Chapter 55

"Get dressed quickly." As he was about to say, his voice was suddenly blocked somewhere in his throat.

‘He really is handsome.’

Rathil gazed intently at Klein’s smooth-looking skin, and his curiosity about its texture grew. If he touched it, his hand would surely glide down the flesh. No, it seemed like he could check it out if he wanted to. But the moment he touched, it felt like the line, "I will not sleep with you until the empire is stabilized," would be broken, so he couldn’t bring himself to touch.

"Your Majesty."

But Klein, who seemed to have deliberately called out, rolled his body provocatively and then, as he sat up, called Rathil’s name in a moist voice.

‘Where did he learn such things?’

With a sticky and seductive smile, Rathil closed his eyes and sighed, then gave an order.

"Get dressed, Klein."

However, Klein didn’t seem to like this command. In fact, from the moment he lay on the floor to try to win Rathil’s heart, his pride had already been severely hurt. When Rathil closed his eyes and gave instructions as if he were pitiful, Klein felt something in his chest crumple. In reality, Rathil had closed his eyes to resist Klein’s seduction, but Klein didn’t realize this. In the end, he got up from the floor with a cold expression.

‘What is this?’

Klein, who had been wriggling on the floor, got up in a split second, which made Rathil frown. Moreover, Klein’s expression, which had been relaxed a moment ago, had now frozen like a mask. He didn’t even chat as usual and quietly buttoned up his clothes. After glancing at Rathil, he left the room silently, leaving Rathil alone in someone else’s room.

‘Why is he like this?’

Left alone, Rathil looked at the closed door, but Klein was already gone.

* * *

The identity of the casino dealer as a high priest was revealed, and the Holy Knights, including Bak Hwala, entered the harem to guard the high priest. Klein, who had pretended to be ill to seduce Rathil, failed and became sulky, avoiding Rathil. However, for several days, nothing unusual happened. The ministers and nobles misunderstood Rathil’s national marriage policy, thinking he was quite extraordinary, but Rathil considered it a misunderstanding that didn’t need to be cleared up, so he let their misconception stand. Fortunately, no further incidents involving the black mages occurred, allowing Rathil to focus on state affairs.

"High Priest, does His Majesty rarely come to the harem?"

"Shouldn’t we devise a plan to bring His Majesty here?"

For the Holy Knights, who had come prepared for intense battles in the secular world, this was a very perplexing situation.

"His Majesty will come when the time is right. Our job is to exercise so that we can greet His Majesty with well-toned muscles whenever he arrives. Come, everyone, let’s exercise."

However, the high priest, in a manner befitting his position, comforted the Holy Knights and made them run 50 laps around the harem garden every morning and evening. This went on for about two weeks. When Klein continued to avoid Rathil, even the chamberlain, who disliked Klein, began to worry that Rathil should try to soothe the prince. At this point, an unexpected side effect of accepting the high priest as a concubine appeared.

"Envoys from Willang?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. They seem to have heard that Your Majesty has accepted the high priest."

As soon as the news of Rathil accepting the high priest spread, Willang, a neighboring country, sent envoys.

"That’s troublesome."

Willang had always been a friendly nation, but it was a country that was "weak to the strong and strong to the weak." In other words, Willang was friendly because Tarium was powerful. Willang had always been looking for an opportunity to stab Tarium in the back, so Rathil was a bit concerned when Willang sent envoys at this time.

"Your Majesty is ruling well and the people are pleased with Your Majesty’s governance. Tarium is strong. What is there to fear?"

The chamberlain spoke calmly, but Rathil disagreed.

"I’m worried that other countries might unite against us because I accepted the high priest as a concubine, Sir Chamberlain."

"We can win even if they unite against us."

"Yes, unless Tella is lurking somewhere."

"!"

Rathil thought for a moment, recalling a report he had heard four days ago, and asked the chamberlain.

"Ah, envoys from Karisen are also coming, right?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Then, make sure the envoys from both countries arrive around the same time."

"Excuse me?"

"We should receive the envoys from both countries together in the audience hall. If we bring Klein along, it will look like Karisen and our country have a good relationship. Willang will think that trying to sway other neighboring countries is futile. They won’t know about the Tella issue."

"That’s a good idea!"

The chamberlain, impressed by Rathil’s suggestion, quickly left to carry out his orders. Rathil also gave instructions to another secretary.

"Find Prince Klein and tell him that envoys from Karisen are coming, and he should dress well and come here."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

However, a short while later, the secretary returned with a gloomy face and reported.

"Your Majesty, Prince Klein says he is not feeling well and cannot attend the audience."

* * *

Instead of sending someone else, Rathil confirmed when the envoys would arrive and then went to the harem himself.

"Klein?"

"He’s in the room."

As Rathil appeared in the room, the guard was startled and called out softly to the inside.

"Prince, His Majesty has arrived."

When no sound came from inside, the guard’s face turned pale as he looked at Rathil for instructions.

"Prince."

As the guard called out again, Rathil raised his hand to stop him.

"That’s enough."

Without giving the guard a chance to say anything, Rathil simply grabbed the door and opened it, then walked straight through the corridor to the bedroom. He pulled back the curtain on the archway, crossed his arms, and looked inside, where he saw Klein sitting by the window.

"Entering someone’s room so casually is not proper."

Klein, who had been leaning his forehead against the window frame, jumped up and protested when Rathil entered. Rathil frowned when he saw the red mark on Klein’s forehead.

‘How long has he been like this?’

