Chapter 22
Wedding Congratulation Delegation (6)
“Then what is it that you wish to ask of me?”
“I want to speak with the envoys, so please write me an audience permit.”
“You call that a request?”
“It is a request, though?”
“Isn’t this more like a notification?”
“It isn’t, though?”
He was shameless anyway, so there was no reason for me not to become shameless as well.
With that in mind, I stepped forward confidently, and this time Kallio burst out laughing, clutching his stomach.
After barely stopping his laughter, he wiped away the slight tears gathered at the corners of his eyes.
“So, what do you want to talk about with the envoys?”
“There’s a gemstone I want to obtain.
I heard it’s a gemstone that doesn’t exist in the Empire.
While I’m at it, I’d like to hear stories related to their culture as well.
It might help me with Empress-related matters later on.”
“Hm, if that’s your reason.”
Kallio stared straight at me, then smiled as if he were fully satisfied.
“Would that answer have sounded quite pretty to you?”
When I saw that smile, somehow…
I had the ominous feeling that I had come here to apologize but ended up pressing a very annoying button instead.
I parted ways with Kallio feeling somewhat unsettled.
I had only faced him, talked, and had tea together, yet all my energy was completely drained.
‘Still, maybe because I apologized properly, he did write the permit.’
Once I take this permit and talk with the envoy delegation about the cooling stone, I should hurry back to the Empress Palace.
While thinking through even my rest plans like that and walking toward the place where the envoys were staying, I heard people’s voices.
“So I’m telling you, I didn’t do it!”
“But I ate what you served me, and my body ended up like this!”
Just from the voices alone, it sounded like they were fighting.
Despite my resolve to meet the envoys, I felt reluctant to head toward the source of the noise.
‘Does no one sleep at night?
Why are they fighting at such a late hour…’
Unfortunately, the sound of several people arguing was coming from near where the envoys were staying.
Could it be that the envoys themselves were fighting?
That can’t be allowed.
The reason was simple.
‘If left alone, this will definitely escalate into a diplomatic issue.’
Before the envoys’ quarrel grew into a bigger problem and the fallout reached even me, who was lingering nearby, I had to at least sort out the situation.
At that moment, scroll-like sheets of paper appeared in midair.
The papers soon transformed into the shape of a cat.
‘Why is the symbolic entity appearing now?’
When I looked up at it with a puzzled gaze, the symbolic entity lightly landed on the ground and smacked its lips.
“Waeakhyak, sounds like something tasty is about to happen?”
No sooner had it made that cheerful remark than a loud shout came again from where the envoys were.
“This man tried to poison me!”
The content was extremely chilling.
In the end, I arrived at the scene where people were fighting.
“Um, have you all calmed down?”
At my words, the envoys pressed their lips together with sullen expressions.
They even bowed their heads to me, but it didn’t look like a sign that the situation had been resolved.
“We have committed an offense, Your Majesty the Empress.”
At least one of the envoys tried to break the frozen atmosphere.
Perhaps I should be glad that Kallio wasn’t here.
If that man had been present, calling me ‘our Radi,’ it felt like several heads would have already rolled.
Shuddering briefly at the horrifying imagination, I asked someone who looked like a third party in the argument to quickly grasp the situation.
“It’s fine.
I heard there was a disturbance and came to see.
Could you explain what happened?”
Under normal circumstances, they would have asked why the Empress was walking around alone without attendants.
Perhaps because of the intense argument just moments ago, the envoys exchanged glances and then began speaking.
“F-first of all, our introduction is late due to the chaos.
I am Rom from the Kingdom of Parta.
As for the two involved in the argument…”
“…I am Pinio, an envoy from the Kingdom of Tilia.”
“I am Rai, an envoy from the Kingdom of Yahutz.”
For reference, both people involved in the dispute were in a very agitated state.
In particular, the envoy from the Kingdom of Yahutz, who introduced himself as Rai, was sweating profusely and repeatedly pressed and removed something like an ice pack from his forehead.
