SAPM 10

Chapter 10 The First Night in the Imperial Palace

“Right now…”

There was no way she could even call him cute as a mere compliment.

Edelis only came up to Lehan’s shoulders, and his overall atmosphere was completely different from before. There was an overwhelming presence surrounding him.

And what Edelis had felt when she first saw Lehan last night was that, rather than being cute…

“Right now?”

“Handsome…”

Lehan smiled brightly. Somehow, he looked even more handsome when he smiled.

In the past, his face had been cute, but now his greatest feature was his handsome and refined appearance.

Edelis blinked at the words that had slipped out without her realizing it, then continued in a deliberately calm voice.

“…I didn’t think that.”

“I understand.”

He chuckled.

“…Really. I haven’t even seen you long enough to judge something like that.”

“Are you feeling a little better now?”

“What?”

Just as Edelis had wanted, Lehan changed the subject, but there was dissatisfaction in her voice.

Of all things, he had to remind her of the time when she had been eating so eagerly.

“Are you feeling a little better?”

“No? I’m not feeling better at all.”

Hmph. She was absolutely not feeling better.

At least there were only the two of them. If other people had been there too, she might have been too embarrassed to even raise her head.

“I’m glad to see that you seem much less tense.”

“Ah…”

Come to think of it, Edelis was no longer trembling.

Just a little while ago, she had been so nervous that she had practically been walking like a rusty machine.

“When I held your hand earlier, I was surprised because it was so cold.”

At that moment, it had felt as if all the blood in her body had turned cold.

But while talking about the things she and Lehan had experienced together in the past, she realized that his hand was warm now.

“It’s… okay now.”

“I’m glad. It was worth taking the longer route.”

Edelis had simply thought that the Imperial Palace was enormous, as expected of the imperial palace.

But that was not the reason.

Lehan had been considerate of her.

If they had gone to the dining room while she was still in that state, she would have been too nervous to even taste the food properly and would have simply forced it down.

However, when she thought that she would have continued walking around the palace with Lehan if she had not relaxed, she was not sure whether that was such a good thing after all.

“…Thank you.”

“If you’re thankful, please grant me one favor later.”

“What are you planning to ask me…”

Perhaps because Edelis had grown up knowing about her own death from a young age, she had never been someone who easily nodded when another person asked her for a favor.

‘First, listen to what they want! Then think about whether I can do it or not!’

“I don’t want to order you to do it, but…”

So even if she could not do it, she had to?

He had said he intended to use everything that benefited him…

Yet, seeing the sorrowful expression on Lehan’s face as he said it, Edelis eventually nodded.

“…Tell me what it is.”

Lehan lifted the corners of his mouth into a wide grin.

It was the exact same smile he had when he was young, so Edelis also smiled faintly when she saw him.

Just then, they arrived in front of the dining room, and the servants guarding the door opened the large doors.

Various dishes filled the dining table, shining beautifully.

Edelis noticed some of the food she had enjoyed eating in the past among the dishes.

‘I should enjoy myself while I’m staying in the Imperial Palace!’

She was in a situation where she might be stabbed to death by the Emperor’s sword if anything went wrong.

But she decided to stay strong by eating delicious food and dreaming of the day when she would receive a large amount of compensation.

After finishing all the sweet desserts as well, Lehan stood up and held out his hand to help Edelis rise.

They left the dining room and arrived at their room soon because they did not take the long way back this time.

Lehan naturally followed Edelis into the room, and then the maids who had helped her dress earlier came in and said they would help her get ready for bed.

‘…Lehan is in the room where I sleep, and I’m supposed to get ready for bed?’

While following them to the bathroom and washing herself, she suddenly realized something.

‘Come to think of it, Lehan is my husband! If he’s my husband, then we can sleep together, right? But I’m going to sleep with Lehan? With that little boy?’

Of course, his current appearance was very different from the Lehan she remembered, so he felt unfamiliar. He had the complete appearance of an adult.

But what he had talked about before dinner today had been about their childhoods.

So naturally, he still felt a little young to her, and the gap between those feelings confused Edelis.

‘Well, he’s an adult now, but still! Do you know how much younger he is than me? Four whole years! When I had my debutante, he was only fourteen!’

There was no one listening to her, but she kept shouting in her head.

Still, she could not exactly grab one of the maids and ask, ‘How old is Lehan that you’re saying he’s my husband?’

‘And this is completely different from when we pretended to have our first night together! What was I thinking when I was naked back then? Lehan was just a child at the time, so he probably didn’t think anything of it, right? But the current Lehan is a fully grown, physically strong adult!’

While Edelis was unable to collect her thoughts, the maids diligently washed her body.

She left her body in their hands as they applied fragrant oil, changed her clothes, and eventually brought her back to the door of the room.

The head maid knocked, and Lehan’s voice came from inside, telling them to come in.

She had hoped that Lehan would have returned to the room assigned to him by the time she came back.

