“Episode 32”
“It feels like we haven’t been out of the Empress’s palace for long, but we’re already in front of the main palace.”
“Did we take a shortcut?”
“What? Didn’t we come the same way we did this afternoon?”
Sharon responded to my sudden question by glancing back at the path we took.
“Really? But why does it feel like we arrived so quickly…”
I murmured, looking up at the lit up floors of Rinel’s main palace. My already tense heart became even more restless under the overwhelming presence of the imposing palace building. In truth, the cause of my anxiety lay in the presence waiting for me inside.
“Your Majesty, are you okay?”
Sharon asked with a concerned tone.
“No, I’m not okay at all. But we still have to go in. Let’s go.”
“Yes, please don’t be too tense.”
“Yes, relax your mind, Your Majesty.”
The three courtiers reassured me as they walked behind me in harmony.
“But why are you all tensed up too?”
I laughed while trembling in fear, looking back at the women who were worried about me. But suddenly, the expressions of the three courtiers froze simultaneously.
“Relax your expressions. I’m fine now… Fine, oh!”
As I turned around to speak, Sharon exclaimed, “Your Majesty, watch out!”
Wondering why she said that, I turned my head forward again, only to have my face collide with something. It felt like hitting a pillar. The shock was enough to burst my nose, and yet, was it really a pillar? As I staggered from the impact, someone grabbed my waist just as I was about to fall backward.
“Be careful!”
What? Pillars don’t shout “be careful” and grab my waist, do they? As I tried to understand, someone behind me whispered, “Your Majesty?”
“What’s with saying you’re fine? It doesn’t seem fine at all.”
What I had collided with wasn’t a solid pillar but Rinel’s body.
“Thank you for catching me, Your Majesty. But why… are you here with me?”
“Me? I… was taking a walk. Yes, just taking a walk and heading back?”
His words sounded somewhat like a lie, and I glanced at Raphael standing next to him. When our eyes met, Raphael quickly responded,
“Yes, it was a walk to go out.”
Their words didn’t match. Rinel was going for a walk and coming back, while his secretary said they were going out for a walk.
“Well, anyway, a walk is a good thing. Your Majesty, you can let go of my waist now.”
I whispered to him, conscious of the attendants surrounding us. Then, he glanced at the line of attendants behind us, made a clicking sound, and released my waist.
“Let’s go upstairs.”
Rinel reached out his hand to me, and I took it as we started to climb the palace stairs together.
“Why did the Empress come to my bedroom today? I mean, what’s the reason?”
He asked in a rather business-like tone.
“Just to sleep?”
“I… came to talk a little.”
“And then?”
“…And then, to take a look around your bedroom.”
“And then?”
“…To sleep.”
“What?”
“To sleep.”
As we reached the bedroom floor, his pace quickened. I had no choice but to match his speed, keeping up with him.
“Does ‘sleeping’ imply something else, or is it just as it sounds?”
Rinel, after brushing aside the courtiers and guards following us, took hold of the bedroom door handle himself.
“Hmm…”
Before I could answer, he opened the bedroom door and said, “Let’s just go in and talk while lying down.”
“Uh… okay?”
I almost felt dragged into his bedroom as I stepped inside. The Emperor’s bedroom. Except for his mother, nurse, and some attendants, no woman had entered here before. Moreover, it was a time before he ascended to the throne, so it was surprising for me to be the first woman in the royal bedroom. While less glamorous than the Empress’s bedroom, there was a sense of grandeur in the air. As we walked towards the bed, our footsteps echoed in the spacious room. Rinel didn’t stop midway but continued to hold my hand and walked briskly.
“Where are you rushing to?”
I deliberately asked, knowing exactly where his footsteps were heading. Seeing him walking quickly towards the bed made me chuckle.
“You’ll see when we get there.”
Despite his serious response, laughter eventually burst out. It was quite evident where we were headed, yet he said ‘you’ll see.’ As he finally reached the bed, he abruptly stopped walking. However, his grip on my hand tightened even more.
“Rinel.”
As I called his name, he turned to face me.
“I was about to throw you onto this bed first.”
Rinel confessed, gesturing towards the bed with his eyes.
“Then, I planned to talk.”
“Is that so?”
“It’s a conversation of the bodies.”
“Ah…”
“But… it won’t work.”
His tone and expression were very cautious. In fact, as the Emperor, he had nothing to be cautious about within the palace. He had no need to be concerned about others’ perceptions. Yet, he didn’t seem like the Emperor of the largest empire on the Northern Continent right now. He looked more like a husband who cherished his wife dearly. From his confession, which he honestly blurted out, came an even more shocking statement.
“I’m afraid you might reject me or push me away. I can’t do it.”
In Rinel’s sincere gaze, I felt an impulse to stick to him as if I had applied glue to my body.
“Really? You want to… do that?”
I joked lightly, feeling increasingly concerned about his serious expression.
“Yes. Desperately.”
My light-hearted remark returned as a profound earnestness. I had hoped to see a smile spreading across his face, but his lips seemed to downturn even more.
“Shall we get onto the bed now?”
He tossed away the robe I was wearing to the sofa far away. Despite the distance, the robe flew like a bird and landed gracefully on the backrest of the sofa.
“Right now?”
“Yes.”
What should we talk about? I only thought of meeting him, but I hadn’t thought about what we would discuss. If there’s nothing to say, should I talk about meeting Catherine and Rosie in the greenhouse today?
“If you want, I can delay it a bit. Enduring might be painful, but I’d willingly endure that kind of pain for you.”
“What?”
Wait a minute? It seems like our conversation is flowing in different directions right now?
“…I mean a conversation.”
