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“I believed it. That Your Highness would come looking for me like this.”
At Iana’s words, Charles finally relaxed his stiff expression.
Charles examined her condition and asked, “You seem badly injured. Where are you most uncomfortable?”
“...I think my right arm and leg are broken.”
Iana answered cautiously.
Charles was momentarily speechless at her miserable appearance. Then, using arrows as splints, he wrapped the bandages he had brought around her leg.
Seeing his serious expression, Iana changed the subject. “How much time has passed?”
“Three days.”
Iana looked pitifully at Khan, who was being treated by another knight and ravenously eating the food.
“Khan has been starving for three days.”
“Aren’t you the same?”
“I only recently woke up from losing consciousness, so I’m fine.”
At that moment, Charles turned his back to her, knelt on one knee, and said, “Iana, get on my back.”
“My baby, let me give you a piggyback.”
Suddenly, her father’s words from when she was young flashed through her mind, and she hesitated.
She had an ominous feeling that something terrible would happen if she heard similar words.
Reading her mind, he said firmly, “Carrying you on my back seems to be the fastest way to get out of here…”
Iana mustered her courage and leaned her body against his broad back.
As their bodies touched, his warm temperature was transmitted to her cold body.
A moment later, Charles with Iana on his back, Khan, and the archers pushed through the undergrowth, heading towards the entrance of the rocky mountain.
The archers lit the surroundings with fire magic stones.
Iana felt pain every time her body shook as Charles ran.
But it was strange.
She found it harder to bear the overwhelming sleepiness than the pain in her body.
A strange sense of security.
She never thought she would fall asleep on someone’s back, but ridiculously, her eyes closed.
Charles, worried about her as he ran, asked, “Iana, are you in pain?”
“It doesn’t hurt, but I keep…”
Iana’s voice slowed down.
“Keep?”
“I’m sleepy.”
“If you’re sleepy, just sleep. You’ll be there when you wake up.”
Iana slowly moved her eyelids.
At that moment, a knight approached Charles and said, “Your Highness, it’s too dark to get our bearings.”
With a hopeful heart, Iana cast a spell and summoned the firebird.
Fortunately, the firebird rose high above them, illuminating the surroundings.
“That way,” the knight said, pointing.
A night eerily similar to the day Iana was afflicted with black magic.
She fell asleep on Charles’ back.
As if the events of being afflicted with black magic had never happened.
✦ ✦ ✦
The next day at dawn, Riel woke up in the Emperor’s bedroom.
The kiss that started in the greenhouse eventually led to the Emperor’s bedroom.
As if to prove the passionate night, the objects in the room were scattered messily.
The Emperor was fast asleep next to her.
At that moment, Carrion’s words flashed across the Emperor’s face.
“There are women like that. Women who become arrogant as if they’re something special just because you show them a little affection.”
‘Those women have no charm. Unlike Alisa.’
Riel quietly picked up her clothes and left the bedroom.
The Emperor’s secretary was standing in front of the door.
“What do you need?”
After spending the night with the Emperor, the secretary was more polite than yesterday.
“I’m planning to return to the detached palace before dawn.”
“Yes? But His Majesty is still asleep.”
“I am about to be executed. It would not benefit His Majesty to be known to people.”
Sleeping with the Emperor was significant.
Of course, the Rubena Empire did not officially recognize the Emperor’s mistresses under imperial law.
However, simply gaining the Emperor’s favor could bring immense power and wealth.
Like Alisa, whom even the Empress could not control.
“…”
The elderly secretary looked at Riel with suspicious eyes.
He seemed to think that her actions of abandoning a clear opportunity for a rise in status had ulterior motives.
At the same time, he seemed concerned that the Emperor had slept with a woman from a traitorous family.
“Follow me. I will guide you to the detached palace.”
“Thank you.”
Riel lowered herself as if nothing had changed even after sleeping with the Emperor.
After being guided back to the detached palace by the secretary, Riel began to write a letter.
To appear as if she was writing a final letter to an acquaintance before her execution.
About two hours passed. As she expected, the sound of many people’s footsteps was heard outside the door, causing a commotion.
“Get out of the way!”
‘They’ve come.’
Riel thought, watching the door.
Bang-.
A moment later, the door was opened roughly.
The Emperor came inside without even fastening his pajamas and glared at her.
“Your Majesty, have you come?”
Riel got up demurely and greeted him politely.
As if nothing had happened last night.
