The next day, he headed early to the Bear Corporation headquarters to sweep the floor himself while he organized his complicated thoughts. He used to do this when his head started to ache from thinking so much.
An employee who knew the presidentâs habit asked him in surprise when he saw him like this.
âPresident, is there something that worries you?â
âHmm. It is a matter about Empress Rashta.â
âEmpress Rashta?â
Is there something related to the Empress that we should be worried about? The employee tilted his head thoughtfully. Suddenly, a memory came to his mind, âAh.â
âBy any chance, is it related to what happened a while ago?â
âWhat are you talking about?â
âDonât you know? âWhen the president was away, Emperorâs knights came to look for something related to that woman.â
âThat woman?â
âYes. She was not the Empress back then.â
The employeeâs words led the president to a clear conclusion.
Draw a line.
The president considered that it would be the most convenient.
Even if the emperorâs knights had not come because of Empress Rashta, scandals had broken out one after another about the current empress who was less than a year old. That was certainly not a good sign.
When the presidentâs face turned cold, the employee looked at him curiously,
âPresidentâŠ?â
âI must send someone to the imperial palace.â
âWhat?â
âI need to find out something.â
After these words, the president handed the broom to the employee. For his part, the young man was perplexed to suddenly receive it.
The president immediately went to his office and called his secretary.
The secretary entered with a haggard face because he hadnât slept well, but seeing the presidentâs bright eyes, he patted his own face and asked,
âWhat do you want, President.â
âSend someone to the imperial palace to report that our old promissory notes have been counterfeited.â
âWhat?â The secretary was startled, âIsnât that a lie? Besides, how does it benefit us to say that our old promissory notes have been counterfeited?â
âOur old promissory notes are not in use, right?â
âThatâs true, butâŠâ
âThere is no problem because the Emperor does not have any old promissory notes, yet ask the Emperor for all the promissory notes to replace them with new ones just in case. It only takes a day, so he should not worry.â
The secretaryâs expression turned puzzled. He had no idea why the president was acting so strangely.
***
Since a response had not yet been received from Whitemond, the incident was labeled âimportantâ and moved slightly off the priority list.
Pending a response, Heinley began to deal with what needed to be done right now.
To find out if other countries also felt threatened by the Western Empire, he sent a delegation with a handwritten letter personally to each country, and discussed with his trusted men the possibility of increasing the defense budget in preparation for future events.
These were delicate matters that needed to be handled with care.
Maybe thatâs why Heinley, who used to approach me at night with renewed energy,fell asleep today as soon as he lay down on the bed.
As I watched him sleep, I gently placed my hand on his body. When I began to caress his flawless, smooth skin, Heinley scowled.
Even exhausted he looked handsome.
I crept up to his face after a momentâs hesitation. I rested my head on one hand, and with the other I played with his face.
Lovely, he is lovely. So lovely that heâs dangerous.
Heinleyâs eyelids twitched as I gently blew out his eyelashes. He frowned again and buried his face in the pillow.
How lovely!
I put my hand in his hair and stroked it. It felt pleasant to touch it with my fingers. I froze for a moment as I kissed his forehead repeatedly because I thought I might have woken him up.
I checked his breathing and, fortunately, he was still sleeping peacefully. I was relieved, so I played with his cheeks and eyes again.
I felt confused looking at him.
Do I love him? Am I about to love him? I love him, but I donât want to acknowledge it?
Although I had feelings for Sovieshu, I only realized it just before the divorce. I was too slow in that regard.
I never thought I was slow before, but now I realize how slow I am.
How could Heinley confess and swear love to me without fear or doubt?
Wasnât he afraid that I would leave him? How could I be so sure that he loved me?
As I played with his hair as usual, I felt a strange itch on my fingertips.
I stroked his hair a little faster to dispel the itch, but still the sensation did not go away.
Whatâs the matter? It wasnât just an itch because it hurt. It felt worse than an insect bite.
The moment I finally tried to remove my hand from his hair, Heinley suddenly opened his eyes and turned his body to the side in fright.
A thud was heard as he fell out of bed.
âHeinley?â
Why did he act like that? I was shocked. When I put my hands on the bed to get up, I lost strength in my arms and fell face down.
What the hell�
Weak on the bed, I opened and closed my mouth. I was so bewildered I couldnât even speak.
Just then, I could see why Heinley suddenly turned away. Blue ice, almost white, appeared where Heinley had been sleeping.
âHeinley?â
Nervous, I called him back as I slowly got out of bed. What was going on? Naturally I got scared because I couldnât understand the situation.
Did someone break into our bedroom? Some unseen enemy froze only Heinleyâs side?
âHere I am, Queen.â
Heinley responded as he stood up in front of me.
I was even more surprised to see him. His hair was covered in white ice as if he had rolled across a field of snow.
*Tap, tap.*
Heinley, who shook the ice out of his hair, looked at the side where he had been sleeping and at me. I couldnât tell what he was thinking about.
âIt looks like your body is slowly beginning to change.â
âMy body?â
âLike I told you, the mana could circulate through your body with the help of this bed⊠and me.â
Heinley grabbed my hand, with which I had stroked his hair, and lifted it carefully.
âYou mean that ice was made by me?â
âProbably.â
As Heinley touched my hand very carefully, I examined my hand as well.
The itch from a moment ago had disappeared, and instead my fingertips were quite cool. Apart from that, there was nothing strange. I didnât have ice on my hand, nor was it particularly cold.
âCan you do it again?â
Heinley asked, looking at my hand uncomfortably.
Shook my head. I was just playing with Heinleyâs body while he slept. I wasnât thinking about doing anything, I didnât want to attack him. Even now, I didnât know what happened, so doing it againâŠ
âAre you sure I did it?â
When I asked again, he immediately replied, âYes.â
âHeinley, didnât you do it?â
âNo. Absolutely not.â
Heinley spoke firmly and slowly released my hand. Then he smirked and murmured,
âNow it really is your nickname.â
âMy nickname?â
âThe Ice Empress.â
ââŠ.â
âIt could also have been the Iron Empress. Iâm glad it wasnât.â
Heinley spoke in a joking tone, laughing as he shook out his hair, which still had traces of ice in it.
âItâs a little scary to have your hair covered in ironâŠâ
***
I was so excited that I couldnât sleep a wink.
Did I use magic? Really? Really?
It was so amazing that I felt strange.
I never wanted to be a mage. Now that I could become a mage, I was too excited.
Even with breakfast in front of me, I wasnât provoked to eat.
âIf you canât use it normally, it hasnât fully manifested yet. Right now mana must be looking for the most suitable ability for you.â
âThe most suitable ability⊠Does that mean that the most suitable ability for me is ice? Am I a cold person?â