C86
Terence took the shortest route to his destination, guiding only the Emperor, his two servants, and Jack.
Some courtiers who saw the Emperor and the prince quickly bowed. Terence ordered each one to stay in that position for half an hour. He made it clear that they would be severely punished if caught moving.
"Why the hell are you doing this? Everyone is trembling, and they can't even stand up."
When the Emperor asked that question, Terence simply replied that he would find out soon enough. As they approached monotonous and minimally decorated buildings within the imperial palace, the Emperor realized their destination.
"Are we going to the Imperial Palace's prison?"
Imperial prison.
Those caught there were special cases. Usually, they were later transferred to an external prison like common criminals. However, if they were offenders seriously dealt with by the imperial family, they were first sent to the imperial prison.
And among those currently in the imperial prison, the first person that came to mind was...
"Are we going to see Liena Cassius?"
"That's right."
"Why?"
The Emperor had already decided on Liena Cassius's release. He didn't know Terence's purpose, but it was clear that it wasn't beneficial for Liena.
"Father, could you go, even if it's just at my request?"
......
However, when his son Terence, whom he had ignored until now, said that, the Emperor couldn't ask any more questions as a father. The Emperor obediently followed his son.
A similar situation occurred after they entered the imperial prison. The palace's imperial prison was under the command of the Royal Guard, and Terence ordered all the guards they encountered to stay in place.
Then, it was when they approached the noble prison where Liena was imprisoned.
"I'm sure they told you not to move, right?"
"Ah ah… I apologize."
The guard with his sword pointed at his throat stuttered apologetically. Even after receiving orders from the prince, he was caught trying to run towards the stairs as they moved away. Jack, who followed him from a distance, grabbed him from behind.
The Emperor finally got to closely observe the faces of the guards surrounding him. They were pale. Something was off. It was an excessive reaction, even considering the surprise of the Emperor appearing without warning.
"S-Sir… Hyuk-!"
The guard acting as a gatekeeper in front of the room where Liena was held opened his mouth wide, but Terence blocked it with his hand.
"Shh, you don't have to confess."
He brusquely handed the guard over to Jack and then put his hand on the doorknob. Then, very carefully, he opened the door slightly. The door to the prison, which should have been securely closed, opened easily.
"... Please do this."
He could hear a conversation inside. Even the Emperor held his breath and listened to the conversation.
"Please say that we did a good job for you while you were here."
The person begging with both hands was the general director in charge of the imperial prison of the Royal Guard. It turned out he was standing in a place where his face could be seen through the slightly open door.
"Well, I'll think about it."
Next, a young woman's voice was heard.
Needless to say, it was Liena Cassius.
"Oh, my lady, please have mercy."
The person in charge became uneasy at those words.
"We respect you."
"Well. What should I do~?"
"Don't you feel comfortable while we fan you?"
"It's a bit hot."
"Hey! You there! Can't you fan harder?!"
When she heard the person in charge giving orders to someone, it seemed that there was someone else in the room besides the two. The person fanning Liena.
"I'm sorry. There's no cooling or heating magic here."
"It's a prison, so there's nothing we can do."
"How could such a precious person end up in such a miserable place...? Do you want another glass of cold strawberry juice?"
"I'm not very thirsty."
"Then, how about this delicious mille-feuille made by the imperial palace's pastry chef? We have macarons and eclairs."
"Is there anything else?"
"If you order, I'll have my men fetch it immediately."
"It's been a while since I had a regular chocolate muffin."
"Ah, chocolate muffin! Please wait a moment!"
Without hesitation, he opened the slightly ajar door inward. Then, he shouted outside.
"Someone go get some chocolate muffins..."
To be exact, he was trying to shout.
"Chocolate muffin?"
If only the person standing in front of him and tilting their head wasn't the Emperor, who was at the top of this empire.
"S-Sir, Y-Your..."
Is this the face of someone who sees the devil in hell? Terence guessed that the Emperor probably scared that man more than the devil did at that moment.
"You want me to bring a chocolate muffin, don't you?"
"Y-Your Majesty, that's..."
"Step aside."
The Emperor bubbled like a volcano about to erupt at any moment. But there was something he had to check just before it exploded.
