Who Stole The Empress

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Twenty days had passed since Anna had arrived at Henrik’s castle.

It had been a week since she had requested Henrik to meet the Duke of Gertium. 

‘How long do I have to wait?’

Anna, who was getting ready to go out, sighed briefly, estimating the days that had passed.

Time had flown by without her having accomplished anything.

She hadn’t even been able to meet the “Perso Gertium” Rosie had asked her to meet, let alone convince him.

Of course, finding the man, wherever he might be, in such a short period of time turned out to be great greed in itself.

Probably Rosie wouldn’t think that Anna would definitely pull it off in a short period of time either.

She would have already had other plans well in advance.

But ………… still Anna wanted to make a move for Roselyn.

She wanted to do anything for Rosie.

Anna buttoned up her coat in frustration. The more impatient she became, the more her hands began to shake.

‘Calm down, please.’

But it wasn’t that easy. ‘Didn’t you lose your precious people in front of your eyes after letting go of your hands in peace?’

That shouldn’t have happened anymore.

Anything…I really have to do something.

But, what should I do?

What else can I do?

Anna sighed in frustration and clenched her fists.

It was too early to be weak. Try everything, do your best, and then it wouldn’t be too late to fall apart.

‘Let’s go to the city first.’

Anna purposely muttered more cheerfully as she walked out.

She didn’t intend to kill time leisurely in this mansion, where there were few servants.

Once a week, they went out to the village to buy the necessities of life for the castle. 

Today, Anna took on that role herself. 

It wasn’t a difficult task, and she could just go lightly with a chambermaid and horseman who would carry her bags. 

But when she went outside, the servant whom Anna was expecting was not seen.

Instead, there was a man waiting for her, too big and intimidating to be an errand boy.

“Why is the knight here…….?”

 (*Anna still doesn’t know the knight is Duke Perso Gertium who she is looking for.)

She asked tersely, and Perso bowed and pointed to the carriage.

“Let’s go together.”

‘Where do you want us to go together?’

Anna hesitated for a moment, then pointed to the waiting carriage with a look of disbelief.

“The village?”

She asked awkwardly, and Perso held out his hand as if it were natural.

He meant that he would escort her to the carriage.

Anna looked at the outstretched hand and the dark green eyes which were like a swamp staring at her silently.

She had no choice but to take his hand and sit alongside him in the front carriage of the wagon, and she glanced at Perso, who sat next to her.

‘Are there no other servants today?’

After watching him for a few days, the man was mostly the knight who accompanied Uncle Henrik.

There were more knights than squires in the castle, but half of them patrolled the perimeter, while the other half guarded the castle.

Anna had lived in the Imperial Palace for a long time, so she knew when she saw some level of knighthood.

Judging from their well-defined and undisturbed momentum, it was clear that they were all senior knights.

But this knight must be a high rank, so why did he follow her around?

‘…Does he have some business in town?’

Or perhaps this man wasn’t as high of a rank as she thought he was.

Otherwise, he may have been tired of protecting the castle, or he might have come to do chores because he had nothing to do.

Well, in fact, it was none of her business.

Anna thought absent-mindedly and stared at the front of the carriage as it drove away at a reasonable speed. The carriage soon arrived at the village.

***

“You can go if you have other errands to run.”

When Anna said so, Perso stared at her.

He didn’t talk much or have much expression, so it was difficult to read what he was thinking.

Anna moved her eyes uncomfortably and added one more thing.

“You don’t have to worry about me..………….“

“My business is to go with Miss Anna.”

“Ah….”

Anna could no longer push him at the heavy low voice.

Hesitantly, she went around the village, saying okay.

The first thing she bought was what was needed for the child.

There was a shortage of diapers, and not enough nutritious food for Sarah, the birth mother, to eat.

Then she had to look at baby supplies like rattles, wooden boards and bandages for knights.

Anna put the items in with a firm jog of her memory.

The items needed for the castle were bought first, followed by her personal shopping.

‘Now that I’ve bought everything, let’s go and buy my things.’

In fact, one of the reasons she wanted to go to the village today was because she had some things she wanted to buy. 

Anna packed her things.

Most of them were things like fresh fruits, sweets, breads, and candies. 

She had a sweet tooth to begin with.

In fact, she liked desserts so much that they became a meal replacement beyond her level of liking.

