I forgot.

I was only paying attention to Rinel’s top.

Ah, so that’s why he said earlier that Raphael would be surprised.

Rinel was confident and composed.

In contrast, Raphael’s shock seemed quite significant.

Even I felt my face starting to flush for no reason.

Rinel’s playful expression made people feel even more embarrassed.

It seemed that to become the emperor of a country, one needed that level of boldness and shamelessness.

Raphael, still unable to recover from the shock, began to strongly protest to Rinel.

“I understand Your Majesty is trying to put me down, but this is too much.”

Ah, it seemed Raphael had seen such behavior from Rinel before.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Why, do you have something to reflect on when you see me?”

Rinel, now fully dressed, shrugged his shoulders as he approached his complaining secretary.

“Your Majesty, please show some restraint.”

“I’ll try.”

“Don’t you consider my eyes?”

“Do I have to restrain myself while considering your eyes too?”

“Well… I suppose not.”

Raphael immediately backed down.

I pretended not to hear their conversation and feigned ignorance.

Rinel put his hands on his hips and said,

“Report.”

“I’ve already seen it.”

“…No, report on what happened to Melanie.”

“Ah, yes!”

Raphael scratched his head and laughed, then quickly changed his expression and began speaking in a very serious voice.

“Lady Melanie was waiting for Your Majesty to arrive…”

“Wait, I never sent word that I was going to her chambers, why was she waiting for me?”

“Well? But she’s free to wait, isn’t she?”

“That’s true. Continue.”

“Yes, Lady Melanie, tired of waiting in the bedroom, decided to go out of the palace to greet you, and as she was going down the stairs, oh my, she, she…!”

“She what.”

Rinel asked nonchalantly.

Despite Raphael’s effort to report vividly, Rinel’s reaction was very indifferent.

I don’t think he’d be this insensitive even if he heard that a distant cousin’s concubine had rolled down the stairs.

Raphael, who had been explaining the situation with great realism, seemed to lose steam and ended up using the same indifferent tone as Rinel for the most dramatic part of the report.

“She rolled, Your Majesty.”

“How many times?”

“Well? Would anyone have counted?”

“Is her condition serious?”

“According to Lady Melanie’s servant, she’s fighting for her life.”

“If she’s fighting for her life, she must have rolled quite badly!”

I raised my voice without realizing it after listening quietly to the conversation.

“Yes, Your Majesty the Empress. The servant from Lady Melanie’s palace certainly reported that her condition is quite serious.”

“Your Majesty, you should go see her right away.”

“Right now?”

“Of course.”

I wanted to add, ‘It’ll be too late if you go after Melanie dies!’ but I maintained my dignity since his secretary was also present.

“Can’t be helped. Raphael, prepare for us to go to Melanie’s chambers now.”

“What is there for me to prepare? You just need to move right away, Your Majesty.”

“Right, I should go and see her condition first. How she’s fighting for her life.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I’ll be waiting outside.”

Raphael left the bedroom first.

“I should go then.”

“Yes, it seems a bit windy, so you’d better wear a thicker robe.”

I bowed my head and spoke to Rinel as he was about to leave the bedroom.

“Alright. Raphael will have prepared one.”

“Take care, I’ll return to my palace.”

“You should come with me. What are you talking about?”

I tilted my head and blinked at his words.

“Why should I go to Melanie’s concubine chambers…?”

“How can the Empress be so heartless?”

“Pardon?”

“Someone has rolled down the stairs, and you don’t want to go and comfort her?”

“Do I really need to…”

If I appear with Rinel, Melanie will probably fight for her life even more, won’t she?

I was truly worried about whether she was seriously injured, but I could bet my sacred sword that from Melanie’s perspective, she would want Rinel to come alone.

“If Melanie finds out that the Empress was with me but didn’t come to see her, how hurt do you think she’d be?”

Rinel said as he grabbed my hand.

Hey, Your Majesty! Melanie would think the opposite, you know?

I was confused about whether he knew this and was doing it on purpose or if he really didn’t know.

“Melanie would be more hurt if I visit her bedroom with Your Majesty, wouldn’t she?”

I said as he pulled me along.

He ignored my words as if he couldn’t hear anything.

“Wait, before we go out.”

Rinel turned me around in front of the bedroom door.

“Let’s hug once.”

He opened his arms.

“Later, we don’t have time for this now.”

“Why don’t we have time for a quick hug?”

“Still, right now…”

“Hah, should I tell Melanie that I rolled down the stairs too, and we just roll to the bed from here? What does the Empress think?”

“Aren’t you worried?”

“I am worried. I’m going crazy with worry. What if she lied? If it’s a lie, I’ll be really angry.”

“Rinel… calm down.”

“So just let me hug you.”

Seeing Rinel’s affectionate expression, I finally entered his embrace.

He hugged me tightly once and then tilted his face, approaching my lips.

At that moment.

Bang-!

Without realizing it, I moved my head back and hit the back of my head on the bedroom door.

There were so many flat surfaces, why did I have to stand in the spot where the protruding angel statue was?

“Ugh.”

“Zelda, are you okay?”

“It hurts, but I can’t bring myself to curse since I hit an angel statue.”

I was really in pain, but Rinel burst into laughter.

“Hahaha, should I break off that angel’s wings?”

He moved his hand as if he was about to tear off the angel statue right away.

I quickly grabbed his hand.

“That’s cruel.”

“I hear that often.”

“No, you’ll go to hell.”

“What if your pain is more hellish to me?”

