The prince knew facts that couldn’t be known unless one was the mirror’s owner, or unless one had watched the mirror for a long time. He might have stolen and read records from somewhere, but then there would be no need to make up a lie about there being another mirror.
At least the truth was that he was a figure related to the mirror. However, she couldn’t help but be irritated by the prince acting as if he knew everything inside her.
‘I’m not trying to play word games.’
Even at her sharply edged attitude, the prince answered leisurely.
‘Same here. The time I can be away from the palace is limited. So it would be good in many ways to help me meet them.’
Angel couldn’t easily give an answer. The prince hadn’t said what his purpose was, and it seemed he had no intention of saying it right now either.
‘Are you certain you won’t be a hindrance to me, Your Highness?’
‘Probably?’
‘And you have no intention of telling me the reason you want to meet that person?’
‘Right.’
An unwavering gaze, and the subtle hostility shown whenever he spoke about the mirror. Whatever it was, it was certain that that man didn’t have very good feelings toward the mirror. She didn’t know if that hostility would be helpful to her, but.
‘I don’t have a choice, do I?’
If Angel didn’t help him, the prince might go straight to find the Emperor. So whether she trusted the prince or not, Angel had to help him.
‘Right, but you won’t suffer much damage. I didn’t come to wish for their happiness either.’
‘I’ll arrange a meeting. However, there are things we need to agree on before that.’
After her permission that was close to giving up, Angel came to her senses and entered into negotiations. Detailed discussions went back and forth about what parts could be told to the Emperor and to what degree things needed to be hidden, and she received instructions to hide from the temple that he knew about the mirror.
‘Instructions!’
From someone who was just a prince, not even Rosetta who received the gods’ love! Angel finally spat out a curse.
“Damn it.”
But that was only for a moment—Angel soon plopped down in a chair.
“…I’ve gotten completely entangled.”
She didn’t have time to just be angry and resentful.
“Since I was going to find a way to return to the imperial palace anyway, my plan hasn’t completely fallen apart.”
She didn’t really believe everything the prince said, but thanks to that, hadn’t she obtained quite plausible information?
‘I have enough justification to return to the imperial palace.’
Angel, who had calmed her excitement as much as possible, picked up a pen and slowly wrote. Unlike her shaken insides, the letters on the paper were neat and elegant.
Angel, who had finished the final greeting, looked over the letter once more.
“Since I said I’d accept a certain degree of wariness, this should be enough.”
Since the prince had approached Angel in the first place, Rosetta wouldn’t view the prince positively, so there was no need to needlessly try to curry favor.
After sealing the letter, Angel immediately called in the priest who attended her.
“Send this to His Majesty the Emperor.”
The priest who bowed politely left the room, and Angel, left alone again, blinked several times before taking out white paper and writing down names one by one.
Now that she was inevitably getting entangled with the prince, she couldn’t just sit still on this side either.
“If I have to send a high-ranking priest anyway, it would be better to send my person.”
Angel began to deliberate on which person to send to the Iakos Kingdom while examining the list of high-ranking priests who followed her well.
***
As soon as Seoho came out of the bathroom, he glanced at Rosetta receiving some kind of report from Puti. Then Aris whispered beside him.
“You can’t concentrate today, can you?”
Seoho lowered the corners of his mouth and apologized.
“…I’m sorry.”
“Not at all. In fact, I couldn’t concentrate that well either. Wasn’t it a bit noisy?”
Well, Puti had been quite tense in various ways today.
“Puti seemed a bit nervous too, right?”
At Seoho’s question, Aris, who let out a small laugh, added.
“Same for me. Should I say it felt like being evaluated?”
It was a playful answer, but it was full of sincerity.
“Hmm, should I ask for a separate study room?”
At Seoho’s suggestion, Aris only smiled without saying anything. But Seoho realized that was silent agreement.
In the meantime, Puti left the room again and Rosetta approached them.
“Seoho. Today’s lesson is almost over, right?”
“Ah, yes.”
Normally after the lesson ended, they would have refreshments while chatting disguised as a common knowledge lesson about this world, but he couldn’t demand even that from Aris, who said he was nervous because of Rosetta.
‘I’m also a bit awkward since Rosetta is here.’
Seoho was making eye contact with Aris when Rosetta spoke as if cutting off that gaze.
