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Chapter 33

The emperor’s face was impassive as he looked around coldly, almost murderous. So basically, the usual expression. There had been times when I had thought I’d gotten used to his face, and found it attractive, even, but now I was reminded of how scary he could look.

The sensation of a piece of wood hitting my cheek was too vivid to be a dream.

I think the loud noise I had just heard was the sound of my door breaking.

“Follow me!”

The emperor muttered under his breath that he didn’t know who the attackers were and where they came from. I couldn’t use magic in my state, so I couldn’t really feel the magical energy scattered in the air. Where did the intruders go?

I stared up at him blankly, and the emperor frowned, perhaps because he noticed my gaze.

“It’s a good thing I put a magical alarm on your quarters. I thought it would be safe to leave you alone because you wouldn’t be affected by magic… What happened to you?”

I opened my mouth to respond to the reprimand, but the words did not come out easily. I clumsily tried to make a sound, but it was difficult so I gave up quickly and shut my mouth again.

The emperor continued walking.

‘Oh no, you don’t mean to walk around the hallway holding me like this, right? This can’t be happening…’

I didn’t want to have anything to do with something that draws attention like that, being carried around the hallway in the emperor’s arms…

He walked out of the hallway, obviously irritated, carrying me like a piece of luggage despite my rising panic.

It was so absurd that I wanted to protest, but my voice wouldn’t come out. I learned in an herbal medicine class that there was a kind of drug that relaxes the muscles of the whole body and puts you to sleep. That must have been what I was given.

I still couldn’t turn my head properly, but I could feel the shocked gazes of the people who saw us. The only option I had was to close my eyes tightly, dizzy and delirious from the ridiculousness of the situation.

It felt like it took a lifetime to get through the hall. My head ached at the prospect of explaining this to everyone, but the emperor put me down on the bed as if he didn’t care about what people would say.

I opened my eyes to glare at him but stopped short at his worried expression. I didn’t mean to make him look like that.

Did I do something wrong?

I tried and failed to speak, and then everything went dark.

***

His face appeared for a moment, blurry, then it vanished again.

I heard the doctor’s serious voice saying I must have been drugged as I faded in and out of consciousness. After a brief moment, when I woke up, the emperor and I were alone in my room.

His hand was on my cheek, gently shaking me, then he sighed and brought out a small black bottle as he barely met my eyes.

Was that an antidote?

It seemed that didn’t want anyone else in the area, so the doctor was nowhere to be found. The emperor tried to give me the medicine by pouring the liquid into my mouth himself.

It was a pitiful attempt, and I was terrified that he would continue to give me liquids while I was lying down. Wouldn’t it be worse if I choked and couldn’t breathe?

I couldn’t even speak a word of warning, though it was clear that this was a bad idea. It was a miracle that I could even open my eyes to see what was happening.

Fortunately, I was able to cough when I couldn’t take the medicine being force-fed to me, even in my helpless state. The emperor stared at me worriedly, unsure of what to do since his efforts didn’t seem to be working as he intended.

‘Hey, it’s not my fault either.’

I looked back into his frustrated eyes.

He lifted my upper body a little bit and held me, then stared at the medicine for a while, thinking. He seemed to realize that time was of the essence―I was poisoned and needed the antidote quickly. I tried to force my mouth to open, but the emperor made a resolute expression, poured the contents of the bottle into his mouth, and then pressed his lips to mine.

The liquid that trickled into my mouth from the emperor’s had the characteristic pungent smell of medicinal herbs. I was so startled at what he did, but thankfully the amount of medicine was small enough that I was able to swallow it, albeit with a little difficulty.

He seemed to realize that I was able to ingest it this way, so he tilted the bottle of medicine into his mouth and repeated the process.

I honestly didn’t have any good memories of a kiss. However, I’d seen a lot of artificial respiration to treat patients in emergencies, and there was nothing embarrassing with someone putting their mouth on mine for medical purposes. Well, the emperor himself carried the antidote to his mouth…

I blushed and swallowed with difficulty.

