Chapter 11

Chapter 11 : The Villainess Needs A Tyrant

“Have I done something wrong?”

Ethelred wiped his hand. The smile from a while ago felt numbing considering the situation they were in.Maribelle inwardly admired how the color red could seem so cold as she stood watching him.

He swung around and picked up a sword lying on the lawn. The cooling blood was drying up. Ethelred shook the sword roughly as if he were trying to clean it.

“You must feel lucky after your last request since you have something else to ask for. Tell me what it is.”

“It’s as if you think I’m doing something wrong.”

As if there was something wrong with her, he glanced at Maribelle.

“Aren’t you familiar with giving favors? It’s good to be tolerant when you give them,” Maribelle said.

“People only remember what they did to others and what they suffered. There is no need to humor unreasonable favors.”

“It’s like the world is trying to look at me like I’ve lived alone.”

“Because the same time doesn’t mean the same life.”

Ethelred’s eyebrows frowned at once. As he opened his mouth he strode over and approached Maribelle.

“I told you to stop playing with words and tell me what you want.”

Maribelle still looked up at him without moving. His sudden behavior is familiar now.

“Will you listen to anything?”

“If you don’t want to do anything wrong, know your limits.”

“It’s about the tie Your Majesty gave to me.”

At Maribelle’s unexpected words his eyes grew a little larger with wonder. Maribelle felt that he could finally understand a little bit about being honest.

“It’s… I lost it.”

“Lost it?”

“Yes, you’ll forgive me, right?”

“If you’re going to ask forgiveness, shouldn’t you at least not smile so much?”

Ethelred frowned and tapped his index finger on his lips. Only then did Maribelle realize that she was smiling. Hmm. Maribelle moved the corners of her mouth so hard that she made a grim face as she had just done before, and asked again.

“Will you forgive me if I don’t smile?”

“Just smile. That look is all over the place.”

“Your Majesty is the same.”

“So you should smile.”

“Like this?”

Maribelle smiled with her mouth wide open. This kind of smile was familiar to her. Maribelle’s rare obedient manner was pleasing and Ethelred’s mouth showed a wistful smile.

“Yeah, you look good like that.”

His earnest gaze that strayed from inside the walls crossed her face. She wanted to cover the curves of her red cheeks, and she looked down a little more. As a result, Ethelred’s head tilted.

A slight turn of the head brought him close enough to meet her gaze. Is he trying to kiss her? When Maribelle lowered her eyes, she wondered if her breath could reach his lips, his voice mixed with laughter scattered around her ears.

“I hope you’ll be smiling again next time.”

Ethelred whispered like that and left.

******

On one side of the palace, three men huddled their heads together. Among the three, a man with hair color resembling a violet opened his mouth as if whispering something secret.

“Theo, you don’t have to hide it now. Just be honest with me.”

“I don’t remember hiding anything from you.”

“Good. Is His Majesty about to die?”

“…..”

Theovalt’s brow was finely narrowed. He was rarely annoyed. In the eyes of others, they were all the same expressionless, but the two people who stood together knew. His eyebrows were very slightly narrowed.

The reason Theovalt is so openly upset is that the violet-headed man standing in front of Theovalt was ranked second on the list of people who caused irritation.

Of course, the first one is Ethelred.

A man wearing glasses opened his mouth when he noticed that Theovalt was frozen. He was smiling brightly, but Theovalt  wasn’t happy with the words that came out of his mouth.

“You’d better take care of your neck first, Kir. Look at Theo’s expression.”

The man, called Kir, scratched his violet-colored hair under his beret for no reason, he was cheeky like a child who didn’t want to take classes.

“No, I shouldn’t have said that. Doesn’t His Majesty feel strange lately, you know? He wasn’t this hard on us.”

“That’s true. Sometimes I think we’re going to die, too.”

“Yeah! I’m on the verge of getting hair loss every time I have to fill the holes of the people dying, but now there’s a sudden scandal? Why won’t His Majesty kill me? I’m so tired that I can’t wait to be dead.”

The man with the beret slanted is Kir Rebein, the Chief of the Palace, and the man wearing the glasses next to him is Azil Irgeil, the head of the personnel department. The two were also some of the few people who had been with Ethelred and Theovalt for some time.

Among them, this man with violet-colored curly hair and impressively long eyelashes like a woman is very sociable, kind, and talented-enough to serve as the Chief of the palace at a young age.

“His Majesty broke a stone statue in the garden a while ago. When are you making it again? Theo, can’t you go and stand up there for me? If you put on some powder and dye your hair, no one will be able to tell the difference. Originally, the statue did not wear clothes, but for the privacy of our new statue, you can wear some underwear, well—”

“Get lost.”

There was a disadvantage in not being able to touch these idiots.

Theovalt even took a step back from Kir’s hand, which was aimed at his butt. Kir quickly became teary, drooping his long eyelashes and crying.

“Theo… You’re so cold-blooded… Then how about Azil—?”

“I’ll get rid of the garden where you built it.”

Azil replied with a gentle smile. Kir squeezed all the tears out of his body, making sure that even his expression looked hurt.

“Ugh… You’re so cold-blooded despite our friendship..” Kir complained.

