Chapter 5

☾*✲⋆.

Even after looking at me for a long time, I couldn’t move, so he laughed beautifully with a satisfactory expression.

“I’m sorry, Lily. I guess I’m crazy. Don’t hate me, even if you hate what I act like.”

Then, suddenly, the atmosphere became grim, it crept over my face. I heard a sob come from the emperor.

‘This tyrant is truly insane. To get angry, laugh, then cry in one sitting.’ 

I internally clicked my tongue, and said ‘It seems that what you need is not a doll, rather a mental hospital.’ 

After his ‘test’, the emperor lowered himself with a more relaxed face than before. I was a little nervous about what I was going to do this time, but he suddenly hugged my waist, as if his arm was tangled there. I was embarrassed for a moment, but when the emperor looked up and gazed at me, my mood grew to fascination.

‘If you look up at me like that, I. . .’ 

Although the emperor was so beautiful, rather than romantic, it seemed that his embrace was more like a child hung up, and begging for the affection of his mother.

‘I’m not feeling as bad as I thought I would.’

He hugged me and buried his head in the thigh next to me. When his hot cheeks touched me, the thin, silk pajamas sandwiching between them, my temperature rose.

A low voice flowed though the lips pressed against my thigh.

“Lily, you can’t go anywhere else anymore.”

The emperor still hugged me for a while, unmoving. I looked down to see if he fell asleep, but was unable to check because the back of his head was facing mine.

‘Could it have been about 20 minutes?’

The emperor woke up silently, and headed to his bed. At that appearance, I cheered for a moment as if my first night with the emperor, which felt as long as decades, was finally over.

In addition, this time, I clearly saw the appearance of him yawning.

‘Are you finally going to sleep? The doll’s effect is awesome. Well? Can I stop acting like a doll when the emperor sleeps?’ 

While I was wondering what to do, the emperor took of his robe and threw it under the bed, and beckoned to me.

“Come on, Liliana.”

‘Yeah?’ 

What did you just say? As I was briefly distracted by his sculpted back, I doubted my ears.

“Hurry.”

I knew intuitively. It was different from before. I had to move now. After swallowing from my dry throat, I hesitated for a moment at the Emperor’s command then stood up. I looked I did, but fortunately I wasn’t wrong.

The emperor wrote the blanket back as I approached his side looking away from his naked torso.

“Go to bed.”

‘Yeah. . .!?’ 

I was so surprised that I felt my eyeballs popping out instantly.

‘Now, sleep? With me? Here? Does going to bed have an unambiguous meaning? Please say you’re joking!’ 

While I panicked and felt like the room was spinning in front of my eyes, he hugged me, and sat me on his lap. He took off my slippers by hand, while I felt his tight leg muscles under my thighs.

After he took off my shoes the emperor hugged me and gently laid me on the bed. His touch was careful as if thinking about the original person. As I tried to ignore the emperors touch, as I felt near naked, this time I concentrated on the feel of the bedding.

‘It’s soft. It’s a very high-quality product, right?’ 

I struggled with getting high-quality bedding, even in my previous life where I was hit with tremendous amounts of work, responsible for the absence of my precious sleep time.

Even in this fearful situation, I enjoyed the luxury of bedding.

‘Wow, is this going to be my first night bedding someone? Do I have to prepare for anything? If that’s the case, tell me in advance!’ 

I couldn’t believe this situation, as I knew how much the emperor respected Liliana.

“Lie down comfortably.”

As I lie down slowly, praying for my precious life, he immediately wraps his arms around my waist. I try to not defy his touch.

His strong arms wrapped over the thin, silk pajamas, as he pulled me close to his body. Startled, I struggled for a moment, and managers to grab the tip of the pillow.

‘I think my heart’s about to burst!’

It’s the first time I’ve ever seen— ( no, it’s not the first time I’ve seen it, but the first time I’ve seen in person?) a man in bed! It’s also with the person who held my life in his palms.

He hugged me stronger once more. The. the emperor’s face came right behind me, and i felt his breath brush against my ears.

‘Ahhhhhh!’ 

My face was flushed as if I were about to have a nose bleed soon.

“Liliana. . .”

A lazy voice, almost a sigh, flowed from the emperor’s mouth. There were goosebumps on the nape of my neck from his warm breath.

‘Mom, save me! Get away! ‘

But on the contrary, he squeezed his arms, and moved my back against his hard chest.

‘I’m feeling a man’s bare skin! A man’s chest! Ahhhh!’ 

In this dangerous bed, I was so relieved yet afraid that I couldn’t speak. But soon after realizing that I wouldn’t be able to escape anyway, I closed my eyes tightly and waited for the next step.

“. . .”

Waiting. 

“. . .”

I kept waiting.

“. . . ?”

Even after waiting a long time, the next signs of progress didn’t appear, so I grew determined and slowly turned to the emperor.

‘Now, are you sleeping?’ 

The tyrant emperor of decadent beauty, whose dark circles seemed deep enough to flow down to his chin, was asleep while hugging me tightly.

