I had no choice but to lower the sword I was holding and raise both hands in surrender.
“It’s a misunderstanding! How could I threaten you, Your Grace, with this soft, muscle-less body?”
“Then why did you take down the sword that was quietly hanging on the wall?”
“Well, I was trying to save you, Your Grace! Even now, there’s a pitch-black bug right next to you…!”
At that, Yezar’s gaze turned to where I was pointing.
“Is this bug what you’re referring to?”
“Yes! Uh…?”
Upon closer inspection, the pitch-black shape wasn’t a bug. It was, well, a ball of thread.
“I understand you were startled. Fortunately, it’s not a bug, so don’t worry.”
“Yes…”
My face flushed with embarrassment. But Yezar continued speaking calmly.
“By the way, that sword hanging on the wall must be quite heavy. If you had accidentally dropped it and injured your delicate body, what would we have done?”
‘It wasn’t heavy at all.’
But I had enough sense not to say that and instead apologized.
“I won’t do it again. I’m sorry.”
Then he apologized to me in return.
“No, I’m the one who should be sorry for the misunderstanding, Lady Orbetian.”
“It’s fine. And you don’t need to call me Lady anymore—just Julietta is enough.”
“Yes, Julietta.”
After the commotion passed, a quiet stillness settled in. Then I noticed Yezar wasn’t looking at me.
“By the way, Yezar.”
“Yes.”
“Why aren’t you looking at me?”
“Well…”
“Yes?”
“Your clothes… aren’t they a bit thin? Perhaps if you put on a robe…”
Now that I thought about it, Yezar—in the novel, he was so devoted to the heroine that he had little immunity to women, didn’t he?
I glanced at my outfit, which I hadn’t paid much attention to while focused on other things. Indeed, I was only wearing a slip that revealed my skin. I understood why he was averting his gaze.
Even my undergarments felt like scraps of paper.
“Wait a moment. I’ll look for something to put on. But I’m not familiar with this room’s layout—could you tell me where to find something?”
“Wait. I’ll head over there…”
Even then, I could sense Yezar still couldn’t bring himself to look at me. So typical of him.
I started to approach him to tell him he was going the wrong way. But something strange happened to the floor, which had been completely dry until just a moment ago.
‘It’s as if someone spilled water—it’s all wet. At this rate, I might slip like I’m sliding…’
“Oh, Julietta. I spilled some water there earlier, so be careful…”
“Eek!”
His warning came a beat too late. Before Yezar could finish, my foot slipped on the slick floor as if it were ice.
My center of gravity lurched forward, and the smooth floor gleamed before my eyes. This wasn’t a bed—it was hard ground!
If I fell wrong, I could get a concussion!
I tried to position myself to avoid hitting my head, but a large hand wrapped around it.
With a ‘thud,’ I squeezed my eyes shut. Moments later, I realized I felt no pain.
It seemed Yezar had caught me as I was about to fall.
“Are you alright?”
“Yes… I’m fine…”
As I tried to stand, bracing my hands, the texture I felt wasn’t the smooth marble floor. Startled, I opened my eyes, and his bare torso came into full view. It seemed his bathrobe had come undone when I fell.
When he was layered in clothes, I hadn’t noticed, but his body was… intense. In contrast to his gentle face, his broad shoulders, chiseled pectorals, prominent veins, and intricate muscles stood out. Scars here and there, likely from training injuries. I was the one who didn’t know where to look.
When his bathrobe was tightly tied, I hadn’t seen any of this. But now, his bare chest… his chest…
When I didn’t say anything, Yezar asked again.
“Julietta, are you hurt anywhere?”
“Yezar…”
“Yes.”
“I think… I’m getting a nosebleed.”
Drip, drip—hot blood fell onto his chest.
“Did you fall wrong? Does it hurt a lot?”
“No. Your clothes…”
“What did you say?”
“Please… put your clothes on properly.”
Only then did Yezar notice my flushed face and his open bathrobe, quickly turning his head away.
“I’m sorry…”
He didn’t need to apologize. But I wanted to crawl into a mouse hole and hide after getting a nosebleed from seeing his body.
“Has the nosebleed stopped?”
“Yes… Please don’t ask any more.”
If it weren’t our first night, I’d have run to some empty room and never shown my face.
“…I’ll be more careful in the future.”
“Yes. Please cover up properly.”
This situation felt so awkward I thought I’d lose my mind. My body was heating up for a different reason. Unable to stand it, I spoke up.
“Um, is it okay if I open a window for a bit?”
“It’s fine.”
To escape the awkwardness, I headed to the window. When I pulled back the curtain and opened it, the early spring air felt chilly. As I stood feeling the breeze, he spoke to me.
“Julietta.”
He probably didn’t have anything specific to say. Was he just being considerate of my awkwardness? I looked at him.
