Eugène held his breath until the door was closed, then let out a long sigh when it was. Feelings that don’t go both ways, whether friendship or affection, have always been difficult for him to handle. To him, not only the grace that saved his life but also his one-sided feelings that cannot be returned felt like a debt.
He casually leaned back and groaned in pain, placing one hand on his shoulder. The disorientated mind weighed heavily on top of his wounded body. It felt as if fatigue was grabbing his limbs and dragging him into bed.
He laid down, wanting to rest, if only for a moment. After attending a ball, dancing with the Emperor, and fighting with the surmulots in the back alleys of the slums, it was on the same night that he was even shot. Add to that a surgery without anesthesia and you’ve got a recipe for physical and mental exhaustion.
When he closed his eyes, sleepiness came surging at once like a storm and gale. As soon as his forehead touched the pillow, he fell asleep as deeply as if he had never woken up in his life.
***
“Wake up, Baron Amieux.”
Someone called his name in his sleep. He buried his face in his pillow, unable to rouse himself from the gentle shaking of his shoulders. After a while, the call came again. Unlike before, a voice more familiar with commands than requests called out his name, short and firmly.
“Eugène!”
As if driven by the power of that voice, Eugène opened his eyes. He blinked his eyes, not yet in focus, and looked around in a daze, but when his eyes met someone who shouldn’t be here, he instantly came to his senses.
“Your Majesty?”
He let out a low groan as he jerked upright. The sudden movement that forgot the existence of the wound, brought a sharp pain that jolted him out of his sleep.
Somehow, a familiar man was sitting at his bedside. It was not the expected Baron Bouilhet who woke Eugène from his deep sleep, but the Emperor himself, who appeared with Baron Bouilhet.
“I wish to let you sleep more, but it will be dawn soon. We must return to the palace before the wake-up ceremony begins.”
“What brings you here, Your Majesty?”
“If you are going to nag, I have heard enough from Baron Bouilhet, so I do not need to hear it from you too. So, how are you feeling?”
The Emperor told him not to be bothered, but as his vassal who had sworn allegiance to him, he couldn’t do that. Just the other day, a noblewoman was murdered in the court, and tonight, he himself was attacked and seriously wounded. It was not yet confirmed whether the two incidents were related, but it was clear to anyone that things were getting out of hand.
However, in such a chaotic situation, a person who should be more careful about his safety than anyone else came out of the palace with only one aide who couldn’t wield a sword properly, so Eugène could not help but be astounded.
“Your Majesty should think about your safety first, not my body. How did you come all the way here? Did you really only bring Baron Bouilhet with you?”
“You truly sound like a loyal and faithful subject when you say words like that with your chapped and bloody lips.”
“Your Majesty!”
“The secret passageways of the Imbert Palace are the greatest secret of the imperial family. If the unworthy were to learn of it, they would pay with their lives. However, We have no intention of slitting the throats of innocent attendants to keep the secret.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Po Tbeg Zjpfras vlv cba rcfjx bea bo atf qjijmf, kf kbeiv cba tjnf ab kbggs jybea atja, kbeiv kf?”
“Ktfc ktb klii yglcu sbe ab atf qjijmf? Glv sbe cba jrx obg Djgbc Dbelitfa yfmjerf sbe klrtfv ab xffq atf regqglrf jaajmx j rfmgfa?”
Qbgvr mbeiv cba vfofja atf Swqfgbg. Ccbatfg qgbyifw kjr atja atf Swqfgbg cfnfg jmafv klatbea mbcnlmalbc, jcv bcmf tf wjvf j vfmlrlbc, tf gjgfis ilrafcfv ab batfgr’ bqlclbcr.
Eugène touched his forehead, feeling his head pounding. The Emperor smiled in disbelief when he realized that Eugène was genuinely upset with him.
Baron Bouilhet stood silently behind his back and listened to their conversation. Unlike Eugène, who knew nothing, he could guess the Emperor’s feelings to some extent.
He clearly remembered the expression on the Emperor’s face when he reported that Eugène had been attacked and seriously wounded. The one who always left a piece of leeway looked back at him with an expressionless face that didn’t even smile. The Emperor, without questioning or getting angry, was immersed in thought with a hardened expression on his face, and left the palace first, without Baron Bouilhet stopping him.
