It was late at night, and she wondered if he wouldn’t come today.

The acting Grand Chamberlain came in to inform her that the evening administrative meeting was continuing to run late.

Thinking he wouldn’t come as the night grew deeper, she laid her tired body on the bed.

Perhaps because she hadn’t been able to sleep due to various worries lately, she dozed off.

Suddenly, she felt a chill and opened her eyes to find Charte looking down at her, making her sit up with a start.

“Your Majesty!”

She was really startled and scared.

And Charte seemed impressive.

To be able to wake her with just his gaze! She thought it was truly an amazing ability, considering she had difficulty waking up even with an alarm ringing ten times at one-minute intervals.

“You were sleeping very soundly.”

“I was so tired that I fell asleep without realizing it. I’m sorry.”

Charte went to his designated seat and sat down.

On the table in front of him, there was a pile of documents.

She quickly sat down in her designated seat opposite him.

“I hear you’re going to the charity event for the underprivileged?”

“Yes. As you know, I need to perform my duties as empress well to avoid causing trouble for Your Majesty.”

“That’s true… but.”

He seemed about to say something more, so she waited, but he swallowed his words and briefly made an expression that was hard to decipher—whether disappointment or anger.

“I’ll do well and return.”

He let out a short sigh.

“Shall I start the story right away?”

“Wait a moment. I have something I need to review and give to Catano.”

“Yes.”

He clearly said “a moment,” but it was taking longer than expected.

Moreover, his brow was increasingly furrowing, making her breathe carefully.

Fearing that even the sound of blinking might disturb him, she closed her eyes.

She was definitely waiting like that, but she woke up from sleep feeling sunlight coming through the window.

Opening her eyes, she saw him in front of her.

Though startled, she saw that Charte had also fallen asleep in his seated position.

She thought that, despite his strong physical endurance, consecutive nights together were too much even for Charte.

Seeing him in the bright light, she thought he looked even more handsome and spent a while admiring his face.

Suddenly, his eyes snapped open.

When their eyes met unexpectedly, she was so startled she almost screamed.

He just stared at her without any reaction, as if assessing the situation.

“Your Majesty, did you sleep well?”

His face changed subtly, showing confusion.

His expression showed that he didn’t understand the current situation.

Moreover, he didn’t look particularly pleased, so she didn’t dare ask anything more and just waited, observing his mood.

Strangely, Charte’s current expression was one of bewilderment.

She couldn’t understand why someone who had slept deeply and woken up would make such a face.

As the silence stretched too long, she carefully spoke to Charte as naturally as possible.

“It seems Your Majesty fell asleep too.”

He glared at her with sharp eyes, making her flinch momentarily, but she continued steadfastly.

“What should we do about not being able to tell you the story?”

After pondering deeply for a while without answering her question, he finally spoke.

“I’ll give you another chance tonight. Since you’ve slept well, Empress, tonight should be fine, right?”

“Yes. Of course.”

He was about to stand up to leave when he stopped and stared at her intently.

“The empress is truly an unfathomable person.”

“What?”

Charte looked at her with a face full of curiosity, then said with a strange gleam in his eyes.

“See you tonight.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Tonight……”

Before she could finish speaking, he left the room.

Charte’s facial expression, which was different from usual, was unsettling.

She felt a sudden fear, wondering if he suspected something.

Why would someone who had shown no interest in her look at her with such an expression?

She worried and felt anxious, wondering if she had made a mistake or perhaps said something strange in her sleep.

* * *

Ivester’s expression was grave as he gazed at the magic tower that stood tall in an area where powerful mages gathered.

It was the first time in his life that Ivester had arranged to meet the Tower Master, the pinnacle of mages.

This area on the outskirts of the Empire’s capital was a place where freedom of magic was guaranteed, making it a paradise for all mages on the continent as all sorts of magical research took place there.

The magic tower was essentially an extraterritorial area, making it a place ordinary people avoided out of fear.

Those in power or with wealth who secretly visited this place generally did so to request unsavory tasks.

Of course, mainstream mages in the tower mostly rejected such requests as they had plenty of opportunities to earn substantial money through legitimate commissions from the Empire or nobles.

Moreover, such magic was dangerous work that could harm the mage themselves due to causality.

Generally, it was non-mainstream mages or dark mages who favored darkness that researched curses, murder, and other such magic, and accepted secretive requests.

In the room he was guided to, the Tower Master rose and greeted him with a smile.

He was a thin man with sharp features.

“What brings Minister Pahorder to visit this place?”

Pahorder didn’t open his mouth easily, engaging in an invisible battle of wills with the Tower Master.

“Please speak freely if it’s about Imperial matters. The Empire is the magic tower’s number one client.”

Number one, indeed.

In exchange for providing a space of freedom, the magic tower had always sided with the Empire when conflicts arose between nations.

