Chapter 5

Even in the darkness and within the sheets, the dagger could be seen gleaming.Out of nowhere, the emperor had taken it out.

‘What is this? Are you trying to kill me now?’

I’ve been trying to make painstaking effort to die all day long, that the fear of death surfaced instinctively upon seeing the dagger.

As Cecil was about to scream, the emperor’s body moved like lightning.

She didn’t know what was going on at the moment.

The only thing she  knew was that her body flew along with the sheet and the dagger that was supposed to be in the emperor’s hand previously.

“Kyaa!”

“Uugh!”

The screams of Cecil and someone other than the emperor rang out together.

Cecil fell on the carpet with a shriek, and bulged out eyes. And as soon as she turned her head, she let out another loud scream.

“Aaaah!!”

A man was staring at her with a dagger embedded in his throat. Blood trickled down from the stab wound. No, pouring out.

“Thi, this mission…”

Although stabbed on the spot, the man had yet to give up his last breath.

“You…”

The man’s hand, while muttering incoherently, lifted and held up a dagger just as sharp as the one currently embedded in his neck.

It aimed directly for Cecil.

Unable to summon a way to avoid it, Cecil merely looked on as it was heading toward her.

I’m gonna die.

‘But why me and not the Emperor?’

Shouldn’t anyone in their right mind consider killing off the Emperor? I didn’t do anything. Why are you trying to kill me?!

There was a flurry of thoughts running through in her brain, but nothing came out of her mouth.

Baak!

The man’s body soared in the air with a dull sound just before the dagger was thrown at her forehead. At the same time, the dagger in the man’s hand rolled onto the floor.

“How dare you… “

Thanks to the deep voice that sounded, carrying anger within, Cecil knew that the emperor had kicked the assassin.

‘The Emperor saved my life just now, right?’

The Emperor had obviously tried to save her when he threw her out of the bed and booted the assassin a little while ago.

Now the emperor immediately reached for another set of daggers from his waist, before proceeding to throw them at the wall.

Cecil looked at the scene that was unfolding in front of her eyes while trembling and lying face down on the floor. She loved envisioning such scenes in the novel, but after experiencing it in person, she didn’t want to see it again.

Bak! Bak! Bak!

It was amazing that the daggers could lodge into the wall, but as soon as it struck, the loud sound resonated like an explosion in her ears.

The blade of the dagger shook slightly as it lodged into the wall so deeply that only the handle could be seen.

And even before the shaking ceased, a blood stained was formed around the shallow depressions.

Cecil soon found out that the stain was dark red. Blood. There’s no way there’s a pig or a cow in there, so it must be human blood.

‘Is there someone over there?’

What on earth happened in this Imperial palace, how is it that people can hide themselves in such places?

Meanwhile, the emperor approached one side of the wall and kicked it roughly. She heard a crack and soon the inside of the wall fell forward.

Naturally, it was a corpse that fell onto the floor. A corpse with a dagger embedded in the middle of its forehead.

“That’s it. They sent fewer han I expected.”

Less? One corpse dropped dead on the floor while three daggers were stuck to in the wall. There are four assassins that you’ve taken down and you call it too few?

While Cecil was holding her breath, the emperor returned to bed and sat down.

Cecil rolled her eyes. What should I do now? Should I say thank you and go out? Or should I get rid of the corpse that’s rolling over there?

As she gazes at the dead body, the emperor strode up, grabbed the corpse by the neck and pulled it up.

He threw the body of an assassin larger than himself out of the window as if he were picking up a paper doll.

‘It’s true that you have inhumane strength.’

She didn’t want to confirm that one of the rumors about the emperor is true in this manner.

Not long after the emperor had thrown the corpse which was comparable to a stone, he heard the sound of something heavy falling deep into the water.

Then the emperor moved again, and soon afterwards three more sounds were heard. All the dead-bodies of the assassins had been tossed outside.

“It’s also good to be clean.”

When the emperor dusted his hands and muttered, Cecil looked at the shattered walls and the puddles of blood and wanted to ask, ‘Where are you going?’ but held back.

The emperor sat down on a chair near the table and called Cecil.

“Come over here and sit.”

“Yes!”

Cecil jumped out quickly at the emperor’s words, like an obedient dog, and knelt before him.

Then the emperor frowned. Seeing his expression, Cecil put her forehead to the floor.

“I’m sorry. I dared to raise my head. Please forgive my rudeness.”

