“You’re really mischievous.”

I grumbled, wiping the water off my face that Rinel had splashed.

“It seemed like you hadn’t washed your face yet.”

The strength in my eyes, glaring at him, faded at his sexy smile full of playfulness.

“Everyone greets me in perfect form. I was hoping there would be at least one person who would welcome me in such an unguarded state, but Zelda, you…”

“Am I the lucky one?”

“Isn’t it an honor?”

“Well… it seems like it might be, but also might not be…”

“Ah, no. It would be an honor for me if you thought it was an honor.”

Seeing him slightly lower his tail unlike his initial brazenness, I found it cute and smiled.

“No. It’s more of an honor for me.”

“I’m glad you know that.”

“…Pfft, yes.”

“Just think of it comfortably. You already look quite comfortable now.”

Rinel glanced at the bath water covered with rose petals.

“How long are you going to stand there like that? Like someone who dropped something in the bathtub.”

I said, meaning for him to turn his gaze away.

He looked down at me with his arms crossed and a more cautious gaze.

“I did drop something, my curiosity.”

“You’re not thinking of finding that curiosity, are you?”

“That’s quite, extremely, a provocative question, isn’t it?”

“Your Majesty’s gaze has been provocative for a while now.”

“I heard that women from the Kingdom of Chateau Nil were unrestrained in their words and actions, and it seems to be true. All the women here in the Rapion Empire are so pretentious that it’s no fun.”

“I’ll relay those exact words to Your Majesty’s concubines later.”

“I permit it.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at him nonchalantly countering my spite.

“Can I sit for a moment?”

He asked, pointing to the opposite end of the bathtub where I was sitting.

“No!”

“I’m not saying I’ll get into the bathtub and sit, why are you being so strict?”

“There’s no proper place to sit. If you step out for a moment, I’ll finish bathing…”

“Never mind, I’ll just perch here for a bit.”

Rinel waved his hand and ended up sitting with one hip on the edge of the bathtub.

“Oh my, there must have been water there?”

“…Zelda, you didn’t deliberately tell me after I sat down, did you?”

“I’m not that petty of a woman.”

I said with a serious face.

In fact, I had known all along.

I had been watching to see if Rinel would really sit on the water-soaked edge of the bathtub, silently cheering, ‘Please just sit down!’

“Well, seeing how calm you are even though four concubines have entered just days after our marriage, it’s clear you’re far from being a petty wife.”

Rinel dipped his finger into the bathtub and slowly moved his hand back and forth, causing gentle ripples in the water.

As his hand moved, the rose petals floating on the water began to move.

As the petals gathered towards the front, I quickly dispersed them evenly with my hand.

He stared at my face intently and said in a serious voice.

“You’re pretty.”

“…It’s embarrassing without makeup.”

“Why be embarrassed? You’re just pretty.”

His appreciation for my bare face was quite generous.

“Stop looking at my face.”

When I spoke firmly, he wrinkled his nose with a somewhat regretful expression.

“Zelda, isn’t it too much? I’m just looking, not touching.”

“It’s the first time I’ve shown my bare face to a man… I’m embarrassed.”

“It’s my first time seeing a woman’s bare face too. You might be embarrassed being seen, but I’m also embarrassed seeing.”

What kind of logic is this?

“Th-then why are you looking?”

“Because I like the embarrassment.”

Lie.

He didn’t look embarrassed at all.

“I’ve never had this feeling before. What would there be for an emperor like me to be embarrassed about?”

“That… could be true.”

“Ah, no. Come to think of it, there was one time.”

He piqued my curiosity.

“Really? When was that?”

What could have made him, an emperor, embarrassed?

“It was during a war. I meant to behead the enemy, but I slipped and misaimed, cutting off their arm instead.”

Rinel lowered his head and covered his face with both hands, as if recalling the scene from that day.

“That mistake was truly embarrassing.”

“…That’s quite a comparison.”

“I know. It was a bit intense, wasn’t it?”

“?”

I was lost for words at his unique interpretation.

“I didn’t know my hands were this big.”

He murmured quietly, raising his head again.

“Pardon?”

“I put too many petals in.”

He said, removing some of the petals floating in the bathtub with his hand.

“Wh-what are you doing?”

As the petals disappeared in an instant, I unconsciously hugged myself with both arms, taking a defensive posture.

He continued to throw the petals on the floor, regardless of my reaction.

If any more petals disappear… it’s dangerous.

I grabbed Rinel’s arm, which was clutching the petals.

“Stop removing them, this could lead to big trouble!”

“Isn’t this already big trouble?”

He gestured with his eyes at his arm that I was holding onto.

“How dare you, try to stop me.”

“Gasp.”

I quickly removed my hands from his arm.

But the thin shirt he was wearing was already wet up to above his elbows.

“I-I’m sorry, Your Majesty!”

“Zelda, you’re the first.”

“First what?”

“The first person to get me this soaked.”

“……”

I swallowed hard at his clear and moist eyes.

“Hahaha! Did you take my words literally instead of thinking something else? Judging by that bewildered expression?”

I gave up refuting Rinel’s claim.

“You seem to be having a lot of fun?”

“I am. Everything is.”

His gaze, which had been lingering on my face, slightly moved downward.

I followed his gaze down.

When did the bathwater get so low?

The water level, which had clearly been up to my collarbone just moments ago, had lowered and was now lapping at a precarious area.

Apparently, while Rinel was scooping up the rose petals with his hand, he must have been diligently bailing out water as well.

