I’m the Only One Who Can Put the Tyrant To Sleep Chapter 116

A few days after storming the Benshy Count’s estate and dragging Caesar back by force, my heart felt like it was burning away.

‘Well. I’m not sure.’

Caesar’s careless mutter kept replaying in my head.

‘Did he really mean he wants to marry Lunavel?’

But then again, since that day Caesar hadn’t met Lunavel at all. He hadn’t gone to the Count’s estate, nor had he invited her to the palace.

When I secretly checked through my position as head maid, I found out Lunavel kept sending him letters, but Caesar never replied.

‘From the start, the only reply Caesar ever sent was that one time—when he arranged to meet her.’

Looking at it like that, it all seemed like my misunderstanding. And yet, I couldn’t believe it was just that.

Because after that day, Caesar hadn’t only avoided Lunavel—he had refused to meet with any noble ladies. Even the replies he sometimes had Alvin send, and the weekly luncheons with young ladies, all of it had stopped.

In truth, it looked as if he had given up on finding a marriage partner.

‘If this were a few days ago, I would’ve tried to stop him…….’

But since realizing my own feelings, I couldn’t even bear the thought of him dining with another woman, so I secretly welcomed it.

Still, there was something I had overlooked. The rumors had started spreading in a strange direction because of it.

The timing of when he stopped the luncheons was the problem. It was right after Caesar had officially visited the Benshy Count’s estate.

And so the rumors spread rapidly through the palace—that his match was already decided, that he had no need to meet other women because Caesar was planning to marry Lunavel.

“Ha, damn……”

I muttered a curse under my breath in Caesar’s empty office.

Even this morning on the way to work, I had overheard talk about Caesar and Lunavel more times than I could count. My irritation was boiling over.

To make matters worse, my name sometimes slipped into those rumors.

‘They said, when she was his debutante partner they thought maybe, just maybe, but of course a baron’s daughter isn’t good enough. Or that he only keeps me close because I’m good at handling work…….’

Things I might have welcomed in the past now only grated on my nerves.

‘But where on earth has Caesar gone?’

I looked around the office sharply, as if venting my frustration.

According to the schedule, he should’ve been here working, but there was no sign of him.

And it wasn’t just today. Lately, Caesar’s behavior had been strange.

He wasn’t in the office when he was supposed to be, and instead seemed to handle his piled-up work late at night or at dawn.

Which meant he had something else to do during the day.

‘What on earth is he doing?’

To be honest, the past few days had been a relief because of it—I didn’t have to face Caesar.

But as the days dragged on, my relief gave way to a mix of worry and irritation.

‘Don’t tell me he’s secretly meeting Lunavel…?’

Jealousy twisted through me along with the thought.

After waiting in his office for an hour, I couldn’t stand it anymore and shot up from my seat.

I headed for the training grounds. Maybe Caesar had gone there to practice swordsmanship.

But of course, there was no sign of him there either. The only person in sight was Alvin.

“Sir Alvin?”

Startled, I hurried over to him. He was wiping sweat, as though he had just finished training.

“My lady? What brings you here?”

“His Majesty……”

I trailed off, glancing around. If Alvin was here, then surely Caesar must be here too.

“His Majesty is not here.”

“What? Why not? Aren’t you supposed to be with him?”

I frowned, wondering if Caesar was moving about with no escort, but Alvin explained.

“He should be with Olche. When His Majesty leaves the palace, it seems he takes that fellow with him.”

“Why?”

“Perhaps because he no longer trusts me. After all, I once let myself be tricked and ended up leaking information about His Majesty’s ability.”

He was referring to the incident where a listening device had been hidden on his body.

“No, I think His Majesty simply left you in charge of the palace. He needs someone here to protect it. By the way, are you feeling better?”

I asked again out of concern. Thanks to Katana, the magical device inside Alvin had already been melted away.

“Of course. Though ever since then, I’ve developed the habit of refusing to drink any liquor unless I prepare it myself.”

Alvin gave a sheepish smile. I carefully brought up what I really wanted to ask.

“Um…… so where exactly did His Majesty go with Sir Olche? What do you mean, he left the palace?”

