Chapter 27 (1/2)

Chapter 27

Celestia hid behind a giant pillar and craned her ears to the whispered words.

“…….I’m quite certain, Your Highness, the Empress.”

“Then why was the Emperor so cold-hearted?”

“I’m not sure about that……”

The voice answered back in an awkward tone.

“Are you trying to play me now?!”

Following the angry voice of the Empress, the man, nervous, answered.

“He is definitely a pill-resistant person. There’s no question about that. Now, from what I can tell, he’s quiet about his medication. However, when the prince used mana for the first time, Her Majesty, the Late Empress had asked why medicine didn’t work on him. She’d told me to keep it a secret…….”

The man’s voice trailed off.

After a brief silence, someone heaved a sigh out of frustration.

“Enough! It’s ridiculous that you thought I would believe that.”

“Your Majesty!”

“And here I wondered if you’d finally reveal a plausible weakness of his…..”

The Empress’s sigh was barely audible.

‘Dear God, this Empress. She’s insane.’

Celestia’s head was spinning fast. What should she do? If it was known that medicine didn’t work on him, it might affect his position.

This supremacy, the Burg Empire, seemed outwardly ruled by a rigid Emperor waving everything with his hands. However, looking at the center of all political forces, the former king had planted so many extraterrestrials that the political balance was kept subtle.

The sound of their speech grew more and more stealthy. She could barely understand even when she brought her ears closer to the wall.

She looked around. Fortunately, she saw no one passing the corridor.

She wondered if she’d keep listening, but she remembered the slogan of the pickpocket guild, “If I’m going to steal anything, I’m going to steal something bigger like a country!” Her close friend used to say that to her.

Yeah, she would have to listen till the end to get some information. In others words, she was already on a path she could not turn her back from. From the time she started eavesdropping.

She was nervous. It felt like all the cookies in her hand were going to be crushed. She slipped to place her ears on the wall.

“Do not speak of what happened today. If you want your neck to be safe.”

“So, is my wife’s life really going to be saved?”

The voice of the man sounded quite familiar.

Who was it? She pondered on it for a moment, but only a vague afterimage came to her mind.

“Of course, it would. Only after we wait and see if the information you gave is true or not.”

“It’s not that Your Highness doesn’t believe me, is it? It’s been a while since you’ve been keeping a watch of events.”

“I thought it to be plausible when I first learned it, but the Emperor looked unusually bright today.”

“But, I……. I didn’t know how that worked……”

“Anyway, it is done. I shall call you next time for more details, so let us talk about it then.”

The end of the conversation jolted her. She quickly moved away from the wall.

This was serious beyond imagination. What kind of nerve did she have to overhear this?

She tried to rush into the next room, but none of the doors opened on her push. She had to take shelter by standing close to a pillar and hiding herself in its shadow.

The door opened, and she heard the sound of footsteps rushing out.

She was nowhere to be seen from the Queen and her party’s side. However, she was only a step away. If the Empress stepped towards her way, she’d definitely spot her.

At that moment, she felt her back dampen with tension.

Clack. Clack.

The heels of the empress hit the floor as she took two steps from her position and was almost around the corner where she could be seen. Celestia swallowed silently, spotting the shiny jewel on one of her shoes and noting the luxurious shoe nose that was finished very generously.

‘Don’t come here. Don’t come here.’ Celestia prayed in earnest.

Did her prayer go through?

“It’s this way.”

Came the polite voice of a man. The Queen’s shoe nose disappeared in an instant. Her breath stayed hitched as she felt the coldness of the wall with her back.

Even the distant echoes of her heels terrified her.

It was only when she barely made sure that the party passed the corridor that she took a breath. Still unable to move her body, she stayed there for a while longer.

She shifted when she heard the voices of the maids laughing and chatting in the hallway where the Empress had disappeared.

She leapt out all of a sudden, fleeing from her hiding place as soon as possible.

She couldn’t even recall how she got back to her room. Almost instinctively, she had crossed the bridge and came down the stairs.

“Oh my god……..”

Her legs were shaking even when she entered her room. ‘That was crazy.’