Chapter 9
Harriet’s grip on the notebook tightened.
Every detail of her next novel was written inside it.
The very novel in which the Emperor standing before her served as the model for the main villain.
If he opened it…
It would only be a matter of time before her identity as Elliot Dark was exposed.
Then she’d be dragged away for the crime of mocking the Emperor.
She could practically see the executioner’s block before her eyes.
At last, his voice broke the silence.
Kallis let out a quiet sigh.
“Your answer took quite a while.”
“I beg your forgiveness.”
“I’m asking why it took so long.”
Then maybe phrase it as a question next time. Or study some grammar.
“I have been unable to sleep properly for the past week, Your Majesty. It took me some time to understand what you said. It is entirely due to my own incompetence.”
“Then what were you doing here at this hour?”
“I was looking for a light so I could write a letter to a friend.”
“While hugging a notebook instead of letter paper?”
…
Trying to lie had been a mistake.
The notebook tucked against her chest was plainly visible.
What was she supposed to say?
She had already been caught in one lie. Telling another felt dangerous.
What if she gave some obvious excuse and the Emperor asked to see the notebook?
Her life would be over.
But she couldn’t exactly tell the truth either.
“Well, Your Majesty… I’m actually Elliot Dark. I came out here to write my next novel, whose villain is modeled after you.”
“I see. Off to the execution grounds.”
Either way…
She’d die.
As Harriet desperately searched for an answer, realization struck.
The silence had gone on far too long.
“It’s remarkably difficult to get an answer from you.”
“…Forgive me, but—”
“If you’re so sorry, then don’t speak. I don’t understand why everyone starts with ‘forgive me’ or ‘I am unworthy,’ yet says whatever they please afterward. Is it some sort of verbal tic?”
Because you’re the one who asked! If I don’t answer, you’ll find fault with that too!
Unlike the turmoil inside her, Harriet answered with perfect composure.
By then, the mischief and curiosity in Kallis’s eyes had already faded.
I did it again.
Kallis knew his own flaws well.
He was endlessly curious, and he enjoyed walking the line with dangerous jokes.
His emotionless reprimands were less like words and more like blades honed to a razor’s edge.
Of course, striking someone with a paper sword only crumpled the paper—not the person.
Normally he was careful to choose the proper time and place.
But exhaustion had worn away his restraint.
If the maid standing before him truly were an assassin, then every maid in this palace must belong to some secret organization of killers.
The hesitant breaths born of panic…
The blinking eyes searching desperately for an answer…
Everything about her proclaimed her innocence.
Even so, there had been a simple reason for asking such obvious questions.
And that purpose had already been fulfilled.
I heard her voice.
Perhaps because she was tired, it was slightly lower than he’d expected.
Satisfied, he finally set aside his paper-thin mischief.
The maid who answered every question without bowing her spirit intrigued him.
But his curiosity had been satisfied, and his exhaustion now outweighed it.
Right.
I should head back.
Kallis handed the lamp to the attendant who had approached him.
Elvin.
Darkness slipped between them.
“I’m tired. I’d like to return to Cynia Palace as quickly as possible. Could you guide me there?”
Asked as though her opinion actually mattered, Harriet almost laughed aloud.
Since when had people of such lofty status ever cared what she thought?
It was a command disguised as a question.
Instead of laughing, Harriet forced a polite smile.
“If Your Majesty truly doesn’t mind me? If my uncertain affiliation concerns you, I can call another maid.”
The words left her mouth before she realized it.
That had sounded insolent.
Wasn’t this the same Emperor who had just intimidated her over a delayed answer?
She braced herself for his anger.
Instead, Kallis responded with surprising indifference.
“Elvin, if this maid suddenly turns into an assassin and attempts to kill me, you’ll save me, won’t you?”
“You ask a great deal of an old servant, Your Majesty.”
“You won’t even say you’ll save me with words alone. How disloyal.”
“Then please execute me.”
“Am I lacking in virtue for wanting to accept that offer?”
The respectful yet dry wit of the elderly attendant contrasted strangely with the Emperor’s equally indifferent tone.
For a moment Harriet nearly burst into laughter.
