CH 28

Chapter 28: Morning

Oh God, please save this kind Werewolf King.

Return of the Iron-blood Sword Houn...

Punish my cruel falsehood and grant my earnest wish.

I don’t care what happens to me. I don’t mind being burned in eternal flames. Please.

Tears kept flowing one after another, and she couldn’t even consider trying to hold back. She felt so pathetic and wanted the King to be happy more than her own ugly feelings.

Suddenly, her messy face was pressed against the gray nightgown, and Ernesta reflexively propped her arm up to avoid him getting dirty. But the arm behind her back held an irresistible force, and she was hugged even tighter.

[I believe that as the queen, you should support His Majesty. Not just in his work, but also in his heart.]

The strict yet gentle head maid’s words came to mind, and Ernesta could only shake her head without saying anything.

——It’s no use, Rougena. I am not qualified to support him. I have no right to do so, covered in falsehood.

Ivan continued to interact with humans. Yet, it was an incredibly terrible thing for his closest human, Ernesta, to betray him like this. Therefore, there was nothing that Ernesta could do for him. She couldn’t make him happy, save him, or offer him comfort. These were things she should never wish for.

Ernesta closed her eyes and clung to Ivan’s broad chest. She grasped onto the gray fabric so tightly that her hands turned white, and continued to pray fervently.

❂❂❂

When she opened her eyes, an extremely handsome face was right in front of her, causing Ernesta’s heart to almost stop.

“…Ah, good morning, Ellie.”

Ivan said sleepily, his eyes slightly narrowed and filled with more charm than usual.

His beauty, reminiscent of a winter night, had a warmth to it on this summer morning. His golden hair, illuminated by the morning sun, was a little tousled, and the shadows cast by his collarbones peeking out from his nightclothes cast a dark shadow. His voice was husky and low, symbolizing the sluggishness of waking up.

“Good morning…?”

To be honest, she was completely defeated in terms of attractiveness. Despite returning the greeting while tormented by a sense of defeat, she couldn’t keep up with her own thoughts.

That’s right, last night she heard his old stories on the balcony. She couldn’t remember falling asleep after that, but what on earth happened?

Normally, Ivan would wake up earlier and leave quickly. However, the two of them were lying down on the bed together.

Ernesta blushed all at once.

She finally realized the absurd situation of being held while sleeping.

“W-Why?!”

“It’s because you wouldn’t let go of me. Thanks to that, I couldn’t sleep well.”

“Eh?! I’m sorry!”

Although Ivan complained, he was trying to hold back his amusement. However, Ernesta was too panicked to notice his expression.

Just then, a knock sounded as if to add insult to injury. Without realizing what the lively sound meant, the door opened mercilessly.

“Good morning, Queen! It’s nice weather again today, and…”

Dasha’s cheerful voice unnaturally stopped as soon as his face appeared.

Without showing any signs of being shaken, Ivan looked somewhat listless, Ernesta had a half-hearted expression, and Dasha, who had stopped moving with a smile on her face.

After passing through the silence where only birds singing could be heard, the first one to move was the young maid.

“Y-Your Majesty! I’m so sorry, I didn’t expect you to be here. I, I… I’m sorry!”

Dasha, who turned bright red, hurriedly closed the door and left.

“That noisy girl is still the same. She’s just like him.”

As he said something incomprehensible, Ivan yawned and sat up. Ernesta followed suit, sitting up and facing him directly.

“She’s gone now… There was no need for you to be so upset.”

“She probably just misunderstood because it was the first time we were both together.”

“Misunderstood…?”

As she muttered the words, their meaning gradually penetrated her mind.

“Huh…?!”

An unintelligible moan escapes her mouth. She covered her red face and unconsciously placed her palm on her cheek.

——No, no, Dasha. I didn’t do such a thing!

She was so embarrassed that she wanted to disappear.

At the same time, she felt sorry for various things even though it was because of her duty that she absolutely had to avoid it, even though she had never been asked for such a thing before.

