Arundel woke up to a morning with a splitting headache. She considered falling back asleep due to the intense pain.
However, she had to force herself to get up due to severe thirst and the warm sunlight.
She groped around to get up. She felt the soft touch of the blanket.
But a chilling sensation ran up her spine in an instant.
‘Why am I so anxious.’
It feels somewhat eerie….
The danger radar in Arundel’s head sent a warning. Something is definitely off. Her senses are screaming that.
But she couldn’t lie down forever in this state. A familiar voice reached Arundel, who was timing when to get up.
“When are you going to lie down like that?”
Why is Zion’s voice coming from the same room? The only relief was that it wasn’t coming from right next to her.
Arundel’s eyelids trembled, but her eyes were still closed.
“Do you want me to wake you up?”
“…”
“Is it okay to do it my way?”
Arundel sat up at the gradually approaching voice. However, as the blanket slipped down, cold air touched her.
‘No way… no way….’
Arundel quickly grabbed the slipping blanket and peeked inside.
‘….’
She was naked. Definitely naked.
Moreover, there were marks on her body that were too embarrassing to even mention.
Arundel wanted to just fall asleep forever without remembering anything. However, her cursed brain started replaying memories from yesterday.
[It’s hot….]
[My body feels weird…]
[My body is hot… what should I do….]
As some memories resurfaced, Arundel’s face turned as red as a ripe apple. Unable to bear the embarrassment, she covered her face with both hands.
It wasn’t intentional, but her black hair fell like a curtain, covering her flushed face.
“Why are you like this?”
“…”
“Are you thinking about what happened yesterday?”
His face was down, so his expression was not visible, but his tone was somewhat teasing.
“Of course, I should remember.”
“…”
“It was our first night.”
Zion reached out and pushed Arundel’s hair back. Only then did her flushed face reveal itself.
Zion’s face, who had come close, was visible. Annoyingly, he was already dressed neatly.
“…Did you sleep?”
Zion smiled brightly. His beautiful smile was always mesmerizing, but at this moment, that smile felt scary.
However, unexpected words flowed from his mouth.
“I slept.”
“…Really?”
Arundel stared at his pupils as if to confirm. Zion’s calm mouth curved and twisted.
“I just slept.”
“…Yes?”
“I didn’t sleep. To be exact shovel….”
“Stop!”
Arundel hastily stopped Zion’s words, fearing a detailed explanation would spring forth.
From the traces he left, she could infer how far things had progressed.
Seeing Arundel’s thoughtful expression, Zion chuckled and laughed.
“…What’s so funny?”
“Your embarrassed look is funny. Yesterday you were like…”
“Please!! I’m sorry and I was wrong…!”
Fearing that he would list the actions she had taken yesterday, Arundel hastily cut off Zion’s words.
As if to spare the embarrassed Arundel, Zion did not continue the story.
“Thanks to you, I had a cold shower that I hadn’t had in my life, and it was fun.”
Whether it’s okay or not okay.
Arundel, whose embarrassment had subsided a bit, grumbled inwardly.
“But Irina, yesterday was fun enough, so don’t create such a situation again.”
“…”
“If such a situation comes again.”
His low voice echoed in her ears.
“I won’t hold back then.”
Arundel closed her eyes tightly. And moist lips touched her closed eyes and fell away.
“I have to go first because I have a schedule.”
“Yes…”
“I was late because I was watching you get up.”
“Yes…”
Arundel repeated the answer ‘yes’ like a parrot. Rather, she wished he would leave somewhere quickly.
“Your Majesty!”
Cain’s voice came from outside the door.
When Zion had no intention of coming out, Cain urged him. Only then did Zion get up from his seat. But he seemed to regret something, he looked at Arundel while holding the doorknob.
“I’ll come back when the schedule is over.”
Leaving a word, Zion left his seat. As Zion disappeared in front of her, Arundel collapsed back onto the bed.
Yesterday’s memories faintly came to mind.
[I’m hot… how to…]
[If you don’t solve it, someone else…]
Should I bite my tongue…?
Arundel seriously considered it. Or she wanted to disappear somewhere right now.
Tears welled up.
‘Why did I do that yesterday…’
Arundel, who was wallowing in self-loathing alone, remembered the fine pink liquor she had drunk yesterday. The brilliant liquor in the transparent wine glass led Arundel.
She was quite flushed because she had walked briskly past Zion, and she wanted to soothe this heat with sweet liquor.
The liquor was as sweet as she had expected. There was a strange taste at the end, but she didn’t care much.
And when Zion approached, she got angry and slammed another glass.
It was from then on. When her body started to feel strange.
What the hell was that liquor…
While she was frowning and thinking,
Gurgle-
A loud noise came from Arundel’s stomach.
“I’m hungry…”
No matter how embarrassed she felt, it seemed that the survival instinct was still there. After all, she hadn’t eaten anything since he arrived in Zion’s arms yesterday, so it might have been natural.
Arundel got up and looked around.
‘Where is the dress…’
She wasn’t wearing anything right now.
She couldn’t go out like this, so she had to find the clothes she wore yesterday. As she was looking around, she saw a white dress hanging in her sight.