“I would rather have a closer relationship with the statue that His Majesty broke.”

“What you’ll get is a very close relationship with the sword His Majesty threw.” Theovalt replied, tired of Kir’s acting.

“Guys… did you forget the fun time you had with me the other day…? I’m so sad…”

“I don’t know this guy.”

Theovalt answered coldly and turned the sullen Kir’s shoulder to push Kir towards his office.

“Get to work.”

“But I just came here to work?”

“Oh, by the way, one of them died at the Apheriol Palace. We’d better prepare the compensation.”

“His Majesty killed another one earlier.”

“Then there are two people today. That’s good. Good work, Kir.”

“Crazy.”

Kir spat out a few harsh words and tried to aim for Theovalt’s ass again.

“Argh!”

The beret fell to the ground. This is because Theovalt beat Kir to the ground. Kir laughed, even pointing his finger at Theovalt.

“You must be shy, you didn’t dodge just once or twice but every time.”

Like he said, it wasn’t the first time Kir aimed at Theovalt’s ass. Theovalt is said to be able to cope with this kind familiarity now, but in the beginning, there were several times when he was embarrassed without knowing how to handle it.

Theovalt stared at Kir lying on the ground like he was glaring at his old enemy and even kicked Kir once because he hated his giggling.

“Ah, ah, Theo. I’m hurt. Ah.”

“Don’t be harsh.”

Kir’s next target, who had also been kicked in many ways by Theovalt, was Azil.

“Save me, Azil!”

“I enjoy watching fights the most.”

Of course, he was rejected. Thanks to Azil, Kir’s injustice doubled.

“I’m a friend like that…!”

“Theo, don’t you think his mouth is still too loud?”

“Hey, oh, I think the ribs are broken, hah…”

“I’ll break the other side, too.”

“That’s not a joke.”

Kir stopped short of getting his sternum broken and jumped up. There is no such thing as a mischievous look anymore as he lost interest.

“But it hurt. That’s no joke.”

“I hit you because it hurts. I could have hit you harder.”

“Even if I die, I want to see His Majesty’s death… So when is he going to die? Next week?”

“Did you not hear me earlier?”

Kir picked up the beret that had fallen to the ground, reshaped it, and put it back on his head. He still looked as if he didn’t know anything about what Theovalt was talking about.

“Really. I heard that she overheard secret talks. Why not kill her?”

“I agree. I don’t understand. Why did His Majesty leave the room—?”

“Yeah. Because of His Majesty’s personality, there’s no reason to leave the room. Didn’t Theo ask about catching and killing her? Did he suddenly feel affection after kissing her? No, it can’t be.”

“…I asked, but I didn’t hear an answer.”

“Yes! I mean! His Majesty is suddenly in need of an heir, so he’s trying to make a succession!”

Seeing Kir shining his eyes as if he had a very ingenious and definite idea, Theovalt openly clicked his tongue. Although Azil still had a smiling face, the gray eyes beyond the glasses expressed both pity and how pathetic he thought Kir was.

“No, why?!”

“Think, use some common sense. I’m sure he brought her in for something.”

“Is kissing useful all of a sudden? I’m going to go find His Majesty and kiss him.”

“We’ll send flowers to your funeral.”

Kir said stupid things again. He also said a lot of harsh things. After spitting out all the curses except cursing at someone’s parents, he came up with something quite normal.

“That woman, she was assigned to the Calende Palace.”

It was Theovalt that recognized the meaning of words that were more like Kir was talking to himself.

“To meet him?”

“Hm.”

Theovalt recalled the woman walking around the Calende Palace at night after the other day’s meeting with Ethelred.

The silver hair that seemed to be combed with moonlight and a look that was far away as if not even knowing the world’s light. Was it a different person who kissed the Emperor in the party hall? She moved with heavy steps with her weary expression.

‘It was beautiful.’

Yes, she was beautiful. Who would believe that the calm person was so full of life? She was the only one alive. She was the only one alive on a dead night.

Azil and Kir were discussing with each other while Theovalt pondered the green gardens dyed with the night and the woman who seemed to be in a picture.

“Maribelle Edenbert, right? I think she was supposed to come in today. I don’t know if that’s right.” (T/n : I changed Edinburgh to Edenbert because I thought it sounded better. XD)

“The chief of the palace plays and eats very much. He’s proud of what he doesn’t know.”

Even with Azil’s scolding, Kir was still proud.

“Well, I’m here to play and eat.”

“Then you must pay attention to His Majesty so that you can wake up.”

Listening to the conversation between the two, Theovalt concluded. If Kir comes at her, the person who gets eaten may be Kir.

Theovalt thought once more about his friend-not-really-a-friend—but anyway. Then, what can he do for a friend who may soon be eaten as the first person to encounter Maribelle?

He didn’t worry for long.

“Kir.”

“Oh, what? If you’re planning to stop her, you should stop her.”

“No, it doesn’t matter.”

And then on second thought. Theovalt grabbed Kir by the shoulder and carefully talked to his friend.

“I have a finger model.”

“So what?”

“I—can lend it to you if you need it.”

“Why are you talking nonsense?”

Anyway, Kir decided to borrow a model of the finger.