Chapter 56

"Let's talk."

As soon as the audience ended and they entered the waiting room, Latil naturally grabbed the arm of the envoy who had followed him.

"You're quite forceful."

Hysinth, whose face was covered, pretended to be surprised and spoke as if it wasn't him, but Latil wasn't fooled.

"Come along quietly, envoy from Carisen 8."

"Why number eight?"

"You were standing at the very back."

Latil pointed with his chin to a place where no one was, and Hysinth followed obediently. After all, as an emperor who had infiltrated the envoy group to get here, he would follow. The Carisen envoys. They must have had a hard time on the way here, with the emperor mixed in a small group, unable to move leisurely. The youngest envoy, standing at the very back, could follow immediately after the audience ended because the Carisen envoys knew the identity of this cap-wearing envoy.

"Your Majesty."

Preventing a few others from following, Latil took him to an empty corridor and removed the cap.

"Sure enough, it's you."

As soon as the cap was off, brown hair flowed like wheat on an autumn day. A mysterious gray eye and a smile at the corners of his eyes were also revealed.

"Hysinth."

Latil, holding his breath, stared at Hysinth and then bit his lip tightly. How disgusting. How could he feel like he missed him in this situation? He thought he had forgotten everything when he didn't see him. Maybe if a few more years had passed, he really would have forgotten. The moment Latil saw Hysinth's eyes, he knew that his efforts to forget him over the years had been in vain. Or perhaps, time had diluted the bad memories and left only the good ones in his mind. Latil clenched his fists and pressed his nails into his palms to regain his heavy breathing.

"Why did you come here?"

The only fortunate thing was that his voice sounded quite calm. But it caused a storm in his heart. Hysinth answered calmly.

"Because I missed you."

Latil couldn't tell whether to feel gratified or upset by the slight tremor in his voice. His ex-lover, who had left him for another woman and married her, could make him angry whether he lived happily with her, forgetting the past, or sent lingering feelings because he couldn't forget the past.

"You're really shameless. Where did your conscience go? Did you never have it, or did you sell it?"

Latil, suppressing his anger, grabbed Hysinth's collar and whispered.

"Take care of your bride since you're married. I'll take care of my concubines."

After finishing his words, Latil pushed Hysinth away and turned sharply. However, he couldn't storm off as he had in Carisen. He thought there must be something else if Hysinth came all the way here.

"Get rid of that lie about missing me. What's the real reason? Is it about that letter?"

Before Hysinth could answer, someone approached. Latil took two more steps back from Hysinth. The Wylang envoy group appeared.

"Your Majesty."

They, too, seemed surprised to see the emperor here and quickly greeted him.

'Ah, Hysinth.'

Hysinth still hadn't put his cap back on. Latil, realizing this belatedly, looked to the side, but Hysinth had already covered his face. It was fortunate but annoying. Latil only grumbled inwardly and gestured to the Wylang envoy group that they could stop greeting.

"Since you've come this far, I hope you have a pleasant stay. You may leave."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Unlike in the audience chamber, they all answered obediently. Except one. The envoy who had provocatively challenged Latil in the audience chamber. Moreover, this envoy kept looking back at Latil while following the group.

"Seems like he's got a crush on you?"

Hysinth, noticing this, teased him. 'Are you joking with me now, kid?' Latil glared at him in disbelief, but Hysinth smiled naturally and advised.

"Relax, Latil. The Wylang envoy is looking back. We should pretend to be on good terms, right?"

"I hate this about you."

"And I love you."

"!"

"Is that not true?"

When the Wylang envoy group was completely out of sight, Latil grabbed Hysinth's collar and glared.

"You loved me. Don't use the present tense."

Latil pushed Hysinth away and turned sharply to leave, trying to ignore him as much as possible. Otherwise, his still confused heart might show. He feared that perceptive Hysinth would notice in this short moment. * * *

"Your Majesty."

It was almost 15 minutes after Latil left that Hysinth's bodyguard captain appeared.

"If the enemy had come in the 15 minutes you were gone, I would have been dead."

Hysinth's mild reprimand made the bodyguard captain look dejected and explain.

"I was carrying luggage for the Tarium officials."

"Oh, Tarium officials."

Hysinth chuckled and patted the bodyguard captain's shoulder.

"If that's the case, there's nothing I can do."

The Carisen envoy group knew he was the emperor and that the bodyguard captain was among the guards, but the Tarium officials wouldn't know. However, even with Hysinth's broad understanding, the bodyguard captain's expression didn't improve.

"Your Majesty, I'm still worried. We don't know what Duke Daga will do, and whether it's wise to leave your seat for such a distant place..."

"I left it open for him to act."

"Excuse me?"

"I left it open because he was hesitating to move."

"!"

The corners of Hysinth's lips curved up softly under the black hat on his cloak.

"Besides, I really wanted to come once."

"Because of the Emperor of Latrasil?"

Hysinth, instead of answering, walked out of the corridor and started walking somewhere. The bodyguard captain, puzzled, followed Hysinth but, feeling uneasy about where the emperor was heading, finally couldn't hold back and asked again.

"Your Majesty? Where are you going?"

This time, he got an answer.

"To the harem."

