/
TMLP Ch. 71 — Malice is Quiet
The day my mock battle with Caesar was scheduled. Upon arriving at the castle with a fluttering heart early in the morning, I heard an unexpected notice.
“I’m sorry, but His Majesty is not able to practice swordsmanship today.”
As I waited in the training ground for a long time, Hamilton was the one who appeared instead.
I frowned in astonishment.
“Are you lying?”
“I’m afraid he has too much work to do, so he can’t afford to waste his time.
That’s a lie.
No matter how busy he’s at work, he’s not someone who can miss the time he can to meet me.
“I will personally visit His Majesty and listen to his own words,” I put my sword into its sheath and said firmly. As expected, Hamilton, who had tried to pretend to be calm, was startled. “Pardon?! Y-You can’t!”
“It won’t take long. I’ll make sure it doesn’t interfere with his work.”
“You still can’t!”
“I don’t understand. Was His Majesty the one who sent you to lie to me?”
“No, that’s not it! Well, anyway, the situation is a bit tricky right now!”
“Viscount Noct.”
“Yes?”
“Will you be honest, or would you like to see me break into the office?” I crossed my arms and said, Hamilton’s face turned white. He eventually pulled out his hair with both hands and declared surrender. “Ugh… I knew I’d be caught by you, but-!”
“Then why did you come? You’re not good at lying.”
If it had been Rowena, I might have been deceived. Because Rowena was someone whose inner feelings couldn’t be read just from her expression.
“I lost at the rock-paper-scissors…!”
Oh. That’s a terrible reason.
“So? What’s the real reason His Majesty didn’t show up?”
Hamilton first looked around at my question. A couple of knights were standing in the distance.
Nobody should be able to hear us at this distance, but Hamilton whispered to me as if he was disturbed by it.
“That… Why don’t we move first?”
What? Is it so bad?
I followed Hamilton without a hitch.
Hamilton explained to me why only after moving to a remote place where there were no people.
“First of all, don’t be surprised.”
“What’s the big deal? Why are you so fussy?”
“His Majesty has vomited blood.”
“… So it is a big deal…”
I felt like I was hit in the back of the head. I didn’t know it was such a big deal.
I took a deep breath to calm my startled mind. In times like these, you need to be calmer.
“What are we supposed to do now? Shall we eliminate the conspirators of rebellion in this gap?”
“Please calm down. What are you thinking that it gets to rebellion?” Hamilton said, patting the air with both hands. “The doctors say it is because of the accumulated fatigue. He is now resting in his bedroom.”
“Fatigue. How much work does he do, Hamilton?”
Somehow, every time I see him, he gets thinner. My anger is beyond anxiety.
Does it mean that no one around him took care of him until he got to that point?
“Is he in the bedroom now?”
“Yes. He’s resting for the day… Yikes, Princess!” As I strode down the hallway past Hamilton, Hamilton panicked and followed me and grabbed me.
“W-Where are you going?!”
“I’m going to see His Majesty.”
“Pardon?! D-Didn’t you say you wouldn’t invade?!”
“I meant I wouldn’t go to the office.”
“What kind of insistence is this?!” Hamilton shouted with a pale face, “You can’t!”
“Why?”
“This must not leak out! I only specifically informed you!” Hamilton muted his voice and warned me with words. It didn’t do much to convince me.
“Do you think I will talk to everyone in the neighborhood that His Majesty has vomited blood?”
“We’ve also rejected Young Lady Brande with an excuse today. But what if we allow you to visit His Majesty, and to his bedroom on top of that?”
“Oh, that’s the problem,” I smiled brightly.
Hamilton’s face softened a little as he thought he had persuaded me. However, in my following words, Hamilton’s expression turned stern.
“I just can’t get caught.”
“Princess…!”
“Oh, should I disguise myself as a maid?”
“What about the bodyguards!”
“That’s not a problem. The captain of the bodyguards is my brother.”
“Oh, dear…” Hamilton looked like he was dealing with a “big problem”. How silly…
In the end, he decided he had no choice but to back away, so he grabbed my hands tightly. I looked down at Hamilton’s hand, holding my hand fondly.
“Oh. I cannot take responsibility for your feelings.”
Hamilton was not in the mood to answer my joke and neatly ignored it.
“Let me accompany you instead.”
“Pardon?”
“I am not confident enough to let you go alone. I thought you’d do something.”
“You lack faith.”
“Therefore… let me accompany you!” Hamilton appealed to me with trembling eyes.
Hmmm. There’s nothing wrong with that.
Actually, it was impossible to come into the emperor’s bedroom. It was possible only because this was Hamilton, if it were Rowena, she would’ve rejected me at once.
‘Should I take a step back from this point?’
I shrugged one shoulder and agreed with Hamilton.
“All right. Let’s go together.”
***
I merely joked when I’d said I would pretend to b a maid, but Hamilton seemed to agree deeply with the operation.
Eventually, I changed into an imperial maid outfit to reassure Hamilton.
My weapons were already lifted. Well, this is obvious.
“What’s this, Helena? Well, it’s cute… but…” Leonard, who was guarding in front of Caesar’s bedroom, saw me and muttered with a serious expression.
“It’s… well. It’s a disguise.”
“Oh… I see,” Leonard said with a look on his face, giving up asking any more questions.
