CH 32

RJR11-13 minutes 24.09.2023

“What are you doing?”

Lescal said to Pipi. The voice was small, almost like a whisper, but it was somehow ominous. Maybe it was because the moonlight was so blue. This was probably because the golden eyes stand out more clearly against the blue moonlight background.

“Beep.”

Lasilia was a little scared, but Pipi was rather calm. He pressed his body against her palm as if showing off and said he would sleep like this.

“Why you? Get out now.”

Lescal’s white teeth were revealed. Pipi turned his pack head and looked at Lasilia.

“Beep. Pii.”

Pipi was complaining in his sleep. He asked her to stroke his head until he fell asleep.

‘I think he’s doing this on purpose…’

She didn’t know why, but Pipi hated the Emperor. It was the same for the Emperor.

“Can’t you hear me telling you to turn off?”

“Beepp!”

Lescal extended his hand towards Pipi. Her mouth opened of its own accord.

“Your majesty!”

“…?”

Lescal hesitated.

“That’s too much for a small bird.”

“…”

Lescal frowned.

“It’s not excessive at all.”

“It seems excessive.”

“Why?”

Lescal was very serious.

“Because Pipi is small. He doesn’t take up much space, so there’s no reason to kick him out. Even if three people sleep, there will be plenty of bed.”

“It’s not a seat issue.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“If it’s doing that…”

Lescal twitched his lips.

“If there is?”

Lescal’s eyes glanced towards Lasilia’s hand, where Pipi was leaning against his body.

“…I cannot hold your hand.”

“Ah…”

…Why did he want to hold her hand while she slept? Lasilia wrinkled the bridge of her nose without realizing it.

“If it’s a hand, I believe it was held during the day. Did you still have more appointments left?”

“…no. It’s not like that.”

“Then it doesn’t matter.”

“…”

The thoughts inside the gold head rolled slowly in a circle. Lasilia didn’t know it, but that meant that Lescal was desperately trying to think of a reason why he could hold her hand.

“No, there might be.”

If it exists, it exists. What did it mean that it might exist? She looked at Lescal blankly, as if asking Lasilia to continue.

“So, if I grant your request… Ah, I called the imperial tailor.”

“Yes? I have never asked for a tailor.”

“I heard the closet was half empty.”

She didn’t know that every little detail like that would reach the Emperor’s ears.

“Even though that happened, I still have too many clothes.”

“Then I can’t hold hands?”

Again, the Emperor was very serious despite saying such strange things. He was a little funny at first, but now she didn’t even thought about it. It seemed like the seriousness had spread like a cold.

“…Phew, no.”

In the end, she lost to seriousness. Giving Yvette clothes she couldn’t even wear wasn’t a big deal, but the fact that the Emperor found out about it and called a tailor made her heart itch a little.

‘…Although he definitely ask for something in return.’

However, if the price of replenishing the closet was holding hands for one night, it was so simple that it felt mean to refuse.

“Then let’s do it this way. This hand belongs to Your Majesty, and this hand belongs to Pipi.”

“Pipi?”

“Beep!”

Lasilia was actually surprised because they both reacted in completely different ways.

“Did you give him a name? His name is Pipi?”

“Beep! Pipipit!”

Neither of them seemed to be in a very good mood. Pipi emphasized several times that his name was not just Pipi, but a longer, fancier name, and that only Lasilia could call him Pipi. She couldn’t figure out why the Emperor was in a bad mood.

“Name… It’s a name.”

Lescal frowned at her, touched her temple, and then opened his mouth again.

“Call me by my name too.”

“Yes…?”

“Beep!”

The Emperor, who called the bird by its name and asked that it be treated like a bird, and the bird, who was fiercely opposed to this, could not understand either of them.

“Is there anyone who calls you by your first name?”

“Not now.”

“Yes. Isn’t that because it shouldn’t be done?”

“You are okay.”

“No. It’s not okay.”

“You’re all okay.”

“…”

It was strange. Her itchy heart has now calmed down. She didn’t really know what it meant that everything was okay, but her heart just figured it out and became heavy alone.

‘Why do I feel this way? …It’s uncomfortable.’

Lasilia subtly averted her gaze.

“I’ll think about it.”

“Why?”

“I’m still unfamiliar with Your Majesty. I don’t think we’re honest enough to call each other names.”

“If not yet, does that mean it will happen later?”

“I can’t tell you that much. I don’t know either.”

“Why do you say you don’t know? You even gave the bird a name.”

“Because a bird is a bird.”

“What’s different?”

“How can a bird and your majesty be the same? And I wish I could just sleep. I’m worried that other people won’t be able to sleep because we’re noisy.”

“Beep! beep!”

Pipi flapped his wings noisily. He was just saying, ‘stop talking nonsense and go to sleep.’

“…Then let’s give in today by holding hands.”

What did this mean? Lescal took Lasilia’s hand and squeezed it. Pipi fluffed up his short feathers, which were no different from her downy, and showed his frustration. Lescal glanced at her Pipi and then placed his lips on the back of Lasilia’s hand.

“If it’s not the time yet, I’ll wait. The day you call my name.”

