“…Hit me hard. Hurry.”
Lescal grabbed the end of the towel and whispered to his lips. Because their lips were touching, the words to hit him became an absurdly sweet push.
“I don’t think there’s a need to hit you if you put down the towel.”
As Lasilia whispered after him, Lescal’s shoulders trembled.
“I think I have to be hit to let you go.”
“No. You can let go.”
“…How do you know that?”
She knew it because it was Lasilia.
“Your Majesty has never failed to listen to me.”
“…”
Lescal pressed his lips against her and took in her breath again and again. His fingers holding the end of the towel twitched as if he was exerting too much force. But Lescal was never able to take his hand off.
“You take it off. I think my hands are stiff.”
Those words sounded sullen, and Lasilia laughed quietly.
“I will. Don’t strain your hands.”
“I get it… I’m asking this just in case, but if I told you I wanted more than this, wouldn’t you be angry?”
“I won’t be angry, but I will be disappointed.”
“Because I didn’t keep my promise?”
“I think it feels that way.”
“…then.”
He said that his hands seemed stiff, so he took them off himself. For some reason, she felt like kissing him right now.
“I have to finish my bath now. It got a little cold.”
But if she didn’t do that, she felt like she would never be able to escape this place. Shaking off her regret at his lukewarm clinging, Lasilia was the first to raise her body. Lasilia was surprised because it was harder to raise her body than she expected.
‘Did you say this was painful? Then it seems like it’s a bit harsh.’
It seemed like it’s a terrible death, but it also seemed like it’s not. Anyway, he had been making Lasilia laugh since just now.
“I will wait… Close the door.”
“Your Majesty, you should also change your gown. It’s all wet.”
She was embarrassed to say that he was wet. It was moisture transferred from her wet towel. So mainly the area around his chest was wet.
“Ah… I can’t go to bed like this. You will be displeased.”
Lescal quickly stood up.
“I’ll be back soon.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Before that, let me see you off first. Go into the bathroom.”
Lasilia laughed again without realizing it.
“Do you need to see me off?”
“I can’t leave first.”
It was a little difficult to understand, but Lescal seemed determined, so she nodded.
“Then I will do so.”
Lasilia took a step into the bathroom.
“Wait a moment.”
Lescal, who was holding the door as if he would close it, placed his lips on her shoulder through her wet hair.
“That’s enough. I will come back.”
Thud.
Finally the door closed. Lasilia returned to the bathtub and wiped away the soap suds with cool water. The strange feel of her shoulder did not go away even after she dried herself with the new towel Lescal had brought her and put on her pajamas.
* * *
Lescal was three minutes late. He would not have been late if the emperor’s palace had been just one room closer. But Lescal was three minutes late, three minutes long enough for Lasilia to open the book that happened to catch her eye.
“Still…”
After that, Lasilia became absorbed in the book. The notes left by the first companion were full of so many symbols and cryptic abbreviations that they looked like extremely esoteric scribbles. But strangely enough, as she stared, she could vaguely see what was being said. The pattern of overlapping circles symbolized water, and the inverted triangle symbolized fire.
“…Do you want to read more?”
Leskal asked cautiously from behind Lasilia’s back.
“Yes. A little bit more.”
“How much more?”
“A little bit.”
“You said a little bit earlier.”
“Just a little bit.”
“So, just now…”
“…”
Saruk.
Instead of an answer, the only sound that came was the sound of her turning the pages of the old book.
Lescal let out an extinguished sigh, but Lasilia did not hear him.
“I will wait… it’s okay. Because we’re in one room.”
“Yes.”
Anyone who heard it could tell that the answer was half-hearted. Lescal, who was twitching his lips, changed his expression and added softly.
“I’m just saying this just in case, but it’s okay if you’re sorry for making me wait so long. If you kiss me, I will forgive it.”
“Yes…”
Lescal grinned.
“You promised.”
Lasilia nodded her head roughly as she turned the pages of the book. Lescal sat across from Lasilia and admired her face as she concentrated on her book. It was fun enough to look at. He was willing to wait even if he had to wait until she finished reading that book. He knew that Lasilia wasn’t the type to ignore promises.
“…”
However, at one point while turning the pages of her book, Lasilia suddenly closed her eyes without any sign.
“You sleep like this?”
Even as Lescal muttered incredulously, he quickly walked up to Lasilia, grabbed her body, and forced her to put the book down from her hands. Her body, which had lost its energy as she fell asleep, gently leaned against him.
Lescal gently brushed her disheveled hair from her cheek.
“It’s absurd… how cute is it.”
Lescal smiled bitterly and shook his head. After tidying up her hair, he picked up Lasilia. It was something he felt every time he held Lasilia, but he was always surprised at how light the human body was to begin with. But if you think about it, Lescal has never hugged a body other than Lasilia.
“Is it okay to be this light?”
Lescal was very serious.
“What if she disappears like this?”
So the demon-like instinct to want to grab and tie her to his body stirred in his stomach. He headed towards the bed with breathless steps, afraid that he might wake her up. Lescal carefully put Lasilia down, pulled the blanket up to her chin and covered her.