“Come on. Hurry up and go in. See him and come out quickly, Princess,” Hamilton quickly urged me as if he was still nervous. That surprised Leonard.
“Are you here to see His Majesty?”
“That’s right. I think the princess needs to see him in person.”
“Oh, my. Did you tell her everything?”
“… You shouldn’t have let me go!” Hamilton screamed at Leonard’s rebuke. Perhaps the rock-paper-scissors in question had even included Leonard.
“Why did you try to hide it from me? You don’t believe me?”
“That’s not it. His Majesty said he didn’t want to bother you with a trivial matter.”
“But this isn’t trivial, is it?”
“Oh, do we still have time to argue here? Let’s hurry up and meet and go,” Hamilton said as he stomped his feet. Leonard and I looked at Hamilton at the same time, with a puzzled expressions.
Oh, you noisy bird. How annoying.
“No. His Majesty said not to let anyone in,” Leonard said, blocking the door with his sword.
I asked with a tilt of my head, “Then I don’t think there’s any reason to stop me.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m not anyone.”
“Even if it’s you, Helena. You can’t,” Leonard was adamant. I could feel his sincerity as a bodyguard. It was a disadvantage for me in the current situation.
“The teacher is only trying to comfort the disciple.”
“You can see him next time.”
“No, I have to see him now.”
“Even without you, there are many people who stand by His Majesty. Go back home with peace of mind.”
“There are so many people who protect him?”
Leonard flinched, and his shoulders shook.
It was because I didn’t realize there was bloodthirst in my voice. I was angry for a moment.
“What did the people around him do until he got to this point?”
There was a long silence.
“I ask again, who is with His Majesty now?”
“Right now… He’s resting…”
There’s no one.
He seems to have everything, but the emperor’s seat is a lonely place.
I know that. How can I not know?
So, I want to be by his side even more.
“Brother. Open the door.”
There was a war of nerves with Leonard for a while. Neither I nor he shied away.
However, in the end, Leonard avoided my gaze first. He took a deep breath and pulled his sword.
How could he not know that I was the only one who could stand by Caesar’s side?
“I don’t think being the imperial bodyguard is cut out for me,” Leonard said with a bitter smile.
Well, I don’t think there’s anyone better suited as Caesar’s personal guard than Leonard.
After thanking Leonard with a bright smile, I finally stepped into Caesar’s bedroom.
***
The bedroom was dark with the curtains drawn.
The light coming through the curtains crossed the middle of the room, dividing the boundary between this side and the other side.
The room was terribly quiet. The bed was in the back room, and from the entrance, it was hard to see whether Caesar was lying or not.
“He must be sleeping,” Hamilton said quietly. “It’s better to go back as expected. We can’t wake him up.”
“I won’t wake him up. It’s okay,” I cautiously approached the bedside.
As Hamilton had said, Caesar was asleep with his back to the door. His shoulders went up and down at regular intervals.
‘Are you sleeping that deeply?’
No matter how close I approached, he wouldn’t wake up.
From an early age, Caesar was frequently threatened with assassination. That’s why I also taught him the killing technique.
He couldn’t sleep so defenselessly like that.
“Princess. Let’s go back,” Hamilton groaned like a child.
But I ignored him and sat down by the bed. Hamilton saw it from afar and let out a silent scream.
‘His breathe is even. He’s not sweating… I guess he’s stable now.’
I thought as I carefully brushed the hair that ran down his cheek.
His clavicle bone protruded over the open front.
‘But he’s definitely lost weight. Why?’
No matter how busy and tired he might be, he was someone who constantly trained for strength. It was strange that he had lost weight this far.
If only I was around.
If only I could keep watching.
I wouldn’t have let it go this far.
“Princess, let’s go out,” Hamilton, who came closer, said to me in a whisper.
“I’m not going out.”
“Princess…!”
“He’s not waking up even when we got this close.”
“That’s why. Since he’s sleeping deeply after a long time, let’s leave-!”
“At a time like this, if an intruder comes, it’ll be problematic. I will remain here until His Majesty wakes up.”
“We are the intruders…!” Hamilton looked almost crazy. If you’re going to make a fuss like this, why the hell did you want to come along? I don’t understand, really.
Then I heard the door open. Hamilton hiccuped and tensed up like a cat with its fur standing.
“Go ahead and see who it is, Viscount.”
“… Don’t do anything until I come back. You understand, don’t you?”
Anyone who saw him would think I was here to assassinate Caesar.
Hamilton turned to me several times and headed towards the entrance. After that, there was a whisper.
It was regarding Caesar’s absence. Rowena had come to discuss with Hamilton.
It was a secret except for those close to him that Caesar was lying in his bedroom, not his office.
I wish Rowena would take Hamilton with her. He’s annoying to have around.
‘Well, then…’
I turned my gaze back to Caesar. He was still asleep, unaware.
‘I don’t think he has a fever.’
I gently placed my hand on Caesar’s forehead.
I felt a slight fever, but the fever was not high. I breathed a sigh of relief. For now, there’s nothing to worry about…
“…?”
Caesar’s hand took my hand on his own forehead.
I was startled and my body trembled. Soon after, Caesar’s closed eyes opened.
His dark red eyes stared straight at me.
This- he was completely vigilant.
‘Since when have you been awake?’
I opened my mouth with a groan.
At that moment, I heard the door closing behind me.