More sly than I thought
Herhan, conscious of both sides, pressed the cap on his robe deeper for no reason. Even though it was a hallway with no one there, he didn’t know who would pop out from where, so he was nervous.
It was already ten minutes.
Even after arriving in front of Riella’s room like this, he only hesitated while looking around.
‘knock….I have to knock. Unless I intend to spend the night here.’
Still, for some reason, he couldn’t make up his mind easily.
‘Well, if it had been that easy, I wouldn’t have been acting like an idiot the past few days.’
Herhan was curious and worried about Riella all the time, but he couldn’t appear in front of her.
He was afraid she was regretting it. He wonder if she is suffering from longing for her hometown and the people there.
She’d asked him to take her with him in a fit of confidence, but perhaps she realized now it was the wrong choice and blamed herself.
Herhan was worried that Riella would reverse her decision. So he avoided Riella.
He would continue to do so until he was completely across the border and she couldn’t go back even if she wanted to
It was a cowardly mind.
He didn’t even know that Riella was sick while he was being so cowardly.
‘Why do I carry so many things for sick people?’
‘I was embarrassed by the heavy basket that I hung on my forearm when I pretended to stop by without any burden.’
He only packed a few things that Riella needed, but he didn’t know that it would grow like a refugee’s luggage.
‘As expected, I should have stopped when Asion sighed with eyes full of words.’
Oh well, there was nothing he could do about it now.
Herhan closed his eyes tightly this time and knocked on the door. He knocked a few more times, but there was no answer, so he carefully opened the door.
The doorknob turns smoothly without a hitch.
“hey.”
Feeling embarrassed to even call her name for some reason, Herhan entered the room pretending to be familiar with vague words.
The room was dark. The only light in the room was a small lamp by the head of the bed and the moonlight coming in of the window with a cool breeze.
A small back that received the light was curled up on the bed.
Her back seemed smaller tonight.
Herhan suppressed his sad feelings by putting strength into his hand holding the basket to the point where the handle was crushed.
“I heard you were sick. Are you sleeping?”
Herhan asked quietly, but Riella, who had turned her back, didn’t answer.
He wondered if it was hard.
‘It may be. It must have been too much for her delicate body because it was a forced journey for most workers.’
“We’re only halfway there and you’re already sick. Are you protesting because you don’t want to go?”
His words came out like a scolding, and Herhan clenched his fists again.
‘Clearly, in my heart, I regret that I should have looked after her more delicately, but what kind of mindset is it to say only bad words?’
“Tomorrow we will cross the border. So if you can’t stand it, tell me now.”
In the end, he even asked a question he really didn’t want to ask.
Why? Was it because he was sad that Riella turned her back on him and didn’t even show her face? Or was it because he felt sorry for her?
“Riella Blinite. I know you are listening to me.”
The small round back began to tremble with a flinch at the words he gave that felt like stepping on the edge of the cliff.
Herhan came closer to her.
“Raise your head.”
“…..”
“Show me your face.”
Herhan couldn’t stand it anymore because he was frustrated. Even if Riella chose to run away from him, he thought he should look her in the eyes and listen to her answer.
So the moment when he gently put his hand on her shoulder was trembling while pretending not to know him.
“Kyaaak!”
Riella let out a scream and shook off Herhan’s hand, and then, unable to hold her body, she fell under the bed.
“Riella? Are you okay?”
Herhan was surprised and asked about Riella’s condition, but he was hurt inside and could not approach her.
‘Is the touch of my hand so terrible that your body trembles?’
“Get up first.… ”
Still, he stretched out his hand thinking he would get Riella up and see her, but this time, with a sound from behind, something heavy rushed in and started slapping His back.
It was a pretty strong blow. If he were a tolerant man, the people who hit him might be able to get away with it.
The problem was that Herhan, who had lived as a wild man while constantly training outside of the imperial palace, did not fit into the category of ‘A tolerant man’.
Herhan quickly calmed down his panic at the surprise attack and swiftly turned his body to counterattack. The opponent who attacked Herhan was subdued.
“Who are you…!”
Grabbing both of the assailant’s wrists and driving them toward the wall, Herhan froze before he could finish his words.
He hadn’t realized it until he grabbed her wrists and felt the soft, feminine sensation.
“Riella?!”
“your majesty?”
She was stunned, and so was Herhan when he realized who it was.
Embarrassed, Herhan immediately let go of Riella’s wrist and took a few steps back.
The heavy leather water bottle fell from Riella’s hand, who was as confused as Herhan.
That was the identity of the blunt weapon that had been attacking the emperor indiscriminately.
Herhan was stunned.
That he had been hit recklessly by that leather bottle, and that it was Riella who had unleashed this ridiculous attack and…
“If you are Riella…Who is that woman over there?”
“That is the servant from the kingdom. She was not feeling well, so she laid down on my bed for a while.….I didn’t expect Your Majesty to come in the meantime…”
To think that the person he had been so anxiously worrying about, saying awkward things to, and feeling sorry for not being able to approach, was a completely wrong person.
F* * *
“What about the kid?”
A corner of the small backyard in the house.
Herhan, who was leaning against the mossy wall, saw Riella approaching from afar and asked.
“I think she little calm now. I think she thought it was a mysterious man who came into the room….”
“….”
The emperor was folding his arms.
