The servants' urgent voices echoed through the hallway.
“Hey, what did you just see?”
Starting with Sharon's concerns,
“Shouldn’t we chase after them too?”
The voice of Sollie, who was very excited,
“Can you handle it?”
Even Theresa, who was unnecessarily serious, was surprised at first and made a fuss, but her voice gradually changed to one of interest.
“What will happen if our Majesty the Empress is captured? Will His Majesty not stay still?”
“Oh my, how nice. I don’t know!”
“It feels like the soles of your feet are on fire. You’re so passionate.”
“Shouldn’t we also jump together, carrying pillows?”
The chief steward, Stiane, also began discussing the situation with them.
“Why a pillow?”
“No matter what the outcome, I don’t think you’ll come to the bedroom right away.”
“Really? Should I bring it for you? Then I guess I’ll have to bring a blanket too?”
Sharon's voice, usually well-prepared, was the last to be heard. The attendants were slapping each other and making a fuss. But none of them could keep up with the speed of the two of us. Thus began the midnight chase between Linel and me. It would have been better if I had worn pants instead of a dress, but even so, I was still in a light dress so I could run without much trouble. If I had worn a formal dress, I would have been caught already.
I was so surprised that I hurriedly stepped away from the bookshelf and turned my body toward the wall. The bookshelf and the wall behind it were pushed aside, revealing a dark space. I stepped into it, drawn by a strange, inexplicable force. As I stepped inside, my feet sank deep.
“Oh, I guess there are stairs all the way down here?”
Why does such a place exist in Linel's personal library? I carefully went down one more step, and a cold wind blew from somewhere and hit my face. It was like entering a cave in the middle of winter.
“What’s under the stairs that makes this cold wind blow?”
It might be a bit dangerous, but curiosity kept pulling my ankles down the stairs. But then, I heard the library door open. It had to be Linel. I quickly climbed the stairs again and exited the space. Then, the bookshelf automatically slid shut and returned to its original position. I quickly memorized which shelf I had just touched, as well as the titles of the books on that shelf. I might not visit this place again, but I still felt like I needed to know where the bookshelf had moved. And then, feeling like I shouldn’t stand in front of this bookshelf, I quickly moved to another bookshelf and hid.
“Rabbit, it seems like you’re trapped in a cage!”
Not far away, I could hear Linel's voice, foreboding victory. I lowered my body and moved around the bookshelves as if I was going through a maze, heading towards the library door.
“Gasp! When did you put that there...”
When I reached the library door and straightened my back, there was a mahogany desk blocking the door. He had brought a desk from inside the library and placed it in front of the door to prevent me from escaping. Since I am a weak wife, he must have thought that I would be unable to move the heavy desk and would be caught in that spot. I ran to the door to remove the obstacle and quickly escape. At that moment, when I grabbed the desk with both hands and tried to move it to the side,
"Got it."
Linel came up to me silently and hugged me from behind, shouting, 'How can I be caught so pointlessly?' I wasn’t caught because I couldn’t lift the desk, but because I didn’t have time to move it.
“Rabbit, what did I say I would do if you were caught by me?”
He asked, gently biting the back of my neck.
“You said you’d give me carrots.”
He burst out laughing at my self-deprecating tone.
“Of course, I should give it to you. Take it from me.”
He took my hand and placed it under his chin.
"Yes?"
“I’m like a carrot to you... right?”
“Well, your face is a bit red.”
I turned to face him and replied.
“I’m excited, that’s why.”
My gaze naturally fell downwards without me realizing it, but he lifted my chin with his hand and spoke.
“I mean, by running.”
“...What did you say?”
I burst out laughing but stopped laughing at his urgent touch.
“Have you ever seen a carrot trying to get inside your clothes?”
He asked, pulling down the hem of my dress that was being pulled up by his hands.
“Then I guess today is the first time I’m seeing you.”
He sat me down at the mahogany desk without a care and continued talking with an expression of admiration.
“But it was fast.”
“If it had been in the forest instead of the imperial corridors, I would never have been caught.”
His warning made my heart ache. Several white flags were already planted in my heart.
“I’ll catch it somehow.”
As soon as Linel finished speaking, words came out of my mouth that I could not delay even for a moment.
"I love you."
My heart was already melting, and even my voice flowed out. I repeated to him that I loved him several times before I closed my mouth again. Every time the words 'I love you' came out of my mouth, his eyes sparkled as if he was hearing them for the first time. Linel, who had been silent for a moment, opened his mouth with a serious expression.
