Chapter 58
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“Why? You told me to treat him like an Emperor, so I treated him like one. What more is there?”
“You call that ‘treating’ him?”
“Well, yeah— I even used formal speech. I did it for our Knight too. ‘Sir Ronius de Xtion’… Be honest. You liked it, didn’t you?”
“……”
The night deepened, and the banquet blazed brighter in the increasingly relaxed atmosphere. With a perfectly blank face, every word she spat out was such a gem that each time Jeina delivered an answer, cracks appeared in the Emperor’s formerly serpentine smile. Ronius looked down at the woman still fixated on a single thought and let out a dry laugh.
Of course, despite it all, the Imperial Family seemed so desperately eager to have a mage that, under the pretext of her wartime merits, Jeina was ultimately granted the territory of Cellatio and the title of Countess. Even at that moment, her pale face merely gave a single, slight nod and that was all.
Ignoring Ronius’s lack of reply, Jeina continued nonchalantly.
“To beings like us, the Emperor, the attendants over there… all you Barren Lands humans are the same. One and the same. To use your own terms… an Emperor is ultimately less of a status and more of a… role, I suppose?”
“Then……”
For a moment, a childish question like ‘Then, am I too?’ surged up in his throat. Was he, too, just the same? Just another one of those ‘one and the same’ beings? He felt a pang of wretchedness at the question circling in his throat. She was, one way or another, only ever talking about his body, his body… Just his body.
“Never mind. Forget it.”
“Besides, the Emperor’s face and body aren’t my type, so I don’t really feel like humoring him. You know my type without me saying it.”
‘Because it’s you.’ Her teasing words, mouthed silently, made Ronius’s complicated expression soften instantly, and he awkwardly cleared his throat.
“Still, he is the Emperor of an Empire. I told you there’s no need to deliberately provoke a man who lives for flaunting his power.”
After all, even Ronius himself was only loyal to the Imperial Family on the surface, as a sword. It was merely the most effective method he had found to achieve his own goals; he had never cultivated any genuine loyalty from the start.
“Didn’t I say that handling them appropriately is the way to avoid trouble for yourself?”
He gently took her by the waist and spun her in a full circle. Jeina stared directly up at his face.
Then she let out a short, sharp snort.
“My, my. What more do you expect from a mage? Isn’t it enough that I’m dancing this boring dance for you here? I have so many important things to do.”
Despite her grumbling, she followed his steps quite well. The light from the central chandelier fell upon her dark hair, and each strand, as if surrendering to the music, rippled and swayed luxuriously.
They were all trembling in fear at her black hair before, but now every single man was entranced by her bewitching figure. Especially that Crown Prince bastard… He seemed unable to hide his debauched nature and was openly setting his sights on her.
‘Obvious. What else would he be?’
The impulse to pluck out the Crown Prince’s yellowish eyes surged within him repeatedly. Even as he suffered these disloyal impulses as the Imperial Knight Commander, he couldn’t bring himself to withdraw his attention from her slender waist. His thick, large hand fidgeted incessantly. Even though their skin wasn’t touching, flames were spreading uncontrollably from where their bodies met. The anticipation of what those ‘important things’ she mentioned earlier might be—an anticipation even he couldn’t fully comprehend—was kindling a spark…
As infuriating as it was to see those worthless faces daring to desire her, all his senses ultimately returned to the point of contact with her. He tried desperately to fix his gaze anywhere but on the woman before him. Yet, despite his frantic attempts to ignore it, she subtly pressed her body closer against his. The pronounced curves made their presence fully known. Gritting his teeth, he lowered his gaze. Jeina, meeting his eyes as if she’d been waiting, whispered with her red lips.
“And besides, Sir Knight. I’ve never had any interest in dances where you’re trussed up like this, you know? You know that, right?”
“Jeina.”
“There are so many things on this outfit to tear off. It’s just needlessly troublesome. Don’t you think?”
Her gaze, trailing from the belt at his waist, the sash falling diagonally from his shoulder, the two rows of gold buttons on his uniform, to the tightly fastened collar, was deeply unsettling. Her iridescent eyes, like a predator locking onto its prey, slowly constricted around him. Under that gaze that seemed ready to tear his clothes to shreds without hesitation, he could only exist as the prey. It was always like this when he faced this look. His entire life, spent always in the position of the predator, was flipped upside down in an instant. It was familiar, yet he could never get used to it. Even though he knew full well he’d be devoured if he lost focus, he was helplessly drawn in, and he would surely be utterly consumed once again.
Tension, anxiety, anticipation, desire. His head spun. Knowing full well he couldn’t refuse in the end, Ronius forced out a few words through his parched throat.
“Mage. That’s enough. Given the place, shouldn’t we stop here?”
“The place? What does the place matter, Sir Knight?”
She rolled her eyes innocently, playing dumb. He was exasperated by her brazen act, but he pressed his lips together firmly.
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