Chapter 97 Cecilia in a hurry
Chapter 97 Cecilia in a hurry
Cecilia bathed in the private bathtub in her room.
“That’s enough.”
At her one word, the maid who was waiting stopped her hand.
Coming out of her bathtub, Cecilia raised her arms. Then two other maids carefully wiped her white naked body with a towel.
After getting her hair done, Cecilia put on a thin nightgown dress.
She looked like a blonde angel descending from the sky. However, she radiated a cool energy as much as her eyes, reminiscent of red blood.
For that reason, the maids paid more attention to Cecilia than usual.
“Let’s get out of here.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I hope you have a restful night.”
When all three of her maids left, she was left alone in her room.
“… ….”
Cecilia sat in her armchair, staring intently at her door. Then she jerked her head towards the grandfather clock.
9:30 P.M.
“Whoa.”
She let out a soft sigh through her teeth.
It has been more than three weeks since her direct secretary, Luke Nedville, left for Sergel Kingdom as her envoy.
If it’s short, it’s short. If it’s long, it’s a long time.
Everyday life without Luke was like a puzzle with one piece missing.
She felt it often, especially during her working hours. It was because she often got caught in her chin at an important moment even though her work continued smoothly.
Also, the time she spent studying about Sergel Kingdom with Luke at 9 o’clock every night disappeared. Because of that, Cecilia felt alone at night.
Cecilia also knows with her head.
The fact that Luke went to the kingdom first to accomplish a great cause for the empire.
However, it was not easy to turn a blind eye to this vivid emptiness felt in a corner of her heart.
‘Why am I doing this, really… ….’
She sighed again, as was her habit.
No. You can’t pass the time blankly like this.
She plans to leave for Sergel Kingdom with herself and her maids within two weeks. In preparation for that time, it was necessary to study Sergel’s language even a little.
Having made up her mind, Cecilia went and sat down in front of her desk.
Right after she opened 「The Language of Sergel Kingdom」,
From noble mtl dot com
-Beep.
The beep sounded once.
“!”
The moment Cecilia heard this, her eyes widened.
‘Did something happen in Luna?’
Olivia, the former empress and her mother, installed a crystal ball in this room to communicate urgently with Luna’s members.
Currently, only the owner of this room, Cecilia, knew the crystal ball’s location.
Since she doesn’t have anything to ring, she’s almost forgotten about it.
“Shouldn’t be a big deal… ….”
Standing up from her chair, Cecilia’s face was terribly determined.
She opened her compartment drawer under her and took out her key, which she had hidden there. Then, she pushed the bedside table away from her bed.
Finally, the cover on her floor was removed, revealing her keyhole. The last gateway to open the safe where the crystal ball is hidden.
She took a deep breath and opened the safe.
Something like an afterimage shimmered on the normally opaque surface of the crystal ball. Cecilia carefully took it out and rubbed the surface with her hands several times.
Soon after, the afterimage disappeared and a clear screen appeared.
The moment she saw the person’s face reflected on the screen, Cecilia involuntarily let out a surprised voice.
“Luke?!”
* * *
“How could you do this…….”
Seeing that the reaction was not a little surprising, it seemed that it was a suitable item that was not used for quite a few things.
“Your Majesty. How have you been in good health?”
I bowed to the crystal ball.
“Did you arrive well? Did anything dangerous happen on the way?”
“Yes. Thanks to His Majesty’s Castle, we arrived without incident.”
“Good thing.”
From the other side of the screen, Cecilia put on a relieved expression.
She’s talking through a crystal ball anyway, so it feels like she’s using a smartphone video call.
“But how did you come to use the crystal ball? Did you ask Ilaina?”
I briefly explained how I came to use the crystal ball.
“Um… ….”
“In my opinion, it is necessary to ask Your Majesty’s opinion as soon as possible.”
“Yes. Your judgment on the field is the most important law.”
Cecilia showed her face of understanding and nodded her head once.
“I have already mentioned that I will discuss past history issues through correspondence with King Bethel Seimer, so it is natural for him to bring up the topic.”
“Yes. But I didn’t expect you to take it out from day one.”
“It might be unexpectedly impatient.”
Cecilia made her own judgment about Vettel’s personality.
“Of course, I can’t say for sure until I see it myself.”
I told you about Vettel’s personality that I experienced today. To summarize his characteristics in one word:
He has a gentle personality, but he clearly hides a knife inside.
“As long as you wear the crown, you can’t be a good person.”
Cecilia said in a calm tone.
He seemed to fully sympathize with Vettel’s position since he himself was acting as the emperor.
“Still, he is a gentle person, so he won’t have any difficulties in conversation.”
“Yes. And Her Highness Vettel didn’t seem to have a big age gap with me.”
“Whoa.”
“He appeared to be in his mid-twenties.”
After hearing my explanation, Cecilia put on a thoughtful face.
“To ascend the throne at such a young age, there must be circumstances.”
“Yes. I think so too.”
Well, I don’t think it’s an extreme case like Cecilia’s, though.
By the way, she was too busy talking about the things she saw in the kingdom, so she still couldn’t get to the point.
