Chapter 19

"I will go to Lady Ranawen."

As Ratil made a decision, putting aside his personal curiosity, the chief attendant gave a silent nod to another attendant waiting nearby. The attendant who received the look bowed slightly and hurriedly ran out. He must have gone to inform Lady Ranawen of the Emperor's visit in advance.

"Hmm..."

Ratil took a deep breath, let it out, and wiped his face. Tension was building up again. * * * The harem, where the concubines lived, had a unique shape. If you only considered the building's form, it resembled a large donut. Inside this donut were several rooms and corridors, surrounded by a beautiful garden, and in the center of the donut's hollow part was a large swimming pool.

"By Lord Klein's request, Lady Ranawen's and Lord Klein's rooms were placed as far apart as possible."

"Good job."

The chief attendant, who had briefly explained the location of each concubine's quarters, stopped in front of Lady Ranawen's room and quietly looked at Ratil. When Ratil nodded, the chief attendant opened the closed door. Ratil, pretending to be calm, straightened his shoulders and entered the room. The sound of the door closing behind him seemed unusually loud. There was an intermediate corridor between the concubine's bedroom and the main corridor. Instead of doors, there were only archways between the inner corridor and the bedroom. These archways were adorned with curtains made of jewels. Pushing aside the curtain with one hand, Ratil saw Lady Ranawen in her formal attire, looking slightly tired from waiting. However, when she saw Ratil enter, one corner of her mouth curled up coldly, as if she had expected him to come.

'Oh, this is really awkward...'

At the sight of that smile, Ratil froze, unable to move closer. The atmosphere was becoming increasingly awkward. What should he say? Since he was the Emperor, shouldn't he take the lead? Should he tell her to lie down? Should he ask her to come closer? Should he start with a kiss, or should he start with a conversation? Did he have to go all the way tonight? His mind was spinning. As he stood there almost mechanically, Ranawen's eyes narrowed slightly, raising an eyebrow as if understanding the situation. He smiled lightly and slowly approached Ratil.

"Are you nervous, Your Majesty?"

Approaching Ratil, Ranawen naturally ran his fingers through Ratil's hair and asked. Ratil looked up at Ranawen. Even when other noble ladies praised Ranawen's beauty, he had just shrugged it off. But now, seeing his face up close, Ratil realized how breathtakingly beautiful he was.

"A little..."

When Ratil answered honestly, Ranawen lightly kissed his temple and whispered.

"I am too."

"You don't seem nervous at all?"

"You can listen to my heartbeat if you want."

Ratil, without thinking, pressed his ear to Ranawen's chest. The height difference made it easy to just tilt his head. However, with multiple layers of formal attire, he couldn't hear anything.

"I can't hear it."

Ratil muttered, lifting his head, and then gasped. Ranawen had undone the buttons of his formal attire with one hand, revealing his perfectly toned muscles and smooth skin. Ratil's mind went blank for about three seconds. Ranawen, holding Ratil's frozen head, pressed it to his chest and whispered.

"Can you hear it now?"

* * *

"Have you heard anything from Klein yet?"

At Emperor Hyacinth's question, the attendant felt even more uncomfortable and answered weakly.

"No, Your Majesty."

Hyacinth sighed deeply, raised his head, and closed his eyes.

"I told him to send a letter as soon as I left, but that calf..."

Hyacinth's forehead veins stood out as he muttered.

"Maybe he's busy adapting to the new environment?"

The attendant asked cautiously, not to defend Klein but to soothe Hyacinth. However, Hyacinth only snorted.

"Adapting? The kid who disguised himself as a foreign student and infiltrated the enemy palace, adapting?"

"Well... he was younger then..."

"Adapting would have taken him two hours at most."

Hyacinth, speaking decisively, drummed his fingers on the throne's armrest impatiently. Thump, thump, thump, thump. Each tap echoed loudly in the large hall. Has he met Ratil yet? Has Ratil taken out his frustrations on his brother? Is he tormenting his brother? Or is his brother tormenting him? Is his brother getting too close to Ratil, so much so that... No, it doesn't have to be them specifically. By now, the concubines should have completed their oath ceremony and entered the harem. Hyacinth's expression twisted in fear.

"Bring Axian here."

"Axian, the captain?"

"Yes. I'll wait for Klein's letter, but if it doesn't come, I'll have to go myself."

However, 15 minutes later, it was not Captain Axian but Empress Aine who came to see Hyacinth. As Hyacinth's expression hardened, the attendant, sensing the tension between the Emperor and Empress, wisely left the room.

"Why are you here?"

Hyacinth, aware that his attendant had left, asked Aine instead of calling him back. His voice was cold and harsh.

"I heard that Your Majesty is preparing for a divorce. Is it true?"

"Are you asking because you don't know?"

"Yes. I want to hear it from Your Majesty's own mouth."

Hyacinth laughed bitterly, resting one arm on the armrest and asked.

"Why are you doing this, Aine? You already knew. The spies you planted by my side have been telling you for three years. Why pretend you don't know?"

* * *

His shoulders felt heavy, and his movements were stifled. A pleasant scent lingered at the tip of his nose. Ratil opened his eyes blankly and blinked at the clean skin in front of him. His mind was fuzzy for a moment. It took a while for Ratil to recall what had happened yesterday. Oh no. He screamed inwardly and slowly lifted his head. Still a heavy sleeper, Ranawen was still asleep, holding Ratil tightly in his arms. Realizing he was using Ranawen's arm as a pillow, Ratil carefully slipped his head out.

'Oh... this is so embarrassing.'

