The empty chestnut eyes widened. Like he didnât know I wouldnât avoid it.
I didnât even move, but I saw the heavy sword blade that was rushing in and came to a close stop near my neck.
âDid you stop.â
I muttered in a voice full of laughter without realizing it and grabbed his forearm so he wouldnât run away.
The tightly contracted muscles in the palm were clearly visible.
Heâs different. Bradleyâs body wasnât this muscular.
The other arm was extended toward the opponentâs head. He tried to escape as if he sensed something was wrong.
âStay still.â
Look how he disguised himself as Bradleyâs face.
The outstretched hand touched the opponentâs hair. Contrary to what it looks like, the moment I thought it was soft, I squeezed my hand.
And.
I ripped it off.
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âArgh!â
âWho are you? Youâre not Bradley! Oh! Who are you?â
âEuagggg, Euagh Your Majestyyyyyy!â
âOmo omo.â
âWho are you? Who are you, disguised as Bradley, huh? Make fun of me. Die.â
âAhhhhhh, it hurts! Itâs hurting! Itâs hurting! Youâre ripping my hair!â
âItâs a wig anyway!â
âWig, itâs not a wig! Your Majestyyy!â
âOmo omo.â
Sure enough, it wasnât Bradley either!
The shrill voice that pierced the ears was completely unfamiliar. So I guess thatâs why you didnât say anything.
How dare you fool me, jerk? In a Bradley costume? Bringing back my terrible nightmare?
In fact, it was so clumsy that there was nothing left but to relive the nightmare, but as if to vent my anger, I tore off his hair and put it back on.
This man may have moved at the command of Her Majesty, but there is nothing I can do. I canât tear Her Majestyâs head off, can I?
âIâm sorry! Sorry! Iâm sorry! I didnât mean to kill you!â
âThatâs what you must have done! You didnât want to kill me, you just wanted to tease me!â
âEuaghh!â
âOh no, my escort knight will go bald.â
Escort knight?
It was a small voice from a distance, but I heard it properly and paused at Her Majestyâs words.
At the same time, the face of the man in my grasp began to wriggle.
I was surprised. Surprised, I let go of all the strength I had on my hands, but I didnât let go.
I just saw Bradleyâs face turning into a different one. And the chestnut hair I held was dyed black.
âOh, itâs not a real wig.â
âI said no! Please let me go!â
A man with black hair and black eyes screamed.
Eventually, I let go of his hair and the man covered his eyes with his arms in tears.
TL/N: She did it! She gave him a good whacking! LOLOL
âWaaaaa, itâs because of Your Majesty.â
âTsktsk. So why were you caught? Youâll train for a week.â
Her Majesty, who had come nearby before I knew it, recommended it in a very pitiful voice.
Then the man, who seemed to be far from the escort knight, shouted again.
âThis ladyâs strength is no joke! Look at this! The handprint left on my arm!â
âOmo omo. My knight, youâve worked hard! Oh Iâm sorry. Shall I close your eyes forever as a sign of hard work?â
âNo, Your Majesty. Iâll train hard for a week.â
âYes, yes. Thatâs a nice boy.â
It was when a few funny conversations passed by.
Her Majestyâs dark hair began to turn yellow. It was similar to dyeing the escort knightâs hair black.
âOh my God.â
Itâs magic, right?
I muttered involuntarily, and Her Majesty grinned. Her pink eyes had already turned gray.
Gray eyes contrasted with the long blond hair that shone brightly like the brilliant sun.
The wrinkles around the eyes that show the years are somewhat soft, yet intimidating.
I forcibly swallowed dry saliva and naturally lowered my gaze. The maidâs suit melted before I knew it, and a long and colorful dress that covered the floor came into view.
Even though I noticed her identity along the way, I felt nervous.
Soon after, a deep voice came from above.
âNice to meet you, Lady. Was my joke too much? Iâm sorry if thatâs the case. I wanted to be close to you, who didnât respond to my invitation all these years.â
ââŠâŠ Itâs an honor to see Your MajestyâŠâŠ.â
âThatâs enough. I donât want to hear these strangely trivial greetings today.â
âOh dear. Does young lady like to greet one more time? I canât help it. I have to play along.â
I grabbed the hem of my skirt without looking up and greeted her formally. She smiled lowly and grabbed my chin.
âI am the emperor of this country, Esola Konia. My specialty is disguise magic. Rose is my fifteenth nickname. And donât just look down, thatâs unlike you. Iâve heard a lot about your temper, but itâs different from the reality, so I donât know what to do.â
âYou can treat me comfortably, Your Majesty.â
âDidnât you push me away from earlier when I treated you comfortably.â
Thatâs right, so I just laughed and she let go of my chin. I nervously tucked my long hair behind my back.
âI didnât think the report from the Marquis was everything, so I just reenacted it to dig out a bit. I didnât expect my escort knight to be so enthusiastic that he even threw a spear.â
Gray eyes curved like crescent moons. The wrinkles around her eyes get thicker and they ask me seriously as if they are strangling me.
Why does this king want to continue acting so informally?
I only smiled as I remembered Redenâs request not to let anyone know that I had caught the deformed dragon bone with my bare hands and that the Bradley brothers had targeted me.