“That wizard who put a curse on me, turns out he didn’t even put the curse on properly.”
Why are you suddenly bringing up the story of the wizard who put a curse on you?
“What do you mean?”
“If I see my body getting this hot just from the words ‘I love you,’ then I guess that wizard is a man of character...”
He tilted his face down with a moved expression, gently brushed my lips against his, and then suddenly swallowed them fiercely.
Between my lips that were barely able to breathe, his whisper, “It’s so good, what should I do?” tickled my skin along with the heavy breathing. I thought that this man was my everything right now. No, not just now, but always will be. I wanted to get rid of all the excuses I had made to not love him. Linel’s large hands dug into my hair. My body, which had been sitting on the mahogany desk, naturally leaned back at his touch. There was something I really wanted to ask him before I made love to him. I lowered my arms that were wrapped around Linel’s neck, pushed his chest slightly, and got down from the mahogany desk. He took a few steps back and gave me a look that said it was too much.
“I have a question.”
“What is it?”
He asked, wiping his quivering lips with the back of his hand.
“Tell me anything as long as it doesn’t mean you want me to let you go.”
He seemed to be imitating my expression as if it was serious, but his voice was infinitely affectionate.
“If there is something I have not told Your Majesty... then...”
The words came out curiously, but I couldn’t finish them. What did I want to ask? If I were honest, would you be forgiven? How much can you understand me? I had already revealed everything with my eyes, but there was no way he would understand just by looking at my eyes. Linel looked at me with a thoughtful expression, shrugged his shoulders, and opened his mouth.
“Zelda, if there’s something you haven’t told me, I don’t know what it is... what I didn’t know all this time isn’t that important.”
"Yes?"
“Timing is not important.”
"Then..."
“What’s more important is how that story affects both of us, how it changes our relationship. That’s all that matters.”
“...”
“But why are you suddenly curious about that? What are you worried about?”
My guilt grew deeper as I looked at his sincere eyes. The weight of the lies I had kept hidden seemed to weigh me down even more.
“There is something I have not told Your Majesty.”
It was an impulsive courage. But every word was painful, as if someone was pulling my voice out from the bottom of my throat.
“Is it a secret? If it is a secret, there is something I haven’t told you yet.”
“What is that?”
I opened my eyes wide at his unexpected words and asked. I stopped talking about something that was about my life and focused more on his unexpected confession.
“Later. I don’t think it’s time to talk about it yet. If it’s something you find difficult to talk about now, you can talk about it later.”
“ ..Do you know what I’m talking about?”
“As long as it’s not a lie, it’s fine.”
“!”
Sigh, should I just ask to be killed here? Acting Empress. I myself started out as a lie...
“For example, if someone lied and said they loved me when they didn’t, that doesn’t fall under the category of forgiveness.”
“That’s absolutely not true!”
I raised my voice and waved both my hands wildly. He smiled briefly with satisfaction before becoming serious again and continuing to speak.
“It is also unforgivable to lie and say you don’t love me when you do.”
“That won’t happen, I swear.”
“Then what’s the problem? Zelda, do you have an incurable disease?”
“I guess I’m a bit of a hot girl.”
"Yes?"
“Oh, what I mean is... I have a high body temperature, but that’s not a disease... I don’t think.”
It may be a curse, but I held back the urge to raise my hand to the burn scar on my right side, out of habit.
“No way. It’s a blessing for me that you’re a hot woman.”
Linel is like an oasis to me...
“Oh, is there any debt I don’t know about? If so, then you really don’t need to worry about that.”
Linel threw the comment out there as a joke. I shook my head.
“I don’t have any debt. I just have a lot of combs.”
“Then, is there a man you’ve been hiding?”
As soon as Linel asked me this question, I turned around for a moment, feeling hot just thinking about it, and then returned to my seat.
“You can’t possibly be telling me that it’s a guy problem, right? It shouldn’t be.”
“The only man in my life is Linel. It was only after I met Your Majesty that I understood why God created men.”
He was so excited and squealing that I exaggerated a bit here and there. His once crumpled expression brightened up embarrassingly in an instant.
“If that’s not the reason, you can tell me later. I will do the same...”
He said it with a smirk, but his expression after the laughter seemed somewhat dark. I don’t know what Linel didn’t tell me, but it probably wasn’t as shocking as it was for me. But if I didn’t confess now, I thought it would be hard to muster up the courage again. I took a deep breath and exhaled, finally spitting out the secret I had kept in my heart.
