Chapter 28
When Hilderud roughly shook off her hand, Lena nearly fell from the force of the pulled arm. If she had not regained some strength by eating the nutritious meals Melgardi had prepared for her over the past few days, she would have collapsed pathetically right then.
“Are you insane?”
The unfamiliar woman glared at Lena with gleaming eyes.
The next moment, Lena’s body was helplessly swung about and her vision swayed. Realizing she had been grabbed by the collar, Lena clutched at the woman’s forearm to steady herself.
“You still think you are a princess…”
“What is going on here?”
The moment the terribly low voice was heard, the situation came to a complete halt.
A strange tension filled the air, as if that voice had become a heavy blade and slashed through the space. Only the labored breathing of the guard, who had hurried back and forth, could be heard from beyond the doorway, his breath risen to the top of his throat.
“Your Majesty!”
Hilderud immediately flung Lena aside and attempted to throw herself into Godfrid’s arms. But Godfrid naturally evaded her and steadied Lena, who had nearly fallen.
Hilderud opened her eyes wide as if utterly dumbfounded.
“Your Majesty?”
“This is the emperor’s bedchamber. Do you not know this is not a space one can enter carelessly?”
“Enter carelessly, Your Majesty! I am not just anyone. I am your betrothed!”
Protesting in a wounded tone, Hilderud pulled back her sleeve and showed her wrist.
The red marks left from Lena’s tight grip still remained on her white wrist.
“Look. This vulgar woman, on my body…!”
Then Hilderud clamped her mouth shut. It was because Emperor Godfrid was glaring at her with a look she had never once seen before.
So this is what it means when they say eyes alone can kill, she thought.
Her body trembled as if she had been thrown before a predator, and a numbness spread through her chest. When the woman finally collapsed to the floor, Godfrid gave an order with a nod of his head.
“Take her away.”
Hilderud, who under normal circumstances would have continued protesting even as she was dragged off, looked dazed as if in shock. After the young guard escorted her out, Godfrid carefully lifted Lena and seated her on the bed.
“Lenasia. Are you hurt anywhere?”
“…”
Lena, too, was stunned by this situation.
Even more than the strange woman barging in, striking Melgardi, and grabbing her by the collar, the fact that the emperor had driven that woman out and was now checking on her well-being seemed utterly absurd.
“There is none. The one who is hurt is Melgardi.”
Melgardi had by now tidied her disheveled hair and was cooling her swollen cheek with the back of her hand.
“Go and receive treatment.”
“I am overcome with gratitude, Your Majesty.”
Once Melgardi had left, only the two of them remained in the room.
“Are you truly unhurt anywhere?”
“Yes.”
To be honest, Lenasia was curious how Godfrid had managed to return to the room at just the right moment. She had been aware of the small commotion in front of the door before the noblewoman barged in, but she had not heard exactly what they were saying.
Yet when she actually stood before him face to face, all those unresolved questions simply subsided on their own.
She was overwhelmed by his large frame and eyes that reminded her of a predator, and her mouth clamped shut.
“Let me check for myself.”
It was no longer surprising that he naturally began to undress her. The dress Melgardi had put on her was fastened with strings for easy removal, so Lena was soon naked.
After laying Lena on the bed, Godfrid licked her pure white naked body inch by inch with his eyes.
Lena grew embarrassed and covered her chest.
“Do you not know that covering yourself like that makes it look more lewd?”
“…!”
When Godfrid leaned his body over her, Lena shrank her shoulders. He gently swept his fingertips below her collarbone.
“Ah!”
It stung. Looking down, she saw a long scratch-like wound on the upper part of her chest.
It seemed to be a wound she had gotten when the woman who claimed to be the emperor’s betrothed had grabbed her by the collar.
“You said you were not hurt.”
“I, I did not know.”
Warm lips covered the red scratch. A soft sensation carefully traced the wound, and soon a slick, wet tongue licked the spot.
“Hng.”
It stung and throbbed enough that she wondered why she had only just noticed it now. But mingled with the smarting sensation, a strange feeling began to bloom. At the same time, a truly uncomfortable and odd emotion rose within her.
Why was this man tending to her wound as if with tenderness?
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