"...Get out of the way."
It was a small voice.
The man still stood facing me, seemingly not hearing me.
I was sitting on the bed, but there was no room to escape.
He stretched out his arms to either side of me, blocking my space to escape, and stared at me as if he was going to devour me in one breath.
I was used to the gazes looking at me, but I was ignorant of this gaze.
I couldn't figure out what those eyes were trying to say.
"Have you ever done this to me before?"
I was relieved of the tension by the unexpected question.
Of course, it wasn't completely resolved, but it gave me some breathing room.
"What do you mean?"
"You claim to be a pretty girl."
Ah, I sighed without realizing it and reflexively recalled that day not long ago.
And then my expression immediately changed to one of someone chewing shit.
Now that I think about it, this guy laughed at me when I said I was pretty.
Ha!
"Where on earth are the pretty girls?"
"It feels much better after washing it."
"It's worth seeing even if you don't wash it. I'm a pretty girl!"
The man's lips softened.
I paused for a moment.
It was a laugh that was supposed to be a mockery, but it was even more so because I had never imagined that the corners of his lips, which had been tightly shut, would relax so smoothly.
Hey, is this guy talking to me right now?
"Let me add one thing to what I said before."
Huh?
My eyebrows furrowed uncomfortably.
"I don't know if you're a pretty girl."
At that moment, the man's lips landed on mine.
Only the eyes are beautiful.
A wet tongue parted the slightly open lips in surprise.
And then, in an instant, I flinched in surprise at the soft sensation that swirled around in my mouth and melted away, and I fell.
When I was struggling to adjust to the obvious vacancy, he left a short greeting.
"Welcome to my harem, stranger."
I, who was blankly watching the man who had returned to his original unlucky self slowly leave the room made a dumbfounded expression at the situation I had encountered for the first time.
My face grew redder and redder with anger.
"But this guy!"
***
I stretched out my arms and pulled the thin, smooth blanket over me.
As I covered my body, which was shivering slightly in the morning chill, with a blanket, the cold went away a little.
I opened one eye as I rubbed my cheek against the pillow with a satisfied smile on my face.
Beyond the multiple layers of thin, transparent curtains hanging down from the ceiling, there are arched doors and strange patterns carved here and there...
I jumped up from my seat. Where am I?
After losing my composure and feeling lost for a moment in a completely unfamiliar place, I finally let go of my tension when I saw the scenery outside the closed glass window.
"It's Pesian. Yes, I was caught the day before yesterday."
I yawned, scratching my messy hair that fell carelessly down my shoulders.
I couldn't sleep last night because of the Ra Kun, so I finally fell asleep late in the morning, but maybe that's why I'm still so sleepy.
Looking at the sun outside the window with blinking eyes, it seemed like it was only morning.
I looked at the pillow for a moment and thought.
Should I just lie back down, or get up and start rummaging around the palace, looking for a way out?
"I don't know, let's just catch up on the sleep we lack."
I buried my face in the pillow and surrendered my hazy mind to the drowsiness that was coming my way.
Just as I was about to fall into a deep sleep, I reflexively raised my head when I heard a rustling sound.
What came into view was a woman whose face I had never seen before. A typical Pesian woman with tanned, dark skin and blue eyes.
I opened my eyes wide. Who is it?
"Oh, you're awake."
"Yes?"
I, who reflexively stood up and felt a coldness in my stomach, looked down and pulled the blanket up to my chest in shock.
I forgot I was wearing Pesian clothes.
Although I was quite tolerant of exposure, I grew up among people who only wore clothes that were ridiculously tight around the waist but didn't reveal any part of their body except their arms, so I couldn't help but stick out my tongue at Pesian's refreshing, almost daring, exposure.
"I am the maid who will be serving Lady Aira from now on. Please call me Nur."
Aira? Who is it?
I frowned for a moment at the first word I heard.
What the hell are you talking about?
Whether I was flustered or not, Nur paid no attention and placed the clothes neatly next to the bed and strode towards me.
"Okay, I get it. But what is Aira?"
Nur blinked her eyes for a moment and stared at me before taking the blanket from my hands. After that, my body was raised.
I, who was suddenly kicked out of bed, shivered for a moment in the morning cold.