“I am not the Empress.”
“Hey, what did you just see?”
Starting with Sharon's concerns,
“Shouldn’t we chase after them too?”
The voice of Sollie, who was very excited,
“Can you handle it?”
Even Theresa, who was unnecessarily serious, was surprised at first and made a fuss, but her voice gradually changed to one of interest.
“What will happen if our Majesty the Empress is captured? Will His Majesty not stay still?”
“Oh my, how nice. I don’t know!”
“It feels like the soles of your feet are on fire. You’re so passionate.”
“Shouldn’t we also jump together, carrying pillows?”
The chief steward, Stiane, also began discussing the situation with them.
“Why a pillow?”
“No matter what the outcome, I don’t think you’ll come to the bedroom right away.”
“Really? Should I bring it for you? Then I guess I’ll have to bring a blanket too?”
Sharon's voice, usually well-prepared, was the last to be heard. The attendants were slapping each other and making a fuss. But none of them could keep up with the speed of the two of us. Thus began the midnight chase between Linel and me. It would have been better if I had worn pants instead of a dress, but even so, I was still in a light dress so I could run without much trouble. If I had worn a formal dress, I would have been caught already.
When I was out of breath, I could see the end of the hallway. But it was just a corner that turned into another road.
“Uh uh uh...”
Unable to overcome my running speed, I turned the corner, grabbed the pillar, and turned into the hallway. Once again, the long, long hallway stretched out endlessly. Now, I’ll show my barefoot fighting spirit. I was wearing low-heeled shoes, but I took them off to gain more speed. The feeling of my soles clinging to the cold marble floor was not bad. On one wall were rows of famous paintings, and on the other were tall, arched windows. As I ran down the hallway, I turned my head outside the window. The crescent moon and stars were chasing me along with Linel.
“Ugh, ugh, gasp, gasp...”
How long had I been running? The bedroom floor hallway was slowly coming to an end. At the very end of the hallway, I could see the stairs that the servants mostly used. Without hesitation, I sat down on the handrail and slid down. My plan was to first enter a random room, shake him off, and then return to the bedroom floor. I walked past several rooms and stopped in front of a door that was a little different from the others. I carefully pulled the door open and went inside.
“Is this a library, too?”
The main palace library was on the second floor, where Linel's office was. The third-floor library was only half the size of the second-floor library. Seeing that it was smaller than the second-floor library, I thought that this was probably Linel's personal library. Although the size was different, like the second-floor library, this one was also filled with books right up to the ceiling.
“Uh uh uh...”
Unable to overcome my running speed, I turned the corner, grabbed the pillar, and turned into the hallway. Once again, the long, long hallway stretched out endlessly. Now, I’ll show my barefoot fighting spirit. I was wearing low-heeled shoes, but I took them off to gain more speed. The feeling of my soles clinging to the cold marble floor was not bad. On one wall were rows of famous paintings, and on the other were tall, arched windows. As I ran down the hallway, I turned my head outside the window. The crescent moon and stars were chasing me along with Linel.
“Ugh, ugh, gasp, gasp...”
How long had I been running? The bedroom floor hallway was slowly coming to an end. At the very end of the hallway, I could see the stairs that the servants mostly used. Without hesitation, I sat down on the handrail and slid down. My plan was to first enter a random room, shake him off, and then return to the bedroom floor. I walked past several rooms and stopped in front of a door that was a little different from the others. I carefully pulled the door open and went inside.
“Is this a library, too?”
The main palace library was on the second floor, where Linel's office was. The third-floor library was only half the size of the second-floor library. Seeing that it was smaller than the second-floor library, I thought that this was probably Linel's personal library. Although the size was different, like the second-floor library, this one was also filled with books right up to the ceiling.
After looking around the library, I turned my back to the bookshelf next to the fireplace and took a moment to catch my breath. I was out of breath and sweaty, but my body felt refreshed. I bent down, placed my hand on the bookshelf, and raised my upper body again. Then, suddenly, with a slurp, the bookshelf was pushed aside behind me.
“What, what is this? This is...?”
“What, what is this? This is...?”
I was so surprised that I hurriedly stepped away from the bookshelf and turned my body toward the wall. The bookshelf and the wall behind it were pushed aside, revealing a dark space. I stepped into it, drawn by a strange, inexplicable force. As I stepped inside, my feet sank deep.