But things never went as expected.

“You’re still… here?”

“I wanted to drink wine with you, so I waited. Isn’t this our first day staying in the Imperial Palace?”

‘Did he bring it because he already knew he wouldn’t be able to endure what comes next with a clear mind…?’

Lehan used an opener to remove the cork. Then he filled the glasses with wine.

Edelis accepted the glass he handed her and smelled it. The aroma was deep and very pleasant.

“They say it’s a twenty-one-year-old wine from the Verdi region.”

“That’s an old wine. It smells wonderful.”

“Twenty-one years is more than enough time for it to mature.”

“True. It’s delicious.”

It tasted even better with the sweet desserts.

Lehan watched Edelis eat dessert and drink wine with a meaningful smile.

It was already late at night, and the fact that two people who were about to get married were alone together had been making her uncomfortable. His expression only made her more conscious of it.

As Edelis quietly focused on eating, the desserts disappeared quickly.

“Shall I have them bring some more?”

“No! If I eat too much, I won’t be able to sleep. I should eat an appropriate amount.”

“Wouldn’t it be fine if we exercised afterward so that you can sleep well?”

Edelis’s hand, which had been cutting the edge of the cake with her fork, suddenly stopped.

‘Exercise…? At night? A newlywed couple? Before going to sleep? What kind of exercise?!’

Edelis was old enough to understand what it meant when the maids had carefully washed her for a long time and applied fragrant oil to her body. She also knew what the barely-there clothes she was wearing now meant.

Although she had had little interaction with other people since she began reading books, she had already learned the basic knowledge through her education. She had also gained a great deal of knowledge and information through various books.

Moreover, Lehan’s hair was still damp, creating a sensual atmosphere that left Edelis even more speechless.

Lehan spoke with an expression that seemed to say he knew nothing, but Edelis firmly decided not to be fooled.

However, she could not stop her face from turning red.

“You haven’t had much to drink, but it seems you’re already feeling tipsy. Your face is red.”

Lehan smiled leisurely and lightly brushed his finger across Edelis’s face.

She was not tipsy at all, but the place where his hand touched felt hot.

And her instincts were telling her one thing.

This situation was a ‘crisis.’

‘T-This isn’t the Lehan I knew.’

The man who naturally released pheromones and created such a dangerous atmosphere was not the innocent Lehan she had known.

The unfamiliar feeling she had sensed from the moment she first saw him had reached its peak.

Edelis wondered how she could get herself out of this situation.

There were two choices.

<1. Say that she was drunk and wanted to rest.>

At first glance, this might have seemed like the safest choice, but Edelis was not fooled.

‘If I rest at this late hour, where would I rest?!’

Moreover, the room they were currently in was a bedroom.

That would not be escaping the situation. It would only be skipping over it.

She immediately decided to discard that option.

<2. Say that she wasn’t drunk and endure the situation a little longer.>

After a brief consideration, Edelis decided to endure the situation.

Since the choices were practically meaningless anyway, she had no choice.

She admired Lehan’s foresight in bringing wine, knowing in advance that she would not be able to remain sane in this suffocating atmosphere.

Thanks to the wine he had brought, she was at least able to keep herself from running out of the room.

…Of course, if Lehan had not brought the wine, this situation might never have happened in the first place.

“No. I’m still fine.”

In the awkward atmosphere, they quietly began drinking wine together.

As the alcohol slowly began to take effect, Lehan brought up something from the past to ease the mood.

“…Do you remember when Edelis offered me alcohol before? On your birthday.”

When Edelis had drunk alcohol to celebrate becoming an adult, it had been her first time drinking, so she had started slowly and gradually become drunk.

But Lehan had only been drinking water and was perfectly fine, so half as a joke, she had offered him alcohol while she was drunk.

Edelis guessed that Lehan was probably referring to how he had said he was fine and drank that day, only to suffer from a terrible hangover the next day.

But she was not going to let herself be teased so easily.

“Back then, Lehan drank one glass and collapsed, didn’t you?”

Edelis casually brought up Lehan’s embarrassing past.

Lehan was clearly flustered by Edelis’s sudden attack.

“…I can drink strong alcohol well now.”

“Oh my, is that so?”

As if.

Edelis mocked him while slowly emptying her glass.

Perhaps the wine served in the Imperial Palace was truly top quality, because it suited Edelis’s taste extremely well.

“I noticed during dinner earlier that you eat mushrooms well now, too.”

“I’m twenty-one now, after all.”

“You don’t have to lower your voice like that.”

“……”

In the past, he had hated mushrooms because they were too soft, but seeing him eat them well now made Edelis realize that Lehan had changed a lot.

Though the way he still became flustered whenever she teased him even a little was exactly the same as before.

‘In the past… Lehan said he would protect me. Of course, he said he would protect me today too. And yet, he’s going to kill me later.’

Thinking that she would have trusted Lehan completely if she had never read the book made her feel gloomy.

