For You In The Cage

Episode 64: It’s the First Time for You and Me (III)

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Immediately after Yulif took Canaren to the north, the Imperial Palace turned into hell.

The demons who showed up in the real world went wild. The influence of the barbarian sorcerer, who controlled their violent nature, had disappeared. The desire for destruction and appetite, which had been suppressed, burst like a volcano. The sealed audience hall where a large number of people gathered was nothing more than a huge table set up for the demons to eat.

The wizard who was close to the magic circle was the first target. Red blood splattered, and someone screamed at the sight. The secret guards and the remaining wizards desperately protected Deltinus.

Soon, all the troops and wizards residing in the Imperial Palace came to confront the demons.

It was when the five monsters became two that Deltinus, who was standing there doing nothing like a lost person, moved. He picked up a sword lying on the floor and rushed to the monster. Deltinus, wanting to deal with the monster to some extent, got his arm hit by the tail wielded by the monster and missed using his sword. It was a serious injury that shattered his bones.

After an all-out war, they killed all the demons, but the damage was great. One third of the nobles in the audience died, and the rest suffered major and minor injuries. In particular, it was a painful blow for so many wizards to die. The number of wizards was very small from the beginning, as most of them were working under Yulif. It was not an easy situation to re-secure the resident wizards in the Imperial Palace.

Losing the bet, being deprived of Canaren, humiliated in front of nobles, and even having his arm broken… Deltinus became a madman. People died day and night. Count Enderk left his advisor post vacant. It was a seat that would be vacant again the next day anyway.

Horrible rumors began to circulate that the emperor had turned into a half-monster by soaking in the blood of a monster. Rumors continued to flow, and if the rumors were not quickly put to rest, the ducal aristocrats would seek something big from His Majesty.

It was the background for why Count Enderk had to go to Pionia in a hurry.

The reason why Count Enderk survived, who had been kicked out by Yulif without any results, was simple. This was because the person who received his report was Empress Estella.

Estella was handling urgent affairs without Deltinus’s knowledge. If it was difficult for the emperor to examine political affairs for unavoidable reasons, the empress could temporarily act as an agent. Without her, the imperial situation would have been much worse than it was now. Estella consulted her father, the Duke of Theodora, and Count Enderk to organize the chaotic empire.

“This…”

“What is it?”

“It is said that Duke Rubius is getting married. The bride is Miss Canaren.”

“It’s something I expected when he took that Hwira woman.”

“I don’t know what you’re thinking. The Duke will know better that a royal marriage must be approved by His Majesty himself…”

“No. Duke Rubius did not ask for permission to marry.”

Duke Theodora and Count Enderk looked at Estella at the same time. Instead of answering, she held out a flat-folded envelope. The fine handwriting on the dark blue envelope sealed with gold wax was evident, it was Yulif’s handwriting.

“This is a wedding invitation.”

“It’s a wedding invitation… Are you saying that the date has already been confirmed?”

“Yes. In two weeks, it will be held at the duke’s castle in Pionia.”

“What did you just say?”

Three individuals rose up quickly. Deltinus, who was usually drunk and covered in blood, was perfectly fine today. Even though the broken arm was not bandaged, as though it had been healed by a wizard.

He strode over and crossed his legs, sitting in the long-empty seat. Estella handed him the wedding invitation. Her hands were trembling.

“Sent by Duke Rubius.”

Deltinus tore the envelope. While reading the wedding invitation with formal contents, his expression of indifference collapsed at the end.

<His Majesty’s absence is the greatest gift for me and Canaren. I respectfully decline marriage permission and blessing.>

“Duke Rubius hopes I’ll attend the wedding.”

The voice of Deltinus seemed to be happy and twisted.

The three were convinced that what Deltinus said was not true. Yulif, who dared to force the marriage without the emperor’s permission, could not have invited Deltinus. But the three didn’t say anything to Deltinus.

Deltinus’ eyes glaring at the wedding invitation flashed with anger.

“It’s a one-of-a-kind wedding, and it’s not just something passing by. I’ll prepare a present that the Duke will like.”

‘By the way… there’s something I need to do before that.’

Deltinus, who was muttering to himself, motioned to Estella. Estella took a step closer to him.

“Get down.”

It was the moment Estella bent her knees and lowered herself lower than Deltinus sitting in a chair. Pak! With the force of his brutal hand, Estella’s head snapped and turned to the other side. The cheek that was beaten by Deltinus swelled and her lips burst with blood. The Duke of Theodora screamed in protest.

“Your Majesty!”

“Who said it was okay to do government affairs for me?”

“Sorry, s-sorry.”

“You can’t just say sorry, Empress. You’ll have to show your self-reflection to ease my mind.”

“All right. I’ll pass it on to someone else.”

“It’s not that difficult. That’s what the Empress says. The Duke and the Count may leave now.”

“No…!”

Estella shook her head to her father. The duke felt helpless.  He knew that whatever he wanted to say would only provoke Deltinus’ anger more, but he couldn’t leave his daughter when he could see clearly what his daughter was trying to tell him.

Count Enderk, who was observing the atmosphere, grabbed the duke’s arm and whispered in a low voice.

“The longer we wait, the more His Majesty will harm Her Majesty.”

“……But.”

“We’ll take our leave.”

The duke left the room as if being led by the count. Before the door could even close, there was a loud sound of flesh hitting flesh. Following the louder and harsher sound, there was also a dull sound of something rolling on the floor.

