“This is a place only accessible to the imperial family. Are you of the imperial family? No. That can’t be. Then, are you a maid? Judging by your attire, that doesn’t seem to be the case either.”

His tone was full of sarcasm. Come to think of it, he began to doubt whether the palace security system was functioning properly. For the first time, he thought there might be someone eyeing the emperor’s position. But what annoyed him most of all was that the emperor’s authority had been damaged!

“Your attitude of completely ignoring the emperor’s words is also unbecoming of a citizen of Delta!”

“Eek!”

The angry Caenian grabbed Bestia’s wrist. He had no mercy for a woman of unknown identity. As much as he had inherited the former emperor’s blood, he showed a truly frightening appearance when angered.

Her slender wrist was gripped as if it might break under the strong force. Bestia screamed. Only then did she fully come to her senses.

This pain is real! I’ve really turned back into a human!

The moment she met his pitch-black eyes burning with anger, she thought it was too late, but still…

“Ah, hello, Your Majesty.”

Bestia quickly racked her brain to survive. But… she thought wrong.

“What? Hello? Are you mocking me now?”

The out-of-place greeting further provoked Caenian’s anger. The enraged emperor’s eyebrow twitched.

“No! I’m not mocking you, I’m just greeting…”

“I asked you twice. Instead of a proper answer, you give a greeting and say it’s not mocking? Is it aimed to ridicule me, then?”

Caenian didn’t believe her easily. It was a completely different attitude from what he had shown to the insignificant duck. Bestia was too flustered to continue speaking.

“I…”

She hesitated and shifted her gaze to her wrist held by Caenian. At that moment, she felt strange.

“Ah!”

Thump thump, bang!

Her heart reacted to the warm temperature and soft touch. It was an unfamiliar sensation that was hard to explain.

“Why are you silent again? Not answering the emperor’s question promptly means you don’t value your life?”

But regardless of what Bestia was feeling, Caenian only grew angrier. The killing intent in his voice intensified. The image of the former emperor was reflected on his handsome face. Despite disliking his tyranny, the man who had ended up resembling him flashed his eyes.

“Will you pay for your crime with your life?”

The Caenian who had hugged the white duck and rubbed it against his cheek was nowhere to be seen. There was only a man hostile to a strange woman.

“Answer.”

Caenian urged for an answer. He intended to judge her sanity based on her response.

“Your Majesty, well, I…”

Their gazes intertwined as she stammered. The eyes he met were blue, filled with golden sunlight. The round eyes seemed somehow familiar. For a moment, it felt like only he and the woman existed in the world. His chest tingled.

Thump thump, bang!

“……!”

“I, I’m Chancellor Schubien’s er… errand girl!”

“What? Chancellor Schubien’s?”

At that moment, an inexplicable emotion also arose in Caenian’s chest, and his black eyes trembled slightly. But who was he if not the emperor of the empire? A man who needed to see facts rather than personal emotions, he quickly composed himself after Bestia’s excuse and spoke calmly.

“Yes! He told me to inform Your Majesty that the duck’s motion sickness treatment is fi-finished!”

“Is that so?”

“Yes! Your Majesty!”

Bestia quickly nodded, thinking to survive first. In a life-or-death situation, being a duck or a duck beastman didn’t matter at all.

She pressed her lips tightly and opened her eyes wide to convey sincerity. However, Caenian, still harboring deep suspicion, narrowed his eyes.

“So that’s why you came in here?”

“Yes! That’s right!”

“But I’ve never seen Chancellor Schubien use an errand girl before.”

“Eek!”

One lie bred another. The woman, caught off guard, swallowed hard.

“How can you prove that you are indeed the Chancellor’s person?”

Caenian didn’t easily lower his guard. The expression of the woman whose wrist he held changed moment by moment.

She must be insane.

Caenian was convinced even before hearing her answer.

“That… If you release me, I’ll prove it right away!”

“No. There’s no need to prove it. I intend to imprison you immediately.”

“Eek!”

“I can’t trust someone dressed so unlike a noble.”

P-prison?!

