“……”

Verheigen, who showed no particular reaction after hearing her words, slightly rolled his eyes to the side. Then, with a face that hadn’t changed much, he threw another question.

Lysith couldn’t tell what he was thinking at all…

“How did you know there was poison in it?”

Ah, was this why the order of questions had been strange?

She had already essentially answered that she knew there was poison in it. Because of that, she couldn’t answer that she had drunk it without knowing whether there was really poison in it or not.

She couldn’t say that she noticed thanks to the system either.

There seemed to be no way out. She took another deep breath.

“That…”

“That?”

“I apologize, but I cannot say.”

This was an answer that left her with nothing to say even if he showed anger here.

Thinking she had messed up, she bit the inside of her cheek slightly, but surprisingly, what she received in return was neither anger nor a blank expression, but a gaze that seemed to be measuring something.

Inwardly perplexed, Lysith first lowered her eyes. She felt that if she kept facing him, everything would be exposed.

“Hmm.”

“……”

“Well, alright. I’ll let that pass.”

“……?”

This time, Lysith, unable to hide her expression, raised her head. Verheigen shrugged his shoulders expressionlessly.

“Well, your attitude is disrespectful, that’s true. If it were someone else, I would have already driven them out of the palace.”

“……”

“Instead of driving you out, I’ll give you a different gift.”

Somehow, she had a strong feeling that it wouldn’t be something considered a gift.

“You’ll stay in the palace for a while.”

Sure enough, that feeling wasn’t wrong.

What was he planning to do? Interrogation? Torture? Keep her close and harass her?

As Lysith’s expression soured, Verheigen’s brow furrowed.

“What’s with that face?”

“It’s nothing, Your Majesty. I’m grateful for this infinite honor.”

She hurriedly hid her displ*asure and smiled brightly. However, Verheigen, who had already seen Lysith’s crumpled face, looked displeased.

“I’m not going to do anything strange. What do you take me for?”

‘Five-star difficulty level…’

Perhaps he hadn’t expected an answer to that question, as he waved his hand saying it was fine and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. Feeling awkward, Lysith fidgeted with her fingers.

She couldn’t understand why he wasn’t leaving and was keeping her in this uncomfortable atmosphere. Was it to pressure or threaten her?

But for something with a five-star difficulty level, and for an emperor, his reaction was quite gentle. If it were someone else, they would have been dragged away twice by now.

Why was he letting it go so kindly? This made it even more frightening.

Even when she tried to read his expression, Verheigen was someone who managed his expressions very well. It was natural for someone in his position, of course. He seemed like someone who knew perfectly when and how to establish authority.

Even now, it was like that. Although he was sitting comfortably, leaning back, Lysith was sitting with her back straight, overwhelmed by his atmosphere.

‘No, I’m a patient.’

She felt slightly wronged for a moment, but then quickly came to her senses. That’s just how it is in a class-based society.

Since he said she would stay in the palace for a while, she might be able to understand why he was letting it go like this if she stayed. Although she wasn’t sure whether there would be many opportunities to encounter him, given how busy he was.

As Lysith was sighing deeply inside without showing it, Verheigen broke the silence and asked another question.

“Didn’t you think I would ignore it? If I didn’t care whether you lived or died.”

“Considering the situation… I drank the poison instead of Your Majesty. I thought you would take care of me, if not for my sake, then for the sake of the surrounding nobles, or even for my brother’s sake.”

“Is that so? You’ve… changed a lot.”

Verheigen, who had been gently stroking his chin for a moment, muttered in a tone of surprise.

“I thought you would mention the Grand Duke or the Tower Master.”

“……”

“I know about the rumors going around. Some people seem to think that those in this position wouldn’t know much about the rumors in social circles, but it’s the opposite. Did you know that?”

“…I’ve never sat in that position, so I don’t know.”

Regardless of Lysith’s answer, he continued speaking. In a tone that made it unclear whether he was addressing someone or just muttering to himself.

“To be honest, if it had been the lady from before, I wouldn’t have cared whether you collapsed there or not.”

What kind of answer are you looking for! Lysith screamed inwardly.

But this time too, whether Lysith showed a reaction or not, he added more words.

“Your relationship with the Grand Duke is famous. …I thought maybe that’s why you had been avoiding me.”

