Ch.199Chapter 199. Night of Destiny (4)

I spent several minutes with her in silence.

Serpina, who had stopped crying, turned her head and said.

“…I showed you an unsightly appearance.”

Her face was as red as a carrot, so clearly visible that—

Most impudently, I thought that such an appearance was cute.

“I’m the same. And I don’t think it was unsightly at all.”

“…”

I could feel my eyes were swollen.

Just now, Serpina and I cried together. She in her way, and I in mine, we both shed bitter tears.

Perhaps because of that, my head was clearer now than at any other moment. If only her head had cleared as well.

I broke the silence and carefully changed the subject.

“By the way… I heard some of the story from General Irene, but what exactly happened?”

“If you’ve heard the story, the explanation will be quick. It was exactly that kind of incident.”

“The assassination attempt was…”

“…”

Serpina slowly closed her eyes.

It seemed as if recalling the fact itself was quite difficult for her.

The one who targeted her life was… a man named Reni, who was essentially the leader of the knights she trusted most.

I knew him well too.

Though we never spoke, he was always present when accompanying her.

He was a person who gave off that unique weight of a middle-aged man who had been through a lot, but he wasn’t someone I remembered.

I waited calmly, without rushing her.

How much time passed?

Finally, she carefully parted her lips.

“It was essentially Reni’s last career. Guarding me.”

I silently listened to her words.

“Reni, who had led the knights since the empire was intact… was a reliable man. When I had just ascended to the throne. When my position wasn’t yet firmly established… he said he would gladly be my shield. Just like now, in that situation where I truly had no one to trust, Reni was one of the most trustworthy commanders.”

And that Reni had finally pointed his hidden blade at her.

“Shura, who seemed to have joined hands with him, was also a woman Reni had recommended. She was a rough but excellent woman. She seemed ashamed of her humble origins, so I told her many times. That I didn’t care about the blood flowing through her body.”

Shura was also a face I had seen a few times.

Like Reni, I had never spoken with her… but it was painful that I hadn’t noticed the slight killing intent in her eyes.

“When you assigned Irene to me as a knight, you might have suspected there could be an assassination attempt. Wanting to see Irene by my side… isn’t that too clumsy a lie, even for a poor liar, Swen?”

“…”

“But I couldn’t bring myself to suspect him. I couldn’t even think that Reni… would point a blade at me. You probably think I was incredibly naive.”

“No. I should have… paid more careful attention.”

I blamed myself for not thinking to suspect the knights.

But predicting that would be in the realm of gods, not humans.

It was a problem too harsh for both Serpina and me.

In that sense, Irene’s response was nearly perfect.

She completely blocked Reni’s actions before he could even attempt anything.

The problem was the woman called Shura.

From the circumstances, it seemed Shura targeted Irene while Reni targeted Serpina… if it hadn’t been Irene, who had constantly kept the possibility of an assassination attempt in mind, someone else would likely have been caught completely unaware.

Perhaps…

If Serpina hadn’t thrown herself in the way, Irene would have…

I unconsciously clenched my fist.

The woman called Shura was summarily executed on the spot, and Reni had essentially lost both his legs, I was told.

Naturally, I hoped he was still alive. Reni and whoever was behind him…

I felt I couldn’t rest easy until I dealt with them personally.

At that moment.

“How amusing.”

Serpina let out a small sigh and sneered.

“In the end, I realize once again that… no one is truly by my side, yet why does my heart ache so? It’s just a repeat of what has happened all along… why do I feel so sorrowful? Do I even have the right to feel this way anymore… I just don’t know anymore.”

“I, as you said… perhaps I am destined not to become the emperor of the unified empire…”

“That’s not… true.”

As gently as possible, trying not to disturb her heart.

“As I told you, it depends on the circumstances at the time—”

“…”

Serpina slowly opened her eyes.

And then, she looked at me.

“Then, how is it now?”

“…Pardon?”

“Has my fate changed? Can I become the unified monarch?”

Seeing that I couldn’t easily answer, Serpina turned her head away again.

And then… as if she had made a slip of the tongue, she carefully said.

“…I’m sorry. I was being childish with you.”

“Not at all.”

“If I were to be broken by such a trivial matter, I would have no face to show those who perished carrying the Einhart name… I know that well.”

I couldn’t possibly call an attempted assassination trivial.

Yet if this was her way of gathering strength, I couldn’t thoughtlessly offer words of comfort either.

Perhaps supporting her from beside was the right answer at times like this.

I carefully took her hand and said.

“I believe in you, Serpina.”