‘I’m sure you’re very angry. I’m sure you’re looking at me with very cold eyes.’
Riella couldn’t even look up, feeling so bad.
As expected, the emperor’s harsh words continued.
“It’s the first time I’ve been beaten like today.”
“….”
“Even when I was captured and tortured by the enemy, I was not beaten on the back with a leather bottle.”
“…!”
“You’re quite stronger than you look—”
“Please kill me!”
At that point, Riella couldn’t stand Herhan’s words any longer and knelt down on the floor.
It wasn’t just kneeling. She lowered her head to the point where she hit her forehead on the floor, and the word to kill her was so loud that she almost woke all those sleeping nearby.
That’s how desperate Riella was.
She was deeply regretful of what she had done.
When she returned from getting water for Lou, the door was slightly open.
In the room, an unknown man appeared to be threatening Lou, and Riella naturally assumed him to be a thief or a mysterious man.
‘The people I met while living with a mercenary for the rest of my life were usually like that.’
So she didn’t know it was the emperor.
“Really… I can’t believe what I’ve done to Your Majesty.”
“So, do you really want me to kill you?”
At that time, the emperor’s questioning voice sounded very close.
When Riella carefully lifted her head, the emperor, who was sitting with his knees folded at eye level before she knew it, was staring at her.
“I’ve worked so hard to save you. But you say to ‘kill me’ so easily?”
“Oh, no. I am…I mean so…”
“Are you saying you’re sorry?”
“yes….”
Embarrassed, Riella looked into Herhan’s eyes and muttered in a very low voice.
Then the emperor narrowed his eyes and sighed.
She dared to attack the Emperor, and then apologize for it, seemed so insignificant.
The moment when Riella is about to offer a sincere apology once again.
“me too.”
“yes?”
“I’m sorry for making you startled and frightened. Both to you and the servant.”
Riella blinked, stunned by the Emperor’s apology.
“I wasn’t careful. It’s my fault for being misunderstood because I was wearing this kind of clothes.”
“Ah… No. I am sorry.”
Riella added an apology bewildered.
Herhan again scolded Riella for how long she was going to kneel on the floor like that. He stretched out his hand to Riella to help her up.
Riella took that hand and stood up and suddenly thought about it.
‘I wondered since when did I become accustomed to holding the emperor’s hand in such a natural way.’
“I’m not trying to make excuses, but I’m not usually the type to open the door with someone’s permission.”
At that time, the emperor awakened Riella’s thoughts with an excuse that was not an excuse.
Riella opened her eyes wide and pondered the emperor’s words, then burst into laughter.
“Of course. You are the Emperor.”
“Yes.”
Seeing Riella laugh, Herhan relaxed as well, so he let out a silly laugh.
That laugh eased Riella’s heart, who had been feeling guilty, nervous, and embarrassed the whole time.
“Lou or whatever. Is the child asleep again?”
“Yes. She seems to be feeling much better after drinking the plum wine you brought me, thank you.”
“You must have lost your bed because of that.”
Riella just bowed her head slightly and smiled.
Sleep, it was enough to sleep in the carriage. In the days with mercenaries, she slept well even with leaves on the bare floor, so a carriage was a luxurious enough bed.
“Then follow me.”
“yes? Where…?”
“You have nowhere to sleep right now.”
However, Herhan began to pull Riella’s hand.
Riella pondered the meaning of his words as she followed Herhan’s lead.
To insist on dragging her who has no place to sleep means to give her a place to sleep, but of course the rooms at the house are full, and the tents must have already been allocated.
And the direction the emperor was taking her was to the private room, and the private room was where the emperor was staying…
“Your majesty! Don’t tell me, you take me to your bedroom…! I can’t! Well, of course, I did once in the palace, but that was when Your Majesty was away in a meeting!”
“Husttt. Are you going to wake everyone up?”
“Hah, but…”
The emperor looked at Riella, who blushed but didn’t stop muttering.
“It’s not our first time, right?”
“Your majesty!”
Riella’s wide eyes trembled.
“Obviously you said I can hug you. You said you were willing to pay me off your debt, too.”
‘When I misunderstood his sincerity when I was weak and distrustful of many things. I said that words.’
But that doesn’t make it any less true, so even though Riella had ten mouths, she had nothing to say.
‘The moment I followed the emperor on the carriage to the empire, I was fully prepared that this man would decide the direction of my destiny.’
If the emperor wants to hug her, he can.
‘That was a different thing than that he was a good person, or that I was relying on him quite a lot.’
“All right.”
“Okay.”
In the end, Riella agreed and answered quietly without further coercion or persuasion, and Herhan looked at Riella and then nodded.
They walked hand in hand for quite some distance.
As they neared the Emperor’s room, Riella caught her breath and his heart was pounding.
However, Herhan, who was dragging Riella along, didn’t intend to stop.
He passed the private room and passed the side door on the back wall, and continued to get farther away from the house.
“Eh, what’s wrong?”
“I was thinking about taking a walk together. Right now you have nowhere to sleep and it seems like you have no intention to sleep.”
“What?”
“But you’ve been thinking about going to my bedroom. I’ve noticed before, you’re more sly than I thought…”
Riella didn’t listen to the next words.
She just let go of the emperor’s hand and ran forward as if she was running away.
* * *
