Chapter 37
Chapter 37
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Chapter 37
Mason’s parting words left Declan’s mind in turmoil.
It seemed to make sense, but it didn’t.
He tried unbuttoning his shirt to relieve the suffocation, but it was not resolved at all.
‘Why is it wrong to want Erica by my side because of Chloe?
‘Didn’t Erica do the same? She promised to remember Chloe together.’
She offered to stay by his side to keep her promise to Chloe.
‘But what’s the matter?’
His hands trembled with unfamiliar anxiety.
‘It’s impossible for Erica to become a human right now. So she doesn’t have to worry.’
Declan struggled to calm his restless mind.
If she really becomes a person and wants to leave him, then he just has to hold onto her.
He thought he would do anything if she said she would leave anyway.
‘I can’t afford to lose her.’
It felt like his complicated thoughts were being sorted out, so he was relieved.
But at that moment, another voice was heard in his head.
‘Is it really okay? What if she resents me?’
He felt like his head was about to explode, so he wrapped his hands around his head.
“Are you in pain?”
She asked anxiously when she returned.
The whirlwind of his thoughts and the erratic beating of his heart were relieved by the sound of her familiar voice.
“……I was just thinking about something for a while.”
But his voice was kept low.
“What are you worrying about? You have a bad complexion, are you really alright?”
An open smile appeared on Declan’s face as Erica looked around his face.
“I’m really fine. Have you finished your dance practice?”
“I worked hard, but I don’t know.”
“I wonder how much effort you put into preparation.”
Declan got up and headed for the bedroom.
“Noah, you can go back.”
“…..understood.”
He was filled with anticipation that he might be able to witness her dance, but he quickly turned pale.
Declan headed to the bedroom to quiet his misgivings, not knowing Noah’s thoughts.
Upon entering the bedroom, Declan placed the doll on a large, rugged table.
“Hmmhmm. It’s troublesome to prepare in a hurry, but I’ll do my best.”
Seeing shame and embarrassment on her face as if she was about to die, his own face relaxed slowly.
“The last dance wasn’t even that perfect.”
As soon as he spoke, her glaring eyes returned immediately.
When he met those challenging eyes, she cried out, but it was cute.
Especially when she was in the doll, she was like a child.
“It’s rude to keep your audience waiting, Erica.”
“Okay. Please turn on the music box.”
“Wait, I’ll start with this.”
He pulled a hemispherical black stone from his pocket.
“What is that?”
“Video stone. If I had known there was such a thing, I would have prepared it last time.”
She stopped moving for a moment like a doll.
“You didn’t say anything like that!”
“Do I really need to tell you?”
He couldn’t understand why she was so upset.
Her eyes were murderous, as if she was about to break the video stone.
‘Hmm, you know how to make a face like that.’
The problem was that it was more cute than scary.
“How long do I have to wait?”
“Hng!”
Turning her head, she looked at Declan resentfully.
“Your eyes are quite disrespectful right now. Do I have to meet Prince Ielro again?”
Declan slowly got up from his seat.
“That…..!”
As she tried to raise her voice, she let out a long sigh while looking at the video stone.
“Let’s do this, please turn on the music box.”
His lips twitching, Declan placed the video stone in a position where the doll could be seen clearly.
How sad he was that he couldn’t capture her dancing the last time.
‘I wish it could capture it clearly.”
He wound up the music box, and she started to move slowly.
It was clumsy, but every move was cuter and prettier than any famous dancer.
Declan forgot his previous troubles, and was fascinated with the dancing.
‘I don’t want to show it to anyone.’
His possessiveness, which he had not even realized himself, burst strongly.
‘If this is the case, I am the only one to hear and see her voice and her appearance.’
When he thought about it, he was very satisfied.
However.
As he watched the twinkling soul caught in the doll, his anxiety grew again.
He suddenly remembered the time he danced with her.
‘If she was a person.’
He could feel the soft touch of her hand holding against him, the warmth from the waist he embraced, the warm breath of the body facing him, and her scent.
As he imagined it, he felt his chest pounding and a fever rising.
‘As expected, I have to find a way for Erica to become a person!’
He himself is the Emperor of the empire who commands the continent. What could he not do with the power and wealth he held?
Declan’s green eyes shone with a strange longing.
“Is there no way to save Count Nolan?”
Leaning leisurely in the chair, Duke Otien asked.
“All the kidnappers have been arrested, and there is no other way, since a request letter signed by the Count was found.”
Salihan, the Duke’s assistant, answered drily.
“Tsk. I thought it was a good plan, so I pushed it, so why did things go like that?”
Duke Otien’s face showed his displeasure.
“If we had dealt with the group’s leader, this wouldn’t have happened.”