Duke Theodora tightly closed his eyes. Count Enderc looked at the duke’s face, which was trembling in fury as the closed door shook.

*******

The news of Yulif’s marriage was a lightning bolt from the dry sky to the employees working in his castle. It was a little strange that there were few invited guests, as it was the wedding of Yulif, the emperor’s brother and the hero of the empire.

There were piles of things to prepare, but in comparison, they had only two weeks to do so. Employers were busy without a second thought. It was to the extent that Derek had to split the time to sleep and work.

Derek’s mental fatigue also hit a new high every day as everyone he met shouted, “Where is His Grace?” ‘You guys just have to do what you’re told to do. I have to suffer from the lord! Do you know how hopeless it is for me? It was not once or twice that I wanted to scream.’

The recent conversation between Derek and Yulif went something like this:

“Lord, how should we decorate the interior?”

“Decide it yourself.”

“Yes? But I need to know how  it should be…”

“Gorgeous and elegant. Not to be too cluttered. Other than that, decide it yourself.”

“Oh, yes. Gorgeous and elegant, not too promiscuous… Yes. Oh yes… It’s easy. Then what about the robes the lord will wear…”

“You can decide it.”

‘Are you doing this to make me explode and scream?’

Derek didn’t even bother to ask. If it goes on like this, he would not be able to stand it within a few days, and he thought he would die after shouting coolly.

Dying might be so bad. The ending was not much different whether he was tormented by the lord who was of no help that it made his stomach want to explode, or when he was ready to utter what he wanted to say which would mean his throat would be blown away by the lord.

“It will be easier to die. Somebody kill me… Miss Canaren!”

Even if the sky collapsed, there was a hole through which it could rise. Derek, who longed for eternal rest, also had a haven. It was Canaren. As soon as Derek spotted Canaren, he got excited and ran towards her.

Canaren, who was planting flowers in a small flower bed, raised her head.

“Ah, lieutenant. Hello.”

Canaren called Derek ‘Lieutenant’.  Roana was a little sad when Canaren used a stiff title for him as she called Roana’s name normally, but Derek didn’t bother to correct it.  It was because he thought that the moment Canaren called him by his name, Yulif would appear and kill him.

“Hello! Are you planting flowers today?”

“Yes. Roana gave me some new seeds. Where are you going, Lieutenant?”

“Where am I going? This is the road to the lord. I have something to report.”

“Then go with Roana. Roana said she had to go to see Yulif too. Oh wait a minute. I’ll be right back. 

Canaren took off her dirt-soaked gloves and rummaged through her pockets. She then said to Derek.

“Here you go…”

Derek politely extended his hands. On the palm of his hand were two bundles of cookies wrapped in pretty wrapping paper.

“You can have one, Lieutenant, and would you please give the other one to Yulif?”

“D-D-Did you bake it yourself?”

“No, it was served as a snack, but I got so much of it because it was delicious. I have this much.”

Come to think of it, Canaren’s opposite pocket was also thick. Canaren smiled shyly. It was like a squirrel with both her cheeks full of food.

Tears of emotion flowed out after he had talked with Yulif, who told him to decide everything on his own, and the workers who rushed to him as if to kill him who couldn’t get an answer from the lord.

“What the? You have a really bad look on your face. Miss Canaren, what’s wrong with him?”

“Roana! Change with me! Swap missions with me!”

“You must really want to die. I’m going to see our lord, so come with me and I’ll just ask him to kill you. I’ll be back, Miss Canaren. I’ll be right back, but if it’s too late, don’t wait and go back to your room, okay?”

“Yes. Lieutenant, enjoy the snacks. Please give it to Yulif as well.”

Derek was dragged along by Roana. When they reached, Yulif was busy writing something in his office. Derek caught Yulif’s attention with a hoarse, hollow cough.

“Lord, I have an item that Miss Canaren asked to deliver.”

“Bring it.”

Yulif smiled as he saw the stack of cookies that Derek had left on the desk. But he said coldly when he discovered that Derek was cherishing another similar bundle.

“Put that down too.”

“What? No way! These are mine. She gave them to me to eat!”

“I told you to put it down.”

“I don’t want to! Are you going to steal my snacks now? If you don’t even like this anyway… Argh!”

Derek sat down clutching his hands. Yulif placed the two bundles of cookies that he had taken by magic on his desk side by side.

‘You look very pleased with yourself. You who lied and threatened Canaren.’

Roana rolled her eyes without Yulif’s knowledge. However, Yulif’s expression hardened as he looked at the new documents. Roana stretched her neck and glanced at the papers.

‘That’s… Her Majesty’s signature, isn’t it?’

Yulif read the news Estella sent under the guise of business papers from cover to cover.

Just as there were Deltinus’ eyes in Pionia, Yulif’s eyes were also in the Imperial Palace. However, recently, it was difficult for the informants to work as Deltinus kept swinging his sword back and forth.

In such a situation, the news Estella sent was useful. It was also great when one didn’t have to question the source of the information.

Once he inscribed the information in his head, Yulif completely destroyed the documents.

Roana tapped Derek’s side with her elbow. But Derek only wanted to retrieve the cookies that were unfairly stolen. In the end, Roana had no choice but to ask a question.

“Is it from the capital?”

“His Majesty wants to attend the wedding.”