperor.
Because last night, everyone in the palace knew that the emperor was present.
“Sigh… No one has ever pretended to be the rogue cardinal so far.”
Well, of course not. Where would you find someone crazy enough to impersonate the rogue cardinal, who stole the empire’s national treasure? The moment someone impersonates him, the entire empire would try to catch them.
“Thanks to that, it was easy for me to impersonate him.”
There’s no one crazier than me.
“Anyway, since the fact that I am the thief Cardinal won’t be revealed, go ahead and give me the promised elixir.”
“I worked not specifically for the elixir but to alleviate the Emperor’s worries about ruling the empire.”
“Then let’s consider the elixir non-existent.”
“I will gladly accept it!”
I interrupted the Emperor’s words and replied.
I thought I might get another elixir if I flattered him a bit, but oh well.
“Here is the elixir you so desperately wanted. Take it.”
I took the elixir the Emperor handed me. A golden elixir shining brightly. The imperial elixir that even with all the money in the world, one couldn’t obtain.
While I was happy to receive the elixir, the Emperor casually spoke.
“So, what did you steal from Lord Ashe?”
But contrary to the casual remark, I couldn’t take it lightly. It felt like the words were engraved in my mind. Evidence that the Emperor was using domination.
The first time, I couldn’t even breathe, and my hands were trembling, but the second time, I could endure it. The Emperor, seeing me withstand the power of domination, looked at me with amusement.
“Oh? You seem to be growing day by day.”
“That’s one of my many charms.”
“But right now, I don’t feel like joking much.”
The dominating aura pressing me became stronger.
As if lies were unforgivable.
“Didn’t I tell you in the newspaper that Lord Ashe did not steal anything when he encountered the thief Cardinal?”
Checking the newspaper this morning, it indeed mentioned Lord Ashe encountering the thief Cardinal, but he stated that nothing was stolen.
“That must be a lie, reports have come up that Viscount Ash is moving the knights to find the thief cardinal.”
To think that even Viscount Ash was put under surveillance in such a short time.
“Perhaps Viscount Ash kept it a secret because he didn’t want the thief cardinal to be caught, or to hide what was stolen.”
The Emperor’s thoughts were exactly right. I stole ‘it’ from Viscount Ash last night, and he must have lied because he didn’t want to be caught.
“So what did you steal from Viscount Ash?”
“Right-“
I was about to tell the Emperor, but I couldn’t. Someone had opened the door and entered.
Thud!
I couldn’t believe that the Emperor had come in without a word at first, but when I saw who it was, I understood.
Beautiful, with golden hair and golden eyes. The imperial princess.
Erika Leonhart.
She opened the door and came in. Even though she was a princess, entering without permission where the Emperor was present was against etiquette, so the servants behind her didn’t know what to do.
The Emperor pressed his temples as if he had a headache and spoke.
“You all, leave us.”
Following the Emperor’s words, all the servants left.
“Erika, please show some manners since we have a guest.”
Erika seemed surprised to see me and then smiled, bowing her head slightly and lifting the hem of her dress with grace.
“Nice to see you again, ordinary jester. Have you been kidnapped and brought here again this time?”
‘Kidnapped and brought to the palace again.’
Erika seemed to remember what I said last time and smiled as she spoke.
“Yes! I was dragged here while eating breakfast this time!”
Surprisingly, this is true. I was in the inn, having breakfast, when suddenly I lost consciousness and collapsed.
“You’re still an interesting person. Yesterday, while talking with Brother Oraboni through the communication device, you mentioned meeting the jester in the palace, and he was quite envious.”
Talking through a communication device? Is Lucas not in the palace right now?
“Where is Mr. Lucas now?”
Erika answered my question with a smile. Erika’s laughter strangely had the power to put people at ease.
“hehehe, he left to train after seeing the jester during the entrance exam. Brother Oraboni, who went to train with such a happy expression, was a joy to see after a long time.”
The Emperor, who had been quietly observing the conversation between me and Erika, spoke up.
“Do you two know each other?”
The Emperor’s gaze towards me was different from before.
If he had just looked at me with a gaze that said he was annoyed a moment ago.
Now it was a gaze as if looking at a hyena clinging to his daughter.
Before the Emperor could misunderstand, I quickly spoke up.
“I happened to meet Princess Hwangnyeo yesterday while leaving the palace and had a ‘brief’ conversation.”
I emphasized the word ‘brief.’
In Croacia, there were many sentences that mentioned the Emperor particularly favoring Erika.
If I, who only had a handsome face to offer, flirted with the princess, the Emperor might do something unpredictable to me.
Whether he believed my words or not, this time, I turned to Erika and asked.
“Erika, so why did you open the door and come in without permission?”
There was a reprimand in my words for entering without permission, but unlike my words, the Emperor’s mouth had a warm smile on it.
When the Emperor asked, Erika found herself recalling the reason she had come. There was an undeniable excitement in her voice.
“Your Majesty, the infamous Cardinal Rogue has finally appeared this time!”
“Haahh…”
The Emperor sighed deeply at Erika’s words, looking at me.
Suddenly, I remembered the Emperor mentioning someone investigating the recent activities of the Cardinal Rogue. I asked if he could use his power to make them stop.
“It’s not someone who would stop just because I told them to,” the Emperor replied.
No way.
“The Crown Princess is not that person, right?”
The Emperor quietly closed his eyes in response to my gaze.
It was an unmistakable affirmation.
Erika, seemingly unaware of the Emperor’s inner turmoil, continued speaking.
“Your Majesty, if you could just send me a few people to help catch the Cardinal Rogue, I will definitely capture him.”
But that rogue is your father.
“Haa… think about it for a moment and leave now. I still have things to discuss with Rocky and Hal.”
As Erika was leaving, she stopped to talk to me.
“If, by any chance, you know something about the Cardinal Rogue, please let me know!”
“Ahahahaha.”
I could only respond with a laugh.
How could I possibly tell her that the Cardinal Rogue she’s looking for is right in front of her?
“Haahh…”
As Yerica left, the emperor let out a deep sigh.
This time, the emperor’s feelings were somewhat understood.
From the emperor’s perspective, his daughter was requesting forces to investigate him.
‘By the way, why is Yerica trying to find the villain Cardinal?’
No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t think of a reason why Yerica would want to capture the villain Cardinal.
Both Yerica and the villain Cardinal were hardly mentioned even in Croaqua.
The emperor, who wanted to think about Yerica later, turned the topic.
“So, what is it that you stole from Lord Ashe?”
It felt a bit awkward to show ‘it’ to the troubled emperor. However, since the emperor had to know, I presented ‘it’ to him.
“What I stole from Lord Ashe is this.”
The emperor’s expression, who received ‘it’ from me, turned sour and revealed disgust.