The Sub Male Lead is Burning with Jealousy - Chapter 12 Part 1 - Harvest Festival

Who is staring like that?

Rahil turned his head sharply and stared back. He expected Viola to notice quickly and turn away, but Karel did not. When his eyes met those of the emperor he admired, his eyes instead began to shine brightly as he looked back at him.

The problem was that only Karel thought his gaze looked bright and innocent. From the outside, it looked as if he was staring hard enough to bore a hole through him.

‘This bastard?’

He had been staring openly at the empress along with Viola, and only he had been caught, but Karel did not even realize that anything was wrong. The ones who were startled by Rahil’s murderous gaze were the people around them.

“Your Majesty! It is time to go down.”

Sion stepped between Rahil and Karel’s line of sight at just the right moment and spoke. The Harvest Festival ceremony was over, and now the main figures of the festival were to ride in one carriage and circle the capital clockwise.

Behind their carriage, the carriages from the territories that had followed them separately until now would also join in, making sixteen carriages in total. It was expected to be quite a long procession.

Since it was tradition for the imperial family and nobles to return by the road on the opposite side, the important thing was to leave quickly before the citizens crowded in.

‘Though it already seems a little late.’

In any case, the imperial knights were clearing the way, so the crowd split to the left and right, creating a path for the imperial and noble carriages to pass.

Anais took Rahil’s hand and climbed into the imperial carriage. Emilio was watching from far away, but he did not dare approach. He only stared blankly.

‘Anais.’

Was she really Radiel? Kirthalros, the ancient dragon, seemed certain of it, but Emilio could not be sure. The woman before him now was more beautiful and carried herself with confidence. Of course, it was also possible that the Radiel he had seen in his previous life had only looked that way because she had been abused by Kirthalros.

‘I am no longer the Emil of the past either.’

In his previous life, he had not been a good person to Radiel. He had not loved her. He had only thought of using her. So now, feeling something for Anais seemed unnatural to him.

‘Could this also be because of Kirthalros’s curse?’

He doubted it, but he knew better than anyone that such a thing was impossible. Magic that made someone feel lust might be possible, but love was something no magic or divine power could create.

That fact made Emilio feel even more ashamed of himself. The woman now had a different appearance from when she had been Radiel. It felt as if his love had grown stronger simply because of her looks, and that made him feel as though he had become even more like trash.

While he hesitated, Rahil also followed Anais into the carriage, and the imperial carriage set off. Behind it, the other nobles’ carriages began moving one after another.

In the evening, there would be a Harvest Festival ball held only for the nobles. Emilio watched the carriage move farther away and pressed a hand to his chest. It felt as if he had developed lovesickness, something he had not even suffered from with Angelica.

***

Even inside the carriage heading toward the imperial palace, they could see the people rejoicing outside. Anais lowered her head at the feeling rising inside her, stronger than she had expected. It felt far better than she had imagined.

‘Becoming empress… I honestly thought it would only be troublesome.’

But in the moment when offerings were presented to the temple and both the people and the nobles rejoiced, a realization came to her.

‘Ah. This Harvest Festival was carried out successfully.’

The second half of the parade and the evening ball still remained, but the first two days had passed without any major incident, so more than half of it could already be considered a success.

It was all thanks to the people who had worked hard for this day, and to the knights and mages who had calmly dealt with the dragon’s invasion. Of course, Rahil had also played a part.

“Anais?”

When Rahil saw her suddenly lower her head inside the carriage, he studied her expression and realized that she was trying to hold back her happiness.

“You can just be happy. It’s only the two of us here.”

At Rahil’s words, Anais raised her head. Her cheeks were flushed red with joy.

“But… it is not very ladylike.”

“You’re cute, so it’s fine. And you’re in front of me. Come here.”

They were already sitting side by side, but Rahil pulled Anais closer and ended up holding her in his arms. Anais looked at him with a slightly sulky expression.

“What does my happiness have to do with Your Majesty hugging me?”

“You looked cute while being happy, so I wanted to hug you?”

“…….”

“Mm. Should I give you a reward? I’ll grant anything, except if you say you don’t want to sleep with me or don’t want physical affection.”

There he went again, saying irresponsible things. Anais glared at him once more because of his thoughtlessness, but the idea of receiving a reward did interest her.

“Does that mean you will grant me a wish? Like you did for the young people chosen as this year’s Maiden of Abundance and Knight of Autumn?”

“That’s right. Is there something you want?”

It was not something she wanted to have, but there was one thing she wished for. However, she thought the timing was not good. The current season was not suitable for travel. Perhaps it would be possible around winter. Even in winter, the emperor often left for a warm place on vacation to avoid the cold.

“I want to visit my mother’s grave in the Ruol family territory.”

Rahil seemed somewhat surprised by Anais’s words. Then he remembered that, although not much time had passed since their marriage, she probably had not been able to visit even once since the marriage had been decided. She had been busy with empress lessons the entire time.

“That is not something you need to use a wish for. All right. Let’s save your wish for later… When we go down to the detached palace in winter, we can stop by and greet her together.”

Considering the location of the Ruol family territory, it was possible. Seeing the relieved look on Anais’s face, Rahil regretted how thoughtless he had been and pulled her into another tight embrace. Anais only looked as if she was wondering what on earth His Majesty was doing.

***