“…”

“I told you just now, didn’t I? I believe everything you say.”

Serpina stared directly into my eyes for a long time…

Then, as if slightly upset, she puffed her cheeks slightly and said.

…How cute.

“…You’re not calling me your lord.”

“…”

Beyond her cute appearance, my heart ached again.

She had roughly anticipated it.

The fact that someday I would leave her side.

Having gone that far, I couldn’t pretend not to know anymore.

But…

Now was not a good time.

She was too wounded to hear my inner thoughts. Both physically and emotionally.

So I put on the mask of the heart-seeing strategist once more.

“…What does the title matter, my lord? The one I serve now is none other than you.”

“It feels like I’m receiving a formal bow.”

She said that.

Then slowly turned her head toward me.

Her golden eyes, cleared after shedding many tears, sparkled like they contained the Milky Way.

“Still, it’s alright. I’ve prepared myself.”

“Prepared?”

“Yes. Even if the day comes when you leave my side… I’ve prepared myself not to resent you.”

Serpina said that with a smile.

It was strange.

Until just recently, it had seemed like a smile that could break at any moment… but somehow it had become much stronger.

She is a strong person. Serpina.

“And yet… I haven’t lost my chance.”

After saying that.

She grabbed my wrist.

I didn’t refuse and let her take my wrist.

“Swen, isn’t the fact that you cried with me proof of that?”

“…”

“It seems I’ve managed to steal a bit of your heart from that nameless monarch. Hehehe…”

I deliberately turned my head away from her as she smiled like sunshine.

…This is bad.

At this rate, I truly felt… that I might lose all choice in the matter.

My heart. My gaze. All the compasses of my thinking… were pointing fiercely toward Serpina.

Thump, thump.

Thump, thump.

Without realizing it, I glanced at her.

Her snow-white shoulders… caught my eye again.

Though covered with bandages, the unmistakable curves of her enormous chest were visible whether I wanted to see them or not.

I quickly turned my head away as I felt something like male instinct stirring.

“Swen.”

At Serpina’s playful voice, I sensed immediately that she had caught my true feelings again.

“Are you… interested?”

“…Pardon?”

“My body… does it interest you enough?”

Her voice trembled slightly at the end.

Looking at her expression… she seemed about to burst in many ways.

With her absolute charisma nowhere to be found, her embarrassment at her own words reminded me exactly of Irene.

“Your joke goes too far, my lord.”

“It seems I’m not very attractive to you.”

“That’s not it… how could I dare to harbor such disrespectful thoughts?”

“Really?”

At that moment.

Serpina applied force to the hand holding my wrist—

“…Ah.”

Thud.

All too easily, I collapsed onto the bed where she was lying.

Before my eyes.

Serpina, lying there.

“…Even now?”

“…!!!!”

“Even now… does it not affect you at all?”

My vision is filled with Serpina.

Her golden hair.

The citrus scent emanating from her.

Below her snow-white shoulders, beyond the bandages, two violently large breasts that couldn’t be hidden.

Suddenly.

So suddenly, I recalled the moment of our first kiss.

Not just recalled. That mental image began to feel intensely vivid.

Her soft tongue. The sticky saliva. The citrus scent stimulating my mouth and nose.

I was like a machine with its cord pulled out, unable to do anything, having lost my compass of thought.

“Ser…pina.”

Not Serpina-nim, not my lord, but Serpina.

For her part, not minding such things at all, with a deeply flushed face looking at me…

“…Swen. I’m… okay.”

Like a woman gazing at the man she loves—

“Swen, if it’s you… you can do… whatever you want…”

‘I…!!!!’

—Knock knock knock.

“…!!!!”

I jumped up from the bed in surprise.

Serpina was also startled and moved slightly away from me.

What just happened? No, more importantly… this sound.

Someone was knocking on the door.

‘Phew…’

…Thank goodness.

It was truly fortunate.

I almost made a terrible mistake.

In this situation, I absolutely had to avoid actions that would cause Serpina to misunderstand.

Serpina also seemed to have come to her senses as she cleared her throat a few times, wrapped herself in the blanket, and said.

“…Open it.”

“…”

I stood up as if nothing had happened, let out a short sigh, and opened the door.

And—

“…Huh?”

“Um, h-hello, Sir Swen…!!”

It was Reika who had knocked on the door.

And for some reason, with eyes burning with enthusiasm—

“Well, um… I… I have something I w-want to tell you…!”

“Something you want to tell me?”

“Yes! First, um… if, if it’s alright with you… please listen…!!!”