One was a rumor based on facts.
“Did you hear? Oh my goodness, they say His Majesty has gotten a lover?”
“Not just any lover, but a lover bestowed by the gods!”
“Wow, His Majesty really is something different.”
“I heard they’re not just a lover but fated.”
“Our Majesty is truly always amazing.”
The other one was an absurd story.
“I heard they have wings.”
“Huh? I heard they’re not human.”
“Me too!”
The reason such strange rumors were circulating was because the Emperor had announced Seoho’s existence while keeping his personal information thoroughly secret.
‘Except for the servants of the Imperial Palace, there’s no one who knows what Seoho looks like.’
Even the loose-lipped imperial mages hadn’t directly encountered Seoho, so no words leaked out from behind.
Aris let their conversation wash over him as he walked briskly. Laughing at their absurd stories was amusing once or twice, but since it kept repeating, it wasn’t particularly fun anymore.
Having passed one group of servants like that and encountering yet another group of servants, Aris let out a small sigh.
“But I heard that fated one is a man.”
“Ah. Then….”
“Doesn’t that mean he won’t be able to have children?”
“Won’t he take a concubine?”
“Our Majesty?”
“That’s a bit….”
“But has anyone among you actually seen this fated partner person?”
“Well. Ah, what was their name again?”
“Hey, not ‘name.’ Say ‘honorable name.'”
“That’s true, if they’re His Majesty’s partner, they’ll soon become Her Majesty the Empress.”
Aris found himself nodding without realizing it. The Emperor cherished Seoho greatly, and seeing that, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that Seoho would become Empress.
“The name hasn’t been revealed. It seems some people in the Imperial Palace know, but they were told to keep their mouths shut?”
“But really, is there no one among us who has seen that person? Or even their surroundings?”
“His Majesty treasures them so much that he doesn’t want to show them to others. I heard that even among the servants, only a very small number of people have seen them.”
“Still, there are people who’ve seen them.”
“Why do you ask?”
“…In case they’re an imaginary person.”
At those words, Aris chuckled and moved on, when one servant spoke up boastfully.
“I know someone among the imperial mages, and I heard from that person. You know, back when those really bad rumors were coming from His Majesty’s palace?”
Aris let out a small sigh. Wasn’t that being too openly discussed?
As mentioned earlier, even Aris knew that there had been a mage who had babbled about Seoho, ignoring His Majesty’s orders.
The imperial mages were beings who swore loyalty to the Emperor and thus received the Emperor’s commands, but not everyone overflowed with loyalty like Puti.
‘Come to think of it, back then….’
Aris had once informed Puti when he learned that one of his colleagues was going around talking about Seoho.
However, after hearing the story, contrary to his expectation that Puti would fly into a rage, Puti was very calm.
‘I didn’t think the secret would be kept perfectly.’
‘You’re just going to let it slide?’
‘No. Now that I know, that won’t do. Would you tell me the name?’
The day after that conversation, when Aris learned that the imperial mage had been stripped of their position, he realized anew that Puti was someone in quite a high position.
The Emperor’s only direct attendant and the one called the next Head Chamberlain.
Naturally, he had to have great power. Despite that loose-looking exterior, his very decisive judgment also stood out.
As Aris was thinking about Puti, the servants’ conversation continued.
“Ah, back then?”
“Yeah, back then they told me to keep it to myself, but that’s when the fated one came.”
“Really?”
“At that time, I didn’t know as far as them being fated, but anyway, after that person came, the crying stopped.”
“What kind of person are they?”
“Well. If you want to know in detail, you’d have to go to Puti-nim.”
At the end of the story, Puti’s name naturally appeared. Aris, who had been about to leave the area by passing the corner of the alley, stopped in place at Puti’s name coming from them.
It was an unconscious action.
“Puti?”
“His Majesty entrusted everything about that person to Puti-nim.”
“He really does seem like he’ll become Head Chamberlain.”
“Probably, right? This is also a rumor, but I heard that person also trusts Puti-nim tremendously.”
“We really need to make a good impression.”
“Exactly. We’ll have to be even more careful from now on than we are now.”
“He already has great power. Is it okay for it to be this concentrated?”