“Oh, I guess there are stairs all the way down here?”
Why does such a place exist in Linel's personal library? I carefully went down one more step, and a cold wind blew from somewhere and hit my face. It was like entering a cave in the middle of winter.
“What’s under the stairs that makes this cold wind blow?”
It might be a bit dangerous, but curiosity kept pulling my ankles down the stairs. But then, I heard the library door open. It had to be Linel. I quickly climbed the stairs again and exited the space. Then, the bookshelf automatically slid shut and returned to its original position. I quickly memorized which shelf I had just touched, as well as the titles of the books on that shelf. I might not visit this place again, but I still felt like I needed to know where the bookshelf had moved. And then, feeling like I shouldn’t stand in front of this bookshelf, I quickly moved to another bookshelf and hid.
“Rabbit, it seems like you’re trapped in a cage!”
Not far away, I could hear Linel's voice, foreboding victory. I lowered my body and moved around the bookshelves as if I was going through a maze, heading towards the library door.
“Gasp! When did you put that there...”
When I reached the library door and straightened my back, there was a mahogany desk blocking the door. He had brought a desk from inside the library and placed it in front of the door to prevent me from escaping. Since I am a weak wife, he must have thought that I would be unable to move the heavy desk and would be caught in that spot. I ran to the door to remove the obstacle and quickly escape. At that moment, when I grabbed the desk with both hands and tried to move it to the side,
"Got it."
Linel came up to me silently and hugged me from behind, shouting, 'How can I be caught so pointlessly?' I wasn’t caught because I couldn’t lift the desk, but because I didn’t have time to move it.
“Rabbit, what did I say I would do if you were caught by me?”
He asked, gently biting the back of my neck.
“You said you’d give me carrots.”
He burst out laughing at my self-deprecating tone.
“Of course, I should give it to you. Take it from me.”
He took my hand and placed it under his chin.
"Yes?"
“I’m like a carrot to you... right?”
“Well, your face is a bit red.”
I turned to face him and replied.
“I’m excited, that’s why.”
My gaze naturally fell downwards without me realizing it, but he lifted my chin with his hand and spoke.
“I mean, by running.”
“...What did you say?”
I burst out laughing but stopped laughing at his urgent touch.
“Have you ever seen a carrot trying to get inside your clothes?”
He asked, pulling down the hem of my dress that was being pulled up by his hands.
“Then I guess today is the first time I’m seeing you.”
He sat me down at the mahogany desk without a care and continued talking with an expression of admiration.
“But it was fast.”
“If it had been in the forest instead of the imperial corridors, I would never have been caught.”
“Yeah. I guess so.”
As Linel's deepened voice drew near to my forehead, his cold breath cooled the sweat running down my forehead.
“I feel like my heart is going to burst even more today because I ran so much.”
He cupped my face with both hands and placed it against his right chest. Thump, thump, thump - his heart was beating really fast and hard.
“I wish your heart would always beat like this because of me.”
“You can live your whole life tormenting me. Oh, and there’s a lesson for today. Take note.”
“Go ahead.”
I listened to him, tucking my hair neatly behind my ear.
“Your plans to run away from me like today will all fail. For the rest of your life...”
As Linel's deepened voice drew near to my forehead, his cold breath cooled the sweat running down my forehead.
“I feel like my heart is going to burst even more today because I ran so much.”
He cupped my face with both hands and placed it against his right chest. Thump, thump, thump - his heart was beating really fast and hard.
“I wish your heart would always beat like this because of me.”
“You can live your whole life tormenting me. Oh, and there’s a lesson for today. Take note.”
“Go ahead.”
I listened to him, tucking my hair neatly behind my ear.
“Your plans to run away from me like today will all fail. For the rest of your life...”
His warning made my heart ache. Several white flags were already planted in my heart.
“I’ll catch it somehow.”
As soon as Linel finished speaking, words came out of my mouth that I could not delay even for a moment.
"I love you."
My heart was already melting, and even my voice flowed out. I repeated to him that I loved him several times before I closed my mouth again. Every time the words 'I love you' came out of my mouth, his eyes sparkled as if he was hearing them for the first time. Linel, who had been silent for a moment, opened his mouth with a serious expression.
“That wizard who put a curse on me, turns out he didn’t even put the curse on properly.”
Why are you suddenly bringing up the story of the wizard who put a curse on you?