‘His sleeping face is so cute.’ 

I relaxed. I checked if he was really asleep by moving, but there was no reaction.

‘Oh, didn’t they say you couldn’t sleep well, for a week?’

Only then did I realize the true meaning of becoming his ‘doll’. I literally became a puppet for the tyrant to play with.

***

“Marie, just wake up. Marie.”

It’s been a while since i was able to sleep comfortably, but someone shook me.

‘Oh, who is it. I’ve finally slept for a long time.’ 

I used to suffer from insomnia, from working overtime, but I finally feel asleep after this long time. The fluffy textures, and warm sensations sent me to sleep.

“Marie.”

I was a little annoyed, and was about to tell the voice to leave me alone.

I stayed still for a while before I remembered my situation and opened my eyes.

“It happened. You must have been tired.”

Next to me as a freckled, scarlet-haired maid looking at me with a bright smile. When I saw some strafe maid clothes, I realized where I was.

‘I forgot I was reincarnated in a novel!’

I went to bed yesterday, and spent my first night, while I lay terrified next to the emperor. Even though it happened, who knew I could fall asleep like this.

“His Majesty went out at dawn. That to us . . .”

Then the maid opened the door and entered. Her shouting was enough to fill the whole bedrooms with screams.

“Are you up!”

The scarlet-haired maid was frightened by the loud appearance and stepped back. I just got up, so I rose from the bed, while staggering.

‘Huh, my back hurts.’

The problem derived from only sleeping on hard floors up until now, and then suddenly sleeping in a soft bed. What’s more, I was stuck with that tyrant, whose muscles stayed stiff all night, so my whole body hurt.

However, the maid-in-law yelled, as she was not aware of my circumstances.

“Do you know what you have done?!”

‘Me? Did I do something?’

I looked at the maid’s face in embarrassment, then quickly lowered my head as I felt her gaze.

If a slave, the lowest class, are confronted by a noble maid, they should be awed by their presence. Ten years of slave experience made my body instinctively lower its position.

Satisfied with my appearances the maid screamed loudly again, despite her old age.

“How can you sleep in such an rude position while sleeping with His Majesty!”

It was only then that I realized why the maid was so relentless.

‘My sleepy habits are a little…nasty. But he was fine when he woke up?’ 

In fact, I not only tossed and turned in my sleep, but also talked in my sleep and sometimes even drooled. Even though my body changed, my habits didn’t seem to follow in that suit. Even when I was sleeping yesterday It seemed that my sleeping habits came out.

‘Did I really sleep in such a manner? I couldn’t have, because the emperor didn’t seem to say anything.’ 

My imagination created a creepy scenario. The tyrannical emperor saw it, and passed it over?

‘My Lilliana wouldn’t do this! Shuksak!’ 

As I imagined this, my hand flew to my neck, without me knowing.

Fortunately, it was still attached.

“If your Majesty had not generously covered ‘Lily’ with his own blanket, I would have greatly feared for your life!”

‘I thought he was we just a crazy, blood-thirsty guy, but maybe he could be considerate. . . no. The heroine’s sleeping habits were nasty too.’

The heroine that is the reason I was turned into a doll, Lilliana. Unlike her beautiful appearance, she was a reckless tomboy. Except for liking books, the word ‘tomboy’ really hit her traits spot on. So it made sense that the emperor was convinced I was playing Lilliana’s role, and just left.

‘If the heroine hadn’t shared my sleeping habits, I would’ve died for nothing.’ 

I bowed my head deeply to convey a sense of understanding, and reflection to the maid. No matter how convinced the emperor was, there was nothing to say if I, a worker who was to play the role of the ‘doll’, was found sleeping in such a position.

In this case, it was best to crawl before I could walk. Actually, when I bowed my head, and pretended to be embarrassed, the maid seemed satisfied.

“I guess it’s partially our fault for putting you in there in such a hurry that we couldn’t even teach you manners. Whew. Soon it will be time for the new maids to learn etiquette, so clean up your bedroom and go out.”

At the order of the maid, I nodded and signaled that I knew.

Once the storm swept away, I was relieved and collapsed into the bed. My bottoms were buried into the bed. I looked back at the luxurious, fine bed and rubbed the blanked against my hand.

‘It still feels just as soft.’ 

It was unexpected that I got struck by the head-maid’s fire in the morning, but this kind of treatment was bearable. At least the food and bedding were great.

When I started making the bed, the maid held me back.

“Ah! I’ll make the bed. This is because I know a trick. Marie should go and wash her face.”

Seeing that she was pushing my back, she seemed the be my maid. After observing her, she looks like she’s in her early twenties, so around my age. Even though she became a slave’s maid, I wondered why a sad smile appeared on my exclusive maid’s face.

‘But, why does everyone keep calling me Marie?’ 

☾*✲⋆.

her internal thoughts are literally— they make up this book. Let’s be real.

My fingers were ITCHING to type comments into the story—but I figured it would be annoying so *suppresses urges* lets calm down.