A heavy silence hung in the room. Rosetta, who seemed to be thinking about something for a moment, opened his mouth again.
“Still, keep monitoring them. Tell them to contact you again if they notice anything.”
“Yes.”
“What about Seoho?”
At Rosetta’s question, Puti prepared himself mentally. In fact, this was the more important reason he had come to find Rosetta.
Nevertheless, the reason he had reported the temple news first was because he knew that once he talked about Seoho, Rosetta wouldn’t give a damn about any other story.
“Your, Your Majesty.”
Rosetta nodded his head with an annoyed expression as if telling him to speak. Puti prepared himself mentally and opened his mouth.
“I briefly left Seoho-nim’s side today.”
“What?”
At the tremendous pressure he felt in an instant, Puti quickly added.
“I left my post briefly because of a message from the temple.”
Rosetta asked back as if dumbfounded.
“Don’t you know what’s more important?”
“Well, Seoho-nim didn’t know about that situation at all, and another servant emphasized that it was a very urgent matter…”
Rosetta warned Puti in a low, sunken voice.
“Don’t make excuses.”
Though terrified by the suppressed voice that seemed to be holding something back, Puti didn’t stop talking. Right now, it was more important to quickly inform him of the situation rather than continuously beg for forgiveness.
“I apologize. But, during that time, something must have happened because his expression wasn’t very good.”
“…You don’t know what happened?”
“No. I don’t think he’ll open up to me about it.”
After Seoho found out that Puti had returned, he just smiled awkwardly and only said they should go back, not telling him what had happened or what he had said alone.
Rosetta let out a deep sigh. Reading the sharp anger contained in that sigh, Puti struggled not to tremble.
Rosetta kept his eyes lowered for a while as if holding something back, and only opened his mouth again when sweat began to flow from the face of the bowing Puti.
“Puti.”
Puti held his breath. This voice was, in other words, that voice he used to hear occasionally before Seoho came.
A voice without any emotion, indifferent and dry as if there was no need to even feel anger.
“I don’t need any other matters. What you must prioritize above all is Seoho.”
Puti barely managed to open his mouth and answer.
“…Yes.”
Having finished his warning, Rosetta turned his body as if he was about to return to the conference room. Puti asked toward Rosetta’s retreating back.
“Will you return to your room today? Seoho-nim is waiting.”
“I might be a little late, but I’ll go back.”
Emotion settled into the voice that had been so dry it seemed like it would crack and split. It was impressed upon him once again what Seoho meant to Rosetta.
“Yes, I understand.”
“Manage things well so nothing happens to Seoho.”
“Yes.”
The door closed again, and left alone, Puti wiped the cold sweat flowing from his entire body and leaned weakly against the wall.
‘That was almost a disaster.’
For the past few months, or rather, before Seoho came.
He had completely forgotten what Rosetta was like before he paid attention to Seoho. It would be more accurate to say that Rosetta had changed so much after meeting Seoho that he couldn’t remember what he used to be like.
But Rosetta’s essence hadn’t changed.
Rosetta was never an easy master. A merciless and cold master.
Originally, nine times out of ten after meeting with Rosetta, Puti would break out in cold sweat like this.
‘It was good that I mentioned the temple matter first.’
If he had talked about Seoho’s matter first, he wouldn’t have even been able to bring up the temple story.
Blaming himself for having let his guard down completely, Puti put strength back in his legs and headed to his personal room. Before returning to Seoho, he needed to restore his face, which must have turned pale. He couldn’t show Seoho this appearance.
***
The nobles of the Borealis Empire were quite flustered by Rosetta’s appearance as he stood up and left the conference room after hearing some news from a chamberlain.
“My goodness, for His Majesty to leave in the middle of a meeting.”
At one noble’s words, the other nobles nodded in unison.
And for good reason—originally, Rosetta would not consider the physical condition of the nobles who, unlike him, were ordinary humans, and would only dismiss meetings when the nobles were exhausted to the point of collapse.
The nobles who recalled Rosetta, who used to show through his actions that he wanted to end tedious meetings as quickly as possible, shuddered.
This meeting too, as usual—no, the nobles had been terrified by Rosetta pushing even harder than usual.
But then Rosetta suddenly left his seat, saying he was taking a break.
“For His Majesty to leave like that, surely…”
As soon as someone began, another person picked up the words as if they’d been waiting.
“That’s right. Isn’t it because of ‘that person’ whose existence His Majesty announced this time?”