“…What did I say? I also meant a conversation.”
“Oh, I see.”
As I looked at him with a look that seemed to say, ‘That’s not what I meant,’ he quickly added, pointing to the bed with his finger.
“Conversations are most comfortable and sincere on the bed.”
“Just now, didn’t you say enduring would be painful? What did you mean by that?”
I continued to test Rinel’s wit, finding his attempts amusing.
“Conversations are inherently painful. Even if you want to speak quickly, you have to endure and match the pace of the other person. That’s why it’s painful.”
Oh, that was a pretty plausible excuse.
“Conversations are speech?”
“Yes, damn it, conversations are speech.”
Despite his composed expression, Rinel’s face was gradually reddening. Was he blushing in embarrassment or succumbing to defeat from my jest? But my heart wanted to kiss his lips, which were slightly pouting with frustration.
“Did you want to have a conversation with me?”
“Indeed, I did. A conversation.”
“Did you wait for it?”
“For speech?”
“Yeah, did you wait for it?”
“I did, really. A conversation.”
His initial lightheartedness returned as he responded, but his lips seemed to droop even more.
“Shall we get onto the bed then?”
He removed the robe I was wearing and tossed it onto the sofa far away. Despite the distance, the robe flew gracefully and landed on the sofa’s backrest.
“Right away?”
“Yes.”
“Indeed, I really wanted to. Conversations.”
“Were you waiting for it?”
“Speech?”
“Normally, conversations that are waited for unfold better.”
“Yeah, they do. Let’s start with this first.”
Nodding, Rinel untied the string of his robe. He tossed his own robe onto the sofa just like he did with mine. Surprisingly, his robe landed exactly on top of mine. Rinel looked at me and hesitantly fiddled with the buttons of his shirt, as if asking for permission to take it off.
“We’re going to talk, aren’t we?”
“Who said? I usually sleep without an upper garment.”
“Really? Despite feeling cold often, you always sleep without an upper garment? It’s better to keep it on for now, isn’t it?”
With a skeptical look, I questioned him, and after hesitating for a moment, he nodded.
“…Well, I guess I could take it off later.”
“Yes, please do.”
With a smile, I climbed onto the large bed, knowing it would be difficult to fall off. As I settled into the bed, Rinel also climbed up. The moonlight streaming in through the terrace illuminated his face. He was truly beautiful, but at the same time, he felt dangerous. As he crawled towards me on all fours like a beast, each time he supported himself on the bed with his arms, the muscles of his chest rippled gracefully through his shirt. It was like a predatory beast with its prey in sight. Watching him approach closer and closer, my heart started to race at an incredible speed, matching the tension that soared to the high ceiling. It seemed Rinel felt the same way.
“Are you not trying to bite me?”
Looking down at him, who had come right up to my nose, a foolish question popped out. His expression, which had been serious throughout, collapsed in an instant. With an incredulous expression, he made a deflating sound, then suddenly opened his mouth wide, growling. Before I could move my body out of the way, he bit my thigh through the thin dress. Oh my goodness. ‘The Emperor of the Laphion Empire, growling with his teeth bared, bit the Empress’s thigh.’ It was a headline worthy of gracing the front page of gossip newspapers read secretly by noblewomen.
“What are you doing?!”
I shouted as I twisted my leg sideways, startled by how surprised I was. I almost reflexively kicked his handsome face. If I had… I wouldn’t have known if his neat teeth, visible every time he smiled brightly, would have fallen out.
“Zelda, were you just trying to kick me?”
As expected of a man who handles swords, his ability to read the opponent’s movements was outstanding.
“Would I dare to do that? Kick His Majesty so rudely and nobly!”
“Is that so? Did I misunderstand?”
“Yes, of course. I’m so frail that even if I did kick, it would be like tickling with feathers, wouldn’t it?”
A frail constitution, an obvious lie. My conscience itched, but there was nothing I could do. Nodding his head, he moved back a bit, then suddenly grabbed one of my feet and lifted it up to his chest. Was he determined to bite my foot after my thigh?
“What, what are you doing?”
I asked, and he answered with action. With a light smack, the Emperor of the Laphion Empire’s lips touched the sole of my foot, making a cheerful sound as they parted.
“Are you not going to bite this time?”
Rinel said with a sweet smile while holding one of my feet. If someone saw this, they would think he had conquered a wyvern chick in the Valley of Death.
“How about here?”
I didn’t want to know where Rinel’s lips were aiming, but it was too obvious what he was trying to do. I silently screamed, “Surely not, surely not.” Why did he want to kiss the sole of my foot?
“Eek, it tickles!”
For a moment, unable to bear the unbearable ticklish sensation, I involuntarily put more pressure on my foot. As a result, a muffled scream burst from his mouth.
“Oof!”
Oh no, what should I do? In my confusion at pulling my foot back, inadvertently… I stretched it even further forward. As his mouth was blocked by my foot, he staggered backward with a short cry. It was reminiscent of a knight falling with an arrow in his chest on the battlefield. Fortunately, falling backward posed no risk of injury on the bed. The problem was that I dared to push him over, like knocking down an emperor’s mouth. And with my foot. Damn, this is bad. I didn’t come all the way to his bedroom for this…
“Your Majesty!!”
I desperately called out to him, quickly kneeling beside him, and, like Rinel earlier, crawled frantically to his side on all fours.
“If you’re hungry, you should say so! Why would you… touch someone else’s foot?!”
In my confusion, utter nonsense escaped from my mouth. Rinel’s blue eyes, momentarily stunned, rolled up to look at me. I couldn’t tell if he was trying to laugh or cry. Oh, this is really bad.
