Chapter 198 – 198. Royal Palace (2)
#198. Royal Palace (2)
Dragged away by the maids, I was handled like a doll.
They styled my hair, helped me dress, and continued to primp me.
Had about 30 minutes passed? I couldn’t help but be surprised at the sight of myself in the mirror.
‘…Not bad, actually?’
Truthfully, I hadn’t really tried to doll myself up before. Maybe only when meeting Choi Hye-na?
But even then, it was just being mindful of my clothes; I’d never really gone all-out with the primping. I wasn’t interested in it to begin with, and I didn’t know how to.
Still, I thought I didn’t look too shabby thanks to my magic. My skin had become so clear that you couldn’t find a single blemish, and my overall features had become more defined.
But the reflection in the mirror looked quite different from my usual self.
No, was it a lot different?
Bang.
Just then, the door opened with a familiar presence.
It was Elisabeth and Tina.
At their appearance, the maids who had been sprawled on the floor hurriedly got up and bowed their heads. They looked like office workers flustered by a surprise visit from their boss.
“Hyun-woo, how much longer… Oh?”
Elisabeth, who had burst through the door, met my eyes.
At that moment, she stopped as if frozen.
“It’s just finished.”
The cravat was a bit stuffy, but it was bearable. It wasn’t my first time wearing formal attire in this world, after all.
Of course, it seemed a bit more extravagant compared to the formal wear I wore when infiltrating the auction house.
“Lady Elisabeth?”
“…”
There was no response.
Her reaction seemed off, so I cautiously approached her.
Flint!
Elisabeth instead flinched and stepped back. Her extreme reaction caused a strange atmosphere to flow between us.
In the heavy silence, Elisabeth’s lips moved slightly.
“…Not bad.”
She muttered, turning her head away, and then left the room.
I followed Elisabeth out of the mansion, sensing that something was off with her. Of course, Tina was with us as well.
Always maintaining an appropriate distance, Tina was like a shadow.
I wondered how Elisabeth could ever leave without Tina, who had no magic power.
“Please, take my hand.”
We had to take a carriage to the main palace where the King was, so I escorted Elisabeth as I had done before.
Having done it when getting out of the carriage, it wasn’t as difficult as I thought.
After all, if I just offered my hand, the princess would take care of it herself.
“Lady Elisabeth?”
But Elisabeth just stared at my outstretched hand, not taking it.
“…Tina.”
“Yes.”
Tina immediately got into the carriage and escorted her.
Elisabeth skillfully took her hand and got into the carriage, sitting in the seat of honor and turning her head to look out the window.
Having my role stolen in an instant, I stood there blankly.
‘What’s going on?’
Didn’t she just complain earlier about not being escorted?
Just in case, I looked at my hand, but there was nothing on it, nor did it smell strange.
‘Is she in a bad mood?’
Well, she might complain later about not being escorted when we get out.
I didn’t think much of it and took my seat.
Thump-
Soon after, the carriage began to move.
Anyway, the royal palace was quite large, befitting its name. There were quite a few buildings built here and there.
It took about five minutes by carriage to reach the main palace. The scale of the palace seen through the window was beyond imagination.
The Ruby Palace where Elisabeth resided was also splendid, but the main palace was even more magnificent and awe-inspiring.
‘I feel magic… Is it a barrier?’
It was a barrier created by a magician who had reached a higher level than me, investing time and resources.
At least 7th Circle.
If not, it was definitely a barrier created by a group of 6th Circle magicians.
It seemed to be a barrier focused on security and defense. Even if I used my full power, it would probably be impossible to destroy the palace.
Not to this extent, but the walls surrounding the capital also had barriers.
‘Considering that Seoul had barriers in the sky, it’s not that surprising.’
The carriage stopped, and when the door opened, Elisabeth got out with Tina’s help.
Left alone in the carriage, I fiddled with the cravat and followed the two.
‘…Did I do something wrong?’
