The border between Imortelle Empire and Grizmen Kingdom.
The last Grizmen fortress, which had held out until the very end, had fallen.
Woosh.
The bloody grass smelled like blood when the wind blew over it.
The fighting that had been going on in the plain had stopped.
On both sides of the camp, tents were set up.
A flag with a picture of a hawk on it was set up in front of the biggest tent.
The Empire was represented by the hawk, which flapped in the wind.
“Long live the Empire that will never end!”
“Long live Emperor Eden, long live forever!”
As King Jake of Grizmen walked into the tent, the cheers got louder.
Jake had a sad face as he looked around the inside of the tent.
There was only a single Imperial knight there.
“Where is the Emperor?”
“He’ll be here in a little while.”
The Imperial knight spoke back in a harsh tone, and he didn’t take his hand off the sword at his waist.
Flutter.
As soon as the curtain was thrown open, someone came in.
There was a lot of blood smell.
Jake’s face scrunched up on its own. He thought his nose had gone numb from smelling it so much, but the smell coming from the new person was very strange.
A smell that could make even the calmest person go crazy.
“He doesn’t even wipe the blood off his armor. I guess it’s true that the Emperor is obsessed with blood.”
A colleague spoke quietly next to him.
King Eden was the ruler of the Imortelle Empire.
A warrior and killer.
People said that the emperor would go crazy if he didn’t always have blood on him.
The Emperor also wore a mask all the time.
Clink.
Jake was shocked by the sound of the armor clanking together.
The eyes in the mask, which were blue, moved toward him.
The hawk-like mask hid half of the Emperor’s face, so he couldn’t tell what he looked like.
But it was clear that, despite what people said, his overall look wasn’t ugly.
Behind the chilly shiny mask, Jake could see a sharp chin line and closed lips that didn’t seem to care about anything.
But the heavy gaze that pierced through him froze his whole body.
The huge figure moved quietly, and his body gave off a strong vibe.
If a monster tried to look like a person, it would be like this Emperor.
After meeting the Emperor for the first time, his body basked in fear.
“Please, take a seat.”
The emperor pointed with his chin to a chair and then sat down on the other side.
He looked at Jake without even taking off the mask that was covered in blood.
“You’re so rude! Take off that mask and act with manners…”
Even though he was scared, Jake’s subordinate, who had been staring at the mask, stepped forward.
“Manners?”
The Emperor looked at the knight next to him like he had just heard something funny.
“You should be thankful that no one has cut off your head here.”
The knight of the Empire sneered and spoke for the emperor.
“What did you say!”
“His Majesty treats you as colonial kings more than enough as it is.”
“Is this what you want to say?”
“After today, the Empire will be in charge of Grizmen. Why would we keep you alive as king when it would be easier to send a bureaucrat from the Empire to run things? It’s not necessary.”
“You, you’re ruthless!”
“Thank goodness His Majesty didn’t want to waste blood, so it’s an honor for you to be even here.”
“You’re crazy…”
“Enough.”
Jake stopped his subordinate, who tried to step forward because he couldn’t take his anger any longer.
Right then, the curtain opened and a young server with a tray walked in.
A teacup was placed in each of their fronts.
Jake reached for the mug with reluctance as he nervously looked at the black tea.
The emperor also reached out at the same time. Jake was holding the teacup, but his hand knocked down the other cup.
Clang.
“That’s a rude thing to do.”
He had a cold smile on his face.
Jake was stunned as he looked at the broken teacup on the ground. The tea that got on the floor looked like blood.
“What’s this…”
Jake finally came to, but he couldn’t say anything because he was frozen in place.
“It’s not fair for the king of a small country to drink tea with the emperor of the Imortelle Empire. Isn’t it enough that you’re sitting in front of me?”
Jake could see nothing in his eyes.
Jake’s back was wet with cold sweat. If he made one wrong move, his blood, not tea, would be on the floor.
The emperor laughed and put his hand up.
The helper came right over and cleaned up the broken things that were all over the floor. His face stayed calm, as if he knew what was going to happen.
Soon after, a knight from the Imperial army came with a scroll.
A notice of surrender.
It made it official that the Kingdom of Grizmen would join the Imortelle Empire as a colony.
Jake unrolled the piece of paper.
It talked about the crops and natural resources that could be grown on the rich land, as well as the taxes that had to be paid every year at a certain rate.
It was hard to accept that the rare mineral-rich mountain area would now belong to the Emperor.
“Don’t let yourself down.”
The emperor finally said something.
“Your throne is still yours.”
What’s the point of being a king only in name?
Jake just about kept his anger in check.
“You can keep living in style like you always have.”
“…”
“There’s one more thing,” he said.
Jake paid close attention as the emperor spoke slowly.
Behind the mask, the corners of the emperor’s mouth turned up just a little.
That strange thing couldn’t be called a smile.
Soon, the ruler said things that didn’t make sense.
“I’ll take care of your worries myself.”
And, as if he thought Jake would be thankful, he kept going in a cold way.
“I will deal with the monsters.”
Monsters.
