Ask Away, Your Majesty - Chapter 7
It was past midnight and, instead of heading to his bedroom, Kyle headed to his study. His study within the Eastern Palace was the largest among the palace’s main, east, west, and south wings. It was a well-known fact among the Astum court that Kyle, who had stayed in the Eastern Palace since childhood, was obsessed with books. At first, it was just a simple study, but as his collection of books grew, it encroached on the other rooms of the palace, until it was eventually renovated into a grand library.
Reviewing the documents that had arrived today in his study, Kyle realized it was already deep into the early morning. Suffering from habitual insomnia, he couldn’t easily leave his study. Only when the dawn began to break did Kyle rise from his seat.
“Your Highness, you must go to bed even if you rest for just 30 minutes.”
It was a constant reminder from the palace attendants, concerned about Kyle’s insomnia.
He was well-aware that if the quality of his sleep worsened, it would harm his health. Even though he knew he wouldn’t sleep properly anyway, Kyle still made his way to the bedroom.
After taking a shower and lying down in the silent bedroom, Kyle’s green eyes pierced through the darkness.
“That smell. It’s certain.”
It was a scent that had emanated from the Emperor’s bedroom before his father and mother passed away. And it was the smell that had begun to waft intermittently from his bedroom. It was what drove Kyle to insomnia. Rising to his feet, he scanned the room, but he couldn’t place the odor or what it even was. It was so faint and subtle, and worse, he was the only one who noticed it.
The first time he noticed this scent was late at night about a year before the Emperor’s summons made him return to the palace. Returning late from his study, Kyle sensed it as soon as he entered the bedroom. It was the strange odor that had filled the Emperor’s chambers in the days before his father and mother died.
Kyle immediately called for Pico that morning, but no matter how he explained it, Pico had no idea what it was.
“All I can smell is a faint woody odor from the furniture.”
Pico was right—it did smell like common wood. Yet, undoubtedly, there was something different, a slightly heavier scent mixed with it.
It had been nagging at the back of Kyle’s mind the entire time that his father and mother’s deaths might not have been from old age.
Even the most competent palace attendants couldn’t uncover the reason behind his parents’ sudden decline in health. Everything associated with his parents, from food and clothing to the attendants managing the Emperor and Empress’s bedroom, was scrutinized and replaced, yet nothing suspicious came to light. However, Kyle was convinced that there was something unnatural about his parents’ deaths. And the moment he detected the same scent in his room, reminiscent of the one before their passing, he was convinced.
His parents were murdered, and it was now evident that someone was clearly attempting to kill him as well.
“Do you seriously not smell it, Pico?”
“No. I have no idea what you’re talking about. Oh my, I didn’t know Your Highness had such a bloodhound’s nose.”
Pico’s retort was dismissive, as Kyle repeatedly summoned him in the early hours to talk about the scent.
“Bloodhound’s nose?”
“Because you’re sniffing around all of a sudden…”
Thinking Kyle was angry at being called a dog, Pico shrugged his shoulders apologetically.
But Kyle suddenly realized that if he had a sense of smell as sensitive as a dog’s, he might be able to actually pick up on these subtle scents.
“Pico, find a way for me to become a dog.”
“Huh?! What on earth are you suddenly talking about?!”
“I must find out. I need to know what this scent is.”
That’s how, after a year, Pico secretly managed to locate Lorienne, the sorceress capable of brewing a potion that could turn him into a dog.
