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19. Dreams and Reality
“You must have an attendant to take a bath. Shall I call the chamberlain?”
“No, I don’t need an attendant. As for the clothes, you… no, that won’t work Call Persson.”
There was one thing Lasilia misunderstood, but Lescal was the most indifferent person in the imperial palace. The only reason he had been dressing like a picture for the past few days was Lasilia. Normally, he would have been able to wear the clothes that Ryan brought him roughly, but not now. Besides, Lescal was in a state of great intimidation from last night. He couldn’t wear any clothes. Because he had to look a little nicer to the Empress. It seemed like it was already too late, but still, just in case.
“All right.”
Ryan opened the bathroom door. It was a casual, natural movement, but she couldn’t escape Lescal’s eyes.
“You use your left hand. Is your right side uncomfortable?”
There was blood on her right shoulder. It was a wound that Serben said was a light scratch.
“I think it would be good to be careful for a day or so.”
“… Was it to the point where you couldn’t stop it?”
“That is… Yesterday was different than usual.”
The mutation Lescal suffered during the Blue Moon and the pain it caused were familiar to the Shadow Knights. But yesterday was different. There had never been a case where Lescal had broken through three thick iron bolted bedroom doors and burst out because of a mutation. He suffered, but there was no case of loss of intelligence like a blank paper. Lescal groaned alone in the room.
“It’s not that I can’t stop it… It was to the point of not being able to compete at all. Your Highness passed me before I even had time to use the sword.”
The sword broke before he could even swing it. He still hadn’t figured out exactly how his right shoulder was injured.
Last night, Lescal was just scaring.
“And mutations were also done the most. The bones protruding from its back seemed to have taken the shape of wings almost entirely. In my opinion, the transition is accelerating as we approach your 30th birthday.”
“…”
There was the sound of Lescal biting his teeth. Ryan also understood that feeling. She must have just been devastated. If it wasn’t for the Empress. If it hadn’t been for the sight of her, since as soon as he was touched by the Empress, he instantly returned to his human form.
“So, Your Majesty, just share a bedroom with Her Majesty. Blue moon or not. No, just think of it as one body. Treat Her Majesty as a great accessory and hang her around.”
“…?”
“This is the second time the mutation has stopped because of Her Majesty. It may be a coincidence once, but not twice. Her Majesty the Empress is a true companion.”
“…Would you like to stay with me?”
Lescal hesitated.
“The Empress saw my transformation. No wonder she gets scared and runs away.”
“Ah, that’s it.”
Ryan suddenly grinned. She wasn’t a mischievous smile when playing a prank, nor a fake laugh for self-help. She was sincere. Ryan was really happy and laughing.
“She said you’re handsome.”
“…what? Who?”
“Her Majesty the Empress.”
“Who?”
“Her Majesty.”
Lescal frowned at her in confusion.
“It’s not what you said last night. She saw the transformation yesterday.”
“She said that the mutation doesn’t seem so strange. That you looked the same.”
“…?”
Confusion grew stronger. The gold eyes swayed to and fro as if experiencing an earthquake.
“…Is the empress crazy?”
“Doesn’t being a partner of fate mean that you have to do that much?”
Ryan’s expression became serious.
“Because I have to subjugate the demon blood. In the first place, the demon tribe that started Eliadon probably wouldn’t have tied an ordinary human to be my fate.”
“Still, the Empress…”
Lescal was still hesitant. Ryan shook her head in frustration.
“You’re not going to say that, Your Majesty. Since the mutation has accelerated, it means that there is not that much time. I can’t afford to worry about things like why Her Majesty has rejected His Majesty, what feelings she has for His Majesty, and why.”
“…”
“And just my opinion, but Her Majesty’s feelings towards His Majesty are not too bad.”
Lescal’s golden eyes narrowed.
“Why?”
“Because she said you were handsome.”
“Does it have anything to do with emotions? From the first time I saw her, I also thought that the Empress’ appearance was beautiful.”
“Believe me, Your Majesty. If she hated her partner and was afraid of him, she would never have said he was good-looking.”
“…”
Lescal still couldn’t believe it easily. Ryan thought she had a long way to go and she pushed him into the bathroom.
“Then I will quickly call the chamberlain.”
* * *
“Ah… But isn’t the blue moon over now?”
While Lescal was taking a bath, Lasilia was also washing her face and changing her clothes.
Without much thought, she didn’t stop Lescal from coming back, but she looked out the window and saw that the sun was shining. The Blue Moon was over. The next blue moon was three months later. Hopefully, Delarta’s priest would arrive and she would find a way to leave the Empire within it.
Anyway, now that the Blue Moon was over, the Emperor would return to his original nonchalant personality. It had to be.
“No, Her Majesty.”
However, one of the courtiers who had been dressing her on behalf of the Marquis of Farshad cautiously opened her mouth.
