Chapter 54 – Shall I Tempt Her? (1)

I was staring at the earrings in the box when I looked up in surprise. Once again I felt his lips gently caress my ears.

I let go of my hair and closed the lid on the box. As soon as I turned around, Sovieshu crushed his lips against mine. Instead of reciprocating, however, I kept my mouth closed and backed away. Sovieshu looked surprised, but when our eyes met he smiled and he held out his hand carefully to me.

“…”

I stared at his lean fingers and shook my head.

“Empress?”

His voice was soft, but I shook my head again. I didn’t know why he wanted to kiss me all of a sudden, but I didn’t want to do it with him now. He had been with Rashta for over a month. It was awkward to kiss those lips that had already kissed someone else.

“…Alright.”

Sovieshu lowered his arm, and the room lapsed into an uncomfortable silence. He stared at the chair I had been sitting on a moment ago, while I stood still with the music box in hand. It took me a moment to realize that music was still trickling from the box, and I shut the lid. Sovieshu turned his eyes away from the chair, looked at the box, then looked at me again.

“Sometimes…you are like a colleague, not a spouse.”

“A spouse is also a colleague you walk with life through together.”

“If spouses and colleagues are the same, then what’s the point of marriage?”

Sovieshu sighed and left the room, claiming he was tired. I heard the door close. I closed my eyes and took a shuddering breath.

A moment later the door opened again, and when I opened my eyes I saw Countess Jubel entering, glancing backwards over her shoulder. She set down the tray of bread, juice, and jam, but she kept looking back.

“Your Majesty, did you fight with the Emperor?”

She must have come across Sovieshu on the way here.

“The Emperor seems to have a fever, so please send the official.”

I ignored her question and picked up a plate.

“I want to eat alone. Will that be all right, Countess Jubel?”

*

*

*

I was left completely alone in the room, going through the mechanical movements of eating my breakfast. The bread was crisp on the outside and soft on the inside, and the strawberry jam was a sweet as a spoonful of sugar. The green grape juice was cool and refreshing as well, but I found I couldn’t enjoy the taste.Was it because of the hollow feeling in my heart? I was confused for a moment whether I was eating or not.

Finally, after nibbling only half the bread, I set it down. I took a sip of juice when I saw a familiar bird by the window—golden feathers, purple eyes, a large size, a handsome beak…

“Queen?”

It looked like him, but how could be here? I walked over to the window to open it, and the large bird hopped inside the room.

“Queen!”

It was really Queen. For whatever reason, my eyes started to sting with tears.

“How did you come here, Queen? Were you looking for me? ”

Queen nodded, then wrapped his wings around me in an embrace.

“Queen?”

It was as if he were trying to comfort me. No matter how large a bird was, it couldn’t be bigger than a human, so Queen’s wings didn’t completely cover me. He wrapped himself around me as much as he could, however, and my heart was moved by his effort. I kissed him on the forehead and he froze as usual, but he did not pull away.

Was he really trying to cheer me up? I had heard that some animals could instinctively sense human emotions. Perhaps Queen knew what I was thinking and didn’t even realize it.

I pulled him away from my arms and set him on my lap to hug him again.

“I might not be able to live without you, Queen.”

– !

“What if you have to go back to the Western Kingdom?”

– …

“Should I follow you?”

Queen nodded enthusiastically and cawed.

“Where on earth did Prince Heinley get a handsome boy like you?”

As if trying to make himself look more beautiful, he widened his claws and looked at me with large, clear eyes.

-“Should I bring a bird the same kind as Queen?”

– !

“Queen, if I get you a baby brother will you be nice to him?”

This time Queen shook his head violently, and I couldn’t help but double over in laughter. Suddenly—

“Your Majesty!”

Countess Jubel burst into the drawing room. She looked surprised to see Queen in my arms, but she shook her head as if it were not the time.

“Your Majesty, the Emperor has collapsed!”

What?

“Where is he now?”

“We moved him to a nearby vacant room and called the official.”

“Send him to the capital and tell him to bring a doctor. Just in case.”

I hurriedly stood up and set Queen down by the window sill. He looked like he didn’t want to go, but I couldn’t play with him now.

“Be a good boy. Go to your master, Queen. Ah, wait. Countess Jubel.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Please give Queen some water. He flew a long way.”

“Yes.”

“Queen, get some water and rest before going back, alright?”

I kissed Queen on the forehead and rushed out of the room.