Chapter 143
“Yes, so you've arrested the ringleaders.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. They are currently being held in the underground prison.”
The emperor's office.
Richard was kneeling before the emperor as he continued his report.
It was about the attackers who struck last night's closing ceremony.
“Have you found out who they are?”
“We're interrogating them, but because of their secrecy contracts, we haven't learned anything yet. My apologies.”
“I see.”
Kaisel gave a short reply.
There wasn't much emotion in his voice. But Richard could read the emperor's displeasure in that indifferent tone.
It would be strange if he weren't angry. They had tried to carry out a terror attack during a festival everyone was supposed to enjoy.
“In any case, you all worked hard during the festival. If not for you, there might have been a major disaster.”
“We only did what had to be done. More than anything, the main contributor this time is someone else.”
“The main contributor? Who is that?”
“Leon.”
Kaisel's eyes narrowed.
“Did he do something?”
“It was thanks to Leon's judgment and response that we were able to contain this matter so early. Without him, we would have been plunged into far greater chaos.”
“So that's why you went with him.”
Richard lowered his head in silence.
Kaisel's gaze shifted to Leon beside Richard.
“Is what Richard says true?”
“I just got lucky.”
“So you don't deny it.”
“I know better than to lie before Your Majesty...”
“What a joker.”
It had been Kaisel himself who told him to join the knight order and earn merit.
But he hadn't expected him to earn merit this quickly.
‘Could it have been a staged incident?’
If it were anyone else, that would be a suspicion worth considering, but not with Leon. There was no need.
How could a slave who couldn't even pay taxes bribe anyone?
It couldn't have been a staged incident.
“Hmm...”
“Why is that? Surely you aren't displeased that I earned merit?”
“No, not at all. I was only thinking about something for a moment.”
Sharp-eyed one.
As Leon had said, he didn't like it. He couldn't shake the unpleasant feeling.
But the fact remained that thanks to Leon, they had been able to get through the Founding Festival safely.
He had to admit that.
“Well done.”
“I only did what I had to do.”
“Right.”
A brief silence fell.
“Uh, about my manumission...”
“Do you think I'd absolve your sins for something like this?”
“Oh, no, of course not. I was just asking because I wondered whether you still remembered.”
“I don't forget what I say. Stop worrying about useless things and keep striving.”
“Understood.”
***
After finishing the report with Richard, I left the emperor's office.
“Too bad. You must have been hoping for manumission.”
“It'd be a lie to say I hadn't hoped, but honestly, I didn't think this would be enough.”
I do intend to work hard.
I do intend to be loyal to the Empire.
For now, I should just be satisfied with having left a good impression on the emperor.
“I'm sure you can accomplish something even better than this. Keep it up.”
“Thank you.”
I soon parted ways with Richard and headed for the princess's palace.
I heard the knights who were on full duty during the festival are getting special leave in rotation.
Richard was heading off to rest on leave as well. That was why his steps were especially light.
Sadly, I don't qualify.
A slave has nothing but endless labor.
I arrived at the princess's palace.
Aurora was writing in the study as usual.
Her writing seemed to be going well; even after I arrived, she didn't look up once and kept her hand moving.
I deliberately cleared my throat to make sure she knew I was there, so she wouldn't be startled later.
Aurora's body jolted.
I thought she might lift her head, but she kept her gaze fixed on the manuscript and continued moving her hand.
“…You're here?”
The awkwardness was palpable.
‘Ah, so that's it.’
She wasn't ignoring me because she was too focused on writing.
She knew I was there and was deliberately pretending not to.
It had to be because of yesterday.
I remembered last night's kiss with Aurora vividly too.
I know it was an accident.
It was something that wouldn't have happened if Aurora hadn't worn that mask.
She had her own excuse for it too.
She said it was because the erotic book she'd read before had left such a strong impression on her.
‘She's truly impossible to understand.’
I'm still shocked.
How could a woman, even a princess, end up with a nickname that was basically 'read smut too impressively'?
The sight of a person's humanity collapsing right before my eyes is truly unforgettable.
‘Aurora should've seen this too.’
It's not often you get an experience like this. It would be a real help to her novel writing.
But since I'm the one involved, I can't exactly see it.
What a pity.
“Hmm?”
I felt a gaze on me.
Aurora was staring at me intently, her head still lowered.
“What are you thinking about so hard...?”
There was anxiety in her eyes.
Seeing that, I got mischievous.
“Well, what do you think I'm thinking about?”
“…….”
“If you don't know, should I give you a hint? The hint is a sensual book...”
“Aaaaaaaaaa! I can't hear you. I can't hear a thing!”
Aurora cried out, covering her ears with her hands, as if she absolutely refused to hear a word I said.
“How childish. You're not even a kid.”
