Chapter 12

An hour later, Maribelle had to ponder for a long time why there was a model of a finger in front of her.

Before returning to Calende Palace and unpacking, the maid came and said the Chief of the Palace had asked for a meeting.

“Chief of the Palace? How does he know me?”

“Now that you’ve become a member of the palace, do you have a few things to tell me Lady? If you’re doing anything extra, I’ll take care of it for you, so don’t worry!”

“Oh, no. If anything happens—Nanny doesn’t have to deal with it, I’ll do it.” Maribelle could barely squeak out, and she held Pepper’s hand, saying, “Thank you.”

The luggage was still full of things to put away, and no matter how much the maid moved around, Maribelle still had to say where to put things. She was worried about how things would be organized while she was away, and she was worried about keeping the chief of the palace waiting for a long time.

‘What shall we do?’

Maribelle was weighing two tasks. Does he want her to be as swift as the wind? However, it could be counterproductive. How can she finish it easily?

However, Maribelle’s troubled look must have seemed restless to Pepper, she didn’t even ask, but she rolled up her sleeves and stepped in.

“Lady, don’t worry! Don’t you have this nanny? I’ll clean up, so go ahead.”

“Huh…?”

“I’ll just put it in order first, so you can tell me if there’s anything you don’t like after you come back. Don’t worry about it!”

Thanks to Pepper’s boasting and saying  not to worry, Maribelle was forced to leave her seat half-heartedly. However, the comfort from the nanny’s reassurance descended into awkward silence as soon as Meribelle entered the drawing room.

The reason for this, of course, was because of the model of a finger thrown by a man who was supposed to be the chief of the palace.

“—If this is your taste, I can understand.”

Maribelle magnanimously concluded in the end. This person is obsessed with fingers. That is why he brought a finger model with the same heart of a cat giving a dead mouse to its owner.

Kir’s reaction, which seemed depressed at the moment, fueled Maribelle’s misunderstanding.

“It seems you like it.” She said, waiting for the chief to reply.

‘I’m sure. You’re obsessed with fingers.’

“Well, Theo wasn’t helping for a day or two because he had nothing to see except his butt.”

Suddenly, the topic went to Theovalt. Maribelle once again fell into worry.

This man came suddenly and threw a model of finger in front of her, and then brought up the topic of Theovalt’s butt. All this meant that there is only one conclusion that can be inferred here.

“The chief of the palace, did you— come here to talk about Sir Peregrine’s butt?”

“Ah, it can’t be.”

With his straightforward denial, Maribelle was relieved. First of all, talking about Theovalt’s butt would have been much stranger than saying that the weather was nice on a stormy day.

Perhaps he noticed Maribelle’s relief. Kir opened his mouth, putting his head-mounted beret down on the table with a puzzled look on his face.

“It turns out that I haven’t even introduced myself. Kir Rebein, I am-as you know-the chief of the palace. I will help and educate you to adapt to palace life. Make sure to take a good look. I tend to abuse my power.”

He introduced himself as if he were introducing a stranger, and then he smiled loosely.

“But the reason I’m here today is neither education nor my introduction.”

He’s really weird. Maribelle thought quietly. As someone who is obsessed with fingers he could only be a really weird person.

“I’m here to ask what happened between you and His Majesty.”

Oh my. Speaking like a sailor with that kind of appearance, Maribelle decided to pray for the mood of the future of this conversation.

“I’ve come up with three hypotheses. Things need to be in threes to be sure.”

Regardless of the listener’s opinion, he held up an index finger and began to talk.

“First, the time has come when His Majesty will soon die. I think this is the most likely. People who are dying soon will change their behavior, right? As the day of death approached, he suddenly changed his mind and decided to do something extraordinary, putting you in the position of empress instead of killing you.”

One more finger was held up.

“Secondly, you made a very plausible offer to His Majesty. I can imagine your rudeness at the party. His Majesty is very fickle, so he could have adjusted to the rhythm for a while. Or perhaps you dared to threaten to spread His Majesty’s secrets in the middle of the party.”

Maribelle felt prickly. He was only talking nonsense, but the reasoning wasn’t so bad. Certainly, the position of the chief of the palace was not for anyone.

“It’s said that you were alone with His Majesty for a short time in the middle of the party, so some kind of deal may have come to pass then.”

“That could be the case.”

It wasn’t wrong. Maribelle admitted it simply. Thanks to this, Kir’s momentum rose in an instant. He’s now gone so far as to shine.

“Right? And the last one, there’s a hypothesis that His Majesty fell in love with you at a glance, and I really don’t think that’s true.”

Was he implying that her beauty is not so great? Maribelle blinked at the unexpected venom.

“Well, I’m glad I know that His Majesty’s taste is ugly.” She replied, slightly bitter.

“I don’t know. I’ve always wondered because he hates me so much, but I finally solved my question.”

“Haha.” Maribelle exhaled a dying laugh as she looked, wriggling in discomfort, at the youthful man. He sharpened his finely curved eyes and picked up his earlier sharp appearance again.

“It’s probably quickest to ask the person themself. His Majesty has already rejected me once, so I’ve come to you.”

