Chapter 44
Immature Love
"Oh my, am I not allowed to leave this place?"
Everyone's eyes widened at Robina, the Empress's words.
Among them, the ladies who knew her anecdotes were looking at her with eyes that seemed to say, 'How could she do that?'
However, the Empress tilted her head with a pure, childlike face, as if she didn't know the real reason.
But even in this ironic atmosphere, Eileen, the daughter-in-law of a prestigious Marquess family, was relaxed.
Having known the Empress for a long time, she was well aware that she was small-minded and lacked tact.
"Are you sure you're alright? I hesitate to mention the incident, but I'll risk being rude and tell you. Her Majesty the Empress here was caught gambling in the slums while His Majesty the Emperor was touring the Empire, and was confined to this detached palace..."
It seemed like she was keeping her manners, but it was a rapid-fire delivery with the clear intention of everyone hearing.
At that, the Empress covered her reddened face and cut her off.
"Oh my, stop! Stop it!"
Eileen thought, 'Just as I expected,' and raised one corner of her mouth in a bitter smile.
However,
"I don't know, I avoided noisy gatherings for a while, and the rumors spread like that! What should I do!"
At those incomprehensible words, Mrs. Eileen's sharp eyebrow rose.
It was obvious that she knew she was in the wrong, but she was trying to make a clumsy excuse.
She really thought the Empress was foolish.
"Your Majesty the Empress. This is not something you can get away with like that. How could you do such a thing when His Majesty was touring to consider the well-being of the people of the Empire..."
"But that's a misunderstanding, you know? He said he missed me during the tour, and suggested we secretly meet at a tavern wearing masks, but His Majesty was the one who cowardly ran away alone. Oh my! Was that a secret?!"
'Still, his retreating back was cute,' the Empress said, smiling, and everyone's mouths fell open.
If that was true, the lovey-dovey couple had met in a tavern where gambling was taking place, avoiding people's eyes, and the Emperor had abandoned the Empress when the guards raided the place.
It was clear that this wasn't the first time this had happened; it was their immature love.
Mrs. Eileen couldn't say anything more to the Empress's reddened face.
Even if she didn't know anything else, if the Emperor was involved in this matter, it had to be buried.
Since things had come to this, the Empress was going to use it as an excuse to get all her requests approved.
At her words, the meeting ended successfully with a unanimous agreement for the first time.
"Who's going to be the White Wizard?"
"Me!"
Cezar's voice rang out loudly in the Sparrow class for the first time in a while.
The usually calm child's cheeks were tense, and he seemed quite excited.
"Cezar always does that? Well, I understand. He's really handsome. Then..."
"Roy's gonna be the Yellow Knight!"
"Yeah, it's a color match."
"Hehe."
Roy, revealing his cute front teeth, was happy to hear the first compliment from Ivanne.
"Then I'll be the princess? Ivanne suits being a princess!"
At Ivanne's firm words, the children thought, 'Anyone can see she should be holding a sword,' but they didn't bother to say it out loud.
Rather, it was Charles who reacted to those words while playing house.
"Puhaha, that's funny. The Princess is right here, and you're going to be the princess?"
"What, do you want to join in? Okay, I'll let you join. But His Royal Highness will be Princess Titursian."
"What? The Imperial Princess of the Empire is going to be the princess of a fallen kingdom? Are you out of your mind? And I don't play those kinds of games!"
At Charles's outburst, the royal guards nodded as if it were obvious.
As everyone knew, the Eldarion Empire had become an empire by defeating the powerful Titursian.
Therefore, it made no sense for the Imperial Princess of the Eldarion Empire to become the princess of the fallen Titursian.
However,
"Really? Then don't do it. I guess you didn't see the play this week. The new princess is really pretty."
At those words, Charles's eyes, which had been turned away, slyly turned towards Ivanne.
"W-Well, really? Hmph. If that princess is really necessary, I guess I'll do it."
Charles flipped her hair like a prim and proper girl, saying, 'It's hard to play with kids.'
'No, Your Highness the Princess...!'
At that sight, the royal guards suddenly began to scream inwardly.
They couldn't do anything because they were ordered not to interfere except for guarding, but they were in a panic because they had to report it to the Emperor, who hated Titursian.
But even in the midst of this, Ivanne secretly raised one corner of her mouth at Charles's appearance.
The role of Princess Titursian was almost always a Monster, but the Princess, who had never been out of the Imperial Palace, didn't seem to know that.
"Then what's left is the enemy knight? It's the most popular, why is it left? Nia, do you want to do it?"
At Ivanne's words, Nia's eyes blinked.
"...Ivanne, isn't there a Black Knight?"
The eyes of the children around Nia widened at her dejected words.
And among them, Roy worked hard to explain to help.
"Nia, no one does the Black Knight!"
"...Huh? Why?!"
"Um. He's really strong, but he's vicious and selfish. He's scarier than the enemy. So no one does it. And the Black Knights are scary anyway. Everyone hates them."
"Yeah. You can tell just by looking at Aunt Gilli. She's really mean."
The children began to spew out harsh words about the image of the Black Knight in the play.
And at that sight, Nia soon began to tremble.
Cezar, who recognized that she was about to burst into tears, was startled and stepped in to mediate.
He was the only child here who knew what the Black Knight meant to Nia.
"Nia! The Black Knight is cool! Be the Black Knight. Nia, you have black hair too!"