“We heard that you were shot, but fortunately, it was not fatal. Can you move?”
“It is my shoulder that is wounded. I have no difficulty moving around.”
“Then We are glad. Let us get moving. There is little time left.”
Eugène found a linen shirt that looked like it had been prepared by Count d’Estuaire, on the night table by the bedside, and carefully wore it so as not to irritate the wound. But he could not see where the torn silk shirt had gone, let alone the expensive justaucorps and vest he had worn to Marquise Bertin’s ball.
Eugène rose from the bed without bothering to look for his clothes, for they were soaked with blood and had holes in them that they should have been discarded anyway.
The blood loss made him dizzy, but not so much that he couldn’t walk. As Eugène walked, the Emperor, who had been watching him silently, joined him.
“Your Majesty should greet the house owner on your way out.”
“Are you speaking of Count d’Estuaire? Do not bother. He was not here when We arrived. He must have left so that we do not encounter each other.”
Indeed, after all, Count d’Estuaire and the Emperor were not in a relationship to sit face to face and ask how the other was doing.
Count d’Estuaire still had much to accomplish as he held his family’s aspirations in one body, but His Majesty was not one to let him achieve his goals. Moreover, given Count d’Estuaire’s often antagonistic attitude toward the Emperor, it seemed that there was even an old resentment unknown to others between the two men, who did not mix like water and oil.
When Eugène stepped out of the house in the wind with a shirt but without an overcoat, he saw a modest carriage with no decorations standing there. When their eyes met, the man sitting in the driver’s seat lifted his hat and greeted them. Somehow, his face looked familiar.
Eugène pondered for a moment where he had seen him before realizing his true identity. It turns out he was one of the men who accompanied Victor Adelphe when he kidnapped them.
“What happened?”
As the trio got into the carriage, the horses set off without an order, as if something had been promised in advance. Eugène explained what happened to him as if he had been waiting for the Emperor’s question.
“It seems that the coachman had been bought. I was lured into a back alley while in the carriage and attacked by surmulots.”
His descriptions were concise and accurate. Without any exaggeration, he reported on the brief conversation he had with the surmulots’ leader after defeating the attackers and the subsequent gunfight. He did not forget to describe the marksmen who were precise in their sniping in the dark of night and included his deductions.
“They were properly trained. They certainly were not huntsmen. Since the way the rifleman loaded the gun with an assistant was that of a soldier.”
“There were two marksmen, no?”
“The reload interval was too precise for that. If there were two marksmen, they would not necessarily have to shoot at such intervals. It would have been more efficient to shoot at the same time.”
“A highly trained fusilier… ”
A war of five years had just ended. The empire was overflowing with veterans, and an unprecedented number of firearms were released on the market. Most of them had mastered the art of killing people instead of animals, and some of them would try to make a living with their newfound skills. However, only a few were capable of shooting a man in the forehead at point-blank range in the middle of the night when visibility was limited.
“An investigation into this must be carried out.”
“It is not going to be easy. It seemed to be well-planned rather than impulsive. If Count d’Estuaire had not appeared at the moment of need, I would have suffered too.”
“Did you say he followed you out of the ballroom?”
“Yes, that is what he said.”
“If he was serious about having a conversation with you, he would have rushed to catch up with you. But instead, he kept his distance and followed you… He tailed you, no?”
“I suppose so.”
“Why did he tail you? What did he want from you?”
Eugène could not easily answer this question. It was a question for which there was no clear answer. Why on earth did he tail him?
Count d’Estuaire, who was a party to the negotiations, knew better than anyone that the rumor that Eugène had helped House d’Estuaire a lot in the last negotiation was not true. Contrary to popular rumors, Eugène was neither favorable to the Eastern nobles nor had any particular political influence.
He was just a plausible scarecrow, with no clear real power yet, although he was steered to and fro according to His Majesty’s needs.
“Did you not think of the possibility that he was not following you, but knew in advance that you would be attacked?”
The Emperor suddenly offered another possibility to Eugène, who was troubled, unable to find any reason for the Count to be tailing him. He looked up at the Emperor, startled by the unexpected words.
“What does Your Majesty mean by that?”
“It may not have been a mere coincidence that Count d’Estuaire saved you at the right moment. If you think about it, there are only two possible ways he could have shown up. Either he followed you and luckily found you in time, as he confessed himself, or he knew in advance that you would be attacked.”