“Will you believe me if I say I don’t know?”

“If it’s something even you don’t know, it’s either number one or number three. Do you have anything to say about number three?”

“I have never heard of an interest in love from His Majesty before. I think it will be the same in the future.”

“He sent you a marriage proposal, but it’s just a formality. That’s right. There’s still a lot of disagreement about whether you’ll become the Empress.”

“I’m glad you know that. So, did you make up your mind on number one?”

“It can’t be number one if you think about it logically.”

Kir smiled brightly. He even noticed that Maribelle was lying, but Maribelle was also not a simple lamb to fall for Kir’s interrogation.

“You’re good at lying, but I’d like you to say something that makes sense.”

“If you don’t believe it, then all truth will be false.”

“What trust do you think there is between us? We’ve never met before.”

“If you want to hear something from me, you’d better bring evidence, Chief of the Palace.”

“There’s no confession since we’re just acquaintances.”

He held up a model of his fingers. Where did all that spirit go, he quickly became dead.

“I even prepared a gift for my acquaintance. I thought you’d like it.”

For what reason? It would be more appropriate to break up a relationship after receiving something like that. Maribelle clicked her tongue inside.

“I think I know why you don’t have any friends.”

“What are you saying! My friend is here!”

“Maybe only you think of each other as friends?”

“No… that’s… was it like that…? Somehow I couldn’t even touch their butt….”

Maribelle was able to quickly find out that there was only one friend he claimed to have, and that one was Theovalt. In addition to her other misunderstandings. Of course, Kir had no intention of correcting her.

Kir muttered something – seemed a little harsh – and seriously pondered, and carefully raised his head.

“Miss Edenbert.”

“Yes?”

“One of my friends won’t let me touch his butt, and the other one won’t save me even if I fall into the water.”

So he had more than one. Maribelle nodded her head. Kir’s words continued.

“Do I have no friends?”

She doesn’t know why the topic came to this, but Maribelle spoke out firmly without a second of hesitation.

“Yes.”

“Don’t you feel sorry for the poor me without a friend?”

“Hm. I’m not sure.”

“You have no intention of being my friend and telling me about your relationship with His Majesty?”

“Will you ask me again when I’m born again?”

There was a tense war of nerves between the two smiles. He buried the atmosphere on the ground where he was being treated as a lieutenant because he was not endearing enough,

“Kir, why are you here?”

It was Ethelred.

*****

Kir gritted his teeth. One hand scratched the wall. His feet were floating in the air. The reason is because of the overwhelming force lifting him by his neck.

It was Kir, who had been with Ethelred all his life and who was proud of himself, but it was the first time to feel Ethelred’s power like this. Thanks to this, he remembered the advice he had from his friend in the past.

“Save your life. It’s hard to preserve your life in the palace for a long time.”

Even with sincere advice, Kir only smiled vainly. That’s crazy.

And this was Kir’s fate.

“Should I ask twice, Kir?”

“T-that’s n-no— Ugh.”

“Answer—why are you here?”

‘If you want an answer, you should let go of my neck, Your Majesty.’

Kir was about to burst into tears with injustice. If he cries now, he might say it hurt, but should he just cry? No. If he does that, he might really lose his neck.

‘I love you, my friend.’

‘I’ll behave really well if I get out of here. I’ll listen to you. I won’t…I won’t touch your butt.’

Kir rolled his eyes as his vision blurred. Behind Ethelred, who was holding his neck, he saw Maribelle blinking her blue eyes quietly. As if this uproar had nothing to do with her, she looked like a cat basking in the sun.

Of course, it goes without saying that her nonchalance scratched the inside of Kir even further.

‘Damn it, you’re not such a decent person. Even though you talked to me very well!’

Kir’s injustice doubled in an instant, but he didn’t forget to send a signal to Maribelle with his eyes.

‘In order to survive here, I have to catch that woman.’

Like or not, it was the only lifeline to choose.

‘Young lady Edenbert, please save me. Don’t you think you should save my life for the sake of friendship or anything? Then wouldn’t I do anything to repay you later?’

Maribelle opened her mouth as if the desperately sent signal finally worked.

“Your Majesty.”

‘There you go! There you go! Save me!’

“That guy told me I was ugly.”

Ugh. Kir can’t even scream anymore, and he could taste death.

‘Oh, Theo! My dear friends! I’m going to die. Take care.’

While he was saying goodbye to his one sided friends, Maribelle’s mouth opened again.

“He’s not wrong, is you? He’s never done anything to me, so let him go.”

The strength of his neck was completely relieved. His feet touched the ground, but Kir was not able to stand at all, so he sat down in a daze.

“Huk… Ugh..”

That devilish woman. He won’t forget her kindness. Of course, she’s still the enemy.

His tears fell only now, when his throat was so tight and his strength was completely gone. It wasn’t until his eyes, with their strange shape and rare violet color, were drying up that he was able to lift himself to his feet.

Meanwhile, Maribelle’s eyes fell to his face, gasping for breath. Looking at Kir’s dripping tears she thought, ‘So this is how power tastes.’

She had opened her eyes to new things.