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8. Shrydon I
Softly… thud.
Finally, the emperor’s body fell to the side.
Not long after eating the fruit, the emperor let his eyelids droop. As if he was falling asleep, the emperor’s head came down and pressed Racilia’s shoulder.
She tried to hold him so he wouldn’t fall. For that reason, the difference in her physique was huge. She tried to hold on to the hem of her dress, but the emperor leaning on her shoulder slipped and fell to the floor along with the chair.
She was at least holding on to his clothes, so he narrowly avoided getting hit on the head badly.
“Ha… I can’t. It is too heavy.”
It was impossible to carry her to the bed. Lasilia somehow got the emperor to lie on the floor, then brought her pillow and put it under her head.
“I don’t know what kind of fruit it is, but it works very well.”
Lasilia looked at the sleeping emperor beside her, she murmured softly.
“It was easier to feed it than I thought. Thank God. By the way… ”
But why did the emperor say he would taste it first? She was fortunate, but a little curious as to why.
“If I hadn’t known about the bad relationship, I might have thought that the emperor would have risked it first for her empress.”
It was a moment when the emperor, who was strange, unfamiliar, difficult and fearful, felt a little bit more human.
“It would be nice if you misunderstood that we had contact like this… Oh, then maybe it would be better to take off his clothes a little.”
It was the moment when Lasilia put her hand on the body of the emperor after thinking that far.
“… oh!”
Suddenly, the emperor jerked his hand against her body, startling Lasilia as if her heart would skip a beat. She thought she had woken him up. Fortunately, the emperor did not wake up. He just had his hands clasped.
‘What. How could he do this while sleeping?’
Lasilia struggled to free her hand. His sleepiness was so strong that it made no sense. She eventually spread her fingers out one by one and she could barely get her hand out.
‘It hurts.’
She wondered if she would bruise the back of her hand. Not knowing when or where he might grab her again, Lasilia quickly distanced herself from him. He was apparently asleep, but his eyelids twitching as Lasilia walked away.
‘Oh, come to think of it, we don’t know how long the effect lasts.’
He fell asleep, but she did not know when the emperor would wake up. If he wakes up in an hour or two, it’s worth making contact after that.
‘I’ll have to hide somewhere until tomorrow morning. Since I lost my memory, saying that I was lost in the palace would be an excuse.’
Decisions were made quickly, and actions were swift. Lasilia immediately went to the door. As she had expected, she opened the door and the two guards looked at her with puzzled looks.
“What is it, Her Majesty?”
“Your Majesty is asleep.”
“Ah… ?”
“He will stay in my room until he wakes up.”
“Oh that… We were not told what to do.”
The guards stood in the way, but it wasn’t unexpected.
“When he wakes up, find me and I will come back to him.”
Then the guards had no choice. Lasilia returned to the empress’ palace, escorted by her royal guard.
* * *
Thud.
The door was closed. Lasilia, who repeatedly confirmed that no one was in the room, opened the window.
“You said you would come when called. Can you come now?”
After she waited for a while, the wonderful birds flew in. This time the number was higher. It was a bit noisy as the birds chatted with different voices.
“Shh. I don’t know if anyone will listen.”
The birds soon became quiet.
“I need a place to hide until tomorrow morning. Is there a decent place where I can go undetected from here?”
The birds talked to each other for a while. Then, as if coming to a conclusion, he vigorously nodded her head.
-Yes, yes.
-Yes, Yes. If it’s there, it’s okay, it’s okay.
Lasilia let out a sigh of relief.
“I am very fortunate. May I ask for guidance?”
The birds talked to each other for a long time, and this time a blue-feathered bird jumped into the window.
– Me, me.
“I guess you mean to guide me. Thanks. Where should I go?”
– This way, this way.
A small blue bird took flight.
Lasilia, who also thanked the other birds, followed the blue bird.
* * *
These birds were definitely up to something.
It wasn’t normal for the birds to speak, but the blue bird was very clever and knew every nook and cranny of the imperial palace.
The blue bird was very good at finding passages that people didn’t go through, and took Lasilia to the northern tower. The palace was so vast that it seemed like it took about an hour to move. Upon entering the northern tower, the atmosphere was quite different.
It was obviously gorgeous and well-polished like the rest of the imperial palace, but somehow it was quiet. It felt as if time had stopped there.
“Where is this?”
-Here, no people. Don’t come.
“Why?”
-Here me the owner.
“Yes? Are you the owner?”
Instead of answering, the blue bird poked at the closed door with its beak, as if to look directly.
“Can I come in here?”
-Yes, Yes.
Lasilia opened the door. She had no doubts because she knew the birds were clever. But as soon as she opened the door, someone shouted.
“Who are you!”
“Oh.”
Lasilia stopped her motions, holding her by the handle. A blue bird slipped through the gap in the slightly open door.
“For a moment! Don’t go in there.”
“Yes?”
The blue bird had entered, so she couldn’t escape alone. Lasilia sighed and opened the door again, intending only to take the bird out.
“Who are you! Who are you!”