“…”

Lasilia bit her lip, feeling the feeling of her lips gently covering the back of her hand.

‘Oh, please… I hope you don’t do this.’

He thought it would be better to just hug her and press his lips against her. Because he just had to push that away. Rather, when the Emperor was as polite and considerate as he was now, it was more difficult for Lasilia to respond.

‘Just… I guess it was unexpected. That’s it.’

Lasilia forced herself to recall a brief dream she had had on the day she died. The pain of the knife being inserted into her chest and the blood flowing, and without a single ounce of pity, she recalled the Emperor’s cold golden interior.

‘Do not forget. If I fall in love with this person, I will die.’

Lasilia tried to sound calm.

“I just want to sleep. Because I’m tired.”

“As you wish.”

The Emperor let go of her hand that seemed like he would never let go of her and placed a pillow under her head while Lasilia looked at him puzzled.

“Ah… thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

He pulled her blanket up to under her chin and lay down next to Lasilia.

“Beep. Beep-beep.”

Pipi continued to struggle with sleep. Lasilia counted her time as she gently stroked Pipi’s soft head. The Emperor took her hand, which was covered by her blanket, and squeezed it. 

The feeling of lying next to her while holding her hand and letting her sleep was very strange. Lasilia had a nightmare that day. To say she was a nightmare, she wasn’t that different from reality. It was a dream where she was in the middle, and demons and birds with red feathers were fighting in front of her and behind her. What was different from reality was that the fight between the two was not just an argument. When the red bird caws, the whole surrounding area is on fire. When the demon moved his hand, a blade-like wind rose and cut the flames. For some reason, he didn’t get hurt at all. But it was a pretty bloody dream of hers, so Lasilia groaned all night long.

* * *

“Good morning, Your Majesty. Did you sleep well?”

The morning started with a refreshing greeting from Yvette. Lasilia turned to see Yvette pulling back the curtains of her bed, her strangely weary face showing.

“No. I’ve been dreaming for too long.”

“Well. What kind of dream was it?”

“…It wasn’t a good dream.”

Lasilia shook her shoulders as she still felt like she was standing in the middle of a fireworks and a typhoon. Then she suddenly realized that she was sleeping alone in her bed.

“What about Pipi?”

“Ah, Ren, he is with the Duke.”

“Lord Shryden? From morning?”

“Yes. They both have business to attend to together.”

It was said that Pipi and the Emperor woke up at dawn. The reason was unknown, but it was said that Pipi had been making noise since that time, so the Emperor took Pipi out of the bedroom. The two seemed to be arguing about something, and then Pipi went to see Duke Shryden. The Emperor received the message and returned to the imperial palace. It was said that Shadow Knight Liyan Sigress took the emperor away with a serious look.

“So something like that happened and I didn’t know?”

Lasilia could not hide her curiosity. The Prophet’s room was a stiflingly dark and quiet place. Having lived in such places all her life, Lasilia had a keen natural ear. She was a prophet, and when revelations from God came down to her, she was prone to falling asleep anywhere, so it was easy for her to wake up. She couldn’t believe that she had fallen into a deep sleep without even noticing that the people who had been sleeping next to her had disappeared one by one in the early morning.

“Because the bedroom was quiet. Besides, if you’ve had a long nightmare, it’s easy to not wake up.”

What did it mean that the bedroom was quiet? For some reason, it reminded her of the Emperor who mercilessly snatched Pipi and carried him outside when he was patting him while he was sleeping.

“…Let’s do it like that.”

Lasilia decided to stop thinking about what happened while she was asleep. Even if the Emperor acted as he had thought, it was meaningless.

“So, Your Majesty said that you would not be able to have breakfast with us today. He was very disappointed.”

It was a good thing. Lasilia rolled up the blanket and got up.

“What time is it? Did I oversleep?”

“No, Your Majesty. You opened your eyes at the hour when you always woke up.”

“Thank goodness. I want to wash my face.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. We have prepared water. Come this way.”

Yvette gently placed the slippers at her feet.

* * *

“One more news has arrived.”

Serven handed out a secret letter to Lescal with a stern expression. It was the second letter following the first one that came early in the morning. It was rare for messages to arrive every few hours. It meant that something unusual was happening. The place where the secret letter was sent was the secret intelligence gathering knights belonging to the Imperial Guard. Although they were systematically part of the Royal Guard, few people knew the identity of this order. Their role was to collect and report information that could be helpful or threatening to the imperial family from all over the empire. Just as the Emperor’s guardian knights were nicknamed the Shadow Knights, the unknown ones also had the nickname Silver Shield.

“What are they saying this time?”

Ryan, who was sitting on the window sill instead of rolling around on the office floor like usual, quickly approached her. The first secret letter that woke Serven up from his early morning sleep was that a priest belonging to the Temple of Harios had secretly visited Marquis Parshad. The second secret letter was what happened next.

“It is said that the Marquis and his wife rode in a carriage. It looks like we’re heading towards the Temple of Harios.”

Lescal frowned, and Ryan’s temples were filled with blood.

“What is that…? …You mean that Marquis Farshad snatched it from the temple as soon as he spoke about Her Majesty’s secret?”