Episode 5
Emperor Alastair spoke.
“After Count Meyer died, I came to a decision. In a place where I can’t tell who’s truly loyal and who’s pretending,
the only way I could survive… was to pretend I’d stepped away from my duties.”
In other words, the strike was fake.
A strategy to reveal his true allies.
And at the same time, to catch his enemies off guard.
“I was so busy investigating based on your intel these past few days that I nearly missed the deadline to process the diplomatic papers for the kingdom.”
It had been… a close call.
“Just as the magic that hides my hair and eye color was about to wear off, too. You had your hands full, Merlin.”
“Not at all. One of my main duties as your bodyguard is to cast disguise magic whenever needed, Your Majesty.”
“Thanks to your magic, I’ve managed this far.”
“I only did my job.”
Alastair gave Merlin a light pat on the shoulder, like he was praising him—
but then bit his lip. He was thinking of someone else.
…I almost made Miss Foy disappointed in me.
That was the part he hated most.
He hadn’t handled the diplomatic paperwork for three whole days. How worried must she have been, dealing with it alone?
That only made him angrier at the ones responsible. He planned to make those who troubled his people pay the price.
“How will you arrest the official?” Merlin asked.
“I’ll go myself.”
His eyes turned cold.
“But secretly. No one can know.”
It was time for the kind, gentle “Mr. Smith” to disappear—for a little while.
‘Everyone’s so busy today.’
I spun my pen at my desk and finally got too restless to sit still.
The office felt especially quiet today.
Well, it made sense.
Mr. Smith was off on his second trip to Woodrock, and I was left here to handle work.
I took a sip of coffee and looked over today’s tasks. After sorting the paperwork by urgency, I was left with three pages.
That meant three documents absolutely had to be stamped today.
Would His Majesty approve them?
I couldn’t use the royal seal without the chief assistant present,
so there was nothing I could do on my own.
“When is Mr. Smith getting back?”
I bounced my legs in frustration. The pile of work was oddly calming in its own way.
Sometimes, when your brain gets overloaded, it finds peace in chaos.
It’s not that I’m crazy, okay?
Suddenly, I heard noise outside.
My heart skipped a beat.
The clatter of hooves.
The sound of soldiers stepping on the gravel.
He’s back.
I peeked out the window and saw Mr. Smith with Sir Merlin—escorting a prisoner.
I quickly ran outside, excited.
“Mr. Smith! You’re finally back!”
He looked exhausted, but when he noticed me, his eyes widened slightly—surprised.
“You ran out here just to see me? I’m touched.”
“Of course I did!”
I smiled brightly and handed him a stack of papers.
“Please take care of these! You’re filling in for His Majesty, remember?”
“Oh… so you were waiting for the seal, not for me.”
He blinked, then gave me a playful wink.
“Well, if I get to be needed, I don’t mind. Happy to be your ‘human royal seal.’”
Mr. Smith gladly promised to stamp the documents.
Boom! Today’s work—done!
“But did you really catch that official yourself?”
“I did. And I plan to interrogate him to find out who inside our office was helping him.”
“Whaaat? How did you even arrest him? You’re such a gentle person, I can only imagine you politely handing him a warrant.”
Mr. Smith laughed, like he found something about that very funny.
“Just like you said—I arrested him gently.”
But then, the arrested official suddenly started struggling violently.
He was gagged, but he still made a lot of noise.
“Mmmph! MMMMMPH!”
The guards quickly held him back.
But for a moment, his gag slipped—and he shouted.
“Gentle?! GENTLE?!”
He looked truly outraged.
“You! Miss! Over there!”
He was yelling at… me.
I stepped back.
Smith stepped between us, frowning.
“Don’t go near him.”
But no one could stop his voice.
“You really have no idea, do you?! You’re completely being fooled!”
What is he talking about?
“The man you’re calling Mr. Smith—do you even know who he really is?!”
I looked at Smith. For just a second, his eyes wavered.
“Don’t listen to him. He’s clearly spouting nonsense.”
But the Woodrock official shouted even louder, like he was determined to drag me down with him.
“The man you call Mr. Smith—!”
He was about to spill the secret.
He wanted to cause trouble.
I hesitated.
“He’s the Emp—”
Sir Merlin moved faster.
He struck the man on the neck with the edge of his hand, knocking him unconscious.
The official went limp like a popped balloon.
Sir Merlin quickly re-gagged him, then looked flustered.
“Ahem. That was an… accident. Apologies.”
“I wonder what he was about to say?” I asked.
“He said, ‘He’s the Emp—!’ and then stopped.”
Sir Merlin quickly replied,
“He probably meant ‘an emptier,’ as in intimidating person. Right?”
“Intimidating?”
“Oh! Maybe he just couldn’t stand me calling Mr. Smith gentle?”
I scowled.
He was the one who stole aid money. And now he was picking a fight with me?
Mr. Smith looked a little uneasy, his eyes shifting away.
“…What a horrible man. Don’t you think? Throwing a tantrum over something like that.”
He flailed his arms dramatically.
“Exactly!”
I nodded, firmly on Smith’s side.
No matter what anyone said—I was sticking with him.
“Probably just upset he got caught. Trying to take revenge by causing drama.”
Sir Merlin chuckled.
“Oh, and actually… the one who knocked him down during the struggle—was Mr. Smith.”
Oho. Hidden charisma, huh?
I looked at him again with fresh eyes.
He was a kind boss…
But when it mattered, he could take action too.
Kind of cool, actually…?
I snorted at the official being dragged away.
“He probably thought he could ruin everything with that little outburst.”
What an idiot.
As if Mr. Smith was hiding some huge secret.
Anyway, the official was interrogated over the following days.
Mr. Smith updated me from time to time.
The man eventually confessed everything—where the money went, and how he used it for himself.
The case moved quickly.
The stolen money was returned and properly given to the farmers.
“All taken care of. I reported everything to His Majesty too.”
Classic Mr. Smith—handling the kingdom’s work like a pro.
But today, there was some bad news.
“Yesterday, the official bit his own tongue.”
Sir Merlin tried to stop him, but it was too late.
“He won’t be able to speak anymore. A real shame.”
“That’s awful.”
I clenched my fist.
“We could’ve gotten more information!”
I was so mad. All that overtime work, just for someone to steal the aid money?
Unforgivable.
And worst of all—we still didn’t know who helped him from the inside!
“What about the mole in the assistant office?”
I’d been so on edge lately that I stopped eating with the others.
Now I always ate with Mr. Smith.
Wouldn’t he get bored, eating with me all the time?
He said he didn’t mind, but I still worried.
“How are we going to find the spy now?”
“Well… that’s something we’ll have to think about. But since the official can’t speak anymore, I believe His Majesty has another idea.”
Mr. Smith’s eyes curved sweetly.
“A way to make use of someone who can’t talk.”
Hmm… whatever it was,
if His Majesty was working on it—then I was all for it.
To be continued…
