“Your Majesty, please, can we talk after you get off me?”
Sena was trying hard to calm the excited Astria since the morning.
“You have a meeting this morning, so you should start getting ready… Tsk.”
Before he could finish speaking, Astria dug her face into his neck. Sena closed his eyes tightly and hugged her small head.
Astria, with a satisfied expression, left what must have been another kiss mark on him.
Sena exhaled roughly and said.
“Y-Your Majesty, this is troublesome.”
“You brought this upon yourself.”
Her eyes gleamed dangerously. Sena looked up at the ceiling with a feeling of resignation.
‘I’m paying for this dearly.’
He knew that he had brought this upon himself.
But what could he do?
The dawn air yesterday was clear, and Astria was beautiful.
There weren’t many men who could resist in that situation.
…So, he had somewhat braced himself for this.
But isn’t this too much?!
“No matter how you look at it, how can you keep going since last night? Your Majesty, don’t you ever get tired…?!”
Last night.
When Sena and Astria returned to the bedroom, they kissed from the door and collapsed onto the bed.
Astria, half losing her reason, devoured Sena, and Sena let her. Somehow, they fell asleep.
The problem was that whenever they woke up and their eyes met, Astria would do something naughty, and this had continued until now.
‘If this goes on, what will happen when we actually do it? I don’t think I can handle it.’
He swallowed hard. Astria looked at him with eyes burning with desire.
“I want to.”
“…What?”
“I said I want to do it.”
Sena blinked. Astria’s hand was already on his pants.
Sena’s face, which seemed like it couldn’t get any redder, flushed even more.
“Do you remember what I said last time?”
“Yes.”
“I asked you to wait until two months had passed, right? You remember that, right?”
“I do.”
“Then, could you please take your hand off my pants?”
“But you also said this. You’d do it when we were in love.”
Technically, it was when they both fell in love.
Sena glared at Astria, who had conveniently omitted the most important part.
But it would take a hundred years for this brat to understand what love was.
“What is love, then?”
“Before that, let me ask you one thing.”
Astria lowered her eyes.
“If I get the answer right, will you permit it?”
Sena was a bit flustered but decided to go for it.
“O-Of course. I don’t lie.”
Was it an illusion that Astria’s smile deepened?
Sena swallowed nervously.
Was his purity threatened again?
…Would he ever be able to return home at this rate?
His feelings were complicated. But the die had been cast, and Sena was now waiting for the result.
Astria confidently said.
“Love is something that makes your mouth water.”
“…?”
Astria smiled deeply. It was the attitude of someone who was sure they were right.
“In other words, it’s something delicious.”
Sena’s face clouded over.
Of course.
He replied coldly.
“Incorrect.”
“Huh?”
Astria raised an eyebrow and grabbed Sena’s wrist.
“How hard is it to do it just once?”
“W-Well, I said no.”
“Just once and I’m sure I can get pregnant!”
“Stop saying weird things!”
“Come on, let’s just try it once. I’m curious.”
Astria whined and moved her hips.
Sena’s body stiffened from the dizzying sensation.
“D-Don’t move.”
“Huh?”
“It’s just… it’s like that!”
Sena’s face turned red. Oblivious, Astria tilted her head in confusion.
“Please, just get off of me already!”
Sena shifted to the side, but Astria’s balance was perfect.
With a smirk, she laughed at him.
“No.”
“Really, really…!”
Sena realized that to stop Astria in this state, he would need to offer something in return.
His gut told him it wouldn’t happen otherwise.
“Your Majesty.”
Sena smiled as charmingly as he could, something he was quite good at.
“If you stop here for now, I’ll do something nice for you tonight.”
The effect of Sena’s full-power cuteness was remarkable.
Astria stared blankly for a moment before getting off him and kneeling neatly beside him.
“Now I understand, Sena.”
Astria’s eyes were blue again.
“Her lower abdomen is tingling. Is this love?”
Sena laughed awkwardly.
“…That’s just arousal.”
**
Sena’s grooming was usually handled by Serilda and Luna together.
It wasn’t much, just tidying up his messy hair and preparing the usual clothes.
However, today seemed to require a bit more effort, so Serilda, feeling nervous, spoke up.
“Indeed, even in bed, Her Majesty is a tyrant.”
“…Uh, what?”
“Th-The marks are too noticeable even with makeup.”
‘She succeeded.’
Sena looked in the mirror.
Red marks covered his body, especially the neck, to an alarming degree.
At this level, it was obvious that he belonged to someone.
“It’s okay. I can cover it with my tracksuit. The neck part won’t show. Can you give it to me?”
“Yes.”
Just as Luna handed over the tracksuit and Sena tried to stand up, he felt a sudden weakness.
“Sena!”
Seril Da supported her Senna. Sena was reassured for now.
Serilda caught him. Sena quickly reassured her.
“I’m fine, I’m fine.”
On the outside, he appeared calm, but internally he wasn’t.
He recognized this feeling.
‘It’s starting again.’
A legendary herb, and he couldn’t last even two months?
How relentless.
**
They say late bloomers are the most intense.
Astria, who had never been exposed to such things until she was 21, found everything with Sena in the past few days to be immensely stimulating.
Her obsession doubled.
She couldn’t bear to be apart from Sena for even a moment. If he wasn’t by her side, she felt uneasy.
“Come with me.”
Astria didn’t forget to bring Sena along before heading to the meeting.
“W-What?”
Sena looked a bit flustered. That annoyed Astria.
Now that she couldn’t stand being without him, wasn’t he the same?
“How impertinent. My word is law.”
“But… is it really okay for me to attend such an important meeting?”
Astria had been exposed to noble rhetoric enough to understand the underlying meaning of Sena’s words.
In short, he didn’t want to go. Of course, if Astria were the type to be persuaded, she wouldn’t have brought it up in the first place.
