Breaking a Romantic Fantasy Villain - Episode 5

Episode 5. Maurice Dmitri (2)

* * *

The Solar Palace, where the Emperor resides.

I stepped into the huge, ornate imperial palace, built of marble to symbolize the majesty of the empire.

This place has always been unpleasant.

When I first entered the world, it had always been a place of excitement and newness.

Now, after coming close to death several times in courtly squabbles, I was here only to see the main scenario.

“The Emperor is expecting you.”

The guard saluted when he saw me.

With a wave of my hand, I stepped inside the solar palace.

“Minister, please follow me.”

I followed the butler through the gardener’s laboriously tended courtyard to the Emperor’s private alcove in the Solar Palace.

“Your Majesty, Minister of Magic Dmitri has arrived.”

“Enter.”

The door opened, revealing the Emperor sitting leisurely in his alcove, sipping wine.

“You look so handsome.

Platinum-haired and blue-eyed.

Emperor of the Vermut Empire, whose appearance is so flawless that it can be admired at any time.

The protagonist of the novel, “Happily Ever After”.

Leucid von Vermut.

The ruler of the empire looked down at me.

“Greetings, Imperial Sun.”

I bowed to the Emperor in imperial fashion.

It was perfect etiquette.

I’d practiced it to death to avoid any unnecessary criticism from the nobles.

“Your manners are always beautiful.”

The Emperor’s brief appreciation ended.

“Not since your appointment as minister.”

“Yes.”

“It’s been a week already. Is the work suiting you?”

“It’s not much different from what I was doing when I was undersecretary, so I shouldn’t have any trouble adjusting.”

“I hear you’re having a hard time.”

“Thanks to His Majesty’s grace, I have no worries.”

“Is there anything to report?”

“Not much has happened since the coronation, except for the barbarians taking advantage of our weakened borders.”

“Southern barbarians, they’re a pain in the as$.”

“Putting troops on the border will solve that.”

“I’ll have to talk to the defense minister.”

Shaking his head, the Emperor set down his wine.

“The Empress Dowager is nowhere to be seen.”

“There’s no need to bring the Empress here to discuss the state of the country. She’s probably resting in her room.”

“Is that so?”

I looked.

The coldness in the Emperor’s eyes as he spoke of the Empress, the mistress of this world.

The Emperor waved his hand and straightened up.

“Well, I didn’t summon you here to talk about trivial matters of state.”

Finally, he got to the point.

“How was my gift received?”

She was referring to the missing Siegfried.

“It was delivered by the knights yesterday.”

“Well?”

“What do you mean?”

“She is. She’s beautiful enough to be second to the Empire.”

I clamped my mouth shut.

“How could I injure the gift your Majesty has bestowed upon me?”

The Emperor shook his head at my words.

“Minister, I did not want this reaction.”

“What do you want?”

“Should I tell the story myself, though I trusted you to tell it well?”

“How can a mere mortal penetrate the heart of the sun?”

“Haha, so humble for a war hero who magically destroyed a traitorous former minister.”

After a round of laughter, the emperor slowly opened his mouth.

“Warmonger Maurice, I’ve heard that your nickname is due to your brutal methods of killing and tormenting your enemies.”

His blue eyes flashed at me.

Before I’d become Undersecretary, I’d played hardball when dealing with enemies of the Ministry of Magic who tried to stop me.

The nickname stuck.

Morris the Warmonger.

I thought I’d forgotten it by now.

I never expected to hear it from the lord himself.

“I want her to be hurt. I want her to be in as much pain as I felt for her. Not just pain, but heart-wrenching pain. That’s why I sent it to you.”

So that was it.

This is who he is.

Despite his handsome and dignified exterior, a cruel nature lay beneath.

“I thought he had been mellowed by his encounter with his mistress.

He hadn’t.

I bowed my head wordlessly.

“I trust you understand my words. I hope you don’t let me down in the future.”

Damn it.

I’ve just gotten myself into a lot of trouble.

***

“What did you say?”

Jane asks when we get back to the office.

“Shut up and focus on your work. I know you’ve got a lot on your plate today…….”

Thud!

The redheaded Jane slammed the papers she was holding down.

“I’m done, so tell me. What were you talking about with the Emperor?”

“Nothing much. It was all about Nara.”

“You’re lying.”

I can’t fool her after all.

“You’re still talking about Seria Siegfried, aren’t you?”