“Seoho, a letter came from Angel.”
At those words, Seoho looked back at Rosetta and Aris stood up while organizing the desk.
“Since it seems you have important matters to discuss, I’ll take my leave.”
But he couldn’t leave.
“No, you stay too.”
At Rosetta’s words, Aris flinched, stopped in place, and asked back.
“Pardon?”
Rosetta said as if it was no big deal.
“This is something you’ll find out about anyway. You also know about holy power, and you’ll continue having lessons with Seoho.”
Aris, who had made a small groaning sound, asked hesitantly.
“…Is this really something I should know about?”
Rosetta’s gaze touched Aris.
“Weren’t you anticipating things would turn out this way? Ask Puti what you should do.”
The words that came out of Aris’s mouth after moving his lips several times were affirmative.
“I understand.”
Seoho was pondering what on earth this story was about when Rosetta called him.
“Seoho, the letter’s content is simple. She found something out and is asking if it’s alright for her to visit the imperial palace to tell us about it.”
For Angel to return to the imperial palace. Seoho frowned and was about to throw out a question when he looked at Aris, and Rosetta said as if telling him not to worry.
“You can talk comfortably.”
Seoho, who had been observing Aris’s somewhat complicated expression, reluctantly opened his mouth.
“Didn’t you deliberately send Angel away?”
“Right. But since she says she obtained information, I can’t ignore it. Even if I told her to just send the information, she’s not someone who would listen to that.”
An undeniable deep sigh flowed from Aris. Seoho was about to look back at him once more when Rosetta added.
“And according to the investigation on this side, it seems to have been a sudden decision. Until then, there were no signs she had found anything.”
Seoho focused on the conversation again. This story was very important to him.
“Do you think the story about obtaining information is a lie?”
“There’s a possibility. But she’s not stupid enough to tell a lie that will be exposed right away.”
At the sarcastic answer, Seoho was pondering what to say when Rosetta continued.
“Before sending the letter, she had a conversation with one person. She also talked with another Empire noble, but we confirmed they didn’t have any significant conversation.”
“Who was that?”
“The Second Prince of the Iakos Kingdom.”
“The Iakos Kingdom?”
It seemed like he had heard the name of the kingdom before, but other than the name, it was a place Seoho knew nothing about.
‘I remember hearing it’s a place that mainly does trade.’
Seoho was frowning when Rosetta looked at Aris and said.
“Aris. What you need to do right now is tell Seoho about the Iakos Kingdom.”
Aris, who had been keeping his mouth shut, asked.
“Are you leaving?”
Aris was the one who asked the question, but Rosetta looked at Seoho and said.
“It won’t take very long. I’ll be back before dinner. Puti will return soon too.”
“Yes.”
Rosetta, who casually reached out and gently stroked Seoho’s head, left the room in a flash.
Seoho, who had been fiddling with his ear while recalling the touch that had brushed past and caressed his ear, looked back at Aris sitting down in the chair again and asked.
“What was that earlier? That thing about weren’t you anticipating things would turn out this way.”
Aris answered with a slightly tired-looking face.
“It means I’ve become His Majesty’s person.”
“Weren’t you already an imperial mage?”
Since Rosetta was the Emperor, wasn’t an imperial mage naturally Rosetta’s person?
“That’s true. Just think of it as me having taken His Majesty’s side. It’s a good thing.”
Seoho examined Aris’s expression, which was stiffer than usual, and asked.
“You don’t look like it’s a good thing. Did you suffer damage because of me?”
“Damage? I’ll be walking on an easy road from now on. I’m not particularly power-hungry, but I’m also not the type to refuse what’s being given. I’m just a bit worried because it seems like I’ll have a lot of work from now on.”
To Seoho, who was still making an ambiguous expression, Aris added.
“Just think of it as one more person like Puti appearing from now on. I’ll be able to get closer to Seoho-nim.”
“Mm.”
“You don’t need to worry. Shall we start on the task His Majesty commanded? Would that be alright?”
It didn’t seem right to persistently pry at someone who kept saying it was fine, asking if there really wasn’t a problem. Seoho concluded his thoughts that it would be better to ask Puti about it later.
“Alright. Tell me.”
“Do you remember the name Iakos Kingdom?”
“I remember.”
“The Iakos Kingdom is…”