The low voice flowing at the end of his laughter made my heart flutter more than ever.

“Haven’t you heard ‘sexy’ more often than ‘cruel’?”

As soon as I said it, I regretted it.

But my words were already having a big impact on his changing expression.

“Would there be a woman who could say such things openly to the Emperor?”

“But you must have felt it from the gazes of women, right?”

He snorted.

“One such gaze is enough.”

His lips, without wings, landed precisely on my lips.

My eyes closed at that soft, squishy sensation.

But realizing this wasn’t the time, I gently pushed his chest with both hands, and he caught both my wrists.

“Imperial order: don’t touch my body. And don’t move.”

He meant for me not to stop him.

I obediently kept my hands still as he ordered.

Then Rinel kissed me again, chuckled, and stepped back.

He slightly pulled down my lower lip with his index finger and said in a disappointed tone,

“I only said not to move your hands, when did I say not to move your lips?”

I wrapped my arms around his waist.

And whispered in his ear,

“Just now, I disobeyed the imperial order not to touch Your Majesty’s body… What should I do now?”

“You’ll have to pay for your crime, of course.”

“?”

“I won’t let it slide. Don’t be nervous, I’ll let you go for now.”

Knock knock knock-

We finally opened the bedroom door at the sound of Raphael’s second knock.

[This is the timeline separator]

It was when we reached the stairs of the main palace.

Rinel suddenly blocked my way with his arm and said,

“Empress, be careful. It’s stairs.”

“Pardon?”

“You’re not someone who can roll down the stairs like Concubine Melanie, so be careful.”

“Pfft.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at Rinel’s expression as he was extremely wary of the stairs.

“Don’t worry, Your Majesty the Empress! If you were to roll down the stairs, I would throw my body to the bottom of the stairs to safely stop you!”

Raphael, who was following behind us, suddenly interjected.

“Who are you to do that?”

Rinel turned to Raphael and asked gruffly.

“…A loyal subject?”

Raphael replied to him with a grin.

“Ha, you talk big. Empress, don’t worry, I’ll save you before Raphael does.”

But it turned out that I would be the one to save him first.

“Oh, be careful, Your Majesty!”

Rinel slightly lost his footing while going down the stairs, looking only at my face.

He probably wouldn’t have fallen even if left alone, but reflexively, my hand grabbed his wrist.

“Thank you. But the Empress’s hand strength…”

Rinel trailed off, staring at my hand gripping his wrist.

I slowly released my grip on Rinel’s wrist and removed my hand.

His wrist turned red where my hand had been, then faded.

“That momentary strength from such a small hand is extraordinary?”

He said in a surprised voice as he rotated his wrist and glanced at the hand I was hiding behind my back.

“I guess strength just surged at the thought of Your Majesty being in danger…”

I laughed it off while lightly dusting off my hands.

Does my expression look awkward now?

Rinel laughed along, dusting off the hand I had grabbed.

But I felt like there was a hint of curiosity in his eyes.

[This is the timeline separator]

The quarters assigned to the four concubines were arranged close to each other in a row.

The concubines’ palaces were about half the size of the Empress’s palace, but the building where the First Concubine stayed was comparable in size to the Empress’s palace.

After passing the palace of First Concubine Catherine, which was the closest to the main palace among the concubines’ quarters, we soon arrived at the palace of Second Concubine Melanie.

Rinel and I climbed the stairs where Melanie had reportedly rolled down side by side.

Unconsciously, I looked for traces of blood that she might have shed on the stairs.

Fortunately, there were no such horrible traces anywhere on the carpeted stairs.

“The carpet’s cushioning is good.”

Rinel muttered, tapping the carpet on the stairs with his shoe a couple of times.

Since Melanie’s servants were around, I gave him a look to stop doing that.

He nodded, signaling that he understood.

Come to think of it, it was strange for me to give him, the Emperor, a look, but it was even stranger that he paid attention to my look.

“Report.”

Raphael, who had arrived at Melanie’s bedroom a step ahead of us, said to her servant.

“Yes, she-she’s waiting.”

Melanie’s servant, seeing me appear with the Emperor, opened the bedroom door with a trembling voice.

I tried to let go of Rinel’s hand, which I had been holding all along, out of consideration for the ill Melanie.

But he gripped our joined hands even tighter as he strode into the bedroom.

As soon as we entered the bedroom, the smell of expensive perfume floating in the air stung my nose.

“Ugh, hmmmm.”

Melanie’s nasally voice, which I couldn’t tell if it was a groan of pain or pleasure, was getting louder and louder.

Even though she clearly knew the Emperor had entered her bedroom, Melanie seemed to have used up all her energy making groaning sounds and didn’t even try to get up.

Maybe she was really injured so badly that she couldn’t get up.

“My lady…? The Emperor you’ve been longing for and waiting for has arrived! It must be hard, but try to pull yourself together a bit.”

Melanie’s servant, standing guard in front of the bed, whispered to her as if addressing a patient with a serious illness.

As Melanie continued to groan without getting up immediately, Rinel turned around.

“That’s enough. She seems to be asleep, we shouldn’t disturb her.”

As he said that,

“The Emperor has come…oh?”

Only then did Melanie sit up abruptly as if she had died and come back to life.

Her sudden springiness was so good that I thought she might have springs attached to her back.

“Your Majesty… Ah?! Oh my, what is this?”

Melanie’s high-pitched tone, which had been rising endlessly, dropped abruptly when her eyes met mine standing next to Rinel.

I had suddenly become ‘this’.