A few days ago, when it became known what happened in Whitemond, only the people involved met to come to a conclusion.
But today, when the official meeting was held, even people who were not directly involved attended to discuss the matter.
Of course, all the people who were not directly involved were from the Western Empire, so if things with Whitemond were not resolved well, they would also be affected in some way as well.
That was probably why the attendees were enthusiastic and strongly held various opinions throughout the meeting.
"Even if this incident is resolved without much trouble, you never know when Whitemond will betray us again. We have to attack before we're attacked!
"What is the need to create a conflict? First, let's observe how the situation develops."
"Do you mean to say that action must be taken after disaster strikes? What about our people who will lose their lives in the process?"
"If we go to war when nothing has happened yet, what crime will the innocent people of Whitemond have committed?"
"If the people of the Western Empire or the people of Whitemond have to be sacrificed, of course it must be the people of Whitemond. We are of the Western Empire!"
"This is not a simple problem with Whitemond. This is a fight between a country that disapproves of our self-proclamation as an empire and a country that must establish itself as such!
"It is time to show our status and power as an Empire. Whitemond must be used as an example!"
They talk about war with ease.
Well. Even if the people of Whitemond felt uncomfortable, they should have communicated with the Western Empire first. Why did they suddenly arrest the team passing by?
I could barely keep my lips from twitching, as I wanted to express my opinion.
It was delicate for me to intervene in a problem between countries when I had been here for less than a year, so I had to be careful with my words.
The people of the Western Empire still considered me a foreigner.
Fortunately, the topic of the meeting changed after a long discussion, and thereafter the tense atmosphere calmed down somewhat.
But when the meeting was about to end.
A nobleman raised his hand to ask to speak. McKenna, who was in charge of the meeting, gave him permission to do so.
The nobleman hesitated and took several steps forward.
Why was he shaking so much? Was this his first time? MMaybe he was a new official.
I looked for a moment at the man whose name and face I didn't remember, then lowered my gaze as I thought of other things.
However, I looked back at the trembling official upon hearing his unexpected words,
"It is rumored that the Emperor of the Eastern Empire divorced Her Majesty Navier because she is infertile."
Naturally, I frowned. As I looked at him with narrowed eyes, the official's trembling became more intense.
Why was he shaking so much?
"Of course, I don't believe in an absurd rumor like that."
If he didn't believe it, he wouldn't bring that up here.
"But it is a very frightful and important rumor, so I felt I should ask the Empress if it was true."
The nobleman, clasped his hands, stared at me and asked as if he was going to cry,
"Your Majesty the Empress, is the rumor true?"
While it was this nobleman who addressed me, it was probably someone else who persuaded him to ask such a question.
Naturally, my gaze fell on Marquis Ketron. Christa's cousin.
Marquis Ketron looked at me with the corners of his lips turned up.
When our eyes met, his smile widened.
"Of course not."
At my firm reply, his smile became even stranger.
On the contrary, Heinley had an icy expression.
Once the meeting was over, I deliberately approached Marquis Ketron.
The nobles who were conversing with him greeted me hastily and left instantly.
Marquis Ketron greeted me calmly and boldly.
I suppose the Marquis had no intention of hiding the fact that he had asked a low-status official to bring up the rumor of my infertility. His face seemed to say, 'I did it.'
Did he know he had a truly wicked and insidious smile?
Instead of accepting his greeting, I said flatly in a low voice,
"Even if I were infertile, the next empress would not be from your family."
"What do you mean…?"
"No matter how much you cling to false hopes, it is useless."
Marquis Ketron frowned. It seemed that he did not expect me to speak so bluntly.
He also opened his mouth. From his expression, it was obvious that he wanted to say something that would make me angry. Alright, I'm ready.
But before Marquis Ketron could speak, a long spear passed by me from behind.
Marquis Ketron quickly reached out his hand and grabbed the spear, stopping it just before it struck him in the forehead.
It was a Knight of the Imperial Guard standing behind Heinley who threw the spear.
The knight was surprised and hurried to apologize to Heinley,
"I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it. It's possible to make a mistake."
He might have made a mistake, but in this case, wouldn't it be Marquis Ketron, who was about to be struck by the spear, to whom he should be apologizing?