The Emperor strode over and snatched the letter she was holding.
“Is this why you left the bedroom without my permission?”
“I thought I should express my gratitude to those who have taken care of me.”
Riel spoke as if she would naturally be executed.
The Emperor stared at her silently before letting out a sneer.
“It would be best not to use your head. I hate pretense very much.”
Thud-.
The Emperor threw the letter he was holding on the floor. Soon, he stepped over it and sat on the sofa.
Riel sat down and picked up the trampled letters one by one, saying, “I am not that foolish.”
“…”
“Not enough to believe that my situation will change just because I spent a night with Your Majesty.”
“You are being pretentious to the end.”
The Emperor approached and roughly grabbed her hand as she was picking up the letters.
‘You may hold my lifeline, but my heart will not be as you wish.’
Riel sneered inwardly.
She would pretend to be obedient on the outside, but a man’s heart would burn only if he could not control her as he pleased.
“Tell me your true feelings. I will listen even to foolish and vulgar words.”
“…”
Riel lowered her head as if she did not want to speak.
The Emperor got up and approached Riel. Then, he cupped her chin with one hand and roughly pressed her cheeks.
“Ugh! Your Majesty…”
Riel could not speak properly due to the pain.
But the Emperor, with a blank face, gripped Riel’s cheeks even harder.
“Speak! Quickly!”
Riel had no choice but to pretend to answer, her voice trembling.
“I, I want to live and scare them. Those who despised me and raised their hands against me…”
“Them…?”
“To tell them that I have become Your Majesty’s woman.”
The Emperor seemed pleased with that reaction and slowly lowered his hand, sitting on the bed and saying, “Then, please me. Like last night.”
The Emperor reached out languidly, as if leading her to the bed.
Riel looked at the Emperor and thought, ‘Men are all the same. Emperors and slaves, all of them.’
She slowly walked over and took his hand.
With eyes full of awe, as if looking at a savior.
✦ ✦ ✦
Two days later, Iana stayed temporarily at the Fourth District Fortress for treatment of her injuries and fell into a deep sleep.
Occasionally, when she opened her eyes in her sleep, she saw Charles’ face.
As if she had met him in a dream.
When she woke up, darkness had fallen outside the window.
Creak-.
At that moment, the door opened slightly and Charles came in.
His gray hair was wet, as if he had just finished bathing.
“Are you awake now? How is your body?”
Iana sat up and asked with a worried face, “I’m fine now. But what happened to the Arika Vine?”
“Archmage Mule said that the rocky mountain in the Fourth District seems to be the source of the Arika Vine.”
Charles approached the bed and answered.
“The rocky mountain in the Fourth District?”
Iana murmured with a surprised face.
“So, we are looking for a way to remove the Arika Vine that is deeply embedded in the ground.”
Iana also fell into thought to find a way.
“Iana, for now, just focus on recovering your body.”
“Ah, yes. Then Your Highness must be tired too, so please go and rest.”
“Huh?”
Charles looked at her with a puzzled face.
Iana smiled to reassure him, saying, “I’m really fine now. You don’t have to worry anymore.”
At that moment, Charles poured water on the side table and drank it, throwing out unexpected words.
“This is my room…”
“Yes?”
“There is a shortage of accommodations here, so you and I are sharing it. While taking care of you.”
“…!”
Iana looked around, but it was a simple room with only a bed, a wardrobe, and a small sofa.
She looked at the small sofa with a face that seemed like she was dying of guilt and said, “Were you sleeping there uncomfortably because of me?”
“Isn’t it impossible for me to sleep on that small sofa?”
At Charles’ words, Iana opened her eyes wide and asked with a surprised face, “Then, were you perhaps sleeping on the floor?”
“No, next to you.”
“…!”
Iana blushed to her ears with embarrassment. Then, a thought flashed through her mind.
‘Then the face of Your Highness that I saw wasn’t a dream.’
“If you are uncomfortable, I will go somewhere else.”
Charles stared at Iana, waiting for an answer.
His words suddenly reminded her of the moment when she woke up alone in the dark cave.
Helplessness and fear.
She wanted Charles to be by her side today.
But as Iana was wondering how to answer, Charles spoke first.
“Then I will leave, so rest comfortably.”
He seemed to have misunderstood because she didn’t answer.
Just as Charles greeted her and was about to walk to the door.
Thud-.
Iana grabbed his arm and mustered her courage to say, “Don’t go. Don’t go and…”
“…”
“Please stay by my side.”
