Ack.

 

Felix grabbed his side and fell sideways. His royal dignity was lost amidst the appearance of him cursing.

 

It was a situation that would be terrifying to others, but it was a perfectly familiar picture to his aide, Mark. Even so, as one of his subjects, he could not continue looking at the tragic sight of his superior.

 

Mark quietly closed his eyes.

 

“Someone left because they didn’t want to be the Emperor!”

 

“…..”

 

“Someone had a headache every day thinking about the Empire…!”

 

Although his eyes were closed, his ears were open, so he could hear all of the Emperor’s whining. Faithful Mark wiped cold sweat with his handkerchief, trying not to show his embarrassment.

 

“I want to quit being the Emperor!”

 

Felix pouted his mouth and threatened Louis. If he gave up the throne in a situation where there was no heir, it would be passed on to the next person according to the Imperial Law.

 

When that happens, Louis would be appointed as Emperor.

 

“I think Violta would think differently.”

 

Louis, who was silent the whole time, snorted sarcastically. There was no way that Violta, who roasted and boiled Felix, would give up her seat as Empress. Felix nodded in agreement with what he already knew.

 

“Well, then I might really get a divorce…”

 

“Tell me the gist of it.”

 

Louis cut off his words and wore a bored look. Instead of engaging in useless conversations, it was more useful to find out what this unknown change was. There had never been a day when Louis was more embarrassed than today. His sensitivity to his unresolved thoughts was at its peak.

 

‘I’m the Emperor, but I’m the weakest!’

 

Felix glared at that hateful snout and groaned.

 

He had never heard a sweet sound come out of that mouth.

 

It seemed like yesterday when he was just a toddler.

 

Who would want to meet with that wrecked personality!

 

“Ahem.”

 

Felix let out a dry cough and got to the point.

 

“The desert northeast of Gerada. Something’s happening over there.”

 

Felix, who created a very serious atmosphere, and Louis, who sat leisurely in a chair, created such a sharp contrast.

 

Anyone who saw it would know that Felix was reporting to his boss.

 

There really was no mutiny.

 

“There were movements to create another empire in the underworld. The main perpetrators are a group of criminals.”

 

“…..”

 

“If my intuition is correct, I think the Magic Tower was also involved in this incident.”

 

Felix continued to speak in a serious tone.

 

He dispatched several mercenaries and knights from the Imperial Knights Templar to investigate the case. But no one came back alive.

 

Thus, Felix gathered all the nobles who exerted influence over the Empire. He demanded voluntary support from the enlisted men from each family.

 

The nobles seemed to agree with that opinion, but whether they didn’t want to give up their own family’s private soldiers or they thought they wouldn’t profit from it, there was only a war of nerves. At the end of the meeting Louis appeared. Felix couldn’t miss this opportunity.

 

“My dear friend!”

 

Felix spoke exaggeratedly as if he was in a play.

 

“In my mind, I want to go, but as you know, I am the Emperor!”

 

“…..”

 

“I want to entrust this task to you.

 

Felix finished his words by placing a hand on his chest. Silence fell. He didn’t say all that to himself, but there was no response from the intended recipient, Louis. At that, Felix opened one of his eyes.

 

“What!”

 

Louis’ face was covered with a book.

 

“This is important!”

 

Felix jumped up and knocked Louis’ book away. Louis frowned at the man talking loudly beside him.

 

“What’s with that face? So are you going or not?!”

 

Felix, who was on the verge of buzzing again, Louis got up with an expression of annoyance. Before the story gets longer, he had better leave now.

 

“I’m leaving right away.” Louis spoke in a hoarse voice.

 

‘I’ll be away for a while.’

 

Louis completely ruled out the option of getting the woman out of his mansion. As long as she had entered his realm, she could not escape.

 

Therefore, it must be him who would leave the place.

 

‘Yes, if I stay away, this unexplained thirst will disappear.’

 

Louis narrowed his darkly shaded eyes and closed his mouth.

 

***

 

Mark made some simple preparations and watched a few knights and Louis leave. When the unspoken acceptance was granted, everything was done quickly. His momentum was as fast as sticking a tongue out.

 

The debate, which had stood still as the nobles fought for several hours, was immediately resolved when Grand Duke Teflano stepped in.

 

‘The nobles are the people who do not move if there is no profit, but even so…’

 

Mark expressed his pitiful feelings at the behavior of the Grand Duke who left.