Perhaps thinking the same, Marquis Ketron showed an expression of disgust.
"You really like to take revenge like a child."
Finally angry, he spat out some words that I did not know against whom they were directed, politely said goodbye and left the meeting room first.
While I was taking a bath, I remembered what Marquis Ketron had said through another official.
Leaving aside what he intended to accomplish with his words. Was such a rumor really circulating? Why hadn't I heard about it before?
If such a rumor was going around, Nian or my ladies-in-waiting would have told me.
So then did Marquis Ketron make it up? Why would the Marquis make up such a rumor? Did he really make it up or did someone tell him about it?
Was it Rashta or a noble of the Eastern Empire? I don't think it was Sovieshu.
The Marquis would not have made up a rumor that did not exist at all. Mainly, because the risk of doing so was too great.
For that reason, he also created two safety measures, 'speak through someone else' and 'speak as if you don't believe the rumor'.
I think I spent too much time thinking. Before I knew it, the warm water had gone cold.
After getting out of the bathtub, I toweled my body dry, put on a robe, and left the bathroom.
I stood in front of the mirror to towel dry my hair as well. Meanwhile, I could see Heinley sitting in an armchair through the mirror.
He had a serious expression, with his head bowed and not even moving a muscle. He had been like that for a while.
I wrapped my hair in the towel, pulled it back, and walked over to him.
"What are you doing?"
I noticed he was reading an encyclopedia of fish.
…Does he like fish because he's a bird?
"You like fish?"
I asked, finding it lovely that he was reading an encyclopedia of fish so intently.
Heinley was slow to come to as he was immersed in the encyclopedia, and smiled mysteriously,
"Ah. I'm getting ready to fish. I saw a rather large fish prowling around today."
"Do you like fishing?"
"Very much."
Why does he look so evil if he's smiling sweetly?
I reached out to touch Heinley's cheek. Then he rubbed his cheek against my palm.
"I'll cook you a delicious fish after I go fishing, Queen. I hope the Marquis suits your taste."
The Marquis?
292In the Western Empire, there was no rumor of Navier's infertility. But from now on, everyone would start talking about it.
Marquis Ketron chuckled with satisfaction. The seeds had been well sown.
It was not possible to know in a day or two if the Empress was infertile or not, so as time went on the doubt would grow, strengthening the rumor to the point where it would get out of control and take care of the rest on its own.
Until then, he just had to be patient.
A few days later, Marquis Ketron began to investigate the reason for Koshar's exile from the Eastern Empire.
Currently, it was difficult to attack Koshar because of his enormous popularity, but once the rumor of Navier's infertility spread, a very interesting scenario could be seen.
But in the midst of the investigation.
"Marquis, I heard an incredible rumor."
His subordinate, sent to investigate Koshar, returned with an unexpected rumor.
It was a rumor of a hidden mistress of Emperor Heinley.
"Hidden mistress?"
"Yes. It is said that a Knight of the Imperial Guard often goes to her house to bring her whatever she needs. Also, there is always a plain-clothed guard in front of the door."
"Are you sure?"
It was a believable rumor.
Prince Heinley was the most famous playboy in high society next to Duke Elgy.
He went about the world leading a life of debauchery, but apparently he had only one hidden mistress. In fact, it was more incredible that he only had one hidden mistress.
"She recently moved to a nearby town, and when she found out that His Majesty Heinley had married, she acted strangely and burst into tears."
Marquis Ketron frowned.
"It is equally curious. His Majesty is the kind of person who doesn't care about rumors that circulate about him. What need does he have to keep her hidden?"
"I don't know. Perhaps she is not a mistress of the past but of the present. There's also the fact that the Emperor went to the trouble of sending a Knight of the Imperial Guard to take care of her and…"
"You're right. It's quite likely."
After careful thought, Marquis Ketron personally went with his subordinate to the town where that woman lived.
After waiting for nine hours hiding near her house, a knight in a cloak actually appeared and extended to the woman a basket covered with a white cloth.
"Thank you as always."
The woman was grateful, but accepted the basket as if it were something natural.
Marquis Ketron held his breath.
