CH 18

18. Oath

“…”

She couldn’t sleep until the sun came up.

“…”

“…”

It was the same with the Shadow Knights. The Emperor was still unconscious. In the meantime, she couldn’t let go of his body that he was holding tight, so she had to lie down on the bed with him. Since the Emperor transformed into a demon, the shadow knights could not leave his side. Eventually, the four of them entered the same bedroom.

Serben leaned against the door, and Ryan sat down on the floor in front of the bed. It was strange that both of them calmly found their seats, unlike people who suddenly burst into other people’s bedrooms. The strangest of them all was the Emperor.

The Emperor, who had lost consciousness while embracing her, slept as if he were dead. 

There was barely any breathing. Had he not slowly returned to his human form, she would have thought the Emperor was dead. Thanks to this, Lasilia had to watch the Emperor with her eyes open, unable to move.

The bone fragment protruding from the forehead was a horn. The reason why the Emperor was covered in blood was because of the mutations in his body.

The bone fragment protruding was much worse in the back. It was almost to the point of hacking. This is because the wings are much larger than the horns. At first, she was shocked at how miserable it was. She could understand the words of pain that the human body could not handle.

“Looks like he is almost back now.”

Ryan, who was sitting on the floor with her legs folded and her chin resting on the Emperor, stared intently at the Emperor.

“…Right.”

Lasilia took a fresh look at the Emperor, who had been keeping an eye on her all this time. 

His face was almost completely restored. As long as one wiped off the bloodstains, it wouldn’t be any different than usual. There were still deep scars on his back, but all the bone fragments that had torn the skin and protruded were all in. Other than that, black scales remained in places around the wound. The scales, which seemed to have been cut and pasted on her knife, gradually became transparent and thinned over time, then disappeared.

“I wish I could wipe his face. Can I call someone to bring me a wet towel?”

Serben let go of his body leaning against the wall.

“I will go. It’s not good to see him like this.”

He was talking about Lescal, who still had traces of mutation.

Lasilia asked.

“But isn’t the fact about the blue moon a secret? People from Eliadon would not know that the imperial family had demonic blood mixed in it.”

“Still, if you see it with your own two eyes, there will be agitation… Ryan, will you continue to be by His Majesty’s side? Would you like some medicine when he comes?”

“It’s okay. It doesn’t hurt.”

“If I let it go, it will hurt.”

“It was just scratched. Go.”

“Well, in that case.”

Serben left the bedroom. In the meantime, the Emperor moved his head, and his blood-drenched hair touched the top of Lasilia’s chest. Lasilia brushed the Emperor’s hair to tidy it, not because she hated it, but because it tickled her.

“It’s really amazing.”

Ryan, who was watching the scene, said.

“Did you tell me?”

“Yes, what? Even though you felt it yesterday. Aren’t you scared?”

“Your Majesty?”

“Yes. Like the mutation, and the sudden appearance last night… I couldn’t take it off, but you’ve been putting up with His Majesty all night long.”

As Ryan said, no matter how hard the two knights tried, they couldn’t free the Emperor. Usually, the Emperor’s body was different from that of ordinary humans. When it mutated, it looked more like a demon than a human.

“It’s not scary.”

She was surprised. It was the same with the changed appearance, but the same was true with the two knights crashing out. Still, she didn’t think it was scary. Even when the Emperor was right in front of her nose, Lasilia did not get the feeling that he was trying to harm her.

“He has lost his mind, but there’s no reason to be afraid. He fell asleep like this, so he won’t harm others.”

“Well, that is a very unexpected perspective. What does it look like? No matter how you look at him, he is not human, are you okay?”

“I can’t say that it’s nothing. I can see in his eyes how painful it is.”

“That’s not what I meant by asking. So, creepy or scary… At least you don’t like it because it’s so ugly, or… don’t you?”

Was this look scary? Lasilia looked at the Emperor at a distance close enough to feel his breath intact. It was a problem because even when the bones were protruding and the scales were growing, it looked painful, but it wasn’t scary. Maybe it was because she had such a dream. It was because she saw someone with the same scaly face in advance who showed her a very affectionate gaze. And because those eyes were the same golden eyes as the Emperor’s.

“I don’t think you can call this face ugly.”

Ryan muttered with a confused face.

“Uh… It’s very… That’s an answer I wasn’t expecting.”

Lasilia tilted her head.

“Isn’t His Majesty a handsome man? Is it only in my eyes?”

“No, that… Yes, of course, he has extraordinary beauty, but a mutation has occurred.”

“It still looks the same. The skin has changed and the bones have just come out.”

“So it’s not a problem, is it?”

“It will eventually recover. And even though it had scales, it wasn’t that strange.”

Again, it was because of the demon from her dream. Thanks to seeing the appearance in advance, the transformation of the Emperor did not seem very foreign or scary. It just didn’t seem right. She thought it hurted too much

Ryan, who was looking at Lasilia dumbfounded, shook her head.

“I am… I really don’t know Her Majesty. Judging from what you’re saying, you seem like someone who could be his destiny, so why are you so rejecting His Majesty?”

“…”

Lasilia also wanted to know the reason. Why had the Empress lost her mark?

“I cannot give you an answer. I don’t remember anything.”

