/
After the engagement ceremony, my residence was set up in the imperial castle.
An annex of the imperial castle was given to the empress with numerous servants as a bonus.
When I first went to the annex to greet the attendants, the lady-in-waiting from a baron family greeted me on behalf of everyone.
“Welcome to the Empress’s Palace, Miss Helena Peresca. My name is ‘Selz Ruel,’ the maid of honor.”
I thought that Selz’s way of speaking was very similar to Rowena’s. I hoped she didn’t resemble her tiring personality.
“Until I’m officially married, I will mainly live at the duke’s mansion. I just came to greet you today.”
“Then, what should we do with the furniture and interior decoration of the Empress’s Palace?”
Usually, the fiancée of the imperial family stays in her new residence until her marriage and changes the interior of her residence to her liking.
But I wasn’t very interested in that. Well, I wasn’t interested in most things, in fact.
“I’ll leave that to you. I’ll trust your aesthetics.”
“I’ll do my best,” Selz said with a deep bow.
“Oh, I just want you to pay attention to one thing. Secure a space for sword training.”
There were gymnasiums in the imperial castle and the Knights Order, but I wished there was a space where I could personally train.
I was worried about what to do if these people also hated me, saying, “How could the empress do that?”
“Of course. Don’t worry about that, we’ve already reserved space.”
Oh, I like her.
‘Did Hamilton or Rowena tip her off in advance?’
If that’s the case, I’d like to compliment those two directly.
“Okay, dismissed.” I waved my hand lightly, and the attendants looked at each other with bewildered expressions. Alas, I had dismissed them as I did for trainees.
“Oh
 What are you planning to do now?”
“I’m going to head to my real purpose.”
“Then we will follow
”
“I will refuse,” I quickly cut Selz’s words off.
I remembered Marianne leading her dozens of attendants in rows and columns like weaving candy.
It was inefficient and useless.
‘Even when I was emperor 500 years ago, I’d never had attendants like that before.’
I clicked my tongue lightly.
“But you’re about to become an empress-”
“Ah, I don’t need followers even when I’m an empress. Don’t bother me except for official occasions or when necessary.”
“Is it because
 you don’t trust me yet?” Selz looked at me anxiously and asked.
I waved my hand quickly. “No. It’s just cumbersome. It’ll slow me down.”
“Still, the prestige-”
“If you’re concerned about my prestige, I hope you make the Empress’s Palace even shinier for the rest of the time.”
Everyone looked doubtful about my unconventional proposal. Can we do this? Their eyes were full of questions.
“I mean you to voluntarily find something to do. Don’t follow me around and wait for orders.”
They’ll get used to it soon.
The people at the duke’s residence and the employees at the villa had quickly gotten used to my rules, which bothered them.
“Sigh. You’re dismissed again if you understand,” I clapped my hands and said.
At the second command, they looked less unfamiliar and left the room hesitantly. Selz, the maid of honor, couldn’t hide her uneasy expression until the very end.
***
After greeting the attendants at the Empress’s Palace, I returned to my real purpose.
I entered the room and found Caesar sitting on a single sofa in the middle of the room, sipping wine.
And to his right, on the three-person couch, Leonard was sorting through papers- Wow, wait a minute.
“Are you making my brother work while you having fun?” I strode to my seat and scolded Caesar.
Seeing me like that, Caesar laughed. “I don’t see what’s wrong with making the captain of my bodyguard work.”
“You can’t leave the affair to the captain of the guards. The captain of the guard is the one who keeps you safe.” Plop. I sat down on the chair given to me by the attendants and spoke to Caesar.
“Actually, it’s funny that they’re keeping me safe, isn’t it? In this empire, the only person who can beat me is you.”
“Ah, yes. That’s why you didn’t even know it was poison. You ate it and fell ill.”
“Ugh.” Caesar was stabbed to the point and furrowed his forehead. “You need to be kinder and sweeter to me!”
“I’m doing my best to treat Your Majesty kindly, already.”
“What? Which part is that?”
“The engagement part with you?”
“Unbelievable! Isn’t the scope of affection too crude!”
“Hey, you two. There’s still four months before the wedding.” Leonard stepped up and patted his hands in the air as if to calm down Caesar.
Seeing that gesture as if it were calming a wild beast, Caesar and I simultaneously cleared our throats for no reason.
“What is it that you are asking my brother to do?”
I picked up one of the papers lying on the table. The papers were spread out on the tea table, not in the office, so I thought it wouldn’t be an important affair that I shouldn’t look at.
My prediction was half right and half wrong.
It wasn’t a document I shouldn’t have looked at. But by my standards, it wasn’t unimportant.
“This is
”
“Yes. It is the tracking data of the Draco cult,” Caesar replied, running two fingers down his temple.
Recently, the Draco cult disappeared to the extent that I wondered if it had been disbanded. It was unknown whether they were gathered secretly to make it harder to find, or if they were really disbanded.
“I even planted a spy to observe, but it was difficult to step on its tail. That
 religious leader is suspicious and picky.”
Noe.
A mage from 100 years ago.
I thought of the blond man again.
“Then, the tracking of the hideout
”
“It’s not a failure. We are in the process of visiting various regions and narrowing down the candidate locations.”
