When Erdene shouted, Arkan made a face that seemed like he couldn’t believe it.
Even though it had happened many times before, he couldn’t get used to it no matter how hard he tried.
It wasn’t just because of the loud voice.
“What? ‘Shut up’?”
Erdene raised one finger, completely ignoring Arkan’s angry argument.
If it had been the other way around, would Erdene have been able to endure it without breaking his finger? That question proudly stood at the top of the list of ‘unprecedented interests of this era’ in Arkan’s mind.
Erdene raised her finger and slowly took a breath, saying,
“First, you said protest, right? Okay. You were right. Yes, I protested.”
Erdene’s words were so confident that Arkan didn’t even realize that she had called him ‘you’ for the first time.
Of course, Erdene was the same.
Erdene continued.
“You know better than I do why I protested. I came quietly when you asked me to come read a book, but you suddenly got angry and left, right? Leaving me behind. That’s why I protested. I admit it. And second, what did you say? Did you say that I should restrict my every move?”
“Yes!”
“Go ahead and try it. If you’re confident.”
Arkan slowly inhaled and exhaled, recalling the breathing technique he had learned as a child—a teacher had taught him to breathe deeply before studying to read.
When he was young, doing so would calm him down as the clean air swept through his head, but now, Erdene’s bittersweet body odor and scent only distracted him.
While he was miserably failing in his attempts to calm himself, Erdene continued.
“And lastly, what did you say? A passionate relationship?”
At Erdene’s words, Arkan’s temples turned red again. When he didn’t speak, Erdene pressed for an answer.
“Answer me. A passionate relationship? Is that what you said?”
Arkan turned around with a red face. Then, his shoulders shook as he breathed heavily and turned back to her.
“If you had someone else you liked, then fine. I understand.”
Erdene let out a hollow laugh.
“You’re just saying nonsense, so I don’t know if I should continue this conversation or if I should just go back to my room and sleep. A passionate relationship? Someone I like? Who on earth are you talking about? What strange things did you hear that made you have such absurd fantasies?”
“Absurd? Don’t lie. I’m sure...”
Arkan’s lips moved with a red face. It seemed like he was saying something, but Erdene couldn’t understand what he was saying.
“What?”
Erdene frowned, pretending to listen exaggeratedly.
For a moment, Arkan thought that she was pretending not to hear everything, but looking at Erdene’s expression, it didn’t seem like that.
Erdene, who had been staring at Arkan without saying a word, spoke once more.
“What did you say?”
“...I saw it.”
“What? What are you looking at?”
Arkan’s face, as well as his chin, the back of his neck, and his shoulders, were now flushed red.
His complexion was blotchy, like someone who had drunk the wrong amount of strong alcohol.
“...I saw you hugging her! So don’t act like it!”
Arkan shouted, and Erdene’s eyes widened as if they were going to pop out.
They say that when people are too surprised, they start to have strange thoughts? At that moment, the same thing happened in her head.
Erdene was having completely irrelevant thoughts, oblivious to the serious situation of talking about her past. And they were all very absurd...
‘This is the first time I don’t want to beat him up when his neck is bloodshot.’
The moment she realized that her heart suddenly pounded.
It was very brief. Just once. But Erdene would remember that feeling for a long time.
I see. Erdene thought. She finally realized the reason for Arkan’s strange behavior since the daytime. She realized it, understood it, and accepted it.
Now all that was left was to burst out laughing.
“Ugh...”
Erdene covered her mouth with both hands and her body slumped forward as if she had fallen over.
A sob-like sound escaped between her palms, and her shoulders, curled up tightly with all her strength, trembled.
Now she finally understood. Now... Erdene was so funny that she almost wanted to cry.
She knew what Arkan had seen. She couldn't help but know.
He saw her holding Thelma and encouraging her.
She didn’t know where, how, or why he saw that scene, but in any case, Arkan must have misunderstood the relationship between the two.
“What, what are you doing? Why are you doing that?”
Arkan was immediately taken aback when Erdene bent down and shivered. He felt warmth as he carefully grabbed her shoulders with his trembling fingertips, floating awkwardly in the air.
Arkan felt angry at the sight of her bent neck, flowing hair, and faint sobbing—they were so close to each other!—and his heart felt like it was collapsing with all sorts of complicated emotions.
Anger, sadness, desire, jealousy.
All of them were mixed together in a mess. He almost said, “If you love her that much, I’ll let you go.”
Arkan, who had been approaching her as if to wrap his arm around her shoulders, jumped back in surprise.
“Why, why are you doing this?”
“Again, heh, say it again. What, what did you say? Keuh, separately... separately what? Do you like it?”
Erdene seemed to be having a hard time controlling her own body because she was laughing so hard. She was busy clutching her stomach, then covering her face, then clutching her head, and eventually, she was laughing like a crazy person, her forehead buried in the back of the sofa.
“What the hell! This is scary!”
Arkan shouted in confusion.
However, he could vaguely sense that something was wrong, that he had made a serious mistake.
The laughter gradually died down. It
wasn’t that it was any less funny, it seemed that she had just lost strength...