In a word, Count d’Estuaire had gone from being a lifesaver to an unscrupulous fraudster. According to the Emperor’s speculation, Count d’Estuaire had deliberately set the trap and rescued him in time.
Eugène frowned at the idea of such malicious conjecture and responded to the Emperor.
“There is no reason for the Count to plot such a thing, is there?”
“Saving the life of an influential person with a promising future is not an opportunity that comes along very often.”
“But the plan was far too elaborate to have been set up to fail on purpose. After all, the day of execution was just yesterday. Had I been assassinated on my way home from Marquise Bertin’s ball, as they planned, the consequences would have been enormous. Whoever planned this wanted to put my death on display.”
Like when Louise was murdered.
In fact, it is for this reason that he tried to keep the incident in which he was attacked a secret. It was troublesome to spread rumors on an unmanageable scale, and he didn’t want to make them erase their traces and escape, but what bothered him most of all was why they wanted to turn his death into a sensationalized scandal.
He was not proud of it, but his existence was the hottest topic of conversation in the capital’s high society right now. That same man was brutally murdered on the way back from attending the ball of the most influential nobleman in the empire-. It doesn’t take much imagination to realize how colossal the aftermath would be.
“Do you mean to say the assassination itself was not the goal?”
“It was intended to be an assassination, but I think the collateral effects were sufficiently targeted as well.”
“If they are enough to be covered up with your death, then they must be quite significant… you have a point. That should be looked into separately as well”
As they chatted, the carriage steadily made its way across the capital to its destination.
Shortly thereafter, the carriage stopped as if it had reached its intended place. When Eugène absentmindedly glanced out the window, the Emperor smiled lightly stretched out his hand, and turned Eugène’s head back to the front.
“We like your neck quite a bit. Therefore, We want it to stay in place for as long as possible, what do you think?”
“Shall I close my eyes?”
“Apparently, some of the previous Emperor would have the eyes gouged out, but that is a thing of the past.”
The Emperor casually made a vicious joke and nodded at Baron Bouilhet. After receiving the Emperor’s signal, Baron Bouilhet took something out of his bosom and handed it to Eugène.
What he was handed was a sophisticated velvet eye patch. Three layers of dense black velvet were stitched together and lined to prevent his eyes from opening, and when he wore it, he was completely blind to his surroundings.
Thank you so much for the translation! ❤️❤️❤️
+1
I would really like to see the emperor’s expression when he knew Eugene was attacked hehe
anyways, thank you so much for this update 😘🥰
Thank you for the translation! Their flirting is cute 🥺 poor Baron Bouilhet who has to play the third wheel, though.
Bdidjdbdbbsk cant wait for the next chapterrr. Whats the emperor gonna do to the blindfolded Eugene 🌚
Also, thank you for the chapter <3
Omg my delulu heart😅..” blindfolded Eugene” .we are overthinking now😊
SOMEBODY MAKE A FAN ART OF EUGENE WEARING THE EYE PATCH I BEG HE MUST BE SO UGHHHH
Is it an eye patch or blindfold? Cuz it said “it prevent his eyes from opening” since it said eyes, I assumed it was a blindfold, but correct me if I’m wrong tho TT
It is a blindfold..it covers both eyes
QAQ I’m sorry, I meant eye mask, not eye patch. I was probably muddle-headed when I typed that. I’m so dumb 😭
Someone recommend me a story like this please
You should read passion. Not at all the same plot, but gives me almost equal joy while reading..
Passion as in taeui and ilay???already did. I finished codename anastasia too now i need more stories like them.please recommend 🙏
Where do I read ‘passion’. I can’t find the novel anywhere. HELP! 🥺
There was a fan tl on here but it was taken down due to DMCA;so maybe buy the book officially or just read then manhwa
Camping here everyday refreshing this page for an update 😅…..
Happy Easter for those celebrating…until next chapter ♥️
Tan Asian daddy with blonde hair … Rough stature and cuts here and there.. siphon shirt and black velvet blinds.. are you fucking with me author? You want me to go crazy and invent a way to enter fiction? Fucking kidding me?
If you invent something like that please share with us too 🙏
Yes pls tell your fellow book lovers so we can fulfil our unachievable desires too