Chapter 7

☾*✲⋆.

When I saw an unexpectedly calm doll while I was in a state of sleep deprivation, I lost patience and threw things a little too aggressively. Originally, ‘dolls’ from slavery get scared and struggle to run away when they’re shouted at or threatened.

If the new doll had acted like that, she wouldn’t have been safe with his half-minded hands*. However, the new ‘doll’ didn’t even lift an eyebrow, despite his screaming and violence. She had an amazing nerve.

( t/n: * meaning he would’ve lost control, and killed her out of the desire to do so )

Eventually, he fell asleep hugging the new doll. But no matter what he did, he felt uncomfortable.

‘Looking at me like that with Lily’s face.’

While Ridrian reviewed the following documents, Raven looked at the time and gave him his next schedule.

“Your Majesty, today’s luncheon is with the Marquis of Vibrio. They said he has already arrived.”

Ridrian heard him, but didn’t answer. Marquis Vibrio was a writer who had desperately opposed his recent agenda. If it weren’t for its competent ability, it would have already lost its voice.

(t/n: he’s referring to the Marquis as an ‘it’. )

Ridrian glanced at his watch once more, and then turned to the papers again.

“Cancel today’s luncheon.”

“Your Majesty.”

Raven was puzzled by the Emperor’s sudden request. Normally, there was no change in the schedule.

“I think I’m still sleepy.”

Ridrian’s joking tone made Raven pause.

The Emperor’s sleep is very important for this palace, and even for the well-being of the Empire. Furthermore, judging from the way he spoke sarcastically, he didn’t really want to go to bed.

Raven answered with a lip slightly curled up.

“Yes, Your Majesty. I’ll send the Chancellor to the luncheon.”

***

I suddenly awoke.

‘Hyuk! How long have I slept?’

I thought I was drooling, so I hurriedly wiped my mouth. Fortunately, my mouth was clean, but I sat down and slept, so my throat was dry. Looking at the clock, it seemed an hour had already passed.

‘It’s a lot more comfortable than I thought it would be…huh?’

Just as I was about to stand up, I felt a heavy weight on my knees and stiffened my body.

“Hmm.”

The emperor fell asleep with his head leaning against my lap, murmuring softly in his sleep. The sunlight that shined clearly was covered by the shade of the trees, a shadow casting on his face.

‘When did you get here?’

A cold sweat ran down my back.

I returned my gaze to the clock for a moment and then looked down at the Emperor’s face again. No matter how much I looked at it, it seemed like he was coming to see Liliana after a refreshing luncheon that he usually ate with nobles.

‘But why are you sleeping like this?’

I’d rather him just wake me up. I couldn’t believe that the emperor was taking a nap while leaning on my lap. Thanks to him, I had to sit there for a long time in fear of waking the Emperor up.

I wasn’t sleepy anymore because I just took a nap, and I started getting bored because I couldn’t move. I rolled my eyes in the silent room.

‘Shall I look at his face?’

I decided not to miss this golden opportunity. When else would I ever be able to look at the emperor’s face like this? I was able to relax more mentally than yesterday thanks to a good nap. I held my hair out of contact with his face and then carefully lowered my head.

‘It feels different from last night.’

If the emperor I saw at night was a decadent man who caused my nose to bleed just by looking at him, the emperor of the day was a sickly, handsome man.

His face was thin compared to his overall firm, solid-looking body frame. His smoothly stretched jawline and sharp nose play the most important role in his perfect features, and his slightly raised eye-shape* combined with his dark circles, created a decadent sexy look, rather than sharp.

(*t/n: the direct translation was: raised eye-tail? so I’m guessing he has an almond shape/fox eye shape. )

His straight eyebrows were a little lighter, but they were hard to see because of his long bangs. Reflexively, my heart started pounding as I remembered the golden eyes that shone under them.

‘Your eyes were like jewels.’

And his powerful, yet impressive lips had a clear three-dimensional effect, like a sculpture, the color was redder than yesterday, perhaps because of sleeping well.

‘He’s so handsome. Even asleep, he’s a sight for sore eyes.’

I will live face-to-face with this man, every day until next year, and I am very grateful that it’s with this face!

I couldn’t do anything because what I saw was so pretty, but my heart was pounding. If you have a pretty face, you will be forgiven.

Somehow, yesterday’s scary appearance came to mind, but I could only think of his beautiful face.

‘It’s dangerous, it’s dangerous.’

I cooled my heated face by fanning my hands.

Come to think of it, the emperor was said to be admired not only for his gorgeous face, but also for his power in the empire.

When reading the original book, I thought his qualities were just male lead tropes, and said it was funny because I never thought I would see those qualities in real life.

“An Emperor at the frontline, I thought I could only see the situation in a drama.’

Since the frontline is literally the first in place to face the enemy, most emperors, who symbolize the existence of a nation, usually took command from the rear for their safety. Being on the front line meant being arrogant or confident in their own military power.

