âMy brother is not interested in anything but fighting and swords.â
That said, the rumors arenât good for a political marriage eitherâŠ
As much as a political marriage was a marriage between noble families, no father would want to marry his daughter to a ruthless man.
âIt always amazes me how different My Queen and Brother Kosharâs personalities are.â
âReally? But you alsoââ
âhave a different personality than your brother,â I quickly swallowed these last words.
It hadnât been long since Christaâs incident ended. Iâd rather not say that.
I quickly changed my words.
âAh, your birthday is coming up. Is there anything youâd like to have, Heinley?â
âNo, nothing.â
I thought so.
âBut there is something I want to do.â
After Heinley finished speaking, he stopped and suddenly hugged me from behind.
When I looked up, I realized that he was watching me with a strange expression.
It was definitely a racy request. I could tell by his expression. Because of that, I couldnât help but swallow hard.
I was embarrassed by the loud sound caused, but I spoke calmly as if nothing had happened,
âIâll consider it if itâs not far-fetched.â
âWhat do you mean by far-fetched?â
â!â
He didnât want the âkindâ of gift I thought?
My eyes widened, even more embarrassed.
âI mean donât ask for a gift thatâs hard to get.â
But that wasnât a good excuse either. As soon as I spoke, I felt a wave of remorse.
It was stupid! How could I make such a cold excuse?!
It was his first birthday we would celebrate together, but I didnât want him to ask for a gift that was hard to get!
I felt deeply regretful. I moved a little closer to him and grabbed his free hand.
Heinley tensed. It wasnât long before I felt a deep sigh go down my neck.
âMy Queen, what are you going to do by having me in your palm?â
âIn my palm?â
âYou control me just by holding my hand.â
Heinley held our intertwined hands tighter.Then he raised my hand, along with his, and lightly kissed the back of it.
âI did it⊠because my words were much colder than I thought.â
I confessed sincerely and gently withdrew my hand.
His lips on the back of my hand felt soft and pleasant, but there was no need to do this outside, right?
While it was good that the emperor and empress were a happily married couple, that did not mean that we had to be affectionate everywhere.
Heinley pulled me even closer to his chest and adjusted the position of the umbrella.
As time went on the rain decreased, it seemed that it would soon stop.
When I reached a hand out from the umbrella to feel the rain, Heinley whispered as he looked at me.
âHmm⊠actually, Iâd like to take a bath together.â
I was enjoying the cold raindrops falling on my palm, but I quickly withdrew my hand in surprise.
âAs a birthday present, letâs take a bath together.â
â⊠Youâre sly.â
Heinley didnât deny it.
I hesitated and said to get out of the situation,
âIâll think about it.â
His birthday was still a few months away.
âIf you donât want to take a bath together, letâs at least enjoy a day just for the two of us, My Queen. With no one else.â
I nodded and asked,
âWhy are you so obsessed with taking a bath together?â
In truth, he wasnât so insistent on it as to consider it an obsession. Still, I couldnât believe he wanted this out of so many possible gifts.
Didnât he also say he wanted to take a bath with me while pretending to be scared during the ghost commotion? I was naturally puzzled.
Heinley calmly replied.
âIâd also like to see My Queen soaking wet.â
As I was about to say, âThatâs the only reason?â A scene came to mind.
The scene where Heinley changed from bird to his human form at the fountain. He certainly looked very handsome soaking wet under the moonlight, tossing his hair back.
âHmm⊠you looked very handsome soaking wet Heinley.â
When I quietly admitted it, Heinley smiled with his eyes as if to say, âYou finally recognize it?â
I immediately frowned and looked away. The rain had just stopped, so I stepped out of the umbrella and walked forward with quick steps.