“What do you mean?”
“If I see my body getting this hot just from the words ‘I love you,’ then I guess that wizard is a man of character...”
He tilted his face down with a moved expression, gently brushed my lips against his, and then suddenly swallowed them fiercely.
Between my lips that were barely able to breathe, his whisper, “It’s so good, what should I do?” tickled my skin along with the heavy breathing. I thought that this man was my everything right now. No, not just now, but always will be. I wanted to get rid of all the excuses I had made to not love him. Linel’s large hands dug into my hair. My body, which had been sitting on the mahogany desk, naturally leaned back at his touch. There was something I really wanted to ask him before I made love to him. I lowered my arms that were wrapped around Linel’s neck, pushed his chest slightly, and got down from the mahogany desk. He took a few steps back and gave me a look that said it was too much.
“I have a question.”
“What is it?”
He asked, wiping his quivering lips with the back of his hand.
“Tell me anything as long as it doesn’t mean you want me to let you go.”
He seemed to be imitating my expression as if it was serious, but his voice was infinitely affectionate.
“If there is something I have not told Your Majesty... then...”
The words came out curiously, but I couldn’t finish them. What did I want to ask? If I were honest, would you be forgiven? How much can you understand me? I had already revealed everything with my eyes, but there was no way he would understand just by looking at my eyes. Linel looked at me with a thoughtful expression, shrugged his shoulders, and opened his mouth.
“Zelda, if there’s something you haven’t told me, I don’t know what it is... what I didn’t know all this time isn’t that important.”
"Yes?"
“Timing is not important.”
"Then..."
“What’s more important is how that story affects both of us, how it changes our relationship. That’s all that matters.”
“...”
“But why are you suddenly curious about that? What are you worried about?”
My guilt grew deeper as I looked at his sincere eyes. The weight of the lies I had kept hidden seemed to weigh me down even more.
“There is something I have not told Your Majesty.”
It was an impulsive courage. But every word was painful, as if someone was pulling my voice out from the bottom of my throat.
“Is it a secret? If it is a secret, there is something I haven’t told you yet.”
“What is that?”
I opened my eyes wide at his unexpected words and asked. I stopped talking about something that was about my life and focused more on his unexpected confession.
“Later. I don’t think it’s time to talk about it yet. If it’s something you find difficult to talk about now, you can talk about it later.”
“ ..Do you know what I’m talking about?”
“As long as it’s not a lie, it’s fine.”
“!”
Sigh, should I just ask to be killed here? Acting Empress. I myself started out as a lie...
“For example, if someone lied and said they loved me when they didn’t, that doesn’t fall under the category of forgiveness.”
“That’s absolutely not true!”
I raised my voice and waved both my hands wildly. He smiled briefly with satisfaction before becoming serious again and continuing to speak.
“It is also unforgivable to lie and say you don’t love me when you do.”
“That won’t happen, I swear.”
“Then what’s the problem? Zelda, do you have an incurable disease?”
“I guess I’m a bit of a hot girl.”
"Yes?"
“Oh, what I mean is... I have a high body temperature, but that’s not a disease... I don’t think.”
It may be a curse, but I held back the urge to raise my hand to the burn scar on my right side, out of habit.
“No way. It’s a blessing for me that you’re a hot woman.”
Linel is like an oasis to me...
“Oh, is there any debt I don’t know about? If so, then you really don’t need to worry about that.”
Linel threw the comment out there as a joke. I shook my head.
“I don’t have any debt. I just have a lot of combs.”
“Then, is there a man you’ve been hiding?”
As soon as Linel asked me this question, I turned around for a moment, feeling hot just thinking about it, and then returned to my seat.
“You can’t possibly be telling me that it’s a guy problem, right? It shouldn’t be.”
“The only man in my life is Linel. It was only after I met Your Majesty that I understood why God created men.”
He was so excited and squealing that I exaggerated a bit here and there. His once crumpled expression brightened up embarrassingly in an instant.
“If that’s not the reason, you can tell me later. I will do the same...”
He said it with a smirk, but his expression after the laughter seemed somewhat dark. I don’t know what Linel didn’t tell me, but it probably wasn’t as shocking as it was for me. But if I didn’t confess now, I thought it would be hard to muster up the courage again. I took a deep breath and exhaled, finally spitting out the secret I had kept in my heart.
“I am not the Empress.”
Support Novellate!
Comments
Post a Comment