Duke Hesman was urgently arrested on charges of robbery, murder, conspiracy to murder, and treason. With all the evidence against him, there were rumors that a summary execution could be carried out. This swift downfall of the Babyloa and Hesman families, who were once the country's esteemed meritorious ministers and great nobles, caused an uproar throughout the empire.
It was a case of Duke Hesman, his closest aides, and some elders conspiring to leak top-secret documents. It was understandable that the entire Hesman family was now in a terrible situation. I quietly thought about the teacup in my hands.
"I've asked that measures be taken to ensure the ordinary people of the Hesman family are not harmed." Although top-secret documents had been leaked, the conspiracy and the contents of the meeting minutes were solely the actions of Lennox and his specific aides.
The leaked documents were also of relatively low importance, not enough to completely ruin the entire family. Perhaps the Hesman family, as a national contributor, would be able to maintain their lineage, but they would never enjoy the same power as before.
The real problem was that Mirisa might be hurt because of her family's wrongdoing. So, I called her to the stationery store. I was going to tell her that she wouldn't be harmed and that I was sorry for unintentionally hurting her by revealing her brother's crimes.
However, Mirisa came to visit after her academy classes with a nonchalant expression.
"Sister, I just want to say this."
"Huh?"
"I never felt guilty about this, and I hope you don't either!" Mirisa squeezed my arm and whispered with a cheerful expression. "Honestly, my heart is sad about my family's decline, but for the sake of justice, people have to go through difficult things. Those who do wrong should be punished."
"I'll do my best to make sure you and other good people aren't harmed."
"But Shin Seong-guk's tail hasn't been caught at all. The investigation into the holy water and relics at the Duke's residence found nothing suspicious."
As I listened to the news, one conclusion came to mind: "The Pope must have tried to destroy the evidence." He is a meticulous and quick-witted man, so I would have to be careful around him in the future. I took another sip of my tea.
Come to think of it, how could such a villain have been the male protagonist in the original story? Neither Sheria nor Lennox were the main characters. At least, if I were the writer, I would never use them as the protagonists. Of course, even when the original was serialized, it was heavily criticized for glorifying an affair...
Normally, a novel's main character doesn't have to be a just and good person, but shouldn't they be such a terrible villain? What a strange novel.
However, I didn't have time to think about the novel's plot for long. The next day, a small invitation arrived from the Empress. The tea party was held in the small, secluded outdoor garden of the Imperial Palace. I happily joined the afternoon tea party. The invitation simply stated that it would be a small tea party for the three of us: the Empress, Prince Cassian, and me.
I wonder why she called me here.
Sitting alone in the garden, waiting for the others, I looked around. There was only a single vase on the huge glass table. What is going on? What is the meaning of this?
As I stared at the vase, trying to deduce the Empress's intentions, I sensed people approaching and stood up. A moment later, the Empress and Prince Cassian entered the garden.
"I greet Her Majesty the Empress and His Royal Highness the Second Prince."
"Please, sit down."
"It's been a long time since we last met, Marquis."
The Empress sat at the head of the table, and the Prince sat across from me. As soon as we were seated, attendants poured warm tea from a prepared pot. What was unusual was that all the maids and servants of the Imperial Palace were children. It was adorable to see the cute little girls holding their wobbly feet and nervously pouring the tea.
"I like children, so I called the young servants," the Empress said with a gentle smile.
"How kind of you, Your Majesty," I replied, nodding.
The adorable little maids and servants from the Empress's palace were busy carrying trays. The children were as fast as if their small feet had wings.
"They're well-trained and know all about tea, so let's get down to business," the Empress said.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
As soon as our conversation ended, the little attendants stood next to the Empress, the Prince, and me. The servants began to briefly explain the tea party's tea to the Empress and the Prince. Beside me, a nervous little servant who was half my size twisted his curly hair and whispered shyly, "This black tea has a bitter taste..." He seemed to have been well-educated and truly loved tea. The child pointed to the tea leaves and sugar, enthusiastically explaining them one by one.
I smiled as I listened to him. "Is that so?"
"Yes! And look! This is coffee cube ice that can only be found in the Imperial Palace!" The little servant put a glass cup with coffee ice on the table. "You can add it when you drink cold coffee."
I glanced at Prince Cassian and the Empress. They were distracted by their little servants' words. I grinned and looked at the surface of the square coffee ice in the glass cup, then whispered playfully to the child, "Can I show you something fun?"
