Chapter 23: Chapter 22

“Let’s take a break.”

As soon as Cahir said these words, all of the administrators rushed to get out. The meeting lasted three hours. Rosaline also rose from her chair to leave.

“Rosaline.”

“Yes, Your Majesty, do you have any orders?”

She almost yelled at him to stop giving her work during breaks. However, as an experienced secretary, Rosaline smiled and adopted the attitude that said she could do anything.

“When the early morning festival is over, I’d like to give you a reward. Is there anything you want?”

‘What did he mean by “reward”?’

What did she just hear? Rosaline knew it was rude, but she didn’t speak. Instead, she rolled her eyes.

“Rosaline, answer me. Don’t you want a reward?”

Rosaline shook her head.

Cahir slowly stood. He descended slowly from the throne. “Rosaline.” He stood in front of her.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“What do you want?”

Could she say it? Was this the right time?

Cahir seemed to be in a good mood.

“Tell me Rosaline. I’ll grant whatever you want.”

It was like a dream.

Rosaline looked up at Cahir with ecstatic eyes. “Really?”

“Of course.”

Rosaline was encouraged by Cahir’s clear answer.

‘It’s time, It’s time!’

Instead of becoming the mother-in-law of , she would get the chance to go live her own life!

Rosaline inhaled deeply. “Your Majesty, I want to quit being a secretary.”

His smiling face turned cold. “No.”

“What? You said you’d grant me whatever I wanted!”

“Rosaline,” he practically purred, his voice dangerously low like a fierce predator.

“What?”

“There’s only one way you can quit being my secretary, Rosaline. By dying.”

Her dreams were torn to shreds.

‘You want me to live with you for the rest of my life? I don’t want to!’

This was getting out of control. The life she had dreamed of was getting farther away from her.

The silence was heavy between Rosaline and Cahir. His anger seemed like a tangible thing, and she now understood just why people were so afraid of him.

Steps thundered from outside the door, probably the people who were coming back from the recess. A young administrator opened the door but hesitated to come in.

“What’s wrong? Aren’t you going in?” Derek shoved the administrator’s shoulder into the conference room.

It was too soon.

The room had become a wild jungle, with a hungry beast facing a surprised rabbit. The atmosphere seemed fit to explode.

But Derek was the chief executive officer, and this was something he had to do even if he didn’t want to. He took a step inside. An important decision had to be made, so the meeting couldn’t be postponed. Of course, being delayed by an hour or two wasn’t such a big deal, since Derek and the other employees could work until nighttime.

“Your Majesty, are you talking to your secretary? Shall we go back out?” he asked carefully.

“Yes. Get out.”

“But this meeting is important, Your Majesty. If we don’t finish it today, the schedule will be…”

Rosaline sighed. In order to reschedule the cancelled meeting, they would need to look into the entire month’s schedule and coordinate it. Just adjusting the schedule would take a couple of hours.

“Rosaline, what’s the most important thing for a person?”

“A way to make a living?”

Cahir shook his head slowly. Derek quietly exited the room when he saw the two engage in conversation again. There were some cries of despair from the administrators who had to adjust their schedules.

The emperor frowned. “It’s not a big deal to make ends meet.”

“Why isn’t that a big deal?” Rosaline’s eyes widened. She remembered how difficult it was to make ends meet in her past life in Korea.

She struggled to get a job, struggled to not get fired when she got one, took the crowded subway to work, went home, and repeated the cycle over and over. Rosaline couldn’t think about it without getting emotional.

‘Every day, just to make ends meet!’

“Rosaline.” Cahir swept his golden hair back, raising his chin arrogantly. “If you die, you won’t even be able to eat. What use is everything you do if you die in the end?” He had a refreshing smile.

So why was she so nervous?

She could barely nod her head in response.

***

Rosaline jumped into bed as soon as she came back. Fluffy pillows and the soft mattress surrounded her body.

She laid on her back and looked at the ceiling. Painted on it were numerous murals of saints and wise men who worshipped the goddess Eteusis. The intricacy of the patterns and embellishments caught her attention.

‘I never thought you wouldn’t let me quit. What should I do now?’

Rosaline pondered on it. Her life as a secretary wasn’t that bad either. She was used to the packed schedules and Cahir had become a lot more reasonable. Relative to her workload, the pay was high, and she could rest if she wanted. Thanks to the emperor’s excellent performance, his reputation was mended, and even older noblemen respected her.

The good things about living as Cahir’s secretary outnumbered her ten fingers.

But she couldn’t do this forever. She had to get married someday. In the Aetheus Empire, noblewomen couldn’t hold jobs if they married, so they couldn’t be secretaries either.

She considered staying single, but her parents would never allow it. Besides, she didn’t want to die single. She could date, but that would mean looking for a partner within the palace, since she didn’t have enough time to go out and socialize.

Unfortunately, unlike what happened with Hui and Derek, no one caught Rosaline’s eye. Everyone just seemed… inferior when she compared them to Cahir.

“Oh my goodness.” Rosaline sighed. “My expectations have been raised too high.”

Initially, her plan was to serve for five years, removing the death flag for her and her family and resigning after. After that, she just vaguely hoped that life would be peaceful, pleasant, and enjoyable.

“But what’s wrong with him all of a sudden?”

Cahir had never been obsessed with anyone other than Ella. Even though he had met countless other women, he had never prohibited them from leaving. He would only casually wave farewell to them.

‘Did I emphasize the importance of humanity to him too much? Is it because of a sense of loyalty or camaraderie? Courtesy?

Perhaps people-centric policies?’

That was politics, and her future was a different matter. Rosaline sat up and nearly screamed, but refrained from doing so so as not to disturb Hui and Derek’s precious time together in the neighboring room.

***

Except Derek was not with Hui at that moment, but with Cahir. He glanced at his watch and waited for the emperor to say something.

As soon as he entered his bedroom, Cahir unbuttoned his shirt and sank into a chair, crossing his arms casually and resting his neck on the backrest. His golden hair fluttered over his face.

He felt betrayed by Rosaline. Rosaline, his closest aide. His most efficient, capable aide wanted to quit. Cahir didn’t even want to consider it, but he couldn’t help it.

‘I didn’t mean to tell her she would die… I wanted to tell her to never die. Where can I even find a secretary as amazing as her, who knows exactly what I’m thinking even when I only blink?’

There was no substitute for her. He would never be at full-strength without Rosaline.

And that’s why he felt so betrayed.

“I’ve been standing here for an hour, Your Majesty. Is there anything you need?” Derek asked, unable to stand it anymore. He was already forty minutes late for his rendezvous with Hui.

“Derek.” Cahir stared at him.

“Yes, Your Majesty, go ahead.”

“I told you to investigate Rosaline. The report is late.”

Derek scratched his forehead. Of course, the investigation had been completed. James had been tailing her for the past few days. He just didn’t report anything to Cahir because there was nothing to say.

Investigations were ordered because people were acting suspiciously against the empire. But Rosaline didn’t do anything like that. She had a fixed schedule with Cahir at the center of it. Derek wouldn’t find anything suspicious even if he gouged out his eyes, washed them, and put them back in.

“The investigation is already over. I didn’t report anything to you because there wasn’t anything particularly important.”

Cahir frowned, crossing his long legs and leaning forward.

He absolutely looked like a predator in this moment.