The Place Where I Was Sold as a Slave Was the Imperial Palace

＜ Fake Heir ＞

* * *

The aristocratic child said to be the successor of the Duke of Watorangu is not in a very good condition. Every time I stopped in a city somewhere, the doctor there would come and go in the child’s carriage.

Aslan finished eating and wiped the tableware.

Some of my co-workers are in the thick of the nearby grass.

Aslan also entered the uninhabited forest.

I sat inside and took off my pants when I saw the man who had found and accused the noble child walking nearby.

It looks like he just finished eating too. He wanders around with an anxious look. A soldier stood close behind the man.

Huggin, when I accused him of giving money, he was dragged far away, and he was watched so much that soldiers even came close to pooping.

The noble child seems to have been wandering around the country since Dicoquaria was defeated by the Kingdom of Cania.

At first, someone might have been attached to it, but I heard that they found that everyone was dead or abandoned and ran away.

The man who found the child heard rumors of a bounty and reported it to an Imperial soldier at the border.

Normally, only children would be taken to the Empire, but for some reason, the accuser was also transported along with them.

There might have been something suspicious, but for a low-end soldier like Aslan, there was no way to know the reason.

‘Things like that have nothing to do with me.’

Aslan came out of the bush after finishing his errands, he saw a crow sitting on a nearby tree.

Crows were seen while going from Dicoquaria to neighboring countries, and now they are also seen in the Empire.

There are no corpses on this side, so it’s a little less grotesque, but a crow that only watches people moving doesn’t seem normal.

I feel bad.

The crow stared at passers-by, and when it saw a short person, it quickly flew nearby.

And tilt your head to the point where you can no longer bend. Blinking and looking at people with round eyes, as if trying to check a little more detail.

Sometimes a child, sometimes a stooped old man, and sometimes a person much smaller than normal.

It looked as if a crow was looking for someone and checking their faces.

‘Really, what a ridiculous idea.’

Aslan shook his head.

No matter how much rumors circulate that crows are witches’ messengers, they cannot identify people’s faces.

To be honest, I doubted whether witches really existed.

Everyone says that witches are scary and that witches cast curses, but no one has actually met anyone around him.

There were only rumors floating around.

‘Who knows if there really is such a thing.’

teeth itchy

Aslan always put the plant stem she was biting into her mouth after eating and chewed it.

I always carry the short tree trunk my grandmother made as a substitute for brushing my teeth.

Even when you’re bored because you don’t have anything to do, put it in your mouth and chew it, and a little sweet water comes out and cleans the debris in your teeth.

‘Well, I guess it all rots and falls out when I get older.’

He spat out the chewed-up tree trunk on the floor and put the new one in his mouth.

Before they knew it, their troops had arrived near the empire’s capital.

* * *

It was around the end of the year when I heard the news that the heir of the Duke of Watoring had arrived near the capital.

slower than expected

Originally, it should have arrived in the morning, but it is said that the child’s condition has deteriorated a little.

Reynolds sighed.

It was already expected.

I was impatient, but it would be a big deal if the child suddenly died in my haste.

When the heir was first discovered, he was so ill that he could not speak properly.

The doctor who first diagnosed the child said he would not live a few days, let alone a carriage trip.

I saved it and brought it here, so even considering the difference in skill between being a doctor in an empire and a small country, Pablo’s medicine is really great.

According to the letter sent by the person in charge of the convoy, the first two days of taking the medicine suddenly seemed to be sleeping, but by the time they arrived in the empire, they said that they could have gotten off the carriage and walked.

However, from that point on, by the time I sent the letter, it started to deteriorate little by little.

It was just as Pablo said.

Since he insisted that he would die if he overdoes it in that state, the judgment of the person in charge of the escort was very correct.

Reynolds hurriedly moved.

The emperor was invited by the empress and went to her quarters.

The place where the empress lives is not the concubine.

The building of the imperial palace is in the shape of an upturned ‘U’ with the emperor’s bedroom in the center as a standard.

The empress’ bedroom and other spaces were prepared on the left side of the building. To get to the concubine, you have to ride a carriage, but you can also move to the bedroom of the empress on foot.

I walk down a long hallway, and an attendant comes across. He was one of the people attached to the Emperor’s side. The attendant came closer and spoke in a low voice.

“The Emperor moved to Huwon with Mama.”

The time spent with the empress was scheduled for 30 minutes. It’s a time I barely squeezed out of my busy daily life. If you consume more than that, you will have to cut your bedtime.

‘It seems the empress didn’t want to let it go.’

It is greedy knowing that the emperor spends his daily life more than anyone else. Reynolds nodded, suppressing the desire to click his tongue.

“I get it.”

I turned around and headed for the support.

I got into the back of the building where the empress lived, and passed well-groomed trees and flowers.

Spring has just begun, so the scent of flowers is strong.

After walking a little further inside, I saw people attending the emperor and empress gathered.

Responding to the people’s greetings, she turned her gaze inward, and the figures of the emperor and empress caught her eyes.

The two of them were walking in a garden where the red sunset was pouring softly in a harmonious look.

It looked like a picture.

“…”

Reynolds closed his mouth and looked at the two of them.

The emperor’s eyebrows are soft.

Her gaze at the empress was warm enough to be called acting.

‘Maybe His Majesty truly loves the empress.’

He prides himself on knowing the emperor better than anyone else in the world, but maybe Reynolds doesn’t know him too well.

The life of an emperor is lonely and painful.

The emperor was the one who was richer than anyone else, but at the same time possessed less than anyone else.

From the moment he opens his eyes to the moment he goes to bed, the emperor has no personal time. Not just for a few years, but for the rest of my life until the moment I die.