The second time, the emperor was a bit slower in opening his mouth to let the medicine pass. He closed his eyes for a long time and held my gaze intently.

Then the emperor quickly straightened as if nothing had happened. He raised his hand and put it on my forehead, and then put it to his own.

“I still have no idea how to measure heat,” he muttered nonchalantly, wiping off the medicine around his mouth with his fingers. Then he laid me back on the bed and stood abruptly. “You must’ve been given a drug that made you unconscious. That’s been dealt with. We’ll find out later what exactly happened to you. Get a good night’s sleep first.”

He paused. “Also what the hell did you eat? You…”

I couldn’t catch the trailing end of his sentence as he wiped his lips with his thumb once more. He gave me a brief glance before slipping out of the room.

‘This bed is the emperor’s bed… are you really going to let me stay here? Where are you going? Are you leaving to sleep somewhere else?’

Of course, he was an emperor, and there were plenty of extra bedrooms… But still! I couldn’t stay here!

From what I could hear while I laid still, he seemed to be looking at something in the drawing room. The sound of documents rustling came to me from the other side of the suite.

Was he not going to sleep at all? I didn’t want to fall asleep alone.

I tossed and turned, lost in thought until I faded into sleep.

When I opened my eyes, it seemed that not much time had passed. It was still dark outside the window, and the moon had not passed too many positions.

“Alas… Ah.”

I tried speaking. My voice had finally returned to my hoarse throat. Then I tried to move my hands by waving them around. They still felt heavy, but at least I could move them now.

I could see the emperor approach me, probably because he heard me fidgeting and mumbling to myself.

“Are you awake?”

“Yes…”

‘Why are you standing so far away?’

Well, thanks to the emperor’s care, I felt much better, so I tried to get up and show my respect.

I managed to get my feet on the ground. But then my right foot cramped suddenly. Instead of dipping into a polite bow, I stumbled, nearly slamming my face into the ground.

The emperor, despite standing a distance away, lunged and tried to catch me. My face ended up pressed against his wide chest.

“Are you okay?”

“Oh… yes.”

“You’re mine, and I don’t need you to be rolling around on the ground. Just lie down,” the emperor said softly, lifting me up like a sack to put me on the bed.

‘That’s right. I’m the most important thing on your shopping list―good job with handling your goods.’

I wanted to crack a joke, but it was true that I was being treated fairly nicely. I decided to say thank you first out of all the things I had to say.

“How did you know so quickly… Thank you so much for saving my life. And the fact that you gave me the medicine…”

The emperor’s eyes narrowed. He wordlessly sat on the edge of the bed.

“You got hit with magic earlier, would you like me to take a look at your back?”

“Worry about yourself,” he replied curtly.

Seriously, I was the one who should be treating him, but I was… being pathetic.

The emperor’s face took on a thoughtful expression. “Who was he? In the end, I couldn’t catch him. I sent out my men, and they are quite capable, but they still weren’t able to catch the intruder.”

“I don’t know… … They called themselves ‘those who do not speak’.”

“Have you seen them before?”

“This was the first time.”

Did he doubt me? There were plenty of reasons to. I was in contact with a suspicious man inside the palace.

But instead of interrogating me, the emperor asked me in detail about the description of the intruder, and I described it as I remembered. Height, facial appearance, nationality…

The emperor nodded. “So?”

I didn’t know what he was asking exactly, so I looked up at the red eyes staring directly at me.

“So who’s the one who drugged you?”

“How would I know that?”

“You’re a lot smarter than you think. I paid for that head. Come up with it.”

He was so unreasonable.

If he was going to give a compliment, he shouldn’t be using it against me at the same time… I didn’t know if I should be impressed or angry.

I sighed. The man before my eyes was the emperor. He was used to getting everything he wanted. It was difficult to blame him for trying.

“I’m not that good at herbalism.”

“Then you should be competent from now on.”

“…Yes.”