CH 37

RJR11-13 minutes 29.10.2023

Bang, bang!

The bathroom door rang as if to shatter her thoughts.

“Your Majesty the Empress! Your Majesty ate it!”

A bewildered palace servant’s voice continued from outside the bathroom.

“Oh, His Majesty has arrived! Shall I open the door, Your Majesty?”

Yvette stood up. Lasilia urgently stopped Yvette. Let alone the fact that she was bathing, she wanted to avoid facing the emperor while she was thinking about running away.

“No, just say you’re in trouble because you’re taking a bath.”

“Oh, still… I understand.”

Yvette came out of the bathroom. It took quite some time as if something was going on. Lasilia continued to stare at her ceiling, her eyebrows furrowed. She wanted to continue her thoughts, but the Emperor was not the only one who interrupted her.

“Beep!”

This time, Pipi flew through the window. She seemed like she wouldn’t back down until she pricked the window with her little beak and opened it.

“What’s happen?”

Lasilia stood up from her bathtub and opened the window.

“Beep!”

Pipi rushed in and started circling around, muttering something.

“Ah…? Where did you hear about that again?”

“Beep! Beep!”

Pipi was angry after hearing what happened in the garden. Today too, Pipi was practicing hunting with Duke Shreiden, and when she heard what happened to Lasilia, her anger rose to the top of her head.

“And… That far away? Is she already able to fly on her own?”

“Beep!”

He told her to stop talking and tell her what to do with that unpleasant person.

“They said it was a mistake. She was embarrassed herself.”

“Beep!”

Mistakes were his problem, and he said he couldn’t overlook them.

“It’s fine. My clothes are just wet. It’s not like I completely fell into the water like I did then… Oh, come to think of it, water-related accidents happen frequently here.”

“Beep? Beep!”

“No, it’s really okay. It was a mistake even then.”

“Beep! Beep!”

“Really. So don’t do anything. That person is a witch doctor. What if you get hurt?”

“Beep!”

Pipi flapped her wings, wondering if she could possibly be defeated. Then he said he would take care of it and flew off again.

“Ah. It’s really good now. It’s still that small.”

Pipi, who was still so small, was no longer visible.

“No, but you shouldn’t be admiring something like this. Pipi might get hurt.”

She had no choice but to ask the Emperor for a favor. She opened the bathroom door as Lasilia wrapped a wet towel around her body. She wanted Yvette to convey her words to the Emperor.

“Ah…”

“…”

But she swore, she had no idea that the Emperor was still there. She made eye contact with the Emperor. At that moment, both of them froze and could not move.

“Woe, Your Majesty the Empress! Why don’t you call me…”

Yvette, who had been frozen together, was embarrassed and blurted out her words.

“I know… I didn’t know you were still there. You are not dressed appropriately, so we will close the door.”

After coming to her senses, Lasilia turned her back and slammed the door shut.

“Wait for a sec.”

Widely!

The Emperor held the door from the other side. As she looked over his shoulder, she saw his hand stuck in the crack of the door. She didn’t know it would hurt.

“Just talk. I won’t tell you to open the door.”

“…First, remove your hand. You might get hurt.”

“I will do it if you listen.”

“Okay, put your hands away.”

The hand stuck in the door slowly disappeared. Lasilia left the door open, leaving just that much of a gap. The Emperor began to speak slowly.

“That is… So I… I didn’t know that Decan did it that way. I didn’t do that on purpose.”

The Emperor was apologizing for what had happened in the garden.

“Trust me. That’s not really what I meant…”

“They said it was a mistake. I also knew that and decided to move on.”

“Even if it was a mistake, it shouldn’t have happened.”

“What can we do about what has already happened? And it was no big deal. It’s just wet.”

“No, it’s not like that. How can it not be a big deal? It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have done that.”

Thud.

The sound of something hitting the door rang out. For some reason, it felt like the Emperor was pressing his forehead against the bathroom door.

“What should I do? To relieve your anger.”

She didn’t even say she was angry.

“You don’t have to do that. I’m not angry.”

“No way. You’re still avoiding me.”

It was true that she was avoiding it, but it was for a different reason.

“…yes. As I said, my outfit is inappropriate right now.”

“So I tried to wait until the bath was over… If I wear clothes, you won’t avoid me?”

Still, she would avoid it. If he continues to look at himself like this, with the eyes of a fateful companion.

‘It might be okay to pretend to be angry for a while.’

Lasilia pursed her lips. She was uncomfortable with the Emperor, this situation, and herself experiencing all of this.

“I didn’t know how I felt. You’re right to be angry. I hope we won’t have to see each other for a while.”

It felt as if the Emperor’s embarrassment was leaking through the door.

“…What is that…”

“Oh, and I think I’ll be even more upset if something happens to Fifi. Please crack down on Your Majesty’s knights. then,”

Thud!

Lasilia closed the bathroom door. Her body, which had been warmed by warm water at best, became cold again from the wet towel.

“Cold…”

Lasilia went back into her bathtub with his arm around her shoulders. he water no longer felt warm.

* * *

“Cough!”

Finally, a cold came. The cause of the problem was staying in the cold water for too long.

“What should I do, Your Majesty… This is all my negligence.”

