Ch.166Chapter 166. Wavering Heart (3)

—Swen.

Are you going to leave me too?

“…?”

Hearing a woman’s voice echoing in my head, I slowly focused my mind.

Somehow, I could easily recognize that the owner of the voice was my lord, Serpina.

Having identified the owner of the voice, its content naturally entered my mind.

That I would abandon her and leave?

I…

At that moment.

This time, I heard another woman’s voice.

Swen.

—Don’t you plan to return to me?

Another woman’s voice. A voice I knew.

Though a very long time had passed since I’d heard this voice… I could still remember it clearly.

Lunarian Ineanne.

The voice of my first lord, Lady Luna, who was the only one who believed in me.

Leaving Serpina to go to Luna.

Not going to Luna, but staying by Serpina’s side.

I…

Do I have to choose between these two people?

No, in the first place… is this even something I should be contemplating?

In contrast to the rising questions, my head could no longer think properly.

Like a jellyfish drifting on the sea surface… floating somewhere.

Again and again, I recalled their voices.

My first lord, Lady Luna.

And my current lord, Lady Serpina.

Between these two, whom should I…

* * *

When I came to my senses, I felt something hitting my face.

Light.

The sensation of sunlight pouring down on my face with my eyes closed.

Only after slowly opening my eyes did I realize that the strange experience I just had was all a dream.

‘A dream…?’

Wait.

If I dreamed… does that mean I fell asleep?

I slowly raised my body.

With a rustle, the blanket slid down my body.

The sensation of the blanket felt incredibly vivid.

A sensation one wouldn’t feel if wearing pajamas.

I was… in a state with nothing covering my upper body.

‘Wait. What happened yesterday?’

In my hazy state, I slowly recalled what had happened yesterday.

I remembered being summoned to the villa by Serpina, listening to her story, saying I would be her drinking companion, and then continuously emptying glasses of alcohol…

‘…Wait.’

As soon as I realized I couldn’t remember anything after drinking, the hazy sensation quickly began to return.

Feeling a slightly cool sensation… I slowly turned my head to look beside me.

And, next to me.

Dazzling blonde hair—

“…!!!!!!”

At this point, I was already wide awake, my mind clearer than ever before.

In a way, it was perfectly natural.

Because I had just seen a woman with blonde hair, with a silhouette that anyone would recognize as female, lying next to me.

On the table near the bed lay a distinctive hairpin that someone always wore.

And that someone was… my lord, Lady Serpina.

‘…No way.’

No way.

It can’t be, right?

I slowly examined Serpina lying next to me.

She was… sleeping soundly in what looked like a very comfortable negligee.

I could hear her gentle breathing from here.

The blonde hair flowing down her snow-white cheeks, those moist lips that had once met mine, those large breasts that seemed about to tear through the negligee…

No.

No, no, no, no.

That’s not what’s important.

Right. Blacking out after drinking, and waking up to find a woman lying next to me. The important thing was this situation itself.

‘It’s not what I think… right?’

For some reason, I wasn’t wearing a top, but she was properly dressed in nightwear.

Maybe we just drank together and… somehow fell asleep?

It had to be that way. If I had crossed a line that shouldn’t be crossed with her, my lord—

“Mmm…”

“!!!”

Startled by Serpina’s sudden voice, I flinched and moved my body slightly backward.

And soon after—she slowly opened her eyes.

Her golden pupils, bathed in white sunlight, sparkled like the Milky Way in the night sky.

And I was—

Holding my breath, wearing a dumbfounded expression, quietly watching her wake up.

“…”

She rubbed her eyes slightly and slowly got up.

Then naturally turned her head to look at me.

Our eyes met.

What if she gets startled and screams?

If the guards hear and come running to see this situation?

While our eyes were locked, absurd worries sprang up like a fountain—but fortunately, nothing like that happened.

“…Did you sleep well, Swen?”

She asked me in a half-sleepy voice.

“Ah, well, that’s… I mean, what happened was.”

“I asked if you slept well.”

Serpina’s expression as she said this was as serious as ever.

As if this situation, waking up to find me next to her in bed, was nothing unusual.

“…Yes.”

“That’s good. You had me quite worried last night.”

“I did…?”

At my words, she tilted her head curiously.

So Lady Serpina also makes such small animal-like gestures.

Honestly, it was cute. …Though if I were to honestly say such thoughts out loud, I might be executed.

“Do you not remember anything?”