"That's what they call the women of Kun. I've heard you have fair skin, but you're definitely not a Pesian."
I flinched slightly at the end of Nur's words but soon laughed it off.
By the way. If you say Kun. It would have been a term that gave the feeling of a King.
It was clearly a word created after the name of the first King.
Sihad Kun.
Well, that was the name.
I wanted to ask something more, but I was dragged to the bathhouse by a gentle force that was difficult to refuse.
I sighed as I looked at the water with steam rising from it.
Yeah, this is better than being pushed and washed away like yesterday.
"But why are you calling me? I... am not of any great status."
At least in Pesian.
I swallowed my words and glanced at Nur, who was washing my hair.
She answered in a soft voice, playing with my long hair.
"From now on, you have a special status. Aira is both a title and a status. Lady Aira is a special woman who can serve Sihad."
No, not really.
I don't want anything special like that.
Besides, who the hell gives me the right to serve anyone?
I felt the temperature of the water pouring down on my head and was lost in thought for a moment.
Could it be that they sent me on this surveillance mission because they caught me wandering around without permission last night?
Can't move as I please?
Ugh.
If that's really the case, there will be a bit of a hitch in the plans.
Of course, I was excellent at shaking off the guards, but the problem was that this was not my home base.
I, who had a headache in a situation that made me sigh, left the bathroom and dried my already washed body with a large towel before looking at the clothes that had been given to me and feeling relieved for a moment.
Luckily, the clothes covered my stomach.
In some ways. It also looked like One Piece.
After putting on some less uncomfortable clothes and drying my hair, I left the bathroom and was led to my room by Nur.
As soon as I returned to the room where Ra Kun had thrown himself yesterday, I objected to Nur.
"Isn't this the room was in when I first came here?"
"Yes? Then..."
I barely understood the omitted question of why I was here and smiled, then turned away from Nur's wide-eyed gaze.
"That... is not it."
Even so, how can I say that I was dragged in after getting caught while I was trying to stir up trouble on my own?
And on top of that...
I got caught by a Ra Kun.
"I heard that this is Aira's room. You will continue to use it here."
"Do you know?"
Ashina corrected herself in a low voice. Nur nodded.
“Yes, Lady Ashina.”
Maybe it was because I was wearing clothes that looked somewhat normal, but at this point, I was starting to find everything bothersome, including having pointless questions about the room.
What if I do this? What if I do that?
In addition, because I couldn't sleep properly at dawn, I was slowly becoming drowsy.
"Can I ask you a question?"
I, sitting on the sofa with sleepy eyes, asked lazily. She replied with an uncomfortable expression.
"Stop talking. It is impossible to be respectful to someone inferior."
"Yeah, well. Yes, I will. No, I will..."
Because it was an unfamiliar situation, I wasn't comfortable ordering people around.
A cup of tea with warm steam rising from it was placed in front of .e.
I stared at the dark liquid for a moment before looking away.
"No matter what I do or where I go, I always have to have Nur with me?"
To put it simply, the question was whether I was under her watch or not.
Nuh shook her head slightly.
"No. I am just here to help you, Lady. If you find my presence bothersome, feel free to ignore me."
"No. You don't bother me, not at all."
Rather, I wonder if it would be helpful to those who do not know much about Pesian.
Although Nur said she wasn't pressing, the feeling of being watched still lingers. Have I ever been in this situation once or twice?
I let out a light sigh and picked up my teacup.
And then I took a sip without thinking and was surprised.
"Oh, sweet. What's the name of this?"
"Its name is Kaha. Does it suit your taste?"
"Yeah, It's delicious."
I, surprised by the taste I was trying for the first time, took another sip and exclaimed in admiration.
"I ground the coffee beans, boiled them, and added honey to the boiled water. Since you are a foreigner, I added a lot of honey. Is that okay?"
"Oh, this is really delicious!"
Why wasn't this delicious tea introduced to Cromwell?
It looks like the merchants will be eager to buy.
No, if you look closely, you might find it.
Since it was probably sold at a high price only to some nobles, It is only natural that it is hard to find.
As I was drinking while thinking, and guessing about this and that, I ended up drinking it all in no time.