“Your Majesty. I would like to hear your opinion on the past history issue.”
“Ah, I forgot about it for a while because I had a lot of questions. What did King Bethel say?”
I told her exactly what Vettel had told her in her garden.
“I guess he will listen to our position first and then make a decision.”
“Yes. It seems to be trying to show sincerity.”
“Hmm… ….”
Cecilia let go of her groan and lightly pressed her lips with her thumb.
“Actually, I have found out something.”
“What are you talking about?”
After a while, something unexpected came out of Cecilia’s mouth.
“I found out who the ‘certain noble’ recorded in the history books was.”
“Oh… …. You’ve done all the background research on her in that time.”
“If I had to ask, it would be a background investigation… ….”
Looking at the frown, it seems that you don’t like my choice of words.
But that wasn’t the point right now.
“A Marquis of Ranker. To be precise, it was Talis, who was the Marquis of Ranker 30 years ago.”
“This is a family I have never heard of.”
Cecilia said it was worth it and nodded her head once.
According to her explanation, the current Ranker Marquis family is a family whose name remains.
Tallis, who caused trouble in Sergel Kingdom, later invested in several other businesses and went bankrupt, and the family itself went bankrupt.
“Then how are the descendants living now?”
“They seem to be scraping by doing chores.”
“There is nothing except the name Marquis.”
“That’s how it is.”
Cecilia didn’t blink an eye while explaining their situation.
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a cold empress.
“The fact that Your Majesty found out about them, does that mean you are planning to punish them?”
“I want to ask you something.”
Cecilia gave a serious voice.
“Do you think it is reasonable for posterity to be punished for the damage done by ancestors?”
“… ….”
It was not an easy question to answer.
Is it correct to answer that question?
Or should I look at it from a different perspective this time?
As the worries grew longer, the time to be silent naturally grew longer. However, Cecilia did not insist on her answer and calmly waited.
“God thinks, this is not a matter to judge if it is reasonable or not. With her disposal of post-ranker writers, relations between the Empire and the Kingdom are restored, and if it is to benefit the Empire, I believe it is the right thing to do.”
“It is somewhat surprising that you answer like that.”
…… Did I say it wrong?
But looking at Cecilia’s expression, it didn’t seem like that was the case.
“Actually, I had a similar thought to you. Sometimes sacrifices are necessary for the cause.”
“I thought Your Majesty would make that decision.”
I bowed my head deeply toward the crystal ball.
“I was just curious about your thoughts. Even if you expressed your views against me, I was going to push them.”
A lonely smile appeared on Cecilia’s face.
No matter how emperor you are, taking someone’s life in your hands isn’t an easy decision.
“I support Your Majesty’s decision.”
“It gives me strength when you say that.”
Cecilia asked me to organize this information and deliver it to Vettel.
“Yes. I will.”
“And, I will leave for Sergel Kingdom as soon as possible. You guys do your job right.”
“I will keep this in mind, Your Majesty.”
I bowed my head toward the crystal ball.
After a while, Ilaina announced to me in a low voice.
“Your Majesty has cut off communications.”
“Thanks for letting me know.”
I raised my head again.
Meanwhile, Ileina took her orb and carefully put it into her subspace pouch.
“Ilayna.”
“Yes, secretary.”
“Thank you for allowing me to use this precious magic tool.”
“As long as it helped the secretary, that’s enough. Then I will return to my security mission.”
She bowed slightly to greet me, then covered herself with an invisibility cloak.
I went back to bed and lay down.
‘Because Cecilia said she would leave soon… ….’
In that case, it will arrive at Sergel Kingdom in at least three weeks.
There is still plenty of time.
What time is it?
Time for me to drive around downtown Perris and check real estate prices.
“Sooner or later, I will have to ask Her Majesty Vettel to let me see downtown Ferris.”
I raised the corners of my mouth and smiled.
* * *
Meanwhile, Cecilia,
“… ….”
Even after ending her communication, I stared blankly at the crystal ball for a while.
“Fortunately, you arrived safely.”
Cecilia let out a sigh of relief.
Then she hid the crystal ball in the safe and put her bedside table back in place.
After hiding all the keys to her safe in place, she pondered over her future schedule.
Originally, she was scheduled to depart for Sergel Kingdom sometime next week.
But the thought crossed her mind that she had to push the schedule even further than that.
“I should remove the horns as well.”
She pulled on her hanger and called two of her butlers into her room.
“Go and tell the knights. Arrest all the people of the Marquis of Ranker.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Cecilia then turned her attention to another butler standing next to her.
“And you preach to all departments and employees. Everyone gather in the audience room by 9 a.M. Tomorrow.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
After receiving the order, the two butlers immediately left her room.
The next day, Cecilia appeared in the audience room where all the employees and employees of the imperial palace were gathered.
This is a place used for business orders, and it was not normally used.
“I command you. Finish the preparations to leave for Sergel Kingdom within three days!”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
Cecilia nodded her head in satisfaction at the thunderous reply.
‘Wait, Luke. I’ll be there as soon as possible.’
-Continued
Our majesty can’t wait any longer