Finally, Rescal released his hand, and as Rasiliah instructed, he took a seat next to her on the sofa.

As he leaned his forehead against the back of his hand, Rasiliah enclosed the transformed hand with both of hers.

Unlike usual, the transformation didn’t easily disappear.

Rasiliah felt the prickling sensation of scales on her palm.

“If you don’t come back, it hurts for me too, Your Majesty.”

“…Haah.”

Another sigh escaped, and only then did the transformation slowly begin to unravel.

Rescal, who had intentionally kept the transformation while still in his transformed state, wished for it to remain so, and Rasiliah understood that.

“While you’re like this, isn’t it necessary? You were in danger.”

Rescal gently stroked Rasiliah’s cheek with the hand that wasn’t held.
As if teasingly, Rasiliah smiled and lightly slapped Rescal’s palm. Rescal shrugged his shoulders.

“Hmm… But if I do that, I won’t be able to touch Your Majesty freely.”

The once frozen gold aura, cold as if standing at the end of the world, suddenly trembled.

“Suddenly saying that… It’s too good, but it’s also strange. You wouldn’t say such things.”

Denying it felt a bit guilty.

“I plan to say it more often from now on… Do you mind?”

“I wouldn’t mind… No, but…”

The gold aura became faint.

“…There must be a reason.”

Rasiliah might have felt that today, in particular, she was unusually affectionate to the point of being unreasonable.

“Because Your Majesty was angry, isn’t that right?”

“…Yes.”

The reason Rescal had been silent until now was precisely that.

He should have spoken, but the words wouldn’t come out.

Immediately after he left, danger befell Rasiliah. The fledgling bird that should have warned her about it, now spitting flames, was spreading its wings and sleeping.

Perhaps she knew. The danger of being separated from her. The reason why his heart was uneasy every time.

However, Rasiliah sent him back to the palace, and he, enchanted by three kisses, foolishly chose to endure the anxiety.

Although he was angry, he couldn’t distinguish whom the anger was directed towards.
Why doesn’t Rasiliah want to keep him by her side? Even if not to the extent of being equal, if there were even a fraction of such feelings, or even one-tenth, today’s danger might not have happened.

Even now, Rasiliah stimulated him.

A person surrounded by demons worried about his hand and smiled at him.

Even if it were just one-tenth, Rasiliah wanted him to worry about situations like the appearance of demons and monsters. If so, she wouldn’t have told him to go back first.

“It’s okay if you don’t want me.”

The voice that sprang from his mouth sounded like someone else’s. It was a voice with thorns that he never wanted to let Rasiliah hear.

“That’s because I can wait. But risking danger because you don’t want me is not acceptable. I can’t understand it, and I can’t accept it.”

Rescal interrupted his words and bit his lip.

“…But you’ll say the same thing again. I won’t go against your intentions. And that… It’s hard to endure.”

“No, Your Majesty.”

Rasiliah quickly held Rescal’s face.

“I didn’t say not to stay by my side because I don’t want you, Your Majesty.”

Rescal asked with a frowning face.

“Then? If it’s not that, what other reason is there?”

“As I mentioned. Your Majesty can’t stay here all the time without any preparation.”

“Why can’t you stay? Where you are is where I should be.”
“We’re not the only ones here.”

Rasiliah gently stroked Rescal’s furrowed brow with her thumb.

Now, even Rasiliah was gradually becoming accustomed to affectionate gestures.

She couldn’t use her prophetess days as an excuse forever. It might not be familiar, but it could become so, especially if the person in question was Rescal. If the reason for getting angry was such a lovable person.

“And I’m in a position where, outwardly, I’m waiting for my father’s death. If I’m with Your Majesty in such a situation, I thought it would be difficult to hide my joy.”

Rescal raised an eyebrow.

“Joyful?”

“Yes. Being with Your Majesty like this, I can’t help but look happy.”

Rescal made a sound as if he were hurt somewhere.

“That… It doesn’t matter who sees it.”

“I want to be a good empress. Maybe I wasn’t such a good prophetess after all. In the end, I couldn’t save King Verhoet, so I have ambitions to be a good empress.”

“It’s not like you need to care about those below. And you’re already a good empress. You can tell by the fact that my knights follow you.”

“It’s a pleasant story, but there are only three Shadow Knights, Your Majesty.”

With a smile, Rasiliah raised her hand to Rescal’s neck this time. The hand that was slowly reverting from its transformation was back to its usual appearance without them noticing.
“But I understand Your Majesty’s concern well enough. If Your Majesty has no urgent affairs to wait for, I would like you to stay by my side for a while.”

Rescal finally let out a satisfactorily contented sigh.

“Willingly. If it’s something you desire, anything.”

Rasiliah slightly raised herself and softly asked Rescal’s ear.

“Can Your Majesty hear if there is anyone nearby?”

“Yes.”

“Right now, how many are there? I mean, how close?”

“Two outside the door. Four beyond that. If you step out of the building, there are more.”

“If they are outside the door, they might hear sounds.”

“What sounds? … If you’re worried about hearing anything, just ask them to move away.”

“No. That would be more embarrassing, so Your Majesty can just endure the sound.”

“What sound… Ah,”

Rescal understood the meaning of those words only after Rasiliah’s lips touched his.