Mac was startled when those red eyes turned toward him. Reflected in those ominous blood-colored pupils, he looked as helpless as prey standing before a beast baring its fangs. The Emperor possessed more than just authority. The powerful force he wielded made ordinary humans freeze in terror from his mere presence.
Mac began trembling, wondering what question the Emperor would test him with next.
Brukisel roughly swept his forehead. The fact that he had to ask such a question was incredibly unpleasant. His ears were burning hot and somehow the inside of his throat felt parched, making him thirsty. He felt it would be better to endure pain than to feel this way.
Brukisel gritted his teeth. Crunch. A vicious sound rang out.
Mac, standing before Brukisel, turned truly pale. Had he done something to displease the Emperor? Or had he done so in the past? He found himself looking back. Past events flashed before his eyes, just like a revolving lantern.
Like someone with a guilty conscience, Mac trembled, but that wasn’t Brukisel’s concern. After agonizing for a moment, he finally opened his mouth with difficulty.
“Hey.”
“Y-yes?”
“Hah…… So.”
Brukisel dry-washed his face. He unnecessarily touched his chin, stalling. The more he did so, the more Mac’s insides burned with anxiety.
But Brukisel had his own circumstances. Right now he needed an objective opinion more than anything. If he asked Het, the answer he’d get back was obvious, so in this situation, the only person who could tell him the truth was this guy.
“About the High Priest.”
Mac relaxed a bit since the topic wasn’t directed at him. Whatever the Emperor said, he intended to carefully examine his intentions and say what he wanted to hear. Mac used his intuition from long years in high society to carefully observe the Emperor’s face.
Het’s ears also perked up at the mention of the High Priest. He stretched his neck long and waited with a trembling heart to hear what abuse the Emperor would pour out next.
“……Is he beautiful?”
“……”
“……Pardon?”
The Emperor’s words were so absurd that Het answered even though he knew the question wasn’t directed at him. Fortunately, it didn’t seem to upset the Emperor, as he stared at Mac and urged an answer.
It might seem ridiculous, but Brukisel sincerely wanted confirmation.
No matter how intoxicated by poison and not in his right mind he’d been, still—to caress someone’s face. Wasn’t that something only lovers with mutual affection did? Moreover, that soft sensation kept flickering at his fingertips, making them tremble for no reason.
The soft sensation wouldn’t fade and continued to linger. He wanted to confirm whether the touch he’d felt was real, or a hallucination from poison intoxication. To hold those round cheeks, those pink lips…….
“Damn it! Answer quickly!”
Brukisel erupted in anger. He couldn’t understand himself like this. There was only one rational explanation for all of this. The High Priest was excessively beautiful, and he had been bewitched by it.
‘Then it makes sense.’
If it wasn’t just his own view, but Rou objectively possessed dazzling looks. And if others also felt the desire to stroke those soft cheeks and grip that slender waist when looking at Rou.
Then his impulsive actions would be understandable.
It would be proof that he wasn’t feeling some special emotion or unusual attraction toward Rou, but was simply reacting to the shell that contained that mysterious soul.
Brukisel’s eyes blazed. It seemed like there would be bloodshed if an answer wasn’t given immediately. Mac hurriedly opened his mouth.
“This is merely my subjective opinion, but.”
Anyone working in the imperial palace, even apprentice servants, knew that the relationship between the High Priest and the Emperor was not good. The Emperor’s confinement of the High Priest and the anecdote of banishing him to an old, remote temple were already famous. Then the Emperor’s intention in asking this question was obvious. He was trying to put down the High Priest.
Though the High Priest was beautiful enough to be entranced by, he wasn’t someone Mac could aspire to anyway, and he was also at odds with them. There wasn’t a single reason to take his side.
“Actually, though everyone praises that beauty, I honestly don’t know if he’s really that beautiful. Well, everyone has different tastes.”
“Really?”
Het was shocked as if he might fall backward. That guy who had a dazed look and grinned foolishly the first day he saw the High Priest—what was he going on about? Het’s insides boiled with anger, but unable to interrupt the Emperor’s conversation, he had to soothe his seething stomach alone.
“Yes! Even among my blood relatives. There’s someone equally, no, perhaps even more beautiful than the High Priest. Called the Blue Beauty for having lake-blue eyes, unlike the High Priest, they have a gentle smile that brings joy to those who see them.”