The knight who brought her the basket was a Knight of the Heinley Imperial Guard, and the man in front of the door dressed in plain clothes… was definitely also a Knight of the Heinley Imperial Guard.
The Marquis clearly remembered his face because he was nearly struck by the spear he 'accidentally' threw at the last meeting.
'A woman who lives in hiding and two Knights of the Imperial Guard!'
A dark smile spread across Marquis Ketron's face. His smile darkened even more when a handsome blond child ran out from inside the house towards the woman.
Marquis Ketron, who had observed the situation for several days, finally decided to approach her.
At first, she was very suspicious of Marquis Ketron's intentions, but when he revealed his identity and offered to help her after expressing all sorts of comforting words, such as 'I know what you're going through', she let him into the house albeit with some hesitation.
"Is the blond child your son?"
"Yes. He's my son."
"By any chance… is he His Majesty's son?"
"… I think so."
Marquis Ketron was delighted.
"Then why are you staying here? Why don't you take the child to the Imperial Palace?"
"I don't want to be a nuisance to His Majesty. He's newly married…"
"That's right. If you appear out of nowhere and claim to be his mistress, His Majesty will act puzzled. If His Majesty doesn't recognize you, no one will."
The woman took out a beautiful pendant and whispered,
"His Majesty gave it to me as a token of love, even if I have this will everyone think I'm lying?"
Marquis Ketron rejoiced inwardly. In fact, the pendant had the emblem of the imperial family.
A woman he had dated in the past and had been close enough to give her a pendant with the emblem of the imperial family.
Marquis Ketron chuckled inwardly, calculating that this woman would be extremely useful.
"Can you give me that pendant? I'd like to show it to His Majesty."
However, the woman pocketed the pendant and drew a line coolly,
"Why should I trust the Marquis?"
Marquis Ketron tried to persuade the woman a couple of times, but seeing that it wouldn't work, he offered her his own emblem. It was his family's emblem.
"Take this. Let's exchange emblems later."
Only after receiving the Ketron Family emblem did the woman give him the pendant.
Once he returned to the capital, he met alone with Heinley to discuss the rumor of Navier's infertility.
"I don't think that's the case, but if it turns out that the empress is actually infertile…"
"That won't happen."
"I speak in a hypothetical case, Your Majesty. You must be careful not to get carried away by emotions in such an important matter."
"…"
"If the Empress is infertile, will you choose the next empress from my family?"
"Whether or not I let myself be carried away by emotions, the next empress will not be from your family."
"But Your Majesty will not want the Empress to be injured by the same thing twice."
"It definitely won't happen, Marquis."
At Heinley's categorical refusal, Marquis Ketron showed a feigned smile.
But as soon as he returned home, he decided to reveal to the world the existence of the woman Heinley had hidden.
"Will that be all right?"
"There is a great risk in revealing that the child is of the imperial family. Although she believes that her son is His Majesty's, there is no certainty of that. However, isn't that woman undoubtedly His Majesty's mistress? At least that's how others will see it."
Marquis Ketron visited the woman with confidence and suggested,
"Don't you want to return to His Majesty's side? I set the stage. You only have to reveal at that time that you are His Majesty's mistress. Then, you will also be able to enjoy all that the current empress enjoys."
"I'm not that greedy."
"It's about taking what is rightfully yours. Not just receive some baskets."
She thought about it for a moment before murmuring gratefully.
Two days later, on the day of the State Council, Marquis Ketron brought the woman with an expression of satisfaction.
293When Heinley looked at the woman in surprise, Marquis Ketron's satisfaction grew.
'He's an insolent brat. This wouldn't have happened if he had listened to me earlier.' Marquis Ketron muttered sarcastically, though inwardly.
It would have been more fun if the empress had been present on this occasion, but she was unable to attend the state council because she was too busy with other matters.
With every step the woman took towards the center, she attracted more attention from those present.
Unlike what Marquis Ketron expected, Heinley acted as if he knew the woman,
"Long time no see, Lady Aliya."
"My name is Meliya, Your Majesty."
"Forget that part."
However, Marquis Ketron considered this situation much better.
Seeing that they had a pleasant conversation in front of everyone, people would believe even more in the old love between Heinley and the woman.
"Well. Lady Meliya. What brings you here?"
