Chapter 881 – Ep.879 the Collapsed Empire
“Hey, Melbourne. “I swear here again that I will be your faithful servant.”
Since I couldn’t get a long skirt right now, I just lent some pants from Genoa, who was of a similar physique, and Melbourne kissed the top of her foot once again with the intention of licking it.
‘It seems like his eyes have revived a bit… ?’
Considering the clear and transparent sky blue, it was still cloudy, but
Anyway, the situation seemed to have settled down to some extent, so I spoke to Melbourne, who was still pressing her lips to the top of my foot.
“What about meals?”
“… “Not yet.”
“Then let’s eat together.”
“No. “I have to tell my subordinates the news, so if you allow me, I will fill my stomach with my subordinates and then return.”
“Well, I don’t mind doing that if it’s convenient.”
Rather than feeling uncomfortable, it seemed like we were itching to see our subordinates screaming in the abyss of despair as quickly as possible, even if only for a minute or a second.
‘The Lord Melbourne I knew… He died along with his left arm.’
Well, how can a person change in an instant?
If time passes and the worn-out mental strength is restored, won’t it return to its former solemn self?
“Then, I’ll be back.”
“I’ll say it again, because I don’t even have my clothes ready yet. “When I come back, I have to come alone?”
“Of course.”
“Okay. “If you come and I’m not there, just rest here.”
“Yes. Wealth… ?”
Melbourne, who was still politely holding my left foot, looked up when I reached out and stroked his hair, which felt a little dull.
“Please be careful.”
“Yes, yes…” …”
She hurriedly answered by lowering her head, gently putting her foot down and jumping up to her feet.
Then, she bowed her head like a servant, not a knight, and quickly left the lounge.
“Whoa…”
As soon as Melbourne came in, Irina, who had not even made a sound as if she was dead, let out a long breath and rested her head on my shoulder.
Then I lightly bounced her shoulder where she rested her head and stood up.
“I’ll make lunch, so wait.”
“Well, he is my husband as expected. “It’s very homely.”
“… Me, my husband?!”
“Hehe, that’s right! Smith’s arrival at the imperial palace was also a day…”
The two surprisingly got along well.
**
Crunchy!
As soon as I bit into the bread that was toasted in a pan with melted butter, the light and savory scent of butter first spread into my mouth, followed by the bacon with all the fat removed and the fresh texture of the bacon, and finally, the refreshing dressing with lemon neatly rounded out the taste. Gave.
“My husband’s cooking skills are better than the chef!!”
Toast that is just roughly made using readily available ingredients.
However, every time Marvius took a bite, he fluttered his legs slightly on the chair and his eyes sparkled. The sight was so endearing that I almost reached out several times to stroke his head without realizing it.
On the contrary, our Irina.
“Ugh, ok… Drinking too much… Ugh…”
He already looked a little distressed because he was covering one eye with an eyepatch, but he was sniffling up to his nose and eating tear-soaked toast. The sight was so trivially cute that, unlike Marvius, I had to put in a lot of effort not to laugh.
Anyway, the atmosphere of the meal was quite gentle, and thanks to that, I was able to continue the meal with an explanation of my future plans.
“Abandoning the system?”
I nodded to Irina’s question as she blinked her eyes.
“Even if we were to recover the remaining prisoners who were being held as slaves, there would only be 10,000 of them. “You probably know better than me that it’s impossible to control the system with those numbers, right?”
“No, that’s it… Yes…”
Irina answers cautiously, glancing at Marvius, who is stuffing toast into his mouth with his cheeks puffed out like a hungry squirrel.
“Umm, gulp… I don’t care, so don’t worry about it. To be honest, I am a little disillusioned with the current situation, but more than that, as Smith said, it would be difficult to even maintain security with just over 10,000 people. “We don’t even know when the Mines will come over again, but if Smith leaves, the same situation will just repeat itself.”
“… According to Her Highness’s wishes… Ah!! Um, you left that for me to eat?!”
“Hmph, I didn’t even put saliva on it, so how can this be yours? Haum.”
“Ahh!!”
Uh, is it Irina?
Irina’s actions, widening her eyes and glaring at the princess just because she lost a piece of toast, made her laugh out of surprise.
Well, it seems like it’s okay since Marvius doesn’t really care.
‘But Irina was more surprised than Marvius.’
I roughly expected it, but seeing the completely opposite reactions of the two with my own eyes made me think about something more.
For example, although he looks fine on the outside, Marvius’s heart is also festering quite badly… Something like that.
Even so, the wound had to be handled very delicately, so if it was touched too hastily, it could become a bigger wound.
This will be the case not only for her but also for everyone who suffered from her mental illness here.
What… There are some people, like Melbourne, whose condition is so severe that they first need shock therapy to boost their will to recover before treatment.