"Yes?" The boy looked at me with both cheeks puffed out, as if he was trembling that I had spoken to him.
I nodded and held the glass in one hand. "This can be easily done with alchemy," I said with a grin, tapping the surface of the glass cup. The brown ice, which had been a simple square, instantly changed into the shapes of a rabbit, a star, and a cat.
"Wow!" The little servant, who had forgotten his duty for a moment, picked up the glass cup in my hand and exclaimed.
I stroked his head and whispered in his ear, "Would you like me to bring you some bunny-shaped ice cubes later?"
"Really? Can I have it too?"
If I were to summon the Winter Moon Demon, it wouldn't be difficult to bring him some cute ice. I picked up a teaspoon and looked at the bunny-shaped coffee ice I had made. "You won't be able to drink coffee, so I'll give you frozen tea ice instead."
"Yes!" The little servant nodded vigorously with an ecstatic expression. I affectionately stroked his curly hair.
"Marquis of Kinnoa." It seemed that the Empress was now staring at me. When I played with children, I often forgot the situation and my duties, falling into a world of childhood. I looked at her with a flustered expression and replied, "I apologize, Your Majesty."
She shook her head a few times and clapped her hands. "You are so kind. You notice things that others don't."
"That's a bit much," I said. It felt like an excessive amount of praise for what I had done; it was just a simple change in the shape of the ice. I was about to utter another word of humility, but I stopped when I looked at the Empress. Her eyes were dripping with affection.
Ever since I healed you, you've loved me so much... I nervously bowed to her. "...Thank you."
I patted the shoulder of the little servant, whose eyes were fixed on me, and who was now trembling with excitement. The Empress, who was watching me, nodded. "Come to think of it, I heard that you still don't have a servant or maid to serve you."
"Yes, Your Majesty." The restoration of Marquis Kinnoa's mansion was mostly complete.
"I'd like to give you a few attendants and butlers to help manage the mansion. What do you think? It won't be an inconvenience." The little attendants behind the Empress's back showed their nervousness by clenching their fists. I stared at the children with a sense of wonder and lowered my head in embarrassment. Therefore, I had no choice but to admit it: these cute little servants were all waiting for my choice!
"For children, it might be more comfortable to be in the palace, which has more conveniences."
"Not at all. I asked the children from beginning to end, and they all said they wanted to go so badly. You must have heard an interesting story from Axion."
"An interesting story?"
"Tell her," the Empress winked at a white-haired servant who was plump like a snowman and looked about four years old.
The child opened his round mouth wide. "I heard that Meldenik can levitate things!"
A little... that's embarrassing... Axion, what on earth are you saying in the imperial palace? I panicked and wiped the cold sweat from my forehead. It seemed like my achievements were being exaggerated too much. The eyes of the little servants standing in the distance were extremely enthusiastic, like sparkling stars.
The Empress put down her teacup and finally brought up the main topic. "Actually, the purpose of this was not to give you a servant from the beginning..." I nodded nervously. The Empress took a sip of her tea, touched her chin, and looked at me and Cassian with narrowed eyes. "I called you because Cassian said he had something to say."
"Yes?"
Cassian nodded naturally. "I asked Her Majesty to set aside a seat. I have something to tell you."
I whispered earnestly to Cassian, "You could have just come to the stationery store, but why go to the trouble of holding a tea party...?" Could it be that he wanted to tell me a secret that should never leave the Imperial Palace? Of course, he invited me to the private garden for a reason!
As if guessing my thoughts, Cassian smiled and said, "Oh, that's not a big reason. Her Majesty also wanted to meet you."
"Oh!" I instinctively looked at the Empress. She received my gaze but looked at my feet instead of my face. "I didn't really want to meet you," she said, but she couldn't hide the reddening of her earlobes. After recovering her health, she seemed to be bored in many ways.
Sheria, who once offered to heal her, is in prison, and she might want to rely on me more.I've fixed the magic runaway to some extent, but does she really like me this much? I asked myself and quickly agreed. Now that the illness she had suffered from for several years had been cured, she must have liked me. Moreover, it seemed there weren't many people around her who listened to the Empress.
"So, Cassian. I have something to talk about," the Empress said, holding my hand tightly with her white lace gloves. Why is she holding my hand while talking to Cassian?
"Yes," Cassian said. He had been watching the two of us quietly, and he finally brought up the main topic. "A letter has arrived."
An important sentence flowed from his expressionless lips: "Tonight, His Holiness the Pope is arriving in the Empire."