When Heinley asked calmly, Marquis Ketron bit his lips to hide his smile.
"I came here on a prior promise with Marquis Ketron."
But upon hearing the woman's reply, Marquis Ketron's good mood halved.
'What nonsense she is saying…! While it is true that I brought her here, how can she openly say that I was the one who encouraged her to do this!'
Heinley's gaze fell on Marquis Ketron.
"What did he promise you?"
"It's hard to say here. I can let you know exactly what he promised me in private. But he didn't keep his promise, he forced me to do absurd things that annoyed me and then he discarded me. That's why I'm here."
Marquis Ketron was stunned. What was this woman talking about now?
The woman acted as if there was some kind of agreement between herself and the Marquis.
The attention of those present turned to Marquis Ketron as they heard these significant words.
The Marquis could stand it no longer and stepped forward, speaking in as calm a tone as possible,
"That young lady claimed to be the mistress of His Majesty the Emperor. I considered it probable, so I promised to bring her before His Majesty. I thought I had kept my promise by bringing her here. But it seems the young lady does not think the same."
As soon as he finished speaking the woman rushed at Marquis Ketron, shouting, "Traitor!"
But the knights stopped the woman before she could reach the Marquis.
"What the hell is wrong with you!?"
Marquis Ketron shouted angrily, and the woman exclaimed while showing the Ketron Family emblem.
"You promised me, you even gave me this, are you trying to pass me off as a mad woman in front of His Majesty? You are truly cruel!"
Marquis Ketron's ears turned red as those present began to murmur.
The Marquis clenched his teeth. He could show everyone the necklace with Prince Heinley's emblem, but then it would be clear that he had encouraged her to go against Heinley.
Once the State Council was over, Marquis Ketron angrily approached the woman.
"What the hell did you do?"
The woman smiled nonchalantly and replied,
"I did what you wanted. Just pointed it in another direction."
She had a really calm and confident demeanor. She seemed firmly convinced of her actions, not even afraid to cause a stir at the State Council.
Back at home, Marquis Ketron realized he had fallen into a trap and immediately went to Heinley's office.
"Was it a trap of Your Majesty's? That woman was your subordinate?"
At Marquis Ketron's forceful words, Heinley's eyes widened enormously as if to say, 'What are you talking about?'
He had such a puzzled expression that Marquis Ketron thought for a moment, 'Was I wrong?'
Marquis Ketron was silent due to uncertainty.
Keeping that expression, Heinley pulled the Ketron Family emblem from his pocket.
"That's it!"
Still wide-eyed, Heinley passed the emblem three times in front of the Marquis's face, and smiled broadly as he put it back in his pocket.
"Your Majesty!"
"Many people are curious. They want to know what exactly is the relationship between that woman and Marquis Ketron, what did the Marquis promise her, etc. What should I do? What should I answer, Marquis?"
Marquis Ketron ground his teeth angrily. But he could not answer.
Heinley winked at him and patted him twice on the shoulder.
"While I think about what answer to give, you should also think about your behavior from now on."
Heinley muttered and left first. For his part, the marquis shouted and stomped his foot heavily on the floor.
As McKenna stood in the corridor waiting for Heinley, he clicked his tongue as he heard the shout come from the office.
"He tried to harm Your Majesty once again, he should be thankful he's still intact. What an idiot, right?"
"Magic, family, talent as a diplomat, I wouldn't hesitate to replace him if he lacked one of these three. It's a shame."
Heinley also clicked his tongue and handed the emblem to McKenna,
"This will be his last chance."
Heinley then acknowledged the great work of the Knight of the Imperial Guard who had thrown the spear at Marquis Ketron and guarded the woman's house for weeks.
Once again, Viscount and Viscountess Isqua bullied Evely.
She had been invited to a tea party by the distinguished guests of the Southern Palace, but there they were too.
Viscount and Viscountess Isqua seemed very polite, perhaps because of the people present in the place, but they did tease Evely occasionally.
Birds of the same feather always fly together, even those who had been kind to Evely in the end were also nobles, so when Viscount and Viscountess Isqua made insulting jokes about Evely's status, they laughed instead of stopping them.
