Chapter 83
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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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Chapter 83
My tongue was numb, but I quickly covered my mouth before anything else could slip out.
"D-Dale, I mean, it seems like some demon's doing. We're trapped here because of some devilish situation's mischief? That's what I meant!"
Why did Dale's name come out? I slapped my closed lips repeatedly.
It seemed I'd confused them because The Emperor and Dale had similar deep voices. Or perhaps my mind was still foggy from just waking.
"It's nothing, hehe."
"Who is Dale?"
...This is bad. The Emperor has sharp ears.
I chewed my lips nervously. What should I do? Should I pretend I don't know?
"Who is that?"
"The name you just mentioned, my lady."
"Me? When did I...."
I sighed deeply and dropped the act.
"Your Majesty has a similar voice to someone I know. I was confused because my head aches."
"A man?"
"!"
"It doesn't sound like a woman's name."
His ears were sharp, and his intuition was even sharper. But I absolutely had to protect Dale from this terrifying Emperor!
"He's a Servant of our household."
"...Of the Lockhart Family?"
"Yes, of course. Is there any other Lockhart Family? Not from my mother's side. Hahaha."
I answered with a laugh.
"Is he someone close to you?"
The Emperor questioned me persistently, as if probing whether I had another man besides him as my fiancé.
I'd forgotten during this one day of relaxation, but The Emperor and I were in a state of hostile non-hostility.
I couldn't let my guard down.
"He's a forty-year-old man I've known since childhood."
"...What?"
"Forty years old! About the same age as my Father. Forty isn't my type."
"...."
I confidently asserted that there was nothing suspicious between him and me.
I couldn't add that I preferred men my own age. If The Emperor found out he was my type, it would be disastrous.
Surely he understood that we were nothing to each other?
"Forty years old?"
The Emperor murmured as if bewildered.
Then he turned his head and fell silent.
Huh?
Wasn't I supposed to stay still?
"...."
The Emperor seemed to have turned his back and was laughing quietly.
"Are you perhaps laughing?"
"...A little."
The Emperor readily admitted he had been laughing at my words. But his sense of humor was rather peculiar.
"You find it funny that I said forty years old?"
"Yes, a little."
The Emperor cleared his throat and turned back around.
"Did you think I called your name because I have feelings for someone around forty years old?"
"That's not it, but...."
He seemed to be laughing again.
I had a reasonable suspicion that if I removed his mask, his face would be flushed red. The Emperor seemed to laugh far more than I had initially thought.
Perhaps this was an opportunity.
With The Emperor laughing and the atmosphere relaxed, it seemed like the perfect chance to ask him what I had been curious about.
I deliberately pouted and crossed my arms, steadying my voice.
"Then, Your Majesty, what kind of person do you like?"
My heart pounded rapidly.
Was that natural? Did the topic shift smoothly?
Seeing The Emperor stop laughing, it seemed he had definitely heard my question.
But the atmosphere had become tense.
Was I too direct? I should approach it differently.
"I mean, like, an ideal type? Or something like that. Since I told you about myself, won't you tell me too, Your Majesty?"
"I don't have one."
"...You don't?"
"No."
The Emperor answered in short replies as if he knew I was trying to pry it out of him.
Despite my extensive inquiries, The Emperor's preferences remained difficult to discern. There was simply too little information or clues about him.
If I knew The Emperor's tastes, I could find someone suitable to replace me or properly execute my destined romance project, so why wouldn't he give me a hint?
"Are you really sure?"
"...."
The Emperor seemed to have just sighed.
I was quick to pick up on things, and I immediately understood that The Emperor's expression just now was a sign of annoyance.
"Is the lady curious about external preferences?"
"Yes! Do you have one?"
"...."
The masked Emperor looked at me.
"If we're talking about appearance, I would prefer someone with bright, beautiful sky-blue eyes, fair skin, and hair as lovely and silver as the moon."
He said he didn't have one, yet he's being quite specific.
Thinking about it comprehensively, I seem to prefer beautiful people.
"Is that so? And?"
"Height-wise, neither too tall nor too short would be ideal, and I wish they ate a bit more, but I'm fine with someone lean. Round eyes, a bright expression, and someone whose lies are transparent—the more of these qualities, the better."
"Your taste is quite unique..."
His ideal type was so specific and peculiar. He preferred someone like that?
...Setting that aside, his appearance seemed far too similar to mine.
"Are you perhaps... talking about me?"
I scooted backward with a long hiss, putting distance between myself and The Emperor. I wasn't a rat trapped in a vat—I was a rat inching toward an execution ending.
The Emperor watched me quietly, then rose and moved to a rock farther away, settling onto it.
"No."
"...Really?"
The air around us grew heavy. The Emperor, as if displeased at being questioned, withdrew far, far from me.
'Is it really not me?'
The Emperor, legs crossed, exhaled a sigh.
"I don't know you deeply enough for us to be considered close, do I?"
Just as he said, the distance between us was immense. Now it was as if a vast physical chasm had opened between us as well.
"Really?"
"But I am curious why you wouldn't be acceptable."
At his low voice, I flinched.
"I didn't say it was unacceptable."
"Understanding doesn't require words alone."
"..."
"If I desired you not as the Lockhart Family's daughter, but as a person in your own right, would that be such a grave matter?"
His voice seemed to have grown slightly rough. As the air sharpened, I closed my mouth, and The Emperor pressed his head in his hands.
He exhaled a long sigh.
"I apologize. I didn't mean to frighten you."
Had I been frightened? Looking closely, I realized my arms were trembling without my awareness. No matter how I tried, I couldn't stop them through willpower alone.
Turning away, The Emperor briefly removed his mask and covered his face, his back to me, saying nothing. Then he soon lifted his head.
But he didn't show me his face, still gazing at the wall.
I watched The Emperor's back quietly. There was something about his posture that seemed burdened with worry, and I found myself holding my breath.
"I too have someone I care for. So there's no need for you to dislike and fear me so much."
"Pardon?"
The Emperor had someone he cared for... already?
Me...
Not me?
At this unexpected confession, my eyes widened.
"Let me be clear. I would appreciate it if you would stop disliking me so intensely."
"No, I don't dislike Your Majesty either..."
The Emperor in the original story was cruel, but truthfully, this Emperor had never treated me unkindly.
When I laid out the objective facts, it was I who had made his life difficult while cheering on his overwork.
My purpose was the Empire's development and the wellbeing of The Emperor and the New Nobility Faction, but if I'm being honest about the essence of it all, I did torment The Emperor.
I don't know why I'm engaging in self-reflection, but The Emperor's emotions right now seem so genuine that I couldn't bring myself to lie and turn away.
The Emperor had every right to be upset with me.
He may have been nothing but a villain in the original story, but this Emperor here is being hated for reasons he doesn't even understand.
The Emperor is just an ordinary person, yet I never once tried to see him as such.
"I'm sorry. I should be the one apologizing."
"I didn't say that to hear an apology. I said it because I didn't want to be hated. Please don't worry about it."
"...."
The Emperor put his mask back on.
The atmosphere in the Cave, which had been about to brighten, darkened like a funeral parlor.
'I can't leave either. What do I do?'
Even though I wanted to leave for The Emperor's sake, who looked so dejected, there was nowhere to go.
Going forward only led to jumping off the Cliff and swimming below.
Rather than building any rapport with The Emperor....
It feels like I've ruined everything....
"Cough."
Then a cough came again.
But it wasn't me coughing—it was The Emperor.
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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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