The Place Where I Was Sold as a Slave Was the Imperial Palace

085

Nadiagra still knows Rudy as her own child.

Upon entering the mansion, Nadiagra greeted him like a normal mother.

He called Marie to get Rudy’s drink and spread out the hem of his embroidery on the table.

It’s Rudy’s shirt. I don’t say it openly, but it seems that I want you to wear this to the coronation ceremony.

As soon as I took a sip of the cold drink, I felt refreshed. It’s not easy to have a cool drink in the spring in this world.

‘As expected, I was good at making refrigerated magic tools.’

After revealing her powers to the emperor, Rudy endowed one of the slave necklaces in the mansion with a refrigeration function. It was so that the women of the mansion could drink cool drinks.

Everyone was surprised, but very happy.

Now, after putting a necklace with a refrigerating function in a deep circular wooden barrel, it is used like a refrigerator.

Previously, when Correa’s sorcerer demonstrated, I remembered that something like this was possible. Even on Earth, it was thought that the best of modern civilization were refrigerators and air conditioners. If you can implement it in this world, of course you should.

It hasn’t been made in the imperial palace yet.

The emperor suggested delaying the timing of letting others know about Rudi’s ability. They say it’s good for luring rats.

With only a short time left until the coronation ceremony, the emperor and the chamberlain seem to think that someone must move.

The emperor just said, guess. They didn’t say who they were expecting.

Although he has studied the situation, Rudy is not yet familiar enough with the country’s deep circumstances. There are still so many things we don’t know.

‘The most likely one is one of the princes who have been deprived of their position who may come to him. Other than that, about the temple?’

Among the stories the emperor told me, there was a temple.

It is said to be a religion that enshrines a goddess of healing.

Like the progenitor of the Corea Dynasty, a woman with black hair is enshrined, but the difference is that she has the power to heal.

I heard that even a dying person can be revived in an instant with a mysteriously colored orb.

The official name of the religion is Geog.

However, in Geog, all believers who fight with swords are called ‘temple knights’, so the name of the temple came to pass without knowing it.

Even though they are knights, the ‘temple knights’ they refer to are not real knights. In the Church of Zeog, even simple commoners were called knights of the temple if they held a sword. In other words, most of the gyoza are temple knights.

If you listen to the story, its doctrines and actions are close to pseudo-religions, but surprisingly, it is said that it has officially entered each country and has temples.

The Zeog religion doesn’t have much power in the Empire, but in other countries, it seems that there are cases where they dominate politics as well.

‘It seems that their thoughts are more dangerous than the princes, but they certainly won’t be reckless enough to interfere with the coronation ceremony of an emperor.’

Called Jiog, aka the Temple, they are obsessed with the descendants of the Corea dynasty, whom they believe are of a similar lineage to the Goddess of Healing.

I heard that he even kidnapped Corea’s blood relatives several times.

The Emperor had once said that such a temple’s eyes were naturally on the successor of Watling, and that it was also deeply involved in the war between Dicoquaria and Cania.

The fact that Rudy is the successor to the Duke of Watling was a secret until now, but in the last year or two it has slowly become known.

You will know in the temple too.

If that’s the case, he’ll definitely keep an eye on Rudy, and they might move.

However, Rudy still doesn’t know how the temple works or who the princes are in contact with. What he had learned was, at most, the basics of reign, and from now on he should learn little by little about the emperor’s organization.

Rudy, who was lost in thought, woke up at the sound of Nadiagra calling.

What did you do today, Nadiagra was asking. Looking at him with twinkling eyes like a girl.

When Rudy replied that he was working on shortening the coronation clothes worn by the previous emperors to fit his body, it would be a big deal, he laughed.

“It’s really hard to be still…Mother.”

When Rudy said yes, Nadiagra nodded.

The work is done by tailors and seamstresses who are in charge of purveyors for the imperial family, but it is difficult for Rudy as well.

While they put the clothes on and pinned them to size, Rudy had to continue to stand still like a doll.

If it moves even slightly, the pin stabs the body without mercy. Or the place where the rough shape was sewn with thread burst.

Normally, I work carefully to prevent that from happening, but this time, the deadline was so tight that I didn’t have time to be considerate.

The whole time they were talking about it, Nadiagra was laughing like she was having fun.

I decided to replace Lilitha’s clothes with ones prepared in advance.