Evely realized that the kindness of the distinguished guests of the Southern Palace had not been as sincere as she thought. They only acted like high-status nobles giving alms to a 'nice commoner'.
Depressed, Evely returned to her room and untied the ribbon at the top of her dress with one hand as if to rip it off.
After undressing as if removing a suffocating coat, she hurried into the bathroom.
As she bathed, Evely realized she was missing the necklace she always wore.
"My necklace!"
Evely came out of the bathroom with a towel, without drying herself completely, and looked for it among her clothes, under the bed, under the rug, etc.
But the necklace was nowhere to be found.
After dressing, she headed back to the tea party, but it wasn't there either.
"Tsk!"
Evely clicked her tongue, went back to her room and pounded on the table.
She always wore it. She didn't know when, where, or how it disappeared. Seeing that it wasn't in her room, she thought maybe she hadn't lost it today.
Evely, who was furious, suddenly noticed something strange.
'Huh?'
Evely calmed down and checked her own body for mana.
She could feel the mana how the mana circulated through her body, it was little, but her mana had returned.
'How?'
When she wore the necklace, she did not feel anything no matter how hard she tried to check it before going to sleep.
She didn't know the reason then, but upon checking it now, it seemed that the mana that had returned to her body was so little that it was buried under the mana in the necklace, so it couldn't be distinguished.
However, now that she didn't have the necklace, she could tell that her mana had returned.
Evely jumped for joy, and ran to the court mage.
"Mage! My mana is back!"
The mage, who had told her not to run through the corridors of the Imperial Palace, shouted with happiness. The two embraced each other with great joy.
The court mage took a while to come to his senses and asked in surprise,
"How? When did it return?"
"I don't know. The necklace I was wearing was a mana necklace. I also don't know exactly when the mana returned because that necklace suppressed it."
"Mana necklace?"
"Yes."
"Did that necklace return your mana?"
"I don't know."
Evely shook her head sadly.
"Besides, I lost the necklace. I don't know if it was stolen or I dropped it."
"I will speak to the Emperor to have his subordinates search everywhere for it."
The court mage assured her clever assistant. Then, he went straight to Sovieshu's office, told him what happened and asked,
"So Your Majesty, please send your subordinates to search every corner of the Imperial Palace to find Evely's necklace. If that necklace really helped Evely regain her mana, it might also help solve the phenomenon of mage decline."
Sovieshu raised his eyebrows, took out a small box from a drawer and held it out to him,
"Could this be it?"
294Inside the box was a precious jeweled necklace. It was Evely's necklace that Rashta had supposedly picked up at the Southern Palace. Sovieshu had intended to give it to her earlier, but he was so busy with work that he had forgotten about it.
"Take a look at it."
The court mage politely accepted the box handed over by Sovieshu with both hands.
The mage examined the necklace like a hungry dog while Sovieshu watched his gaze intently.
Eventually, the court mage's complexion brightened.
"I don't know if this is Evely's necklace, but it certainly contains mana."
"Take it away and ask Evely if it's hers."
"Yes."
"In case it is hers, borrow it from her to study."
"And if it's not hers…"
Sovieshu remembered Rashta, who had asked him if he gave this necklace to Evely, and answered simply,
"Yes it is."
He sounded confident. The court mage bowed to Sovieshu and left. Then went to Evely.
Evely anxiously awaited the mage's return to his laboratory with his other assistants, and approached as soon as he entered.
"What did His Majesty say? Will he help me?"
"Here, look for yourself."
The mage held out the box. Evely took it quickly and screamed at the sight of the necklace. She was so happy that she even stomped heavily on the floor, and asked,
"How did you get it so quickly?"
"It seems His Majesty had picked it up."
"What? This?"
Why would the Emperor pick up a lost necklace in the Southern Palace? Evely found it strange, but didn't ask the details. She imagined what had happened just by thinking about it a little, but she didn't want to confirm this unpleasant fact.
"In any case, this is good, Evely. If this necklace really has restored your mana, then you can get the rest back!"
This was what really mattered now.
When the court mage exclaimed excitedly, Evely clenched her fist and nodded,
"Yes!"
"Other mages might as well get their mana back."
Evely put her fist to her chest. Her heart was beating fast. She was very happy.
