“……Wow.”

The dazed Chris clapped his hands as if in admiration.

Is it that people grow similar when they’re in love, or that similar people are attracted to each other?

Chris briefly thought that the two seemed somehow alike, knowingly or unknowingly.

Especially in the way they gently persuaded others to get what they wanted.

‘Well, what does it matter?’

It’s simply a joy for subordinates when the people they serve are capable and intelligent.

Chris nodded with a satisfied smile.

“Please be careful when you go.”

* * *

“What? Maria Tartien?”

Karl was in a foul mood from the morning.

Partly because of his insomnia that had started again, and partly because of his worry about “Hans,” whose condition had rapidly deteriorated in the past few days.

On top of that, Maria Tartien had suddenly shown up without warning.

His mood couldn’t possibly get any worse.

“……A woman even a king would run away from in his sleep has come for a special visit.”

Karl swallowed a sigh and hurried to apply his makeup while sitting down.

Today, the fake skin sticking to his face felt especially heavy.

He thought the reason was the heavy touch of the man applying it.

Karl looked at the old doctor standing before him.

Brook was helping with the makeup quickly and skillfully, though with a somewhat tired face.

“……Are you alright?”

At Karl’s question, Brook twisted his wrinkled mouth into a smile and said,

“You should hurry, Your Majesty.”

“……”

“Hans doesn’t seem to have much time left. If he dies like this, won’t it be troublesome for Your Majesty?”

After a silence, Karl responded to the old man’s words in a heavy voice,

“You don’t need to worry about me, Brook. I’ll do my best to ensure my benefactor who helped me can leave this world triumphantly before his life ends.”

At Karl’s words, Brook seemed lost in thought and remained silent.

The one fortunate thing was that Maria Tartien didn’t have the courage to stare intently at the King’s face, so the makeup could be lighter than usual.

Brook quickly finished and faced Karl with a more resolute expression.

“We will accomplish our revenge someday, as long as Your Majesty doesn’t give up. But if by any chance Your Majesty rushes and ruins everything, it will all be over. So please don’t hurry on our account. We can wait, whether alive or dead.”

Brook smiled while maintaining eye contact.

Kind wrinkles formed around the old man’s eyes.

“Above all else, take perfect revenge, as Your Majesty intends.”

He gripped Karl’s hand firmly.

That strong and warm touch conveyed his will to support Karl.

Brook, seemingly embarrassed, laughed and patted Karl’s hand, saying,

“Perhaps because you look alike, this old man keeps thinking of Your Majesty as another son of mine, despite not knowing my place.”

Brook was someone Karl had brought along for his own convenience.

Perhaps it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he had exploited Brook and Hans’s misfortunes.

Nevertheless, they—Brook—supported him.

Karl suddenly thought that perhaps because of this great heart, life in this dark palace annex hadn’t been so painful.

“In truth, Your Majesty is much more handsome than Hans. And much smarter too. It must be Hans’s honor to have become Your Majesty’s stand-in.”

The old man made a light joke and quickly put away the makeup tools and bandages.

Just then, Maria sent her third urging through the doorkeeper soldier.

“I will stay inside. Call me if you need me.”

“Brook.”

Karl grabbed Brook as he was about to enter the secret room.

He took the old man’s wrinkled hand in both of his and kissed the back of it.

“If glory follows me, I will not forget your and Hans’s contributions.”

“……”

Brook looked flustered and didn’t know what to do, then his eyes reddened as he sniffled and quickly lifted his head to swallow his tears.

“My goodness. You shouldn’t make an old man cry like this, Your Majesty. Oh my, it’s hot. So hot.”

He fanned himself and quickly disappeared into the secret room.

Karl smiled, looking in the direction where the old man had vanished, then slowly turned and walked out of the bedroom into the reception room.

Plopping down in the central seat of honor, he said to the soldier outside the door,

“Tell Maria Tartien to enter.”

* * *

“I greet Your Majesty.”

Maria greeted him with a trembling voice, then sat down, trying her best not to look at him directly.

“……”

The King just stared at Maria, who had suddenly appeared, without saying a word.

