CH 4

“That’s crazy!”

Lionel said he loves me.

There was a lot for me to think about. I couldn’t control my feelings.

Lionel, the great Lionel Woodberg, loves me!

My head was spinning and my heart was pounding.

It was an absolute dream to hear that Lionel loved me.

This was something I could never have imagined.

I wanted to hold him in my arms and roll around on this vast bed and scream. 

‘Lionel Woodberg loves me!’

The thrill shook me from head to toe.

I couldn’t calm down because I heard the person who I thought would never love me for the rest of my life say he felt the same as I did.

If I could, I wanted to show off my crush to everyone who laughed at me.

‘Look! There’s nothing you can’t do if you dream!’ An angel blew a trumpet and sprayed confetti along with my confident cry in my imagination.

My whole body trembled with joy. 

“Is it so disgusting that you’re shuddering?”

I heard Lionel ask something. But sadly, the words weren’t heard by my red ears.

“You love me!”

“Yes.”

I was relishing the joy inside my heart when I heard his answer.

Then, I heard Lionel’s subdued voice.

“I know it’s hard to believe when I suddenly say this.”

“Suddenly?”

Only then, did I start to think again. Come to think of it, Lionel’s confession was too sudden.

Now, I had to doubt his words before I left.

‘Are you kidding me?’

But it was weird too.

As far as I know, Nel isn’t the type of person to play this kind of prank. There isn’t anything he’ll gain from deceiving me either.

If so, is this confession sincere?

‘Wait. If that’s the case, my wish, it…’

My face became serious as I thought about it.

The reason I made a wish was because I thought he hated me.

His expression was hardening as my expression changed from moment to moment. Unfortunately, I didn’t notice it.

‘But still, I like how this is going…!’

My heart was pounding as much as my confused head.

I was contemplating what to ask him first, but Nel spoke first.

“It’s okay if you don’t believe me. It’s all my fault.”

“No, it’s not that I don’t believe it-”

“And nothing will change anymore.”

I replied with a shy smile but Lionel cut me off with a firm voice.

When I came to my senses, Lionel was staring at me with dry eyes.

Although they were still slightly wet, his blue and beautiful eyes were now overly gloomy.

Something was weird.

He wiped his wet cheeks insensitively, and his soft skin reddened. 

Tears were no longer flowing down.

“I will soon raise you to become the Empress.”

“What?”

The progressively improving mood stopped at that spot. My mouth that was smiling with joy, stiffened.

“What did you say?”

What am I going to be?

I seriously thought I heard him wrong.

Then Nel kindly answered me once again. 

“Lindel, you’ll be my empress soon. Then, you won’t be able to go anywhere.”

My expression froze immediately. 

Lionel looked at me with an expressionless face.

E-Empress?

“No way!”

My voice burst out with a scream.

For a moment, there was a bitter look on Lionel’s face but it soon disappeared under a cold mask. 

“W-wait a minute! Empress? You can’t decide something like that so easily-”

“It’s already been decided.”

“The nobles won’t remain still. The seat of the country’s mother is an important matter! No matter how much you want me to, it’s not something you can decide on your own-”

“I’ll just say I chose my empress. Who would dare to oppose me?”

He was so calm that I couldn’t believe he was crying a while ago.

On the contrary, I was excited.

“Sire!”

Me becoming the empress cannot happen. It’s absolutely impossible.

‘It’s not his concubine, but his empress!’

There was a reason why I was so opposed to becoming the empress. 

The Empress is the only one who can stand by the Emperor. It is a position where people could enjoy having a lot of power. 

There is a lot of responsibilities that followed the position. 

Nobility. It would be a lie to say that those with power live by simply playing around. Those with more power had especially more work to do.

Even if I loved him, I had no intention of climbing up the social hierarchy and onto the throne.

‘I wanted to live comfortably and quietly while fooling around!’

Even when I worked as a knight, I had so much work that I wanted to quit whenever I had the chance and become unemployed.

But if I become an empress, I’ll have to work hard for the country until I die from old age!

“I don’t like this!”

Besides, if I become an empress, I can’t leave the imperial palace without the permission of the Emperor.

It’ll be impossible to leave the palace for the contract.

This was the biggest problem. 

If I’m trapped in the imperial palace and become unable to fulfill the contract, I’ll die.

When I shouted in contemplation, my cold expression broke and Lionel bit his lips.

“Even if being next to me is so terrible for you, I can’t help it.”

“No, that’s not it!”