Until Her Majesty kept asking with a smile on her face.
âBut why did Young Master Bradley want to be alone with you, not anyone else, even as he opened up his subspace?â
ââŠâŠ.â
âI understand that Young Master Bradley ran away from Sir Diwen and Anastasia so that the dragon bones would not be taken. But why did he go to you instead of running away?â
The sudden words caught my breath.
âDid the older brother not run away or could he not run away?â
â⊠⊠Could it be that he couldnât escape? With Diwen⊠âŠâ
âNo. I heard that Young Master Bradley set fire with the power of his dragon bones. Normally, they would set the fire between themselves and the enemy to prevent them from pursuing them before fleeing.â
The king put a finger on her chin. The trimmed nails looked particularly sharp.
âHowever, it is said that they set the fire in a circle as if they had grabbed Sir Diwen and Dame Anastasiaâs ankles. Itâs not that they couldnât run away, they didnât, and they even caught them. Why is that?â
âWellâŠâ
My cheek twitched. No more smiles were made.
âSo I made a guess. Will you listen to it?â
How can I refuse.
I couldnât bring it out of my mouth and muttered it in my mind, but the king laughed as if she had read my mind.
âFirst, the Bradley brothers targeted you for some reason.â
ââŠâŠ.â
âSecond, when his brother went to you, Sir Diwen and Dame Anastasia tried to save you. Third, his brother set it on fire to prevent it.â
Before I knew it, the kingâs five fingers were folded one after another, and only the pinky and ring fingers were unfolded.
âWhat will happen to Dame Anastasia and Lord Diwen, along with the Marquis Reden Blair, who lied to me when the king first heard it after digging it?â
Now the things she said in the order were no longer speculations.
When I was silent, the king laughed once more.
âOf course, if you choose the option to confide rather than hide now, you will not be among the three people described above. If you remain silent here, you will be included.â
â⊠âŠâ
âAs expected, your mouth is heavy. All right, if you confide in me, Iâm willing to let the three of them off the hook. What are you going to do, Miss Renee?â
This, this, this, this damn king!
Towards the king who threatened without changing her face, in the end I had to confide it all.
***
[Zionâs POV]
As the fire was extinguished, the black smoke gradually increased.
Drenched in sweat and water, Zion exhaled and went down to the basement. The burnt smell stung his nose and made him feel uncomfortable, but his expression didnât even move.
He stopped walking shortly after scanning through the rows of jade with sharp eyes.
There was a jade that was so charred that it could not be compared to any other jade. Perhaps this is the ignition point.
The blue eyes were fixed on one spot.
There was something similarly charred to the extent that you wouldnât notice unless you looked closely at the charred marks.
âTwo bodies. I guess they didnât get away.â
Lord Solenâs voice, which came down after Zion, stirred up Zionâs spirit.
Zion merely nodded.
âThatâs what it looks like for now. But if it burned like this, you donât know who it is.â
âThen who is it? Is there anyone else who hasnât been seen since this time besides the Bradley brothers?â
âYou didnât investigate that either.â
It was not Zion who answered Lord Solenâs words.
Sir Solen frowned and turned his head at the sudden feathery voice.
A woman with purple hair and purplish eyes was covering her nose with her sleeve.
âHoraisha.â
âHello, Lord Solen. Sir Zion.â
âHello.â
âI came all the way to teleport, and the fire is already out. What a shame.â
Muttering with a face of no regret, she looked down at the two corpses.
One charred body had only one arm and the other had intact limbs.
âI canât find one of the underground prison gatekeepers. One of these two bodies could be the gatekeeper.â
âThen itâs weird. If itâs a replacement, they should do both.â
Lord Solen gave a cold scolding in a sarcastic tone asking if there was a problem with her head.
âWell. Maybe the one with the arm cut off was abandoned?â Or was it hard to find someone with a cut arm who was similar in size to himselfâŠâŠ.â
Horaisha, not paying attention to Lord Solenâs cold words, suddenly turned her head somewhere. At the end of that line of sight was Hezzard, who had just descended into the dungeon.
When he suddenly received her gaze, Hezzard blinked his eyes at Horaisha who smiled meaningfully, as if he was puzzled.
âRather than that, Sir Zion. Your Majesty is looking for you. Go back to the audience room.â
âYour Majesty?â
Even as Zion asked, he remembered someone. The woman he was with before coming to the dungeon.
âIs there something wrongâŠâŠ.â
It was something you wouldnât know unless you went. I was just hesitating about whether I could go like this.
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Zion asked.
âCan the wizard identify them?â
âLeave it up to me. It may take some time because Reden wonât help.âŠ.â
Ha! Lord Solen snorted at Horaishaâs words as soon as she had finished.
The wizards muttered why he was like that, but Horaisha neatly ignored him.
âWhy? Seeing that youâre back, I think the Marquis is back too.â
However, when Zion asked, she kindly answered.
âHis Majesty called Reden as well. Youâll probably see a lot of familiar characters when you go to the audience room.â
Zion nodded his head slowly.
Thinking that this woman has a tendency to say something meaningfully even if she doesnât say anything.