The Tyrant Couldn’t Fall Asleep

After a while, the duke asked Gail.

"Do you know where the brother went?"

"I don't know..."

"What?"

"It was said the conversation was top secret. Even the guards said they didn't know about it."

‘I'm in trouble. Count Walder, I made a promise with him...’

Soon the duke opened his mouth with a fierce look.

“Gail, use Izaya’s protection as an excuse to monitor that girl. You will find out where her brother is.”

"Yes, Duke."

* * *

Four days have passed since Izaya spent time with Ern at the Imperial Palace for the purpose of caring for him.

"It's a symptom of lack of sleep. The cause is presumed to be overwork, so don't overwork yourself for about a week."

Izaya sighed as she saw Ern eating cookies in front of her.

‘Overwork? How much did you overdo…?’

It was also for a while that she looked at him with such pitiful eyes.

"Ern, don't drink black tea. You won't sleep at night."

At that, Ern said, frowning and putting down the teacup.

"I heard you're going to hold a banquet soon."

"Oh, it's my coming-of-age banquet…”

She stopped, looking at Ern.

"If you don't want to attend, you don't have to. You don't like banquets.”

Izaya said this out of consideration. But to Ern, those words sounded precious.

"That was the past."

Ern soon stared at Izaya and said.

"Recently, I became interested in banquets."

"Uh... Really?”

"Yes."

She wondered. Even before her return, Ern had never enjoyed banquets.

It was only once every 10 years that he made an official appearance.

‘Why are you saying you're going to a banquet that won’t even be interesting…?’

But soon she realized the difference between then and now.

‘What do you mean, the situation is very different now from then.’

Prior to her return, Ern lost the captain of the knights around this time.

The Duke of Lauchen pushed his henchman, Gail, to be the next captain of the knights and suppressed the emperor in the name of protection.

But now the captain was safe, and Duke Lauchen was not attempting any tricks.

‘In addition, overwork overlapped... Of course you’d want to play.’

Furthermore, haven't you lived as an emperor since you were 10 years old?

Izaya's gaze at her husband contained sorrow.

'Let's be nice to him while he's with me. That way, I won't have regrets when I leave.’

"Is there anything you want to see at a banquet? Like a play or a performance."

Then Ern replied, frowning.

"I don't like loud things."

"Then should we call the musicians to play? With quiet music."

“I’ll fall asleep listening to it.”

‘It’s tricky.’

After looking at Ern for a moment, Izaya looked at the clock and got up.

"Where are you going?"

“I’m going to check if the preparations for the banquet are going well. There are only three weeks left.”

Then, unexpected words came from Ern.

“Didn’t you say you would be by my side?”

"Huh… Are you still sick? I thought you were fine now, so I was going to go.”

At Izaya's seemingly awkward question, Ern wrinkled his eyebrows.

'Do you think I'm a weakling child?'

Normally, he would have answered 'no' to that question.

Because he hated looking weak and being sympathized by.

But the words that came out of Ern's mouth betrayed his usual will.

“Yeah, I’m still dizzy.”

After saying that, Ern regretted it.

‘What did I say…'

But at that moment, a worried look appeared on Izaya's face.

"Did you miss out on your medicine and not take it?”

Seeing her worrying about him, Ern felt that her mood wasn't too bad.

"I did, but I’m still dizzy.”

“I can’t help it. Then I have no choice but to instruct Melanie to check the banquet.”

At her desperate words, Ern unknowingly raised the corners of his lips.

‘You did a good job finding them.’

A few days ago, when Izaya fell asleep, Ern rushed out and visited those who once gave him great advice.

When he asked the knights how they relieved their wife's feelings, the answer came back.

“I pretended to be unwell and looked weak, and then her anger began to subside, perhaps because of my weakness. Then, when she was vigilant, I gave her a surprise to calm down her anger.”

He seemed to be getting along more and more with Izaya.

‘Now, I can give you a present at the banquet.’