Yvette shed tears after coughing a few times. Self-reproach again led to a fountain. She couldn’t stop herself from saying that she should have been covered in water.

“Hmm… I know now that it’s no use saying no, but can’t you just be quiet… My head hurt.”

“Omg! Yes, yes! From now on, I won’t even make a sound, Your Majesty!”

“Your breathing is okay…”

“Yes, yes! Then just breathe!”

It was a pretty bad cold. The cough that scratched his throat was serious, but his fever was so high that he felt dizzy. It felt like I was half dreaming. The court doctor said he visited several times, but he couldn’t remember that. Still, since he took the medicine, he will get better.

“Your Majesty the Empress. Good night?”

Yvette’s concerns were heard through the faint gap of consciousness.

“Umm… no. But I think I’ll fall asleep soon.”

“Ah, I see. Sleep well. You will feel much better after you sleep.”

“Huh…”

“Is there anything you need before you go to sleep? Can I take you to the bathroom before that?”

“No, it’s okay… Oh, shouldn’t you drink ginger juice?”

“Yes? Ginger juice? Would you like some ginger juice, Your Majesty?”

“No way. It must be the most delicious juice in the world. But I said you have to eat it if you catch a cold. Even if I don’t want to eat it, I always make it…”

“Yes? Me?”

Yvette opened her eyes wide.

“I didn’t even know there was such a thing as ginger juice.”

“Ah…? Flota, she always…”

“Flota?”

“…? Ah…”

It was because of a cold. Lasilia’s complexion turned slightly pale as she accidentally mentioned the past. Yvette, who was tilting her head, came to Lasilia’s side and stamped her feet.

“Oh my gosh. In the meantime, your complexion has worsened, Your Majesty. By the way, who is this person named Plota?”

“Flota… I know.”

Lasilia deliberately interrupted her for a moment. There was only one acceptable excuse in this situation.

“I don’t know. I thought I might remember something… I can’t think of it anymore.”

“Well… Could it be that she was the Duke’s maid? If he usually made ginger juice… Oh, that’s right. But what about ginger juice? Tell me what it is and I will do my best to make it.”

“It’s fine.”

It was now unknown whether ginger juice was really effective in treating colds. Because Plota would never have cared for her. Maybe he fed it to me every time to see that he was disgusted by the spicy and astringent taste.

“I’ll just sleep… Oh, what about Pipi? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Ren hasn’t returned yet. I will go to Shriden and ask about his whereabouts.”

“Okay. Watch carefully. just in case.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Don’t worry, just sleep.”

“Huh.”

She thought she heard a small sound of Yvette leaving the room. Lasilia coughed in a half-asleep state and then fell asleep. And she had a dream.

* * *

-Are humans naturally this weak?

It was a shocking thing to hear from a human who believed he was young and healthy, but for now, he nodded. Because it was true that she had a cold.

-But I’m worried because she won’t die easily… Hitch!

-I don’t understand. How can you get sick just by falling into the water?

The water was very, very cold beneath the thickly frozen surface of a lake in the middle of a mountain range covered in ice, but to the demons, water was just water.

-If I told you that the fact that I only caught a cold after falling into that lake is proof that I am very healthy, wouldn’t you believe me?

He didn’t even hear anything like that.

-It would be nice if there was a way to make your body better.

The tips of his red nails touched my forehead. He didn’t know why the expressionless expression that humans couldn’t understand seemed so affectionate and warm when it touched him.

-But your body is different from mine. I don’t know how.

-It’s fine. It will be better if you stay warm.

-Then.

Grumbling.

He could hear a fire burning somewhere. But it was not visible.

-You didn’t start the fire?

-I smoked it.

-Where? I can’t see it.

-Inside my body.

-Huh?

The demon held out his arm covered in black scales.

-Even if you light a fire here, you can’t maintain it. Instead, I can do it with my body. It’s holding me.

-Ah…

The black scales seemed to be turning red. As expected, he couldn’t understand his existence. How can one be so dedicated? You are a demon, not human. Why me, a human?

-Touch it. If it’s too hot, we’ll reduce the flame.

He placed his hand on his outstretched arm.

-How about it? Is it enough to burn your skin?

-…no. Just right.

It was very warm. It was just warm. He opened his arms and hugged his body, not his arms.

-I think I’ll get better soon if I stay like this.

He seemed a little stiff at first, but I followed his hugging movements.

-I can’t understand human illness, but I think I can understand the word good.

A voice different from that of a human passed by my earlobe softly.

-Good.

When he heard those words, his body trembled strangely.

-Me too.

‘I like you.’

* * *

“…good… ah…”

Lasilia mumbled in her sleep. Actually, it was really good. Her headache disappeared and her body felt warm all the way down to her toes. He was holding something very warm. It was hard but soft. It was cozy and comfortable. It smelled warm and refreshing.

“Me too.”

Someone’s low voice reached her earlobe. It was that voice that brought Lasilia back from her dream to reality. It all resembled a dream now, the only thing that was different was the voice. She knew that voice.

“…your majesty?”

Lasilia frantically raised her head. She was looking at herself, dazed, as if the emperor’s golden eyes had caught a cold.