I quickly tucked my neck in like a turtle and submerged my body further into the bathwater.

“Other ladies are quick to expose their dresses in front of me, why are you so desperate to cover up?”

He asked with a puzzled expression.

“To make you more desperate.”

“…Huh?”

“I’m joking. It’s just that I’m a woman with modesty ingrained in me.”

“That sounds more like a joke?”

“It’s not though?”

“Well, anyway. When it’s just the two of us, adjust that modesty a bit. Otherwise, I might manipulate you as I please.”

“…Thank you for the kind suggestion.”

When I replied with a slight side-eye, he spoke more assertively, as if he had been waiting for it.

“Hearing such words gives me more courage.”

“Pardon?”

“Don’t you want to show me more of your heart?”

“When?”

Ah, what a stupid question!

But despite my strange question, his expression didn’t change.

“Is the place important when showing your heart? Well… I don’t mind whether it’s here or in the bedroom?”

I didn’t know how to react to his words, unsure if they were sincere or a joke.

How exactly does he want me to show my heart…

The water in the bathtub was getting hotter and hotter.

“Hah, I know my question was foolish to begin with. Hearts can’t be taken out and shown. They’re just felt.”

He said, tucking my hair behind my ear.

“Why did you ask if you knew?”

“Because I wanted to.”

Rinel answered shyly again, unlike his usual self.

“I just feel like I need to ask you anything. Whatever it is.”

“…Why?”

“Strangely, when I’m with you, I lose the desire to do things as I please.”

My heart raced erratically, completely different from Rinel’s polite voice.

“Except for just one thing…”

Along with his added words, the look in his eyes as he gazed at me felt quite lewd.

Somehow, I felt like I knew what he was thinking about me right now.

“Aren’t you going to ask what that one thing is?”

Rinel asked, assuming I would be curious about that ‘one thing’.

Of course, I was curious if my guess was correct, but somehow I felt like my prediction would be right, and if so, something unmanageable might happen.

So I had to end the conversation here.

I shook my head while keeping my mouth tightly shut.

“Your expression looks curious though? Or is it that you already know and that’s why you’re shaking your head?”

How… did this man become emperor through his perception?

As I looked at him with wide eyes, the corners of his mouth were twitching with mischief.

I reluctantly asked about that one thing he wanted to do as he pleased.

“What is it?”

Unlike my reluctant voice,

“Sleeping with you. That’s what I want to do as I please.”

His voice was precise and firm in answering.

My eyes couldn’t blink properly due to the intense tension that came over me.

“As expected, judging by your expression, you didn’t take my words literally this time either.”

Rinel burst out laughing and lightly tapped the bridge of my nose with his finger.

“I didn’t mean the relationship.”

“Then…”

“I meant exactly what I said, that I like sleeping together with you in the same bed.”

Ah, that’s what you meant?

You should have expressed it like that from the beginning.

My heart rate returned to normal.

“It was a statement very prone to misunderstanding.”

“Feel free to misunderstand. In fact, I wouldn’t have anything to say even if you did misunderstand that way.”

“What do you mean by that?”

So does it really mean what I thought it meant?

My heart prepared to race again.

“Yes, the not-so-innocent Empress’s little head is probably thinking exactly what’s correct?”

Rinel laughed, holding my head with both hands.

He seemed to see right through my inner thoughts.

Ah, I need to get out before the water in the bathtub starts boiling like lava.

“Your Majesty, I’m quite tired today and would like to rest soon.”

“You look it.”

He nodded, moving away from my face again.

“So now, please…”

I cautiously opened my mouth.

“Get lost?”

“Yes! Ah, no, if you could go to the bedroom first for a moment…”

“Is something good waiting?”

“Yes! Ah, no, if you could wait on the bed for a moment…”

“Will what I want happen?”

Should I just say yes?

I hesitated for a moment.

“Hah, why are you looking at me like a startled rabbit? I told you, I won’t bother you if you don’t want it. You really do look tired, so I’ll withdraw for today.”

“…Really?”

I looked at Rinel with suspicious eyes as he said he would withdraw obediently.

“Yes, you must have been upset about the concubine issue today, so I shouldn’t make you more uncomfortable.”

The corners of his eyes drooped gently, and somehow he looked pitiful like a rain-soaked puppy.

Why are you lowering your head and making me feel guilty for no reason?

“Your body must be all swollen because of me. I should get up now, right?”

Rinel really seemed to be thinking of leaving the bathroom.

“Thanks to you, my clothes are wet like this and I feel chilly, but if I catch a cold, someone who feels guilty will take care of me.”

Surely not from getting that wet…

“A cold?”

Instead of answering, he nodded with pitiful eyes.

“If I catch a cold, you’ll have to stay at the main palace until I recover.”

“Me?”

“Well, I could come and stay too. By the way, the wind was quite strong when I came to the Empress’s palace earlier, and this already cursed cold body of mine will meet a chilly friend.”

Is he saying all this now because he wants me to stop him?

“I didn’t even bring a robe, so my spine will feel eerie and chilly as if three or four ghosts are clinging to it.”

“Well, it can’t be that bad…”

“The Empress who must be extremely tired today, don’t worry about me and sleep warmly alone. I’ll just go catch some cold wind.”

He talks as if he’s about to kick open the bathroom door and leave, but when I stare at him,

“What.”

In reality, his bottom shows no sign of getting up from the edge of the bathtub.