She wears simple clothes in the mansion, but the chief chamberlain has been making dresses for Lilitha every year and every season.

Since Lilitha doesn’t stand still, she basically uses the measurements of the clothes Mari makes.

When Marie makes the basic frame of the clothes and puts them on, the manufacturers who make clothes for women in the imperial family use them to reproduce them.

Nadiagra, who had been talking about this for a while, suddenly hesitated and called him.

“Hey, Rico! Wouldn’t His Majesty invite us? That, to the coronation ceremony. Me, Nanny, and Marie… Of course I know that’s not going to be allowed, but I still want to see it.”

Rudy smiled softly and took Nadiagra’s hand.

Before anyone knew it, Nadiagra’s hands were about the same size as Rudy’s, now 11 years old.

No, Nadiagra would be a little smaller.

Nadiagra, who looked tall as a child, is now only about Rudy’s height, even in heels. I wondered when time had passed like this.

“I have already spoken with His Majesty the Emperor about it. I’m sorry, but I can’t show Nanny and Marie out in public. But I can arrange a place on the second floor out of sight. If it’s okay.”

“Go, go!”

The answer came from the wrong place.

When I turned my head, I saw the nanny and Marie standing in the corner.

It was the nanny who shouted.

She smiles with her toothy mouth wide open.

“My God! To be able to see Rudy-sama ascend to the throne. The world will live a long time to see.”

The nanny said loudly and held hands with Mari next to her.

Marie looked happy too, but soon hesitantly opened her mouth as if she was anxious.

“Hey, hey, Rudy. I’m a slave, can I really go? If I’m wrong.”

“It’s okay. And I have something to talk about with Marie alone. Shall we go out for a while?”

When Rudy got up and called for Marie, she hesitated and followed.

Rudy went out and stood in the garden.

Sprouts were sprouting in Marie’s field.

Important crops sprout indoors throughout the winter and are transplanted outside. It was a method that Rudy had vaguely remembered and told Marie, which she settled on through trial and error.

“The field has grown a lot.”

When Rudy said, Marie puffed out her chest and nodded proudly.

“Yes. Our livelihoods depend on it.”

But right away, Mari’s shoulders drooped a little.

“That’s not much left either. When Rudy-sama becomes His Majesty, these things won’t be necessary.”

“That’s not so, Marie. Today I called to talk about that as well.”

Rudy sits on the floor, and Marie sits beside him.

In the past, the two of us would often sit like this and pick out stones. When I remembered what happened then, I smiled involuntarily.

In those days when people were worried about what to eat tomorrow, Mari, who did everything almost like an almighty, was like the hero of this house.

“Marie, how do you want to live in the future? Don’t you want to get married?”

Marie turned her head and looked at Rudy. Open your mouth wide and make a stupid face.

“A normal life with my husband, having children and meeting people. I can give it to you now.

“Am I, I, being kicked out? I don’t need it anymore?”

Marie asks, shivering. Why is that? Rudy was a little taken aback.

“Marie, that’s not it. I want to give Marie the life she wants. I couldn’t before, but now I can. Don’t you want to live as an ordinary woman?”

Marie stared at Rudy as if trying to see his true feelings. Marie breathed a sigh of relief, probably deciding that Rudy’s words were really meant for her.

“It’s a little hard to say this to Rudy, who is still young, but I was once a s*x slave. My father sold me to a slave dealer, and then to a perverted tailor. There were so many things that I can’t tell Rudy-sama. At that time, I really wanted to die, but it was only when I came here that I could barely breathe.”

Marie muttered as she stared at the ground.

“I don’t like men. They’re rough and violent. Why would I want to live with a man when I’ve been out of my way for so long.”

Marie smiles slightly at Rudy.

“Besides, I’m a useful person here. It’s something I couldn’t do without me. But outside, I was a person who only ate food and was less than a bug.”

Marie shrugged her shoulders slightly.

“In this world, even if a woman has a knack for tailoring or making clothes, no one considers it a talent. They just think that an ugly woman is unattractive. Here, you can make Princess Lilitha clothes or cut old clothes, Nadia Mama. It’s fun to remake clothes, and it was good for me that neither the princess nor Mama Nadia would have anything to wear if I didn’t make them.”

Marie tilted her head and smiled.