“Isn’t it?”
“The blue moon does not set for three days. During the day, the Blue Moon remains afloat. The sun is shining, so you can’t see it very well.”
“Ah… Right.”
A blue moon did not appear in Delarta at the southern tip of the continent. The place where the Blue Moon could be clearly seen was the Eliadon Empire and several countries around it.
“Three days. It means there are still two more days left.”
Would last night continue to repeat itself for the remaining two days? It wasn’t too bad if no one was hurt. In any case, the unconscious person didn’t do anything other than hug her tightly. But it’s not like he wasn’t losing his mind in the first place… He would be in pain again while the transformation took place.
Thinking about the process made her feel frustrated. It’s not her fault. She just happened to get the body of an Empress. But why did she keep feeling like she was doing something wrong?
Lasilia let out a small sigh. The more she felt like this, the more it meant she had to disappear quickly. Only then would the Emperor find his true partner.
Her antipathy for the remaining two days was clouded by a mixture of guilt.
‘Yes, two days.’
Two more days were bearable. She was able to clean him up when he bled, hug him when he hugged her, and watch over him when he was in pain. If she said he couldn’t even do that, it was too conscienceless.
Tuk-tuk, tuk-tuk.
Turruk, tok. Tuk-tuk .
At that moment, a small sound came from the dresser drawer.
“…? What is this?”
Lasilia opened the chest of drawers through which the sound came from. Inside the chest of drawers filled with perfume, a red stone rolled between the bottles, making a clicking sound.
It was the stone the black bird had brought her yesterday. Although it looked very similar to the egg she saw in her dream, this one would be stoned. Because a dream would always be a dream
“Why is this here?”
“Oh”
As Lasilia lifted the stone, the courtier who was tying her skirt fell on her flat floor.
“I-I put it in, Your Majesty the Empress. You put it on the window sill while we were cleaning your bedroom, so I thought it was on purpose and kept it well… My Lady, I have committed a mortal sin! I didn’t ask your majesty’s will! Please forgive me, Her Majesty.”
“…? To commit a sin when you put my things well, but why is it a sin? Stand up. You did nothing wrong.”
“Ah… Hah? Is that really true?”
“It’s okay.”
“Ahhh… Don’t be fooled, Her Majesty!”
It wasn’t a big deal, but the reaction was excessive. The courtier’s small face turned blue, perhaps because she thought she would be punished in such a short time. It must have been because of the usual way the empress treated her court ladies. Lasilia continued her words, looking at the courtier with a stone in her hand.
“From now on, I will do everything like this…”
Lasilia cut her off abruptly and looked at her hand.
Tuk-tuk, jjiik.
It must have been a stone, but a faint movement was transmitted from the stone.
“… hmm?”
Took… Jjiik!
That wasn’t all. One part was cracked and cracked.
“This is now…”
“Beep!”
And a small head popped out of the broken part.
“Huh!”
The court lady, who had been shaking her body just before, let out a large breath.
“Eh, something in the stone… Alas no! Egg! It was an egg, Her Majesty!”
It was an egg, not a stone.She thought the dream was a dream, but the egg that appeared in that dream was now on her palm.
“Beep!”
A small creature that hadn’t even opened its eyes yet screamed. Curiously, Lasilia seemed to be able to understand what it meant.
“Ah, do you want to come out?”
“Beep!”
“Okay. Wait for a moment.”
Lasilia carefully placed the half-broken egg on the dressing table.
“I think I need to break the shell…”
The court lady, whose name she didn’t know, was a quick-witted person with sharp fingertips. As Lasilia struggled inside the egg, puzzled over the little creature that was already having a temper, she hurriedly opened the chest of drawers on the other side and pulled out a thin glass rod.
“Is something like this okay, Her Majesty? It is a stick used for mixing perfume, but it is new and has not been used yet.”
“This will do. Thank you.”
“Wow, Hwang Gong!”
Knock, knock.
Lasilia lightly tapped the remnant of her egg with the tip of her glass rod, breaking it apart. Her efforts were not in vain and the egg cracked safely.
“Beep!”
The tiny creature that emerged from the egg was a bird. Although small, it had a beak and wing shape. It was still like a pink flesh with only downy hairs instead of feathers, but Lasilia wondered if this bird would be as intensely red as a flame when it was all grown up. It was because the single feather sprouting from the back of the bird’s head was a very pretty red color.
“Beep.”
As soon as the bird opened its eyes, it landed on Lasilia’s palm. Then she started rubbing her little hair in the palm of her hand.
“Yeah, nice to meet you. Where are you from?”
“Beep.”
“…ah?”
“Beep.”
The bird’s answer was surprising.
“From the heart… You said you came?”
“Yes? From the heart?”
While Lasilia’s expression hardened in surprise, the courtier also became puzzled.
“Does Her Majesty the Empress understand what the bird is saying?”
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