The night passed and the day dawned.
Rosenta left for the Imperial Palace as planned. However, in his heart, he wanted to postpone it for another day or so to relieve his accumulated fatigue.
However, it was not possible to continue delaying the delivery of the finished drug.
The more he did, the more tired he would be.
Physical fatigue would be better than mental stress.
"Wait."
As soon as he entered the palace, he caught a maid who was busily passing by him.
"Where is His Majesty?"
"I believe he’s in the office with the Marquis."
He immediately headed to His Majesty's office, as the maid had informed him.
As it was a familiar place, the walk was also easy. That's why he was able to get to the office quickly.
Since he might be with Marquis Marigold, he had to be polite.
"Your Majesty, may I come in?"
After announcing himself first, he knocked on the door of the office.
He heard a voice respond right away.
"Come in."
Theodore told him to come in, and he opened the door without hesitation.
The office was a mess.
There were countless piles of documents lying around, some in random stacks here and there.
And, since they worked without opening the windows, there was dust accumulating everywhere.
Due to the acrid dust irritating his nose, Rosenta fanned his nose as he walked to the nearest window.
He threw open the stuffy curtain that was blocking the light from the office.
"I purposely visited you a day later than planned, but you're so behind in your work that a day wasn’t enough."
Theodore pressed down on his temple as Rosenta said that.
He replied in a groaning voice, frowning as if his head was throbbing.
"I think I’ll be crushed to death if these papers fall over."
“……It sure does look like it."
When Marquis Marigold heard Rosenta, he took his eyes off the papers on the table for the first time.
The Marquis's face looked so terrible. To the point where Theodore looked fine comparatively.
It was his friend's father.
With the marquis in such a mess, Rosenta felt guilty for some reason.
"Ugh."
The Marquis groaned like a zombie and allowed his resentment to pour out.
"News broke of the Pope's death...…. That was an issue I was unable to deal with on my own, but aren’t things this far behind because Your Majesty disappeared?"
The death of the Pope?
Those words made Rosenta doubt his ears. ‘What do you mean? Why is the pope dead now?’
Why...….
Of course, his death was part of the novel, but the timing was different.
The story was a little further than it is now, at a time when strange phenomena began to occur all over the country.
That was the setup of the story.
It was officially announced that the pope, who had gone on a long rescue mission to an underdeveloped region, had gone missing.
And, according to the original story, he would soon be found dead.
As a result, Yura’s importance rises quickly, and the desire and worship of the saint intensifies.
Conitel, who served Yura, also became Pope, and the setting for the main female lead would be complete.
But it didn’t matter very much to Rosenta that the timeline of the story had changed.
There was only one thing he was concerned about.
"I have a question."
Plot points that would unfold in the future. He was worried that even those were completely wrong.
It was only easy to solve problems when they fell within the range of his predictions.
"Does that mean that the pope suddenly died?"
Theodore nodded.
Then he gave Rosenta a step-by-step recap of the pope's death.
"According to the high priest, a group of bandits suddenly appeared. Furthermore, the pope took only a few priests, so he was unable to defend himself."
Rosenta was immediately relieved.
There didn't seem to be much difference from the content of the novel.
But something else bothered him.
Strangely, Theodore's tone was deeply suspicious.
"Do you feel something’s wrong, Your Majesty?"
“……Even though the Pope said he would go alone, did he really bring only a few priests? What's more...….”
Theodore stopped talking.
His throat must have been dry, so he took a sip of water and moistened his throat.
Then he cleared his throat and opened his mouth again.
"It doesn't make sense that he went to serve an underdeveloped area. That greedy pig."
"Your Majesty!"
The Marquis rose from his seat and looked around as if he were embarrassed.
"You have to be careful about what you say about them. Don't you know? They're the only religion...….”
The Marquis tried to explain, but Theodore did not listen.
On the contrary, he seemed carefree.
"Everyone who has met the pope knows it anyway. Of course, the Marquis knows. He was forced to sponsor the temple with huge amounts of assets."
The Marquis's countenance darkened in an instant. He clenched his teeth as if he was angry at being forced to remember something he didn’t want to.
Theodore sneered.
Then he began pouring out criticisms towards the already dead pope.
"He's like a pig. A man who gets fat because of his greed. That kind of guy went to volunteer? Ha! That's funny."
Rosenta had only briefly seen the pope.
He was a short man who could have weighed over a ton.
However, Theodore's description referred to his inner character, not his outer appearance. His heart was full of greed.
"It doesn't make sense."
It would be difficult for such a person to serve in an underdeveloped area, but it would have been hell to last a year.
Theodore's skepticism was understood.
"Then what is your Majesty's opinion?"
Theodore's gold eyes shone very sharply at Rosenta’s question.
He replied very firmly.
"A power struggle."
The quill pen in Theodore’s hand steadily tapped on the desk.
Tap, tap, tap.
Theodore, who had been repeating the action for a long time, began to gradually open his mouth.
"Once something starts to rot, no matter how rot is cut off, it spreads like an infectious disease. That's the case there."
The man before Rosenta was not Theodore, as warm as the sun.
It was Theodore, the cool-headed emperor.
And he was analyzing the situation coolly.
"Then, does Your Majesty intend to raise questions to interrogate the story’s authenticity?"
A skein of golden thread, like gentle starlight, swayed gently from side to side.
"No way."
After a brief reply, he turned to the papers as if he were no longer interested.
Then he quietly turned over the paper and continued the conversation from earlier.
"All this is speculation anyway, and there is no evidence."
Theodore was right.
If such a battle for power had taken place, they would have destroyed all the evidence without leaving any behind.
In addition, interfering in the fight of another country could do more harm than good.