It is natural that selfish behavior is not tolerated, and when personal wishes and national interests collide, they give up what they want for the sake of the country.

no one feels sorry for it Everyone thought that was the natural thing to do as an emperor. The emperor as an individual is unfair and sad, but he can’t tell anyone about it.

It was Boris who changed that daily life for a while.

Boris taught me what it was like to be free to act as I pleased when the emperor was crown prince, even under limited circumstances.

Maybe those days weren’t the happiest times for the emperor.

Sometimes I felt that way.

Perhaps that is why the Emperor likes Boris.

‘If the emperor loves the empress…’

Love takes many forms, and between two people who have been together for so many years, there must be something that no one else can access.

Until now, the emperor had given his heart to many women, and sometimes put the crown prince in a difficult situation.

However, he never did anything that would cause a crack in his relationship with the empress. Always kept a subtle line.

It’s different this time. Not just a change of heart, the Emperor is clearly politically excluding her.

The moment the empress realized that fact, the harmony between the two never returned.

The empress would see the emperor’s actions as a betrayal.

Reynolds did not bother to interrupt the two of them and stood and waited.

He is an emperor who knows better than anyone how precious time is to himself.

Giving the empress a little more time than planned might be the last word of love for a long-time ally.

When the red sunset disappeared and it began to get dark all around, the attendant took a lantern and served the emperor and empress.

There was not much to say between the emperor and the empress as they returned without completing their tour of the vast garden. However, the hand of the emperor escorting the empress never dropped.

He should have known that Reynolds had arrived, but it was only after he came close enough to hear the voices that the Emperor looked at him.

“I think the chamberlain has arrived.”

The empress opened her mouth at the emperor’s words.

“The concubine rudely took Your Majesty’s time. I am worried that I may have pushed ahead with my schedule.”

“Time with my beloved empress always gives me strength. There is nothing for you to worry about.”

The emperor’s eyes were still kind as he uttered sweet words, but the soft light Reynolds had seen earlier had already disappeared.

Now, he was the usual emperor that Reynolds knew well.

*

From nob le mt l dot com

Due to spending time with the empress, the emperor had a shorter dinner than usual.

Even so, the evening work after that took more than 30 minutes longer than usual.

The emperor’s tiredness was visible.

When he finished his work and went back to the bedroom, Reynolds sent all the other attendants out.

After the two of them were left in the room and reported that the heir of the Duke of Watoring had arrived near the capital, the emperor was lost in thought for a moment.

We already know that the successor is fake.

As soon as the report of the first discovery came up, a sentence officer was dispatched to confirm the authenticity of the sentence above the navel.

The sentence was an elaborate fake.

It’s not just erased ink, it’s tattooed.

According to the investigator sent later, it seemed that they used foreign or Viking technology.

The hair looked black, but was actually dyed. It is said that the side closer to the skin was dark brown in places.

The eyes could not have been hidden, but it was impossible to ascertain whether it was by accident or on purpose because of the scars. Both eyes of the child had been cut with a knife.

The child was not in such good condition that life was still attached.

However, the news that a successor to Watoringu had been found spread quickly.

It was also revealed that some kingdoms had sent intelligence units to steal children. Even in the Kingdom of Cania, they were moving in the shadows to steal the child away.

There must have been some who doubted that it was a fake, but it is too great a temptation to ignore. A lot of people’s attention was focused on the child.

If everyone is certain that the child is the successor to the Duke of Watoringu, then even if Rudi is noticed later, no one will covet Corea’s coat of arms.

It was natural to think of using it.

The emperor decided to conceal Rudy’s existence by introducing the child as the undisputed successor to the ducal family in the imperial palace.

The emperor, who had been lost in thought for a while, raised his head.

“Reynolds, bring Rudy to boot tomorrow.”

At the Emperor’s words, Chief Chamberlain Reynold’s eyebrows twitched slightly.

“Your Majesty, is that okay? Didn’t Boris say that he shouldn’t drive the child? I’m afraid it won’t look natural.”

“It wouldn’t be strange to say that it was a golden slave job.”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

The Emperor raised his eyebrows slightly.

“Boris said that the child seemed to know that the found heir was a fake, but I want to confirm it with my own eyes.”

“…”

“Ray, it’s not that I don’t believe Boris. After marrying Princess Correa, the Duke of Watoringu cut ties with women. It is highly unlikely that there was an illegitimate child of a similar age.”

The emperor wore a pod in his hand with a dark face. I rested my chin on it and stared blankly at the table.

“But there are always possibilities. Depending on whether or not Rudy is really the successor to Watling, the future actions will also change. I can’t keep an eye on it, so I want to be sure while I can get my hands on it.”

“All right.”

Reynolds lowered his head slightly.

“I’ll have her attend as His Majesty’s drink manager that day. Then it will be right next to you, so it will be easier to observe.”

“okay.”

Seeing the Emperor smile faintly, Reynolds pulled a long-necked bottle from the display case.

“Would you like some medicine?”

“Oh, you’d better eat some.”

“…”

From earlier, the emperor’s breathing seemed painful.

Also, it seems to be unbearable.

Reynolds tipped the bottle and poured a spoonful into a small glass.

This is different from what you normally eat every day. I eat only occasionally when I am very distressed.

I put sweet fruit water next to it.

The emperor swallowed the medicine in one sigh and dipped the fruit juice next to him into his mouth.

His face was slightly distorted.

After a while, the emperor murmured while smiling.

“If I take this medicine, I feel like I went back to my childhood. It makes me want to use a group because I don’t want to eat.”

“You can spend it on me.”

“Don’t even joke about it. Reynold, if it’s enough to harass you, I’d rather just die.”

“…”

Seriously in my own way, I really thought it was okay to do so, but it seems that His Majesty the Emperor did not like it.

Reynolds smirked and shrugged.

＜ fake successor ＞ end