“…That’s right.”

I considered lying, but given how things had developed, that would likely backfire.

The truth would be the right answer here.

“I see. I thought as much from that foolish expression on your face.”

After saying that, Serpina let out a laugh, “Kuhuhu,” as if something amused her.

That laugh was so charming that anyone would be momentarily entranced watching it.

“Well, many things happened. I expected you to be a drinking companion, but you don’t seem very strong with alcohol.”

“…Um, my lord. If there’s anything I need to take responsibility for, I’ll take full responsibility—”

Before I could finish speaking, she cut me off.

And then clearly addressed what I wanted to ask.

“Nothing happened yesterday.”

“Is that so? But why…”

“You took off your clothes because you said you were hot, and you insisted that since you would protect me, we should share the bed. That’s all.”

I said such things?

It might sound nice to share a bed, but this could easily be a matter of disrespecting a national ruler, potentially leading to imprisonment and execution.

‘Alcohol is the enemy…’

At that moment.

Serpina, with a flushed face, came closer to me…

And began to trace my lips with her finger.

The mysterious scent mixing her skin’s fragrance and citron strongly stimulated my nose.

Due to her leaning posture, her large cleavage visible through the negligee filled my vision, numbing my reason.

“Or perhaps you’re disappointed that nothing happened?”

“…My lord.”

“If so, I am willing to spend a bit more time with you?”

Gulp.

I swallowed unconsciously.

I could feel my face getting hot.

She who always looked down at me from high positions wearing uniforms or dresses…

Wearing a very feminine negligee, talking to me at eye level—

She appeared not as my lord but as a woman, making my heart pound fiercely.

“My lord. I, well…”

Just as I was about to say something.

“Well, I don’t think I can win your heart by suddenly courting you first thing in the morning.”

Serpina said that and slowly moved away from me, then quietly got up from the bed.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

…Whether this was truly a sigh of relief or something else… honestly, I’m not sure right now.

“Where is this…?”

“A place not far from the villa. This is the bedroom. A place where no one but me could enter.”

“What? You mean—”

“Of course, I should say it ‘was’ a place no one could enter, not ‘is’.”

Serpina said that, and covering her mouth with her snow-white hand, she blushed and looked at me.

“You’re the first, Swen. The first person to set foot in this private space of mine.”

And then she smiled as if amused.

…Beautiful.

That woman was so pretty that it would be difficult to explain unless she had received exclusive love from the goddess of beauty in this world.

“If you don’t want to cause gossip, you should prepare to leave soon. It would be troublesome to encounter people, wouldn’t it?”

“What? Oh… understood.”

Right.

Let’s first focus on safely getting out of here, then think about the rest.

I can worry about what comes next later.

Thump, thump.

The sound of my heart beating fiercely must be because this is a life-threatening moment, not for any other reason.

Thinking that… I got up from the bed and began preparing to leave.

* * *

Looking at Swen’s back as he gathered his clothes, Serpina recalled what had happened yesterday.

Her circumstances that she had shared, and the answer Swen had given her after hearing them.

“My lord. You’ve been through so much. I will stay by your side whenever you need.”

“…I don’t usually trust words spoken under the influence of alcohol.”

“It’s not… because of the alcohol, that’s just how I feel. I just… want to stay by Lady Serpina’s side, not because you’re my lord.”

“…!!”

“I just… want to do that…”

His words, spoken with a flushed face and clearly intoxicated.

She wasn’t foolish enough to trust words spoken by someone drunk.

He probably didn’t even remember the circumstances she had shared.

In fact, Swen didn’t even remember why he was here.

But, even so—

At his words about wanting to stay by Serpina’s side, not as his lord—Serpina could feel her heart beating rapidly.

Serpina had allowed him to enter her bedroom.

She had decided that the person who could stay with her here would be someone who could always stay by her side.

So… despite knowing it was just alcohol-induced words he wouldn’t even remember, she found herself placing hope in him.

The bedroom was a space with great significance to her.

A place where she could exist solely as herself—not as the ruler of Serpina or the only survivor of the Einhart family.

She could have taken advantage of his drunken state to create a “fait accompli,” but Serpina wanted to win Swen’s heart in a way that wouldn’t burden him.

She knew all too well that one cannot win someone’s heart through coercion or threats.

If.

If Swen truly meant to stay by her side—

‘I will live only for you from now on.’

The words she couldn’t bring herself to say echoed deep within her heart.