That person.
More precisely, the person who would become Rosetta’s mate.
It hadn’t even been two weeks since Rosetta had acknowledged that existence, which had only been the subject of rumors. Naturally, the nobles’ interest in that existence was immense.
Several nobles who had come from the provinces whispered among themselves and continued their conversation.
“Actually, isn’t it rare for all of us to gather at the imperial palace like this?”
“That’s right. So how about we take this opportunity to request His Majesty to properly introduce us to ‘that person’?”
They were already troubled that they had heard the rumors late because they were far from the capital, and even after coming to the capital, they couldn’t see the existence from those rumors. Unlike the capital nobles, provincial nobles couldn’t come to the capital often, and if not for this opportunity, it seemed they would only be able to see ‘that person’ next year.
At one noble’s suggestion, another noble showed reluctance.
“But I heard that his favor toward that person is extraordinary.”
“So wouldn’t he want to keep them even more hidden?”
“…Hmm.”
Was the Emperor someone who wanted to show off the one he liked, or someone who wanted to hide them?
Since Rosetta was an Emperor who didn’t—no, didn’t need to—interact with other nobles, and therefore there wasn’t a single noble who could say they knew him personally, it was a question no one could answer definitively.
Just then, a provincial count opened his mouth with a resolute face as if he had made some decision.
“Let’s at least try asking.”
“That’s right. Let’s try asking. You’ve all heard that His Majesty has been in a very good mood lately, haven’t you?”
At those words, the nobles who had come up from the provinces all listened attentively.
“Of course, we heard. They say His Majesty has become so gentle since ‘that person’ appeared.”
“They said we don’t need to be as afraid as before.”
“Ah. That’s right. Then…”
Hope was appearing on their faces one by one when the conference room door opened again and Rosetta appeared.
The nobles’ gazes fixed on the Emperor who had reappeared.
However, no one could accept as truth the rumor that he had become very gentle lately after seeing Rosetta’s face. That’s how much cold energy overflowed from Rosetta’s face.
The nobles quickly lowered their eyes lest they make eye contact with Rosetta. As the nobles closed their mouths and bowed their heads, Rosetta, seated on the imperial throne, resumed the meeting.
“Let’s begin.”
One of the nobles who had been watching for an opening at the Emperor’s cool face that looked impenetrably solid, looked at the marquis who had been giving his opinion before Rosetta left the conference hall and opened his mouth.
“Starting with the marquis whose story was interrupted earlier…”
Then Rosetta interrupted.
“Enough, I don’t need to hear more. We can’t raise the tax rate any further.”
The marquis, who had just heard the provincial nobles’ whispers, attempted a feeble resistance.
“However…”
But that attempt didn’t work at all. When Rosetta’s cold gaze fixed on the marquis, the marquis bowed his head again.
“Next.”
As it seemed the meeting would begin in earnest again, the gazes of several nobles fixed on the count who had said they should try mentioning something related to ‘that person’ to Rosetta.
Unable to withstand the surrounding gazes, the count carefully opened his mouth.
“Your Majesty! There’s endless talk about wanting to see in person the fated mate Your Majesty has announced. Won’t they become the Empress of the Empire soon? If you’re going to make a public announcement, perhaps at this opportunity…”
“Why should I make him public?”
The count, whose words were cut off, looked up at Rosetta in a daze. Reading the hostility on Rosetta’s face, the count stiffened and asked foolishly.
“Pardon?”
“I have no intention of making him public.”
“But…”
“I’m not idle enough to listen to such useless talk.”
They realized from Rosetta’s attitude of sweeping over not just the count but all the nobles in the conference hall that what he was saying now was directed at all the nobles present.
This was a warning. Not to talk about that existence.
When Rosetta coldly cut off the conversation, the nobles hesitantly watched for cues and shut their mouths.
Just as this matter was about to be glossed over, a figure whom no one would have thought would be interested in such matters stepped forward.
“Is that that person’s thoughts, or Your Majesty’s thoughts?”
The eyes of everyone in the conference hall turned to Duke Sabrina.
Duke Sabrina.
After Emperor Rosetta gained absolute power, it had long been the case that not only the noble faction but also the imperial faction had become an imperial faction in name only.
Rosetta wasn’t someone who gave more attention to imperial faction nobles, and since no one in the Empire or even in other kingdoms raised a banner against the Emperor who had received his name from the gods, the imperial faction had little to do for Rosetta.
