episode_0266

After hearing Serpina’s story, Irene was speechless for a moment…

Soon, I finally came to my senses and looked at Serpina’s face.

There was a smile on her lips, but she didn’t look like someone playing a prank.

Her golden eyes, shining brightly, conveyed more clearly than any other means that her words were 100% sincere.

“That, that… … .”

“I’m sorry if you were surprised by my sudden words. But, I’m sincere. And, of course―”

Serpina reached out and pointed to Irene.

“Irene, I consider you my rival.”

“Huh? Oh, a rival… … That’s… … .”

You’re my rivals?

Serpina looked at Irene, who was flustered and unable to respond properly because the situation was so confusing, for a while…

“… … Haha!”

Soon he started laughing out loud as if he found it funny.

It was the first time. Seeing Serpina, who had always been serious, put everything down and smile like that.

“Just kidding. It’s ridiculous to think of me as your rival. How could I possibly beat you, Irene?”

“No… … You were joking. I, I think that… … .”

“Of course, I’m being sincere about everything except that I consider you a romantic interest.”

“… … .”

then……

My lord, do you really like Swen?

Serpina, who was looking at Irene who still couldn’t say anything, slowly walked away and spoke.

“Irene. If you don’t have anything else to do, could you spare me some time?”

“Huh? Ah… … Yes, it’s okay.”

“Follow me.”

… … I don’t know what’s going on or how it’s going to work… … but let’s just follow along.

Irene slowly got up from her seat and followed Serpina.

* * *

As I looked at the sunset in the evening, I went to a secluded place and a rather old building came into view.

“Where is this place… …?”

“It’s a kind of annex space. No one is using it now. You’re the second visitor.”

Although no one was using it, the garden was fairly clean and well-maintained.

However, for some reason, I felt attached to it even though it felt somewhat lonely.

Irene was terribly lonely, so she had a weakness for anything lonely.

As I followed her into the building… … a spacious and quaint space certainly appeared.

Although it was older than the building he was currently living in, the design of the furniture and other things were very old, but it had a luxurious feel that was on a whole other level.

“Sit here.”

The place we arrived at after following her was a small room.

As she sits down where she is told, Serpina lights the fire with a deft gesture.

Then he rummaged through the box… … and soon he walked towards the table holding a bottle of alcohol and two glasses.

“Is alcohol okay, Irene?”

“I’m not the type to enjoy it that much… …but I can drink it.”

“By the way, you said you were very knowledgeable about cars.”

“Did you know?”

“I heard from Swen.”

As soon as I heard the name Swen, my body naturally flinched, but I didn’t bother to say anything.

“Tea is fine, but… … I think it would be nice to have a drink together right now.”

“Would you mind, my lord?”

With a gurgling sound, the empty glass was filled with red wine.

Irene and Serpina casually offered each other their glasses and let them flow down their throats.

As the rough, bitter taste and then the sweet taste that was enough to cover him passed over Irene’s tongue, Serpina’s voice came to her ear.

“What do you think?”

“What are you talking about…?”

“It’s about Swen.”

“… … .”

Was it because I was drunk, or was it because I was able to calm my mind to some extent while following you here?

Certainly, I was able to answer much more comfortably than when I had just heard the story.

“Swen… … is more precious to me than anyone else, and he is someone I would risk my life to protect.”

“That means-”

“Yes. As I said earlier, I’m in love with Swen.”

This wasn’t the first time I had become aware of my feelings… … but still, there were things that became clearer when I said them out loud.

I like Swen. To her, Swen was the most precious thing in the world, more than anyone else.

“Are you thinking of getting married?”

“… … I think it would be nice if that were possible.”

“Isn’t marriage something that’s already been decided?”

“But, I think we don’t know what the future holds… … .”

“Being cautious isn’t a bad thing, but you’ll understand what I mean when you see the look on Swen’s face when he talks about you.”

“Are you talking about me…?”

“That’s when he smiles the most wonderful smile in the world, Irene… …when he talks about you.”

“Ah… … .”

Irene lowered her head and blushed.

Along with the feeling of shame, a sudden desire to see Swen began to well up in my chest as if it were going to burst.

Serpina, who had been quietly watching Irene, took another sip of wine and spoke with a slightly red face.

“You are truly lovely.”

“Yes… … ?”

“Let me tell you, I feel like I know why Swen is so crazy about you.”

After saying that, he lets out a laugh.

To say it’s lovely… is nonsense.

Irene honestly thought that it would be hard to find a woman who smiled more lovingly than the woman in front of her.

At that moment, I thought I might be momentarily captivated by Serpina’s overwhelming beauty, even though she was also a woman…

“… … How amazing.”

“Yes… … ?”

