Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Since she had no servants with her, Eve carried the chest of gold herself. She was thrilled it was so heavy, since the weight indicated its value, but that didn’t stop her muscles from complaining. To spare her arms, she cast a lightness spell on the chest. Eve diligently made her way back to her quarters in the east annex.

“I’m back.”

“Welcome, my lady!”

Her entranceway doubled as her reception room. Sedella leaned out of a partition that had been set up and greeted her.

“I’m almost done, my lady. Please wait just a minute.”

“All right. Take your time.”

Instead of retiring to her bedroom, she sat down at the small dining table she used for guests. She started to feel drowsy as she waited. After walking back and forth from her rooms to the main palace, warping to the training center, and even performing a challenging imprint ritual, she had precious little energy left. Before she knew it, Eve began nodding off.

“All done, my lady!”came a bright voice, pulling Eve out of her stupor.

Quickly straightening up, she raised her head to see. Sedella took a step out and stretched her back, looking extremely proud of herself. She then turned back to look inside the partition.

“Come out, Sir Agnito.”

“...”

Mikael walked out of the space behind the partition, looking like a freshly bloomed spring flower thanks to Sedella’s efforts. He no longer looked like a wild animal that had been trapped in a cage for years. His hair had been neatly cut, and his tall, muscular body had been garbed in a perfectly-fitted knight’s uniform.

The uniform of a personal knight, featuring gold designs on a burgundy red background, had been created for presentation rather than practicality. Its design and shape were a veritable work of art. Mikael’s handsomeness had already been divine without the uniform. Wearing it, he looked indescribably fabulous. She was actually tongue-tied.

My god...

Eve’s gulp was nearly audible when she saw how much Mikael had changed. Sedella was right to be proud. Mikael was a masterpiece displayed on the stage that was Eve’s reception room. Even though she’d seen the beautiful Mikael plenty in her previous life, Eve couldn’t help but marvel.

So this is why even finicky Rosie fell for him immediately. Rosie, who never praised anyone for their looks except herself! I understand now, Rosie.

His beauty was supernatural. Eve actually felt a little proud of herself for not having fallen head over heels for this man already. She told herself that as someone who walked the path of a sage, she must not be distracted by physical beauty. The magnificent sculpture that was Mikael parted his lips to speak.

“Why are you looking at me like that? Do I look strange?”

“N...no, not at all.”

His baritone voice reminded Eve of the deep, rich chords of a string instrument. She felt dazed, overwhelmed by the assault on both her visual and auditory senses. Clearly she needed to steel herself better.

“May I come over there?”

“All right. please come and sit down.”

Mikael walked over and sat down opposite Eve. Having bathed so recently, he gave off a faint scent of white tea. Now, with her olfactory senses also being assailed by this sweet, refreshing scent, she felt her heart flutter. This was too much.

I need to calm down.

She took some quiet breaths and counted to ten in her head, steadying herself. Feeling rebalanced, Eve spoke to Mikael. “The uniform looks good on you. Though there is no sword, which is a pity. I’m sorry I couldn’t have one prepared, with the ritual having been so sudden and all. I’ll make sure to find you a good weapon later.”

She could now make such promises thanks to the reward money her father had given her.

“I’m not sure what to do for you in the meantime, though. I can’t have you walking around empty-handed.”

“I can request a standard-issue longsword when I register as a knight with the Imperial Guard. A longsword is usually included with a knight’s uniform, but it seems they leave it out for personal knights, expecting them not to use anything standard.”

Those of imperial blood considered personal knights to be little more than a display of ornamentation, which resulted in all attention being given to their decoration and embellishment. Thus, none of the knights were armed with anything as undignified as a low-cost, standard-issue longsword.

Eve began to look apologetic, but then Mikael quickly added, “I didn’t mean that as a complaint. I was just explaining a fact.”

“Then, how are you so familiar with these things? It’s like you’ve stayed at the imperial palace before.”

“I was taught an exhaustive amount of knowledge on such subjects while at the training center. As my grade had been determined to be the very best, I was sure to be sent to the palace. Therefore, I had to familiarize myself with palace etiquette, including the knowledge required for life inside the palace as well as how to serve members of the imperial family in all aspects.”

Mikael’s expression became deeply cynical as he said the last part. When he mentioned serving members of the imperial family, Eve knew that included service that took place in a bed at night—and required one to be naked.