“You’d be careful with that name.”

“That’s only for humans.”

Jane smirked.

I nodded, knowing it would stick if I didn’t say something.

“Really? What did he say? In this case, protect the woman. Or maybe you killed her identity, but she’s still your love…….”

“Jane.”

I interrupted her rambling.

“It’s not as romantic as you think it is.”

This was an emperor who wanted a shabby, grisly end for his ex-fiancée who had tormented him.

I was being dragged into a post-consummation scuffle.

This was going to get very annoying.

“And what are you going to do with her, Minister?”

Jane asked as I ran my hands through my hair.

“What do you want me to do with it?”

“Yeah, it’s yours now.”

What do you want to do with it?

“I haven’t decided yet.”

It was then.

“Mr. Minister, this is Sadrick.”

Target #1, Sadrick, came to the door.

“Come in.”

“This is the Ministry of Magic’s budget for this month, and the new papers for this month.”

“That’s a lot of paper.”

“It’s the beginning of change, and I’m sure there are many people who want to look good for the new Minister of Magic.”

When he’d finished speaking, Sadric laughed out loud.

“Try to be quiet. My head hurts.”

Another day of work.

***

He finished all his work and went home.

His head was throbbing from all the work he had to do today.

Even for Maurice, whose intelligence and mental strength far exceeded that of a normal person, the workload of the Ministry was a burden.

It was always a relief to have a home to rest in.

It was always a relief.

He looked at the Dmitri family’s huge mansion with its sprawling yard.

Three years.

The time it took to build a family that was on the decline.

His masterpiece in this world.

Ever since he bought his mansion, whenever he’s had a bad day at work, He’s looked at it to relieve his stress.

[name of adoption], [performance], [perfectionist].

It was these traits that formed the basis of Maurice’s personality.

Of course, there were other reasons.

To remind himself of where he’s been and where he is now.

Don’t let your guard down.

The political arena of the Vermut Empire was a place where you could fall back to the bottom if you let your guard down.

I thought that today, like any other day, the manor would give me a well-deserved rest.

It certainly did.

Until I opened the front door and walked in.

“What is this?”

I looked at the disheveled living room.

Sensive pot on display was shattered, and the carpeting on the floor was crumpled and tattered.

The neatly organized artwork was haphazardly hung with no rules.

“Ah.

I felt dizzy.

My home.

The mansion that gave me peace of mind.

It was a dump.

I didn’t have to ask, I knew who had left it like this.

While I was away, only one person had been home.

It was Seria, who had lost all her identity as of yesterday.

A cold rage consumed my body.

Let’s not lose our cool and get carried away.

I took a deep breath in and out, steadying my breathing.

“Calm down. Calm down.’

Whoo, whoo, whoo.

After catching my breath, I waved my hand.

With a twist of the time magic formula, I restored the broken pottery that had fallen to the floor.

Like a movie on Rewind, the shattered pieces fell back into place, one by one, completing their original form.

The messy carpet was magically restored to its original color.

The artwork in the closet flew through the air and returned to its place.

I quickly drew a formula in the air and chanted a spell.

Casting five spells at the same time was no easy feat, even for a near-archmage.

My head ached like it was going to crack.

It was a bit much to try to organize this horrible house.

“Seria.”

I called out to Seria in a low, mana-filled voice.

If she was inside the mansion, she would hear me.

But there was no answer.

“If you come out now, I will end this by stripping you n*ked.”

Again, no answer.

I went upstairs to the second floor.

The situation on the second floor was not much different from the first.

I gritted my teeth against the vertigo.

Once again, I used magic to organize.

Things were flying around and falling into place.

The items that seemed too difficult to recover, even with time magic, were magically incinerated on the spot.

Boom!

‘This is my favorite pottery.

It was a porcelain that resembled white porcelain from the Joseon Dynasty.

He loved it because it reminded him of the original world he lived in as Choi Yoo-jun.

Break it?

Veins sprang up on his forehead.

You haven’t come to your senses yet.

I’ll give you credit for your stubbornness.

It was past time to make nice.

I shook the mana in the air.

The mana began to vibrate.

Starting at my feet, the wave of mana quickly spread through the mansion and out into the yard.

Even though my eyes were closed, I could see every inch of the mansion at a glance.

It was ultrasonic navigation magic.

I waved my hand, scanning the mana-lit interior of the mansion.

And then.

I found Seria, hiding in the guest room on the third floor.