“Indeed, you both look so affectionate.”
Zion’s eyes were coldly sunken, and his expressionless face seemed angrier than ever.
Arundel knew that this was the expression he wore when he was most angry.
“…It’s a misunderstanding.”
“…”
Arundel quickly let go of Hills’ neck.
But the problem was Hills.
Hills, glaring at Zion, also had a formidable expression. Hills opened his mouth with a disgruntled expression.
“What’s wrong?”
In the fierce situation, Arundel whispered, pulling at Hills’ clothes.
“Hills, don’t forget that you’re the Crown Prince of the Shalbon Kingdom right now…!”
But Hills’ eyes were gradually turning red. Seeing this, Arundel held her forehead.
‘We’re screwed.’
Demons, when excited or losing their reason, have their eyes turn red.
Right now, Hills is so angry that he can’t even think about his status as a foreign crown prince, that he’s talking to an emperor, and that he’s speaking informally to that emperor.
But what’s scarier about this situation is,
Zion is no less, if not more, than that.
“Doesn’t even know what’s wrong with being so close to someone else’s wife.”
“Wrong? It doesn’t seem like you, who have been tormenting and neglecting your wife until now, should be the one to talk.”
“It’s none of your business.”
“Ha, if you keep this up, she’ll soon get tired of you.”
“….”
“You don’t know, she might even disappear at any moment.”
Hills was different than usual. He retorted sharply as if he had been sharpening a knife all this time. And only with quite lethal content.
But Zion was a bit strange. He should have retorted as if to devour, but there was no reaction.
Thinking that he had won due to Zion’s non-reaction, Hills smiled pleasantly and said,
“Well then, I have to escort Her Majesty the Empress.”
Arundel was dithering, unable to do this or that.
Hills urged such Arundel.
“Let’s go.”
Damn it, what do you want me to do?
Hills urged, and when he said let’s go, she saw Zion’s face.
But thinking about the future, it seemed that she should not leave this place now. She was afraid of Zion’s retaliation later.
“You go first.”
Arundel whispered softly enough for only Hills to hear. Hills, whose eyes had returned to their original purple, looked sullen.
“…I go first?”
“I’ll go a little later.”
Hills reluctantly nodded and turned his steps to get out of here.
But then,
“…!!”
Lightning struck right in front of Hills.
The lightning that fell to the ground with a terrifying sound and tremendous momentum did not look like a natural phenomenon at all. Because the sky was so clear and the surroundings were quiet.
‘No way.’
When she turned around, she saw Sion emitting a black aura.
“…You won’t leave here alive.”
Arundel swallowed.
Blue sparks were popping and jumping from Zion’s fingertips. It seemed like he was preparing for the next attack.
At the sight of Zion, who seemed sincere, Arundel hurriedly whispered to Hills.
“Run, Hills…!”
But Arundel, who checked Hills’ eyes, realized that it was too late.
Hills was also screwed. The eyes that had returned to purple had turned red again.
“That’s good. I wanted to kill you anyway.”
Hills twisted his neck here and there to loosen his body. And he took a combat stance.
“Fire Blast.”
As Hills muttered, a huge fireball fell on Zion’s head.
“Zion-!!”
Surprised by the unexpected top-tier magic, Arundel shouted towards Zion.
But fortunately, a black screen appeared over Zion’s head and absorbed the flames.
“…Absorbed?”
It seemed that Arundel was not the only one surprised. Hills paused at the sight of Zion, who had absorbed his magic in an instant.
But soon his eyes twitched as if excited.
“Yeah, it’s no fun if it’s easy.”
As Hills muttered, fire exploded around Zion. Thanks to that, dust spread all around and the view became blurry.
‘This kid… he’s serious!’
Hills was seriously fighting. He really intended to kill Zion.
If there was something hopeful here, it was that Hills was not in his true form. If he had used such magic in the form of a demon, the palace might have flown away.
When the dust cleared, lightning struck from the sky again.
But this time the intensity was different.
Countless lightnings fell all around in an instant.
