"Gustaf, what kind of place is Abellardo?"
Gustaf Drubal, the advisor to the young emperor, faced the greatest crisis of his life! He asked back with a pale face.
Realizing he hadn't misheard, Gustaf felt deeply despondent. While Mabel had had considerable contact with Abellardo during her upbringing, she had never once shown any curiosity about it. This was fortunate for the situation emperor, the empire, and his own comfortable career.
'His Majesty must be keeping a close eye on Abellardo to prevent Mabel from being taken away.'
Thinking that peace was maintained this way, the inevitable finally came. Gustaf's lips, twisted in a greenish smile, trembled.
"Ahaha. Abellardo... Well, what kind of place is it?"
Struck by the core word, Gustaf clamped his mouth shut. The baby emperor's gaze, staring up at him blankly, was terrifying.
'His Majesty is indeed a genius of the century. But I can't tell the truth. I have to make him dislike Abellardo.'
Gustaf chose to tell a 'white lie.' Though it was lying to the emperor, he firmly believed it was for the empire's peace.
'If he takes an interest in Abellardo, it will be troublesome.'
Gustaf put on a serious expression.
"Abellardo is a wicked kingdom filled with only the most evil and despicable people."
"Especially, they kidnap young children and do terrible things to them. What kind of terrible things, you ask..."
In a short time, Gustaf fervently concocted terrible deeds suitable for a child's level. Mabel's favorite was desserts. So...
"That's it. They eat all the delicious cakes right in front of you without giving you any. Starving you is a common thing, especially for children your age, Your Majesty!"
Gustaf thought it was an appropriate threat at her level, but Mabel didn't. He was taken aback by her cold gaze.
"Why... are you looking at me like that, Your Majesty?"
"Gustaf, you're really bad at lying."
Gustaf stared blankly at Mabel's retreating back.
"Just now, it seemed like His Majesty was looking at me with disdain... It must be a misunderstanding."
It wasn't a misunderstanding. ***
"Heavenly useless Gustaf."
Abandoning the unhelpful Gustaf, I decided to gather information on my own.
I stood proudly in a clearing deep in the garden, hugging a large envelope. All the knights and maids who accompanied me were staring at me.
"What is His Majesty trying to do?"
Just as everyone was curious about what I was about to do, I shouted loudly.
Flap! At my call, the birds on the trees took off en masse. The scene of various feathers falling from the sky like snow was spectacular.
While admiring the scene, I quickly regained my composure. The chirps were already densely gathered around me, and the atmosphere was tense due to the mix of different types of birds. I hastily added a warning.
'Don't fight, chirps. If you fight, there's no food.'
The birds responded in unison with a "chirp."
A sparrow politely asked for food. I nodded and reached into the envelope. The tension of eating first was palpable, and I laughed wickedly.
'If you want to eat, each of you give me a piece of information.'
No more being extorted by animals! My plan was highly successful. The birds started spilling out all the information they knew to get more food. The winter migratory birds were especially good at providing information about Abellardo. I eagerly gathered the information while scattering birdseed.
[The new king has a bright barley-colored head, chirp.]
[Chirp. And his eyes are as red as blood!]
[That kid stole my food, chirp!]
[The new king was the new king even when my father's father was alive, chirp.]
Since the average lifespan of winter migratory birds is about 30 years, I estimated the new king to be over 50 years old.
A shiver ran down my spine.
'An old man is obsessed with me?'
Your conscience, are you well? Anyway, the birds' information was quite useful. I learned a lot about the new king of Abellardo. Michael Abellardo, the new king of the Holy Kingdom of Abellardo, rarely shows his face, and only a few people have seen him.
'He has a peculiar personality.'
A peculiar old man, I really don't want to get involved. The Holy Empire worships the god 'Adeus.' The new king is a devout servant of this god. Living by the god's will, he can't help but be obsessed with my existence, which is said to be a divine oracle.
'He even tried to kidnap me.'
In the case of the holy relic, it seems he wanted to use my latent divine power to find them. The priests, being experts, would be better at assessing my condition than the non-expert royal family.
Swish, I threw the birdseed, and the birds eagerly pecked at the ground. I threw more birdseed.
[There's a lot of food in Abellardo, chirp chirp.]
A sudden doubt came to me. If my ability to communicate with nature is due to divine arrangement, could there be people among the priests who can also talk to animals like me?
'It's worth finding out.'
Since the new king is constantly trying to take me away, I can't avoid it forever. The situation emperor seems to be ignoring it. The birdseed in the envelope was running out.
"Well, this is the last of it!"
I grunted, flipping the envelope and shaking out the last of the seed. The maids clapped.
"Aww, so cute. Taking care of the birds' food, and so kind."
"Indeed. It feels like just yesterday you were a little baby, and now you're walking and feeding the birds..."
"Our emperor is so great!"
Today, I shook my head while listening to the embarrassing flattery of the maids. Anyway, to others, my impressive information gathering looked like feeding the birds. I smiled, thinking I had a great source of information. Was this the end of my life as a food provider for animals?
'Thanks in advance, chirps!'
[No food, no talk, chirp.]
That's right. I was still a food provider. *** On a dark night, the owls hooted, searching for prey.
The cheese gangster appeared. I rubbed my sleepy eyes and sat up groggily.
"But today isn't the day..."
Peck spat something in front of me. Afraid to upset Peck, I picked it up without a word. It was another note, presumably from Eidan. What was written on it? I walked to the balcony and held the note up to the moonlight. [Different and self-made.]
Was it a draft? I frowned and examined it from all angles, but that was all it said.
My mind was full of question marks. Everyone knew that Eidan, the demon of Devlin, was not an ordinary being. Otherwise, he couldn't have such great power at such a young age. I couldn't fully understand it, but I let it go, accepting that he had assessed my abilities.
'Anyway, I can't confront him since I can't even meet him.'
Lysandro, the ironclad guard, stood between Eidan and me. I sighed deeply, pondered the note, and tore a piece of paper from a drawer. I scribbled a short message and handed it to Peck.
"Take this to him. Tell him to ask for cheese."
[We don't accept credit, peck.]
The cheekiness of the pecks was increasing. I clasped my hands together politely.
[This time, I'll let it slide, peck.]
I sighed deeply as the pecks disappeared into the darkness.
It's not that I'm scared, but I'm holding back to avoid getting hit. *** Today, my project to be deposed continued. As soon as I entered the meeting room, I lay down on the throne as if I had been waiting. A soft cushion had been placed on the throne for some time now, along with pillows and blankets given by the ministers. It was practically a bed for my small frame.
But it was too late to change. Today, I closed my eyes and pulled the blanket over me, staying true to the concept of a mischievous emperor. I held a rabbit doll in my arms.
'Pretend to sleep, pretend to sleep.'
Sighs came from the direction of the ministers.
"Oh, His Majesty is holding the doll I brought and sleeping."
"Hehe, the blanket I brought is keeping him warm."
"The most important thing for a good sleep is a pillow, right? I prepared it!"
Embarrassed by the flattering voices of the ministers, I