Chapter 21 - The Welin Empire

Ortmann Castle, West part of Vialeth Continent

A lady wearing a veil was leisurely walking towards the entrance gate.

She was nearing the gate when the two guards crossed their spears to blocked her. Of course, the lady was none other than Louise.

"This is Emperor Renart's main residence. Outsiders are not allowed to enter."

"Oh, apologies, apologies."

She smiled and waved her hand, and a token appeared.

The other guard took the token and scrutinized it. Suddenly his face turned pale, and he returned the token before bowing his head.

"No, we should be the one apologizing. You may enter, my lady."

"Well then, thank you very much."

Louise walked past them, but the two guards didn't dare to turn their heads.

One of the guards, Number two, suddenly asked the other.

"Hey, Number one, Ahem... I'm sorry, but the lady just now, may I ask who she was? Weren't we instructed not to allow any random stranger? So then why did you permit her?"

Number one glared at him.

"Haven't you seen the token that she presented?"

"Yes?"

Number 1 slapped his forehead.

"Seriously now, I'm very thankful that I'm the one who checked the token, or else we would be dead by now."

He sighed and looked at Number 2 with some helplessness as he continued to explain.

"Now listen here; the token that the lady presented was no ordinary one. The image carved on it is an emblem of the royal family."

"Eh!?" Number two was shocked then lowered his voice to ask, "Then, does that mean that she was a royalty?"

"Well...I'm not sure either," Number one said.

"Huh?"

"I saw the image of that token once when the captain of the royal guards was discussing to us whom we should allow seeing the emperor."

"And?"

"Well, hers was a special one. I heard that in the whole empire, Emperor Renart only gave it to one person."

*******

Emperor Renart was currently sitting on his throne, listening non-stop to the reports of his subordinates. Though he's only in his early 20's, he exuded a mature aura that made him unapproachable. A monarch with a handsome appearance, having blue hair and blue eyes.

When the morning session ended, all his officers left except Count Bernard Charleston, a middle-aged man with gray hair and one of the emperor's trusted subordinates.

Emperor Renart sighed and lampooned.

"Tsk.., I'm tired of this monarch job."

His earlier countenance as an aloof ruler disappeared into thin air, replacing it with a lazy person. He rested his hand on his cheek while yawning.

"Now, now your imperial majesty, it's not a good thing to badmouth your job. But, unfortunately, there's a lot of people who aim for it, and here you are complaining."

"Well, I could just give it to them if they wanted to," Renart casually shrugged his shoulder, then turned to the Count.

"Do you know how many headaches I'm experiencing because of this job?"

"Your Imperial---"

"Hey, I don't want to hear any nagging at this moment, please," Emperor Renart cut off Count Bernard and raised his hand, "I'm wondering where is that girl right now."

"That girl?"

"Oh common, I'm talking about that arrogant girl who idles and travels around."

"Well, excuse me for being arrogant," a beautiful female voice was heard, which startled the Count.

The emperor stared at the figure of the girl slowly appearing before them.

"Oh, you are here."

The Count stared at the figure of a girl with a veil covering her face. The lady, of course, was none other than Louise. She looked at the emperor while raising her brows.

"Badmouthing your job was already a bad thing, and now you are even talking bad behind my back."

"Eavesdropping was not good either. However, your skills on it are quite impressive," the emperor replied.

"For some reason, my hearing is good when I hear someone criticizing me. It's quite amazing."

This time, the Count interrupted their conversation and asked with some confusion.

"Excuse me, your majesty, this lady here is?"

*****

Since only the three of them, the emperor invited Bernard and Louise to the courtyard near the session hall. They all sat and started some casual conversation.

Emperor Renart introduced her.

"She was a good friend of the royal family. Her name is Louise Von Royall."

"I see, then please to meet you, my lady."

The Count lightly bowed his head to give a proper courtesy. Louise asked while smiling at him,

"What do you mean? It is not the first time that we have seen each other."

Count Bernard looked at her with some puzzlement. Then he saw the young lady slapped her forehead.

"Oh, looked at my poor memory. I always met you when I visited the Welin empire in the past."

"My memory is still fresh, my lady. I knew this was the first time that we met."

Louise's eyes turned crescent, and she stared at the Count.

"Of course, because I always erased your memories, so why would you remember me. Am I right, imperial majesty?"

"Ah?"

Count Bernard was a bit late in his reaction as his attention turned from Louise and the emperor.

He saw emperor Renart casually nodded and smiled at him, then he heard the sound of flicking a finger.

"Alright, it's also good to see you Count Bernard. But I wasted a bit of my time here already, so, would you mind looking into my eyes?"

The Count turned his head, and he heard Louise's melodious voice.

"You only saw the emperor. Got it?"

After hearing this command, the Count's eyes turned blank as he slumped on the table.

"Aren't you getting tired of erasing his memory every time you came here?" Renart asked.

Louise casually shrugged and spoke.

"It's his luck to keep on bumping to me whenever I came here."

"Isn't your fault for appearing here without prior notice?"

"I'm too busy to do that. Anyways, I'll see you at the forbidden garden."

After saying her piece, the mage immediately vanished from her seat.

After a while, Count Bernard's consciousness returned, but he felt that his back and neck were aching for some reason.

He jolted and saw the emperor was watching him with amusement.

Why is he here? The last thing that he remembered was he was with other officials presenting their reports to the emperor and, and after that? For some reason, he really can't remember.

He stood up and apologized non-stop to the monarch. He wanted to dig a hole right now and bury himself. He was not even sure why he was sleeping in front of the emperor.

Renart casually waved his hand and heartily laughed.

"You don't have to apologize, my dear Count. I thought that you were exhausted. That is why when you suddenly fell asleep in front of me, I let you."

"Your majesty, I--"

"You go home and rest. I don't like to hear rumors that I'm working you to death. It's bad for my reputation."

"Thank you, your majesty." The Count bowed again and left without hesitation.

"Oh," he slapped his forehead, "I forgot to have him escorted. What a good emperor. Tsk. Tsk. never mind, it's not like I did it on purpose."

He pulled out a talisman from his pocket and leisurely tore it to pieces before vanishing.