Hello, Readers! I am celebrating my birthday with extra chapter updates, so please enjoy this special chapter release of 4 bonus chapters! 🥳
(Lurelia’s Birthday Bonus – Update 4/4 🎉)
♡ To all readers who purchased these chapters before my Birthday: I can’t express this enough – Thank you for your support. (*ˊᗜˋ*)/ᵗᑋᵃᐢᵏ ᵞᵒᵘ*
***
“Wow.”
The knight guarding the entrance to the Imperial Palace immediately let the senior in as soon as he saw him.
“Senior, it seems you’re still the Crown Prince.”
“Fortunately, it looks like I’ll be able to fire that guard from earlier.”
“Senior, you have a bad personality and hold grudges too.”
“Haha.”
I never imagined there would come a day when I’d have this kind of conversation with the senior, but it didn’t feel bad. No, rather, it’s quite fun.
“If I take you directly to the main palace, everyone will be surprised, so let’s go to the Crown Prince’s palace or the detached palace.”
“Okay. If possible, let’s go to the detached palace. I don’t want to unnecessarily become the subject of gossip by going to the Crown Prince’s palace.”
The senior paused for a moment and stared at my face.
“What?”
“I thought you knew the inner workings of the imperial palace well.”
I was about to answer that I was the one who wrote this novel, but the senior spoke first.
“As expected of the top student in the department.”
His sincere admiration somehow deflated me.
“You were the top student this semester, weren’t you?”
“I worked really hard. I needed to get a scholarship.”
“Aren’t you rich, senior?”
“I did have some wealth I brought from here, but still. It’s good to save money where you can.”
Is this for real?
I didn’t even know the history of this country, but this person comes to a world he’s never lived in before and becomes the top student in the department.
He’s an extremely dangerous individual.
I clicked my tongue and shook my head when suddenly I wondered if this might be the reason ‘why the senior disappears’.
In my memory, the senior was already there when I entered the university. But according to the senior, he’s only been here for about half a year.
And in that short period, he not only perfectly adapted to life here but also showed outstanding abilities?
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“What?”
With just a few characters from the book, world domination wouldn’t be such a far-fetched dream.
Yes, the ecosystem would change.
“You’re looking at me with half-closed eyes.”
“Me?”
Then perhaps…
“Yes. As if you have ulterior motives towards me.”
“Senior, you might need an eye exam…”
A very frightening hypothesis began to rear its head.
I’m not sure if it’s just my imagination, but since entering the book, the senior seems to be glowing. When I met him at the cafe, he was handsome, but he didn’t capture my attention.
Is it simply because his hair color changed? No, that’s not it.
“Haha, alright. Let’s go.”
“Sen-“
I tried to pull on the senior’s hand to ask a question, but several knights approached us.
“Your Highness, the Crown Prince.”
Six knights greeted him.
“Good work.”
The senior nodded and was about to leave, and so was I.
But are these knight fellows subtly blocking our path? Was this not a chance encounter?
“The lady over there.”
One particularly handsome knight stepped forward. He was looking directly at me.
“You’ll need to come with us.”
“She’s my guest.”
The senior rebuked in a low, stern voice.
“How dare you say you’ll take my guest?”
“We didn’t realize she was Your Highness’s guest.”
The knight who spoke first bowed his head apologetically.
“Indeed. She’s accompanying me, so withdraw.”
“But, Your Highness.”
“Whose orders are you following?”
The knights who were trying to take me away without retreating seemed troubled and kept their mouths shut.
“I asked whose orders you’re following.”
The senior asked again in a sharp tone.
“Not answering my question means you’re willing to lose your heads, doesn’t it?”
The senior’s demeanor, which seemed capable of beheading them with just his aura, was unfamiliar to me.
“You, state your affiliation and name first.”
“I requested it.”
The familiar face that appeared behind the stern knights made me forget to breathe for a moment.
The man gestured for the knights to step back.
“I asked them to bring her as my guest. It seems they made a mistake, not knowing she was Your Highness’s guest.”
