Chapter 177

A small candle, a few letters, a bunch of reports, some paper apparently reserved for the emperor’s secret order, and a writing utensil were on the corner table attached to the bed. Although he said that he would wrap up his work ‘slowly’, it looked like he would get down to work from now on.

“I was going to go to sleep after writing replies. I have to send them by this weekend at the latest…” He quickly made excuses, conscious of her sharp gaze.

He walked quickly to his bed, then turned around and looked at her.

“Make yourself at home. If you want to drink something warm, I’ll tell Curtis to prepare it for you.”

It seemed like he was about to let her use his bed. While looking at him blankly, she flopped down on the bed.

“Marinanne?” He frowned slightly. She sat in front of the bed table, where he had been sitting until he left the room.

“I’m not going to go to sleep until you fall asleep.”

“… ”

“I told you I’m here to monitor you. If you’re so worried, just finish writing replies and lie down there. Then I’ll sleep next to you quietly. ”

“… ”

He protested in silence, but she gently tapped the empty seat next to her.

There was another crash of thunder while they were silent. He could see her grasping the bed sheet casually under the light of a hazy candle.

He helplessly sat next to her. He pulled her hand when she was about to return to her room and hung the loose end of his sleeve over her empty hand. She looked at him with a perplexed expression.

“You can crumple it as much as you wish.”

She realized something at that. In no time, she smiled happily and grasped it.

“Good. If you don’t finish it quickly, you will see your bed sheet turning into unironed linen.”

“Let me try my best to stop it happening.” He replied tenderly.

His low and soft voice hovered in her ears for a long time.

He turned his attention to the documents on the table. He read the secret letters quickly. She brought extra pen and paper to him to write something while he was absorbed in his work. She wrote the names of Ober’s informants and assassins in the palace that she had remembered and made some patterns by drawing flowers on geometric patterns.

In the meantime, the thunder crashed intermittently. When it crashed, she firmly grasped his sleeve. Although the rain and the storm were still strong, she didn’t feel scared about the thunder like before because she had someone she could rely on at hand.

Thinking it was a marvelous thing, she opened some folded notes for him to repay his help. While looking at the paper spread open, she broke a long silence and asked, “By the way, all these secret messages were sent by your spies, right?”

“Correct.”

“But the alphabets are new to me. They are not Faisal nor Sorman, nor Shina…”

On a small piece of paper were letters she saw for the first time in her life.

Although there was a difference in the style of writing, they seemed to have a certain unified system in themselves.

“Are they something like a coded message?”

He nodded lightly, diligently moving the pen, and said, “Yes, that’s right. This is the code that my spies often use. ”

“Wow… ”

She wrapped her arms around his with sparkling eyes. His muscles felt tight, as always.

“Did you make the coded characters?”

“About half of them. I slightly changed the ancient Silan characters that only the immediate royal family members of Lennox used. I taught my spies to use it. As there was none who knew about it, I was less worried about a leak.”

There was something very slight nostalgia in his voice. She looked at him with a loney expression.

Just as he taught new coded words to his spies everywhere, there was obviously someone who taught him the secret characters of the old imperial family. Perhaps that person did not know. Did he ever imagine that the ancient letters that he had revealed to his one and only son would be used later as the language of the spies who protected him instead of recording the history of the shining empire? Did he ever imagine that every time his son used the ancient characters, he would be lost in grief while recalling the days when he learned the old stories and the secret characters?

“Can you teach me, too?” She intentionally asked with a bright voice.

He looked back at her slowly.

“As it’s a rare language, I won’t tell anybody. After I learn it from you, let me use it only for you. In a sense, I’m your informant, right? I think I am already fully qualified to learn it. No?”

He tilted his head a bit and met her eyes. Her fingertips that held the sleeve crawled down slowly, covering his wrist exposed under the splint.

“Of course, I can teach you. It’s not difficult at all. ”

He barely took his eyes off of her then continued to write replies.

Though his blue eyes looked calmly at the table, there was less and less warmth in his wrist. His pulse was hot and pounding. Contrary to his fast heartbeat, he slowly began to slow down writing the replies.

“However…”

Eventually, he put down the pen. He pushed the incomplete replies to the side impatiently.

“I don’t think you need to learn today.”

He sat diagonally facing her. She looked up at him up close.

The angry rainstorm pounded the window loudly, but his heavy and ecstatic voice rang louder than the thunder.

Was it because of the color of the warm candle? It seemed as if the flames were flickering in his eyes making them look like a blue lake and the sea. His eyes reflected something nervous or something like the vigor of an animal wanting to break out of its cage.

‘It looks like he will devour me.’

Recalling his usual appearance, neat and classic, she let out a sigh silently. Her long breath trembled faintly.

“I didn’t mean to have you teach me today,” she said casually, letting go of his wrist.

He withdrew it hesitantly. She put her hand on it again before he was deeply disappointed.

Her fingertips scratched his warm open palm slowly, but he felt it keenly. All of his attention was on his palm.. Peripheral stimulation awakened the source of their desire.

Thunder crashed.

The moment she grabbed his collar instinctively, the shoulders of the two clashed.

While they were focused on each other, everything in the world faded away. She forgot the thunder. He forgot about the complex situation and political tricks.

Their breathing tickled each other’s noses and their warm touches conquered each other’s body.

Every time she breathed deeply, her thin and slender fingers clenched his collar tightly. His big and warm hands gently wrapped around her neck. His fingertips, which seemed unfamiliar to her, crawled intently through her hair as if to devour her.

“… Your Majesty!” She pushed him a bit. Even in the dark her face was blushing when she breathed in and out.

“Do they teach you how to kiss according to the imperial customs?”

Her explicit question made him frown.

“I guess this is the first time you have kissed a woman, right? Did you have a secret lover I don’t know about? Mrs. Charlotte has told me you’ve never known a woman well, but you’re too good at kissing as a beginner…”

“As a beginner?” He asked as if he was embarrassed.

She hurriedly tried to appease his offended feelings, “Oh, please don’t get me wrong. I mean you are so good at kissing…”

“So, it means you already have a pool of men for comparison that you can judge whether a man is good at kissing or not.”

But it was no use because what he was really interested in was totally different from what she tried to make excuses for.

“I swear, too… It’s my first time kissing somebody. Seriously.”

“What do you mean? Under the premise that your partner is me? Or in this life only? ”

She bit her lip firmly. Otherwise, she felt like she would burst into laughter. His voice was a bit sharp, but she wasn’t afraid of the discomfort he showed. Rather she felt nice and satisfied with that.

After all, he was nicknamed the “Blue Iron Wall of Milan” which nobody could conquer with any weapon in the world. This man, who lived with such a notorious nickname, was now showing caution against the illusions of a past life that would never exist in this world.

How could she remain calm, faced with this amazing and lovely situation? She could hardly do so. It was also the first time that she felt her memories of a past life were ruining the moment, though they were usually useful.

“Your Majesty, this is a very meaningless jealousy. You know that, right?”

“Of course, I know.”