However, after what happened to Roselyn, her appetite had dropped completely, and after she received the letter from Roselyn, she had run incessantly to Henrik.

It was so hectic, she didn’t have time to remember dessert.

But a few days ago, she had a craving for something sweet again.

She wanted to eat something sweet, even if it wasn’t the fancy dessert she had at the Imperial Palace.

And while she was here to buy it anyway, she wanted to make sure she had enough to share with the people in the castle. 

Maybe that was why her dessert basket was much bigger than the basket filled with the castle’s things.

‘Did I buy too much?’

She didn’t realize it when she was engrossed in it, but after she finished buying it, she finally became aware of Perso who was following her.

By all accounts, a knight with a scary face was holding Anna’s large dessert basket.

Glancing at him, Anna’s cheeks reddened and said as if making excuses.

“Ha, I’m not going to eat alone.”

Perso silently looked at Anna and answered with a short nod.

There was no particular expression or special gesture.

He just silently followed her around.

All he did was watch with her what she chose, what she collected, what she looked at.

Anna had never met this type of person before, so she was a little confused.

She had no idea how to deal with this type of person, because he was so unpredictable.

However, it wasn’t uncomfortable. In fact, she was with him for about an hour, and she even felt comfortable with his quietness.

That’s why at the end of the day, she wasn’t conscious of him and even put in a lot of desserts.

Anna cleared her throat briefly and said she would finish her shopping.

“Well, it looks like I bought everything, so let’s go.”

“Please wait a moment.”

Perso, who hadn’t said a word during the shopping trip, stopped her.

Anna looked at him in surprise.

“Why?”

Standing in front of the carriage, Perso slowly examined the items Anna had bought.

There was one basket of daily necessities and a pile of desserts two or three times the size of the cart.

Perso looked at the items and Anna in turn with strange eyes.

Then he asked in a cautious voice.

“Are you sure you bought everything?”

“Yes? Yes, yes. I think I’ve bought everything needed for the castle…………..”

‘Why do you look at me like that?’

When Anna stared at Perso with this face, Perso, who was looking at her, suddenly closed his mouth and burst out laughing.

Anna was even more perplexed than when he had held her back.

How could a man with hardly any words and expressions, let alone a smile, suddenly laugh?

Firstly, she was puzzled as to why he was laughing, and secondly, as soon as the stern look in his eyes changed, she was surprised to see how much his impression had changed.

‘When he smiles, he looks younger than I expected…’

He looked younger, but a little smile made the man seem much more gentle and handsome.

Perso adjusted his expression as if he realized he had laughed and spoke cautiously to Anna.

“You have a surprising side to you, Miss Anna.”

“What? What do you mean by that…”

To Anna’s panic, instead of a long explanation, Perso re-entered the grocery store they had just entered with the words ‘please wait a moment.’

A few moments later, he came in with two baskets even bigger than the one Anna had bought.

“Huh, what’s all this?”

“There are more than twenty people in the castle. The diapers and elixirs are for personal use, but other items need twice as much as Miss Anna bought.”

“Ah…..”

Anna’s face turned red at her mistake.

She had only lived as an aristocrat, so this practical aspect of her life was still no different from a child’s perspective.

She was good at numbers, but there were many other things she was clumsy in.

Most of them were taken care of by Rwanda before she could resolve them.

Anna was embarrassed, as if her shameful part had been discovered.

As if he could understand Anna’s feelings, the quiet Perso added a few words.

“You don’t know the number of knights in detail, so you may not know how much you need. Don’t worry too much about the fact that knights wear more bandages than you think.”

“…… I’m so embarrassed. I bought so many snacks.”

“This is something that Miss Anna often bought, so you could have measured the amount enough, but you probably couldn’t estimate the other items because you’ve never bought them yourself. It’s okay, everyone has their first time.”

It was really strange.

In the twenty days Anna had been here, she had never seen him talk that much.

However, he seemed to be a man with a kinder side than he appeared to be, as most of his words were words to comfort her.

“It makes me feel a little better to hear you say that. Thank you, knight.”

“It’s nothing.”

His voice sounded even softer, though he still had no expression on his face.

It was then that Anna realized that she didn’t even know the man’s name.

“Come to think of it, we went around together for half a day and I didn’t even know the knight’s name.” 

“My name is….”

The man paused for a moment and spoke in a soft voice.