A Jealous Emperor's Clever Getaway
Kylus flinched the moment his eyes met Edwin’s.
Ever since he had asked if he could call her by the nickname Lina, he had planned to tease Edwin—just a little—for still using that stiff, formal address. But that plan was scrapped entirely as of today.
I can’t risk my neck for a prank.
Calling her Lina so casually this time had not been intentional, yet Edwin’s reaction was far more intense than expected. It was the textbook image of a man blinded by jealousy.
Edwin had failed to account for one critical variable: his lover was on the verge of becoming a complete workaholic, and he had been quietly suffering because of it. Kylus’s small spark had simply set the emperor’s already boiling insides fully ablaze.
It was a very good thing, Kylus thought, that it was summer. Edwin was a practical man who rarely wore gloves in warm weather, which meant Kylus would not become the target of a jealous tyrant’s wrath.
Even while inwardly cursing his own misfortune, Kylus kept his expression perfectly calm.
If I panic now, it’s over.
He knew exactly how childish a man could become when he fell in love for the first time. He had been there himself, after all—though he had only been fourteen at the time.
Kylus quickly used his wits to throw his subordinates under the carriage.
“All the agents in the Blue Hawk call Miss Diaz ‘Lina,’ Your Majesty.”
Edwin saw through the roundabout excuse at once. As emperor, he could hardly be ignorant of the palace’s peculiar customs.
“Not you.”
The objection was pure pettiness. Yet while Edwin’s voice carried irritation he could not hide, there was no real anger in it.
Seeing the emperor’s temper cool, Kylus breathed a silent sigh of relief. He would have been perfectly fine going back to “Miss Diaz.” Still, he smirked as if the whole thing were no big deal. Male friendship had its mischievous side.
“Perhaps Your Majesty should start using a pet name as well.”
The sentence had been carefully wrapped to account for the difference in their stations; had they been ordinary friends, it would have been far more blunt. Edwin, catching the implication, avoided Kylus’s gaze and pretended to be interested in something else. Kylus laughed silently at the transparent act.
Edwin was a typical blue-blood who believed even lovers and married couples should observe proper etiquette.
What’s the point of etiquette between lovers? Isn’t it etiquette that stops you from doing half the things you want?
From the lofty height of experience, Kylus looked down at his old friend who was still a novice in romance. Without his stunning appearance, wealth, and power, Edwin’s prickly and old-fashioned personality would have doomed him to lifelong solitude.
I can never decide whether the goddess is fair or terribly unfair.
Confident that Edwin could not read minds, Kylus delivered his judgment without mercy.
If that’s how you feel, then don’t get jealous at all.
He shook his head theatrically. Getting involved in someone else’s romance—especially his superior’s—was never a good idea. All it earned him was the chore of picking out office supplies for his boss’s girlfriend on his precious day off.
“By the way, why did you ask about the schedule?”
Kylus changed the subject so blatantly that the pivot succeeded. Edwin, still staring at the Inspectorate building with a wistful expression, finally revealed the plan he had been mulling over.
“I was thinking of taking a short trip to the suburbs.”
The imperial family owned villas in every scenic spot near the capital. The destination was one of those.
Lina had been just as busy lately as she had been at the Ministry of Finance. She had been understanding and said it was fine, but it clearly wasn’t.
Every meeting has been in some secluded corner of the inner palace.
A change of scenery was necessary. Besides, Lina probably won’t work during a trip.
Of course, there was also the selfish desire to monopolize her, even briefly, when she was free from her duties.
“Miss Diaz knows about this plan, I assume?”
Kylus would have bet his mana circle that she did not. There was no impure intent in Edwin’s eyes, but for lovers who had only just begun their relationship, a long-distance journey carried special significance.
Forgetting his earlier vow not to interfere in his superior’s love life, Kylus jabbed again.
“And you intend to ride without resting even once the entire way there and back?”
Fortunately, Edwin understood the implication immediately.
It would be rather pathetic if a grown man over twenty couldn’t read between those lines.
Embarrassment flooded Edwin’s face.
“That wasn’t my intention.”
His ears had turned bright red. Kylus wanted to scrub his own eyes.
“Revoked. There’s no need to adjust the work schedule.”
Edwin added, earlobes still flushed. Kylus shook his head at him. Edwin looked momentarily irritated but realized getting angry would only make him look worse, so he pretended not to notice.
Royals.
They never stopped to consider how their words and actions appeared to others, which was exactly why these situations kept arising.
Can’t be helped.
Kylus decided to give his friend the tiniest push. It was less for Edwin’s sake and more for his own. He liked competent people, and Lina was exceptionally competent. If possible, he wanted them to become engaged quickly so she could take over internal affairs. Even if they somehow parted ways, he wanted to keep her tied to the Blue Hawk.
The fact that he had not yet assigned her separate duties was partly on Edwin’s orders, but there had also been a calculated intent to nurture her talents.
Still, the first option is definitely better.
Having made up his mind, Kylus suddenly began talking about work—trivial matters the emperor did not strictly need to hear.
“Two months ago, the field investigators we dispatched to the Diegis fief—where traces of black magic were discovered—contacted us requesting personnel capable of interpreting ancient languages.”
Edwin’s displeased gaze landed on him at the abrupt shift to official business, but Kylus continued undeterred.
“As Your Majesty knows, even the Blue Hawk has very few agents who can read ancient script.”
Edwin’s brow furrowed at the long-winded preamble, yet Kylus pressed on. Right before reaching the main point, he looked straight at the emperor and continued at a deliberately meaningful pace.
“It just so happens that Miss Diaz possesses considerable expertise in ancient languages.”
Kylus paused and met Edwin’s eyes. He had set the table; if the emperor could not take the meal, he would drop the subject entirely.
But while Edwin might be a novice in love, he was not slow-witted.
“An appropriate choice. However, sending Miss Diaz, who lacks martial ability, alone would be too dangerous.”
“Since it is a secret mission, we cannot attach multiple escort knights.”
“One skilled knight should be sufficient.”
Edwin’s golden eyes—the eyes of a rather skilled knight himself—gleamed.
“Revoke the revocation. Clear my schedule as much as possible.”
It was the emperor’s schedule, sliced down to the minute. The demand was unreasonable, but Kylus had planned for this from the start. He accepted the order with a smile.
“I will commission the Magic Tower for emergency scroll production. If you return to the palace once every two days to handle urgent matters, we should be able to free approximately ten days.”
Coordinate-designation scrolls were obscenely expensive. The arrangement essentially meant spending money like water and sacrificing sleep, but Edwin did not bat an eye. He was the richest man on the continent and had absolute confidence in his stamina.
“Do it.”
“I shall inform Miss Diaz that it is a ten-day business trip.”
For reference, traveling to the Diegis fief via the ancient teleportation circle took four days round trip even with ample rest. The actual text to be interpreted consisted of only a few sentences carved into a cave wall. Ancient script was a type of ideogram in which a single stroke or dot could completely alter meaning; the field team, unable to transcribe it accurately, had no choice but to request an expert in person.
In a way it was an abuse of authority, but the highest authority who should have stopped it looked extremely pleased.
And so, without Carolina’s knowledge, her business trip was arranged in the blink of an eye.