Maria felt his gaze fully but refused to lift her head.

A heavy atmosphere hung in the reception room.

Unable to bear the stifling air, Maria quickly listed the reason for her visit.

“The matter was so urgent that I rushed here without requesting an audience in advance. Please forgive my rudeness.”

“……What matter could be so urgent that you personally came here in the morning?”

Though his voice was clearly mocking, Maria didn’t flare up in anger.

No matter how much she might act like a thunderous brat elsewhere, she wouldn’t do so with the King.

Of course, if her father or Landers had been here, it would have been a different story, but she was currently alone.

Though the King’s authority might be insignificant, Maria found him uncomfortable on a human-to-human level.

It wasn’t like the fear one might feel toward a wild beast.

It was more like the fear of a disgusting insect.

Like knowing that if it touched the back of her hand, she would get goosebumps all over her body—a revulsion that made her instinctively back away.

But even so, he would become her husband.

She couldn’t foster any more aversion.

She continued speaking, trying her best to contain her emotions.

“……We need a portrait for the wedding. If only my portrait is displayed, it would diminish the King’s authority.”

“I don’t need a portrait……”

“Urgently! I urgently recruited a painter. Please don’t refuse. This person is very capable and competent.”

Karl stared at Maria with an incredulous expression as she interrupted and cut in.

Though she trembled, she gritted her teeth, seemingly determined not to back down from her stubbornness.

‘To be this forward.’

Should he make her faint again?

And make her never dare to come near him until the wedding?

Karl seriously considered how to drive Maria Tartien away.

Just then, unexpected words flowed from Maria’s mouth.

“If it’s uncomfortable, Y-Your Majesty can just lie down. Just occasionally look at the painter. Since this person paints well, that should be enough. This is the painter who also painted my portrait.”

At Maria’s last statement, all of Karl’s thoughts vanished in an instant.

If it was the painter who had painted Maria’s portrait……

“With no time to spare, I asked the painter to come starting today. Please forgive my rudeness. This is important to me too, so please don’t refuse……”

Bang!

Karl slammed his palm on the table, jumped up from his seat, and shouted,

“Maria Tartien!”

“Eek!”

Genuinely startled by his roar, Maria looked up at him for the first time.

Karl strode toward her, glaring at her trembling eyes that seemed so fragile.

“Why, why are you doing this, Your Majesty!”

Karl simply couldn’t contain his anger.

‘……How dare, how dare!’

How dare she call her here!

How dare she try to bring Lumiere, to bring Lumiere before him!

Murderous intent toward Maria Tartien boiled up.

Anger that hadn’t surfaced even when she tried to give him nonsensical sleeping pills at the Tartien mansion now surged.

Thoughts of killing that woman right now bubbled up.

That’s how violently Karl’s emotions raged, beyond his control.

“How dare you, how dare you……!”

“Y-Your Majesty! Please calm down!”

He didn’t want to show it to her, to Lumiere of all people.

Perhaps even until death, this was something he never wanted to show her.

“Kyaaaah!”

When Karl grabbed Maria Tartien’s wrist, Maria screamed as if in agony.

She screamed as if she had been hit and struck and twisted Karl’s wrist that held her.

Not satisfied with that, she threw whatever she could grab and struggled wildly.

Thud! Thwack!

“Let go! Le-let go! Help!”

Grr.

Karl firmly held Maria’s wrist despite her commotion and didn’t budge.

Maria read the murderous intent in his bulging eyes as he gritted his teeth.

Fear swept over her that the King might kill her on the spot.

‘Run, I need to run!’

Though his eyes were the same golden color as Karl Winger’s, those were the eyes of a monster.

Maria regretted coming here today and pushed him away.

Her wrist, gripped by Karl, felt like it might break.

That’s when it happened.

“Your Majesty, the painter, Lumiere Lashantia, requests an audience. She says she has come on an errand from Miss Maria Tartien.”

“……!”

At that moment, the King froze.

Even his grip on Maria’s wrist loosened.

Maria didn’t miss the opportunity and shouted in a loud voice,

“Le-let her in! Hurry!”