It was even more frustrating because I couldn’t think of anything.
I wanted to ask outright, but I couldn’t because of the gazes pouring in as we entered the main palace.
-Is that the person who saved the princess?
-He doesn’t seem to be a noble. Then a knight?
-He doesn’t have a sword on his waist? Is he a magician?
-Nah, if he were a magician, he wouldn’t have followed us to the royal palace.
-I guess…
Of course, it wasn’t just the servants who were sending glances. There were also nobles here and there.
They were busy glancing at me even while greeting Elisabeth.
I felt disgusted by the gazes of the men who were old enough to be my father. When I subtly released my killing intent, they all ran away with excuses.
Tina looked at me as if telling me to restrain myself, but I avoided her gaze as if I didn’t know anything.
How long had we been walking like that?
Contrary to my expectations, Elisabeth walked towards the garden. It was a garden decorated in a simple style overall.
“…Father usually spends time in the garden, not his office. Even if you apply for an audience, he tends to greet you in the garden, not in Nivia Hall where the throne is.”
Elisabeth spoke to me for the first time since leaving the mansion.
“He must love nature.”
I softened my words because they were her parents, but honestly, he seemed like someone who wasn’t in their right mind.
He wasn’t an elf or anything.
“Love my foot.”
Elisabeth snorted briefly, as if she thought similarly to me.
Her face, probably thinking of her father, looked colder than ever.
“Your Highness.”
“I know.”
Tina stopped as if she couldn’t go any further. I glanced back at her and continued to follow Elisabeth.
The presence of people was getting closer.
“Hyun-woo.”
“Yes.”
“…You don’t have to worry too much about etiquette. He won’t expect much anyway. But no matter what happens, you must not raise your voice to Father.”
“Pardon?”
I didn’t quite understand her words.
Wasn’t it common sense not to raise your voice to the King?
Even if I had scattered killing intent to the nobles on the way here, I had that much common sense.
“Understood?”
But Elisabeth seemed serious.
When I nodded, she seemed satisfied and moved on.
Beyond the delicately manicured garden, I came face to face with a man tilting a teacup.
“Elisabeth Francesca Nivia, I greet the great King.”
Dressed in neat formal attire, he had faded blonde hair and red eyes.
I followed her and bowed my head appropriately.
“You’ve come.”
A nonchalant tone with no emotion whatsoever.
It was hard to see it as the attitude of a father towards his daughter who had almost died just a few hours ago.
Rather, he was fixing his gaze on the documents as if he had no interest in us.
“I am Kang Hyun-woo. I greet the great King.”
Only then did the man’s gaze shift to me.
It was an unpleasant gaze that scanned me up and down as if appraising me.
“So, you’re the man who saved the princess.”
“I am honored.”
“Are you a magician?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Affiliation?”
“I don’t have any particular affiliation.”
“What is your level?”
“4th Circle.”
The King’s reaction, which had been continuing the questions, changed for the first time. Elisabeth was the same.
They both seemed surprised.
He even put down the documents he had been holding in one hand and began to focus on me.
“How long have you been learning magic?”
“…Do you want the unadorned truth?”
The King chuckled, as if he hadn’t expected this answer.
But his mood had eased, as if he wasn’t offended.
“Yes.”
“It hasn’t even been half a year yet. There’s still a long way to go.”
Basically, it takes years for someone with talent to create a mana circle.
Moreover, pioneering a realm is a separate issue, and the average age of a 4th Circle magician is in their 40s.
“…Your joke is too much.”
The King’s voice hardened.
“I am only speaking the truth.”
“Are you telling me to believe now that someone who learned magic on their own has reached the 4th Circle in less than half a year?”
“I have a teacher.”
Iris Remeria Baiart Pelledia, a teacher who has reached the transcendent level, a great 8th Circle magician, is by my side.
“Although there are circumstances that prevent me from mentioning her name, I will only say that she is more outstanding than any other magician in this world.”