Klein spoke as if he didn’t care at all, but it seemed he had been looking out the window the whole time. If so, he must have seen Rathil coming. When Klein noticed Rathil looking at his forehead, he turned his head and rubbed it awkwardly.

"Klein."

Seeing that Klein wasn’t as angry as he should be after avoiding Rathil for two weeks, Rathil sighed and approached him, grabbing his arm.

"Why are you being so petty?"

"Petty... What? Did you just call me petty?"

"Your country’s envoys are here to greet you, and you don’t want to?"

"I know why you think I don’t want to."

"I don’t understand. I’ve never been petty, so I can’t guess what a small-minded person is thinking."

"Small-minded...!"

As Klein opened his mouth in surprise, Rathil pressed his chin to close it, deliberately scratching his pride again.

"Was it because I left when you were lying on the floor a few days ago?"

"!"

"I had no choice. I rushed over when I heard you were sick, but you were just lying there. I couldn’t help but get angry. I was so worried."

"How could I have been like that!"

"What do you mean, how could you have been like that?"

"Of course...!"

As Rathil looked at him with a "I don’t know anything" expression, Klein’s mouth twitched. Klein firmly believed that Rathil was in love with him. Although he was a bit discouraged when the casino dealer appeared, he realized the dealer was a high priest and that Rathil was taking care of him. This restored his confidence, but when Rathil left without a word after seeing him lying provocatively, his pride was shattered. However, he was worried that if he confronted Rathil, it would seem like he liked Rathil even more, which hurt his pride.

"Speak, Klein. I can’t understand if you don’t."

As Rathil smiled again with a "I don’t know anything" expression, Klein hesitated and finally closed his mouth, resting his forehead on Rathil’s shoulder. Ah, it seems everything is fine now. But Rathil, while patting Klein’s shoulder, thought strategically and suggested kindly,

"Let’s talk more later, in private. For now, let’s get you dressed up. Sparkling."

"What for?"

"Envoys from Karisen are coming. You should show them that you’re doing well. Don’t you want to see your people from home?"

* * *

Somehow, Rathil managed to soothe Klein and successfully brought him, dressed up, to the audience hall. Klein, feeling better because Rathil was taking care of him, held Rathil’s hand and walked with his shoulders back. Seeing this, Rathil smiled and thought,

‘Does this kid’s body belong in the palace while his mind is in a deep mountain village, looking at clear water...?’

But he found Klein’s honest side endearing, so he reaffirmed his resolve, which he had forgotten many times before.

‘I should treat him well because he has a pure side. He’s the most trustworthy among the concubines.’

In any case, Rathil’s plan worked perfectly. In the audience hall, the envoys from Willang, who were waiting with the envoys from Karisen, looked displeased when Rathil brought Klein in, and the envoys from Karisen greeted him warmly.

‘Why do they keep scheming?’

Seeing this, Rathil chuckled inwardly and pretended to take even better care of Klein. However, just as things were going well for Rathil,

"The policy of using national marriages is convenient for Your Majesty’s reign, but won’t there be many side effects in the generations to come?"

One of the envoys from Willang suddenly spoke.

"Taking the prince of Karisen, the high priest, and the son of a meritorious official—all good people—won’t you find it hard to manage them later?"

His voice was even slightly mocking, and the atmosphere in the audience hall turned cold as soon as he finished speaking.

"That’s true. Willang has had similar troubles. Thank you for your concern. We will take Willang’s experience as a lesson."

But when Rathil smiled and turned the attack back, the atmosphere on the Willang envoy side turned even colder. However, just as things should have been smoothed over, the envoy who had asked the provocative question asked an even more dangerous one.

"If you are someone who uses marriage for politics, it would have been best to go to the position of empress or queen in another country. Then, you wouldn’t have had to kill your own brother with your own hands, which is a pity."

The envoys from Willang were all startled and shuddered at this statement. It was clearly not a prepared provocation. However, it was strange that no one tried to stop the envoy.

‘Is the envoy who spoke rudely actually of higher rank than the viscount who is the head of the delegation?’

Just as Rathil was about to tell the envoy, who had hidden in the delegation, to be polite regardless of his actual rank, one of the envoys from Karisen, who had been quiet in the back, burst out laughing. It wasn’t a loud laugh, but it was audible in the cold, silent hall. The envoy from Willang, who had made the rude comment, frowned and turned his head. As the attention of everyone turned to him, the envoy from Karisen, who had been quiet, muttered in a low voice,

"Excuse me. You look like a calf defaming a bunch of grapes."

The envoy from Willang’s expression hardened, but the envoy from Karisen didn’t stop there.

"Having a harem with talented young men is only possible for a powerful country. Willang is a country that has to beg to have someone accepted into the harem. It’s natural that you can’t understand the intentions of Emperor Rathil."

The envoys from Karisen even chuckled at this blatant mockery, and the envoys from Willang turned red with humiliation. They hadn’t expected Karisen to openly defend Tarium, even though the prince of Karisen was in the harem. The ministers of Tarium also chuckled at the words of the low-ranking envoy, looking down on the envoys from Willang. However, Rathil couldn’t laugh like the others. In fact, his expression was similar to that of the Willang delegation. He couldn’t help it.

‘That voice...’

Rathil swallowed hard and looked at the low-ranking envoy from Karisen, who was wearing a deep hood that only revealed his lower face, with trembling eyes. That envoy.

‘It’s Hysin.’

It was definitely Hysin.