“Episode 23”
“I… I…”
“Haha, ‘Your wife,’ isn’t that an awkward thing to hesitate about saying?”
He said in a slightly offended tone. Well, surprise.
“Your sudden ‘who are you, what’s your identity’ questions made it that way.”
“I should have just said what was there, shouldn’t I? No, maybe I pushed it too far.”
He luckily found the reason why I didn’t answer his sudden question.
“But why ask that all of a sudden?”
“Just seeing you ordering things I need from the attendants made me feel strange.”
“Did I give any wrong orders?”
“No, that’s not what I meant. Ah, maybe I did give a wrong one.”
“What was it?”
“Wine. A glass of wine would have been better than warm lemon tea.”
“Oh, I’ll convey that and bring it back.”
As I turned towards the bedroom door, he grabbed my wrist.
“One person is enough to annoy the attendants in the Raphion palace. Just lie down.”
I smiled slightly at his words and got onto the bed he wanted. The inside of the blanket felt like entering an ice cave. Refreshing.
“It’s getting warmer indeed. Will it warm up faster if I cuddle?”
He felt differently from me and tucked my hair behind my ear.
“Come here.”
He pushed one arm under my neck and patted his chest roughly. I brought my face close to his chest. My heart was pounding, making my shoulders tense.
“You were chatty earlier, why so quiet now?”
“Chatty?”
I snapped back at his words, lifting my head.
“No, was it rambling?”
“Was it jabbering then?”
“It was probably babbling, right?”
I retorted, and he laughed.
“Huh, you always react when I tease you like this.”
He said, seeing my pleased expression, I laughed too. But then, something strange flickered in his eyes, and my laughter faded. It seemed to contain affection… It must be a misconception. I hope it’s a misconception. It would make it easier to leave him if it were.
“Do you enjoy teasing me?”
“Very much. Seeing your adorable reaction makes me prouder than winning a war.”
He looked at me with a gleeful expression. And then, his chest muscles twitched.
“If there’s something more enjoyable than war, maybe wars will decrease in the future. As long as you’re by my side, Zelda.”
His words made my heart sting. Even though I knew it was probably just a joke, my heart kept pricking my conscience intermittently.
“If I were to disappear, then…”
“Do I have to live as a war fanatic again? I might have to do that to warm up my body.”
He responded seriously to my question that didn’t seem like a question. Was he serious? Maybe. But soon, he’ll welcome four beautiful concubines. And seeing the dazzling Princess Lyselia, he’ll fall in love. There will be many things in his life to warm him up other than me. Then naturally, his interest in me will wane.
“Don’t drift away from me.”
I looked at his handsome face cautiously, and his eyes lit up as they met mine. Has there ever been anyone who smiled at me like this before? Even Prince Tesler, who swore he loved me the most, never smiled at me without reason. Why is this man…?
“If you want peace on the continent, it’s best not to stray from my side.”
He said seriously again, his voice filled with determination.
“We may drift apart because of the concubines. But that’s not my fault, so please don’t associate it with war later.”
I could make such a response because he was embracing me with his eyes closed, smiling.
“Oh, I forgot. Like you said, there might be days when we drift apart because of them.”
He replied in a sleepy tone.
“Don’t quarrel with the concubines.”
Lynel said, almost as if ordering me. He seemed to be falling asleep already, but there was a strong will in his words to convey that message accurately. His commanding tone stung my heart slightly. Even if they were concubines, they were still the emperor’s women, so shouldn’t I be careful not to speak lightly of them? I just nodded quietly in his arms without saying anything.
“You are the empress, my wife. You are different from them…”
“Yes.”
I answered softly. A smile formed on my lips involuntarily.
“It’s warm, so I feel sleepy. Zelda, you’re not glaring at me right now, are you?”
Lynel asked me with his eyes closed.
“No, I’m not.”
“Good. What’s mine is, by nature, uncontested… So, the empress doesn’t quarrel with concubines and me…”
As Lynel’s words trailed off, his hand that had been resting on my shoulder fell limply onto the pillow. Only then did I feel at ease to gaze at his sleeping face. You didn’t hold my hand today either, huh? …Could it be that I’m feeling regret now? I gently wrapped my arms around his waist, squirming my head and hips to create some distance between us. In response, he made a groaning sound.
“Ugh, I’m alive now.”
“…Huh?”
“Zelda, I thought I was dying from having my arm asleep.”
Lynel, lying on the pillow, slowly folded his outstretched arm, wearing a proud expression.
“Are you… okay?”
I asked, gently placing both of my hands on his strong forearm, like a cat placing its paws on something.
“Wh-what…? Don’t touch me.”
He recoiled, shuddering. It was amusing to see him exaggerating like this over a tingling arm when on the battlefield, he could throw someone’s arm, leg, or even bone into the air with a single blow.
“You should have woken me up sooner.”
“I didn’t think I had to wake you up.”