It was something Charte had pushed for as soon as he ascended the throne.

The results had been very satisfactory.

Especially during wars. The protective barriers created by the magic tower became the Empire’s shield, making victory inevitable.

“Please speak comfortably. This room where you are, Minister, receives the most thorough and secure protection within the magic tower. Not even the sound of breathing can escape.”

Only then did Ivester cautiously broach the main topic.

“While reviewing old documents, I found something I’m curious about and have come urgently.”

“Please ask. What are you curious about?”

However, even at this moment, Ivester was deeply conflicted.

He endlessly debated whether it was right to mention this fact and how to make it seem as casual as possible.

Finally deciding to speak, he looked at the Tower Master, pretending to be nonchalant.

“I’ve come today for an entirely personal reason. I hesitated to bring this up because it’s actually quite embarrassing. It’s ridiculous, but I’ve developed an absurd curiosity.”

“Please speak freely without concern.”

Ivester laughed loudly with an awkward face, as if it was truly absurd.

“Do you think it’s possible for souls to switch between people from different worlds through magic?”

“……”

“Too outlandish a question, right? I have such a good imagination.”

Unlike Ivester, who tried to lighten the mood jokingly, the Tower Master spoke seriously.

“By different worlds, do you mean the world of the dead? Soul summoning magic to call the dead does exist.”

“No, not that kind of world, but like a very distant future or another dimension we don’t know about, that kind of world.”

The Tower Master fell into deep thought.

After a long while, he finally spoke.

“As far as I know, there’s no one who can perform such magic.”

“Is that so? Well, I suppose such a thing isn’t possible……”

“But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.”

“What?”

“However, such magic would generally not be used for legitimate purposes, I believe. The magic you’re curious about falls into the category of dark magic. But why are you curious about this fact?”

“I was just broadening my thinking while reviewing documents. Surely I don’t need to justify my curiosity?”

“I apologize if I’ve offended you.”

It was enough for Ivester to know that it wasn’t completely impossible.

It would be dangerous for him to investigate deeper information himself.

He could hire someone to find out the details.

On his way back to the palace from the magic tower, he was so lost in thought that he was unaware of anything else.

“Minister. Minister Pahorder.”

When someone tugged at Ivester’s sleeve, he belatedly sensed the presence and turned around defensively.

“Who is it?!”

Mary, with a frightened face, quickly withdrew her hand.

“Ah. Lady Anderson.”

“I’m sorry. I dared to touch you without permission, Minister. Please forgive me.”

“Not at all. I was lost in thought and didn’t hear you calling. I’m sorry for startling you, Lady Anderson.”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Where are you coming from?”

“I had something to buy. By the way……”

Suddenly, Mary broke off and hesitated.

“Do you have something to say? Please speak without discomfort.”

“Are you heading to the palace now?”

“No. I have business today. Is something the matter?”

“If so, could you possibly spare some time tomorrow?”

“What is it about? You can tell me now.”

“I’m preparing something for Her Majesty the Empress and would like to discuss it, if you could help.”

“Ah! I understand. Of course I’ll help. Then, Lady Anderson, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

* * *

“What happened to the two people who met?”

She was surprised by his earlier-than-expected arrival at the Empress’s Palace, and even more surprised when he immediately urged her to continue the story as soon as he sat down.

At his prompting, all her confused thoughts vanished without a trace, replaced only by a sense of duty to tell the story quickly.

Strike while the iron is hot—it was clear he was already deeply immersed in Strange Garden, so she hurriedly began the story.

“Ha-im misunderstands Joo-hyun as Sang-yoon’s servant, and Joo-hyun also misunderstands her as Sang-yoon’s girlfriend. Then they go to the place where they first met, but because it’s at a height, Joo-hyun becomes terrified. He can’t remember, but he has trauma, so he can’t ride the ele……”

She paused briefly.

No matter how hard she thought, she couldn’t come up with a word to replace elevator.

It seemed better to explain the word itself.

“He can’t ride an elevator.”

“Elevator?”

“You can think of it as a machine that automatically takes you up when you get on it, because it’s tiring to use stairs in tall buildings.”

“Humans can’t even climb stairs? The humans in your story are very lazy.”

“Yes. You could see it as laziness, but please think of it positively as convenient and time-saving. And please consider it a product of my rich imagination.”

She couldn’t explain that while this world had few tall buildings, the world she lived in had many buildings too tall to climb by stairs.

“Moreover, Ha-im looks at Joo-hyun very strangely as he’s wearing embarrassing clothes made with sparkling sequins. Joo-hyun then boasts that this outfit is a luxury item made by a foreign craftsman.”

He suddenly nodded, which momentarily confused her and made her pause.

“Joo-hyun and I have something in common.”

“What? What is it?”

She felt slightly tense, wondering if he had already noticed the ‘arrogance.’