"Your, Your Majesty!"

* * *

"Is this okay...?"

The bodyguard captain asked cautiously as they walked through the harem garden. He didn't know much about the Latrasil emperor but knew that she had executed her half-brother upon ascending the throne and locked up her father's favorite concubine in a tower. If she was that scary, wouldn't she dislike her ex-lover meeting her current concubines? However, Hysinth wanted to see the concubines in Latil's harem, about whom the nobles of other countries gossiped.

"Your Majesty..."

Just as the bodyguard captain was pleading with Hysinth in a small voice, Hysinth, who had been walking silently, stopped and stared at something. What he was looking at was a man with an angelic face and tiger-like muscles, whose aura was not ordinary.

"That must be the high priest."

Hysinth, upon seeing the angelic face and tiger muscles, immediately identified him and muttered.

"That one?"

"The features match."

Hysinth, after speaking, walked over and instructed the bodyguard captain.

"Don't follow me."

The bodyguard captain reached out his hand toward Hysinth but quickly lowered it, looking worriedly at his back. Meanwhile, Hysinth had almost reached the high priest. What was he planning to do? The bodyguard captain, growing anxious, couldn't blink. Of course, Emperor Hysinth, unlike Prince Klein, was calm and calculating, so he wouldn't cause a big incident. Moreover, with Prince Klein here, if someone saw them, they would think the Carisen envoys had come to meet Prince Klein. Still, being in the heart of another country, the bodyguard captain, responsible for Hysinth's safety, kept feeling anxious. Eventually, the bodyguard captain moved a bit closer, preparing to intervene if anything happened.

"Excuse me."

While the bodyguard captain was doing this, Hysinth, who had reached the high priest, called out to him openly.

"Yes?"

The high priest, who had been picking up fallen petals, answered without any arrogance when Hysinth called him.

"What is it?"

Indeed, what was he here for? The bodyguard captain swallowed hard, waiting for Hysinth's excuse.

"I'm feeling a bit dizzy and having trouble walking."

Surprisingly, Hysinth's excuse was quite reasonable.

"If it's okay..."

He seemed to be about to add something. At least, that's how it looked to the bodyguard captain. But the rest of his words didn't come out. Before Hysinth could finish, the high priest, saying "Oh, is that so?" grabbed Hysinth's leg with one hand.

'Oh no, Your Majesty!'

The bodyguard captain, taken aback by the unexpected situation, almost reached out to Hysinth. Hysinth, too, looked surprised when the high priest grabbed his leg with a large hand.

"I'm the one who's in pain, and it's my head."

However, the high priest, massaging Hysinth's leg confidently, muttered, "Hmm, your legs are fine," and then, after standing up from his crouched position, lifted Hysinth up.

"!"

The bodyguard captain's eyes widened.

"Hey."

Hysinth, with a much lower voice than before, called out to the high priest, but the high priest only asked kindly.

"Where to? I'll take you there."

He was a kind but really clueless person. Hysinth couldn't let the high priest take him away, so just as the bodyguard captain was about to step in,

"Oh? Isn't that Sir Rosetta?"

Another clueless person appeared. The bodyguard captain, recognizing the familiar voice behind him, quickly turned around.

"Is that Sir Rosetta?"

Indeed, it was Prince Klein. Just at this moment.

"What's going on here? Don't tell me. You followed the envoy group?"

He followed, with His Majesty. Prince Klein, looking very pleased, spoke, but the bodyguard captain found it hard to answer. He didn't know if Hysinth would tell Prince Klein about his visit. Just as his answer was delayed, Prince Klein, saying "Oops," grabbed the bodyguard captain's arm and whispered.

"Shouldn't the bodyguard of the Emperor of Carisen be a secret here?"

When a clueless person pretends to be perceptive, things get more complicated. That's what happened now. Before the bodyguard captain could say anything, Prince Klein pulled him closer.

"Your Highness, I..."

The flustered bodyguard captain quickly glanced at the emperor for help.

"!"

But he was gone. Hysinth was nowhere to be seen, having been carried away by the high priest.

'Your Majesty!'

* * *

Hysinth's arrival made Latil even more active and proactive in his daily routine. He wanted to show that he wasn't being swayed by Hysinth. Wanting to show this was a sign of being swayed, but it was better than doing nothing and just shouting, "Why are you here, Hysinth!" in anger. At least, that's what Latil thought. After completing the tasks he had set for the day,

"Where are the envoys from Carisen staying?"

Latil, standing up from his desk, asked coldly. Now that his work was done, he needed to lock Hysinth in a room and confront him about his sudden appearance.

"Over here."

However, Hysinth was not in the lodging where the Carisen envoy group was staying. He checked every room, but Hysinth was nowhere to be found. The problem didn't end there.

"Where is your emperor?"

"Excuse me?"

"There's no need to lie. You came together."

Unable to find Hysinth, Latil finally asked directly, and the envoy, flustered, lied.

"Your Majesty is already asleep."

And through the envoy's lie, an even more astonishing thought was heard.

[What should I do? The high priest took the emperor and hasn't returned...]

[Should I tell the truth and ask for help?]

Latil's expression twisted. What was this? Where was Hysinth? Who took whom?