The sound of breathing was quiet. Lescal lay on her side with his body upright. It was very satisfying to look straight down at her sleeping face.
* * *
-No. Not yet.
The demon’s voice, which had no pitch like that of a human, gave goosebumps to human ears. But once he got used to it, it was a different story. The steady pitch of his voice seemed to tell him that he would always be the same. Why was it not true? He thought he could do it. On the other hand, his voice sounded a bit like he was having a tantrum.
-To deal with the human mind, you have to look into the deepest depths of the human mind. I don’t want you to do that.
He thought he laughed because it was so absurd.
‘Don’t you think it’s too late to say that?’
He could already read human minds. Neither you nor he, nor anyone else, wanted it to happen, but it happened.
-That’s why I’m very sad.
‘Stop. Saying everything that happened to me was your fault. You broke my heart. As long as that bird is there, I won’t get hurt. What else are you going to do?’
He had no hesitation in giving something. Even if he were told to give up all his remaining heart, he would do so. So he didn’t like seeing her sad.
‘You gave it to me. So I won’t consider it a misfortune.’
That’s his strength. Even with that power, he would still trust humans. He would love them. There was nothing for her to be sad about.
He stroked her scaly face affectionately. He flinched and threw his shoulders back.
-Be careful. So as not to cut his hand.
This was okay. Subjugating blood was the beginning of long patience. They still had to spend a long time together for his body to fully become human. But he liked that too. She would become as attached to him as the long time they spent together.
Changing her mind will be as difficult as the time he endured.
He pulled her face and hugged her. He kissed her lips, which were cold and hard compared to humans, and whispered.
‘Just wait and see. I must handle this power properly.’
It’s all for her.
* * *
She woke up as soon as the dream ended. Lasilia opened her eyes in a very nostalgic and somewhat sad mood.
The morning air was warm. It was not because it was an unusually warm season, but because the emperor was sleeping next to her.
“Ah…”
She was under the blanket, and the emperor was outside the blanket. He had his eyes closed with his hands resting on his chest. It was a bit unexpected.
When she thought about him on a daily basis, she thought he would be under at least one blanket. It wouldn’t have been much of a surprise if a glance had struck right in front of her nose as soon as she opened her eyes. But Lescal was sleeping, as if he was making a deliberate effort to keep his body out of reach.
‘It is not it. Are you just pretending to see me wake up?
He once woke up but pretended to be asleep, so Lasilia first checked the sound of his breathing. Even when she placed her palm on the tip of his nose, there was no change in his breathing.
“Hmm…”
This time, she gently tickled the tip of his nose with the tip of her fingernail. At first, only the tip of his nose twitched, but then he sneezed and opened his eyes.
“Ah…?”
His eyes were a little blank, like someone who suddenly wakes up.
‘This… I guess he was sleeping.’
She suddenly felt sorry. It was right that he didn’t even cover himself with a blanket so as not to disturb herself, who happened to fall asleep first.
‘It’s really unexpected.’
Even if he often made strange requests and acted incomprehensibly, it was always a request. He seemed to put aside his strange stubbornness when he couldn’t listen.
‘That’s how careful he is. Because he is waiting.’
And she felt like her heart was weakening at that sight. Lasilia lightly pressed Lescal’s shoulder.
“It looks like I woke you up. Please sleep more.”
Lasilia lifted the hem of the blanket. Lescal asked as he stopped, neither lying down nor standing up.
“…What about you?”
“I slept enough.”
“Then I will get up too.”
His leaning body stood up. She noticed that the area around his eyes looked a little darker than usual.
“Aren’t you lacking sleep?”
“…Perhaps. One day is okay.”
“Did you sleep late?”
“Huh.”
Lescal nodded his head.
“Then sleep some more. If it’s about an hour, it won’t interfere with your daily routine.”
It’s not that it wasn’t, it was a little earlier than usual.
“No. I will get up too.”
Lescal insisted with tired eyes. Previously, she would have brushed it off as something to take care of on his own, but now she was worried. She dreamed of demons, so he might have been like that. It was impossible not to overlap the demons in her dream with Lescal.
“I think it would be best to sleep more.”
“No. I don’t want to delay any longer.”
“What do you mean?”
“The kiss. You promised that if I waited until you finished reading the book, you would give me a kiss.”
“…what?”
That was something Lasilia couldn’t remember at all.
“When did I say that?”
“Yesterday. When reading a book… Don’t say no. Because I remember it clearly.”
“…”
She wouldn’t have believed it if she hadn’t seen how the emperor had fallen asleep just now.
Lasilia now knew how he treated her.He probably wasn’t lying.
“All right. Then I will do it for you after you wash up.”
When Lasillia came out like that, Lescal was rather surprised.
“…That easy? I thought you would deny it at least once.”
“I believe you are not lying.”
“It’s not a lie. You really made a promise.”
“Then I will believe it.”
Lasilia lightly nodded her head and then stood up. Before that, Lescal urgently grabbed the hem of Lasilia’s clothes.
“But why do you have to wash before kissing?”
—————————————————————
Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
If you like my work please support me with Ko-fi or Patreon. Next post will be released on May, 26.
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