Brigitte turned away. Her eyes rolled back as well.
“Evienrose!”
Eve advised in a calm voice.
“This is the main palace. It seems like you were released from your imprisonment only a moment ago, so you must be careful about your conduct.”
Brigitte suppressed her outward anger. She pretended to be relaxed and opened her mouth.
“You uncovered a human trafficking cartel. Well done.”
“I am glad that I have fulfilled my duty as a member of the Imperial Family for the people.”
“For the people. Quite a lot.”
It was when Brigitte snorted that Eve responded in a subdued voice.
“If not for the people.”
“Then do you think I did that for my sister’s sake?"
“Evienrose!”
Only after a nervous shout did Eve stand upright in her seat. Eve turned slowly, her eyes catching Brigitte's, who was still shaking with excitement.
“This is the main palace. It seems like you were released from your imprisonment only a moment ago, so you must be careful about your conduct.”
Brigitte suppressed her outward anger. She pretended to be relaxed and opened her mouth.
“You uncovered a human trafficking cartel. Well done.”
“I am glad that I have fulfilled my duty as a member of the Imperial Family for the people.”
“For the people. Quite a lot.”
It was when Brigitte snorted that Eve responded in a subdued voice.
“If not for the people.”
“Then do you think I did that for my sister’s sake?"
"For your sister’s destruction?”
The tone of voice and the look in her eyes as she asked questions were unusual. Brigitte felt a chill in her chest and was unable to say anything.
At that moment, Eve brightened the awkward atmosphere with a smile.
“If you have nothing more to say, I will go.”
“...You haven’t heard an answer to my previous question.”
Brigitte's eyes, rarely seeing Eve, took on a serious expression.
“You can do it too, Sister.”
She said that the answer is regression.
“Dead and alive again.”
“So, I think it would be okay to try dying first.”
“...How boring. Talking to you was a waste of time.”
“We felt connected.”
The confrontation between the sisters reached a stalemate. They were about to turn around and go their separate ways.
“Your Majesty the Emperor! Your Majesty!”
A maid was running down the hallway of the main palace, calling out for Desmond II. She was Rosenite's personal maid.
The tone of voice and the look in her eyes as she asked questions were unusual. Brigitte felt a chill in her chest and was unable to say anything.
At that moment, Eve brightened the awkward atmosphere with a smile.
“If you have nothing more to say, I will go.”
“...You haven’t heard an answer to my previous question.”
Brigitte's eyes, rarely seeing Eve, took on a serious expression.
“Surely you used to be a lowly, cowardly little girl, but now you've changed so much. What on earth has turned you into this?”
She was so curious that she asked the same thing twice. Brigitte's pitiful ignorance touched Eve's heart.
She said that the answer is regression.
“Dead and alive again.”
The faintly fleshy voice pierced Brigitte's ears, eerily. But the next words that followed were more like a joke.
“...How boring. Talking to you was a waste of time.”
“We felt connected.”
The confrontation between the sisters reached a stalemate. They were about to turn around and go their separate ways.
“Your Majesty the Emperor! Your Majesty!”
A maid was running down the hallway of the main palace, calling out for Desmond II. She was Rosenite's personal maid.
Eve and Brigitte, sensing something was wrong, summoned her to question her. The maid was the first to announce the news in a loud voice.
***
In the winter rainy season, it rains lightly rather than heavily.
It didn't completely paralyze economic activity like the summer rainy season, so the empire's citizens went about their daily routines, taking short vacations and not engaging in too much outdoor activity.
The Imperial Palace is a watercolor of water. Here, too, it was in the midst of the last of the fall rains.
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.
Raindrops tapped on the window. I opened my hazy eyes to the gentle sound of rain and the dim light.
To wake up my dazed mind, I walked to the balcony.
It was when I held out my hand as if to measure the temperature of the rain.
“Eve.”
“Ah, Michael.”
Before I knew it, my lover was behind me.
Michael wrapped the fur blanket around my shoulders, hugging me from behind.
“I have a cold.”
“There is a warming magic.”
“Michael must be cold.”
"I'm okay."
Michael stopped me from casting a warming spell by entangling my hands with his fingers.
Well, Michael is a homunculus, so he must be healthy, strong, and energetic.
I understood it on my own, but Michael smiled and gave another reason.
“I'll keep you warm.”
I reached out and cupped Michael's cheek. He opened his mouth to speak, and a gruff tone came out.
Raindrops tapped on the window. I opened my hazy eyes to the gentle sound of rain and the dim light.
I pushed myself up from the disheveled sheets and stretched, then glanced at the warm seat next to me and smiled softly.
As I opened the glass door to the vented room, cold, damp air rushed into my lungs. My bare shoulders shivered through my slip.
“Eve.”
“Ah, Michael.”
Before I knew it, my lover was behind me.
Michael wrapped the fur blanket around my shoulders, hugging me from behind.
“I have a cold.”
“There is a warming magic.”