Fortunately, it seemed that Hills had not been hit properly because he quickly formed a shield.
But his clothes were torn here and there and bruises were visible.
“This power…”
Hills, who had barely avoided the lightning, muttered as he sat down. Zion approached such Hills.
“Are you giving up already?”
“You…were not human.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Not human…?
But the question didn’t last long. Because Zion swung his finger mercilessly.
With the finger as a signal, lightning sparkled and flashed over Hills’ head.
‘…Hills!’
She could sense that a strong lightning would strike soon. With an anxious face, she prayed for Hills to quickly avoid it.
But then, a man stood in front of Hills.
“Your Majesty!”
It was Royden.
Zion stopped his actions and looked at Royden.
“…Don’t stop me.”
“He is the Crown Prince of the Shalbon Kingdom!”
Royden, who had grasped the situation, hurriedly shouted. But Zion spoke with an expressionless face.
“What does that matter?”
“If something goes wrong, a war could break out.”
A cold smile hung on the corner of Zion’s mouth. He withdrew the magic in his hand and looked down at Hills.
“…If you kneel and beg for the words you just blurted out, I’ll spare your life.”
“I didn’t do anything that I should apologize for.”
Hills, who seemed to have no grasp of the atmosphere, shrugged his shoulders and spoke lightly like a feather.
“I just told the truth. Women don’t like men who are violent and obsessive like you.”
He smirked and drove the nail in.
“I wouldn’t know about a man like me.”
Zion’s deep honey-colored eyes turned black.
“I’ll kill you.”
But Hills, who quickly cast a spell, attacked Zion with his magic.
Zion quickly bounced it off, but the magic that flew around left a bruise on his face.
Seeing that, Hills, as if excited, made a thumping sound with his fist and said,
“Now that I know your skills, I’ll try my best too.”
A tremendous spectacle ensued.
The flashing and popping light was like enjoying a close-up fireworks display.
‘…I just want to disappear.’
How did it come to this?
Arundel, who was watching the spectacle, felt dizzy.
Royden just watched the two, he didn’t seem to think about stopping them. He seemed to be contemplating something.
Not long after, Royden approached Arundel with a serious expression.
“Your Majesty the Empress. I have a good idea.”
“Yes?”
“Can I use Your Majesty the Empress a little?”
“…Me?”
“Yes. I apologize for being rude.”
Royden approached and bowed his head to Arundel’s ear.
Whisper whisper–
Royden’s expression was serious after he finished speaking.
“What do you think?”
“…Will they stop fighting with that?”
Royden nodded his head. His serious expression didn’t seem like he was joking. Considering Royden’s usual personality, it’s obvious…
‘Will that work…?’
They… seem to have gone completely mad…
Arundel thought as she watched the flashing light in front of her. The two seemed quite tense.
In the fight that seemed to never end, Arundel decided to follow Royden’s strategy.
‘As close as possible.’
Arundel crept up to the two who were fighting.
And then,
“Ugh-!”
Arundel screamed and fell on the spot. And Royden ran over.
“Your Majesty the Empress-!!”
Royden shook Arundel, who was lying on the ground, mercilessly.
“Pull yourself together!! Your Majesty the Empress!!”
Royden shouted loudly.
Whether his shout was effective or not, the two stopped fighting and looked at Arundel.
Whether the method worked or not, Zion stopped casting magic and hurried over.
“…What’s going on?”
“It seems that Her Majesty the Empress was hit by the magic that bounced off.”
Zion pushed Royden aside and checked Arundel’s complexion. Arundel did her best to act fallen.
“I need to take her to the doctor.”
“Arun…is she okay?!”
Surprised Hills hurriedly stuck to the side. But Zion spoke in an extremely cold voice.
“I want to tear you to pieces right here and now, but I’ll hold back. So get lost.”
Zion put his hands behind Arundel’s neck and knees and held her.
Seeing that, Hills stuck to him with a worried expression.
“I’ll go too…!”