“Ellie, I won’t ask you for the reason you refuse.”

Suddenly confronted with the truth, Ernesta turned pale this time. Even without asking, she realized what was meant. She had never spoken about refusing anything before, so how did he know?

“If you turn that pale, anyone can tell. Don’t worry. Werewolf warriors don’t force women.”

As he responded as if he could read her thoughts, Ernesta couldn’t close her open mouth in surprise.

It was a considerate gesture she had never thought possible, but was it really okay? The king needed an heir, and wasn’t that the queen’s greatest duty?

As if a question was written on her face, Ivan quickly gave her an answer.

“Of course, it can’t be forever. I don’t intend to set a deadline… well, I’ll do my best to make it possible. In my own way.”

There seemed to be some strange power in his words, but Ernesta didn’t point it out because she didn’t know the reason behind it.

Ernesta was worried about something. According to their current conversation, it would mean that Ivan has been waiting for her for a long time.

“So, was it just my misunderstanding that you had a mistress?”

When she inadvertently blurted it out, Ivan made an obvious strange face.

“What nonsense. There’s no such thing. It’s too much trouble.”

“Is it a trouble? I thought men like to keep mistresses.”

Her friends, who got married before her, often talked about being worried about their husband’s infidelity or strange behavior recently.

Moreover, in the noble class of Bral, it was said that men having wandering hearts were a common occurrence. According to what Isolte had mentioned before, she couldn’t fit in with the frivolous atmosphere that filled the palace.

“I don’t know about the customs in Bral, but in Shenka, we refrain from getting married just for the sake of it. While royalty may have concubines, it is not something to be praised. The werewolf tribe is mainly based on love marriages.”

“Love marriages…”

Ernesta didn’t know about it. Has that way of thinking already permeated in Shenka?

In Bral, arranged marriages for commoners are common, so it seemed like such a wonderful thing to be able to freely fall in love and marry someone. It was a werewolf way of thinking that loves nature.

Moreover, she could understand Ivan’s resolve through this. Even though love marriage was the norm, he chose a political marriage for the sake of the country.

“I see. In that case, is there anything you want me to do? It’s not like it’s in exchange, but I’ll do anything.”

She wanted to at least return something to him. She couldn’t just keep receiving kindness like this.

Ernesta stood there confidently, waiting for a response. But Ivan scratched his head, causing his hair that fell to his forehead to be pushed back, and then gave a deep sigh, looking down at the ground. His every gesture looked graceful and enviable.

“Anything?”

“Yes, anything!”

Asked with a tilting of his eyes, Ernesta confidently nodded in agreement.

Immediately, his large arm stretched out and wrapped around her cheek, which was likely two sizes bigger than her own hand. Before she could ask anything, she was unable to say anything as she was entranced by the bright blue eyes that shone with intense light.

It was a fleeting moment.

A soft and warm heat touched the corner of her lips. Ernesta felt it before she could understand what it was, and she couldn’t even move.

“Saying you’ll do anything is not something to be taken lightly, especially for a beautiful woman like you.”

The beauty in front of her forced out a bitter smile. Her head was blank, as if all of her functions had shut down and she couldn’t even grasp the meaning of his words.

“Do you understand now, my wife?”

In reality, she didn’t understand anything at all, but her head, interpreting only the fact that he had asked her a question, shook back and forth on its own.

Satisfied with this reaction, Ivan released his hand and finally got up from the bed.

“I have to go now. See you later.”

Her head shook back and forth again. She heard the sound of the room’s door opening and closing, but she still couldn’t move.

She could hear the chirping of birds.

It seemed like another beautiful day today.

Yes, there seemed to be a lot of things she could do, like laundry and cleaning…

“Whaaa!”

Ernesta let out a pathetic scream and buried herself in her blankets.

Her cheeks, which were probably the hottest they had ever been, were so hot that it was unbearable. She didn’t want to leave here again. Until Dasha came to check on her, Ernesta remained curled up in her blankets.