Eve, unsure how to respond, smiled uncomfortably, and said, “Oh, we shouldn’t talk like this. We need to have some tea while we chat.”

The discussion so far had not been pleasant, but Eve was relieved to see that Mikael still seemed willing to talk. She decided this was a good opportunity for some proper social interaction with him. She wanted to be good friends with Mikael; no, she had to be. It would be foolish to treat him like she owned him just because she’d successfully imprinted him.

The imprint would only be temporary. In two years, at most, Mikael would awaken as King of the Homunculi. At that point, the imprint would be a trivial obstacle against his immense power. Not only would he develop an immunity to others controlling him, he would even be able to deceive attempts at establishing control if he so wished. Such deception was what had enabled Mikael to leave the floating prison cell two years later in her previous life.

He had faked submission to the Emperor’s allegiance ritual to get out of prison. He also pretended that Rosenitte, who had next to no talent in alchemy, had successfully imprinted him. Nobody suspected anything was wrong at the time. Mikael carried out all kinds of humiliating tasks that the Emperor forced upon him as tests of his loyalty. Mikael also showed an exclusive devotion to Rosenitte, acting the part of the ideal personal knight.

The Emperor and Rosenitte had been completely taken in by his sham. There was no guarantee he wouldn’t do the same to Eve. If a powerful, awakened Mikael decided to revolt, she had no way of stopping him. As such, instead of relying on the temporary power of the imprint, she had to form a meaningful, genuine relationship with him that would stand the trials of time.

Partners. Being partners would be ideal.

Sedella appeared then, a personal maid adept at timing, and made preparations to serve them both.

“What shall I prepare for tea?”

“I’ll do that, Sedella.”

Eve wanted to show sincerity in her respect of Mikael. Sedella was briefly taken aback, but complied and brought Eve’s tea blending worktable out of the bedroom and into the reception room.

“You can stay seated, Mikael,” Eve commanded as she stood up and moved to her worktable.

She probed her memories from the previous life in order to choose a blend that Mikael would like. Unfortunately, she’d never had a private tea with him. Eve had maintained a wide distance between herself and all homunculi, becoming a black sheep shunned from high society. And as for Mikael, he’d been personal knight to the White Rose of the Empire. It would have been strange if she’d interacted with him often enough to have a private tea.

Oh, actually, we did have tea—just once.

Eve had decided to have tea outside because of the nice weather. Mikael had chanced to walk through the garden while she was having tea, and after an awkward greeting, Eve had offered him a cup.

I was just being polite. I never expected him to accept. Though when he did, he drank it very quickly and left, saying he had to go to Rosie.

She focused on recalling their conversation, trying to remember what tea she’d given him back then.

“I’m not sure if you’ll like this tea, Sir Agnito. What do you think?”

Even when just drinking tea, Mikael had looked so elegant and charming. As he brought the tea to his lips, he appeared to kiss the rim of his cup before he drank.

“I like the scent and color. The color resembles your eyes, Your Highness.”

“...”

Comparing the tea to her eyes while almost kissing the cup... Eve hadn’t been able to stop herself from swooning slightly. Though, to be truthful, Mikaelis Agnito made any female swoon with just his natural charm.

“Are you feeling unwell, Your Highness?”

“Umm... Well, you’re—ah! No, never mind.”

“All right. I shall go now to meet the eighth princess. I hope you have a peaceful afternoon.”

The end of the memory was bittersweet, but Eve was able to glean some information about the tea.

If it resembled my eyes, it was probably oolong.

None of her pre-prepared oolong blends appealed to her, so she pulled out her recipe book and began to blend a new mix. Mikael watched with interest as she pulled out various ingredients and began to measure their weight.

“What are you doing? Is this alchemy?”

“No. I’m making tea.”

She decided to make a blend of oolong tea infused with pears. She brought out her most treasured ceramic tea set and began steeping the tea in hot water. She flipped a small hourglass and continued the conversation while they waited.

“It’s a bit late to ask you this now, Mikael, but how does it feel to be out in the world?”

“Well...” Mikael said, pausing to look out the window, taking his time to consider an appropriate response. The view from the reception room wasn’t half bad. The light green lawn of the garden was visible through thick trees.

Having settled on a suitable answer, Mikael said, “Many things seem to have a color similar to your hair.”