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“… … Your Majesty? Did you develop any hobbies that I didn’t know about?”
Seeing the pile of romance novels piled up like a mountain in the office, Sid tilted his head. It seemed that there were not only romance novels, but also explicitly lewd adult novels with embarrassing titles.
Lyle was sitting at his desk, checking the contents of the novels with a frown and exhaled without raising his head.
“There is nothing to worry about. You do your job.”
“Nothing to worry about….”
Even if he told him not to care about things that looked suspicious, he couldn’t help himself. It was inevitable since Lyle was acting so weird.
“Are these books the Empress has read?”
“… … .”
His silence was an affirmative.
“These are all popular books these days.”
Lyle raised his head at Sid’s words.
“These books are popular?”
“Aren’t women more likely to be restricted then men when it comes to courtship and romance? Reading books is an outlet because reality doesn’t support it.”
“Reality doesn’t support it… … .”
Lyle pressed his temples to see if it was throbbing.
Fortunately, none of the books Medea had read had adultery as the main plot. However, most of them were romance novels with knights as the main characters.
Most of the male protagonists were princes, dukes, marquis or counts, or knights. The emperor usually appeared at the end as a secondary character to bless the love of the male and female protagonists.
It was the librarian’s choice, who could not dare have a novel that set the emperor as a lover and main character, but Lyle couldn’t have guessed that. He simply assumed that Medea had borrowed her books to her own liking.
“Hmm- There are quite a few books on the market where the emperor is the main love interest… … . But there’s not even one here.”
Lyle slammed the book closed when Sid’s words pricked a sore spot.
“Hey, are you done?”
“I’m here to report,”
Sid said with a smile.
Having already endured Lyle’s bullying and workaholicism it was exceedingly difficult for him to be hurt by him.
Lyle pushed the book to the side and took the report from Sid and flipped through it.
“Your Majesty, you’ve been doing considerable amount of reading.”
“You call this reading?”
“A book is a book. You can’t discriminate.”
“… … This is not a book,”
Lyle replied as he read the report. According to Lyle’s standards, books were written words that convey correct information or helped people.
Sid shrugged his shoulders but understood his perspective.
“It’s fun, isn’t it? Just as humans cannot live by just working, there should and are books like these.”
“Not desirable.”
“So, is it a good thing? Before, your Majesty may not have  understood, but now you do, do you not?”
The former Lyle who only knew his work may not have understood, but he now knows the joy of loving and being loved through Medea. Now he couldn’t live on work alone.
It was only after spending time with the one he loved that he realized how lonely and miserable his previous life had been. Even though Lyle was an emperor, he had never even had something close to a hobby.
“Isn’t your leap too much?”
He couldn’t compare romance novels to Medea. However, he had come to understand that human beings cannot survive with their work and duties as their only purpose.
Lyle remained silent for a moment, then asked without taking his eyes off the report.
“Someone… … What does it mean to regard someone as the protagonist of a novel?”
“Were they talking about the opposite sex?”
“Yes.”
The emperor answered in an even tone that was not different from usual. It was a calm tone, but Sid smiled deep inside.
‘It seems that the Empress did say that. What else?’
“I do not know. Most people think of themselves as the main characters… … . If you regard someone as the protagonist doesn’t that mean that you like the male lead?”
Lyle froze at Sid’s conclusion.
‘Eh? This wasn’t it.’
Sid thought something was wrong and looked at him.
“Your Majesty? The Empress… … Did her Majesty say his Majesty is like a male protagonist?”
“… … That’s not what the Empress said.”
‘But he must be referring to something the Empress said?’
Since there was no mirror on his desk, he had no idea! His Majesty looked incredibly terrifying! On the verge of screaming, Sid sealed his mouth shut.
Lyle didn’t say anything after that, but it felt as if a freezing aura was pouring out of his body.
Sid had been surrounded by many uncomfortable silences in the Emperor’s office, but none had ever been as frightening as this particular one. He was literally shivering.
“… … Get out.”
Lyle’s cold voice felt like a lifeline.
Even though Sid knew he had dropped a bomb, he hurriedly ran away from the office. He shouted in his heart, ‘I’m Sorry, Your Majesty!’