I nodded while hiding my true thoughts.
‘A refrigerant to give to Aisha.
If this matter is resolved well, I might be able to obtain it easily.’
The hesitant envoys continued speaking.
“Coincidentally, the three of us were classmates who studied together at an educational institution that trained administrators.
So even here, we arranged a private meeting and shared the food brought by the attendants, but…”
“This envoy named Pinio put poison in my food!
Until just a moment ago, I could barely breathe and only just regained my senses!
Even now, rashes remain on my body!”
“I’m telling you, I didn’t put in any poison!
Rai, you must have already been in poor condition before that!”
“What did you say?
I was perfectly fine until I ate the food you gave me!”
“T-this is in front of Her Majesty the Empress.
Everyone, please calm down!”
As I listened quietly, I slightly raised my hand.
“Were attendants present at the dining table?
Is there a possibility that the attendants put poison into the food?”
“Before the meal, the attendants already tasted all the food once.
None of the attendants showed any abnormalities, and the silver utensils did not change color either.
All three of us shared the food evenly.”
The silver utensils, which would change color in response to poison, showed no reaction.
The attendants responsible for tasting the food were also fine.
Likewise, the other two envoys showed no abnormalities.
Only the envoy named Rai developed rashes and breathing difficulties after eating.
In that case, there was only one remaining possibility.
An allergy.
“Rai, are there any foods you normally cannot eat?”
“Peanuts and milk… I can’t eat those.
If I eat too much wheat, my condition also worsens.”
“Of course!
When we attended the academy, we often spent time together.
We were all aware of the foods he couldn’t eat and informed the attendants accordingly.
There were no such foods in what Rai ate.”
He added that the dishes on Rai’s table were all things like rice-based foods or fruit desserts.
They were foods that Rai normally liked.
Then could it have been a completely odorless and colorless poison…?
‘Ah, that would broaden the scope of the investigation too much!’
Just based on the testimonies, there didn’t seem to be a problem.
At this point, wouldn’t it be better to go to the scene directly?
They said Rai had been gasping for breath until recently, so the dining place probably wasn’t far from here.
As my worries deepened, I saw a familiar face.
“Oh, Your Majesty the Empress, you’re here!”
It was the head maid.
Behind her, several other maids followed.
“Lady Denebra said that Your Majesty might lose her way, so we came looking for you…
But what are you doing here?”
“Um, well…”
Following Aisha’s advice, I roughly summarized what had happened so far to the head maid who had come looking for me.
“So I was thinking of going to see the scene…”
“No, you must not, Your Majesty the Empress.”
However, the head maid strongly opposed my idea.
I blinked, unable to immediately argue back, when the head maid added in a firm tone.
“Ah, and besides, Your Majesty the Empress is someone who will carry the next sun.
Unless His Majesty the Emperor is by your side, you must never go to dangerous places.”
“The next… what?”
“Now, please come with me, Your Majesty the Empress.”
Nooo!
This can’t be!
The most dangerous place in this palace is right next to your Emperor, to begin with!
However, I was only one person, and there were over a dozen maids following the head maid.
In the end, I had no choice but to be led back to the Empress Palace by the head maid and the other maids.
But just as I had expected, the unresolved issue of the envoy delegation returned later as an even bigger incident.
The matter of the envoy delegation was quickly reported to the Emperor’s side.
Given how much of a disturbance it was, it would have been stranger if Kallio hadn’t known about it.
However, because Kallio intervened in the matter of the envoys, the problem grew even larger.
‘From what the children working near the investigation office said, the envoys caused a disturbance.
They claimed it was unfair to treat someone as a criminal when no poison had been added, and said they would report this matter to their superiors upon returning home.’
Listening further, I heard that swords were even drawn in front of the investigation office, and that the interrogation took place in a highly threatening atmosphere…
If this went wrong, it would truly become a diplomatic issue.
Shouldn’t I stop this?
“Do you think we should intervene and stop the fight among the envoys?”
At that moment, Kallio, who had come to my room to drink tea, spoke.