Soon after, he recalled the coming-of-age gift Izaya had requested, and Ern wrinkled his brow.

‘You can’t ask for something outrageous again, so I have to pick it myself… But what the hell am I supposed to give you?’

It was when Ern was struggling so much.

“By the way, are the preparations for Ern going well?”

"Preparation?"

“What are you going to wear? You should think about how you will dress up that day.”

Seeing Izaya's excited expression on her face, he pretended to be indifferent and turned his head again.

This was because, until now, as an emperor, no one has been arguing about what clothes he would wear.

“Isn’t it enough to wear something I normally do?”

Of course, it didn't matter if the emperor wore plain clothes.

But Izaya had a wish that Ern would take this opportunity to hang out with the nobles.

‘Because there must be people who can be Ern’s people.’

“Do you know the dress code?”

“I know the dress code. It’s blue.”

“Do you have a new blue outfit?”

There was no way, because Ern and Izaya never held a banquet in the name of national stability.

“How is it that clothes are so important?”

Izaya sighed in response to Ern's expected reaction.

“Annual attire should be differentiated from casual attire. Especially our age group will come with a lot of decorations, but if you, the emperor, are underdressed...”

Izaya stopped talking.

That was probably because even though he was wearing a shirt right now, Ern's face was naturally glowing.

‘No matter how you look at it, I don’t think that face will ever become dull…'

Sadly, Ern was the owner of a beauty that would shine even when he was sulky.

'I was wrong. I'll have to give you another example.'

But contrary to Izaya's thoughts, Ern was agitated.

‘Are other people of your age coming to dress up?’

Of course, Izaya wouldn't even blink an eye even if others were very decorated themselves.

But at least one.

“Sir Ferguson, right? He's tall and looks great.”

Like back then, what if Izaya looked at someone else?

He was strangely unhappy.

“Ern, the banquet preparations are just rough…”

It was before Izaya had even finished speaking.

"Never mind. I will be perfectly prepared.”

With those words, Ern left the room.

Izaya looked at him with blank eyes, then sighed a little.

‘It seemed to have worked. Thank god.'

She was worried for a moment, but Izaya was well aware of Ern's condition.

That he was fine now.

‘But I don’t understand. Why is he lying?’

“Your Majesty, this is Melanie.”

When Melanie came to her imperial palace, Izaya entered the parlor with her.

For the protection of her empress, two knights were guarding the living room.

And one of them was Gail.

‘You're going to keep an eye on me like this?’

But it was already expected. Therefore, Izaya and Melanie were able to talk calmly.

"How's your physical condition?"

"It's gotten better. This is because Your Majesty gave me precious medicine."

"Then, you should return as the maid of honor. It's not easy without you."

"Thank you for your grace, Empress. I will sincerely assist you."

"Okay, then I'll give you a mission since you're back to work."

Soon Izaya held out a piece of paper and wrote something down.

[Write from now on. I think it's better to fool him.]

Melanie, who saw it, nodded with a clever smile.

Soon Izaya handed Melanie something.

"Go outside the imperial palace and deliver these letters to the distinguished guests."

The letter envelope contained the names of ladies who were famous in society.

"Yes, I see."

"And stop by the jewelry store to check if my jewelry is complete. The address is here."

At the same time as he said that, Izaya quickly wrote letters.

[I'll let you meet your brother as promised.]

‘But if I meet my brother, they'll find the hiding place.’

When Melanie was looking at the handwriting in confusion, Izaya wrote down something more.

Melanie soon replied, swallowing her tears.

"Yes, I'll take your order."

* * *

Meanwhile, Hans was enjoying his freedom after a long time.

‘It's so nice not to see His Majesty. How nice would it be if this happened all the time?’

Bang!

"Hans!”

‘Did you say that if you think about something unlucky, it will come true?’

As soon as the thought was over, Ern appeared.

Note: Advance chapters are now available through patreon :) Also, no updates for next week since I'll take a one week break every 3 weeks for regular releases.