‘When I’m gloomy, alcohol is the answer!’

She filled her now-empty glass with wine.

“Edelis.”

“What?”

‘Ah, this wine is really delicious. Should I ask for a bottle later?’

She kept drinking little by little because it was so delicious, and before she knew it, the bottle was already noticeably emptier.

“…Never mind. Please eat the dessert as well.”

“Yes, yes, I understand.”

Following Lehan’s suggestion, Edelis ate the dessert, but perhaps she had eaten too quickly because she suddenly choked.

In a hurry, she picked up the glass in front of her and gulped down the drink.

Only after drinking something did she finally feel like she could breathe again.

When she saw the bottom of the glass again, she picked up the wine bottle and poured it in with a glug, glug, glug.

She had poured too quickly, and some spilled over the edge of the glass.

‘What a waste. That delicious wine…’

“Edelis.”

Unable to watch her anymore, Lehan seemed to open his mouth several times before finally closing it.

“What?”

“…I think you’re drunk.”

“I’m not. Do you think I’m you?”

“I told you I can drink well now…”

His glass of wine had barely decreased, so it was difficult to believe him.

Perhaps he noticed Edelis looking at his glass, because he added another sentence.

“At least one of us should remain sober, shouldn’t we?”

“Then you can drink. I’m sober.”

“……”

“Drink, drink.”

“More importantly, Edelis, how have you been all this time? Please tell me in detail.”

Edelis could tell that Lehan was changing the subject, but she decided to let him.

Perhaps he simply did not want to drink, and she was also curious about how he had been living.

During the day, they had not really talked about it properly.

“Like I said earlier, not much was different. The main difference was that I rarely left the house. There wasn’t much to do while I was in the territory. What about you? I don’t think things were the same for you.”

If they had been the same, there was no way a commoner would have suddenly appeared as the Emperor one day.

“…I went to the Grand Duke of Raxid’s household and received training.”

Lehan seemed to recall those days for a moment before letting out a deep sigh.

Edelis guessed that he must have suffered a lot at that time.

“That must have been hard. But you did well, didn’t you? Even when you were at the count’s estate, the captain of the knights praised you so much.”

Lehan gave a faint smile.

Seeing something painful in his expression, Edelis offered him her glass of wine, but he smiled and shook his head.

‘It’s delicious…’

In the end, Edelis drank it instead of Lehan.

“When you desperately want something, you end up doing it no matter how difficult it is.”

“Sounds like you had strong motivation. Still, I’m glad the result was good. So, did you get what you wanted?”

“What?”

“You said there was something you desperately wanted.”

Lehan stared at Edelis with his eyes wide.

‘Why is he surprised by something like that? Listening is the basics of conversation.’

Edelis thought that while continuing to gulp down her wine.

“Why? You just said that if you desperately want something, you’ll do it even if it’s difficult.”

“I certainly said that, but…”

“Wait.”

Suddenly, the world seemed to spin around her.

I raised my hand to stop him from speaking for a moment and lowered my head.

Lehan took my hand and asked worriedly,

“Are you all right, Edelis?”

“Huh? Of course! I’m fine!”

She answered with a slurred pronunciation and a face that was very clearly not fine, so there was no way Lehan could believe her.

“I think it would be better if you rested now.”

“Already?!”

Without realizing it, Edelis quickly raised her head and looked at Lehan.

‘No, how long has it been since we started drinking that he’s already saying we should rest? Then, if we rest now! What are we going to do?! It has to be that, right? That exercise he said would help us sleep?!’

Her skin became bright red, as if she had been born with a naturally red complexion.

The alcohol, combined with all the thoughts running through her head, made her feel as if her head were so hot it might explode.

“Already?”

At the end of Lehan’s gaze was the completely empty wine bottle.

‘I thought I hadn’t drunk that much…’

She had only intended to taste a little because it was delicious, but she realized that except for the one glass she had given Lehan, the rest had all gone into her stomach.

Usually, two glasses of wine were her limit, so she was shocked that she had somehow drunk this much.

Edelis turned the bottle upside down just in case, but only two or three drops fell out.

After confirming that, she had no excuse to delay things any longer.

“I drank faster than I thought.”

Lehan laughed in a low voice, then supported Edelis by her back and legs and lifted her up.

Edelis was startled, thinking that the moment had finally come, but she desperately tried to hide her expression and pretend to be calm.

However, she could not hide her pounding heart. Nor could she hide her heated breathing from the alcohol.

Lehan walked toward the bed with his usual steady steps as if Edelis weighed nothing, then gently placed her on the bed.

She had been mentally preparing herself for a while, but now that the moment had actually arrived, she had no idea what to do and became flustered.

In the end, she returned to the same state she had been in before entering this room.

‘He’s Lehan!! He’s four years younger than me!!’

Lehan placed one hand beside Edelis’s head and looked down at her, who was nervously unable to find anywhere to look.