I Am Currently The Object Of The Emperor's Fervent Admiration - Chapter 24

“What!? Chancellor. Is that true?”

“How could I lie to Your Majesty?”

Then what were all those words you just said?

Bestia barely managed to suppress a laugh that almost burst out. Just before Duke opened his mouth, she had seen something.

Lick! She saw him run his tongue over his lips!

“I can’t believe it! That book’s pages were so worn, it must have been published a very long time ago!”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Betty wrote it when she was eight years old. They say she was considered a genius in her family.”

“Me?”

“Eight years old? Is that possible?”

“Oh my. It’s not common, of course. According to my friend’s niece’s aunt, she was much smarter then than she is now, Your Majesty.”

Somehow, the lies were getting bigger and bigger. Bestia lifted her head abruptly, forgetting she was in front of the Emperor. Even Caenian’s eyes widened at this point. Duke’s deadpan acting continued.

“You’re saying an eight-year-old was smarter than a sixteen-year-old?”

“Yes, yes. That’s right. But when she was nine, she climbed a plum tree to pick plums and unfortunately fell…”

“Me?”

“Oh dear. Such a young child falling. How badly was she hurt?”

Is this why fiction is more interesting than reality? Because it’s more stimulating?

Everyone was drawn into Duke’s story, which was heavily seasoned with exaggeration. They all looked at Bestia with pity.

Excuse me. I’m not that pitiful, you know?

Bestia shook her head slightly at the gazes scanning her up and down. She didn’t realize that would make her look even more pitiful. At that moment, Duke gently took Bestia’s hand and looked at her with sympathetic eyes. Like a grandfather looking at his granddaughter, he opened his mouth.

“From head to toe! They say she was injured and ended up like this, Your Majesty.”

Ended up like this? What’s wrong with me?

Something was off about that sentence. There was a hidden meaning in those words. Bestia, feeling upset, tried to shake off his hand. Then Duke briefly met her eyes and…

Wink.

He blinked as if to say, ‘Trust me a little.’ Bestia was speechless at the old man’s cute action. Her face was dumbfounded.

“I see. Now I understand.”

Contrary to Caenian who was nodding his head with a serious face, his mind was full of the moment he first saw Bestia. That time in Memorial Hall, that is.

That day, the woman before him had made strange noises. He thought she was crazy, but she wasn’t. It was an aftereffect of her injury.

A young child who fell from a tree and injured her limbs.

Hearing Duke’s story, it all made sense. It was pitiful. This was separate from feeling indignant. Complex emotions bloomed in his chest.

“Betty, I enjoyed your book very much. It was quite useful, especially since I had just acquired my duck.”

“What? Th-thank you, Your Majesty.”

“But there’s one thing I’d like to ask. How did you come to write 『A Guide to Raising Ducks』? There are dogs and cats too, you know.”

Is it my turn to lie now?

Bestia rolled her eyes at the question that had come to her. Not confident she could do it as subtly as Duke, she openly licked her lips. It felt like strength was flowing into her.

“Yes, Your Majesty. I have been bitten by dogs and cats before. So, I observed cute ducks and wrote the book.”

“Hmm. Ducks are cute indeed.”

“So Your Majesty also knows the cuteness of ducks!”

“There’s no one in the empire who knows it better than I do. So where’s the next volume?”

“Pardon? The next volume?”

“Yes. The next volume.”

It had been going too smoothly. Bestia blinked. There was no way she had a second book. Instead, with a dumb face, there was only one thing she could do.

Make up a second lie!

“Ah, Your Majesty. Unfortunately, because I fell from the plum tree and got hurt, I completely forgot the next contents. What should I do?”

“What? All of it? Are you saying you don’t remember anything?”

“W-well, not all of it, but almost everything. So I couldn’t write the next book. I’m sorry, Your Majesty.”

After finishing her words, Bestia bowed her head deeply. Her shoulders also shook as if overcome with emotion. To anyone watching, it might have looked like shoulder dancing, or maybe not.

“No, it’s alright. I shouldn’t have brought up painful memories from your past. Go out with the Chancellor. You’ve passed the etiquette test.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty!”

Fortunately, Caenian didn’t seem to see it as shoulder dancing. At the word ‘pass’, Bestia lifted her head abruptly. The woman, who now felt she could breathe easy, smiled brightly with clear blue eyes. Duke laughed heartily at that sight. When the two were about to withdraw like that…

“Wait a moment. Let me ask one thing.”