Just in case, she moved carefully, holding the blanket tightly so it wouldn’t fall, and safely picked up the dress.
However, the state of the dress….
‘Where did the buttons go…?’
There were no buttons on the back of the dress.
Still, it seemed better to be dressed than naked, so Arundel reluctantly squeezed herself into it. Without the button, the back didn’t close properly, leaving her back feeling cool.
As she opened the door in that state, a standing maid appeared.
“Have you woken up, Your Highness?”
“Uh… uh.”
“Your clothes are a mess.”
The maid nodded as if understanding. Arundel wanted to deny it, but there wasn’t exactly much to deny….
She decided to just keep quiet.
“You can’t go to the Empress’s Palace in that state, I’ll bring you some clothes. Please wait a moment.”
At the calm words of the maid, Arundel nodded. Arundel, who had been sitting blankly on the bed, thought of Zion again.
‘I got to talk to him again.’
Although an absurd situation had occurred, she got to talk to him again.
Fortunately, he didn’t seem to be avoiding her like before, and it was a relief that his slyness seemed like Zion’s old self.
‘But why did he avoid me?’
Arundel, who didn’t know Zion’s circumstances, tilted her head.
Arundel’s anger had somewhat subsided. To be precise, she was not in a position to be angry.
She decided to quietly bury the fact that she had been angry because she had wronged Zion (unintentionally seduced Zion).
‘Besides, he said he would come again when the schedule was over…’
Her heart pounded at the thought of seeing him again.
After some time had passed, there was a knock on the door.
“Your Majesty, I will enter.”
The door opened. The maid had different clothes in her hand. She approached Arundel and stripped off her ragged dress.
“I heard you had a love potion yesterday.”
“Love potion…?”
At the unfamiliar name, Arundel raised the end of his sentence and asked. The maid answered as she dressed Arundel in the dress she had brought.
“Yes. The pink liquor you had yesterday.”
“That’s… a love potion?”
“Did you drink it without knowing?”
At the maid’s incredulous question, Arundel momentarily wore a dumbfounded expression.
“…A love potion…? I’ve never heard of it before.”
“There’s a small amount of love potion in it, which usually makes people more excited than regular alcohol. It’s not very strong, but people who want a special night often drink it lightly.”
She realized the true nature of the damned drink.
‘Why was that kind of drink placed at the Empress’s coronation ceremony…!’
Even though it was too late to get angry, Arundel felt wronged for a moment. The maid, reading her expression, added,
“Many people drink it on the day of the coronation ceremony, hoping to see the empress. It’s kind of a custom. Besides, even though it’s called a love potion, usually it doesn’t…go that far.”
Feeling embarrassed to speak, the maid covered her mouth and coughed a few times.
“It seems that Her Majesty the Empress is very weak to alcohol, so it would be better to be careful next time.”
That’s right. If I drink again next time, I’m not an angel…I’m a devil!
****
When Arundel returned, she ate first. Once her basic needs were met, other worries came to mind.
[…Until tomorrow.]
This time, another problem made her head throb.
[Get me a job by next week. A totally cool and great position.]
[If you can’t get me a job.]
[Arundel’s slave…]
She remembered the price of Hills.
If she can’t get him a job by today, an unwanted slave will be born.
‘…I have to persuade Zion well.’
That was a worry in itself.
Fortunately, it wasn’t a cold war like yesterday, but she didn’t feel like saying sorry to him right after that incident.
No matter how much she tried not to think about yesterday, the thought of what she had done and Zion’s sly gaze made her face hot.
As she was looking at the darkening sky, Arundel was startled by an arm wrapping around her from behind.
“Tell me what you’re thinking about.”
A large hand wrapped around her waist. At his warm body temperature, Arundel remembered yesterday’s incident and stepped away from his arm.
Seeing this, Zion’s face hardened for a moment, but then he smiled as if he didn’t care much.
“Why is our Empress in such a bad mood?”
Rather than feeling bad…it would be more accurate to say she was troubled, but she didn’t bother to correct it.
“Shall we eat?”
She didn’t particularly want to eat anything because of the late lunch, but she nodded anyway.
Soon, a feast was laid out on the table in the garden. Zion didn’t start eating right away, but looked around once. Then he looked at Arundel and said,
“I’ll try to restore the garden as soon as possible.”
“It’s already been largely restored.”
Arundel answered with a faint smile. She did like the beautiful garden, but it wasn’t that important now.
However, Zion looked a bit bitter.
“You used to love this garden.”
“I’m fine now. I can freely go outside now, and you’re here too.”
Back then, she spent a lot of time in the Empress’s Palace, but now she spends more time outside. She also had someone to talk to regularly.
At her answer, Zion’s expression softened considerably.
“Now tell me. Why did you look so upset?”
“…”
“Is it because of what happened yesterday?”
While Hills’ employment was involved, it was precisely because of what happened yesterday.
But if she said that, she thought Zion might get hurt, so Arundel swallowed her thoughts.
Honestly, it wasn’t so much that she disliked what happened yesterday, but that she felt guilty for losing her mind and causing such an incident.
Seeing Arundel’s silence as an affirmation, Zion’s expression darkened a bit.
“If you felt bad about me touching your body, I apologize. I will never do it again if you don’t like it.”