For a mage to lose mana was terribly painful and desperate. Evely knew this very well, so she wanted to be of help to mages in her same situation.
"I hope so."
After these words from Evely, another court mage's assistant, who had reached over to grab the necklace, suddenly cried out in pain.
Evely paused and looked in his direction. The senior assistant swayed as if struck by lightning.
"Senior Assistant?"
Before she could ask, 'What happened to you?' He fell to the floor with a thud. It occurred in the blink of an eye. The sound of his head hitting the ground echoed violently, like an old tree falling.
"Asuya!"
The court mage ran in terror to his disciple and shook his shoulders desperately.
"Asuya! What's wrong? Hey!"
The court mage repeatedly shouted his disciple's name before nervously placing his hands on the desk. Without thinking, he took several books and placed them under his disciple's head. He unbuttoned the stifling buttons and rolled up his sleeves, but he was still unconscious.
"Evely, get the doctor!"
"Yes!"
Evely, surprised and bewildered, hurried out of the laboratory.
The mana stone in the necklace, which was thrown to the ground, glowed and darkened, but neither Evely nor the court mage had seen the scene.
The fallen disciple woke up after a whole day.
Although he had hit his head hard when he fell, fortunately nothing happened to him. He had a bruise around his shoulder blade, but it was not serious either.
A horrible truth awaited him. The loss of his mana.
He had been competent enough to be an assistant to a court mage, and was full of passion for magic. However, in this short period of time, all his mana had disappeared.
"It can't be!"
The assistant fainted again from the shock.
Upon being informed of the incident, Sovieshu went to visit him immediately and did his best to comfort the desperate assistant.
The assistant was touched by the emperor's personal support, but he could not stop from falling into despair. For him, who had lived as a mage all his life, he felt empty at the loss of mana.
Sovieshu promised the assistant,
"I will definitely find out the cause and return your mana."
In fact, he worked on it relentlessly from that day on.
He first sent for Evely and the court mage, as well as the other assistants, to hear each one's version of what happened.
Although they all witnessed the same, each would remember it from their own perspective. Therefore, Sovieshu intended to put together an objective account of the different points of view.
Having reached this conclusion, Sovieshu called Evely again. She had brought the necklace that originated this incident, so she had to clarify where it came from.
"Who 'exactly' gave you the necklace?"
"The dean."
"He didn't say anything special when he gave it to you?"
"He just said that wearing the mana necklace could help me feel the mana…"
After Evely left, Sovieshu called one of his secretaries and ordered,
"Go to the academy to talk to the dean. Find out about the provenance of Evely's necklace."
295That which is prepared in advance works best.
Heinley's birthday was no different. It was still a few months away, but I began to think about the gift.
Heinley insisted on taking a bath together, but that was out of the question.
At tea parties, the nobles would no doubt ask me, 'What gift did you prepare for His Majesty?'
'I will take a bath with His Majesty. I will be his gift, wet and covered in bubbles.' I couldn't answer something like that, right?
It was very indecent just thinking about it.
It was not a random assumption. The nobles would want to avoid giving the same gift as me, so they would definitely ask me this.
I really needed a gift that I could talk about with confidence when someone asked me what gift I had prepared for Heinley…
A true gift, a gift I could tell others about… What could it be?
After much thought, I finally decided.
A cake. Make him a birthday cake.
When I made him the omelet, Heinley was delighted.
I won't give him just a cake as a gift, but I know he'll be very happy if I add a cake to his gift.
Just the thought of his bright expression made me feel pleased. I rubbed my chest with one hand as I tried to calm my racing heart.
Once I made up my mind, I knew clearly what I needed to do next.
Seek my mother's help. I'll bake him a cake in the Eastern Empire style, Troby Family style.
When my father, brother and I had birthdays, my mother would bake the cake for us to cut in the morning.
It was very strange. My mother didn't like to cook, but she always baked a cake for our birthday, and it was very delicious. I wanted Heinley to try it too.
Coincidentally, my mother was still with me in the imperial palace. Isn't it great? So I immediately went to my mother and asked her for the cake recipe.
"The cake recipe?"
My mother's eyes widened slightly at my request, as if she had no idea why I wanted this. Soon, my mother smiled broadly.
