Medea took a nap until midday because she thought maybe Lyle might come at night.
If Lyle came at night, she wouldnât be able to sleep until dawn. Her body was tired, but she was in a good mood, so Medea felt somewhat excited.
She woke up late, ate lunch, and spent the whole day idling around in bed.
As she prepared to go to bed after dinner, she felt something was wrong.
Yesterday Lyle had visited her during the day.
There was no law that should be the same today, but something felt strange.
The maids were excited, grooming Medeaâs skin and putting on a new negligee, but Medeaâs mood was gradually sinking lower and lower.
âI donât think Iâll come.â
He is human. Was he tired after all? Did you have pain in your back? But there is no law that if you come to my bed, you must do it.
There were so many things we could talk about and do together.
Waiting for Lyle, Medea stayed awake until late at night. I really wanted to wait, so I waitedâNo. It was because I overslept during the day and took a nap so I canât sleep. TskâYouâre like that, wellâŠ
Disappointed, by midnight, Medea put a blanket around her neck and went to sleep.
I wasnât waiting for him. I took a lot of naps so I couldnât sleep!â so I was just awake.
âHumph!â
***
Lyle couldnât sleep either.
I hate Medea though⊠⊠I wasnât convinced I had to absolve her from her past actions because of my new-found feelings for her.
Itâs so unfair! She did lose her memoryâŠâŠ.. ⊠Should I pretend to forget all the things she did to me and accept her?
But those awful recollections still remain in me.
Even deep inside, Lyle knew Medea, herself, was not so terrible.
What Lyle really hated was the ugly women that raped him during his childhood, and the moment he saw them in Medeaâ, someplace deep within Lyle, Medea had become one of them.
So he hated it, and it became unacceptable; if they had been alive, they would have been shredded apart and killed hundreds of times.
The former Empress used poison, but Lyle, ever since he was a small boy, imagined how he would have killed them a thousand times in a thousand different ways.
As an adultâwhen he realized it wasnât normalâ he couldnât get over the feeling that he shouldnât have experienced such a thing. He was apart of the imperial family; if someone shouldnât have been touchedâit should have been him. It was so unfair.
Instead, his position, which should have protected him, isolated him, with no one to sympathize with him or confide in.
Nevertheless, Lyle wanted to see Medea.
âI miss her⊠âŠâ
âMillie⊠⊠. Medea⊠âŠâ
With a bleak murmur of longing, Lyle looked down at his hands on his lap. They were empty like his hollow heart.
***
Miledia woke up late in the morning and yawned a long time.
Yesterday she took naps and fell asleep late at night. Medea created a strange sleep cycle to try and compensate for her lack of slumber.
âNapping canât make up for good old sleep!â cried Medea to herself.
There was a knock.
âCome in.â
With the her pjs only slightly ruffled and her being fully clothed the maid must have known all night that Lyle had not come to Medeaâs bedroom, but she looked quite happy.
âGood morning, Your Majesty.â
âOh, yes. Where are my clothes to change?â
âHuh? You werenât going to wash up first?â
âHuh?â
Of course I was going to wash up, but I didnât feel like walking around wearing only a transparent negligee.
Medea stretched out her arm wrapped in a negligee out of the blanket.
âI told you I wouldnât go around like this.â
âHis Majesty didnât tear it this time.â
âWhat?â
âWhat?â
Medea frowned at her lady-in-waitingâs reply.
âHis Majesty didnât come yesterday?â
âHe did. I saw with my own two eyes that he was secretly sneaking out at dawn.â
âWhat?â
In the middle of the night when Medea was asleep, Lyle secretly entered the bedside of the Empressâs Palace, where Medea was asleep without a servant.
Then he looked up at Medea, who was asleep until dawn, and then quietly went out,
âHe came, but just went?â
It was a weird change.
âHis Majesty didnât wake your Majesty, the Empress, up? Oh my!â
âWhy?â
âHis Majesty must really care about the Empress! He kept in mind your tiredness from yesterday.â
âLooks like sheâs writing a novel too.â
Medea shook his head and instructed the maid to bring her a change of clothes.
Itâs Lyle. If she met him later, she could just ask him directly.