“……”

“Your stepping forward this time was quite unexpected. Setting aside the fact that my plan was disrupted… I suppose I should say that in the end, things turned out even better…”

What kind of answer is he looking for now? As Lysith just smiled faintly like a service industry employee, Verheigen, noticing this, let out a laugh as though her expression was amusing.

Then he dropped a sudden bombshell.

“It’s true that I’m suspicious of you.”

“What?”

“But it’s not the kind of suspicion you’re thinking of, so you can relax. I mean you don’t need to be so stiff.”

“I see…”

As if that would be possible…

The Emperor had enough justification to keep her in the palace. No one would challenge the reason that she needed to recover in the palace until she was fully healed, since she had swallowed poison in his stead.

Only Lysith, whose feet were unwillingly tied, would pout. Well, it wasn’t all bad since a path to romancing the Emperor had opened up. But she felt uneasy, feeling as if she had fallen right into the center of his camp in a situation where she wasn’t sure how to approach him.

Verheigen, whom she faced directly, seemed to act more comfortably than expected, but from moment to moment, he appeared to be scrutinizing her closely with sharp eyes.

…As if he was trying to find parts of her that had changed from before.

While those who had stayed constantly by her side like Eve didn’t notice well, why was this man, whom she had never met before, so suspicious?

She couldn’t even imagine what would happen if she was found out. That was the scary part.

The Verheigen in Lysith’s mind was strongly imprinted with a combination of her previous memories and the stories she had heard from Diana. A scary, arrogant person who doesn’t care about others’ feelings and is sharp. He was someone who seemed to fit perfectly in the position of Emperor.

Ash*tes was also authoritative. But the Emperor had even stronger characteristics of a ruler. It was closer to a sense that one couldn’t dare to act carelessly in any way.

No sooner had she thought this that Verheigen grinned.

“Well… your lover is causing quite a commotion.”

“…Lover, you say?”

He wouldn’t use such a sweet word to refer to Dietrich. Then, what remained was…

“Why are you pretending not to know? I’m talking about the Tower Master.”

We’re not lovers.

Lysith answered indifferently.

“…There seems to be some misunderstanding. The Tower Master and I are not lovers…”

The way only one of his eyebrows rose, seemingly surprised by her answer, was irritating.

Come to think of it now, the place where she first mixed bodies with Ashites was the palace. Although she didn’t think he would know such detailed matters, it was possible.

After all, the entire palace was his domain.

Wait, if he knows, what happens to the romance option? Is it even possible?

She rolled her eyes to stare at the empty space where the system window should be, but the system was silent as always. Since there was no message about it being a failure, it meant that the conquest was still possible even if he knew, or that he didn’t know.

Turning her gaze back to the man in front of her, she saw that his face had become somewhat bored.

“Hmm…”

“May I ask what’s wrong?”

“No. I just thought it would have been interesting if you were dating. It’s a shame you’re not.”

‘What does this mean…’

It was an utterly bewildering statement.

Whether Lysith was confused or not, Verheigen left the room swiftly after making that comment.

As an added bonus, he mentioned before leaving that she was forbidden to leave the palace until he gave permission.

“What… what’s going on?”

It didn’t feel like confinement because the palace was too large, but wasn’t she still trapped? Unable to return home.

Penchev… Eve… Serena…

“Everyone… I can’t go home…”

Lysith, whose tension suddenly dissipated, collapsed backward and put her arm over her forehead. Her vision spun dizzily. After continuously throwing questions and making her nervous, what was that about it being interesting if she were dating Ashites?

Come to think of it, before that he had said that he was causing a commotion.

Her first thought was whether he had any reason to cause a commotion, but thinking about it, she was in quite a bad state when they parted. Seeing her collapsed from poison upon his return, it was understandable for him to be in an uproar.

But to cause such a commotion to the point of staying in the palace…

‘I don’t know. It’s too hard to think anymore.’

Lysith, completely drained of energy, closed her eyes.

Although she had apparently been unconscious for two days, she felt incredibly sleepy, probably due to the release of tension.

Anyway, having heard such things from the Emperor, she would need to go see Ashites.

He didn’t say not to meet anyone… so he would probably allow them to meet.

…It didn’t take long for this thought to be shattered.