I must protect you
The movements of the two people on the bed did not stop until the candle that had been burning brightly revealed its bottom.
Soon, even the faint light died down and a deep darkness settled in. With his eyes closed, Herhan instinctively found Riella’s body.
Where are the round and strong shoulder blades, and where are the soft lips.
He knew just where to extend his hand to interlace her slender fingers, and where to bite down to taste the sweetest flesh.
“Ahh…Your Majesty…”
Whenever Herhan filled her tightly, Riella’s heart became more burning and she looked up at him earnestly.
It was truly amazing that even during total darkness, she could see Herhan’s eyes, his lips that he was biting hard, and his earlobes that were red and flushed.
“Are you tired?”
He wouldn’t stop even if she said yes.
Riella shook her head, tightening her grip on Herhan’s back.
A tingling sensation spread to the tips of her toes. Her brain felt like it was melting.
At such times, the only sound Riella could make was a pitiful moan.
“More…”
‘Please hug me deeper. I don’t think it’ll matter if I break down like this.’
Even after reaching countless climaxes, the two continued to toss and turn in each other’s arms for a while.
There was only one thing keeping Herhan from sleeping. Riella hadn’t fallen asleep yet.
“Surely it’s not like it’s still lacking.”
At those words, Riella chuckled.
Herhan was right.
Perhaps because her plea for a deeper hug had provoked his arousal, and she was already exhausted from his more intense than usual gestures to the point where she found it hard to laugh out loud.
But the reason Riella couldn’t fall asleep easily was because of an inexplicable anxiety.
“Your Majesty….”
“Yeah. As long as you’re okay with it.”
Herhan lowered his head again, perhaps understanding Riella’s call as a signal to hug her again.
“No, that’s not it.….”
Riella, not even able to raise her arms to shake him off, pressed her still feverish forehead against Herhan’s chest and spoke.
“The descendants of Enril.”
“Huh?”
“Why are the descendants of Enril hiding? Why are they being chased from the temple? They are all people of great power.”
Even though the blanket had slipped down and his naked body was completely exposed, Herhan half-raised his body and looked full of doubt.
“Seriously, you want me to tell you that at this point?”
“Yes. Is it not okay to ask?”
“It’s not that it’s not possible….”
It’s so random, but what is it about this random curiosity that makes it so pitiful?
“My abilities are really useless. I can’t even tell what kind of thoughts are flowing in those dazzling eyes of yours.”
Herhan snickered and leaned down to kiss Liella’s eyelids.
Then he held Riella tightly in his arms and began to tell her a story as if he were reading her a fairy tale.
“In the past, there was a group called the ‘World Federation’. It was a place that monopolized and controlled the ability of users around the world under the pretext of managing them. Naturally, enormous power was concentrated in the Federation, and internal strife broke out among them. It spread to a war that encompassed the entire continent.”
“I read in a book that there was a war.”
“Each faction fought using the abilities they had acquired. However, since the fight between the ability users never ended, the target naturally shifted to the ‘descendants of Ann’ who could control the ability users.”
“Ah…”
“They were all competing to take possession of Ann’s descendants. Rather than let them be taken away, they would rather kill them.”
Ann’s descendants were destroyed like that. They became victims of a war led by those with abilities.
Riella shuddered at the eerie story.
Maybe it was because of the mood, at that moment, Herhan seemed to be embracing her more tightly.
“So, with all of Ann’s descendants gone, the war ended with the decline of those with powers. It was a shameful history that ended in defeat for everyone, not a victory for anyone.”
“What happened to the rest?”
“The Federation was disbanded, and all of its surviving descendants became ‘war criminals.’ The Temple, which was neutral, took over their management and recruiting.”
“That is why Enril’s descendants are condemned by the world.”
Riella lowered her eyelashes and muttered softly.
Herhan stared at Riella for a while and then asked.
“You’re worried about Fabian, though, are you afraid he’s being mistreated in the temple?”
At those words, Riella glared at Herhan with her eyes wide open.
‘You should know by now that it is you, not Fabian, that I am worried about at this moment.’
“Yes, that’s right. I’m so worried about Fabian. That’s why I can’t sleep at all—!”
Herhan covered Riella’s lips, which were pouring out hateful words, with his hot lips.
The gentle pressure of his lips pushed her lips apart, and the soft flesh of her insides pushed through.
After wetting each other’s dry throats with saliva that was no longer distinguishable as either mine or yours, Herhan finally pulled away and said.
“hah…Your Majesty…”
“Don’t worry, Riella, I won’t leave you anywhere.”
* * *
A hazy dawn.
Riella opened her eyes again, barely able to get back the sleep she had been seeking. Herhan was fast asleep right next to her.
It was always Herhan’s job to wake up in the middle of the night and stare at his partner while they were sleeping.
But today it was the opposite.
‘Your Majesty….Herhan…’
Her red eyes, soft like the light of dawn, caressed every part of Herhan, who was like a statue.
Herhan’s eyebrows, the bridge of his nose, his lips, and the tip of his chin. His strong shoulders and his manly hands held onto Riella’s fingers even while he was sleeping.
‘What were you always thinking, watching me in my sleep?’
Riella placed a hand on his solid chest, which was rising and falling with his breathing.
Then what she feels is his heart beating very regularly and fiercely.
His heart, alive and warm, next to her, as if they had been together since the beginning.
‘I feel like I need to become stronger. I need to become more courageous and stronger so that I can protect Your Majesty.…’
‘I think such presumptuous thoughts. It’s so funny.’
Riella gently placed her lips on his, which were beautifully pursed.
* * *
Loriell returned to the palace very early in the morning.