I used my hands to open the front flap, even as I spoke. Basking in the warmth, I looked back at Michael, who was dressed in a half-robe.
"I'm okay."
Michael stopped me from casting a warming spell by entangling my hands with his fingers.
Well, Michael is a homunculus, so he must be healthy, strong, and energetic.
I understood it on my own, but Michael smiled and gave another reason.
“I'll keep you warm.”
Of course, unlike me, Michael wasn't the kind of person to shatter a romance with an unnecessary mention of warmth magic. The meaning was clear. His now darkened eyes proved it.
“Wasn’t the night enough?”
“Don’t pretend to be the only one who has free time, Eve.”
Michael winced slightly and hugged me tighter from behind. Turning his head to look over his shoulder, he brushed his sculpted nostrils against her cheek.
He soon cupped my head gently and turned me toward him, finding my lips.
I pulled myself up and leaned my upper half against Mikael, who held me close and slowly backed away from the balcony.
The glass door slammed shut. A hazy air began to creep in through the window. Warm moisture soaked the room.
Ten thousand days of self-imposed vacation are over. I got a little lazy by hugging the large bed cushions and burying my face in them. I didn't want to get up from this cozy, warm space just yet.
Just beside the bed, Michael was smoothing out his uniform. The uniform, draped over his toned body, was angular.
To my eyes, Michael's uniform was far from stoic, but rather lascivious, as the uniforms of the Imperial Guard were beautifully crafted in the pursuit of beauty, or perhaps because I knew the dishevelment of night and dawn.
In a futile shrug, I pushed the cushions aside and covered my face with a random page from my imperial studies book. But my eyes still couldn't stop squinting at Michael.
Feeling the stare, Michael straightened the gold bias on his sleeve and looked back at me, and soon he was smiling a wry, charming smile.
"Oh!"
He caught me spying on him with a black heart. Embarrassed, I blushed on both cheeks and tried to act nonchalant.
It was then that a mischievous light flashed in Michael's eyes.
“Hmm, really? Do you prefer doing it with clothes on?”
“Uh, what?”
Michael, who had come up behind me, put the book away and feigned anguish as he turned his deadly handsome face toward me.
“Taking off only as much as you need makes me feel like I'm rushing into someone's body for lust rather than love, but I suppose if that's your thing, I'll try.”
“Hey, Michael...”
“Yes, Eve. For you, I would be happy to become a corrupted beast.”
"No..."
Michael continued, seemingly oblivious to my stunned reaction.
"Omg?!"
I rushed to my senses at the rhetoric and grabbed Michael's shoulder as he began to cast a shadow over me.
"It's okay?"
“That, that kind of thing, let’s do it later.”
“Hmm, okay. Then let’s do it at the next banquet when we’re all fully dressed up.”
Michael stepped back, as casual as ever. I wiped my face with my hands, my face brightening.
Then I realized that Michael was choking back a laugh.
“Don’t look at me with such resentful eyes. I’m being sincere to some extent.”
“Really? How much?”
“More than half. I really don’t care about anything else as long as I have you.”
Whenever I have the chance, I feel
Michael, who confesses his heart every chance he gets, stirs my heart again today. In the end, I quickly forgave him for his naughty pranks.
Perhaps staying in bed would make the mood go that way. I slipped out from under the covers, pulled on my robe, and sat down in front of the table.
It was at that time that Cedella came into the bedroom with a knock.
“Good morning, Your Highness.”
“Yeah, Cedella.”
Cedella's hazel eyes rolled in the direction of the nightstand as she realized that Michael was with me. Michael made a quick movement to cover the empty potion bottles with his body.
“What’s wrong, Cedella?”
“A letter from Lord Redmon arrived via special golem mail a little while ago, so I’m bringing it to you.”
“Alben’s letter? Give it to me quickly.”
Alben was now officially on leave of absence from the Protocols, traveling to the Serenita estate, but he was actually in the south, where Belteor held a tight grip on power. He was on a secret mission under orders from me.
"Pff..."
I couldn't help but chuckle to myself at how typical of Alben it was. The letter was full of praise for the vacation destination, Serenita, and a few sweet words asking for my well-being and praying for his intercession.
Of course, he did not forget to include important information in a way that only I could understand.
I opened my mouth for Cedella and Michael, who were curious about the contents.
“So he's succeeded in making contact with the target.”
“He's made it past the first step. Lord Redmon is resourceful and will not disappoint His Highness.”
“Yeah. When he does well and comes back, I’ll give him a nice reward.”
I smiled brightly.
The letter was magically burned to ash.
It was a shame to waste the flattery that would have been useful in getting Desmond II's points, but it was unavoidable for the sake of destroying the evidence.
My amusement at the thought of defeating the remnants of Brigitte's forces was short-lived. Once I got back to work, I remembered a forgotten tragedy. I asked Cedella in a subdued tone.
“Any news from Rosie?”
Support Novellate!
Comments
Post a Comment