On the Elexion continent, people and nature were not the only things that lived together.
Monsters that were ugly, cruel, and scary also lived there.
Most monsters lived together in their natural homes. Several of these homes were spread out across Elexion.
The Kingdom of Grizmen was far away from these monsters’ homes, which was a good thing.
The trouble was that the monsters went outside when there wasn’t enough food in their homes.
Monsters that were looking for food would sometimes stumble into Grizmen.
Small monsters could be dealt with in some way, but the ones as big as houses were harder to control.
“The Empire will be in charge of protecting its colonies, so don’t worry. Monsters will no longer be a threat to the Grizmen.”
“…Thank you.”
Jake’s eyes got bigger as he kept reading the scroll.
“This is strange!”
“I’ve added another thing.”
“If you suddenly decided to add another thing without negotiating first, then this is a bad talk!”
“Bad talk?”
“No, I just need some time to think…”
“Think of it as an extra precaution.”
“Extra precaution?”
“From the Empire’s point of view, keeping you alive is also a hard job.”
“…”
“We never know when you might rebel to get your independence back. As long as you follow the rules, I won’t do anything so dangerous.”
The emperor had carefully planned everything, so Jake couldn’t say anything. Jake signed the paper that said the Kingdom of Grizmen would become a colony of the Imortelle Empire. He did this with a sad heart.
Jake couldn’t say anything against what the emperor said.
Jake had no choice but to agree to his new rules in the end.
He wrote his name on the scroll with a steady hand.
Jake did the same thing by scribbling his name.
“Jake Albert, King of Grizmen, show respect to the Emperor of the Imortelle Empire.”
Jake got up from his place and got down on his knees in front of the emperor.
“Your Highness!”
His servant cried out with a sad look on his face.
Jake held the paper in both hands, rolled it up, and handed it to the emperor with a red face.
He took the scroll in one hand and gave it to an imperial knight in the other.
“You’re free to go now.”
Jake and his helper left the tent with their shoulders slouched.
“They don’t appear to know how to be thankful.”
Baron Elliot Schneider groaned as he stood next to the emperor.
Eden got out of his chair.
“I would be grateful if they saved my life, took care of the monsters, and even bowed down to them.”
Eden shook his head when Elliot complained. A cracking sound was heard.
“Should we get ready to go to the royal palace of the Grizmen?”
“I don’t feel well.”
“What in the world is the body of Your Majesty made of?”
“Just like yours.”
“So why don’t you ever get tired?”
“Something is just not enough.”
“Are you saying that after killing so many people, you still have energy?”
“Having to deal with such wimps doesn’t fill my hunger.”
Elliot made a confused face when he heard those words. Soon, he shook his head in frustration and went back to his usual tone of whining.
“Yeah, that’s probably true,” he said.
“Is there a monster’s hideout close by?”
“Probably.”
“I need to relax a little bit before we go into Grizmen.”
“Ugh.”
Elliot sighed when he realized that the emperor was not going to change his mind.
“Let’s go now.”
“I’ll tell everyone else to get ready.”
“I can go alone.”
Elliot had no choice but to agree with the emperor’s decision because he would not change his mind. As they got ready for their trip, the fate of the Grizmen Kingdom, which was now just a chess piece in the hands of the Imortelle Empire, was in doubt.
“Stop saying that! If the Emperor of the Empire goes hunting monsters alone, people will think he’s gone crazy!”
Elliot got angry and jumped up.
“Hasn’t it already been said that I’m crazy?”
“Even so!”
“Don’t bother me about it. It’s up to you if you want to come with me or not.”
Eden didn’t want to hear any more, so he got up and left the room.
“Oh, my destiny.”
Elliot’s sigh got even longer.
—
“I’m Claire Mcllroy,” she said.
“I’m Claire Mcllroy,” she said.
Kwon In-young passed out from too much work three days ago and woke up in the body of a maid in a duke’s house.
Even though it happened quickly, it seemed like she would have to stay in this world as Claire as long as there was no way out.
Claire lifted her face and inhaled deeply of the cool air.
Her cheeks, which had been red from being too close to the fire, finally went back to their normal color.
“Why are you talking to yourself like that?”
Hana asked as she ate a bit of bread next to her.
“I’m Claire Mc… huh? Nothing, the wind on my face felt so nice.”
“Did things go badly for you?”
“At least we got bread,” Claired said.
Claire gave a wicked smile and bit into the warm bread.
It was the first thing they ate that day.
As a treat for their hard work, the head cook gave them the bread.
White bread that is soft.
Once the work in the kitchen was done, Claire went to find Hana to share the bread with her.
Now, the two of them were sitting in a quiet part of the yard and enjoying the bread.
“Wow, you both look like you’re having fun. I take it you’re both done with your work and just hanging out?”
A mocking voice came out of nowhere.
When they turned around, they saw four maids there.
“Wendy?”
Hana got up slowly and took a quick look at one of them.
Wendy, one of the maids who worked in the house, crossed her arms and looked angry.
Cindy, Wendy’s best friend, stood next to her.
