Chapter 33
“Thank you, Lena.”
Those words, spoken in Aitalosian, were clear enough to understand from the shape of his lips alone. The note that flew over afterward had a date written at the very top.
[On that day, I will come to take you to the eastern forest of the imperial palace. Until then, please stay safe just as you are now.]
After checking the contents, Lena nodded. Then she watched as Regnos disappeared once more into the forest adjacent to the palace, unseen by anyone. Her heart raced with worry that he might be caught by the guards on patrol along the castle walls. Fresh tears welled up and her face flushed. Lena was simply happy. Happy that Prince Regnos had not forgotten her and would come to take her away. She was grateful. Grateful that even though she was entangled in filthy acts with the usurper emperor, he asked her nothing.
Fortunately, no guards appeared before Regnos slipped into the forest. Before he entered the deep woods, Lena returned the wave he gave her, greeting him in kind.
After that, she burned every single note that had arrived tied to the pebbles in the fireplace.
* * *
He had disappeared from her sight, but her heart felt utterly light. It was different from the past days, when each day was spent only thinking of how to endure until the next.
Lena could now smile genuinely. With hope, her reasons to live were boundless.
She would see Prince Regnos again. She would look up to him again in his nation and taste happiness.
If it was for that, why could she not smile even at her enemy?
“Welcome, Your Imperial Majesty.”
When Godfrid arrived, Lena had been waiting and greeted him. That alone was enough to make the emperor freeze on the spot in surprise.
Not stopping there, she removed the fur cloak draped over the man’s shoulders.
“…This is unusual.”
“You must have worked hard today as well?”
Godfrid stared at Lena’s face for a long while. As if wondering whether she had eaten something wrong, or had become an entirely different person.
“The bathwater is ready.”
And when Lena took his hand and pulled, he was led willingly by even that faint strength.
Upon reaching the bathroom, Lena stripped off Godfrid’s clothes layer by layer. The man stood for a long while, feeling that gentle, delicate touch that was far slower than undressing himself.
When his undergarments finally came down and he was naked, his center was already standing, greatly swollen.
Lena pretended not to see it and quietly turned her head.
She dipped her hand in to check the temperature of the bathwater and gave a glance, and the man obediently stepped into the tub.
She had volunteered to attend to his bath, but what else was she supposed to do? Having lived as a princess in her own way, she did not know how to serve others.
After standing there awkwardly for a moment, Lena reached for the bath salts placed on the shelf.
What she picked up was a bottle made of pink stone. She remembered how her mood had always improved whenever Melgardi added this rose-scented oil.
She opened the cap, dissolved it into the bathwater, and stirred it with her arm. Then she clumsily poured the water, thick with the scent of roses, over Godfrid’s broad shoulders.
His golden eyes stared at Lena as if he would devour her.
When she tried to avoid his gaze to the very end, Godfrid pulled her into the tub.
“Kyaak!”
With a splash, water surged up. The thin white chemise clung wetly to her skin, revealing Lena’s bare body in a lurid manner.
The steam that filled her body in an instant left her face flushed as she looked up at Godfrid.
“Why the sudden change in attitude?”
“That is…”
She hesitated and pressed her lips shut. Of course, the emperor would not simply overlook her changed demeanor. Anyone could see she was suspicious.
She had to convince him now with a plausible answer.
The reason Lena was acting this way was solely so that, when the time came, she could go to Regnos. He had said he would wait in the eastern forest outside the window. But unlike Regnos, who had a strong man’s body, she could not secretly climb over the wall and descend when no one was watching.
She had considered tearing bedsheets and clothes to make a rope, but that too was impossible. There were no sharp objects of any kind here, perhaps because they feared she might harm herself.
On top of that, all the clothes she wore were managed by Melgardi.
Given this situation, the only way to gain even a sliver of freedom to reach the promised meeting place was to get into the emperor’s good graces.
“Because I have now come to realize that you are bestowing upon me an undeserved mercy.”
“…”
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