Ryan laughed, twisting her cheeks and lips.

“Hah… That memory loss, it’s really filthy convenient.”

Just then Serben returned.

“I have brought you water and a towel, Your Majesty the Empress… Has anything happened?”

* * *

Serben looked at the two of them alternately and shook his eyes. It seemed to the knight with a keen sense that the air in the room was different from before.

Lasilia opened her mouth.

“Nothing. Sir Sigres’ loyalty was only impressive. Give me a towel.”

“Oh, so…? Are you skipping over it? Really?”

“There was nothing worthy of using the expression skipping.”

When Serben glanced at Ryan, Ryan subtly avoided his gaze. Serben dipped the thickly wrapped towel around his forearm into the water, wring it out, and handed it to Lasilia.

“Here you are, Her Majesty.”

“Good work.”

Taking the wet towel, Lasilia naturally began to wipe Lescal’s face.

“Oh,”

Then Serben suddenly hesitated and nearly overturned the water bowl. Ryan quickly grabbed the water bowl by her side.

“Why?”

At Lasilia’s words, Serben frantically squinted his eyes.

“That is… Are you wiping everything?”

“I told you to bring a wet towel for that.”

“Didn’t her Majesty the Empress want the towel to wipe her face?”

“Is my face dirtier than His Majesty’s now?”

“Of course, as usual, the appearance is dirty but beautiful… sorry. I made a mistake. I didn’t mean to be rude on purpose… No, you’re cleaning it! Your Majesty!”

Serben, who was always calm and serene, seemed really flustered when he saw she was wiping His Majesty.

“I wonder if I’m better than you guys. Your Majesty is still holding on to me.”

It was fortunate that her arm was not caught. In any case, it was Lasilia who felt uncomfortable when someone else was idly by her side while he was hugging her so tightly. 

Serben stupidly opened his mouth or not, Lasilia meticulously wiped Lescal’s face with a wet towel.

No matter how you look at it, it didn’t make sense that this face was scary. He was more beautiful than any human Lasilia had ever seen. If the first time she saw his face hadn’t been in a dream in which she died, she wouldn’t have been so afraid of him in the first place.

“I want you to change the towels… Sir Sigres?”

Wiping the bloodstains quickly made the towel dirty. Lasilia looked at Serben to mean to change the towel, but neither Serben nor Ryan responded. Both of them were staring at something.

“Sir?”

When Lasilia called out once more, Ryan pointed her finger at Lescal’s back.

“Can you see it?”

Couldn’t they see Lescal was holding Lasilia by the waist and resting his head on her shoulder.

“Why but?”

“The wound…”

“Wound?”

Ryan said in disbelief, with her eyes wide open.

“Gone. Entire. All of a sudden.”

It was then.

“…Are you dreaming?”

Lescal, who had returned to his original form, opened his eyes.

“Your majesty…?”

He reached out and cupped Lasilia’s cheek.

“You are in my bed.”

Lesscal spat out words that seemed to boil over, and their lips overlapped.

* * *

“That’s not it, Your Majesty is in my bed.”

Fortunately, the kiss was only an attempt. Ryan and Serben’s momentary panicked moan made Lescal look back, and Lasilia was able to pull up the blanket to cover her face. Lescal couldn’t remember exactly what happened after the mutation happened. All he knew was that he had locked himself in the room and had Ryan guard the door. So he couldn’t easily accept the fact that this was the Empress’s bedroom.

“…You didn’t come to me.”

Lescal sighed softly. His gaze toward Lasilia was slow, as if hesitating. As soon as he opened his eyes, it was a completely different look from the time when he suddenly tried to overlap their lips.

“Then maybe… I force you…”

“No, Your Majesty!”

It was Serben who jumped up in response to those words.

“Even though the two of you spent the night in the same bed, we also stayed in this room. There was nothing like that to worry about!”

“Ah…”

Lescal crumpled his face slightly. It was hard to tell if he was angry or the other way around.

“Good luck, then. Are there any injuries?”

It was strange. The expression was hard to recognize, but the gold eyes were the exact opposite. Like the demons in her dream, they were affectionate and lonely. She had the illusion that the Emperor seemed to have a similar affection, just like the demons who say it didn’t matter if they were sick to protect her… Why would she have such a dream?

Lasilia hid her bitter smile.

“No, Your Majesty. You don’t have to worry about last night’s work anymore.”

“… then.”

He slowly raised himself up.

“I’m still here… am I?”

“I think you’d better take a bath. I wiped your face, but there is still a lot of blood in other places.”

“Right.”

Very slowly, Lescal rose from the bed. The bed, where the two of them had been hugging each other all night, soon lost its warmth when one of them stood up. This made it easier to breathe, but on the other hand, it also made his skin feel a bit chilly.

“Can I come back after taking a bath?”

Lescal asked Lasilia, who was unconsciously wrapping his body in her arms. It was also a bit odd. She felt that the Emperor, who used to lie calmly and make excuses to do whatever he wanted, was now overly cautious.

“Aren’t you supposed to be staying here for the time being?”

“That’s right.”

The question was slow, but the answer was quick.

“I will come after taking a bath.”

“Do as you please.”

“It won’t take long.”

The Emperor dared to say something he didn’t have to do, and left the bedroom with Ryan.

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