“If you’re thinking of Her Majesty the Empress, it would be better to stay still today.”
At Royden’s cool dissuasion, Hills just looked at Arundel with gloomy eyes.
****
Zion carefully laid Arundel on the bed. Afterwards, Zion went out of the room.
As Zion disappeared from the room, Arundel, who had slowly opened her eyes, got up.
‘I thought I was going to see a corpse today.’
I didn’t think Royden’s strategy would work.
I followed it with a feeling of ‘whatever’, but I didn’t think the two, who were really crazy, would stop fighting.
‘But… where is this…?’
Looking around, it was a wide room without any glamour. The bed was so vast that it seemed like five people could lie down.
That’s right.
This was Zion’s bedroom.
Realizing where the place was, Arundel was flustered. I didn’t know I would visit in this way…!
I didn’t know where Zion had gone, but I had to fall asleep quickly before he came.
I didn’t know what awkward situation would happen if I was awake for no reason.
Thump-!
At the sound of someone coming in, Arundel quickly closed her eyes.
The sound of two people’s footsteps was heard. One person came near Arundel and seemed to look around Arundel here and there.
A stranger checked her ankle here and there, found it swollen, and bandaged it.
“I treated the ankle. Fortunately, there is no bleeding or fractures. It seems like she fell due to shock.”
“I see. Is there anything else special?”
“No… but she might be surprised again when she wakes up in the morning, so it would be better to stay by her side.”
With the words of understanding, Zion sent out the doctor.
‘Ah, no!’
When the two were left alone again, Arundel screamed inwardly.
Zion lay next to Arundel as the doctor said.
‘Well…fine, let’s just sleep like this!’
Arundel wished to fall asleep quickly. But she was so nervous with Zion lying next to her, that she felt like dying.
Quite a long time passed like that. In the end, Arundel couldn’t fall asleep.
‘Could he have fallen asleep…?’
I’ve been so thirsty since a while ago, I wanted to have a glass of water.
It seemed like quite a bit of time had passed, and it was so quiet that she couldn’t tell if Zion was next to her or not, so Arundel decided to open her eyes and look around.
Sneakily, she opened one eye very sneakily.
“Ah!”
Arundel got up in a fright at the sight of Zion, who was looking at her.
“You woke up.”
“What… what were you doing?”
“I was looking at you.”
Zion spoke indifferently as if nothing had happened.
“Ahaha, I see. Where is this…?”
“My bedroom.”
Zion said nonchalantly, but Arundel was sweating profusely.
‘Should I just go back to sleep? I’m thirsty…’
Arundel, who was in a dilemma, hesitated and opened her mouth.
“Can I… have a glass of water? I’m thirsty.”
Zion obediently brought the water from the table. As she drank the water, Arundel glanced at Zion.
‘Did he not get angry about the situation earlier…’
The reason Zion was angry was because he misunderstood Hills’ expectant look.
Because of that reason, Hills almost died. She was very worried about what he might do to her.
He wouldn’t really put on shackles…
Arundel shook her head as if denying it.
“What are you doing?”
Zion, who was looking at Arundel strangely, asked with a frown.
“Ahaha, it’s nothing.”
In fact, it wasn’t nothing.
A body caught with a cold, a swollen ankle, the startling situation earlier, and the even more startling situation now.
Everything was mixed up and her head was dizzy.
“I… I’ll go back to sleep.”
Arundel, who lay back on the bed as if nothing had happened, realized that she and Zion were quite close together.
‘Sion really hated touching people.’
Of course, he had hugged her or held her earlier, but it wasn’t a situation where Zion wanted to do so emotionally.
If she didn’t want to hear sad words again, it was best to avoid him.
Having finished her thoughts, Arundel moved stealthily to the edge of the bed.
But Zion’s subdued voice caught Arundel.
“What are you doing?”
“You told me not to touch you last time…”
Arundel spoke as if making an excuse, but Zion didn’t seem convinced.
He looked at Arundel with his eyes blazing.
“Come here.”
Zion growled.
“Right now.”
