I’m in Trouble Because The Emperor Thinks My Time is Limited

In the end, the misunderstanding between the three could not be resolved.

No matter what I said, Luna and the knight were busy crying and Shuline would completely avoid my eyes.

When I pounded my chest in frustration, Luna and Shuline each held one of my arms to stop me.

They told me not to hurt myself. At this point, I didn’t have the energy to be annoyed.

I thought it would be better not to think too much. So I sent Shuline back and got dressed with Luna’s help. Thanks to her, I was in my bed again after a pleasant bath.

The room was quiet after I sent out the sniffling Luna.

“Am I weird?”

I was clearly denying it, but the misunderstandings kept growing. Even before being imprisoned in the North Palace, the more I denied it, the bigger the misunderstanding became.

Before, I thought the people around me were strange. But now, I’m starting to think that I’m the strange one.

I thought I said it firmly, but it might have sounded ambiguous to others. Yeah, it could have been.

“No, what’s the point of sounding ambiguous when you say you’re not sick?”

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t find a satisfying answer.

At this rate, I was worried about when I would resolve the misunderstanding, read the encyclopedia-level contract, and when I would get out of here and deal with Laroque’s work.

I thought it would be better not to say anything when a misunderstanding occurred.

I might as well keep my nose clean if I’m going to say something weird.
TL/N: to “keep my nose clean” means to stay out of trouble

“Getting out of here comes first.”

To get out of the palace once and for all, I have to at least regain the freedom to roam.

I can read the contract from time to time. However, when I saw the large stack of paper, it was difficult to put my hopes on it.

Eventually, I have to negotiate with Lionel.

Today I’ve already experienced a lot of mental shocks, so I decided to start tomorrow.

To face Lionel tomorrow, I had to sleep well, eat well, and get my act together from now on.

Eating was the first thing.

I opened the door and asked Luna, who was waiting outside, to bring in food.

Luna was visibly pleased when I asked her for food first. In that sense, she is a good kid, but the problem was that she misunderstood a lot.

However, what Luna brought with her joy was another patient meal without a single liver.

“Is there any duck soup left?”

“Duck soup is greasy, and Madam Lindel’s condition is not good at the moment. The chef is starving himself because of the regret of serving you that dish.”

The culprit was the priest.

The duck soup, which I hadn’t even taken a bite of, flew away. But it was too early to give up hope. If duck soup wasn’t allowed, then at least a regular, seasoned meal was okay, right?

“Then salt! Bring me some salt.”

“You can’t season it. Your blood pressure might rise and you’ll have a stomachache later. I’m sure you dislike this, but you have to eat it like this now.”

I had to start eating dreary meals forlornly by myself.

It was still a very terrible tasteless taste.

I grabbed my hungry stomach and eventually sent the meal back. I wanted to cry as much as Luna cried.

* * *

I couldn’t sleep because of my hunger so I stayed up all night reading the contract.

Thanks to that, when I woke up in the morning and looked at the mirror, there were dark circles under my eyes. Anyone could tell I was exhausted from my dark eyebags. 

I was wondering if it would be okay to go see Lionel like this, but I couldn’t worry about that. The sooner we met, the better as the Empress’ seat was at stake.

In the past, when I was busy, I was in worse condition than this. When there was a national event, I often stayed up all night on guard and commanded the personnel.

It wasn’t this serious back then.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

Luna was coming into the room to prepare breakfast.

I stopped looking in the mirror and looked back at Luna and greeted her.

“Luna, are you here?”

“Did you sleep well, Madam Lindel? Why did you wake up so early today?”

Luna, who was coming in smiling, suddenly froze.

Her half-moon-curved eyes grew bigger and bigger, and she was staring at me with open eyes.

“Oh, my God! What’s wrong with your complexion? Did you not sleep?”

“I’ve just been a little busy.”

“You don’t have anything to do! Oh, my God, your face is so messed up!”

“…….”

‘Doesn’t he just hate me?’

It was a reasonable doubt. It’s true that I don’t have anything to do, but it hurts my heart a little.

Luna was in tears even though I had a grim face.

“Oh my God, you’re sick, aren’t you? I was bad. I should have stayed with you even though you told me to leave. It’s all my fault.”

Luna began to whimper.