TPITT - Chapter 135


'Ha...'

It was a truly wicked, almost cruel prank.

Michael felt a little resentful of Eve for not knowing his own heart.

He thinks he was a little upset by his consistent lack of awareness since his past life.

It was then that he realized that he could not just take it. He had just decided to be just as mischievous and bad as Eve.

Michael remained expressionless and silent.

He stared at Eve. Time just passed by.

In this situation, an awkward silence flowed between the two. He felt embarrassed.

Eve tried to lighten the mood by turning her face away.

“I’m sorry. I was just joking..."

That was it. This time as if asking where he was running away, she tilted her upper body towards Michael.

“Huh.”

It was an approach that seemed close. But it was embarrassing. Michael opened his mouth with a lot of emotion.

“Eve.”

"Ah."

Michael turned his face straight ahead like Eve did earlier.

It wasn't a state of immigration. His face, which had cleverly avoided, was closest to Eve's left ear.

Thanks to that, the soft, low-pitched sounds resonated deeply in Eve's ears.

'Ugh. This is a bit...'

She never thought he would whisper like this. Eve's face heated up.

It was when she couldn't control her bewilderment at the sudden surprise attack. Michael didn't let it go even once.

“Eve, Eve... Eve.”

It was a sweet voice, like rolling candy in the mouth. Even the breath was secretly blown in her ear.

Eve was so shocked that she jumped up, grabbing her left ear with her hand. She looked down at Michael.

Her face was as red as a ripe fruit.

“What, what is it?”

Michael pretended not to know the question. Instead, without responding, he gently took one of Eve's hands.

"Oh."

Since Michael's main occupation was a knight, Eve naturally gave in to this situation. It was too late.

He felt like saying "Oh no", but he had already gently taken this girl's hand to his mouth.

"Eve."

When kissing the back of the hand or the finger didn't work, Michael tried again.

It seemed like he was trying something new. This time, the kiss landed on the palm of her hand.

The sensation of lips brushing against a sensitive spot was vivid. The thrilling tickle took Eve's breath away for a moment.

Stopped it.

The situation did not end there.

It was clear that Michael knew how to use his handsome face instinctively.

Michael's face, with his eyes cast down deeply, seemed to be focused on the kiss.

It was as if we were having the most ecstatic, romantic kiss in the world, not with our palms, but with our actual lips.

'Ugh.'

A scream that could not be heard echoed inside her. Eve's heart pounded loudly.

'Michael...! '

As if he had heard the cry in her heart, Michael looked up at Eve with only his eyes moving.

Their eyes met. That alone sent another tingling sensation through Eve's left chest.

Michael replied with a smile, still pressing his lips to her palm.

“Why, Eve?”

She didn't have the presence of mind to say anything in response to the question that seemed to ask if there was a problem.

The laughter that was spreading across her palm was ticklish. Even the name that was deliberately given to her was enough to shake Eve greatly.

Have you ever lost your composure like this in your life?

She felt so caught up in his pace that she couldn't even think about it.

“Hey, Michael..."

It was when their eyes met that she felt dizzy and nervous.

There was something Eve hadn't noticed: Michael's hand gripping the bedpost.

The back of his hand was white-knuckled, and the sheet was crumpled in his grip as if he were desperately trying to hold on to something.

It was after a long time had passed.

Michael, who had finally overcome his impulse, said with a fake smile.

“You’re not immune to pranks, even though you were the one who provoked me first, Princess.”

The dizzying atmosphere of temptation was completely gone. Eve let out a breath like someone whose energy had been released.

“Ah... You were just joking.”

“...The Princess was the first to strike.”

Michael blamed Eve for the mistake, and Eve accepted his excuse without much resistance.

“Yeah. I was wrong. It was a good lesson.”

“Lesson?”

“If I play with Michael in bed, I'm in big trouble. If Michael makes up his mind, then I can... Oh, no. That was a misspelling.”

Michael, who had been listening quietly, had a mysterious expression on his face. Eve quickly organized the topic as if she was running away.

“Let’s quickly make a mark and go to sleep.”

"... I get it."

Michael reluctantly answered and climbed onto the bed.

The usual, but somehow unnerving, night of working late had begun.

The pale, twilight of the first dawn seeped through the cracks in the curtains. It was very early, but Eve opened her eyes on her own.

'Hmm...?'

The first thing she felt after she got some sleep was a sense of emptiness. The presence that had caused Eve so much discomfort last night was not there.

I raised my upper body and looked around the room.

The person I was looking for was not far away. Michael was right next to the bed.

He was sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall, with his eyes closed.

My eyes naturally became squinty. I intuitively accepted the situation before my eyes.

'He ran away.'

I leaned into the corner of the bed near Michael, resting my chin on one hand and looking at him.

I looked down.

