“Tell me what happened first.”
Pelarhar said.
To be honest, Arkan didn’t feel like talking to anyone right now, but he knew that sighing the whole time wouldn’t solve anything. Even if he told Pelarhar, there wouldn’t be a solution...
“...That’s what happened.”
Arkan, who had been talking about what happened last night, drank the tea that Plat had brought him in one gulp as if his headache was coming back.
However, before he could swallow the food in his mouth, Pelarhar burst into laughter that seemed to collapse the ceiling, and Arkan almost spit out all the tea.
“What?”
Arkan’s gaze was not kind as he looked at Pelarhar, who was already angry and was laughing like a crazy person as if Arkan was casting a spell to make his stomach turn inside out.
“Arkan, you idiot.”
Arkan looked at him with angry eyes, but Pelarhar was too busy laughing to even look at his gaze.
Pelarhar, who had been laughing so hard that his face was red, continued to giggle.
“That’s the importance of the object.”
Arkan slowly frowned and tilted his head as if to ask what he meant... Then he suddenly opened his eyes wide and jumped up.
[I’ve been thinking all day!]
What did he say before? Yes, he asked Erdene if she was just thinking about turning his stomach all day.
Erdene asked why he was wasting his time like that... He suddenly felt resentful and angry at those words.
The fight was a fight, but he was completely absent-minded because of her figure that never left his eyes.
If he looked down, he felt like his blood would boil all over his body, so he just stared at her face, but as time went by, that became harder and harder to bear.
So he even forgot what he had been saying just a moment ago...
He remembered that all day long, he had been thinking about Erdene without a moment’s notice, getting angry, feeling sorry for her, then feeling resentful, then regretting it.
He had hoped Erdene would be like that.
He almost wished she had, but anyway...
‘But I was so focused on the words ‘waste of time...’
He was so angry that he just blurted out the words that came to his mouth. ‘I think about you all day.’
“You should have said that I think about ‘you’ all day. Oh, it’s so funny. The more I think about it, the funnier it gets. I feel like my face is going to burst.”
Pelarhar rubbed his cheekbones with his fingertips, tears welling up in his eyes.
It was quite comical to see him roll his cheeks with his lips wide open, but the sight of Arkan slumping back down, half-asleep, was even more impressive.
“If you just say ‘I think about you all day,’ what does that mean? 'I'll spend the whole day thinking about what's going on inside you'? Oh, my goodness. I'm about to laugh again. I'll laugh for a year."
Arkan crumpled up the paper and threw it at Pelarhar, who was giggling annoyingly and covered his forehead with both hands.
Pelarhar said.
"Arkan Cyprusmain, for the first time in his life, made a desperate confession, but because one word was suddenly omitted, it ended up becoming a declaration of war. It's like some kind of comedy commercial. Isn't it?"
"You, get out of here."
"But that's admirable? I thought you couldn't stand the Princess... You were so focused on her that you're thinking about her all day just because you fought her once."
It wasn't very comforting. At least to Arkan now, that was the case.
'That's why I said that...'
He could clearly recall Erdene's voice and expression as she said, 'We'll see.'
He felt lost as if he had kicked a rock wrong and caused a landslide.
If he went and told her that it was a misunderstanding and that he didn’t mean it like that, would she believe him? If he told her that he had been thinking about her all day, not that he had been thinking about turning her upside down all day, would she believe him?
“How could that be?”
It was a foolish question to himself. Arkan let out a long sigh, tilting his head back as if he had lost his energy.
Pelarhar, who was watching, clicked his tongue internally.
‘Again, that habit is coming out again. It was the same in the past. He wouldn’t do that to other people, but when uncle or aunt was involved, he thought that they wouldn’t understand even if he confessed that it was a mistake, so he gave up.’
Arkan himself seemed to not know much, but Pelarhar, who was watching from the side, could see his behavior pattern even better.
The more important someone was to him, the more he cherished them, and the more he was reluctant to reveal his true feelings in front of them.
It was clear that the words the previous King had repeatedly emphasized were still weighing on his subconscious.
[The King should not be light-hearted and talkative. It is not something that just anyone can do. Don’t show your feelings. Up until now, you could do whatever you wanted and live, but now things have changed.]