Of course, the male lead, the Emperor was the latter. As evidence of this, the emperor’s elite troops were famous for having the highest survival rates while taking on the most dangerous mission in the three wars and conquests after he took over the throne.

Except for the fact that you wouldn’t know when you would die from the emperor’s whimsical sword, their troops were the most likely to survive, and it was easy to catch the emperor’s eyes if you met his expectations. The nobles tried to plant their children in this unit because of that.

When I imagined a field with his face, stirring the battlefield, thrilling scenes from the original came to mind.

‘Those scenes were really cool. Maybe that’s why he was so fit. . .’

Thinking of his physical condition came with a stream of consciousness. I remembered his firm chest that pressed against my back all night. At the same time, my face burned brightly.

‘Well, that was force majeure, but it’s my job to be with him often! Get yourself together!’

I shook my head to cool off my burning face. Then the emperor’s body flinched, and at the same time, my movements stopped.

His long eyelashes rose slowly. After being absent-minded for a few seconds, he soon yawned and stretched.

“Haa*. Did you sleep well, Lily?” (t/n: 하아암* in this occasion, it would be like a tired sigh or a yawn.)

He smiled at me with a drowsy face that showed he had just woken up.

I vividly remembered his luscious appearance in our first meeting, yesterday. Thanks to this, the emperor’s smile seemed to me like the voice of a beautiful beast who felt full. The emperor, who rose from his seat, lightly grabbed my hand.

“Come here.”

He sat me on the long sofa in the middle of the room, then lay down in my lap, while on his knees.

“Sit on this sofa from now on. That chair is hard.”

He took out a colored candy from a pretty glass bottle placed on the table and began to nibble on them.

‘Are you hungry because you didn’t eat lunch?’

As I was briefly thinking about the emperor’s poor eating habits, the emperor began to talk about many things.

“I can’t believe I took a nap. I feel better thanks to you. Since yesterday, Ivan has been chasing me around and telling me to leave the Kingdom of Lucretia alone. If you weren’t there, I would have cut it* on the spot.” (t/n: not him again—referring to someone as ‘it’ )

Then, he frowned slightly.

I thought over where the Kingdom of Lucretia was, spilling his wise words out of one ear*.

( tn: idiom, means to ignore what someone said without keeping it in mind. aka went in one ear and out the other.)

The Kingdom of Lucretia.

It was a neighboring country located in the southeastern part of the Ivantic Empire ruled by a tyrant Emperor, and was famous for its abundant wheat production and high-quality fabrics. It was a rich and wealthy kingdom, so it had frequent ties with the empire.

‘The silk there was very famous.’

It reminded me of that wife of her former owner’s family boasted of a silk shawl that she had received as a gift.

Since it was an influential country through diplomacy and trade, its neighboring countries chose to get along with the Kingdom of Lucretia as much as possible.

However, seeing that Ivan, who had been running the country for many years under the tyrant, Ridrian, who was so violent, the mad emperor must have sentenced him to conquer it. However, it was clear why the Kingdom of Lucretia was chosen as the target area for the Fourth Conquest.

‘If it was Lucretia, wouldn’t the scene take place there? The country that closed their eyes when the male lead crossed the border. Well, if they didn’t overlook him, the original wouldn’t have gone to that point. . .’

The original male lead had ended so gruesomely in the original, so I had compassion for him. It was understandable that the emperor was traumatized. The description of the gruesomeness was also uselessly detailed, so I read those parts and felt bad for a while.

She nodded inwardly with sympathy for the emperor’s feelings for the kingdom of Lucretia.

The emperor went on, fiddling with the tips of my hair. He stopped and whispered at the tips of my hair.

“I’m going to erase Lucretia from the continent. It was noisy asking for the price of silk every time, but now this is good. Oh yeah. I have a good idea. I’ll raise the price of silk, and instead, get you the necks of those royals. Of course. I will dedicate those necks to you, Lily. Please accept it with pleasure.”

I think he’s smiling at me again. It’s not a murderously attractive smile, it’s a delightful smile full of life. I flinched, with a tiny sweep of my ring finger and shrieked inwardly.

‘I don’t need that!’

The heads of the kings of the three countries that had already been acquired through the wars of conquest must have been devoted to Liliana’s tomb. All three countries contributed to the death of the heroine.

However, since I am not Liliana, I wasn’t happy at all when he lined up the necks of royals in front of me. No, if Liliana had seen him in the first place, she would have been shocked and would hurry the emperor into getting rid of it right away.

He continued to talk about political affairs in front of me for nearly an hour after that.

☾*✲⋆.

yo—this was so hard to translate, bc of the political affairs, holy *screams* hm. . . i’m anticipating what comes next?

I love you all, please take care and stay safe. I hope you all enjoyed this chapte