Chapter 40 – Slave Trader

When Gloria’s blushing face suddenly turned sour, Baroness Bern asked cautiously.

“Is there anything concerning you, Your Majesty?”

“Will I be able to get more support than the marquis by doing this?”

“. . .”

“. . .”

Gloria’s voice sounded weak. Baroness Bern and Diana looked at each other with their mouths shut. Seeing that, Gloria closed her eyes helplessly and muttered.

“Don’t you think it’s strange that I have been standing still for a very long time and now I’m working for the empire? I was only the emperor in name, the marquis was regent. Even the duke couldn’t really touch a marquis like that.”

“Because what the marquis did was for the Empire.”

At Gloria’s words, Baroness Bern responded with a weak expression. Diana’s expression wasn’t good either, but Gloria hugged her pillow and didn’t stop talking.

“Erun must be removed from the palace. No. We must fully take over Marquis’ power so that the imperial family and the duke’s family can live.”

“However, it will not be easy. The marquis has been supporting vulnerable groups such as orphanages every year.” Diana, sitting near Gloria, said, narrowing her eyes. The previous appearance of the princess who was enamored with adult romance was nowhere to be seen. Gloria got up from bed and spoke to her.

“The imperial family and the duke’s family need good deeds comparable to those of the marquis. Even now, the newspapers are creating a lot of noise with the scandal between me and Kaien, and the country is buzzing with the breakup of the engagement.”

“Yes. A long-standing engagement is about to break right before the wedding.”

“We need something more than helping the poor by borrowing the help of the temple.”

“Umm, Your Majesty?” One of the court ladies who had been listening to Diana and Gloria’s conversation slowly raised her hand. The eyes of the women immediately fell on her. She shrunk a bit at the focused attention but spoke cautiously to Gloria.

“You may find it very unpleasant but…”

“I don’t care. Please feel free to speak.” Gloria said to the court lady with a calm smile. The lady’s face, which had hardened with tension, slightly relaxed, but her mouth didn’t open easily. Gloria’s mood sank further as she saw the court lady, who couldn’t keep her eyes on her, biting at her lip.

“That… I’m not sure, but I’m telling you in case it’ll be of any help to Your Majesty.”

The smile didn’t disappear because it was unpleasant not to receive a quick answer, but because she felt like she was going to hear a story that she didn’t want to know for some reason.

Silence fell on the room.

After waiting without anyone urging her, the court lady took a deep breath as if she had finally made up her mind. She looked at Gloria with her eyes shaking anxiously and struggled to open her mouth.

“My cousin, who lives in the countryside, says that people go missing from time to time.”

“Go missing.”

‘Missing.’ Gloria remembered an article she had seen in the corner of the newspaper before. Although it was quite far away, unrelated people had disappeared, so she was thinking about paying attention to it as it seemed to have something to do with her future plans. As the matter came out of the court lady’s mouth, she tapped her lips with her index finger. The court lady fumbled inside her sleeves, took out a yellow paper, handed it to Gloria, and continued talking.

“At first, I thought that those who were struggling with debt had run away…. But when I saw the contents of this letter, it seemed more serious than that.”

Gloria took the letter and read the contents, feeling her heart beating fast. The court lady bowed her head again and said to the emperor as she silently read the letter.

“At first the young men disappeared, but then the women and children started to disappear as well.”

“It truly is kidnapping.”

Gloria muttered softly. The contents of the letter containing the news of the disappearance of five or six people were eerie. As if an invisible black hand was stretching out, a faint chill began to form in the emperor’s dark blue eyes. The court lady swallowed and tightened her trembling legs.

“I think it’s a slave trader’s work, not just mere kidnapping, so I brought it first to Your Majesty without showing it to anyone else. It’s beyond my ability to verify if it’s real, but if it’s true, why don’t you, Your Majesty, solve it first?”

“A- a slave trader!”

“Good heavens. Those demons still…!”

As the phrase ‘slave trader’ issued from the court lady’s mouth, Baroness Bern and Diana turned pale. What the hell did this court lady say in front of the emperor?!

‘Don’t you know how shameful it is to have slave traders in the empire?!’

Baroness Bern and Diana restlessly looked at Gloria. Of course, her expression hardened in an instant.

* * *

“Did you say, slave trader?”

“Yes.”