It’s not because I hate you. It’s because I hate the idea of becoming the empress!

“Don’t even think about dying alone. I’ll never let you do it.”

“……!”

That’s right! This was the problem!

His misunderstanding was the problem.

I should have never been caught throwing up blood, but it was already too late.

The reason why he wants to use this and keep me in the imperial palace was because of the misunderstanding that I accepted death.

Cold sweat streamed down my back.

“I’m not dying! I’m fine!”

Lionel did not answer.

His smiling face was full of distrust towards me. 

His sad, distorted face made me go crazy even more.

“This is a misunderstanding!”

“Even if you hate it, it’s already too late. I can’t let you go even if I’m being selfish.”

‘It didn’t work.’

“You will be my empress.”

Lionel smiled painfully with dry eyes.

“Even if you don’t take me seriously.”

At the end of that sentence, Lionel left the room without even listening to my answer.

Sitting on the bed, I was dazed and didn’t know what to do with the situation now.

In this spacious room, I was left alone again.

“Oh my God!”

Struggling in pain while rolling on the sheets did not change anything.

At this rate, I might die while working as an empress in the palace.

“Oh my God! How can I do this?!”

My hair was a mess, but I couldn’t care less.

While I was muttering like a crazy person, I suddenly felt a strange resonance in the air.

I already knew what it meant.

“Hey! You f*cking dragon!”

“Oh my!”

As soon as a black figure formed in the air, I picked up the pillow next to me and threw it at the figure.

Thanks to this, the presence that was sitting down gently on the floor fell back.

The dark-hair beauty who fell on the floor after being hit by a pillow grumbled at me.

“What’s with your temper… Why did you throw a pillow at me all of a sudden?

“Hey!”

I immediately jumped straight out of bed and grabbed Laroque’s by the collar.

Laroque’s eyes widened but I had already lost all sense of reasoning because of anger and confusion.

I shook him and vented my resentment.

“Give it back! Cancel the contract!”

“I-I’m dizzy! Wait a minute! Let me go-”

“Wait a minute my ass! Do something about this!”

“I just arrived-”

I was only able to calm myself after a long time.

Laroque, who barely escaped my grasp, fell to my level and stared at me.

“No violence!”

When I opened my eyes because of his bullsh*t, he flinched and closed his mouth.

It was so nasty that I hit the floor. Why me?!

“Aghh! What’s the problem? The Emperor says he likes you. Isn’t that good?”

Seeing him say that, he must have been watching the situation just now. 

“Well, what will you do? If you keep going, you’ll fail in your own contract.”

“You can just sneak out. If you return after weakening my seal, won’t it be fine?”

“I can’t go out secretly.”

I pointed out the situation where I couldn’t go out due to the magic barrier around the Imperial Palace.

Laroque shrugged.

“If it’s about this barrier, I can weaken it.”

“This is the Imperial Palace. It’s impossible with ordinary magic.”

Laroque shouted confidently as I glanced with disbelief.

“You keep ignoring the fact that I’m still a dragon. I’m also the strongest mage. You think there’s no way I can break the barriers created by humans?”

“You’re talking about the dragon who’s under the spell of a human, who cheated me and forced me to sign a contract?”

“T-That was a special situation! Anyways, watch!”

Laroque began to warm up his shoulders with a confident move.

Because he was so handsome, I began to expect something.

Laroque reached out his hand elegantly. 

“If I open my hand like this-”

But it was surprisingly quiet.

Laroque was embarrassed. He cracked his hands and waved his arms.

As expected, nothing happened.

Laroque’s face turned pale.

“O-Oh, no?”

“I believed in you and dreamt of wealth, riches, and honor…!”

I lamented with a thumping heart.

I thought I had become an adult after experiencing the world’s storms, but I was still just a child.

It was shameful that I was deceived by such a stupid dragon. 

“W-Why?”

“This is the Imperial Palace. Some of the previous emperors had dragon blood in them. They strengthened the spell in the palace for generations. How do you think you can break hundreds of years of hard work?

For that exact reason, no one could use magic in the Imperial Palace.

Except for the pure force of mankind, only divine powers were possible to be used.

The crystal of mana, the dragon, can reign as an absolute power of the world. But it would be powerless in the Imperial Palace. 

In particular, it was obvious that it would be impossible with the power of the sealed dragon, Laroque.

“What should we do then?!”

Laroque finally understood that the situation was dire.

The pale-faced dragon turned to me and asked for help.

I’m gonna go crazy.