Anyway, since people who share a common pain have come together, I believe that they will slowly comfort each other’s wounds even if I do not.
So, after rescuing the remaining prisoners who are still being treated like slaves outside the palace, I plan to give appropriate punishment to those who will be punished and quickly leave.
Of course, we leave behind those who are left behind and take care of those who are willing to join us.
‘It would be a good idea to take as much food as you can.’
And before leaving, I stopped by the top of the Black Ship and asked for news about Nyaho.
“… Miss? Smith?”
“Oh, sorry. “I have something to think about for a moment.”
“No. “I only called you because I thought you were too dazed.”
Although they said that, Marvius and Irina showed very awkward behavior, such as clearing their throats and secretly squinting at the plate that had been emptied cleanly without a single crumb.
I smiled and said to the two of them.
“I’m sorry, but we don’t have a lot of food. Would you mind having that for lunch?”
“Hmm! Wow, I don’t know what you’re talking about. “I’m already full.”
“… Pig.”
“W-What?!”
“Yes? “Why are you doing this?”
“S-SMITH!! You heard it too, right? “Hey, that thing just called me a pig!!”
“You must have heard wrong.”
I quietly added ‘strong appetite’ to the information about Irina.
When Melbourne came in, he didn’t even make eye contact.
You’re actually rolling your eyes at Marvius, who turned Melbourne into that situation.
‘You’re like my cousin and my younger brother.’
Marvius only tells the truth, and Irina calmly responds with a lie with a very disgusting expression.
I watched the two of them having a non-comic conversation for a while to give Marvius some time to digest it.
**
“Marvius?”
“Whoa, whoo!! “Why, why are you doing that?”
Seeing Marvius out of breath from how excited he was, I smiled to myself and got up.
“There’s a place I’d like you to go with for a moment. Is that okay?”
“Hmm!! Oh, of course. Even though I am at the bottom of the hierarchy, am I not your wife? “How could she refuse her husband’s request?”
“… “There is nothing to do about it.”
“Hey, profit!!”
“Write it. “Both of you are there.”
I took Marvius in my arms, his little hand trembling, and stroked his head.
Fortunately, Marvius seemed not to be that angry and soon calmed down, opening his clenched fist at my touch.
“Irina. “Don’t be too rude to the princess.”
“… “I only told the truth.”
“Irina?”
“Ugh… Oh, I see…”
As she gently scratched Marvius’s chin with the hand that had been stroking his head, Irina also quickly calmed down and pursed her lips.
“I’ll be back then, so get some rest.”
“… Bye.”
Leaving behind Irina, who had calmed down, I left the lounge with Marvius.
“It’s okay to go in and rest now.”
“Yes~”
“Everyone, please come back.”
“Okay.”
After patting the heads of the twins who had been patiently waiting outside, I left the building and walked slowly, recalling the memories of walking with Leviel that day.
‘It is not the Palace of the Sun, but a small palace where the real emperor lived… It was behind there.’
The emperor’s repository to which only those descended from the royal family can enter.
Although it is impossible to guarantee, there is at least a trace of Adrian that Rita could not find even though she searched for a full day.
If it is true that Adrian is imprisoned somewhere in the basement of the imperial palace, then that is probably the only place where he can escape Rita’s feelings.
“Aren’t you cold?”
“Well, I walked around wearing thinner clothes than this, but it’s about this much.”
Marvius smiled brightly and hugged my neck.
“Besides, I have you here who is giving me such warm body heat. “How can I feel cold?”
“Well, if you keep coming out like that, I might end up crying in bed?”
“At one point you made it sound like I never cried.”
“…”
As soon as I could exercise my right to remain silent, Marvius laughed and playfully poked my cheek.
“But where are you going now?”
“I’m on my way to the Emperor’s Vigo.”
“Why there?”
“Because there’s a pretty good chance that Adrian is trapped there.”
“…”
As soon as Adrian’s name was mentioned, Marvius frowned.
“Why are you doing that?”
“… No. “I’ll let you know later, when I see Sir Adrian.”
I don’t know what it was, but it didn’t look serious, so I nodded and moved on.
Take a moment to walk along the wide road of the imperial palace, which doesn’t feel like it’s popular.
“”… ?””
Marvius and I frowned and looked in the same direction almost at the same time.
Two familiar silhouettes stretched out inside a large bush from memory.
“Please wait here for a moment.”
“I get it. “Please wait patiently.”
Still, isn’t a teacher a teacher?
I sighed, leaving Marvius behind and approaching the border of the bushes.
And.
“What are you doing?”
“Haha…”
Mariel, who was lying down in an amazing posture like a doll whose strings had been cut, slightly averted her gaze and smiled.