Serpina speaks her mind as if she were a girl in confession.

“Even though we haven’t met for long, I feel a great bond with you. Irene. Do you know that?”

Although there was no clear answer, Serpina continued talking as if she didn’t care.

“In fact, Yeo-neun… … doesn’t even trust someone who has served the royal family for over ten years. No, it’s closer to not trusting them. … … No matter how long it has been, or what military achievements he has made… … In the end… … he might betray Yeo-neun.”

At what point did it start?

Serpina simply couldn’t trust others.

The tutor who taught him betrayed him, and the trustworthy female general who always took care of various tasks cursed him. He was almost killed by the knight he trusted with his life.

Besides that… … Time and time again, the ghosts of his brothers tormented him. It felt like everything in the world was after his neck.

Irene also vaguely understood her circumstances.

In the first place, she too… …was one of the people who saw with her own two eyes the escort knight pointing his sword at her.

“… … Yes. I can’t trust anyone. Even Jenna, the national strategist who should be closest to me. ”

“My lord… … .”

“But, Irene. For some reason, I feel like I can trust you.”

Serpina stares into his extremely loyal purple eyes.

“Maybe it’s just that I simply want to trust someone. When I look into your eyes… …I feel a sense of security that I would never abandon anyone, even if I were abandoned.”

“… … .”

Irene doesn’t just casually say things like, ‘Thank you for believing in me.’

I had no intention of betraying Serpina… … but she was someone who had to stay by Swen’s side.

One day, when Swen went to the Lunarian army, it was natural that he would follow him.

That’s why I can’t answer carelessly. I didn’t want to say something I couldn’t take responsibility for when someone asked me so seriously…

Serpina noticed Irene’s complicated feelings and nodded with a smile.

“Of course, I don’t intend to burden you, so you can just listen and let it go. Didn’t you already save Yeo-ui’s life? I sincerely believe that you have done your duty… …enough.”

“No, my lord. On the contrary, it was thanks to you that I was able to save my life. I am serious.”

“Then let’s move on, saying we each owe each other our lives.”

Serpina said this and took another sip of wine.

Irene followed her lead and took a few sips. And once again, she realized why she was not good at drinking.

‘My head is hot… … .’

Irene was extremely sensitive to alcohol.

In the first place, you come to realize that you were born with a body that doesn’t handle alcohol well, even if you don’t like it.

Serpina also seemed to notice it and spoke in a serious tone.

“Your face is already red. It’s okay to stop for today, so don’t push yourself too hard.”

“No, it’s okay.”

“No. If I harass you, it’s obvious that Swen will hate you. If you have any feelings for me, I sincerely hope you stop.”

“… … .”

Swen… … is that it?

Does the lord really like Swen and not just flirt with me?

“I… …my lord.”

“Your heart is sincere, Irene.”

Before she could even ask, Irene was startled by the answer that came out as if her mind had been read.

Swen said that lying in front of Serpina was really hard. I felt like I understood what he meant.

“That’s why I want to get along with you too. I don’t know what kind of relationship we’ll have in the future, but… …I want to be Swen’s wife if possible. Whether it’s the first or the second, it doesn’t matter to me at all. In a way, you’re the person who has the highest possibility of becoming my family.”

“… … .”

“So what happened today… … It was just, rather than a relationship between a ruler and a subject, it was just a meeting between women who wanted to serve the same husband… … I think I would appreciate it if you thought of it that way. It’s such a shameless story, though.”

Irene looked at Serpina’s face without saying a word.

Irene also knew that a man can have four wives.

In fact, even when Reika said, “If I get married, wouldn’t you naturally become my second wife?”, he was only confused by the word marriage and didn’t question the fact that they would both become wives.

I just thought that if that really happened, the two of them should just get along well.

Serpina was, for now, the one who was going to be his and Swen’s mistress. They were people with very different statuses… … Nevertheless, when Swen said he would take Serpina, his mistress, as his wife, Irene had no intention of being particularly dissatisfied with it.

Because it was more important to Irene than anything else that she could be with Swen in some way.

In that case, there was no need for Irene to stand in opposition to Serpina, who was telling her deepest thoughts.

Of course I didn’t want to do that.

After all, wasn’t she the savior of his life and the first master to recognize his worth?

“… … My lord.”

Irene smiled faintly-

For now, he spoke as if he were talking to a friend rather than a lord.

“Next time I have the chance, I’d like to treat you to tea.”

“That is a very promising story. I will eagerly wait for that day.”

Serpina and Irene, I can’t describe in one word the moment we shared a drink and a conversation together―

Still, both of them could be sure.

At this very moment――the two people are connected.

* * *

In their own places… …

Even at this moment, time was flowing equally.