At Iana’s words, Charles finally relaxed his stiff expression.
Charles examined her condition and asked, “You seem badly injured. Where are you most uncomfortable?”
“...I think my right arm and leg are broken.”
Iana answered cautiously.
Charles was momentarily speechless at her miserable appearance. Then, using arrows as splints, he wrapped the bandages he had brought around her leg.
Seeing his serious expression, Iana changed the subject. “How much time has passed?”
“Three days.”
Iana looked pitifully at Khan, who was being treated by another knight and ravenously eating the food.
“Khan has been starving for three days.”
“Aren’t you the same?”
“I only recently woke up from losing consciousness, so I’m fine.”
At that moment, Charles turned his back to her, knelt on one knee, and said, “Iana, get on my back.”
“My baby, let me give you a piggyback.”
Suddenly, her father’s words from when she was young flashed through her mind, and she hesitated.
She had an ominous feeling that something terrible would happen if she heard similar words.
Reading her mind, he said firmly, “Carrying you on my back seems to be the fastest way to get out of here…”
Iana mustered her courage and leaned her body against his broad back.
As their bodies touched, his warm temperature was transmitted to her cold body.
A moment later, Charles with Iana on his back, Khan, and the archers pushed through the undergrowth, heading towards the entrance of the rocky mountain.
The archers lit the surroundings with fire magic stones.
Iana felt pain every time her body shook as Charles ran.
But it was strange.
She found it harder to bear the overwhelming sleepiness than the pain in her body.
A strange sense of security.
She never thought she would fall asleep on someone’s back, but ridiculously, her eyes closed.
Charles, worried about her as he ran, asked, “Iana, are you in pain?”
“It doesn’t hurt, but I keep…”
Iana’s voice slowed down.
“Keep?”
“I’m sleepy.”
“If you’re sleepy, just sleep. You’ll be there when you wake up.”
Iana slowly moved her eyelids.
At that moment, a knight approached Charles and said, “Your Highness, it’s too dark to get our bearings.”
With a hopeful heart, Iana cast a spell and summoned the firebird.
Fortunately, the firebird rose high above them, illuminating the surroundings.
“That way,” the knight said, pointing.
A night eerily similar to the day Iana was afflicted with black magic.
She fell asleep on Charles’ back.
As if the events of being afflicted with black magic had never happened.
✦ ✦ ✦
The next day at dawn, Riel woke up in the Emperor’s bedroom.
The kiss that started in the greenhouse eventually led to the Emperor’s bedroom.
As if to prove the passionate night, the objects in the room were scattered messily.
The Emperor was fast asleep next to her.
At that moment, Carrion’s words flashed across the Emperor’s face.
“There are women like that. Women who become arrogant as if they’re something special just because you show them a little affection.”
‘Those women have no charm. Unlike Alisa.’
Riel quietly picked up her clothes and left the bedroom.
The Emperor’s secretary was standing in front of the door.
“What do you need?”
After spending the night with the Emperor, the secretary was more polite than yesterday.
“I’m planning to return to the detached palace before dawn.”
“Yes? But His Majesty is still asleep.”
“I am about to be executed. It would not benefit His Majesty to be known to people.”
Sleeping with the Emperor was significant.
Of course, the Rubena Empire did not officially recognize the Emperor’s mistresses under imperial law.
However, simply gaining the Emperor’s favor could bring immense power and wealth.
Like Alisa, whom even the Empress could not control.
“…”
The elderly secretary looked at Riel with suspicious eyes.
He seemed to think that her actions of abandoning a clear opportunity for a rise in status had ulterior motives.
At the same time, he seemed concerned that the Emperor had slept with a woman from a traitorous family.
“Follow me. I will guide you to the detached palace.”
“Thank you.”
Riel lowered herself as if nothing had changed even after sleeping with the Emperor.
After being guided back to the detached palace by the secretary, Riel began to write a letter.
To appear as if she was writing a final letter to an acquaintance before her execution.
About two hours passed. As she expected, the sound of many people’s footsteps was heard outside the door, causing a commotion.
“Get out of the way!”
‘They’ve come.’
Riel thought, watching the door.
Bang-.
A moment later, the door was opened roughly.
The Emperor came inside without even fastening his pajamas and glared at her.
“Your Majesty, have you come?”
Riel got up demurely and greeted him politely.
As if nothing had happened last night.
The Emperor strode over and snatched the letter she was holding.