“Anyway, I sent someone to silence them, but the Emperor had already put a shadow on it.”
“Are the Jeminas, who were supposed to commit suicide, still alive?
“…. I can only see this as a failure. It seems that we only lose our people without gaining anything.”
He had thought this time would be his best opportunity to defeat the young Emperor.
Isn’t he only losing money because of people who are trash?
“How’s Count Nolan doing?”
“He continues to ask Your Excellency to save his life.”
“Tsk, he’s not so shy after all.”
“What should I do?”
Duke Otien thought for a moment as he touched his chin.
“Take care of him before he talks about me.”
“Understood.”
Even with the sharp remarks, Salihan responded impassively.
“By the way, how did the Emperor deal with the guild… I don’t think there are spies.”
“Then the kidnapping of the doll would have been a failure.”
“Incompetent things! Can’t handle a single doll!”
Duke Otien snorted angrily.
“It’s suspicious that the Emperor keeps the Jemina people alive. Judging by the atmosphere that day, it seemed like he would kill the Crown Prince right away.”
At that comment, Duke Otien straightened his posture.
“Yes. That’s still annoying. He should have wiped out the Crown Prince and all the Jeminas by now.”
The Duke tapped the desk.
“It’s strange that a guy who had always insisted on war suddenly mentioned a peace treaty.”
“What if the Emperor withdraws from the war?”
Duke Otien frowned.
“This plan has also become ruined, but if the war is stopped, it will be very difficult.”
It was uncomfortable.
The Emperor, always running like an angry bull, stopped suddenly.
They couldn’t tell if he was holding his breath to do something bigger, or if he was really coming to his senses.
I can wait for you if you want to catch your breath, but if you’ve come to your senses, you can’t leave it like this.
The Emperor must be demented and become a tyrant.
“Isn’t there anything extraordinary about the Emperor lately?”
“There was nothing special except the Chancellor was looking for a puppet master.”
“Puppet master? Didn’t you say the doll is safe?”
The fingers drumming his desk stopped.
“I don’t know why, but they say they’re looking for the puppeteer who made the princess doll.”
“Hmm, is there something wrong with the doll?”
As the doll was the Emperor’s Achilles heel, he had to know every little thing.
“There was a time when it was said that the doll was possessed by a ghost, but the job…”
“There was no such report!”
The eyes staring at Salihan shone sharply.
“For a very short time, I didn’t tell you because it was a story that only a few people mentioned and then it disappeared quietly.”
“Obviously, I told you to report everything about dolls!”
“….·sorry.”
When Duke Otien showed his discomfort, Salihan immediately bowed his head.
“That’s right, some of the attendants said they saw the doll move.”
“The doll moved?”
“Isn’t that absurd? Being around the Emperor seems to be contagious as well.”
Salihan said with a smirk, but Duke Otien did not laugh.
“Find out the source of the rumor! Find the servants and listen to the details!”
“Your Excellency, do you really believe that?”
“You mean the doll moved? Do you think I’m a crazy Emperor?”
The Duke’s eyebrows narrowed as if it was ridiculous.
“Then….”
“The Emperor is looking for a puppet master? If he believes in absurd rumors, there’s no better chance.”
Salihan, who had a puzzled face for a moment, quickly put on a sinister smile.
“Examine the Emperor more thoroughly. If you can plant spies, plant more!”
‘It seems he had a change of heart, but I can’t let him out of my grip.’
The Emperor must always be under his control.
‘Even if you do something crazy, you have to move according to my plan.”
Duke Otien smiled slyly.
I clenched and opened my hands repeatedly with tension and anticipation.
“Really, can I meet the puppet master?”
“Yeah. It took him a while to arrive because he was in a foreign country.”
“Can he see me? What if he can’t?”
In the meantime, I struggled to keep my frustrations down at the thought that if I could only find a puppet master, I would know everything.
But the moment I met him, I was terrified.
“What if that person doesn’t know why I’m in this state?”
Declan reached his hand toward me as he was walking around, but it passed.
I thought it was because he was always there, but strangely, he seemed to be depressed.
“…. Calm down. The puppet master is here, so we’ll be able to check it out soon.”
“Your Majesty, did the puppet master who made me really come?”
Anxiety that had already shattered my nerves continued to engulf me.
Now I was afraid to even meet the puppet master.
“Erica.”
Declan caressed my silhouette and made eye contact with me.
“Don’t be afraid. Everything will be fine.”
The warm and unwavering gaze calmed my distressed mind.
“If the puppet master doesn’t know, we’ll just have to find another way. Don’t worry, I’ll find you for sure.”
Why does this sound so reassuring?
‘Come to think of it, he must have kept what he said once.’
My agitated mind calmed down. I nodded slowly.
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