"You don't like to cook, Navier."
"It's for Heinley's birthday, mother. I want it to be a special memory just like it was for us."
"Heinley loves you very much. He won't want you to cook for him if you don't like it."
"Mother, Heinley doesn't know. Besides, it's not that I don't like to cook."
I just preferred not to.
My mother put on an indifferent expression at my words.
"Well. I don't know if you should do that."
But after I repeatedly asked her for the recipe for her special cake, she finally relented, pulled out a piece of paper and wrote something in detail.
"Done. Just do what is written here."
The ingredients and the steps to follow were written on the paper.
"Thank you."
After thanking my mother several times, I borrowed Heinley's kitchen, and practiced baking the cake.
I beat the mixture until my arms were tired and then made the whipped cream.
However, the finished cake tasted completely different from my mother's cake.
I tried a couple more times, but the result was the same.
Finally, I went back to my mother to ask her to make it.
"Mother, the cake doesn't taste the same to me like yours does."
"Did you do it exactly as I wrote it?"
"I followed the steps and ingredients to the letter, but the taste is completely different."
"…"
I handed her back the recipe she had given me and asked,
"Mother, could you show me how to make it?"
My mother looked at the recipe I handed back to her with a cold expression. She looked like she was about to open her mouth and say, 'You can't even make this…?'
But no matter how long I waited, my mother remained silent.
"Mother?"
When I called her because I couldn't wait any longer, my mother sighed and confessed.
"Actually, the cake was made by the chef."
What?
Her words were so shocking that I thought I had misheard.
Who was it that made the cake? The chef?
"Mother, you didn't make that cake for our birthdays…"
"No, it was the chef."
I looked at my mother puzzled. My mother still had a blank expression, but she didn't look me in the eye. Then she turned to the side, and asked me as if it was normal,
"Navier, you want to see His Majesty happily eat 'your own cake', right?"
"Yes, Mother."
"Get a delicious cake and say you made it yourself. That's what you must do."
"…"
"Think about it. Eat a tasteless cake made by you, or eat a delicious cake that he thinks is made by you. What would make His Majesty happier?"
In the end, my mother smiled and patted me on the back, saying that I should keep it a secret from my father.
While Navier was shocked by the truth she had just learned, Team Bizzarri arrived in the capital of the Eastern Empire after departing days earlier from the Western Empire.
Pirence Danju of Team Bizzarri, entered the Bear Corporation headquarters.
"Welcome!"
The people of the Bear Corporation, whom he had contacted beforehand, greeted him politely.
But they didn't seem to do so out of respect for Team Bizarri; instead, they greeted him with excessive politeness to demonstrate the greatness of the Bear Corporation.
At least that's what Pirence Danju felt.
"Haha, thanks for the hospitality!"
However, despite feeling uncomfortable, Pirence Danju did not express it at all. On the contrary, he raised his voice and laughed as if he was very happy.
In another circumstance, he would have said with a tone of sarcasm, 'Why don't you guys act normal?', but today he had something important to do.
It was a secret request.
Actually, the request itself was not that difficult, but he was nervous because it was from Empress Navier.
"The president is waiting for you in the reception room."
As he looked inside, the Bear Corporation President's secretary approached and kindly guided him in.
When he entered the reception room, he saw the President of the Bear Corporation sitting at the desk with the necessary documents for the meeting laid out on it.
The two exchanged greetings and a few words of courtesy.
Soon after, they discussed a number of issues with the purpose of reaching an agreement at this meeting.
Near the end, the President of the Bear Corporation of the Eastern Empire handed him a promissory note in exchange for the purchase of special jewels from the Western Empire.
"Hmm…"
Pirence Danju accepted the promissory note, and examined it carefully. It was to verify its authenticity.
He usually acted this way, so the President of the Bear Corporation just drank a little of his drink, although he was offended.
However, his behavior turned out to be different than usual as time went on. Danju examined the promissory note much more compared to other occasions.
"Is there a problem?"
Bear Corporation's president asked, annoyed.
"Ah, sorry."
Danju felt the time was right, so he quickly did as Empress Navier had requested.
"I hope you are not offended. I do this because lately I have heard a lot of cases of counterfeit promissory notes."