“Yes, Yezar.”
Then Yezar said something unexpected.
“Thank you… for the wedding.”
“The wedding? Did I do something?”
“You held my hand when I was trembling, didn’t you?”
“Oh, that? It’s no big deal. I could do that much. Even if it’s a contract, you’re my husband, Yezar.”
I shrugged as if to say it wasn’t worth thanking, and Yezar smiled. Then he cautiously approached me.
“Don’t you want to ask why I was trembling?”
“I figured you had your reasons. I don’t like prying into things others don’t want to talk about.”
“You’re kind.”
His face looked somewhat lonely as he said that. Honestly, I roughly knew his circumstances from the original story.
Why he proposed a contract marriage, why he trembled when we kissed.
‘But if I let on that I know everything, how much would he dislike it?’
“Julietta, I look forward to the next two years.”
“Likewise. But since it’s our first night, we can’t leave this room tonight, can we?”
“Probably not.”
Then what are we supposed to do all night? Sleeping in the same bed as him already feels awkward. That’s when I spotted a bottle of wine.
“What’s that?”
“Oh, the maids must have prepared it. They say alcohol is perfect for relaxing.”
“Oh. Since we don’t have anything else to do, how about we drink some wine and talk?”
“Talk?”
“Yes. Even if it’s a contract, we’ll be together for two years. Knowing a little about each other would be good. We should act like a convincingly happy couple in public. It’d be weird if we knew nothing about each other.”
Yezar looked a bit troubled. Was I coming on too strong and making him uncomfortable?
“But that’s a fortified wine with brandy added after fermentation, so it’s quite strong.”
He was probably worried I couldn’t handle alcohol. I chuckled and replied.
“I can hold my liquor.”
“You don’t look like it at all. Still, as you said, Julietta, we have nothing else to do. Drinking and talking sounds nice.”
So we sat down and shared the wine. Surprisingly, talking with him revealed a lot.
“Really? You’re that strict with the knights?”
“Yes. Work and personal matters must be kept separate.”
“If I were one of your knights, you wouldn’t be this kind to me, would you?”
“Probably not. I’d have you run a hundred laps around the training grounds or, if you made a mistake, train you harshly in one-on-one sparring.”
I thought he was soft, but that was unexpected. The conversation flowed smoothly after that. As the alcohol kicked in, my true feelings, which I hadn’t shared with anyone, slipped out.
“You know, I don’t have any friends. So being able to talk so comfortably like this… I’m really enjoying it.”
“Is there a reason for that?”
“I can’t tell you that. But Yezar, would you like to be friends?”
My cheeks were flushed from the alcohol, and my body felt a bit limp. Yezar took the wine glass from me and said.
“You’re drunk. You should rest now.”
“I’m a little tipsy, but wanting to be friends is sincere. I’m lonely. Not having someone to talk to freely…”
My nanny and Weaslet were nice, but… I sometimes felt guilty. To them, I was Julietta.
Their affection poured out because I was Julietta. But the real Julietta was no longer in this world.
When I transmigrated, Julietta was already bedridden with a high fever. In the original story, she probably recovered and appeared as a character, but for some reason, Julietta passed away. Afterward, my nanny and Weaslet cared for me warmly, but sometimes I felt empty, knowing that if they realized I wasn’t the real Julietta, their affection wouldn’t be the same.
Yes, I didn’t need love. But I needed someone to share my heart with. Yezar’s expression looked sad as he watched me. Perhaps he was seeing himself reflected in me.
His dear friend and first love had become the empire’s empress, someone he could no longer hold in his heart, leaving his feelings as something insignificant, never to surface again.
When scheming men desperately battle for her favor in the male harem
This one’s also on my reread list! The rivalry, scheming between the men in the imperial harem are just as intense and thrilling as in classic palace drama novels, where concubines fight to the death. Give it a read, girls! I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Synopsis:
“I am not worthy of her… but I still want to be by her side, even if only as a loyal dog…”
Those were the painful whispers of Yue Guanyi – the proud Crown Prince of the Great Qi, who was torn between deep love and a guilty conscience. Despite holding the supreme power of the Imperial Guard, he still could not forget the dark past when he was sold into a brothel.
Fate played a cruel twist when Qiu Shuzhi – a young female official who had just passed the imperial examinations with top honors – stepped into his life. She did not know that she was the one who had saved him from a tragic fate many years ago. And now, her heart was the target of pursuit for both Yue Guanyi and the powerful Empress Dowager Qin Qing.
While Yue Guanyi only dared to silently care for and protect the one he loved from afar, the Empress Dowager Qin Qing openly expressed his feelings and did not hesitate to take advantage of his power to approach Qiu Shuzhi. The covert struggle between the two most powerful forces in the imperial court began…
Trigger warning: All men in this novel are yandere style.
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