Renard Dreel, presently a fly on the wall, wanted to interject.
He’d rather take his chances elsewhere, honestly.
But the moment he opened his mouth, he nearly choked. How? How could this gorgeous boy be so utterly blind? Calling him—him, the young, good-looking Renard—a "mister"? But calling that woman, who looked every bit a middle-aged clerk, a "miss"?!
He internally screamed.
His dignity limped away. He had to regroup. Regain his footing. Nurse his wounded ego before he collapses completely.
So he forced a cough and waved a hand. "I-it’s fine. I’ll just get back to work." He bent quickly to scoop up the tablet he had oh-so-carefully given to Luca, hoping—praying—that maybe a few questions had been answered.
But the moment his fingers brushed the screen—
Clack!
A grip like iron clamped down on his wrist.
His head whipped up. The frail-looking woman. The one who had smiled so prettily despite looking so plain. Her hand locked around him with the strength of a crushing vice.
He yelped in shock.
Luca gasped, alarm flooding his golden eyes. "Oh no! Is it that painful already?!"
"I-I’m fine!" Renard wheezed, his voice breaking into panicked hiccups. He tried to pull away, but the pressure spiked. "Ah—ah—ahhh! What are you doing?!"
The Empress’s smile widened, serene as a saint. "Ah! Apologies! I’ll bring you straight to the medical bay. How thoughtless of me!"
"W-what?!"
Her voice rang with certainty. Exactly as she wanted it.
She would drag him out. Away from the chipmunk. And in the meantime, her shadows could quietly "verify" his identity.
But then a soft voice interrupted, halting her triumph.
"Miss, I’ll help you carry him."
She froze.
Renard froze.
They both turned slowly toward Luca, who looked genuinely troubled. "He said I was taking his breath away. So I feel like I ought to do something."
In fact, Luca had been worried.
Even D-29 thought that the attendant might be experiencing a problem, which was why he was speaking such words. Because why else would the attendant have been using sentences from different shows?
Didn’t he know it was not good to mix and match too much?
But in the mind of the golden-eyed rock, he was wondering if this was some sort of symptom or maybe another case of defamation that could possibly earn him something. Because really, he couldn’t remember committing crimes in the capital!
Meanwhile, the Empress and Renard both stiffened, though for very different reasons.
Renard felt his soul leave his body. Exposed. Failed. Ruined. He was really going to be remembered as the idiot who got outdone by a literal rock.
Meanwhile, the Empress was about to explode. Carry him?! No, no, no. The wax with a face was not allowed to touch a single part of her son’s beloved.
"It’s fine," she said quickly, her voice firm. "I can carry him."
Luca blinked. "But Miss, isn’t that unfair when I can help? I should offer."
Unfair? UNFAIR?! She nearly laughed herself into madness.
Her eyes narrowed as she spoke more firmly. "No, I’m actually very strong. I can carry him just fine."
But Luca’s face only furrowed in confusion. "Why would we need to carry him when we can just bring him to the medical bay like this? And they say it’s bad to jostle around the patient, so if we bring him like this, I think it would be better!"

And yet the boy with the bright golden eyes looked entirely unbothered, like he had just decided to carry luggage rather than an unconscious man.

Verify captcha to read the content
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL]