My Contract Husband Resembles the Male Protagonist - Chapter 51
A very scrawny man. He looked as if he hadn’t eaten in days.
“What do you think you’re doing, tripping me like that?”
The man shouted angrily.
“By the look of you, you’re neither a servant nor the lady of the house. What are you doing in the Lord’s storeroom? Do you have permission to be here?”
The most suspicious-looking man was trying to turn the tables and make me the suspicious one.
You, with those dark circles that seem to reach your cheeks, are definitely the most suspicious one here…
I took off my dirt-covered gloves and set them aside.
“I have permission. My name is Anne. Didn’t the lord tell you about me?”
“Anne?”
He muttered as if he had never heard of me.
“And who are you?”
“I, I am…”
Thud.
Before he could finish, the man collapsed.
“Excuse me?”
I approached and checked his pulse beneath his ear. He was still alive.
“So… hungry…”
“…..”
Growwwl, growwwwl.
The sound was almost thunderous.
* * *
“It might be a good opportunity to reassess the boundaries of each territory.”
“The entire region?”
Dale sat with a frown, tackling the backlog of paperwork.
“Is it impossible?”
“No, it’s a great idea!”
Since Enya had exposed the corruption in the border territories, all other territories were now under investigation as well.
The maps marking the boundaries of the empire’s territories were ancient, and there had been numerous changes over the years due to territorial wars.
The main reason was the previous emperor’s misconduct.
He had turned a blind eye to those who expanded their territories without justification, and even rewarded them for it.
When territories expanded, the taxes due should have increased, but their tax rates remained unchanged.
This meant that the previous emperor knowingly allowed lords to pay less tax than they owed, letting them unlawfully increase their wealth.
“Proceed discreetly.”
“Where should we start? The West? The East? I suggest we begin with investigating Duke Hexagon since he’s currently under house arrest.”
“How long has Max Hexagon been confined?”
Dale, maintaining a posture so upright it seemed stiff, put down his pen and looked at his chief advisor.
“Nine years and seven months.”
“Six months left, then.”
Dale frowned slightly and picked up his pen, quietly scribbling curses on a document.
“Your Majesty, that is an official document.”
“It’s a petition for the reinstatement of the Hexagon Duke. Do you want to see it, Soho?”
“How did that end up there? I’ll dispose of it immediately.”
Soho obediently took the document Dale handed over without looking and discarded it.
‘I can’t read His Majesty’s mood anymore.’
Since meeting the Lady, he seemed in better spirits despite being tired. But lately, it was hard to tell if he was in a good mood or not.
‘He’s not usually one to ponder.’
As for the Emperor, he was a man who always followed through with his decisions.
Finding Lady Lockheart was one such instance, and his bold move to go personally to fetch her was – in Soho’s eyes – quite remarkable.
Soho recalled the past.
“…What does it mean when someone disappears the morning after receiving a proposal?”
The exam questions to enter the capital hadn’t been more difficult than that question back then. And he remembered how dejected His Majesty had been, though he eventually found Lady Lockheart.
‘But even the Emperor can’t keep up a false life indefinitely.’
For some reason, the workload had surged over the past three years, as if someone had cursed them to work themselves to death.
It was clear they would only get busier.
The survey to comb through the entire empire hadn’t even started yet.
Once the precise surveying is completed, disputes between territories are bound to arise. By then, the shackled Duke Hexagon will likely emerge and…
“I must go.”
Just as Soho was filled with worry, he saw Dale stand up.
Night had already fallen.
“I’ll find a way for Your Majesty to move to the capital.”
“Are you planning to tell the Lady about me?”
Dale looked at him as if he wouldn’t forgive him if he did.
“But, Your Majesty, your health is deteriorating.”
“Enough.”
Dale gave him a piercing look before tearing a magic scroll. Without another word, he disappeared to Grunwald.
“You’re truly remarkable, Your Majesty…”
Soho, in his place, donned the Emperor’s robes, masked his face, and headed to the Emperor’s chambers.
Dutifully acting as the Emperor’s double, he laid down on the expansive bed.
And shed a single tear.
‘I want to go home…’
It was an ordinary night, marking nearly three months without leaving the palace.