Mac subtly introduced his relative. Though a collateral branch living in the borderlands, they were famous in that region for having beautiful eye color. Honestly speaking, they couldn’t compare to the High Priest, but he thought they were on a comparable level.
Perhaps if he brought that child into the imperial palace, they might catch the Emperor’s eye.
“Ha.”
The Emperor suddenly let out a scoff. Not knowing whether it was agreement or not, Mac followed with a trembling laugh.
“Can you handle those words?”
“Pardon?”
“The words that they’re more beautiful than the High Priest. I asked if you can handle it.”
Mac’s nape felt chilly and his head spun. Handle it. Those were far too heavy words.
Thinking again, that collateral relative was only famous for being beautiful in their neighborhood—if they were truly that beautiful, they would have already come to the capital and become a celebrity. They were satisfied with their neighborhood precisely because they were just so-so.
On the other hand, what about the High Priest? Honestly speaking, if the High Priest had been pro-nobility, Mac would have wanted to go in and out of the temple every day. It was only because he intentionally distanced himself from him—if he stayed by his side listening to those sacred scripture passages he spoke, he would be helplessly bewitched.
He felt like he would have gone around picking up dust fallen from his clothes, and would have gladly licked up even rainwater fallen from his shoes.
“N-no. I seem to have misspoken. I apologize.”
Mac immediately backed down. Brukisel’s expression became even more fierce. It was because he still hadn’t heard the answer he wanted. He turned his gaze to Het. Het automatically straightened his posture and faced the Emperor.
“What do you think?”
“Yes! I think the High Priest possesses heavenly looks! Especially today, perhaps because he wore clothes emphasizing his waistline, I couldn’t take my eyes off those red robes.”
“What?”
Brukisel felt strange in a different way. That the High Priest was beautiful. It was the answer he’d wanted, but did that mean everyone and their brother had been glancing at his cinched waist?
‘That guy who’s supposed to be a guard. Where has he been keeping his eyes?’
To think he’d been sending such improper gazes. It was utterly unpleasant.
“Where are you putting your eyes……”
“Ah! Of course, I definitely didn’t think he was beautiful because the High Priest wore those clothes!”
Brukisel was about to scold him to manage his eyes better, but couldn’t continue his words at Het’s passionate exclamation. Het didn’t even realize he’d cut off the Emperor’s words and began continuing his praise of the High Priest’s beauty.
“That person would be beautiful even if you picked up burlap and dressed him in it. Even if the sun set and the world was filled only with darkness, that person alone would surely shine brightly. Sometimes when I look at him, I even feel dazzled as if my eyes might go blind.”
Brukisel thought it was rather fortunate that Het had cut him off. Rou wasn’t even his, so what did it matter if others saw him a bit?
The words praising his beauty continued for a long time. At his fervent expressions, Brukisel felt a bit relieved. He himself wasn’t that extreme. Moreover, from what he heard, it seemed Rou didn’t appear particularly beautiful only to him.
“I see.”
Brukisel’s face looked strangely reassured. He felt fortunate that he hadn’t yet lost his objectivity.
“If the High Priest wishes, guide him to the greenhouse anytime.”
“……Yes, understood.”
Het, who had been rattling on excitedly since the Emperor asked about his favorite topic, cut off his words abruptly. ‘If the High Priest wishes’—what human would want to enter that murderous space filled with death?
But at the same time, he thought that if it were the High Priest, he would gladly walk in there. And that he would be delighted to hear the Emperor’s words. Het had neither the ability nor the ambition to dare disobey the Emperor’s command, so he could only answer that he understood.
Brukisel moved away from the greenhouse where Rou was with wide strides again.
Mac glared at Het with a resentful face, huffing, before following the Emperor. Het watched the two disappear from view with a somewhat dazed expression.
“What, what was that?”
Thinking back, it was quite a strange situation. When asked if the High Priest, who anyone could see was beautiful, was beautiful, the Emperor got angry when told he wasn’t, and was satisfied when told he was.
Het couldn’t quite guess why the Emperor had suddenly asked such a question. From the Emperor’s reaction, it seemed like he wanted to hear that the High Priest was beautiful, but considering the Emperor’s usual words and actions, it seemed like there must be another intention. However, Het’s mind couldn’t quite grasp that hidden intention.
Het came to understand the situation only after more time had passed, after rumors about the relationship between the Emperor and the High Priest had seeped even into the temple.
