Chapter 33 (2/2)

Of course, he was an emperor, and there were plenty of extra bedrooms… But still! I couldn’t stay here!

From what I could hear while I laid still, he seemed to be looking at something in the drawing room. The sound of documents rustling came to me from the other side of the suite.

Was he not going to sleep at all? I didn’t want to fall asleep alone.

I tossed and turned, lost in thought until I faded into sleep.

When I opened my eyes, it seemed that not much time had passed. It was still dark outside the window, and the moon had not passed too many positions.

“Alas… Ah.”

I tried speaking. My voice had finally returned to my hoarse throat. Then I tried to move my hands by waving them around. They still felt heavy, but at least I could move them now.

I could see the emperor approach me, probably because he heard me fidgeting and mumbling to myself.

“Are you awake?”

“Yes…”

‘Why are you standing so far away?’

Well, thanks to the emperor’s care, I felt much better, so I tried to get up and show my respect.

I managed to get my feet on the ground. But then my right foot cramped suddenly. Instead of dipping into a polite bow, I stumbled, nearly slamming my face into the ground.

The emperor, despite standing a distance away, lunged and tried to catch me. My face ended up pressed against his wide chest.

“Are you okay?”

“Oh… yes.”

“You’re mine, and I don’t need you to be rolling around on the ground. Just lie down,” the emperor said softly, lifting me up like a sack to put me on the bed.

‘That’s right. I’m the most important thing on your shopping list―good job with handling your goods.’

I wanted to crack a joke, but it was true that I was being treated fairly nicely. I decided to say thank you first out of all the things I had to say.

“How did you know so quickly… Thank you so much for saving my life. And the fact that you gave me the medicine…”

The emperor’s eyes narrowed. He wordlessly sat on the edge of the bed.

“You got hit with magic earlier, would you like me to take a look at your back?”

“Worry about yourself,” he replied curtly.

Seriously, I was the one who should be treating him, but I was… being pathetic.

The emperor’s face took on a thoughtful expression. “Who was he? In the end, I couldn’t catch him. I sent out my men, and they are quite capable, but they still weren’t able to catch the intruder.”

“I don’t know… … They called themselves ‘those who do not speak’.”

“Have you seen them before?”

“This was the first time.”

Did he doubt me? There were plenty of reasons to. I was in contact with a suspicious man inside the palace.

But instead of interrogating me, the emperor asked me in detail about the description of the intruder, and I described it as I remembered. Height, facial appearance, nationality…

The emperor nodded. “So?”

I didn’t know what he was asking exactly, so I looked up at the red eyes staring directly at me.

“So who’s the one who drugged you?”

“How would I know that?”

“You’re a lot smarter than you think. I paid for that head. Come up with it.”

He was so unreasonable.

If he was going to give a compliment, he shouldn’t be using it against me at the same time… I didn’t know if I should be impressed or angry.

I sighed. The man before my eyes was the emperor. He was used to getting everything he wanted. It was difficult to blame him for trying.

“I’m not that good at herbalism.”

“Then you should be competent from now on.”

“…Yes.”