I had no choice but to put down my teacup, licking my lips.
"Are you sleepy?"
I rub my eyes as a yawn comes naturally, and Nur asks me a question.
I nodded with a defenseless face.
And I leaned back against the back of the sofa.
My eyes were already half-closed.
"I'm a little sleepy because I was a little tired yesterday."
I opened her mouth absent-mindedly and bit her lower lip.
Memories of yesterday come to mind clearly.
"No. I just... I guess I was a little tired from traveling."
Nur expressed her surprise at my suddenly darkened complexion, but I just laughed.
I was tired though.
Still, the trip was by no means tiring.
That fucking human, that fucking bastard.
I let out a sigh that was about to burst out of my mouth, biting my lower lip lightly.
My head was already spinning.
Who would have thought that guy was a Ra Kun?
Not a trip that started as a 30-day forced march, not an ancient ruins that I explored with the determination to die for fear of finding traps, no, not all the adventures I've had in my life have left such a strong impression on me as the incident yesterday.
I really thought, 'No way, no way', and then that 'No way' turned out to be true.
I let out a sigh, unconsciously biting my lower lip.
Ra Kun.
The man was called a King, but that wasn't really the right word.
The Ra Kun is literally the living God of Pesian, Pesian itself.
A being that brings water to the desert where there is nothing but dry sand, and creates shade that allows plants to grow.
It was Pesian who later built a city and established a country for him.
Unlike Cromwell, who believes in an intangible god called Limea, Pesian is ruled by a God named Kun who created water and shelter in the desert.
Therefore, Pesian was a country ruled by a living God, and all of Pesian's political, economic, cultural, and social systems revolved solely around Kun.
If you speak wrongly, that person's words could get you decapitated.
"I wanted to see you someday, but I didn't want to see you like this..."
When I decided to travel to the Southern Continent after reading about the desert in a book, I had to listen to my dear cousin, who had always supported me, when he tried to dissuade me.
What on earth was I thinking when I came all the way here on my own?
And on top of that! I got treated like that by that guy! But it was still my first kiss.
Even though I had the uncharacteristic girlish feeling that my first kiss would be with the man I loved, fortunately, it wasn't discovered that I was from Cromwell.
I, who had been cursing the man inwardly, who was not the Prince of an enemy country in some romance novel, but a King and a God, touched my lips.
What do I do now?
***
The sun rises early in the desert.
Behidat, who had been staring out the window at the sun that seemed ready to burn down all the land.
A dry wind blew in through the window.
A soft voice was heard along with the wide open view.
"A lot has happened while Sihad was away. Nothing is certain yet, but this alone is a significant accomplishment."
"It seems that Umar has put in a lot of effort."
The air became still with a dry hiss.
A lightly draped curtain, a high platform, and a man lording over it. Nasir looked up at the man who was his master and also the master of this land.
"What about Zaid's movements?"
"It was the same as usual. I noticed something was strange, but I stilI didn't realize that they knew this much."
"I see."
As expected of a seasoned scribe who was used to such things. Nasir had already taken care of everything perfectly.
Nasir asked with a smile.
"What's so exciting already?"
"What should we do now, Ra Kun?"
"..."
Nasir asked the King by his title, indicating that he would obey the King's command, but there was no answer.
Wasn't it Ra Kun who spread the blood of countless blood relatives on this land and who, after ascending to the throne, devoted his energies only to internal affairs?
The Lord of the Desert, to whom the six chieftains and the forty-eight chieftains kneel and worship.
Even though he had everything at his feet, Behidat was always bored.
Even at this very moment.
It was a natural reaction since not everything was threatening, but Nasir couldn't help but think that sometimes he looked like a beast of burden, trying to hide its teeth as much as possible.
"Leave it alone."
As soon as that thought was over, Nasir was shaken out of his feeble sentiment by the answer he heard from Behidat.
"How much of a hassle is it? I think it'll be quite something to watch."
What lingered on the corner of his mouth for a moment was a faint sneer.
Nasir just sighed.
Karim remained in his seat with a stern expression, but he seemed quite displeased with this story.
Nasir, who had been watching the sight of his master wanting to step forward at any moment, looked up at his master again.
Now it was time to bring up another story.
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