The Former Empress Roughly Hides Her Abilities - Chapter 71

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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【Chapter 71】

 

That didn’t mean Rianel wasn’t providing proper nursing care.

 

“I heard there are no particular issues with your digestive function, so I prepared a meal myself.”

 

Of course, since Rianel wasn’t a medical professional, she consulted with Joel.

 

He was greatly surprised when Rianel said she would prepare the food herself, but added, “If Madam prepared it, Master will gladly eat anything.”

 

So Rianel prepared a proper meal for someone with no appetite.

 

Wheat bread with honey, and beef stew.

 

Asil, lying in bed with his injured leg elevated, turned his head as soon as he smelled the food.

 

Soon after confirming the appearance of the food, a faint smile crossed his lips.

 

“You made this yourself.”

 

Asil, having eaten her food several times before, immediately recognized its source.

 

“It would be nice if I could preserve this as it is.”

 

“Food spoils after an appropriate amount of time. There’s no reason to leave it sitting.”

 

“Of course I meant preserving it in my stomach.”

 

The moment I eat this food will also be forever remembered in my mind.

 

Asil took time to appreciate his excellent memory.

 

“You gave the same food to Her Highness the Princess, didn’t you?”

 

Rianel hesitated, wondering if she should confirm “yes” to her petty and jealous student.

 

“I could smell it.”

 

“Yes, I couldn’t visit the Princess Palace empty-handed, so I prepared a small gift.”

 

Moreover, worried that Asil might notice, I had asked the Princess to check the contents after we left.

 

It seemed my clever and talented student had recognized the food I prepared just from the smell.

 

‘Scary kid.’

 

“Please help me sit up, Master.”

 

Asil urged her playfully to prevent Rianel from having other thoughts.

 

She was weak to her student’s whining. After supporting Asil’s shoulders to help him up, she placed a cushion behind his back to help him sit comfortably.

 

Asil took a spoonful of the stew. The light yet rich flavor filled his mouth.

 

‘Yes, this was the taste.’

 

Memories dwell on the tongue as well.

 

Asil savored the taste while immersed in sentiment.

 

Rianel didn’t prefer cooking.

 

From obtaining ingredients, to preparing them, to cooking.

 

Cooking was such a task that required attention to many things and was very labor-intensive. That’s why Rianel preferred to cheaply purchase already-made food.

 

‘How special it sounds that such a person endured that trouble for me.’

 

“Does it not taste good?”

 

When Asil remained still after taking one bite of stew, Rianel examined his expression.

 

Asil finally came to his senses when faced with the crisis of having his bowl taken away.

 

“I wanted to savor it…”

 

He was so focused on protecting his stew that he didn’t notice Rianel’s gaze turning coldly downward as if looking at something pathetic.

 

However, this was Asil’s true feelings.

 

“A month really does seem too short. I wish I could recover as slowly as possible.”

 

“Your blatant expression makes even me feel embarrassed. What exactly do you consume to form such a way of thinking?”

 

“But I like it, so what can I do…”

 

He couldn’t even pretend he didn’t need nursing care. Asil found this time with Rianel right before his eyes precious and valuable.

 

‘Even now, she’s pretending not to while looking at my leg.’

 

Whenever he felt that all of Rianel’s attention was focused on him, he would get thrills and his heart would beat rapidly, making his emotions uncontrollable.

 

Such experiences weren’t something one could have commonly in life.

 

“If I had known this would happen, I should have shot my body with an arrow long ago.”

 

“Then you would have died young.”

 

‘Inefficient fool. Risking your life over mere emotions?’

 

Rianel was dumbfounded.

 

No matter how much he liked having her by his side, to be grinning even in a situation where he got shot in the leg with an arrow…

 

“When you like something, you naturally stop considering efficiency.”

 

“…”

 

Rianel decided not to argue back.

 

If she responded to every foolish thing he said, there wouldn’t be enough time.

 

“Get some sleep.”

 

Rianel pulled a chair next to Asil’s bed and sat down.

 

“I won’t go anywhere.”

 

“How affectionate…”

 

The obedient student quietly closed his eyes.

 

The quiet room.

 

In a space where only he and his master existed, he could achieve complete peace.

 

‘I really do need you.’

 

The world with you in it is this peaceful.

 

He breathed evenly as sleep overtook him.

 

* * *

 

The Holy Knight Logan, caught at the abandoned orphanage, was confined in a room where not a ray of sunlight entered.

 

Unlike Joseph who embezzled the family’s money, Logan’s detention was kept secret from the outside.

 

To investigate the orphanage secretly from the Temple, they had to thoroughly hide the fact that Logan had made contact with someone.

 

However, since Asil, the master of the mansion, was currently receiving nursing care, Logan was left abandoned in the room.

 

‘Boring, so boring. Damn it, I’d rather be tortured.’

 

As he was looking down at the floor, estimating the time for the 1178th time.

