Hyacinth knew that his subordinate was leaving, but instead of holding him back, he asked Aini. His voice towards his wife was cold and harsh.

Aini also approached with a stiff face and spoke.

“I heard that you are preparing for a divorce with me. Is it true?”

“Are you asking because you don’t know?”

“Yes. I want to hear it directly from you.”

Hyacinth let out a hollow laugh, draped one arm on the armrest, and asked.

“Why are you like this, Aini. You’ve known all along. The spy you planted by my side must have been telling you about it for the past three years, why are you pretending not to know?”

Her shoulders felt heavy and her movements were stifling. A good scent swirled around her nose. Latil opened her eyes blankly, then blinked at the clean skin in front of her.

Her head was momentarily numb. Only belatedly did Latil remember yesterday’s events.

Ugh. Screaming inside, Latil slowly lifted her head.

Perhaps he liked to sleep in, Ranamun was still asleep. Asleep, he had been hugging Latil tightly. Latil noticed that she was lying on Ranamun’s arm and stealthily slipped her head out.

‘Ah… This is completely embarrassing.’

As she awkwardly played with her hair, a rustling sound came from beside her.

“Have you woken up?”

Latil turned only her twinkling eyes. Ranamun was looking up at her without getting up. His languid demeanor had a seductive aspect, and heat rose to Latil’s face.

“Uh. Uhhuh.”

Without laughing, Ranamun reached out to play with the ends of Latil’s hair, then slowly ran his hand down her back.

The sensation of his large hand stroking over her thin clothes startled Latil into sitting upright. A deflated laughter was heard.

“Hmm. It’s awkward.”

As Latil muttered, Ranamun slowly got up and naturally placed his lips on Latil’s forehead. After a light kiss, he got out of bed and asked.

“Shall we take a bath?”

Together.

At the sound that seemed like an afterthought, Latil shot up and shook her head.

Ranamun gave a faint laugh that seemed like a smile yet not quite a smile, then helped her put on the cloak she had taken off. The touch felt increasingly awkward.

‘If it had been Hyacinth, this wouldn’t have happened.’

Unconsciously thinking of her exboyfriend, Latil’s pride was momentarily hurt.

‘Damn it, why does Hyacinth suddenly appear here?’

She should have forgotten about Hyacinth by now, having taken her revenge. She didn’t like the fact that she still couldn’t.

“Will you come tonight?”

Fortunately, Ranamun brought up the next question, and Latil was able to escape from her momentary selfloathing.

“Huh?”

Startled, Latil looked back at Ranamun. With a calm expression, Ranamun asked again.

“Won’t you come?”

His expression was calm, but his voice was a bit harsh.

“Hmm. I think I’ll be busy.”

Hearing Latil’s reply, his expression changed from calm to not so calm. His straight eyebrows slightly furrowed.

“Busy, or you think you will be busy? Are you saying you ‘want to be busy’?”

“!”

“I guess you don’t want to come.”

Ranamun muttered in a cold voice and brushed Latil’s hair gently with a comb. His touch was soft and warm, but the atmosphere was chilly.

“No, I really am busy.”

Latil laughed awkwardly and muttered. It was true. She was really busy.

But there was a more important reason.

Although she had men in the harem, Latil didn’t plan to visit them every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. That would increase the chances of getting pregnant. And once the baby was born, she couldn’t focus on political affairs for several months.

She knew it was necessary to have an heir as an emperor, but she wanted to delay pregnancy as much as possible until she had a solid political base.

And if she openly favored one man especially the son of a meritorious retainer like Ranamun, the hierarchy within the harem would be clearly established. That was not the structure Latil wanted.

“Is that so?”

Even though they share a bed every day, it bothered her to see him, who was originally cold and blunt, looking a bit upset.

Latil touched the hair that Ranamun had tied up and secretly glanced at his side profile.

When Latil left, his servant Cardoon, who had been waiting in the hallway all night, came in, fetched water for the bath, and brought in the food that Ranamun was to eat.

As in most noble families, Ranamun had his own nanny, and Cardoon was the nanny’s biological son and Ranamun’s halfbrother.

For Ranamun, he was as trustworthy as his own brothers, and because he was comfortable, he had brought him in on purpose.

Once the meal was prepared, Cardoon sat across from Ranamun and smiled proudly.

“I suspected it, but she can’t play the game like the other concubines.”

“……”

“Two are commoners, and one is a nobleman but acts like a sloth. Prince Klein has high status, but it was a problem that had nothing to compete with. Isn’t that right?”

But Ranamun just silently stirred his spoon in the soup without answering. Cardoon was puzzled by his behavior, which was not as cheerful as expected.

Did you study hard by reading books, but got no results? He was quietly worried. His worry grew when Prince Klein, who had come from the morning, picked a fight.

“Don’t get conceited just because you received Her Majesty’s favor for a day. If you look in the mirror, you’ll see that a face like yours is a style that gets tired quickly.”

“……”

Ranamun, who usually should have retorted neatly, just passed by Prince Klein without a word.

Even Klein himself looked back at Ranamun with a surprised face. Cardoon, who followed Ranamun out, was so frustrated and angry that he nagged.

“Why, my lord. Usually, you speak well, why don’t you say anything this time!”

“……”

“Will you just watch him talk nonsense like that? Winning with words is your major, isn’t it?”

But Ranamun did not open his mouth at all. It was not until he came to a deserted place that Ranamun finally confessed.

“I couldn’t go all the way.”

“What are you talking about?”

“With Her Majesty. I’m saying, I couldn’t go ‘all the way.'”

At first, Cardoon, who didn’t fully understand what Ranamun was saying, widened his eyes in surprise belatedly.

“What, what did you do all night?”

“I slept. …Holding her.”

“What? But you said you studied! You studied hard, didn’t you? …That!”

If you were just going to hold her and sleep all night, why did you study so hard? Cardoon opened his mouth in genuine frustration. Maybe our lord is the type who can only study but can’t apply it?

“Her Majesty didn’t want it.”

Ranamun, who noticed his halfbrother’s frustration, said coldly and brushed up his disheveled black hair with his hand.

Last night. The atmosphere was pretty good. The Empress seemed to be quite rationally aware of Ranamun. It was a lovely reaction.

Starting with letting her listen to his heartbeat, Ranamun gradually increased the contact with her.

Originally, Ranamun didn’t have much interest in Latil. To be precise, he wasn’t interested in anyone. No, he even disliked touching anyone.

So she had been a little worried while doing what was socalled ‘studying.’ Could I really do these actions?

However, when she was put into action, such thoughts disappeared. The emperor’s reactions to his actions, his breaths, his words, were so charming that they made her forget about the contents of the book.

His soft skin was smooth, and a pleasant fragrance came from his moist hair. He had hoped that the emperor would be equally moved by him.

But as soon as they lay in bed, the emperor said, “Wait a moment.” and pushed Ranamun away, saying that if he was tired, they should just sleep.

That was the end. The glamorous and noisy things in the book were stories of another world. All Ranamun did all night was simply serve as a human pillow and blanket.

“Ah… So that’s why your expression has been like that.”