“It is.”
“But still…”
“The Empress of the Laperci Empire is speaking.”
Astria’s resolve was clear, and as always, Sena couldn’t refuse the words of someone with such resolve.
“Yes, understood.”
However, Sena looked uneasy. He bit his lip slightly and gripped the hem of his pants.
“Hmph, you should have agreed from the beginning.”
Astria didn’t notice and started walking.
‘I need to make a lasting impression.’
Bringing Sena to the meeting had multiple implications.
Just attending together would allow the ministers to infer Sena’s significance to Astria.
After all, such a thing had never happened before.
‘Today’s meeting needs to be positive.’
Though Astria usually believed that true human potential emerged under fear, she decided to be generous today.
“By the way, I’ve never been to the citadel before.”
“That’s ironic. The Empress’s personal physician has never been to the citadel?”
“I’m still a novice physician. Besides, Your Majesty dislikes going to the citadel.”
The two crossed the bridge over the Emerald Lake.
Beyond that, the green trees welcomed them along the citadel’s walkway.
This was the heart of the palace, the citadel.
Originally, Astria should have resided here. However, finding it tiresome to drive out all the people, she had moved to the outskirts alone, shaping the current palace structure.
“That used to be the case.”
“Is it not anymore?”
“Thanks to someone, today doesn’t feel too bad.”
Astria laughed.
The gentle breeze felt pleasant today. Had it always been this nice?
She had never felt this good on the way to the citadel.
Could such a change come from just one person? Astria was both surprised and delighted by her transformation.
‘I ask for nothing else. Just stay by my side.’
Come to think of it, she had learned something new yesterday.
Astria believed in applying what she learned immediately. She reached out her hand.
“Sena. Your hand…”
Astria’s pupils trembled.
Sena sat down and was catching his breath.
“…Sena?”
“I’m just a bit tired. Should we rest for a bit?”
At some point, cold sweat had covered Sena’s body.
Astria, flustered, approached Sena.
“We’ve only been walking for five minutes.”
“R-Really? That’s strange.”
Sena scratched his forehead with a silly laugh, looking genuinely puzzled.
Astria considered one possibility.
A grim thought she didn’t want to entertain again.
“Are you sick?”
Sena stood up with a bright smile, acting as if nothing was wrong.
“Yes, I am. I think I have about 55 days left.”
Hearing that, Astria felt oddly reassured.
“You can predict your lifespan? Then, how many days do I have?”
“Um… 814 days?”
“That’s an oddly specific number.”
Astria laughed softly.
Sometimes, Sena’s ridiculous jokes were part of his charm.
“Oh, my back. It’s because Your Majesty played with me since morning.”
“If you find that exhausting, the rest of your life will be tough. I have no intention of stopping.”
“You’re too much.”
Sena and Astria laughed as they looked at each other.
“Make way!”
At that moment, a frantic voice called out. A maid, carrying an elaborate set of candlesticks, was rushing toward them.
The next scene was unfortunate for the maid. Even though the candlesticks blocked her view, she was moving in a way that shouldn’t have hit anyone.
No one could have predicted that Sena would suddenly stagger and lean into her path.
In the end, the maid lightly brushed against Sena’s side as she passed by.
Even that slight touch almost made Sena fall to the ground. Astria instinctively caught him with her arm, preventing him from collapsing, but Astria saw it.
A faint red scratch appeared on Sena’s cheek.
The maid, startled by nearly dropping the expensive candlestick set, turned around to the right.
‘What just happened? Didn’t he lean towards me on purpose?’
From her perspective, the person’s attire was unusual, and since he didn’t have any attendants, she assumed he wasn’t of high status.
Not necessarily because of that, but merely brushing past him causing him to almost fall seemed like an exaggeration.
The maid smirked cynically.
As she glanced at the person beside him, she recognized the blue, flickering eyes, finally matching the figure to the one she had only seen in portraits.
Empress Astria.
It felt as if her heart had dropped.
Never would she have thought that the Empress would be walking on such a regular path.
Realizing this, the maid bowed deeply.
“I-I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
Thanks to Astria, Sena hadn’t fallen. He clapped his hands to draw attention.
“Anyone can make a mistake. You can go.”
“Ah, y-yes, yes.”
There was a famous rumor among the maids of the citadel.
No maid who had seen the Empress’s face three times remained alive. Those who encountered her that many times usually died.
‘Ugh, why is my luck so bad today? Only two times left.’
When there was only one left, she planned to resign. As she quickly tried to pass by, it happened.
“You there.”
Astria spoke without even looking back. The maid froze in place.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Your Majesty, I’m really fine.”
From that moment, everything seemed to move in slow motion.
As the maid turned her back.
Astria summoned her holy sword.
-Slash!
She cut without hesitation.
Without any time to intervene, Astria alone moved swiftly in the slowed world.
Somehow, no blood was spilled.
Sena, without thinking, ran out and supported the maid, checking her wound.
A deep gash was carved into her chest, and the maid wasn’t breathing.
It was a clean strike.
No more, no less. She took only her life with precision.
Surprisingly, killing someone cleanly is not easy.
Executing a perfect kill requires a lot of experience.
Astria had said to him once:
-I do not engage in unnecessary killing.
-However, I do not hesitate when it is necessary.
Sena recalled that conversation.
“Step away from her, Sena. She is too filthy for you to touch.”
Sena believed those words deeply.
Even if he saw her kill someone later, he tried to understand—there must be a reason.
Why did this maid die? Because she bumped into him? Because she smirked afterward? Because of the faint scratch on his cheek?
Maybe there was a deeper reason. That part, he didn’t know. But.
“Your Majesty, was this death really necessary?”
Sena was simply sorrowful for the loss of one life.
