Since the Emperor and Peep understood each other, Peep had no choice but to lie.
“Peep! Peep!”
“Because… it’s the truth.”
“Peep? Peep…, …Peep!”
Swoosh!
Engulfed in shock, Peep emitted a burst of red flame.
“Peep!”
Rasilia instinctively reached out to Peep.
“Ah, it’s hot!”
It was real fire. Her fingertip was scorched.
“…Peep,”
Peep seemed just as surprised; his flame disappeared, and he moved away.
“It’s okay. I’m not badly hurt…,”
“Peep!”
Liar.
Peep left those words and flew into the dark night sky.
“…Really.”
Rasilia looked at her finger, now rapidly turning red.
She knew she had to cool the burn with something cold, but she couldn’t move.
“It’s my fault you’re hurt. I won’t heal a wound I inflicted myself.”
She decided to leave the wound alone. It felt like she should be hurting, even just a little.
“Once I find the real thing… this will mean nothing.”
It was both an excuse and consolation to herself at the moment.
As Rasilia prepared to return to bed, she put a robe over her nightclothes.
Her sleep was gone anyway.
The trial was soon; there were things to prepare.
She intended to write a letter to Duke Shraiden.
Considering she knew nothing about Eliaden’s trial, she didn’t know if the dethroned empress would return to the imperial palace.
She had to request that Yvette’s status be secured, in case the worst came to pass.
‘If the empress is dethroned, something might happen to the first princess.’
Being of royal status would be better than being treated like a palace servant.
‘I might not be able to continue working in the palace.’
And she had to make a request for Peep, too. Though a phoenix, Peep still seemed too small in Rasilia’s eyes.
‘Ah, and those birds as well. They might return. I have to ask Count Sigres not to be too harsh on them.’
The letter would be long.
Rasilia, wearing her robe, opened the door leading to the sitting room.
“…,”
She stopped in her tracks.
The Emperor, whom she hadn’t seen for several days, was in the adjoining room.
(This is a time separator.)
He wasn’t asleep.
His gaze was clear and focused.
As if he knew she would come and had been waiting.
“What… is the matter?”
Her voice, barely a whisper, didn’t sound like her own.
“I thought you wouldn’t sleep.”
“…It’s quite late for you to be awake. Please go back and rest.”
“It’s unfair for only me to go and sleep. You’re not planning to sleep, either.”
“…,”
It wasn’t the time to discuss fairness, but his words were worth listening to.
It seemed Rasilia had grown too accustomed to the way the Emperor spoke.
“Then, I’ll go back to bed, too.”
“…Not yet.”
Caught off guard, the Emperor suddenly approached her.
He was too fast to avoid.
“Why not?”
“You haven’t been treated.”
“…What?”
He couldn’t possibly know she had burned her finger.
Yet, he precisely located the injured hand and the spot where it was burned.
“It must hurt.”
“How did you…”
“I just knew.”
“Is that something you can just know?”
“When a fledgling knows, so do I. There are times when our senses are connected. Perhaps when something happens to you, like injuring your finger.”
“…”
Rasilia was at a loss for words.
Every time he did this, she felt like forgetting the fact that she was a fake.
A demon who tore out his heart to create a phoenix to protect his companion, and the bird protecting its companion. Both felt any injuries sustained by the companion.
It was only natural for the Emperor to feel wounds inflicted by Pepe.
Nothing was strange.
Except for the fact that she was fake.
“We need to cool your hand.”
“It’s already cool.”
Bracing herself for the pain, Rasilia pulled her hand from his grasp.
Her stillburning skin brushed against the imperial ring he wore.
It was a small wound, but it hurt enough.
Enough to remind her of the mistake she was making now.
“Go back. It’s late.”
“It can’t be too late.”
The Emperor spoke, grasping her hand again. Rasilia tightened her grip, but he seemed to have no intention of letting go.
“If it’s Dellar, the sun must be setting about now, isn’t it?”
“What does that have to do with…”
It was fortunate it was dark. It was fortunate that the night was deepening.
Otherwise, her blushing would have been exposed.
Desperately hiding her confusion, Rasilia spoke.
“Why do you suddenly talk about a distant country?”
“Thinking of you reminded me of how I wanted to go there some time ago.”
He lifted her hand and gently licked the burned area.
“Ah,”
The initial touch was cold. Then it became hot again.
A shiver followed.
She couldn’t tell if it was the skin reacting to his tongue, or the fear that her secret had been exposed.
Quivering, Rasilia could no longer tell him to let go of her hand.
“If you want, you can go.”
My Step-brother Is Obsessed With Me (Female-dominant)
A gentle female protagonist vs pitiful in the early stage, and a sick male protagonist in the later stage
Cheng Songer transmigrated into the body of a vicious cannon fodder female supporting character with the same name as her in a female-dominant novel.
In the original story, the cannon fodder female supporting character was inhumane, committing domestic violence, gambling excessively, being lustful, and even wanting to sell her stepbrother to a brothel for money.
As luck would have it, she just happened to transmigrate at this time.
Seeing Cheng Qingzhi biting his lip, enduring the tears in his eyes, looking pitiful, her heart softened.
She stuffed the money back into the Madam’s hand and reached out to him.
“Brother, come home with me.”