"Ah, just let her do it! What's the big deal, making a kid cry!"
With the help of Cezar and Charles, who didn't even know the contents of the play, Ivanne shrugged as if she didn't care.
Nia, who had been about to cry, quickly stopped and smiled brightly when she was told she could do it.
Now, the children each took their places and faced each other between two fortresses made of blocks.
The goal was to win by destroying the fortress of the Titursian villain, Charles.
Soon, Ivanne's frail cry burst out, signaling the start of the hero play.
"Heroes! Help the Eldarion Kingdom! Please, please destroy that castle, defeat the villain, and restore peace to our kingdom!"
Ivanne, as if she had been possessed by the role, clumsily put her hands together and pretended to collapse.
And Charles, as if she had been swept away, made a vicious expression inside the fortress.
The royal guards were embarrassed by that sight.
The children bravely ran towards them, but
"Let go! The White Wizard won't lose!"
"Uwaaa, save me, Roy!"
"I was wrong, Nia was wrong!"
As expected, they were meaninglessly hanging on the knights' shoulders like pieces of paper.
"Ah, even the heroes have been captured, our kingdom is... defeated. Ugh."
Watching that scene, Ivanne, in the role of the frail princess, collapsed.
"Ohohoho! Good! You treated me like a villain, serves you right! Peace, what a joke! Let everything be ruined!"
At this moment, the losers were not the captured children or the collapsed Ivanne, but the royal guards who would be grabbed by the collar by the Emperor for the report.
With this large-scale picnic, the heads of all the ministers working in the Imperial Palace gathered in the Emperor's office.
And the meeting that took place,
"Then let's appoint the Crown Prince as the temporary supervisor for this event. Let's announce it right away."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
It ended with the appointment of the supervisor for this event.
The atmosphere of the ministers, who had become uncomfortable due to the sudden event, was not good, but they did not express their dissatisfaction because of the high status of some of the children and the Princess's picnic.
However, among them, the most powerful figure in the Empire, Chancellor Federin, was emitting a dark aura.
His brow was visibly furrowed as he was writing something at the Emperor's last order.
Everyone seemed to be watching to see if he was angry that the Imperial Palace was being used as a picnic spot, but the Emperor couldn't help but smile as he looked at him.
After the meeting, everyone left the office, and the two who remained began to laugh heartily.
"Hahaha! Did you see that angry expression?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"He is indeed my son. How did you think of catching both rabbits? Or was it already decided when you said you were sending Charles to kindergarten?"
"Well, maybe around that time?"
The Crown Prince playfully narrowed his eyes and stroked his chin, pretending to be fierce.
The Emperor's eyes reddened as he looked at that sly appearance.
It was because he never thought that his son, who had been weak as a child and had been indulged in everything, would come to his senses and cater to his every whim like this.
In fact, the two of them had only recently become so close.
For some reason, it was after Lucia took on the role of escort that he properly accepted his education as Crown Prince and their relationship improved.
However, the only thing he didn't like was that his son was always talking about Lucia.
She was a cherished knight, but he had accepted the unprecedented five years of training because he wanted to cut off his son's obsession because of the royal marriage with the Perrendel Kingdom.
However, Lucia, who had returned, had grown into a big catch that he couldn't miss, and he was even about to grant his son's wish, who was always singing her praises, so there was no room for their relationship to deteriorate.
"Now, the stage is set, so be sure to make it a success."
"Yes, Father. Hahaha."
That was their plan.
First. Send Charles to the class where Lucia's daughter is.
Second. Invite her to the Imperial Palace under the pretext of the Princess.
Third. Spend sweet time with Lucia under the pretext of supervision.
Last. On the day of the picnic, introduce him as the friend's older brother and the owner of this Imperial Palace!
And when that wonderful plan is over,
"Mom, how wonderful would it be if that handsome His Royal Highness the Crown Prince became my dad?"
"Really? Then should I consider it?"
"Yes!"
"Giggle."
"Hohoho."
'Surely it will be like this?' The Emperor and the Crown Prince grinned at the imagination.
...It's a really ridiculous plan.
It seemed that even the Crown Prince, who was said to be so smart, had inherited the blood of the immature love nest, the Emperor and the Empress, directly without being able to avoid it.
The simple father and son, who were so alike in their foolishness, scattered hearty laughter into the air.
And at that time, someone was standing outside the door of the Emperor's office.
The guards were at a loss, watching the high-ranking man who had been grabbing the door and trembling since earlier.
"C-Chancellor, are you alright? If you're not feeling well, I'll call someone!"
"Ah. I just have a slight stomach ache, so I'll lean here for a moment. So go back to your post."
He blocked the laughter that was bursting out at their foolish plan that was leaking out from the door and slowly moved his steps.
'He was unique when he approached Empress Robina. After all, that blood doesn't go anywhere.'
The Chancellor had already read something in the Emperor's smug smile during the meeting.
But no matter what, if men and women have frequent meetings, something might happen.
At this rate, it was obvious that his son, who was only watching from afar, would be pushed back.
He looked at the letter of recommendation he had written as soon as he heard about the picnic and pondered.
'This is the only way to respond, but he won't listen to me. What should I do...? Ah, come to think of it, did he take the son of the administrative staff to the entrance ceremony?'
Chancellor Federin, having finished thinking, smiled and said to the attendant who was following him.
"Deliver this document to an administrative staff member named Marien right now."