She no longer thought of ‘please kill me’ anymore. Seeing a real person die in front of her eyes made her mind more alert than before.

I didn’t want to exit this room in a similar fashion to those bodies. Of course, aside from being a corpse, floating like one is also a no-no.

‘I will behave as per your wishes!’

Revenge, what revenge?.

I thought it was too late to regret it now, but since I’m not dead yet, I thought I should at least try.

As Cecil contemplated, her head against the floor, she heard a voice above her saying,

“I don’t like it.”

“Pardon? Would you like me to bow once more?”

Cecil said so and moved to kneel on the floor. The thin clothing that the servants had changed her into exposed her chests and thighs while she knelt, but it was not the time to pay attention to such things.

“Not that… “

For some reason, she could hear a sigh from him and it made her wondered how to lay prone on the floor. Do I have to place my face on the floor carpet?

The emperor sighed and rose from his seat, then proceeded to grab her waist and princess-carry her in his strong arms as if she weighed no more than a feather.

“Owaahh!”

“Let’s talk.”

I don’t think this is an appropriate time or place to have a conversation, she thought, even as she nodded. Now, I simply have to do as I’m told.

Cecil was in a state of nerves as she recalled the bodies that had been flung out the window. Are you trying to throw yourself alive as well?

Contrary to Cecil’s assumption however, the emperor carefully lowered Cecil on the chair opposite him.

Did it feel like this when I was carried from the carriage during the day?

The emperor embraced Cecil and wrapped her with the bedsheet as she pondered why he was behaving that way.

“This is much better.”

The emperor muttered contentedly, as if he were pleased to see Cecil wriggling like a caterpillar.

Do I look that bad? If not, why did he wrap me up as if  he doesn’t want to see anything of me apart from my face?

“Now we can have a little conversation. I don’t think it’s appropriate for you … to talk a little while ago.”

“Talk…”

“Yes, I will question you and you will answer truthfully.”

***

Estian looked at a curled up Cecil from head to toe, reminding him of a white cocoon.

She looked so terrified that you might not believe she could be the one who made a bold demand during the wedding ceremony today.

‘She is weak.’

He thought as he took in the sight of her eyes quivering and forehead beginning to swell with faint traces of blood, he thought it would probably be black and blue and develop a bump come morning.

There was a sudden surge of displeasure when he thought about that.

“I knew I should’ve popped off their heads before throwing them.”

As he murmured, a gasp was heard from Cecil and he could see her shrink further in the sheets.

‘I think that will hurt.’

A short while ago, he had pressed Cecil’s shoulders and neck to trick the assassins.

He felt that her muscles were taut and tense, probably due to her agitation, and pressed them hard on purpose to elicit a moan from her. She did as he expected.

<Ha!>

< … !>

Cecil didn’t notice but Estian’s body slightly flinched at that moment.

There was an indescribable vague sensation. Is it because of the feel of soft skin beneath his calloused palms?

In addition, because the servants had already prepared her for the first night, he got a whiff of a mild scent in Cecil’s hair whenever she struggled in pain.

“I’ve never felt this good before.”

Estian did not like the scent itself in the first place because it paralyzes the sense of smell.

For those who are always on edge and vigilant to their surroundings, these are things they want to avoid.

Estian moved his hand more. After killing so many people and doing away with them, he naturally knew the location and movement of her muscles.

So Estian moved his hand again to press only where Cecil was most hurt. There was a moan from her again.

Soon, he detected the movements of the people hiding behind the wall. Apparently they believed the two were doing their night’s work with heavy breaths and moans.

It was a movement he had been waiting for, but he was not pleased at all.

‘If it wasn’t for those, by now…’

Estian, whose subconscious thoughts arose and stopped at that point, was surprised by himself.

So what if there weren’t any assassins? What were you going to do then?

He saw Cecil gasping under him.

Thanks to him only maintaining pressure on the most sore spot, she twisted and turned with a groan.

Her clothes were disheveled and her breathing unstable. Her eyes turned a little reddish and moist due to the tears that welled up in them.

The bright blonde of her hair scattered across the bed was dazzling even in the darkened room, and the green eyes of hers that  were glazed with a sheen of moisture shone as bright as jewels in the glow of the lamplight.

Estian couldn’t take his eyes off of her, as he tried to bear in mind who she is.

A woman who came from faraway lands to marry him. His wife. A woman who will be with him for the rest of her life, according to the marriage vows.

The moment he did so, he felt the blood rushing to his face after a long time.

He felt something was wrong.