CH 79

Who is the Fake Bride? (21)

Roelin looked curious as she began wondering why, and Kergel opened his mouth with a narrowed forehead.

“By the way, your face looks weary. You haven’t been feeling well lately anyway.”

It had been the moment when it was finally revealed why Kergel still had that stiff look.

He looked at Roelin’s face and carefully swept her cheek. Her face was naturally reddened by his affectionate touch. No, not only her, but Lucy and Silloa, who all saw the scene, blushed as well.

Lucy was still blushing before she managed to regain her senses and quickly took Silloa out of the bedroom. And after the two were left alone, Kergel caressed her cheek and opened his mouth once again.

“How are you feeling?”

“……I’m ok.”

“It doesn’t look like that at all. You’d better go back to bed.”

“Hey, um, Your Majesty!”

Roelin raised her voice in dismay at Kergel, who was now holding her. But he just walked to bed while hugging her regardless. Then, he placed her down on the soft sheet and took a seat next to her.

She instantly lowered her head to avoid showing her flushed face. And Kergel just gazed at her like that.

After a little while, it eventually occurred to her that she should apologize to him, too.

No, she had to apologize to him more than anyone else.

Roelin’s red face began to shadow slightly. She bit her lips with her head down and slowly opened her mouth.

“……I’m sorry, Your Majesty.”

“……”

“You already know everything, so what more can I even give you? I have nothing to say but sorry.”

“……Why didn’t you say that to me? You said that you had come here in order to live like a human being a little while ago.”

“……”

Roelin’s eyes shook. As she talked about this and that with the thought of solving Kergel’s misunderstanding a while ago, she thought that she even talked about the previous conversation she had with them without realizing it. She lowered her eyes and shut her mouth for a moment before she continued.

“It was never me, but my sister whom you had proposed to.”

The moment she put the words into her mouth, her heart ached. But she couldn’t stop talking.

Now that she had deceived him, she should be making a formal apology to him.

“You’ve already seen it, so you know about it, right? My twin sister…… She looks just like me. That’s why I’m here to marry Your Majesty, on behalf of my sister.”

“She must have pushed your back because I’m a monster.”

Kergel said with a smirk. He was angry to think of her as someone who had to come here as if she had been pushed regardless of her own will, but on the other hand, it felt rather strange to think that he was able to be married to this woman thanks to it anyway.

‘Should I be happy or angry about this?’

The moment Kergel smirked, Roelin’s voice shook once more.

“So I…… I can’t even make an excuse to you. I don’t deserve it at all. You’ve been tricked into having a wedding, a companion ceremony……”

Roelin’s eyes throbbed—thump, thump, thump. When she said it out loud, she felt more ashamed of the crime she had already committed. She eventually sobbed without even asking for forgiveness for her own cowardice.

Her slender shoulders slowly trembled.

At that moment, Kergel grabbed her shoulder and hugged her in his arms.

The scent of his body brushed against the tip of his nose. It was cool and amiable, such was his body odor. Roelin stopped the tears from pouring down again and swallowed the tears all up.

“Yes, you don’t have to make any excuses at all.”

“……”

“Because you didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Your Majesty—”

“You never hide anything from me. In front of me, you’ve always been Roelin. Not that arrogant Royal girl. That’s enough. I don’t even know what it was actually like to start with.”

“Your Majesty, but……”

Roelin was in his arms as she looked at him and shook her head. Then, Kergel wrapped her cheeks in both of his hands before he spoke in a rather stern tone.

“You are my only companion.”

Kergel had spoken his heart out.

Regardless of the revelation, this poor woman was still his companion.

There was no need to confirm it separately at all. He didn’t need a companion as a descendant of the wolf, but as a man named Kergel, he just longed for this woman right in front of him.

“Your Majesty…”

“I love you, Roelin.”

“……!”

Roelin opened her eyes wide at Kergel’s words while she was still talking to him. He confessed again as she faced the blue eyes that were looking straight at him.

“When did it start? Yeah, maybe it was right from the beginning. You’ve been in my eyes since I first saw you. Even if I was not looking, I just kept on thinking of you and I was also curious about you.”

“……”

“Why am I like this; I was dumbfounded. I met the arrogant Princess in person and it was amazing that she was not only about to laugh, she even wanted to tell jokes. So, let alone hating it.”

Kergel looked at Roelin with smiling eyes while covering her cheeks. He even felt a childish satisfaction as he looked at himself in her eyes, which were trembling as if she was embarrassed.

At this moment, the fact that she was looking at him made his heart proud above all else.

“But it all comes down to one’s heart. I love you. I can’t help but wonder what you’re doing. Seeing you makes me smile and makes me want to share one more joke with you.”

“……”

“But can I have a woman other than you as my companion? You said that I am also a person, Emperors are humans too. Before being an Emperor, who had to have a companion for various purposes, I am just a man who has only one woman in his heart.”

“……”

Tears slowly streamed down Roelin’s cheeks. Kergel wiped away the tears with his hand that was cupping her cheek. Roelin then held the hand tightly and spoke in a trembling voice.

“Me, too… Me, too.”

Kergel’s eyes were wide open at her words. She curled her eyes and spoke to him a little bit louder.

“I love you, too. I love you, Kergel.”

“……!”

Kergel again widened his eyes open in disbelief. Then, as he became unable to control his overwhelming heart, he embraced her as hard as he could.

* * *