“Surely you woke me up, and I kept sleeping?”
“I thought you were dead. You didn’t wake up no matter how much I spoke.”
“Then you should have shaken me awake.”
“Didn’t I just shake you? Check your arm. There might be some bruising.”
Lynel joked, but I found myself absentmindedly patting my arm anyway. Despite soaking in the bathtub for a long time last night, my skin was only a bit paler, with no signs of bruising where he pinched. He started speaking cautiously, saying, “You know…”
“I really slept warm, but how about you?”
“I slept cool as well.”
“Wait and see. You’ll be begging me not to leave you alone in the middle of summer.”
He said, as if his low body temperature were something to be proud of.
“I’ll look forward to it.”
“Oh, and bring breakfast here. Is that okay?”
“To the bedroom?”
“Yeah.”
“Sure, that’s fine.”
I wondered if Sharon or the chamberlain, Stian, had come into the bedroom while I was asleep. It felt a bit cheeky to have been deeply asleep without realizing it, especially since I had been sleeping in Lynel’s arms. I slowly got up. As I went to drink some water, I noticed the glass was on the bedside table where Lynel lay.
“Where are you going?”
He asked regretfully as he watched me leave the bed.
“I’m just going to drink some water.”
As I turned around the bedpost toward where he lay, he chuckled.
“You could have asked me.”
“It’s okay. I have to change clothes anyway.”
I replied as I walked towards the table. Suddenly, my gaze fell to the marble floor. My face, which had been smiling, stiffened. I couldn’t move for a moment, just a few steps away from the bedside table where the glass was placed. Lynel looked at me stiffening, then tucked his arms behind his head and looked down at the floor.
“Ah, it felt so stuffy with both legs pressed down.”
The towel he had wrapped around his waist last night lay spread out on the marble floor. After Lynel had fallen asleep, his nightclothes had arrived from the palace, so I let him sleep without waking him up deliberately.
“Um, does that mean…”
I couldn’t finish my sentence, gesturing toward the blanket he was covering himself with.
“What, you want me to remove the blanket?”
Lynel casually lifted the blanket he had been covering himself with.
He glanced into the blanket himself, then continued in a matter-of-fact tone, “It’s a bit awkward right now.”
“Are you…?”
“Yeah, I’m completely bare.”
“Since when have you been bare?”
“Since someone hugged me too tightly in their sleep.”
I had no idea. I didn’t even notice that he was bare. It’s a bit unfair… No, no, what am I thinking? I quickly shook my head to dismiss the strange thoughts. Lynel looked at me with a strange expression, then said, “Don’t worry.”
“What… do you mean?”
“It’s fine. We won’t have breakfast like this anyway.”
He reached out his long arm and handed me the glass on the bedside table.
“Here, drink. You came all this way for this, right?”
I smiled, took the glass he offered, and drank it all at once. I’m not sure if I was thirsty and just took a shot, or if I would have been thirsty if I hadn’t taken a shot. *** “Finally entering the palace,” Catherine Calios stood in front of the large full-length mirror in her room. It was the day to try on the wedding dress for the upcoming wedding with the Emperor. Although she found the joint ceremony with other concubines annoying, Catherine didn’t care much. The important thing was that she was once again Lynel’s woman. “Yeah, it doesn’t matter.” After all, the three concubines were just her companions. In the Raphion Empire, the concubines wore cream-colored dresses for the joint ceremonies. Only the Empress could wear a white wedding dress. But Catherine didn’t care about that either. “As long as I’m more beautiful.” Catherine thought proudly as she recalled the cream-colored wedding dress she had commissioned from the top designer in the Raphion Empire. Among the concubines, only Catherine was promoted to the position of first concubine. Originally, the position of the first concubine was reserved for the concubine who gave birth to the prince through generations, but it had changed to a position that could be attained through the Emperor’s favor or political reasons. Thanks to her father, Duke Etta Calios’s power, Catherine was able to become the first concubine. It was also a benefit that arose from the fact that Lynel, the Emperor, accepted a woman from another country as his Empress. But Catherine didn’t think of herself as having received any benefits. On the day of Lynel’s wedding, seeing Zelda from the Kingdom of Shatoneil, Catherine’s desire for the position of Empress only grew stronger. ‘Is that insignificant woman going to be Empress?’ Catherine was convinced that if she became a concubine, she would be able to easily seduce Lynel. He would fall for her just with her tempting gestures. “Originally, the position of Empress was mine.” So, I’ll have to come back. Catherine made up her mind. The designer brought the dress to be worn at the ceremony. With the help of her maids, Catherine put on the corset before trying on the wedding dress. “My waist needs to be slimmer! Do you understand? You idiots!” At Catherine’s annoyed command, the maids, who had been attached to her, began to tighten the corset. Catherine bit her lip and grabbed the bedpost, shouting at her maids. “Tighter! Tighter!”