Gloria had hurriedly called for Kaien and now, early morning the next day, she nodded in response. He rubbed his chin lost in thought. Although he looked calm, Kaien was quite surprised when the phrase ‘slave trader’ dropped from Gloria’s mouth.

‘The Late Emperor became emperor with high support for his achievement of eradicating slave traders.’

Kaien couldn’t bring it up. To be honest, although she wasn’t a strong opponent, Gloria was the daughter of a man who became emperor in recognition of his extensive sweeping out of slave traders. She put down her glass and opened her mouth as Kaien kept silent.

“Royal father’s great achievement was to clear the slave traders from within the empire. But they remained underground. You knew that, right?”

“Of course.”

Kaien honestly agreed with Gloria’s point. Crossing his arms, he spoke to her as she seemed to be lost in thought.

“For His Majesty’s honor, the nobles chose to keep their mouths shut.”

“And?”

“Until His Majesty, the late Emperor rested in peace, the slave trade took place in the depths of the underworld.”

Kaien did not hide his expression furrowed with disgust. He was suspicious, but he couldn’t catch them because there was no physical evidence. Even if he caught them, it would damage the achievements of the late Emperor, so the righteous had to grind their teeth and do nothing.

Gloria looked at him, angry at not being able to get rid of the worms.

“After I ascended to the throne and was pushed back by Erun, everyone talked openly about it. As soon as I heard of it, I foolishly talked to that trash, and he responded well yet nothing changed.”

“He might have already created a connection with them.”

“Ha! The bugs held hands very well.”

Gloria sneered and leaned back on the sofa. One end of her red lips was twisted. Kaien, dissatisfied with Gloria’s vicious smile, told her the truth.

“That face.”

“. . .”

“Don’t make that face, Your Majesty.”

“That face?”

Gloria’s eyes widened at Kaien’s seriousness. For her, who didn’t know her facial expressions, it was embarrassing to be pointed at.

‘What did my expression look like? Have I made an ugly expression with my face?’ Seeing Gloria’s bewildered look, Kaien got up.

“Wait. Stop there!”

When he got up and approached the seat next to her, she said urgently. She shouted with all her heart hoping for Kaien to stop. Nevertheless, ignoring Gloria’s wish, he sat down next to her.

They were so close that they could feel each other’s body temperature through the clothes they were wearing.

Gloria gasped, holding her breath, then recalled her current outfit and tore her hair inwardly. It was an early hour, so it was a mistake to wear such a thin dress.

‘No, I mean– who knew it would come to be like this?!’ Gloria screamed inwardly at Kaien’s increasingly clingy behavior. A subtle scent seemed to surround their bodies. The two of them drew closer, feeling each other’s breath.

She tried to pull herself back as far as possible, but Kaien didn’t let go. He pushed her to the end of the sofa to prevent her from running away and hugged Gloria, who had nowhere else to retreat.

‘I think I’m going crazy!’

At the intentional touch, Gloria felt the heat rising on her face. She was embarrassed and ashamed that her heart was pounding all over her body.

Kaien looked down at her, clutching his collar. There was barely enough space for her fist to fit in, but it was enough to pull him with her strength. He pointed out Gloria’s behavior, with her blushing face and tightly closed eyes.

“In this case, you should hug my waist, not my collar, Your Majesty.”

“Why on earth would I do that! We need to finish what we were talking abo–”

“Finishing is important, but Your Majesty’s heart comes first.”

“What does this behavior have to do with my heart at all, Duke Ludenberg?!”

Angry at the absurd remark, Gloria shouted, pushing Kaien away. He showed no sign of backing up, making her even angrier.

‘Isn’t it foul play to be this cute even when you’re angry?’ Kaien swallowed the words he wanted to say and, instead, he said as if wondering.

“I understand that the contract became effective since we signed it yesterday.”

“I did not write that you can do this on the sofa.”

“Ah.”

At Gloria’s frantic protest, Kaien stopped his behavior as if he had just remembered. As she said, there was no ‘sofa’ in the contract.

When Kaien paused, Gloria raised her eyes fiercely.

His behavior to seduce and swallow her was quite remarkable.

‘Get a hold of yourself. Come to your senses, Gloria Blake!’

Kaien nodded his head at Gloria’s desperate refusal and inquiry whether he had forgotten the contract, and said,

“Your Majesty is right. It doesn’t say we can do this on the sofa.”

“That’s why stop it now and get off…”

“According to the contents of the contract, I’d like to go to the bed and fulfill the terms one by one.”