What Your Majesty Desires - Chapter 4.2

Especially his brother, Kaulus, was a guy who was always looking for a chance to slander him. And yet Jerome had sent a letter on his own. Jerome met his frowning gaze calmly and squarely. “I thought some of Kaulus’s men might be mixed in with the soldiers, so we had to move as quickly as possible. I thought that if our contact arrived first, the Emperor and Crown Prince would not have any misunderstandings.”

“I know that.”

He did know. At least, he had to be sure whether or not there was another princess left here. That way, later on, he could be free from unnecessary arguments, like you were reckless, or you changed your mind.

‘This is a disgrace to Gler. How little did Dextin think of Hernis that a princess committed suicide there on the day of the engagement ceremony?’

He could already see Kaulus trying to cut down Hernis like a fish in water.

‘Did you enjoy staying in that ominous Dextin Castle for so long? I, your brother, am very worried that you might be preparing a base for treason there under the guise of finding the Blue Diamond.’

Jerome knew that Kaulus was standing firm in Gler, waiting for him to make a mistake and looking for a chance to drive a wedge between Emperor Asterion and him.

“I’m not blaming you for your meticulousness in thinking about the letter in the midst of the urgency. But if things go wrong.”

“There’s no way Your Highness’s work will go wrong.”

Jerome was subtly disobedient today.

“I wrote that the first alternative to stop the prophecy failed and we would move on to the second. Just in case, I attached the same letter to several carrier pigeons and sent them off. By now, one of them should have landed on His Majesty Asterion’s hand.”

So. He was saying that he shouldn’t have sent the letter so rashly when the first alternative couldn’t be considered completely collapsed yet. Jerome pretended not to understand at all.

“I was too busy occupying the castle first, so it was delayed to tell you later. Still, I should have asked Your Highness first.”

Sometimes he was overly loyal and made people feel awkward, and sometimes he was like this.

“I’m sorry.”

He was willful. Hernis stared silently at Jerome’s face, who was apologizing as if it was a mistake after doing everything. It seemed like he was crossing the line, but strangely, he was still standing with his heels on the line, so it was ambiguous to reprimand him.

“Good job.”

He was just saying it.

“Thank you.”

Jerome nodded shamelessly again.

“Your Highness, I’m back.”

Then, the knights he had sent to the Nike Temple during the day were seen walking in. As Hernis’s gaze was fixed on them, the two knights in the front row quickened their pace and knelt down in front of him. Judging by their expressions, he knew the results.

“The priests don’t know either?”

“Yes, they seemed to have no idea.”

The knights bowed their heads as if they were sorry. The knights were not guilty. Maybe those priests too. From the beginning, it was an unreasonable order to send them to find the Blue Diamond when it wasn’t even certain whether it existed or not.

“We beheaded several young priests in front of the high priest, but they only repeated that they didn’t know.”

“He said that he had never heard of it from the previous high priest either, that it’s…”

“That it’s?”

“The Blue Diamond is not an actual object.”

The knights trailed off, watching Hernis’s reaction.

“They said they would search through the old records, so we spared the high priest and a few old priests for now.”

“Although the Nike Temple behind the main castle is the main base, there are a total of four temples in Dextin, so we sent soldiers there as well. Soon, all the priests and books of Dextin will be gathered here. Then there will be more specific clues.”

“You’ve worked hard.”

They were having a hard time trying to find something that wasn’t coming out. What was the point of all this because of one trivial prophecy? With a faint sigh, Hernis waved his hand to dismiss the knights. If it was something that could be taken by waging war and winning, it wouldn’t be so headache-inducing.

“It’s boring to wait. I should smoke a cigarette.”

Hernis turned his head to the side and gave an order to the soldier standing behind Jerome.

The reason why he skipped Jerome, who was nearby, was because “Cigarettes are bad for your health.”

It was because he kept interfering like this.

“Bring a pack, plenty of it.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Ignoring him, Hernis gave the order once more, and the soldier barely bowed his head, looking at Jerome’s reaction. But Jerome was very adamant about the cigarette issue, as if he had a ghost of a relative who died from smoking.

“How about drinking tea? If you keep cigarettes close, the harmful smoke will affect Your Highness’s health.”

“I feel suffocated.”

“…”

He wouldn’t be able to say anything anyway if he said that. Since there were many ears listening, Jerome couldn’t ask any further and gave up his stubbornness.

“Then have just one.”

“I’m going to smoke five.”

“I’ll have them bring only two.”

“…”

He asked for five, but only two. He thought they used to compromise at around four, but Jerome’s determination was getting stronger. Hernis frowned and stared back at Jerome, who was looking at him more resolutely as if he wouldn’t allow it anymore, even if he was beheaded. It was definitely insubordination, but he couldn’t behead the commander of the Royal Guard just because of cigarettes.

“Do as you please.”

The one who reluctantly nodded was Hernis.

“I’ll bring them right away.”

The soldier, who couldn’t go back and forth behind Jerome, finally let out a sigh of relief and hurriedly obeyed the order. As expected, the cigarettes that the soldier brought a little later were exactly two. But even before those cigarettes came into Hernis’s hands, they had to go through Jerome’s approval. The soldier, watching Jerome’s reaction with every move, finally prostrated himself and raised only his hands with the pipe holding the cigarettes to Hernis. Hernis took the pipe.

“I’ll light it for you.”

Jerome knelt down on one knee politely and lit the match. What was the point of pretending to be a loyal subject now after opposing him until just now? Did he think he would be touched?

Crack.

Soon, the end of the cigarette was lit. Hernis stared indifferently at the orange embers burning little by little inside, and soon the end turned into gray ash. The process was somewhat unpleasant, but he was the one holding the cigarette in his hand in the end, and that was enough. He took a deep puff of the cigarette and exhaled the smoke for a long time like a sigh.

“Are you having a hard time?”

No. It was good.

Even in Jerome’s worried eyes, he calmly brought the hand holding the pipe to his mouth.

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