Chapter 20

“D-Duke….”

I let out a deep sigh at Heinox, who looked at me as if asking what the problem was.

‘Please put me down.’

From the moment we left the carriage until now, while walking through the Imperial Palace, Heinox had continued carrying me in his arms.

‘Can’t he see the expressions on people’s faces, like they’ve witnessed something they were never supposed to see…?’

Every servant who encountered Heinox and me in the hallways lowered their heads in panic and hurried away as though they had seen a ghost.

‘This is all Heinox’s fault….’

If my first impression ended up ruined, it would be entirely because of shameless Heinox.

“Put me down….”

“No.”

Even hearing my voice shrivel from embarrassment, Heinox remained firm.

“Everything inside this palace is the Empress’s eyes. I have no intention of showing that woman any weakness.”

‘Yes, yes. Of course you wouldn’t.’

Look at this. He was basically saying I was his weakness, so he had to hide me.

‘Fine. What argument could I possibly have with someone whose face is this shameless?’

“Haah….”

I forcibly calmed my rising frustration.

‘Well, it’s true, so I can’t exactly deny it.’

Strictly speaking, I really was Heinox’s weakness. And it was only natural for him to want to shield someone like me, who still couldn’t even speak properly.

‘The Empress attacks the moment she sees an opening.’

The Empress in the original story had been exactly that kind of person—someone who seized others’ weaknesses and used them to shake them apart.

‘There’s no reason to hand someone like that an excuse.’

Thinking that, I quietly settled into Heinox’s arms.

“Duke.”

Heinox looked down at me as if asking what now.

“But where are we going right now?”

We had already been inside the Imperial Palace for quite some time, yet Heinox showed no sign of stopping.

‘Are we heading somewhere secret?’

Well, it made sense. We’d passed several guards already, and in novels, secret places always required absurdly complicated routes to reach.

“Are we perhaps robbing the treasury…?”

I looked up at him worriedly, wondering if he’d finally decided to target even the Emperor’s treasury, and Heinox twisted one corner of his lips.

“If it’s money, the ducal house has more.”

“Then where exactly are we…?”

“Didn’t I already tell you?”

Heinox grinned at me.

“I’m here to warn the Emperor.”

“Ah….”

‘Damn it….’

Right. Heinox had said he came to warn the Emperor.

I remembered that too. At first, I’d even tried to stop him.

But now there was something far more important.

If I stayed in his arms like this and followed him before the Emperor, when exactly was I supposed to go to the library?

“Duke, please reconsider… there’s absolutely no benefit to bringing me along….”

I hurriedly began trying to persuade Heinox.

“I’m small, and also, um….”

I desperately wracked my brain for excuses.

“And ugly too….”

A lie. A complete lie.

I wasn’t breathtakingly adorable to the point people wanted to protect me on sight, but I definitely had the kind of face no one could sincerely call ugly, even out of politeness.

‘Rather than cute, I’m more the sharp and doll-like type.’

But Heinox probably didn’t see it that way.

In the novel, Heinox disliked his own cold appearance, and I resembled him exactly.

‘Considering he loved Priscilla, who looked as warm and gentle as spring and summer personified, his ideal type was probably someone lovely and affectionate.’

As I thought that while looking up at him, Heinox’s expression turned ice-cold, like he’d just heard something unforgivable.

“Um… Duke?”

I found it strange that Heinox had stopped walking, but I continued speaking anyway.

“So you should just leave me behind—”

“……So that’s what you’ve been thinking.”

“Huh?”

What was he suddenly talking about?

“Have you truly thought of yourself as insignificant this whole time…?”

‘No, not to that extent.’

It felt like he was misunderstanding my intentions in an entirely different direction.

“No, Duke. That’s not what I meant….”

“You are not ugly.”

Meeting my eyes, Heinox spoke with emphasis.

“Not once have I ever thought you were ugly.”

‘Yes, thank you, and I understand that, but….’

My legs work perfectly fine, and I’m starting to miss the ground.

Could you please put me down?

Sob.

“It’s surprising to see the Duke visit so suddenly. And even more surprising… that you brought the Young Lady with you.”

I’m doomed. Haha.

At the moment, I was standing before the Emperor, who was stroking his beard while watching us with amused eyes.

‘Heinox must have completely thrown away all sense of awareness.’

Otherwise, there was no way he could ignore my desperate signals this thoroughly.

‘What if he deliberately pretended not to understand my excuses?’

It might’ve all been an elaborate act to stop me from escaping.

‘Seriously, I still can’t figure out what’s going on in his head….’

I shot Heinox a suspicious look.

‘Because of you, my entire plan to visit the Imperial Library got ruined….’

As though he sensed my resentment, Heinox looked down at me.

“Do you have something to say?”

“Nope.”

I answered curtly and turned my head away with a huff.

Unfortunately, that reaction seemed to catch the Emperor’s attention.

“Oh ho…. The Young Lady seems… very close with the Duke.”

“She is my daughter. Is that not natural?”

I clicked my tongue internally at Heinox’s immediate answer without even a moment’s hesitation.

‘Terrifying man….’

While I shook my head at his unexpectedly advanced counterattack, Heinox finally moved to the main topic.

“The reason I requested an audience with Your Majesty is because of that very matter.”

‘…What? He came because of me?’

At this point, maybe I was the real troublemaker. I felt like I’d been causing problems nonstop.