Of course, it wasn’t because she wanted to work hard. She couldn’t sleep because of the anger that kept rising, so she returned to her ‘battlefield’ early.
‘What should I do from now on? If I keep doing this, I might end up marrying that old man!’
While she was undergoing such a humiliating wedding, the thought of Riella being courted by the Emperor and wearing the crown of Empress was truly annoying.
‘I’d rather take some medicine and die than see that.’
Loriell, gritting her teeth and passing through the palace gates, turned around on her way to the East Lake Palace.
‘By the way, isn’t there still one card left?’
“What are you doing here? So early in the morning.”
“I greet your Highness the Princess. I am so sorry that I have been so busy with the Lake Palace affairs that I have not been able to take care of you.”
So the last stronghold that Loriel headed to was the West Palace, the residence of Princess Greta.
But the princess’s behavior was not ordinary.
The eyes that used to shine with venom were now dull and hazy, and his complexion was gloomy and his face was gaunt, as if he hadn’t slept properly.
‘Was the rumor that her fiance ran away true?’
“Lady Loriell, you don’t have to worry about anything, so go out.”
“Oh, no. I’ll help you pack your bags. You’re going back to the kingdom soon, right?”
Loriell bowed to Greta, who looked trembling, then stepped into the living room.
As expected, the room where the princess’s fiance was supposed to be was empty. Everything had probably been taken away, so there wasn’t a single thing left that a man could use.
‘You and I both look the same, simple-minded.’
Loriell held back her snickers and quietly brought up the main point.
“You’re leaving earlier than expected. While you’re here, it would be nice if you stayed a little longer and celebrated the royal wedding together before leaving.”
“The royal wedding?”
“Yes. His Majesty is currently looking into the gift. I think he is planning to make Miss Riella the empress.”
It was a decisive blow, but surprisingly, the princess was fine.
All she could do was just smile bitterly and say, ‘Yeah, I guess that’s foolish.’
“I wonder how well they live. I guess I’ll have to watch from afar.”
“What? Is that all?”
Loriell unconsciously showed a look of disappointment, but then quickly changed her expression.
“Oh, no. That’s not what I meant.…Haha. I’m really worried. The opposition will definitely take a strong stance.”
“His Majesty will take care of it.”
“I’m worried about her relationship with another man!”
“Her relationship with another man?”
“Yes. It may be a bit strange to say this. In fact, Miss Riella has a complicated relationship with Aide El. She has argued with His Majesty many times over that issue.”
Loriell said that and rolled her eyes to see Greta’s reaction.
But in fact, Greta was on top of Loriell’s head.
‘So what? You want me to drag Riella down instead?’
Greta turned away from Loriell and chuckled weakly.
‘You’re still a young child who doesn’t know anything. If you want to swing something, you should at least choose a proper weapon. Do you think that a little scandal like that can separate two people?’
If that were possible, Greta would have done it herself.
She actually tried. She brought up Fabian countless times to try to drive a wedge between the two of them.
But what came back each time was the Emperor’s stronger obsession with Riella and his counterattack against herself.
‘As a result, I lost Fabian.’
Greta is sick of it now.
It wasn’t because her hatred for Riella and the Emperor had subsided, but because her own strength had completely waned. She had no more will left to attack.
“Anyway, there are many problems with the marriage that His Majesty the Emperor is planning now—”
“Lady Loriell. Don’t talk to me about His Majesty anymore. I am technically a foreign royal. Are you insulting His Majesty in front of me?”
“Oh, no! That’s not it…! Absolutely not. How could I insult His Majesty? His Majesty is the head of the nation and the only sun of the continent.…”
Greta doesn’t know if she knows her true feelings or not.
Greta was annoyed by Loriell, who kept instigating fights that didn’t even work out. So, when she was about to kick Loriel out, she looked into her face, which was distorted with resentment, and realized it.
‘Aha. You covet Herhan, is that why you were so desperate to get rid of Riella?’
The Emperor is at the pinnacle of power, and he’s a pretty cool guy on the outside.
A woman-especially a young noblewoman who’d entered the imperial palace to save her fallen family-would surely be greedy.
Greta laughed bitterly.
Her own life had been ruined so miserably, so there was no way that the lives of the Emperor and Riella could not be ruined as well.
“Lady Loriell, I’ll pretend I didn’t hear what you said today, but since you’re here, you can help me out. As you can see, I’m leaving soon, and I need to tidy up my room, and I have some things to get rid of.”
“Oh, yes…then I will clean up the trash over there…”
“No, not that one. Could you please dispose of this item? It’s dangerous and I don’t have anyone I can trust to take care of it.”
Greta took a small box from deep in a drawer and handed it to Loriell.
It was an item Greta never expected would be used in that way when she got it as a bonus from a shadow merchant.
“What is this, Princess?”
“It’s a little embarrassing. It’s called ‘Love Potion.’”
“Huh? A love potion?”
Loriell’s eyes widened.
‘Are you saying that such a drug really exists?’
“They say that men who drink this immediately fall in love with the person in front of them. They lose their sense of reason and rush at them like animals. I received this as an engagement gift to use during my newlywed life, but now my fiance is recuperating far away, so it’s useless.”
“Ah….”
“If I deliver it to the medical office, they will handle it safely, but I don’t have time to go there. Can Lady Loriell deliver it for me?”
“Yes, yes! Of course, Princess.”
Loriell’s eyes sparkled as she accepted the box.
Greta knew that Loriell would never deliver that medicine to the medical office.
Only then did Greta smile, genuinely and not pretentiously. It was the first time she had smiled since Fabian left.
* * *