Erdene raised her face and swept her messy hair back.
When the jewelry became even more tangled and messy, she took them all out of her head.
Arkan was now looking down at her with a completely sullen face. Her lower lip was jutting out, and her handsome eyebrows were drawn together and furrowed.
“Obsessed.”
Erdene placed her fists on her hips and narrowed her eyes.
“What?”
“Obsessed. An obsessed man. You just made that up. Your Majesty is an obsessed man. You’ve been spying on where I go, who I meet, and what I do. I should be the one to say it’s scary.”
“Spying on what? When did I? Who was it that hugged her in broad daylight? Before you give me a weird nickname like obsessed... I’m telling you to look back on what you’ve done! If I’m an obsessive man, then what are you! You’re so shameless and outrageous that you’re hugging another woman in broad daylight!”
“I hugged Thelma a little, and that’s why you were so angry all day. Now that I think about it, I shouldn’t call you an obsessive man. It might be better to call you a ‘narrow-minded man’ or a ‘little crazy man.’ If I had just kissed that bastard, I would have been in a lot of pain today, right? Isn’t that right, Your Majesty? You would have carved ‘Affair with another woman’ into my forehead and hung it in the square.”
Arkan opened his mouth wide with a look of bewilderment and reproach.
“Pfft... No, what? Are you done with what you just said? Say it again...!”
Arkan, who was about to spit fire out of his mouth, suddenly froze as if he had turned into a stone statue.
For a moment, he thought his heart had stopped.
After thinking that he was going to die like this, he realized, paradoxically, that he was not dead yet.
But if he was not dead, then what was this scent, this warmth?
Arkan's eyes moved stiffly.
Like a tree branch breaking at each joint, if he listened closely, he could hear a snap, snap.
For a moment, his mind went blank as he wondered who this round, black thing that came into his sight, this soft, warm, fragrant head that he wanted to squeeze, belonged to. Regardless, Erdene buried her cheek in Arkan's chest, hugged him tightly, and closed her eyes.
His heart was beating so fast that he wondered if he would die if he did—but he wondered if he should call the palace doctor—he could not easily let go of her arms.
More than anything, Arkan had such a wonderful scent.
Erdene, who had been hugging Arkan to her satisfaction, clenched her fists.
Then, she patted his still-stiff back and lifted her head slightly, resting her chin on his chest.
“Do well, child. Do you understand?”
Arkan’s lips parted slightly as he looked down at her with her head tilted vertically.
Even though it had happened many times before, he couldn’t get used to it no matter how hard he tried.
It wasn’t just because of the loud voice.
“What? ‘Shut up’?”
Erdene raised one finger, completely ignoring Arkan’s angry argument.
If it had been the other way around, would Erdene have been able to endure it without breaking his finger? That question proudly stood at the top of the list of ‘unprecedented interests of this era’ in Arkan’s mind.
Erdene raised her finger and slowly took a breath, saying,
“First, you said protest, right? Okay. You were right. Yes, I protested.”
Erdene’s words were so confident that Arkan didn’t even realize that she had called him ‘you’ for the first time.
Of course, Erdene was the same.
Erdene continued.
“You know better than I do why I protested. I came quietly when you asked me to come read a book, but you suddenly got angry and left, right? Leaving me behind. That’s why I protested. I admit it. And second, what did you say? Did you say that I should restrict my every move?”
“Yes!”
“Go ahead and try it. If you’re confident.”
Arkan slowly inhaled and exhaled, recalling the breathing technique he had learned as a child—a teacher had taught him to breathe deeply before studying to read.
When he was young, doing so would calm him down as the clean air swept through his head, but now, Erdene’s bittersweet body odor and scent only distracted him.
While he was miserably failing in his attempts to calm himself, Erdene continued.
“And lastly, what did you say? A passionate relationship?”
At Erdene’s words, Arkan’s temples turned red again. When he didn’t speak, Erdene pressed for an answer.
“Answer me. A passionate relationship? Is that what you said?”
Arkan turned around with a red face. Then, his shoulders shook as he breathed heavily and turned back to her.
“If you had someone else you liked, then fine. I understand.”
Erdene let out a hollow laugh.
“You’re just saying nonsense, so I don’t know if I should continue this conversation or if I should just go back to my room and sleep. A passionate relationship? Someone I like? Who on earth are you talking about? What strange things did you hear that made you have such absurd fantasies?”
“Absurd? Don’t lie. I’m sure...”
Arkan’s lips moved with a red face. It seemed like he was saying something, but Erdene couldn’t understand what he was saying.
“What?”
Erdene frowned, pretending to listen exaggeratedly.
For a moment, Arkan thought that she was pretending not to hear everything, but looking at Erdene’s expression, it didn’t seem like that.
Erdene, who had been staring at Arkan without saying a word, spoke once more.
“What did you say?”
“...I saw it.”
“What? What are you looking at?”
Arkan’s face, as well as his chin, the back of his neck, and his shoulders, were now flushed red.
His complexion was blotchy, like someone who had drunk the wrong amount of strong alcohol.
“...I saw you hugging her! So don’t act like it!”