 

Creeeeak-

 

The door opened and someone entered.

 

“…?”

 

Thinking it would be another knight bringing food, his expression changed when Rianel entered.

 

Then, seeing that she was holding half-burned documents in one hand, he immediately grinned wickedly.

 

“Right, I knew you wouldn’t keep me locked up here forever!”

 

Thinking this boredom would finally end, his throat bobbed with anticipation.

 

‘I’ll use this woman somehow to get out of here.’

 

The woman must be coveting his information.

 

Logan’s plan was to pretend to negotiate with that while buying time and looking for a chance to escape.

 

“You came because you’re curious about those documents, right? But my mouth isn’t cheap-”

 

However.

 

“I know. Those are records of illegal drug experiments conducted by the Temple, aren’t they?”

 

“?!”

 

“The reason there were so many sick children at Mart Orphanage was because experiments were conducted on the orphans. The arson was a means to cover this up.”

 

Logan was flabbergasted.

 

“If you figured it all out, what did you come here to find out?”

 

“I just wanted to confirm my hypothesis.”

 

“!”

 

“From your expression, it seems to be true.”

 

‘Did I fall for such a cheap trick?’

 

Since Rianel spoke so matter-of-factly with an expressionless face, he thought she knew all the facts. He didn’t realize she was testing him.

 

Logan rolled his eyes.

 

However, with his most viable option neutralized, there were few choices left for him to make.

 

“If, if you kill me, the religious order won’t stand for it! I’m a holy knight with connections in the temple….”

 

He tried threatening with faint hope, but Rianel didn’t even blink.

 

“The religious order would want you dead. They’d want the truth to sink along with your life.”

 

“….”

 

‘Damn accurate words.’

 

But at the same time, Logan felt hope.

 

Even while considering him useless, that woman was keeping him alive.

 

‘That means there’s a good reason for it.’

 

“What do you want from me?”

 

“I want your cooperation.”

 

Rianel wanted the classified documents in his head.

 

“Coop… you don’t mean betray the religious order?”

 

“Betrayal can only exist where there’s trust. But you haven’t earned trust within the religious order, so this doesn’t apply.”

 

‘That cuts deep.’

 

If Logan had been an important person within the religious order, he wouldn’t have been assigned to burn documents at the abandoned orphanage.

 

“What do I gain by cooperating with you?”

 

“You get your life.”

 

‘That’s all?’

 

“Isn’t that too obvious?”

 

Cooperation could only happen if the other party was alive.

 

The only things you could do with a corpse were hold a funeral or spit on their grave.

 

“For someone who wants to live, nothing is more precious than life.”

 

“!”

 

“Think about it. If I had offered gold and jewels as compensation, could you have trusted me?”

 

‘That’s true!’

 

He couldn’t deny Rianel’s words.

 

‘Proposals that are too sweet are rather suspicious.’

 

At the same time, he felt again the sense of déjà vu that had continued from the orphanage.

 

There had been someone who only said correct things while making him feel bad, but also said things so convincing that he couldn’t argue back.

 

‘Could it be….’

 

Several years ago.

 

When Logan was enrolled at the National Academy.

 

He had been a delinquent student.

 

Because shortly after enrollment, an incident occurred where his entire family died.

 

Fallen into guilt and emptiness from being the sole survivor, he didn’t attend lectures properly, and eventually couldn’t graduate due to insufficient credits.

 

But even during his brief enrollment, there was a professor who left a deep impression.

 

“Could it be, Professor Ensilen…?”

 

“You’ve mistaken me for someone else.”

 

But Logan was already certain.

 

‘There can’t be two people in the world with such a unique way of speaking!’

 

The fact that Ensilen was already dead didn’t matter.

 

Having witnessed all sorts of bizarre human experiments while at the temple, a dead person inhabiting a living person’s body was among the milder abnormal phenomena.

 

“It’s me, Logan, Professor.”

 

“…?”

 

Rianel’s eyebrows trembled.

 

What?

 

“Don’t you remember? I was sleeping drunk next to the school gate, and you came to find me. You said, ‘Cold water is the most direct and efficient means of suppressing intoxication,’ and splashed water on my face to wake me up.”

 

The National Academy required even nobles to pass entrance exams to enter.

 

With such high passing scores, students who entered with difficulty and then slacked off were rare.

 

The moment that rare face came to mind.

 

“You, you…?”

 

Rianel’s eyes widened.

 

Her becoming indifferent to everything happened after she died once. When she was a professor, she had been a person overflowing with passion.

 

Though she couldn’t remember all those students, there were faces that remained in her memory.

 

Among them was a student with good abilities but unfortunate family circumstances, whom she had chased around trying to prevent from failing.

 

“Yes, your student grew up well and became a lackey of the temple.”

 

Recognizing that her efforts from years ago had been in vain, Rianel gained a great realization.

 

‘A halfhearted student grew up under a halfhearted professor!’

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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