“In this big empire?”
“Of course, there are some candidates. And now the scope has narrowed considerably.”
I looked at the papers stacked on the table.
It seemed to divide the areas that were eliminated from the candidates and those that did not.
“Did Brother take over this job?”
“Don’t blame His Majesty, Helena. I took it because I wanted it. Rather, I asked him to leave it to me.” Leonard gave me a soft smile. “It’s something my sister is eager to find out. I want to be of some help.”
“Brother
!”
Oh, that’s so touching.
My brother must be an angel. God accidentally dropped him into the human world.
“Well, enough of the eight-year-old games.” Perhaps it was dissatisfaction with Leonard and I sharing the affectionate bond between siblings, Caesar broke the atmosphere by banging the table loudly. “If we move now, we can find the base within a month. Then the cult leader’s ulterior motives will be revealed.”
“Oh
 about that.” I raised one hand and asked for a voice that was not particularly needed. “Actually, I personally investigated the religious leader, Your Majesty.”
“What? Didn’t I tell you not to do anything until we found their base?” Caesar asked me with his brow furrowed in disapproval.
Somehow, feeling a little sorry, the words came out in an excused tone. “I didn’t do anything. Agoth did it.”
“That’s the thing.”
“What do you mean?”
“I told you not to do anything because I was afraid you would get caught up in something dangerous-”
“Come on, you two. Calm down.” Leonard patted his hands in the air again. Apparently, my older brother thought of the two of us as wild animals.
And it hurts my pride that the gesture actually calmed the excitement.
“
 May I continue, Your Majesty?”
“Sigh
 Yes. I couldn’t have stopped you anyway.” Caesar shook his head as if resigned. I laughed a little at that attitude.
“I will tell you the conclusion. The leader’s name is ‘Noe Lable.’. He’s someone from 100 years ago, and he’s trying to resurrect the dragons.”
“Someone from 100 years ago? But I heard that the leader is a young man.”
“I don’t know the secret either. He was said to be a mage, so he might have used some kind of magic,” I answered Leonard’s question.
Caesar murmured with a serious expression at my words. The resurrection of the dragons. Is that why he needed Dante Renatus’s body
”
“I think so. And the ultimate goal is
 I think it’s about reviving magic.”
“Magic?”
“Yes. Didn’t Brother say that? After the dragons went extinct, the number of monsters decreased, and the number of mages also plummeted.”
“But still
 What does Helena have to do with them?” Leonard asked me with a puzzled expression.
I thought ‘oops’ and swallowed for a moment. I regretted that I should have thought about what to explain in advance.
I am actually Dante Renatus.

 May I say so?
No, will they believe me?
“We’ll find out when we catch the leader.” While I hesitated to answer, Caesar quickly settled Leonard’s question.
Leonard nodded in affirmation at Caesar’s answer. Fortunately, it didn’t seem like he was persistent in asking me.
‘Gah, I survived.’
I let out a sigh of relief and glanced at Caesar.
When our eyes met, Caesar smiled. You’re thankful for me, aren’t you? The questioning gaze was both comforting and hateful.
He knew I was hiding something.
And he said I could hide it.
Even if I didn’t tell him the whole truth, he wouldn’t doubt me. He promised to keep that secret and wouldn’t ask if I didn’t want to.
Thank you for that
 and I’m sorry.
“Anyway, if it’s really for the purpose of resurrecting the dragons, I can’t leave that leader alone,” Caesar looked back at Leonard and continued.
“Dragons were dangerous to humans in the past. Krusech, in particular, is an evil dragon that drove countless humans to their deaths.”
“I agree. If it wakes up, it will be a great crisis for the Empire as well as for humanity as a whole.”
I silently nodded and agreed with them.
I was well aware of the danger. Because I’d experienced it myself.
‘I can’t just wait and see as long as I know the dragon is waking up.’
In the past, no one had been able to stop the dragon. I also defeated the dragon, but I couldn’t kill it. The dragon was a huge and powerful enemy.
‘Without me, the dragon wouldn’t have resurrected.’
I unconsciously grabbed my chest. Thump, thump. The heartbeat was transmitted through the hand.
‘But I’m
 the only one who can compete with the dragon.’
This was not a matter of nuisance.
It had to be done.
The reason I was reborn was Noe’s plan to resurrect the dragon. But I would decide the reason to live.
“I want to prevent the dragon from resurrecting, Your Majesty.”
I had always been like that. Then and now.
There was no one but me who could decide and shake my life.
“Yes. I agree.” Caesar nodded at my words. “It’s something that needs to be stopped. Because that’s the duty of a monarch.”
“I am His Majesty’s man, so I have no choice but to follow His Majesty’s wishes.” Leonard lightened the atmosphere with a bright smile.
At his words, both Caesar and I were able to put on a small smile.
‘I’m not alone this time.’
It differed from those colleagues who were hired for money or gathered for a while and then dispersed out of necessity.
They were people I could trust and rely on. They were people I wanted to protect.
If I had hunted dragons for money 500 years ago.
‘I want to fight for them now.’
Having something precious doesn’t just mean being weak. It also makes people stronger.
Had I become a little stronger than Dante Renatus, who had been alone?
The answer was still unknown, though.