‘Even my uncle was too much. Was Arkan’s fault that Iris died young? It’s unbelievable.’
What can I do? Pelerhar thought. It was his turn to step up for his cousin, who was so young.
He had teased him so much, so he should do that much.
“I’ll check the situation and come back, so you go do your work.”
Then Arkan stared at Pelarhar as if he didn’t know what he meant.
There was a hint of rejection in his gaze. It seemed that he didn’t like the idea of him going to see Erdene alone.
Arkan stood up again.
“Forget it, I'll go. Why would you?”
Pelarhar said.
To be honest, Arkan didn’t feel like talking to anyone right now, but he knew that sighing the whole time wouldn’t solve anything. Even if he told Pelarhar, there wouldn’t be a solution...
“...That’s what happened.”
Arkan, who had been talking about what happened last night, drank the tea that Plat had brought him in one gulp as if his headache was coming back.
However, before he could swallow the food in his mouth, Pelarhar burst into laughter that seemed to collapse the ceiling, and Arkan almost spit out all the tea.
“What?”
Arkan’s gaze was not kind as he looked at Pelarhar, who was already angry and was laughing like a crazy person as if Arkan was casting a spell to make his stomach turn inside out.
“Arkan, you idiot.”
Arkan looked at him with angry eyes, but Pelarhar was too busy laughing to even look at his gaze.
Pelarhar, who had been laughing so hard that his face was red, continued to giggle.
“That’s the importance of the object.”
Arkan slowly frowned and tilted his head as if to ask what he meant... Then he suddenly opened his eyes wide and jumped up.
[I’ve been thinking all day!]
What did he say before? Yes, he asked Erdene if she was just thinking about turning his stomach all day.
Erdene asked why he was wasting his time like that... He suddenly felt resentful and angry at those words.
The fight was a fight, but he was completely absent-minded because of her figure that never left his eyes.
If he looked down, he felt like his blood would boil all over his body, so he just stared at her face, but as time went by, that became harder and harder to bear.
So he even forgot what he had been saying just a moment ago...
He remembered that all day long, he had been thinking about Erdene without a moment’s notice, getting angry, feeling sorry for her, then feeling resentful, then regretting it.
He had hoped Erdene would be like that.
He almost wished she had, but anyway...
‘But I was so focused on the words ‘waste of time...’
He was so angry that he just blurted out the words that came to his mouth. ‘I think about you all day.’
“You should have said that I think about ‘you’ all day. Oh, it’s so funny. The more I think about it, the funnier it gets. I feel like my face is going to burst.”
Pelarhar rubbed his cheekbones with his fingertips, tears welling up in his eyes.
It was quite comical to see him roll his cheeks with his lips wide open, but the sight of Arkan slumping back down, half-asleep, was even more impressive.
“If you just say ‘I think about you all day,’ what does that mean? 'I'll spend the whole day thinking about what's going on inside you'? Oh, my goodness. I'm about to laugh again. I'll laugh for a year."
Arkan crumpled up the paper and threw it at Pelarhar, who was giggling annoyingly and covered his forehead with both hands.
Pelarhar said.
"Arkan Cyprusmain, for the first time in his life, made a desperate confession, but because one word was suddenly omitted, it ended up becoming a declaration of war. It's like some kind of comedy commercial. Isn't it?"
"You, get out of here."
"But that's admirable? I thought you couldn't stand the Princess... You were so focused on her that you're thinking about her all day just because you fought her once."
It wasn't very comforting. At least to Arkan now, that was the case.
'That's why I said that...'
He could clearly recall Erdene's voice and expression as she said, 'We'll see.'
He felt lost as if he had kicked a rock wrong and caused a landslide.
If he went and told her that it was a misunderstanding and that he didn’t mean it like that, would she believe him? If he told her that he had been thinking about her all day, not that he had been thinking about turning her upside down all day, would she believe him?
“How could that be?”
It was a foolish question to himself. Arkan let out a long sigh, tilting his head back as if he had lost his energy.
Pelarhar, who was watching, clicked his tongue internally.
‘Again, that habit is coming out again. It was the same in the past. He wouldn’t do that to other people, but when uncle or aunt was involved, he thought that they wouldn’t understand even if he confessed that it was a mistake, so he gave up.’
