47. Can I Draw a Card Now?

In “this era,” Professor Moriarty certainly wouldn’t recognize me. After all, considering the premise that “Kefir doesn’t exist,” I have never been to the Rosia Empire, and naturally, I wouldn’t have met Moriarty, who was lurking in the Rosia Empire as a “college professor” at that time.

However, given the current situation: it seems that whether Professor Moriarty recognizes me or not doesn’t matter. She is merely conveying and executing the Queen’s orders, and today’s order is to take me to meet Louis IV, the Queen of the Great Ying Empire. To verify the Queen’s suspicions and… her curiosity about me.

By the time Professor Moriarty and I secretly returned to the palace of the Great Ying Empire, it was already late at night. We were on our way to meet the Queen, and before I knew it, Professor Moriarty, who had been leading the way, was now walking side by side with me.

“Have you been here before?”

It seems she is suspicious of how familiar I am with this place.

“Of course, I even know where the Queen sleeps every night. I could find it with my eyes closed.”

“Under normal circumstances, you would already be a corpse.”

But I wasn’t lying, Professor, and…

Following the current path, I… already know where tonight’s Queen, a “brand new” Queen, is waiting for me.

As far as the eye can see, at the end of the garden, there is a meticulously prepared transparent greenhouse, blooming with many flowers that shouldn’t be in season. And among them, the view is not just limited to the flowers. If you look up, through the glass, you can even see the stars in the night sky.

I… of course, remember this place. After all, it was here that I revealed the Queen’s true identity, and she “ambushed” me successfully, forcing me to make her my fairy and even gave her a rather embarrassing fairy name.

Naturally, this is also the place where “this Queen” is waiting for me tonight. But compared to that time, tonight’s meeting doesn’t make me happy at all. From complete trust to suspicion, the Queen meeting me here is really… ironic.

Professor Moriarty stopped beside me, and I didn’t need her reminder to step forward into the greenhouse, listening to the script unfold.

[Louis IV met Euclid.]

This time, there won’t be any troublesome extras like Louis XXIII to interfere. It’s completely the Queen of “this era,” meeting me alone. And at this moment, I discovered what the “original” Queen Louis IV of the Great Ying Empire, who never had a cousin named Kefir and never knew me, is truly like.

Still dressed in an outfit more suitable for a teenage idol, even the crown symbolizing her status is worn so casually, just placed on her head. Some old-fashioned nobles would probably be outraged. Her blonde hair shines, and her long, straight legs look even taller with the “enhancement” of black stockings.

The moment I appeared, she had already turned around, holding a light blue parasol in her hand, with the innocent and pure joy that only a young girl could have on her face.

All of this was no different from my impression of the first time I truly saw the Queen.

However, this time I didn’t even need to look at the script to know: what exactly was hidden beneath the perfect mask of the girl before me.

For example… the cute parasol she held was also a sword for self-defense. Even if she couldn’t cut my throat, it was enough to wait for Moriarty’s protection outside.

And for example… the more radiant her smile, the deeper her suspicion of me. The prettier the woman, the more deceitful she is. This was something the Queen had personally told me before.

She was suspicious of me, and it was precisely because she was suspicious that she didn’t immediately “dispose of” me. After all, Her Majesty the Queen of the Great Britain Empire wouldn’t be so rash and reckless.

“Good evening~ Moriarty brought you to see me~ Hehe, were you scared?”

She would slowly probe like this. Even if others knew it was a disguise, a lie… but watching her innocent and lively appearance, listening to her seemingly simple and mischievous words, one would eventually fall into the trap.

The Queen’s suspicion really made me nostalgic. But now… I didn’t have the time, nor did I want to continue this stalemate.

It wasn’t that the conditions didn’t allow it, but I was afraid I would fall for it this time. After all, in my memory, I really hadn’t won against Louise much. And now, I wasn’t Mario, I didn’t have a second life to repeat the same mistakes.

“Do I need to apologize first?”

“Apologize… to you? Suddenly bringing you here, I should be the one apologizing~”

The Queen blinked.

To me, it didn’t seem that cute, after all, she wasn’t sincerely being cute.

“But didn’t I make you waste a ‘genius of the Great Britain Empire’? Sorry about that. Originally, letting Twenty-Three provoke the Rosia delegation and cause some trouble wasn’t bad, but unfortunately, the Rosia people ‘coincidentally’ chose me, exposing Louise Twenty-Three’s ‘little cheating tricks’ too quickly, so we had to discard and disassociate.”

The Queen’s expression didn’t change, but I could feel the atmosphere around us solidifying bit by bit.

“However, to get rid of a noble who wanted to leave the Great Britain Empire, was it really necessary to waste a genius who took years to ‘nurture’? I don’t think Zerora would be assimilated and become your enemy after reaching the Elf’s Prussia Kingdom.”

“……”

“For an empire’s king, arbitrarily creating imaginary enemies is foolish. Or… Your Majesty, are you ready to ‘do something’?”

Standing still, my gaze met the Queen’s, and I asked word by word.

This was one of the few opportunities I had to make the Queen “suspicious of me” enough to meet me alone, so… I had to seize this opportunity, clearly understand the Queen’s purpose, and then “change” it.

Otherwise… under the Queen’s thoughts, where she and her Great Ying Empire would go next, I dare not even think about it.

Of course, I also know what the result would be after I so bluntly and accurately exposed the Queen’s mask at the first moment! Because, for the Queen, a dangerous person like me who “knows what she is thinking at the first meeting” can only be dealt with in two ways.

Either…

I won’t see the sun tomorrow morning, the Queen will not allow such a person whose background she is unsure of to exist.

Or…

A cold light flashes, and the Queen draws her sword from the umbrella.

As it hangs in front of my face, I can see through the cold blade and clearly see the smile that remains on the Queen’s face despite her surprise.

I… bet correctly! The opportunity has come!

“You have a problem~”

Even with a full smile, the voice becomes as cold as ice.

“You seem to know me?”

[Louis IV suspects Euclid’s identity!]

Still suspicious of me, but… it is already a rare opportunity for me!

The Queen, who has lifted that “disguise,” wouldn’t mind telling her true purpose. Before her judgment of me gradually rises to “dangerous” and then “solves me,” it is my “turn”!

Yesterday’s points lottery was the Ten Fighters’ Spirit (6 points).