Chapter 22

Well, to me, Klaus looked like ice that could never melt.

So I had no idea why people called him the Sun.

I pretended not to care, but Lucas kindly explained anyway.

“If Kella loses its Emperor, the many vassal states and lords will start fighting again to take this seat. And then it won’t end with just one hundred deaths. Countless young knights will be sacrificed again.”

Is that so?

“Kella needs the Sun. Sometimes His Majesty goes too far, but most of the time he does well. That position is like that. He must be strong, and he must be feared.”

I reluctantly nodded, and Lucas pressed on.

“So tell me where you got that from. You can do it, can’t you.”

I pushed my tiny brain to its limits.

I could say I got it from Lydia, and Lydia got it from the Chamberlain.

But was it right to risk her like that?

What if she got scared and couldn’t say anything?

I had seen Lydia trembling in front of the Chamberlain.

I had seen her unable to even breathe properly in front of Emma.

Could she really open her mouth in front of the Prime Minister, in front of the Emperor?

Even if she somehow found the courage…

What if Lucas didn’t believe her?

It was far too dangerous for such a small child.

Lucas urged me.

“Mari, hurry. Let me handle this before His Majesty finds out. You know what will happen if he does. The entire kitchen staff could be executed.”

But I couldn’t move.

Even though I had just been disappointed by Lucas for comparing Klaus’s life to a hundred others, I still didn’t want to trade Lydia’s life for hundreds either.

She’s small, insignificant, and low in status…

But she’s one of the few friends I have.

“Mari…”

The cunning Prime Minister rubbed his cheek against mine.

Stop that. Your looks won’t work on me.

I forced myself away and turned my back.

Lucas spun me back around and looked straight into my eyes.

His smooth lips pleaded sweetly.

“Please, kitty…”

I quickly got up and shook myself as if I’d been caught in the rain.

As if trying to shake his voice out of my ears.

Yeah, Lucas…

Seeing you up close, you really are handsome.

Still, no.

She’s my friend, and she’s done nothing wrong.

Knock knock.

Just then, the sound of knocking saved me.

“A letter from Grayhin, Your Excellency.”

“Enter.”

Lucas broke the wax seal and lightly waved the letter.

“A letter from Her Majesty, just the kind you like.”

Michaela sent a letter to the Prime Minister, not her brother? Why?

“Dear Prime Minister, blah blah… just useless chatter. The point is that Tobias Meyer, the caretaker His Majesty dismissed, has also been dismissed from the Temple.”

What?

I widened my eyes in shock, and Lucas smiled.

“That works out nicely. The new caretaker has also been dismissed, so it gives us a good excuse to reinstate him.”

Hearing Tobi’s name made my tail wag without me realizing.

Lucas curved his pretty brows as his red lips parted.

“So you hated Emma Schmidt that much.”

I pretended not to hear, but the teasing Prime Minister asked again.

“What was it. The way she tried so desperately to win His Majesty’s favor?”

What nonsense!

I immediately jumped down from the desk.

As I was about to leave his office, Lucas called out.

“Right, nothing in this world is free. I’ll reinstate your favorite temple attendant, so you tell me where the fruit came from. Deal?”

It was tempting.

I missed Tobi so much, and if he had been dismissed from the Temple too, I wanted to know what he was doing.

But I couldn’t risk another child’s life for that.

So I left the Prime Minister’s room anyway.

* * *

They say life outside is nothing but hardship. I only spent one day out there, but I ended up eating nonstop all day.

For the first time in my life as a cat, I learned how precious food was.

Klaus mostly looked at me like I was pathetic, but I decided to prioritize my own fullness over the Emperor’s gaze.

Even when he was interrogating the palace staff, I thought about it.

Even if there was a grand trial, it didn’t seem like Emma would suffer much.

She never chased me out, never hit me, never starved me.

That night, as we lay down to sleep, Klaus suddenly asked,

“Did you dislike Emma Schmidt.”

Afraid he might try to kill someone again, I quickly shook my head.

He let out a short laugh.

“I won’t kill her. Even if I wanted to, a lady of the Schmidt Family must receive a proper trial. I’m just asking out of curiosity. Did you dislike her.”

I almost nodded, persuaded for a moment, but then shook my head again.

Klaus laughed out loud.

“Fine. Then I’ll ask something else. Shall I call back your former attendant? That boy, Tobias.”

At Tobias’s name, I jumped up and nodded vigorously.

Klaus looked down at me with a faint smile and covered me with his heavy hand.

It felt like a goodnight gesture.

Both of us fell asleep almost immediately.

But I woke up again in the middle of the night.

Was I already fully rested?

If so, I needed to check whether Lydia had made it back into the palace.

I planned to use the window frame as usual, but the door to the residence was slightly open tonight.

I crossed from the residence to the Audience Chamber along the window frame, but even the chamber doors were slightly open.

I slipped between the two guards and ran down the corridor to the servants’ passage.

I opened the small side door and went down the stairs for quite a while.

Once I reached the servants’ quarters, things became easy as always.

Lydia’s door had a broken corner with a gap, and slipping through it was nothing for me.

I was worried the room might be empty, but Lydia was fast asleep.

I crawled into her arms and fell asleep as well.

Honestly, I was hopeless.

After all that chaos, I still hadn’t learned my lesson.

I had no idea what might happen while I slept in her arms for a couple of hours.

And I never even considered that someone might discover my little secret outings.

* * *

At dawn, I returned to the Emperor’s residence.

In the morning, Klaus went hunting.

Just seeing him act as usual was a relief.

I stayed behind and dozed.

Whenever I woke, I thought about Lucas’s request, but it wasn’t easy to decide.

After Klaus returned, we had lunch together, and then the interrogations continued.

Today, it seemed to be the kitchen staff’s turn.

I wasn’t even sure the kitchen staff knew who Emma was.

Still, Klaus asked,

“Have you seen Emma Schmidt, the caretaker of the sacred creature.”

“N-no, Your Majesty.”

“Next.”

Most of the servants were already terrified just being summoned to the Audience Chamber.

But among their anxious faces, I spotted Lydia.

Honestly, I was surprised.

She was so young, not even a proper servant yet, yet she had been brought here.

We had long since gotten used to pretending we didn’t know each other, but I couldn’t stop my gaze from drifting toward her.

Klaus continued asking,

“Do you know Emma Schmidt, the caretaker of the sacred creature.”

“N-no, Your Majesty.”

“Next.”

The dull interrogation dragged on endlessly.

The servants repeated like parrots that they didn’t know Emma, which was probably true.

A clerk sitting behind Klaus diligently wrote down all those useless answers.

Perhaps because she was young and of the lowest status, Lydia was called last.

Klaus asked in the same indifferent tone,

“Have you ever seen the sacred creature.”

As Lydia hesitated, I froze as well.

He had only been asking about Emma until now.

“Y-yes… Your Majesty.”

Even such a simple question made her shoulders tremble.

Of course it did.

She had seen the sacred creature more than once, and the very first time she met me, she had been making poison.

Klaus looked down at Lydia with a sharp gaze.

“Where did you see it.”

“Th-that is…”

“I asked where you saw it.”

Oh my god, Klaus.

Why are you suddenly targeting her?

You’re completely going off track, you know that?

But unexpectedly, Lydia managed to answer.

“I-I happened to see it while it was walking in the garden with noble ladies the other day.”

At that, the corner of Klaus’s mouth twisted upward.

“I see. The day the creature disappeared.”

Gasp. I had no idea the Emperor tracked my daily movements that closely.

Your Majesty, don’t you have more important things to worry about…

Could you stop obsessing over a cat’s schedule…

At his feet, the girl’s face turned pale.

Oh no, what’s going to happen now…

Klaus continued,

“You must have known the creature disappeared that day.”

“I-I did not, Your Majesty. I left the palace that day because my mother was ill…”

Lydia stopped mid sentence, startled, and covered her mouth.

Oh my god.

Why would you say you went out on the same day I disappeared!

Klaus’s expression hardened.

“What an interesting coincidence.”

Hey, that really is a coincidence!

I climbed onto his lap and shook my head frantically.

Klaus met my eyes.

For a moment, I thought he might understand me, but then he suddenly asked,

“Lump, is that the room you sneak into every night.”

Ah… I really was an idiot.

Klaus von Bismarck.

He was a man who could appear out of nowhere with a sword at the slightest noise in the night.

And I thought he didn’t know about my nightly outings.

So now he suspected Lydia.

As if she had taken me out of the palace illegally.

Your Majesty, does that even make sense?

She’s so timid…

I kept shaking my head, but Klaus ignored me and looked only at Lydia.

“What is your name.”

“L-Lydia, Your Majesty.”

“No surname.”

“N-no, Your Majesty.”

I pushed my head into the gap of his doublet and rubbed against him, trying to act cute, but it didn’t work.

Sitting high in his chair, the Emperor spoke down to the girl trembling on the floor.

“I will ask one last time. When did you first see the sacred creature.”