Caenian’s words were shocking. Bestia’s mouth fell open. She felt like she was seeing his true nature now.

All that cuddling with the duck was just an act!

So much for liking animals!

Everything he had shown today was all a lie. Even his beastman-friendly policy might be hiding a terrifying ulterior motive.

I need to escape!

A loud warning sounded in her head. Bestia desperately pulled at her hand held by Caenian.

“Guards!”

Just as he was about to call for the guards,

“The, the portrait is falling!”

Bestia quickly pointed to the portrait Caenian had been looking at. Perhaps because her life depended on it, her acting was superb.

“What?”

Caenian turned his body back at Bestia’s sudden exclamation. In his haste, he let go of the hand he was holding.

“What do you mean falling, it’s still…”

But his eyes only saw the frame firmly attached to the wall. When he turned his head back, annoyed at being deceived, the woman had already fled. She had disappeared in those few seconds.

“Ha!”

Caenian clicked his tongue. It was the first time he had been fooled in the place where his power was at its highest. It was too shameful to tell anyone.

“This is ridiculous!”

He was thoroughly heated by the series of events. The image of the woman with blonde hair and blue eyes was firmly etched in his mind.

“I should call the guards immediately to find the mad woman who has sneaked into the palace.”

On his way back to his office, Caenian momentarily forgot about the duck.

“Huff… huff…!”

Bestia, who had barely escaped from the hall filled with portraits, ran aimlessly. The word ‘prison’ filled her mind.

Staying in the palace any longer meant it was only a matter of time before she was caught. She couldn’t forget the ferocity in those black eyes.

“He must be the son of Ruvan III who became cruel in his later years!”

Bestia was now scared. It was a clear mistake to have underestimated Caenian. She had seen a side of him that she wouldn’t have if she had remained a duck.

‘Who do you think His Majesty’s bloodline is from. He’s the son of Ruvan III, who dyed this empire with the blood of tens of thousands over the past 16 years.’

Now she understood what Potters had said.

“I’m doomed. I’m doomed!”

Bestia stamped her feet in the middle of the empty corridor. In her fear-stained mind, she imagined the moment when wanted posters with her face would be put up.

「To anyone who captures the woman who insulted the emperor and fled, or knows her whereabouts…」

She didn’t dare imagine the rest, but she could guess. A very sad ending would follow.

“Ugh.”

Bestia, gripped by terrible fear, let out a groan.

“Wh-what should I do? I need to divert his attention so he doesn’t remember me…”

When she was a duck, she had acted so boldly, but now she couldn’t at all. The saying ‘ignorance is courage’ fits perfectly.

“How can I, how can I get the emperor’s attention…”

It was when Bestia was trembling, hiding in a corner of the corridor. Heavy footsteps began to be heard from all directions.

“His Majesty ordered us to find a blonde woman!”

“He said her attire wasn’t that of a noble, keep that in mind!”

“Search every nook and cranny!”

The guards’ conversations echoed through the corridor thick with darkness. Startled, Bestia ran in the opposite direction of the voices. Her heart pounded.

“If I’m caught, it’s prison! Prison, at least!”

How long was she running? The palace was vast, and she didn’t know the way. She couldn’t even open doors for fear of entering another strange place like before. But she couldn’t just stand still, so she kept running. That’s when it happened.

“Ugh. What should I… Ah!”

“Oh my!”

She collided with someone in the darkness she had hidden in to avoid the bright light. Bestia, who had fallen on her bottom, quickly got up.

“I-I’m sorry…!”

“Oh. Are you alright?”

“Ah! Grandfather Chancellor!”

She was about to apologize and run away from someone she didn’t even know. But she recognized who it was from the voice in the darkness. It was Duke.

“G-grandfather? Who are you to call me so familiarly, young lady?”

It was a relief that it was someone she knew. Bestia heaved a sigh of relief. On the contrary, Duke blinked his eyes, being called grandfather by a woman he was seeing for the first time.

“What? Ah, well, that…”

“Do you know me?”

Duke asked, straightening his back. A cracking sound came from his waist that had been bent in half.