“I also like cultivating the field with Rudy. Do you remember when we were picking stones in the field together?”

Marie is already well over 30. I don’t know exactly how old he is because he didn’t tell me his age, but I think he’s close to 40.

It’s not even a pretty look. Rough skin must be ugly compared to an aristocratic woman without a single callus.

Still, I thought Mari, smiling in the sunlight, was beautiful. Flowers are beautiful because they are flowers, but aren’t humans lovable because they are humans?

Rudy narrowed his eyes and looked at Marie.

“Marie, then would you like to live here? I don’t want to give Mama Nadia a new lady-in-waiting or change the environment. It might be a bit difficult, but is it okay to live like now?”

Marie smiles brightly.

“Of course. Rudy-sama. I’m really happy if I can live like now.”

“Thank you. As soon as the coronation ceremony takes place, Marie will become a golden slave.”

“Eek?”

Suddenly, a grotesque cry erupted from Mary’s mouth. The warm atmosphere of a moment ago disappeared at once.

“Is that a golden slave?”

“Yeah, my first gold.”

“No, that’s ridiculous. All I know how to do is sewing and farming. I don’t know how to fight.”

“Where did you get the idea that golden slaves are battle slaves?”

“Everyone knows. Golden slaves are the battle slaves of the emperor. Besides, it’s so ridiculous that I’m gold. I don’t deserve that.”

Marie hurriedly moves her hands around. It was as if the limbs were bewildered and playing separately from the head.

A smile came out involuntarily.

Rudy stood up and held out his hand to Marie.

“Marie, to me, only Mama Nadia, Nanny, Marie, and Princess Lilitha are my family. There are people who gave birth to me and people who made me emperor, but the people who really consider me family are the people here in this mansion. only.”

It was sincere.

Rudy, who remembers his life on Earth as it is, has little consciousness that he was born and lived here.

It was just that when I woke up at some point while living on Earth, I thought that I had become an odd character.

So the people in this mansion I spent time with felt like real family.

I feel sorry for the captain of the Watoringu guard and the nanny who died for her, but that’s how it feels. Can not help it.

Seeing Rudy’s outstretched hand, Marie hesitated and stretched out her arm.

Rudy said while holding her hand.

“So don’t say you don’t deserve it. The best way for Marie to stay here is to become a gold or silver slave, so please accept it.”

“…thank you.”

Marie lowered her head and shed tears drop by drop.

Pretending not to know that, they hold hands and walk toward the building.

“And let me know if you need anything, whether it’s fabric or seeds. You can build a farm here if you want.”

“What is that, Rudi-sama?

Mary laughs while crying.

As soon as they entered the building, Princess Lilitha ran towards Rudy with a piece of paper and hit her on the head.

“princess!”

Marie was startled, but Princess Lilitha held the paper high. He said while rubbing paper on Rudy’s nose.

“My signature! This is my name! I was praised by the baroness for writing it right and not wrong.”

The paper had a long list of letters containing several middle names.

The font is not pretty. It was like a child writing with a lot of energy.

Rudy stroked Princess Lilitha’s hair and lowered her body to meet her gaze.

“Good work, Princess.”

“compliment!”

Rilisha stuck out her forehead.

When I put my lips on her forehead and then lifted her lips, Lilisha widened her eyes when she saw Marie’s wet cheeks.

“Marie, why are you crying?”

“It’s because the princess is running around dangerously. I’m afraid she’ll get hurt.”

Princess Lilitha looked at Rudy and Marie’s faces alternately, then spoke politely.

“Don’t fight!”

He raised a finger and brushed it away, furrowing his eyebrows. It seems to imitate a nanny.

“If you keep fighting like that, you’ll turn into a goat. If you don’t be nice, you’ll be punished by the gods and turn into a beast!”

Ah, come to think of it, there was something like that in the myth that Princess Lilitha read to me when I was little. An anecdote about becoming a beast by doing bad things.

Princess Rilisha’s nagging continued for a while.

But why am I listening to this sermon when I didn’t even fight?

Behind Princess Lilitha, who was smiling happily as she preached, the baroness was sighing slightly as she looked at the paper with the signature on it.

you know that heart

Rudy’s mind was a little clouded when he thought that he would sign the wedding vows with these letters.

＜ Rudy’s first golden slave ＞

(85)

＜Excalibur pops out＞