“Ah…”
It wasn’t a person who was shouting. It was a very large parrot. The parrot was sitting in a large cage that reached almost to the ceiling, and the cage door was open. It must have been left that way so that the birds could come and go freely.
And the cage was all yellow gold. She had no idea how much gold was spent.
“A bird… Didn’t you say you are the owner of this place?”
The blue bird nodded her little head.
-Yes, here. Bird, live.
“Aha… Why do you live here?”
It was the parrot who answered that.
“Ahem! This body is Kirne Tower’s Shrydon I! It’s the Duke of Shrydon!”
“Yes…?”
“Let’s work together! Say hello!”
The parrot flapped its wings and chirped loudly. Then the blue bird hurriedly flew into the cage and hit the parrot on the head with its little paw.
It was noisy, so it seemed the hit meant to be quiet.
The blue bird was small and the parrot was huge, but surprisingly the parrot calmed. And that’s not all, he even slipped down from his thick gold perch to the floor. The blue bird, which proudly occupied the perch, flew to the feeder next to it and pecked at the feed.
“Still… Will it work?”
Lasilia went to the front of the cage and asked.
-Yes, Yes.
“Why is this parrot so calm?”
-Just because it’s a bird, a bird.
“You’re a bird too.”
-We are not. We are different
“How are you different?”
-Different, different.
“Well… What’s the point of talking that far?”
Although they were very clever birds, they seemed to have limitations in expressing them in human language.
But that alone was surprising enough.
“Who are you guys…”
As Lasilia stroked the blue bird’s head with her fingers, she saw the bird close her eyes and stretch her neck.
-More, more. More, more.
She even burrowed into the palm of her hand as if she wanted to keep being touched.
“You like people.”
-No, no. People, no.
“You mean you don’t like people?”
-Yes. Not good, not good.
“So you’re saying you like me?”
-Yes, yes.
‘It’s so strange. Did you like the empress? Then, were they the birds raised by the empress? …Oh, that’s not it.’
There were no new items in the empress’s room, such as a cage. Birds always flew in from outside, so it didn’t look like they were touched by humans.
“Do you guys know who I am?”
Just in case, she asked.
-Yes, yes. I know, I know.
“So, do you really know who I am?”
-Yes, yes. Really, really.
It was ridiculous, but it didn’t sound like a lie.
Racilia’s hand stroking the blue bird trembled slightly. Maybe these birds were the key. The key to open a box containing the answers to the strange things that happened to her.
“Then maybe… Do you know why I came here?”
The blue bird, who had closed her eyes in a good mood, opened her eyes at that moment.
-Since the real thing has arrived, he will wake up soon.
“He?”
– Him.
“Who is that?”
-Him.
The blue bird that had said that far flew away.
-If you call, he will come again, he will come.
The blue bird that said the same thing flew away somewhere.
“It got more difficult.”
Lasilia, who had reached out to catch the blue bird, stopped her motion and put on her wistful expression.
“Who is he? Who will come?”
Anyway, as the birds said, that was a place where no one went. She could put her mind at ease until tomorrow morning. There was no furniture for people like a bed or a chair, so Lasilia sat comfortably on the floor and leaned her back against the wall.
“Ahem. This body is the 1st generation of Shuraiden! The Duke of Shryden sends his greetings.”
The parrot that had been quietly shrugging her shoulders waddled beside Racilia.
Lasilia laughed.
“You said hello earlier, but now you send your greetings?”
“Ahem. Greetings.”
“Okay, hi. Nice to meet you. You must have been surprised by my sudden entry, but thank you for letting me stay.”
As she stroked his head, the parrot patted the tips of his wings in a pleasing expression.
“Ahem. It was nothing. I’m the 1st of Shraiden! Breakfast is fresh vegetables and peanuts! At six o’clock every day!”
“Six hours… That means people will come at that time.”
It meant that she had to hide until then and go back. She seemed to be able to vaguely remember the route she took when she followed the blue bird.
“Then, about ten hours left? Until then, let’s get along well, Duke.”
As Lasilia smiled and said so, Shraiden gave her a strong nod.
* * *
Lescal woke up about an hour later. A normal person would have slept for about two days, but the body mixed with demon blood was different from that of a human in many ways.
Waking up, he immediately sought the empress. Hearing that he had fallen asleep and the empress returned to her room, he headed straight to the empress’ palace without the shadow knights accompanying him. But what was waiting for Rascal was an empty bedroom.
The guards assigned to the empress’ palace did not know where the empress went, when she went, or how she went.
She was literally gone.
“… I can’t believe it.”
Serben, who came running belatedly, murmured.
Ryan clenched her fist as hard as she could, with his face crumpled.
“Is she doing this again? Didn’t she just fix her mind?”
He was ready to beat anyone with his fist.
“From His Majesty’s point of view, this is no different from torture! What was that woman thinking…!”
It was before Serben looked back at the guards in embarrassment and blocked Ryan’s mouth.
Puck!
One sofa fell over. The armrest, which had been intact on the single-person sofa just before, had been ripped off and was in Lescal’s hand.
“Go.”
Rascal’s voice quietly echoed in the empress’s bedroom.
“Right Now.”