“Yes?”

Caenian stopped Bestia. Her eyes trembled as she turned back with a start.

“Did you come up with that term ‘animal communication’?”

“…Yes, Your Majesty.”

“With what intention?”

“Pardon?”

“I mean, what’s the reason for creating a word that doesn’t exist in the Imperial Standard Vocabulary Dictionary?”

The monotone voice was heavy. Bestia knew this question was the final test given to her. It was an instinctive realization. Bestia stood with her hands respectfully clasped. In this moment of tension, she opened her mouth.

“Your Majesty, I believe I can have genuine conversations with animals.”

“Genuine conversations?”

“Yes. My dream is to become an adult soon and become someone who communicates with animals, an animal communicator.”

“Do you think communication with animals is possible?”

“Yes. Do you think it’s not possible, Your Majesty?”

“……!”

The voice carrying the question was soft. But to Caenian, it struck like a dagger. The image of an unjustly killed squirrel flashed before his eyes. A cute duck also waddled by. Caenian was speechless. Bestia spoke again.

“It seems Your Majesty has never communicated with the duck named Betty.”

Oh my. How dare she!

How could she speak so bluntly!

The second straight ball was equally sharp. The attendants murmured. They watched Caenian, who kept his mouth tightly shut.

“That’s enough.”

Duke warned quietly from the side. His keen sense told him the atmosphere was not right. Bestia felt the same. She belatedly regretted going too far. Having caused a big incident, it was time to retreat. Bestia bowed her head deeply.

“Your Majesty, I can understand the thoughts of your duck, Betty. If you’re curious, please seek me out. I will take my leave now.”

After finishing her words, Bestia left the audience chamber as if fleeing.

“Ha.”

A chilly current flowed. Caenian narrowed his eyes. His gaze was directed at where Bestia had been standing.

“Potters, did you hear what that audacious woman just said?”

“Betty’s thoughts……”

“It’s absurd. She had an expression as if she had been a duck herself.”

Just moments ago, when Bestia was squeezing out fake tears.

“Our family went completely bankrupt, leaving only our name. If it weren’t for Chancellor Schubien… sob……”

A man was overcome with a strange feeling. It was Potters, standing like a shadow next to the imperial throne.

Something, there’s something different about that woman……!

He could tell at a glance. He felt something indescribable. The woman named Betty was alien. His gaze was deeply drawn into her moist blue eyes.

This is a first. This feeling is a first for me.

Potters was flustered. His heart was beating fast. His body felt hotter than when he practiced swordsmanship for hours under the scorching sun.

“Sir Potters, are you feeling unwell?”

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

The weight of his uniform, which usually felt like cotton, was suddenly noticeable. His lips felt parched as he carelessly answered someone’s inquiry about his well-being.

Your Majesty, don’t you feel something?

Potters looked at Caenian, forgetting it was rude. But the Emperor’s black eyes were not directed at him.

“I didn’t know the Chancellor would bring just anyone into the imperial palace.”

His gaze, passing over the bowing woman, rested on Duke. Potters shook his head as if having a seizure.

I don’t think she’s just anyone, Your Majesty.

That woman is somehow… familiar yet unfamiliar. The feeling is strange, I tell you!

The instinct of a man who lived and died by his intuition rang a sharp alarm.

“Your face is red.”

“Isn’t it? You’re also sweating cold.”

“I’m fine.”

But uneasiness didn’t accompany his instinct. That’s why Potters was more confused. He had no mind to pay attention to the different voices chattering.

No matter how I look at it, I don’t understand. I don’t get it.

His gaze was fixed on the woman who dared to speak boldly in front of the Emperor.

Is that woman an enemy, or not?

He tried to distinguish whether she was a threat or not with his heightened senses, but it wasn’t easy. Potters couldn’t categorize Bestia into either side.

“When the other party extends their hand, you should respond.”

Meanwhile, Caenian stood in front of Bestia. At that moment when everyone was surprised, Potters also opened his eyes wide. The sound of his heart dropping echoed for a long time.

“What is His Majesty talking about with that woman right now?”

Potters was curious. Not about the conversation between the man and woman spinning before his eyes, but about that woman.

To think His Majesty would show such diverse expressions!

He couldn’t take his eyes off her. That woman who drew out various expressions from one person’s face.