“Well, he’s not someone who abuses his authority.”
“That’s true, but. Still, that person is scary sometimes.”
At one servant’s words, Aris made a strange expression.
‘Puti?’
Scary, Aris recalled Puti’s gentle face. Of course, it was true that Puti’s power was considerable, but still, Puti wasn’t a scary person.
‘Rather than scary…. isn’t he cute?’
Giggling as he thought of Puti’s blank face, Aris checked the time and hurried on again.
The appointed time was approaching. After being one minute late to the last lesson, how much nagging had he received from Puti after class ended?
‘Though I think he was just irritated about writing a letter to the Saintess.’
Shaking his head with a fed-up expression, Aris quickly entered the Imperial Palace.
Exchanging greetings with the servants who greeted him as he headed toward the Emperor’s room where Seoho was staying, Aris spotted Puti standing in front of the door and greeted him.
“Why are you out here?”
After realizing Puti’s position, he had considered whether he should correct his casual speech, but concluded that raising his speech level now would be even more awkward.
So Aris was still using casual speech with Puti. Puti had also been very displeased at first, but by now seemed to have accepted it.
“Puti?”
Just then, Puti suddenly grabbed Aris’s wrist and moved away from the door.
Without even greeting him and with a serious face, Puti pulled him along, and Aris obediently followed him away from the room. When they had put an appropriate distance from the room, Puti called Aris with a rigidly hardened face.
“Aris-nim.”
Looking at that serious face, the conversation of the servants he had just heard suddenly came to mind. That conversation about Puti being scary.
Aris unconsciously let out a small laugh. Then Puti’s face crumpled all at once.
“What’s with that unpleasant laugh?”
This was definitely a bit rude.
“Ah, sorry. I heard something funny…. Pfft.”
But looking at those sharp eyes, laughter burst out again. Aris quickly covered his mouth.
Aris offered an apology to the glaring Puti.
“Sorry, before I came here I heard a funny story and that came to mind…, really sorry.”
When Aris put his hands together and apologized once more, Puti made a disgruntled face and let out a small sigh.
“…Fine. You’re always a strange person anyway. Today, there’s something you need to be careful about before going in.”
“Hm?”
“Seoho-nim is not in a very good mood.”
At Puti’s words, Aris’s eyes widened. Not in a good mood?
“Huh? Why?”
What on earth could there be to put Seoho in a bad mood?
No, things that put him in a bad mood could happen. However, he was curious who had made him that way.
Who was it that had upset the mood of Seoho, who was under the Emperor’s protection? His interest was piqued. As Aris’s eyes sparkled, Puti glared at Aris irritably.
“Why do you look happy?”
At Puti’s point, Aris quickly shook his head and managed his expression.
“Happy? No. Absolutely. Not at all.”
Puti, who had been looking at Aris with suspicious eyes, continued speaking.
“You heard about the divine power last time, right?”
Aris nodded. How surprised he had been when he first heard that story.
The day after Angel left, Aris, who had met Seoho for a lesson, had used healing magic on Seoho’s ankle that had been bruised under the Emperor’s orders.
‘Though it had no effect at all.’
Aris, who had been puzzled about what had caused his leg to be in that state, learned about the sudden manifestation of divine power along with the dream Seoho had and the divine power he had gained as a result.
And he learned that while healing magic had no effect, divine power could erase the bruise on the ankle, and that healing power was included in divine power.
‘I’m learning more and more.’
He had been troubled because he could directly feel himself getting closer to the center of power. Aris forcibly swallowed a sigh and changed the direction of his thoughts.
‘His Majesty hasn’t directly given me orders yet.’
There was no need to worry about the future on his own end in advance. Therefore, Aris decided to focus only on the task at hand. Just to pay attention to the fact that Seoho had gained divine power and was training because of it.
“There’s been almost no progress, so he’s very worried.”
At Puti’s words, Aris, who had cleared his thoughts, recalled the conversation from the last lesson. So, he remembered hearing that Seoho was working on growing a seed but it wasn’t going well.
“No progress? Still on the seed?”
“Yes.”
Three days had passed since the last lesson. It had been a week since Seoho received the seed.