“Is this why you left the bedroom without my permission?”
“I thought I should express my gratitude to those who have taken care of me.”
Riel spoke as if she would naturally be executed.
The Emperor stared at her silently before letting out a sneer.
“It would be best not to use your head. I hate pretense very much.”
Thud-.
The Emperor threw the letter he was holding on the floor. Soon, he stepped over it and sat on the sofa.
Riel sat down and picked up the trampled letters one by one, saying, “I am not that foolish.”
“…”
“Not enough to believe that my situation will change just because I spent a night with Your Majesty.”
“You are being pretentious to the end.”
The Emperor approached and roughly grabbed her hand as she was picking up the letters.
‘You may hold my lifeline, but my heart will not be as you wish.’
Riel sneered inwardly.
She would pretend to be obedient on the outside, but a man’s heart would burn only if he could not control her as he pleased.
“Tell me your true feelings. I will listen even to foolish and vulgar words.”
“…”
Riel lowered her head as if she did not want to speak.
The Emperor got up and approached Riel. Then, he cupped her chin with one hand and roughly pressed her cheeks.
“Ugh! Your Majesty…”
Riel could not speak properly due to the pain.
But the Emperor, with a blank face, gripped Riel’s cheeks even harder.
“Speak! Quickly!”
Riel had no choice but to pretend to answer, her voice trembling.
“I, I want to live and scare them. Those who despised me and raised their hands against me…”
“Them…?”
“To tell them that I have become Your Majesty’s woman.”
The Emperor seemed pleased with that reaction and slowly lowered his hand, sitting on the bed and saying, “Then, please me. Like last night.”
The Emperor reached out languidly, as if leading her to the bed.
Riel looked at the Emperor and thought, ‘Men are all the same. Emperors and slaves, all of them.’
She slowly walked over and took his hand.
With eyes full of awe, as if looking at a savior.
✦ ✦ ✦
Two days later, Iana stayed temporarily at the Fourth District Fortress for treatment of her injuries and fell into a deep sleep.
Occasionally, when she opened her eyes in her sleep, she saw Charles’ face.
As if she had met him in a dream.
When she woke up, darkness had fallen outside the window.
Creak-.
At that moment, the door opened slightly and Charles came in.
His gray hair was wet, as if he had just finished bathing.
“Are you awake now? How is your body?”
Iana sat up and asked with a worried face, “I’m fine now. But what happened to the Arika Vine?”
“Archmage Mule said that the rocky mountain in the Fourth District seems to be the source of the Arika Vine.”
Charles approached the bed and answered.
“The rocky mountain in the Fourth District?”
Iana murmured with a surprised face.
“So, we are looking for a way to remove the Arika Vine that is deeply embedded in the ground.”
Iana also fell into thought to find a way.
“Iana, for now, just focus on recovering your body.”
“Ah, yes. Then Your Highness must be tired too, so please go and rest.”
“Huh?”
Charles looked at her with a puzzled face.
Iana smiled to reassure him, saying, “I’m really fine now. You don’t have to worry anymore.”
At that moment, Charles poured water on the side table and drank it, throwing out unexpected words.
“This is my room…”
“Yes?”
“There is a shortage of accommodations here, so you and I are sharing it. While taking care of you.”
“…!”
Iana looked around, but it was a simple room with only a bed, a wardrobe, and a small sofa.
She looked at the small sofa with a face that seemed like she was dying of guilt and said, “Were you sleeping there uncomfortably because of me?”
“Isn’t it impossible for me to sleep on that small sofa?”
At Charles’ words, Iana opened her eyes wide and asked with a surprised face, “Then, were you perhaps sleeping on the floor?”
“No, next to you.”
“…!”
Iana blushed to her ears with embarrassment. Then, a thought flashed through her mind.
‘Then the face of Your Highness that I saw wasn’t a dream.’
“If you are uncomfortable, I will go somewhere else.”
Charles stared at Iana, waiting for an answer.
His words suddenly reminded her of the moment when she woke up alone in the dark cave.
Helplessness and fear.
She wanted Charles to be by her side today.
But as Iana was wondering how to answer, Charles spoke first.
“Then I will leave, so rest comfortably.”
He seemed to have misunderstood because she didn’t answer.
Just as Charles greeted her and was about to walk to the door.
Thud-.
Iana grabbed his arm and mustered her courage to say, “Don’t go. Don’t go and…”
“…”
“Please stay by my side.”
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