Unlike before, a cold gaze flew towards me. But the King didn’t say anything.
Rather, he seemed to be contemplating something.
“Can you show me your circle?”
“Yes.”
A heart surrounded by four circles bloomed on my palm.
At that moment, a strange light flickered in the King’s eyes.
“You said you were 21 years old this year?”
Tap, tap, tap.
The King tapped the table.
The smile that spread across his lips was nothing but ominous.
“Since your contribution in saving the princess is not small, a suitable reward must follow.”
The King’s gaze, stroking his chin as if it were a habit, swept past Elisabeth.
Following him, her eyes, which I inadvertently looked at, were pitifully trembling.
“How about marrying the princess?”
***
Elisabeth Francesca Nivia was a person more familiar with unhappiness than happiness.
Her mother, the First Queen, was unable to care for her daughter, so she was raised by a nanny from infancy.
The nanny was a kind person, but the parental care she deserved was nowhere to be found.
The man called her father did not visit her except when she was born.
What awaited her after a lonely childhood was an attempted poisoning.
The person who put poison in her rose tea was a maid she usually trusted and followed.
After that, assassination attempts continued.
Being on the verge of death was commonplace.
There was not a single day when she could truly sleep in peace.
Even at her 10th birthday party, a woman appeared in front of her after she collapsed from eating poison.
It was the Second Queen.
-How pitiful…
The Second Queen looked at Elisabeth with a sneer.
She was the woman who had married the King and become Queen after the First Queen left the capital for recuperation, and had given birth to the First Prince.
Elisabeth sensed the moment she saw the Second Queen who had come to see her.
That woman.
The woman who had been trying to kill her all along.
Only men could inherit titles, but not the throne. That woman intended to eliminate a competitor who would be an obstacle to her son.
That day, for the first time, she ran to the King and pleaded.
Please save her.
Her stepmother was trying to kill her.
But all that returned to her was a cold gaze.
At that moment, Elisabeth realized.
He knew.
He knew and stood by.
From that day on, she gave up on her parents.
To survive, she had to suspect everything.
Thanks to that, she entered the debutante ball alone. Young masters of her age were nothing more than potential assassins who might be influenced by the Second Queen.
She rejected men who approached her without exception. The same was true for women.
It had gotten a little better since she met Tina, who was dying on the street, but she still felt suffocated from all sides.
That was why she secretly went on excursions.
She couldn’t bear it otherwise.
If she were to die at the hands of an assassin during an excursion, she would just accept it.
It would be several times more comfortable than continuing a precarious life.
Then, by chance, she met a man.
From the beginning, he knew who she was.
For a moment, she thought he might be an assassin, but he seemed too clumsy at acting.
Even a low-ranking mercenary would do better than this.
Moreover, he tried to leave as soon as he found out who she was. She became interested in the treatment she was receiving for the first time.
‘…He looks a bit fierce.’
It seemed better than those guys who wielded swords with smiling faces.
The man in front of her knew about her, but he was a complete outsider who had no intention of killing her or flattering her.
It was because of that unfounded conviction that she took off his pants on the pretext of rudeness.
She had been relieving her stress with self-pleasure when it was severe.
But she had never actually seen a male genital.
The sex education in the royal palace only taught the very basics, glossing over the details.
‘…I might die at any time.’
Wouldn’t it be less unfair if I satisfied my curiosity at least?
Of course, not just any man would do.
At least his appearance had to meet her standards.
In that sense, the man in front of her met her standards.
“I am sorry, but marriage would be difficult.”
Until then, he was nothing more than a simple toy.
“…Reason?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
At some point, her eyes were following him.
Why?
Of course, she was grateful that he had saved her life from the assassins, but she wasn’t naive enough to fall in love because of that.
It wasn’t like he was so handsome that he could be called a beauty.
“What meaning is there in a marriage that does not ask for the consent of the person involved?”
Nevertheless, she somehow felt a sense of satisfaction at his expression, which seemed to mock her despicable father.