He would have opened his eyes at the rustling sound, but Michael showed no sign of getting up.

Thanks to this, I was given an excellent opportunity to admire his face.

As expected of a beautiful man who had seduced even Rosenite, he made my heart flutter even though he had his eyes closed.

Or maybe it's just a matter of being still and closing his eyes. Because defenseless beauty has a way of testing the beholder.

'Haa, with that kind of face last night, really..."

I felt slightly embarrassed as I recalled the time I got in trouble for joking around like that.

I released the hand that was resting my chin on. I then folded my arms in front of me as if lying face down.

A small, scratching voice came out like a whisper.

“I wish I hadn’t done that in my past life.”

The cheeks hidden by my arms were flushed red.

It was a bit awkward to place all the responsibility for this disturbing change solely on him.

I buried my face in my arms as if hiding it entirely.

“I need to train my heart more.”

I realized that I had a fatal weakness that I didn't have in my past life. I felt like I had to make up my mind.

As the heat began to really pick up, the palace was struck by an unexpected disaster.

“There’s a problem with the mana supply line?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. They say there is no telling when it will be resolved.”

Cold Wind Golem was installed in the palace due to the problem of unstable mana supply and the operation of the cooling magic stone was stopped. Thanks to this, the royal family living in the palace and the noble bureaucrats commuting to and from work were having a hellish afternoon.

Of course, there were exceptions. There were enough cases where cooling magic could be used.

The residence of the royal family who had reached a magical realm was in good condition.

In the eastern palace, the representative room is the room of green, which is my residence.

Brigitte's room, the silver room, was a comfortable temperature.

Meanwhile, the royal family, lacking magical abilities, tried to rely on their own knights.

However, they have trained powerful attack magic based on their vast mana.

For homunculus, delicate life magic was a far-off field.

At that moment, the 4th Prince's direct subordinate knight caused an accident by freezing the residence to extremely low temperatures.

News spread that he had been punished for using offensive magic.

They abandoned the risky endeavor and waited impatiently for the Ministry of Protocol to provide the magic stones.

“Hmm..."

I was lost in thought as I looked at the tea water that had turned the color of maple leaves.

Because there was something suspicious about the information Cedella gave me.

'If there was simply a problem with the mana supply line, the entire palace wouldn't be affected. This must mean there's a problem in the center.'

The center is Lapis Philosophorum, In other words, it meant the Philosopher's Stone, a source of mana.

Michael, who happened to be standing next to me and performing his escort mission, was thinking the same thing.

'There seems to be a problem with the philosopher's stone. Well, I guess I had a regression in my past life. Didn't he say I sacrificed half of the Philosopher's Stone? Strangely, it has been fine until now.'

Desmond II froze the Philosopher's Stone's function, revealing the truth.

It was natural that they would make excuses about the supply route and not reveal it.

The Philosopher's Stone was also the source and symbol of the Emperor's omnipotent power.

Revealing bad omens outright to the public would only agitate public sentiment.

I looked ahead in my head.

'The state of Lapis Philosophorum must be putting pressure on my father.'

The Philosopher's Stone will only disappear halfway, but Desmond II doesn't know this.

So I considered the worst case scenario of complete annihilation.

We will prepare for this and that.

'Come to think of it, I think you said that the Philosopher's Stone is needed to create a homunculus.'

The blessings and prosperity enjoyed by the Hadelamide Empire today is no exaggeration to say that it is thanks to the homunculus. The existence that forms the basis of power.

There was no way the royal family would give up quietly.

In order to keep what they have now, they need to find a way to maintain the number of homunculus.

'This might not be bad.'

Perhaps the research will help my child planning in a way that will be of great help.

It might go smoothly. I, who saw the possibility, drew a curve on the corner of my mouth.

'Eve?'

Only Michael found that smile suspicious. But no matter how much he was quick-witted, it would be impossible to detect the baby-making thoughts in her head.

At that time, I returned to the original topic and asked Cedella.

“What is the situation at the eastern palace?”

“Currently, the First to Sixth Princesses are gathered in the residence of the Third Princesses. There was no prearranged schedule, but they gathered one by one for trivial reasons.”

“I guess so.”

It was obvious that they had made a special visit to escape the heat. They had baked some delicious cookies.

Let's have tea time together or play a fun game together.

They'll probably mix in some flattery, like saying they wanted to see Brigitte for some obvious reason, like having fun.

I couldn't just leave Brigitte's place to be in such a state of disarray.

There were still Princesses who had not gone to Silver Room.

'Even if we exclude Rosie, there are two of us.'

I decided to attack them and gave the order.

“Open wide the door to my dwelling.”

About an hour later, responses came from the targets.

The 9th Princess Bianca and the 10th Princess Aloysia, the youngest of the imperial family, knocked on the door of my residence.


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