His voice tone was different from when we were outside, subdued. His manner seemed apologetic, but devoid of any real emotion.
The senior glared at the knights who had disobeyed his order. It was as if he was memorizing the faces of those who acted like someone else’s dogs despite being imperial knights.
“Your Highness, please show your great generosity and forgive them.”
“…Since the Chancellor speaks so, I’ll let it pass this time.”
The man who appeared was none other than Seth.
His red hair, gleamed in the afternoon sun, and his strikingly handsome features remained the same. As did his crimson eyes, impossible to read any emotion from.
However, his slightly gaunt face and strangely lifeless complexion were new to me, making my heart sink.
Of course, this feeling lasted only for a moment.
My mind went blank when I saw Seth’s new ‘item’ that I had never seen before.
He’s wearing a monocle!
Who came up with that setting?
It wasn’t me! But I like it!
I quickly covered my mouth with my hand to hide my twitching lips.
The knights had stepped back but hadn’t left entirely.
Seeing that they didn’t care about the senior’s glare, they must be Seth’s subordinates.
I thought Dietrich had a tight grip on the imperial knights, but apparently not. Wow, as expected of the top-tier villain of this place.
As I was admiring Seth’s abilities anew, he stepped forward.
“Well then, Your Highness, the Crown Prince.”
Seth raised the corner of his mouth. No, he tried to, but his cheeks were trembling slightly.
For Seth to fail at managing his expression, it must be a very serious matter.
I furrowed my brow and stared intently at Seth. However, his gaze didn’t meet mine.
“Would you allow me to take the lady beside you as my guest?”
“She is my guest as well, Chancellor.”
The senior didn’t back down an inch.
“I invited her first, so she will be coming with me.”
Seth’s lips trembled.
It seems I might have gone missing in this place, and if I’m taken by the seemingly upset Seth, it’s clear I’ll be imprisoned again, right?
I let go of the senior’s hand and hastily stepped back, increasing the distance between Seth and myself. As I slightly hid behind the senior’s back, he wrapped his arm around me protectively.
He’s on my side!
The senior wasn’t crazy like the others, so he probably wouldn’t lock me up somewhere.
Fearing that Seth might forcibly take me away, I tightly held onto the senior’s arm. I wanted to see the male protagonists, but I didn’t want to be captured and imprisoned by them.
Come to think of it, where are all my jewels? Are they still safely in the magic tower?
“It seems she is indeed my guest, Chancellor,” the senior said in a tone tinged with amusement.
Seth’s gaze fixed on my hand gripping the senior. His polite smile gradually hardened. At this rate, won’t the senior get killed?
Now I can’t predict what will happen next.
What should I do?
As I firmly resolved again not to go with Seth, the villainous Chancellor slowly turned his head. His crimson eyes focused on me.
“Master.”
The familiar title that came from his red lips pierced my eardrums.
“Have you forgotten me?”
His voice, as if drenched in rain, carved into my heart, completely erasing any thoughts like ‘How dare he call me by such a shameful title…’
“Have you completely forgotten me? Hm?”
One step, he comes closer.
“It’s me, Seth. Your Seth.”
His long, elegant fingers reached towards me, but the senior moved to block them.
Now I could only peek at Seth from behind the senior’s shoulder. However, the distance had shortened, allowing me to see him more clearly.
“Master…”
I could now confirm that Seth, who was already thin, had become even more emaciated.
He hadn’t been eating properly while I was gone. No, did he eat at all?
Seth’s face, not taking his eyes off me, contorted in pain.
“Master, please.”
I had never seen him like this before. It should have been impossible for him to make such an expression, so my heart sank again.
Seth suddenly made an unfamiliar gesture, and the senior let out a laugh that sounded like a groan.
“Ha…”
I opened my mouth but couldn’t say anything.
Droplets of water fell from Seth’s eyes.
In front of everyone, the heartless villainous Chancellor was crying.
And he was kneeling before me.
End Volume 2