Arkan shouted, and Erdene’s eyes widened as if they were going to pop out.
They say that when people are too surprised, they start to have strange thoughts? At that moment, the same thing happened in her head.
Erdene was having completely irrelevant thoughts, oblivious to the serious situation of talking about her past. And they were all very absurd...
‘This is the first time I don’t want to beat him up when his neck is bloodshot.’
The moment she realized that her heart suddenly pounded.
It was very brief. Just once. But Erdene would remember that feeling for a long time.
I see. Erdene thought. She finally realized the reason for Arkan’s strange behavior since the daytime. She realized it, understood it, and accepted it.
Now all that was left was to burst out laughing.
“Ugh...”
Erdene covered her mouth with both hands and her body slumped forward as if she had fallen over.
A sob-like sound escaped between her palms, and her shoulders, curled up tightly with all her strength, trembled.
Now she finally understood. Now... Erdene was so funny that she almost wanted to cry.
She knew what Arkan had seen. She couldn't help but know.
He saw her holding Thelma and encouraging her.
She didn’t know where, how, or why he saw that scene, but in any case, Arkan must have misunderstood the relationship between the two.
“What, what are you doing? Why are you doing that?”
Arkan was immediately taken aback when Erdene bent down and shivered. He felt warmth as he carefully grabbed her shoulders with his trembling fingertips, floating awkwardly in the air.
Arkan felt angry at the sight of her bent neck, flowing hair, and faint sobbing—they were so close to each other!—and his heart felt like it was collapsing with all sorts of complicated emotions.
Anger, sadness, desire, jealousy.
All of them were mixed together in a mess. He almost said, “If you love her that much, I’ll let you go.”
If Erdene had raised her head just a second later, it might have been the same.
“Ah, haha! Ah, hug, heh heh... Such a passionate relationship...Ah, uh, heh heh...!”
“Ah, haha! Ah, hug, heh heh... Such a passionate relationship...Ah, uh, heh heh...!”
Arkan, who had been approaching her as if to wrap his arm around her shoulders, jumped back in surprise.
“Why, why are you doing this?”
“Again, heh, say it again. What, what did you say? Keuh, separately... separately what? Do you like it?”
Erdene seemed to be having a hard time controlling her own body because she was laughing so hard. She was busy clutching her stomach, then covering her face, then clutching her head, and eventually, she was laughing like a crazy person, her forehead buried in the back of the sofa.
“What the hell! This is scary!”
Arkan shouted in confusion.
However, he could vaguely sense that something was wrong, that he had made a serious mistake.
The laughter gradually died down. It
wasn’t that it was any less funny, it seemed that she had just lost strength...
Erdene raised her face and swept her messy hair back.
When the jewelry became even more tangled and messy, she took them all out of her head.
Arkan was now looking down at her with a completely sullen face. Her lower lip was jutting out, and her handsome eyebrows were drawn together and furrowed.
“Obsessed.”
Erdene placed her fists on her hips and narrowed her eyes.
“What?”
“Obsessed. An obsessed man. You just made that up. Your Majesty is an obsessed man. You’ve been spying on where I go, who I meet, and what I do. I should be the one to say it’s scary.”
“Spying on what? When did I? Who was it that hugged her in broad daylight? Before you give me a weird nickname like obsessed... I’m telling you to look back on what you’ve done! If I’m an obsessive man, then what are you! You’re so shameless and outrageous that you’re hugging another woman in broad daylight!”
“I hugged Thelma a little, and that’s why you were so angry all day. Now that I think about it, I shouldn’t call you an obsessive man. It might be better to call you a ‘narrow-minded man’ or a ‘little crazy man.’ If I had just kissed that bastard, I would have been in a lot of pain today, right? Isn’t that right, Your Majesty? You would have carved ‘Affair with another woman’ into my forehead and hung it in the square.”
Arkan opened his mouth wide with a look of bewilderment and reproach.
“Pfft... No, what? Are you done with what you just said? Say it again...!”
Arkan, who was about to spit fire out of his mouth, suddenly froze as if he had turned into a stone statue.
For a moment, he thought his heart had stopped.
After thinking that he was going to die like this, he realized, paradoxically, that he was not dead yet.
But if he was not dead, then what was this scent, this warmth?
Arkan's eyes moved stiffly.
Like a tree branch breaking at each joint, if he listened closely, he could hear a snap, snap.
For a moment, his mind went blank as he wondered who this round, black thing that came into his sight, this soft, warm, fragrant head that he wanted to squeeze, belonged to. Regardless, Erdene buried her cheek in Arkan's chest, hugged him tightly, and closed her eyes.
His heart was beating so fast that he wondered if he would die if he did—but he wondered if he should call the palace doctor—he could not easily let go of her arms.
More than anything, Arkan had such a wonderful scent.
Erdene, who had been hugging Arkan to her satisfaction, clenched her fists.
Then, she patted his still-stiff back and lifted her head slightly, resting her chin on his chest.
“Do well, child. Do you understand?”
Arkan’s lips parted slightly as he looked down at her with her head tilted vertically.
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