As he awkwardly played with his hair, a rustling sound came from beside him.

"Are you awake?"

Ratil only moved his eyes to look. Ranawen, still lying down, looked up at Ratil. His lazy demeanor had a slightly erotic edge, making Ratil's face heat up.

"Uh, yeah."

Without smiling, Ranawen reached out and played with the ends of Ratil's hair, then gently stroked his back. The sensation of the large hand moving over the thin fabric made Ratil sit up straight. This time, a deflated laugh escaped him.

"Uh, it's awkward."

As Ratil muttered, Ranawen slowly sat up and naturally kissed Ratil's forehead. After a light kiss, he got out of bed and asked.

"Do you want to wash up?"

Together. The barely audible addition made Ratil jump up and shake his head. Ranawen smiled faintly and helped Ratil put on the cloak he had left behind. The feeling of skin touching made the atmosphere even more awkward.

'If it had been Hyacinth, it wouldn't have been like this.'

Ratil, subconsciously thinking of his ex-boyfriend, felt a pang of pride.

'Damn, why is Hyacinth suddenly coming to mind?'

He had already taken his revenge, so he should forget about Hyacinth. It annoyed him that he still couldn't.

"Will you come tonight?"

Fortunately, Ranawen's next question helped Ratil shake off his self-loathing.

"Huh?"

Ratil turned to look at Ranawen in surprise. Ranawen, with a calm expression, asked again.

"Or won't you come?"

His expression was calm, but his voice was a bit sharp.

"Uh, I might be busy."

Ratil's answer made Ranawen's expression change. His usually straight brows furrowed slightly.

"Busy, or might be busy? Or perhaps, ‘I want to be busy’?"

"!"

"You don't want to come, do you?"

Ranawen, muttering coldly, took a brush and gently combed Ratil's hair. His touch was soft and warm, but the atmosphere was chilly.

"No, really, I'm busy."

Ratil laughed awkwardly. It was true. He was really busy. But there was a more important reason. Although he had allowed men into the harem, Ratil had no intention of visiting the concubines in rotation. That would increase the likelihood of pregnancy. After having a child, he wouldn't be able to fully focus on state affairs for months. While he knew it was necessary for the Emperor to have a successor, he wanted to delay pregnancy as much as possible before securing his power base. On the other hand, if he openly favored one man—especially Ranawen, the son of a loyalist—the hierarchy in the harem would be firmly established. That wasn't the structure Ratil wanted.

"Is that so."

Still, maybe because they had shared a bed for a night, Ranawen seemed a bit disappointed. Ratil, fidgeting with the hair Ranawen had tied up, glanced at Ranawen's profile out of the corner of his eye.

* * *

After Ratil left, his attendant, Cardun, who had been waiting in the corridor all night, came in, filled the bathtub, and brought Ranawen's breakfast. Like most noble families, Ranawen had his own wet nurse, and Cardun was her biological son and Ranawen's foster brother. Ranawen trusted him as much as his own siblings and found him comfortable, so he had brought him along. Once the meal was set, Cardun sat opposite Ranawen and grinned proudly.

"As I suspected, you're in a different league from the other concubines."

"..."

"Two are commoners, and the other is a noble but acts like a sloth. Prince Klein, despite his high status, was never a real competitor. Isn't that right?"

But Ranawen, without a word, just stirred his soup with a spoon. Cardun was puzzled by his lack of enthusiasm. He had been studying hard. Did it not go well? He was secretly worried. His concern grew when Prince Klein came in the morning and started a quarrel.

"Don't get too full of yourself just because you spent the night with His Majesty. You'll get tired of a face like yours pretty quickly."

"..."

Usually, Ranawen would have delivered a sharp retort, but this time he just walked past Prince Klein. Klein himself looked bewildered as he turned to look at Ranawen. Cardun, following Ranawen out, was so frustrated and angry that he nagged.

"Sir, you usually speak so well, why aren't you saying anything this time!"

"..."

"Are you going to let him say such nonsense? You're the one who's good at talking. Right?"

But Ranawen remained silent. It wasn't until they reached a secluded spot that he finally spoke.

"We didn't go all the way."

"What do you mean?"

"With His Majesty. We didn't ‘go all the way’."

At first, Cardun didn't understand Ranawen's words, but then he was shocked and his eyes widened.

"Then what did you do all night?"

"We slept. ...Held each other."

"Huh? But you said you studied hard. You studied so much. ...What for?"

Cardun, genuinely frustrated, wondered if his master was the type who could study but not apply what he learned.

"His Majesty didn't want to."

Noticing his foster brother's frustration, Ranawen coldly said, running his fingers through his disheveled black hair. Last night, the atmosphere was quite good. The Emperor seemed to be quite aware of Ranawen in a rational way. It was a lovely reaction. Starting with letting him listen to his heartbeat, Ranawen gradually increased the physical contact. Originally, Ranawen wasn't particularly interested in Ratil. More accurately, he wasn't interested in anyone. In fact, he disliked physical contact with anyone. So, even while ‘studying,’ he had some concerns. Can I really do these things? But when it came to the real thing, those concerns disappeared. The Emperor's reactions to his every move, every breath, and every word were so captivating that they made him forget the book content. His soft skin was smooth, and his damp hair smelled good. He hoped the Emperor would feel the same way. But as soon as they lay down, the Emperor said, "Wait a moment," pushed Ranawen away, and said he was tired and wanted to sleep. That was the end. The elaborate and passionate scenes in the books were from another world. All Ranawen did all night was be a human pillow and a blanket.

"Oh... That's why you had that expression all along."