After almost 2 hours of conversation between the royal family and their three loyal knights. Harvey, Leonard and Albert finally decided to leave the palace.
The conversation was quite annoying for the three of them, especially the crown prince kept bragging about some things but the Emperor did not see it as something wrong. He thought that the crown prince's attitude was normal for an aspiring leader like him.
"A leader should be confident and also have high self-esteem. He doesn't want to be trampled by the common people or anyone around him. Because my son will inherit this Empire," Emperor Randolf said.
Even so, there wasn't much the three of them could do other than follow the Emperor's words. They were his three loyal dogs, which was why they followed whatever the Emperor said.
He was the absolute leader of the Empire, so whatever he said and wanted was something for everyone's survival.
Even if it sounded very annoying and intrusive.
"I can't believe that someone like him will lead the Empire one day. Doesn't this sound like something stupid?" Albert whispered to his two companions.
"Watch your language, Albert. We are still in the palace area, so you better not say anything stupid like that or someone will hear you," Leonard warned his friend.
Meanwhile, Harvey remained silent and walked out of the palace to return to the mansion. He went over to his horse that was being guarded by the guards outside the gate.
"Wait a minute, Seira must not be back yet. She must still be inside and we should go there to check on her," Leonard said, making the three of them stop walking.
"Leonard is right, Seira definitely hasn't returned to the front of the gate at this time. We should look for her in the servants' quarters," Albert said.
But Harvey said that they should go to the gate first. If Seira wasn't there, they could go back and drag her home.
"Then we'll punish her by tying her wrists to a horse. So she'll run at the horse's pace to get to the mansion," Harvey said.
He didn't care if it sounded cruel, but if Seira broke her own word to go home with them then it was one of the mildest punishments he could give the servant.
"You don't need to do that. I'm here now," said Seira who was already waiting in front of the palace gate.
In her hand, she was carrying a small bag that had been left behind in the palace.
"What's in your hand? What object did you say was so important that you said you wanted to bring it back?" Harvey asked.
"Just my clothes and a few other small items," Seira replied, showing the contents of her bag, which contained clothes and a mirror.
Not wanting to make a scene or make room for an argument, Harvey let it go and lifted Seira onto his horse like before.
They finally returned to the mansion with a heavy feeling. A feeling of displeasure at their new leader one day. Because they felt that Darco was not a good person to be the leader. But if the Emperor's decision was unanimous, and there was no other successor, they had no other choice.
Upon arriving at the mansion, they immediately went to their respective places and did their own activities.
Harvey went to his own room and locked the door. Meanwhile, Albert and Leonard go to the kitchen to discuss what happened earlier at the palace. Seira, who was there, listened to their conversation.
"No wonder the crown prince is so arrogant. Just look at the attitude of his mother, Royal Concubine Catalina. She also looks very arrogant even more than her son. I don't understand why the Emperor has a concubine like that," Albert commented on the royal members.
He should not have done this, because criticizing a royal member is considered wrong. But Albert was indeed someone who could not hide his dislike and directly said so even though it was quite risky.
"It's true, you're not wrong about that. But what can we do? We can't go against the Emperor and betray him."
Seira was silent as she listened to their conversation. She tried to keep herself busy in the kitchen, so that they wouldn't realize that she really only wanted to listen to what they had to say about the crown prince.
Hearing them start talking about something else, Seira left the kitchen to return to her room.
Carrying the bag that she had previously brought from the palace, Seira placed the bag on her desk always taking out the contents.
"I knew that the Emperor would appoint Darco as his successor. He is indeed the crown prince, but he will be someone who will destroy this empire," Seira muttered, putting her clothes in the closet.
"He was too blinded by his love for Catalina to let someone like Darco lead the entire Empire. Without thinking that this will greatly affect everyone's future."
She continued to say the same thing, in which the Emperor made a big mistake by choosing Darco.
Until she saw a cloth bag in her closet, which she tied tightly so that no one would see it. Seira took out the bag and untied the string that bound it.
She stared at the objects inside the bag with a very low look in her eyes. It was as if she was remembering something that she never wanted to remember again. An old memory that lingered in her mind.
The woman took out one of the objects from the bag, and it was a comb with a very beautiful and detailed engraving, like it was made especially for her.
"This is the comb I made for you. You are my little princess whom I love very much, that's why I gave you this beautiful comb," said a man when Seira was a child.
She still vividly remembered those words, words that came from a man who loved her very much, before a terrible tragedy happened to her.
"I never want to see her again! Execute the punishment and eliminate everything related to that snake woman!"
Seira's eyes closed at the memory as she gripped the beautiful wooden comb tightly.
"You made a big mistake that went too far."