“Because of you!”
Aurora shouted back.
I tilted my head.
I didn't understand.
“You, Noona.”
“Why is that my fault?”
“Who was it that suggested wearing the mask?”
“Me.”
“Who was the one who read smut?”
“I-it wasn't smut. It was a sensual book...”
“Same thing. So who was it that read it?”
“…It was me, for now.”
If you read it, you read it; if you didn't, you didn't. What do you mean, 'for now'?
Well, it's not that important.
“Who was it that used a command to freeze the slave in place and kissed him?”
“I-I didn't try to freeze you in place and kiss you... I did it before that...”
“Anyway, who did it? Was it me?”
“I did all of it...”
“Right?”
I nodded as if to say, See?
The cause of yesterday's incident was crystal clear: Aurora.
From the start, as a slave, I couldn't possibly harm my master.
In other words, my fault was zero.
A hundred percent.
“B-but I'm a princess, and Leon is a slave...”
“So you're saying it's my fault for being lower in status?”
“No, but when you think about it, isn't that true?”
Aurora, who had been unable to meet my eyes until just then, slowly lifted her head.
“You can dodge swords and magic, can't you? So how can you not dodge just my lips?”
“What are you trying to say?”
“Couldn't you have dodged it? Maybe you secretly wanted it too?”
It seemed she was quite unhappy about being attacked one-sidedly.
Aurora equipped sophistry in her equipment window and tried to counterattack.
“Isn't that right?”
That's right.
A correct answer that gets you punched.
“Then should we hold a trial?”
“Huh?”
“Let's tell everyone and have them decide whose fault it was. How about that?”
“Hmm, regardless of the verdict, wouldn't Leon die anyway...?”
That is true too.
I was basically the one who got sexually harassed one-sidedly, and yet because of status, I'm the guilty one.
This really is a world where status is all that matters.
“So maybe it'd be better for us to take yesterday's incident to the grave, just the two of us. For both our sakes.”
At this point, the perpetrator is making a deal with the victim.
But there was nothing I could do.
It was already something to be grateful for that she'd quietly keep her mouth shut.
Yeah, this is a world where even men can be sex slaves.
Compared to being harassed by some weird old man, Aurora is a hundred times better.
At least that's something.
“More importantly, you got to steal a kiss from the Empire's beautiful First Princess? Consider it an honor.”
Thinking she'd gained the upper hand, Aurora now boldly straightened her shoulders.
Her smile climbed higher and higher, unafraid of heaven itself.
Watching that, I felt oddly annoyed. It brought out my stubborn streak for no reason.
“What honor? It didn't even feel that good.”
Click.
It was as if some mechanism inside Aurora had stopped working.
The eyes that had been counterattacking so forcefully wavered like someone stabbed in an unexpected place.
“So...”
In a tiny voice.
“Was kissing me that unpleasant?”
“What?”
“Did you hate it that much?”
The smile had vanished from Aurora's lips before I knew it.
Her shoulders shrank back down, and her gaze fell weakly.
She looked like she might burst into tears at any moment.
I was flustered by that, but then I quickly realized my mistake.
‘I messed up.’
I meant it as a joke. But Aurora didn't seem to take it that way.
No, maybe it wasn't something I should have treated as a joke at all.
I already knew Aurora had fantasies about romance novels.
This was her first kiss.
She must have had huge romantic expectations for it.
How upsetting must it be to have your first kiss with a slave because of a momentary mistake?
“I'm sorry. I misspoke.”
“…….”
“For some reason, I didn't want to lose, so I said something I didn't mean.”
“Then...?”
The one who misspoke was me.
And I was the one who hurt you with it.
So the one who needs to take responsibility is me. It's not the time to be fussing over some petty pride.
“Honestly, I didn't dislike it. Rather than dislike it, it was more like...”
“More like?”
“Rather, I liked it. Even though it was only a fleeting moment, the sensation is still vivid in my memory. Above all, it was my first time too...”
Aurora's eyes went round.
“Your first time? Leon's too?”
“Why do you assume it wouldn't be my first time?”
“W-well, you seem really experienced with women... More than anything, I thought you and the young lady were in that kind of relationship.”
What is she even talking about?
“Didn't I tell you when we first met that I had nothing to do with the young lady?”
“I thought you were just saying that.”
“We're not like that. There was never anything romantic between us.”
“…….”
Aurora's gaze dropped.
Her hands couldn't stay still and kept fidgeting.
“I-I see. Leon didn't dislike it either. So it was the same for me. And just like me, it was his first...”
The corners of her mouth twitched as she slowly started making her case again.
“Nuhuhu.”
Then she even let a smile slip out.
Is it really that good?
Is there even anything to be happy about?
I really can't figure out what's in her head.