If she stayed any longer, who knew what might come out of her exhausted mouth?
Better to get this Emperor back to Cynia Palace as quickly as possible.
“If Your Majesty is willing, I’ll guide you there.”
She had already changed out of her maid’s uniform.
This was overtime.
But people above her station were hardly the type to notice such things.
Picking up her pen, Harriet accepted the lamp from Elvin.
“Your Majesty, please take care on your way.”
“We’ll be seeing each other again tomorrow. That’s quite the grand farewell.”
Baron Bellen awkwardly bowed before taking his leave.
Three pairs of footsteps crossed the dim path.
The lamp in Harriet’s hand illuminated her legs, casting a long shadow behind her.
The silver-haired Emperor walking behind was partially swallowed by that stretched-out silhouette.
Elvin deliberately kept to the side, careful not to step on the Emperor’s shadow.
Kallis turned his attention back to Harriet.
“So then… you.”
What was her name again?
He had heard it only moments ago and already forgotten.
After thinking briefly, his eyes settled on her hair.
Such pale brown hair that it almost looked beige.
“Hazelnut.”
“My name is Harriet Brown, Your Majesty.”
“Right. Hazelnut.”
His Majesty must be hard of hearing.
“If my questions made things difficult for you, then allow me to apologize.”
He must have lost his mind too.
Harriet nearly stopped walking.
Did… the Emperor of the Empire just apologize to me?
Kallis almost added another teasing remark out of habit.
But he stopped himself.
He had already troubled the maid enough with his sharp-edged humor.
Instead, he looked around at the dark surroundings.
Appropriately for the most remote palace, the road to Cynia Palace wasn’t lit by a single lamp.
The light spilling from Harriet’s lantern skimmed over the stone path…
The weeds pushing through cracked pavement…
The dead streetlamps…
Before disappearing just as quickly.
Like the final light cast into a labyrinth…
It faded into nothing.
It was completely unlike the imperial capital, where the lights never went out.
For a fleeting moment, Kallis wondered if Richella would have a difficult time adjusting after her marriage.
“I wanted to think about something else, so my words came out sharper than intended. I have a headache.”
It sounded almost like an excuse.
He was trying to drive thoughts of his younger sister from his mind.
“It’s just exhaustion. Hazelnut… I wonder how many times I’ve said I’m tired today. The phrase seems to have stuck.”
Is he really that exhausted?
Harriet thought for a moment.
He certainly looked it.
Fatigue clung to every step he took like a shadow.
How far was it from the Empire to the Kingdom again?
About a week’s journey by carriage.
She remembered the day she’d left her hometown to enroll in the Royal Academy.
Even after riding a train for only four hours, she’d collapsed the moment she reached the station.
The memory surfaced hazily.
She’d been so overwhelmed by tension and exhaustion that the instant she sat down in the waiting room, she’d fallen asleep.
Before she realized it, the words had already escaped her lips.
“If Your Majesty promises not to become angry, I’ll tell you why I was wandering around so late tonight.”
“So bold as to demand a promise from your Emperor. How insolent.”
Despite the words, his tone remained perfectly calm.
If anything…
There was the faintest trace of curiosity.
As though her proposal had genuinely piqued his interest.
Kallis fixed his gaze on Harriet’s back.
On the center of the scattered light…
On the pale brown hair swaying gently with every step she took.
Wondering what expression she would make as she spoke, he finally answered.
“I promise. Speak.”
Every impulse eventually led to regret.
Mixing truth with lies, Harriet confessed.
“The truth is… I came out here to write a novel.”
“A novel? In that notebook?”
“Yes. Though I’m only an aspiring writer.”
Just in case, she hurriedly added the lie.
She wasn’t an aspiring writer at all.
She was already a published author with several books to her name.
But if anyone connected her to Elliot Dark, she would be in serious trouble.
Kallis’s full attention shifted to her.
“If you’re writing a novel, why did you make me promise not to get angry? Did you write something insulting about me?”
I’m writing it right now.
Inside the notebook, a brilliantly crafted villain modeled after the Emperor was relentlessly tormenting the protagonist.
Are Emperors really this perceptive?