 

‘…You must have bothered the Grand Duke so much.’

 

Mark, who knew the history of the Emperor, looked at the Emperor with salty eyes. The Emperor had a good personality, but he exhausted those around him.

 

“Mark.”

 

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

 

Suddenly, the Emperor called Mark.

 

Mark’s face went cold, fearing that the emperor might have noticed his blasphemous thoughts.

 

“What do you think is the scariest thing?”

 

The Emperor asked with a serious look and a dignified tone.

 

‘Gulp.’

 

Mark suppressed the tension he felt and carefully selected his words.

 

“I think it’s when I lose.”

 

“…..”

 

“Everyone feels hopeless when something they have is stolen or lost.”

 

“I see. Yes, you are right. It’s scary and intimidating.”

 

Felix nodded his head slightly, then looked out the window again.

 

“But I think differently.”

 

“…..”

 

“A boring life. I think it starts from there.”

 

“Your Majesty…….”

 

“Is there anything scarier than an exhaustively boring life?”

 

Felix dropped his playful appearance and smiled bitterly.

 

It was as if he was alive but life was turned off.

 

A daily routine that repeated itself every day.

 

When you face a day like yesterday, where everyday was an uphill battle, that tight and empty chest would not be filled with anything.

 

“……”

 

All you could see in a world full of colors was black.

 

How would you be different?

 

Felix, who had recently felt that everything was fleeting, wondered.

 

He wondered if Louis’ world was also achromatic like this.

 

***

 

Louis rode his horse down across the northern desert.

 

Asterisk Underworld.

 

It was an illegal large-scale organization that was being secretly promoted by the Imperial Family. It was steadily progressing here, in the desert of Gerada.

 

A small group of people participated in the mission that was carried out in secret.

 

Tak-.

 

“I think it’s here.”

 

High Minister Peter, with a compass and a map in his hands, pulled the horse’s reins and stood up.

 

An endless sand field spread around.

 

All they could see was sand, but when he said that they had arrived at their destination, the party started whispering. They pointed to the place where Peter had remained quiet.

 

“!!!!”

 

If you look closely, you could see layers of sand stacked on top of each other.

 

A passage about the size of an adult, the entrance was cleverly hidden with sand. If you weren’t paying close attention, you would just pass by it.

 

“Let’s go in now!”

 

The Knights who were motivated roared loudly. They looked at Louis’ as they waited for his orders.

 

“……Huh?”

 

Grand Duke Teflano.

 

At some point he had disappeared.

 

“What? The Grand Duke is gone!”

 

All hell broke loose as the man proudly abandoned his soldiers. It was disappointing that they have lost our leader. A few hours passed in the midst of the chaos.

 

“I think we should at least move among ourselves.”

 

“Wait a little longer.”

 

The opinion that they should move and the opinion that they should wait a little longer were divided.

 

***

 

“Grand, Grand Duke!!!”

 

At some point, Louis reappeared. He was holding something like a cotton ball.

 

“… Gerada Fox?”

 

The Knights murmured.

 

Perhaps its leg was injured or the creature was bleeding because it trembled in the arms of the Grand Duke.

 

It was a desert fox.

 

Louis, who had left his companions alone, pushed a water bottle at the fox cub.

 

The fox whose eyes were closed, looked as if it was dying from the hot sun and thirst. It seemed to have been thirsty for several days, so it drank water without a break.

 

‘You drink well.’

 

Louis stroked the fox’s golden fur. He couldn’t just leave it as it reminded him of someone he had left behind in the mansion. Louis’ indifferent expression as he recalled the woman, unknowingly softened for a moment.

 

“This isn’t the right time for this.”

 

It was time to do their mission. Peter, who couldn’t bear to see the man delaying the mission by putting a bandage on the fox’s leg, spoke up.

 

“Prrrrr.”

 

The desert fox made a small noise and rubbed its face in Louis’ hands. Unlike the usual trait of the Gerada desert fox, which did not like to be touched by humans, this fox knew who had saved him.

 

Peter marveled at the fox with bright amber eyes and golden fur. It was a fox with a different color from the normal Gerada desert fox. The way it rolled up its tail looked very pretty, so he kept looking at it.

 

“Let’s go.”

 

Louis slowly embraced the fox and stared at the passageway connected to the underworld.

 

It was time to carry out their mission.

 

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