“My lady, if you don’t know, how could I? Isn’t there no one who knows His Majesty better than you?”

I pouted slightly. Until a few days ago, I had thought that too.

“Apparently not. I didn’t even know His Majesty was leaving the palace until now.”

Alvin looked at me in surprise. His innocent expression only made me feel more downhearted.

“If you know anything, please tell me as well.”

“Hmm…… I really don’t know much. But there is one thing I can tell you—”

Pausing for effect, Alvin went on as if to give me a hint.

“Yesterday His Majesty asked me about the palace’s blueprints.”

“Blueprints? Why all of a sudden?”

“That I don’t know.”

“So did you find them for him?”

“As you know, for security reasons the palace blueprints aren’t preserved in a complete form. Olche, who oversees the rear gate, has the plans for that area. I keep the plans for the Emperor’s quarters. It’s divided up like that.”

“Yes, I’ve heard of that.”

“But His Majesty asked for a complete set—all the palaces, the gardens, even the servants’ quarters. So…… I haven’t been able to get them yet.”

“I see.”

Leaving Alvin looking slightly downcast, I sank into thought. Blueprints? What in the world did he need those for?

‘Could it be… for his marriage with Lunavel? Maybe he’s deciding where to hold the wedding, how to decorate…….’

No, that was going too far. There was no way. Clearly my mind was just leaping to that conclusion because of everything with Lunavel.

I shook my head firmly.

 

 

 

****

 

 

 

 

Even after that day, Caesar’s mysterious outings continued. Normally, I would’ve asked him outright, but since I had avoided him first in the past, I couldn’t say a word and just suffered in silence.

Then one day, a message arrived from Viscount Krause. He said a letter had come from Ian.

“A letter?”

“Yes. Two of them, in fact. When the first arrived, he thought it wasn’t worth mentioning, but after receiving a second, he felt he should tell us.”

Caesar set the two envelopes down on his desk. I picked one up without thinking and glanced at him out of the corner of my eye.

Maybe it was because it had been so long since I’d seen him this close, but it felt strangely awkward.

“What?”

“N-nothing.”

Caesar looked back at me, as if he had noticed my gaze. His face was calm, as though nothing was out of the ordinary.

‘Well, technically speaking, nothing really is wrong…….’

I shook off thoughts about Caesar and forced myself to focus on Ian’s letters.

The first letter was simple.

It asked whether anything unusual had been happening in the palace lately, and if there were any peculiarities regarding Caesar’s movements, to report them.

No wonder the viscount hadn’t told us before. That was the kind of thing you might send just for information gathering.

The second letter wasn’t much different.

“If he asked the same thing twice with some time between, does that mean he’s keeping a close eye on His Majesty’s movements?”

“That’s the way it seems. It could be a sign of something.”

“A sign?”

“Like he’s planning to attack soon, and he wants to know the situation.”

“Hm……”

I stared hard at the letters, wondering if there might be another meaning hidden in them, when I suddenly realized the paper felt different under my fingers.

“The stationery isn’t the same.”

“Hm?”

“These two letters. If you touch them, the paper texture is different.”

“I see.”

Caesar pinched the edge of one sheet between his fingers and nodded.

“Why would he bother to use different stationery? They’re just plain white with simple patterns.”

“Are you suggesting there’s some intention behind it?”

“No, not exactly an intention…….”

Ian was a noble, but he was also a fugitive. He would think it safer to live alone rather than risk hiring servants to attend him.

‘So if that’s the case, this stationery wasn’t provided by someone else—he chose it himself…….’

If, as Caesar said, it wasn’t intentional, then perhaps he simply picked whatever was close at hand without thinking.

“Your Majesty, do you remember when you met that paper merchant from the Southern Continent to make the lottery tickets? You said using rare paper would make them harder to counterfeit.”

“I remember.”

“Do most empires produce paper differently?”

“Not necessarily by empire…… more like by region. Each area has its own slight differences. Of course, within an empire, most paper gets distributed nationwide, so they tend to mix together.”

“I see……”

I studied the paper again, then asked,

“Could it be that Ian is moving from place to place right now? And within very short intervals of time, at that?”