While I seriously reviewed my past actions, Heinox met my gaze and spoke.

“There is something urgent I must discuss with His Majesty. Could you wait outside for a moment?”

“Yes!”

I nodded vigorously.

‘And honestly, I don’t really want to make eye contact with the Emperor either….’

Eager to leave as quickly as possible, I shook my head up and down so hard that I staggered backward.

“Uh… ah!”

At once, Heinox steadied my back with his arm.

“Careful.”

‘Ugh, dizzy.’

I’d shaken my head too violently, and the world spun before my eyes.

‘Damn oversized head.’

Not wanting anyone to realize my giant head had thrown off my balance, I quickly hid my reddening ears and coughed awkwardly.

“A-Ahem. I’ll be going now.”

“……Very well. An attendant will be waiting outside. Ask them to guide you around the palace for a while.”

‘Did I just hear Heinox laugh for a second?’

But if he had laughed, then the expression on his face as he warned me to be careful was far too serious.

‘Maybe I imagined it?’

Tilting my head in confusion, I left the audience chamber.

“Hm?”

The Emperor’s eyes widened slightly at the smile that had briefly passed across Heinox’s lips.

‘Did I see that wrong?’

Heinox had never been one to smile often, but ever since Priscilla’s death, he had never once relaxed his cold expression.

‘And yet he smiled? In front of Roxina Tanzeric?’

It was publicly known that Heinox Tanzeric, head of House Tanzeric, neglected his youngest daughter, Roxina Tanzeric.

People had claimed he no longer even cared enough to hate her, but seeing them today, the rumors seemed utterly unreliable.

‘I sensed it during the victory banquet too, but the Duke doesn’t seem to hate the Young Lady.’

If anything, there seemed to be a strange longing hidden beneath his gaze.

The Emperor straightened from where he’d been lounging in his chair, and Heinox—who had been silent in thought—finally spoke.

“I assume Your Majesty is aware there was an unfortunate incident during the victory banquet.”

“……I am.”

Recalling the commotion from the banquet, the Emperor reluctantly nodded.

“Then you must also know that insulting remarks were directed toward my daughter there.”

“…….”

“And that the one who instigated it was Pleri Akarinz, niece of Her Majesty the Empress.”

“……Haa.”

The Emperor grabbed his head as though burdened with a headache, but Heinox paid no attention.

“Is Her Majesty the Empress also aware of this?”

“She likely knows the basics. She is ‘that’ Empress, after all.”

“In that case, what punishment do you intend to give?”

The Emperor released another deep sigh before answering carefully.

“……Could we not simply let this matter pass?”

When Heinox remained silent, the Emperor continued.

“You know it as well as I do. That child, Pleri, behaved that way because she relied on the Empress’s backing.”

Exhaustion dripped heavily from the Emperor’s voice.

“She’s still just a child. Could we not regard it as nothing more than a foolish prank and overlook it?”

Heinox listened quietly to the Emperor’s plea before a cold pressure spread through the audience chamber.

“Your Majesty.”

The Emperor stiffened slightly beneath Heinox’s chilling aura before nodding.

“……Speak.”

“No one in this Empire may lay a hand on Tanzeric.”

“……I know.”

There wasn’t the slightest exaggeration in Heinox’s words.

Exactly as he said, there was no one in the Empire who could recklessly provoke Heinox—and that included the Emperor himself.

House Tanzeric was the oldest and most prestigious founding family of the Empire.

Countless Emperors throughout history had attempted to restrain Tanzeric’s influence, but the ducal house had roots intertwined too deeply with the Empire itself.

There had even once been an Emperor who tried to falsely accuse the ducal house of treason, only to be remembered in history as nothing more than a hollow figurehead.

The current Emperor, Alfredo Philitium, knew full well that all of those disasters stemmed from offending House Tanzeric.

Fortunately, he also understood that Tanzeric remained loyal to the Empire so long as no one attacked them first.

That was why he had chosen coexistence with the ducal family.

“I know how much you’ve sacrificed for this Empire.”

But this matter was difficult even for the Emperor to handle recklessly.

The greatest issue was that the origin of everything was the Empress’s niece.

The Empress was the Emperor’s official wife. Though theirs was merely a political marriage rather than one built on love, choosing an Empress meant choosing someone whose opinions and actions one would stand beside.

In other words, it meant implicitly supporting the Empress’s behavior.

“I know the Empress’s niece behaved disgracefully. But as long as the Empress remains the Empress, openly opposing her is difficult.”

As the Emperor sighed deeply and rubbed his face tiredly, Heinox spoke.

“I did not come here asking Your Majesty to punish that child.”

The Emperor, clutching his aching head, looked up.

“If not that, then why have you come?”

Heinox briefly glanced toward the empty seat beside the Emperor—the Empress’s place—before continuing.

“Tanzeric does not forget the past.”

“…….”

“We punish the insolent and do not let go until they are dragged through the mud. That is the way of our house.”

The words could almost be mistaken for arrogance, yet Heinox spoke them without hesitation.

“Even if Your Majesty had punished that young lady, Tanzeric would not have remained silent.”

Heinox declared firmly,

“Roxina is Tanzeric.”

“…….”

“Anyone who touches Tanzeric will regret it, and anything that obstructs us will be removed.”

His expression had hardened into something impossible to predict as he spoke.

“Tanzeric answers for everything. Therefore…”

“…….”

“Please do not interfere.”