When the Emperor, who had expelled the person in charge, entered the room, the sound of something falling was heard. Terence, who entered the room next, immediately realized it was a fan.
"Y-Your Majesty..."
"Why, Your Majesty...?"
There were three guards in the room. One was the one who had been fanning Liena a moment ago, the other was standing beside Liena holding a plate full of desserts, and the last one was massaging Liena's shoulders but stopped when he saw the emperor.
"Your Majesty!"
Liena jumped from the luxurious chair that looked very soft. Naturally, such an object originally didn't exist here.
"You brought a lot."
The emperor murmured to himself without realizing. As the one who decided who would be imprisoned in the imperial prison, he had a general idea of how the facilities were.
An exclusive prison for nobles. It was a place with the best atmosphere in the imperial prison, and not all nobles came to this room. This room was reserved only for those who had committed serious crimes worthy of being imprisoned in the imperial palace but whom the emperor recognized as nobles.
The emperor looked around the room with vacant eyes. For a prison, there were no iron bars, it was clean, and there were windows. Originally, it had basic furniture, but now the room was filled with elegant furniture instead of basic furnishings.
"Did they bring this here?"
The emperor asked the guards, pointing to a huge bed that could comfortably fit four people.
"Well, that, actually..."
"Don't make me ask twice."
The guard holding the tray barely opened his mouth to respond.
"Yes, I did."
"Why did you do that?"
......
"Can't you hear me?"
At that moment, Liena Cassius intervened.
"Your Majesty, it's all my fault. Please blame me, not them."
The emperor frowned and brought his hand to his forehead as if he were dizzy.
"You, don't intervene."
"Your Majesty! These people are not guilty!"
"You, you... Really...?"
Now the emperor was truly about to explode. Bam! Suddenly, the responsible one fell, hitting his head on the floor.
"Please kill me!"
"There's no way you could do something so bold alone. Tell me who's behind you."
"There's no such thing. I wanted to impress Duke Cassius, so I told my subordinates..."
"Your only word determines not only the lives of your subordinates but also your family. Don't deceive me anymore."
The man trembled for a moment.
After a moment, thick drops of water fell from the corners of the man's eyes when he lifted his face.
"Y-Your Highness the Crown Prince..."
As expected, the emperor closed his eyes tightly.
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince ordered us to serve Lady Liena without any inconvenience."
After a few minutes, the emperor's eyes opened. The volcano that had been boiling finally erupted.
"Mikhail! Where is that bastard?"
Very hot lava covered the imperial palace's prison. Later, one of the emperor's attendants who was present said this: He had served the emperor for over twenty years and had never seen him so angry.
The frantic guards set off in search of the crown prince. Liena approached the emperor, who was panting and huffing to calm his anger.
"Your Majesty, as I have told you repeatedly, it's my fault. Please clear your anger."
She fell to her knees. Terence thought that Liena was someone who couldn't distinguish right from wrong.
"Princess Cassius, please rise..."
It was then that he stood between the emperor and her to take Liena away. The gazes of the two people overlapped. At the moment Terence saw the lifeless woman, he couldn't believe what he saw.
"A rabbit?"
Strangely, a rabbit, trembling and soaked in rain, appeared over Liena's figure.
What was even stranger was that Terence had never in his life seen a person with a clear image of an animal, let alone thought that Liena resembled a small animal.
"Is that why this woman has so many followers?"
While Terence was pondering, the Crown Prince burst into the exclusive prison for nobles.
"Your Majesty, I heard you were looking for me..."
The guards went to look for him, but he arrived much sooner than expected. Perhaps he had been coming here from the beginning. The purpose was obvious.
"Liena!"
The crown prince was surprised to see Liena kneeling. Soon, amazement turned into anger.
"What are you doing?!"
He ran and pushed Terence, who was standing in front of Liena, and surrounded his lover with his arms as if protecting her.
It was absurd for Terence, who hadn't even laid a finger on Liena.
---
'Ko-fi o 'Buy Me A Coffe' for Advanc3 Ch4pt3rs
(Up to '20' more ch4pt3rs)
Publication of up to 3 to 4 chapters per week, thank you.