Wendi and Cindy.
Two bad people who always hung out together and made Claire and Hana’s lives hard.
“We were about to start working again.”
Hana stuttered nervously.
The four servants laughed and teased Claire and Hana, which made their lives even harder in the duke’s house. But the two girls stuck with it, hoping for a better day and hanging on to the friendship they had found in each other.
“Hnna, stay still. We’ve been working all morning and just got a break.”
Claire dragged Hana after her.
“Oh my, you can talk back?”
Wendy’s eyes got big in shock.
“A few days ago, you couldn’t. You must have liked working in the stable, huh?”
“What’s wrong with you? You’re staring at me with your eyes wide open.”
The maids added their comments one by one, making mean faces at the two girls as they did so.
Hana put her shoulders close together and held on to Claire’s arm.
“Do you want to say something to us?”
Claire stuck her chin up in defiance.
Wendy looked at Claire closely and judged her.
Claire would usually have kept her head down like a sick chicken and not said anything.
But now she was standing up straight, as if she had changed into someone else.
Wendy was determined that Claire wouldn’t say anything today.
“I asked you before if you were resting because you were done with your work.”
“We’re done, so we’re taking a break.”
“I can’t believe you’re resting after doing such a bad job cleaning the mansion,” she said.
“You and Hana did that in the morning.”
“I did it by myself.” Then Hana spoke with a sad tone in her voice.
“The whole house?” Claire was surprised when she looked at Hanna.
Claire was meant to help clean the house, but she was called to the kitchen at the last minute and couldn’t do it.
“Do you get it?”
Wendy laughed smugly.
“That’s not all. Take a look at this.”
Wendy pointed to her maid outfit, which had soot stains all over the gray dress and apron.
“I got dirty while checking on the cleaning of the fireplace. The floor must also be a mess, right? Go clean it up right away!”
Claire made a frown.
Early in the morning, she and Hana had cleaned the fireplace.
They cleaned up the ashes with great care, so how did Wendy get so dirty? It was impossible, unless she put the ashes from the wall on herself on purpose.
“I didn’t clean that badly, Claire. What should we do?”
Hana appeared to be about to cry.
Claire turned her head and looked Wendy straight in the eyes.
“That’s not possible.”
“What?”
“In the afternoon, I have to go to the kitchen to work.”
Wendy’s angry face went red, but Claire didn’t back down. Wendy was clearly trying to mess things up, but Claire and Hana weren’t going to let her. They were determined to stick up for themselves and not let the bullies win.
“Are you ignoring what I’m saying?”
“We’ve already done our work for the morning. Doing the same thing again would be a waste of time.”
“Then who will clean the mansion and the fireplace?!”
Claire didn’t show any sign of giving up, so Wendy stomped her foot in anger.
“Since you are in charge of cleaning, you should do it right. It would have been better if you had cleaned the fireplace as you checked it.”
“What? I can’t believe it!”
Wendy couldn’t keep her anger in, so she swung her hand.
Smack.
Claire wasn’t ready for the quick move, so she couldn’t get out of the way. She squeezed her eyes shut and put her hand up to her face.
No, but she did try.
Claire’s eyes got really big when she saw Hana standing in her way.
Wendy’s slap was so hard that it turned Hana’s face to the side.
“Hana!”
When Hana fell, Claire caught her.
“I’m… okay.”
Hanna tried to stop crying while holding her swollen face.
“You could have worked it out by talking!”
Claire gave Wendy a mean look.
“Still not satisfied…”
“Did I say something wrong? You are in charge of cleaning the mansion. If you don’t like it, quit!”
“Oh, look at how she talks! Wendy, are you going to let her get away with that?”
Cindy egged Wendy on.
Wendy rushed at Claire when she heard those words.
Her evil hand grabbed Claire’s hair and pulled it.
It hurt so much.
So much so that her eyes filled with tears.
But Claire’s pain made her even more determined to fight back.
Claire grabbed Wendy’s wrist, which was holding her hair, and bit it hard, like a dog eating a bone.
“Aaah!”
A high-pitched scream filled the room.
“Let go! Aaah, it hurts!”
Wendy tried hard to get Claire to let go of her wrist.
Claire wouldn’t let go of Wendy’s wrist, even though her head was being pushed, and she kept her teeth locked.
“Aaargh!”
Wendy fell on top of Claire because she was in pain. The girls got mixed up and rolled around on the dirt floor.
“What are you doing? Get her off of me! Aaah!”
The maids, who had been looking on in shock, ran over.
But it wasn’t easy to pull Claire away from Wendy because she stuck to her like a bug.
“With such a small body, where does all this strength come from?”
“What a strong-willed girl!”
They each said something in a whisper.
Finally, Wendy started crying.
“What the heck is going on?!!”
At that time, a harsh voice could be heard.
Claire, Wendy, and the girls who tried to help all stopped what they were doing at the same time.
A noblewoman in her middle years stood there with her hair piled up in a stylish way.
And next to her was a very pretty young girl.
The girl looked just like a princess out of a storybook.