Arkan himself seemed to not know much, but Pelarhar, who was watching from the side, could see his behavior pattern even better.
The more important someone was to him, the more he cherished them, and the more he was reluctant to reveal his true feelings in front of them.
It was clear that the words the previous King had repeatedly emphasized were still weighing on his subconscious.
[The King should not be light-hearted and talkative. It is not something that just anyone can do. Don’t show your feelings. Up until now, you could do whatever you wanted and live, but now things have changed.]
‘Even my uncle was too much. Was Arkan’s fault that Iris died young? It’s unbelievable.’
What can I do? Pelerhar thought. It was his turn to step up for his cousin, who was so young.
He had teased him so much, so he should do that much.
“I’ll check the situation and come back, so you go do your work.”
Then Arkan stared at Pelarhar as if he didn’t know what he meant.
There was a hint of rejection in his gaze. It seemed that he didn’t like the idea of him going to see Erdene alone.
Arkan stood up again.
“Forget it, I'll go. Why would you?”
At that moment, what was it? Pelarhar felt a rebellious spirit slowly rising toward Arkan for the first time.
And disappointment. The sudden surge of emotion was so intense that it was embarrassing, but fortunately, it disappeared in an instant.
Pelarhar nodded.
“Well, that would be better. Go and explain yourself. I didn’t mean to upset you all day, but I almost upset myself thinking about you all day. So let’s finish what we were doing yesterday... Ugh!”
A thick cushion with thick cotton hit Pelarhar’s face right in the face.
Pelarhar tossed the cushion that had hit him in the face to one side of the long couch, cut it off, and lay down.
He closed his, not intending to take a nap, and Erdene's face flashed clearly in his blackened vision then faded.
***
Arkan ran to the Queen’s residence in one go, muttering several times that what happened last night was a mistake and a misunderstanding.
But the situation did not go as smoothly as he had hoped—he had expected it to some extent.
“Her Majesty is unwell and sleeping, Your Majesty.”
Sophia Fiddler, who had rushed out at the servant’s message, confronted Arkan with a dry expression and voice that showed no emotion.
Her intention was clear, as she only said, “She is unwell and sleeping,” without adding anything else.
Get out.
Arkan flinched at the sound of Erdene’s voice for a moment, then closed his eyes tightly and sighed.
“What is wrong with Her Majesty?”
“I heard that she stayed up all night. She has a headache and has lost her appetite.”
“Then we should call the palace doctor. It’s not something that can be solved just by sleeping.”
“I told her that too, but she said she didn’t want to make a fuss. She said she would feel better after a nap, so everyone is being careful not to disturb Her Majesty.”
That was when.
Arkan frowned as he heard someone laughing inside the residence, where he was 'being careful not to disturb the sick Queen.'
"That voice just now sounds like the voice of the Viscountess Wickes."
"That can't be true, Your Majesty. No one has seen the Viscountess today. At least not those of us who serve Her Majesty."
Arkan instinctively looked at Sophia's face, recalling the funny habits that the Marchioness Fiddlers used to show whenever she lied.
However, Sophia was so thorough that she couldn't be like her mother.
Arkan was getting sick of her indifferent appearance, not even blinking her eyelashes, let alone her lips.
"I'll just take a quick look at her face and leave."
"I'm being presumptuous, Your Majesty. Her Majesty is very tired. She also sleeps lightly, so she wakes up easily at the slightest noise."
"Is that why you won't let me in?"
Sophia bowed her head slightly, almost annoyingly.
“I believe you will understand with great generosity, Your Majesty. Even though my mother committed a foolish sin, Her Majesty trusted me and kept me by her side, so I also want to prioritize Her Majesty’s safety and peace.”
It’s a blessing that I don’t marry her, Arkan thought.
Erdene is Erdene, but Sophia also has a talent for turning people upside down.
She was praised as a perfect young lady who inherited the spirit of Vetor, but in Arkan’s eyes, she was just...
‘She doesn’t break things and her voices are small, but they are exactly the same.’
Of course, the two were Erdene and Sophia.
Arkan, who had calmed his boiling anger, said,
“When the Queen wakes up, send a message to me right away. And tell her to have dinner with me tonight. Understood?”
Sophia answered politely enough to annoy her.
“Of course, Your Majesty. I will tell her so.”
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