Chapter 134 - North Korean rabbit

Episode 134

After that, we were lost in each other for a long time, forgetting both time and place.

Arpad very naturally lay down on the floor, placing me on top of him.

I was able to indulge in the luxury of crushing the seat of the most noble and fearsome human in the world.

This seat was warm, sturdy, and, surprisingly, quite soft.

Enjoying this comfort so leisurely, I almost wanted to stay lying down like this forever…

It was at that moment I finally came to my senses.

‘Ah, right! I slipped out of the Crown Prince’s Palace without a word!’

How much time had passed?

As I tried to jerk my head up, I was hindered by Arpad, who was holding the back of my head and kissing my crown.

At the sound of the *smack*, I felt a fresh wave of embarrassment.

“What are you doing now?!”

“I cannot bear how adorable my wife is, so I am expressing my affection.”

“……”

I felt so cringed I thought my limbs might curl up and disappear.

Yet, the astonishing thing was… I didn’t dislike that cringey line.

Until now, I had thought the things Arpad said were either to tease me or to show off to those around us.

But having admitted that wasn’t the case…

It was cringey and embarrassing, but honestly, it felt… a little nice.

No, who could possibly dislike expressions of affection directed at themselves?!

This is just human nature, of course it’s natural!

While I was feeling freshly embarrassed, Arpad’s blatant gaze focused on one particular spot of mine.

Where, you ask?

…It was my lips.

I pushed Arpad’s mouth away with both hands and sat up.

“You’re being naughty!”

Arpad, who obediently yielded to my feeble strength, muttered as if wronged.

“No, why am I?!”

“Because your eyes look impure!”

“Well, your hands haven’t been exactly innocent until now either?”

My hands, why? What did my perfectly chaste and innocent hands do?

Then Arpad tilted his head to the side with a pitiful, forlorn expression, like a poor maiden toyed with and abandoned by a scoundrel.

“Just a moment ago, you were so diligently feeling up my chest…!”

“Th-that! I was just touching it thinking it was the seat, that’s all!”

It absolutely wasn’t because I had any ulterior motives.

“But you were looking at my lips with naughty thoughts!”

Arpad protested as if wronged.

“No! I was just purely looking, wondering if they were okay since they were so swollen….”

That *is* being naughty, what do you mean it’s not?!

I unforgivingly pinched Arpad’s side.

Arpad then made a pained face. It was clearly a put-on expression.

“It hurts.”

“I know it doesn’t hurt at all?!”

When you heal from broken bones in two or three days.

But Arpad unexpectedly gave a serious reply.

“No, during this period, it’s actually a bit bad.”

“What?!”

Startled, I brought my face close to Arpad’s.

“Does that kind of problem also occur during the Crimson Month?”

“Ultimately, the madness is a side effect of the dragon blood. The strengthening effect of the dragon blood is also weakened.”

Is that true?

Surprised, I tried to pull up part of Arpad’s top to examine the spot I had just pinched.

Then Arpad, dropping his head, muttered with worldly prudishness.

“In a place like this… I don’t like it.”

“…What on earth are you saying?!”

I was so shocked I thumped Arpad’s shoulder repeatedly.

Then Arpad, chuckling and shaking his shoulder, pulled me into a tight embrace and whispered seriously.

“Ah, this is truly sincere. Do you know how much I endured, stabbing my own thigh all night, telling myself I couldn’t do it in a place like this?”

“……”

This time, it wasn’t just my face; heat rose and my whole body flushed red.

Well, I had mentally prepared myself too, in my own way…

Actually, I was surprised that nothing major happened… no, I absolutely did *not* feel regretful about it. Absolutely not!

Anyway, hearing that Arpad had been desperately treasuring me like that made my heart feel like it was melting into soft mush.

I saw the Star of Stytilia on the ring finger of my left hand anew.

The gemstone that shone alone even in this basement where not a single ray of light seeped in.

The ring he put on me while looking at me with an expression that seemed to have much to say.

I think I understand its meaning now.

No, I wanted to confirm it more clearly.

I thrust the ring in front of Arpad and asked.

“This, what meaning did you give it with?”

“Just as I said then. Our wedding ring.”

Well, he had already openly called it a wedding ring back then.

He said he wanted to give me a proper one, unlike the nominal one we used.

It was I who tried to forcibly interpret it differently.

I asked him outright.

“Do you like me?”

“Yes.”

The answer came without hesitation.

“……”

So, it was I who was left speechless instead.

I forced my mouth shut.

It wasn’t that I had nothing to say.

Precisely… it was because countless emotions were wildly rampaging in my head and chest.

I feared that if I misspoke, strange words might burst out.

It felt like popping candy was flowing through all the blood vessels in my body, popping, *pop pop pop*.

Arpad asked cautiously.

“I want to ask, ‘Do you, then, like me?’, but I shall refrain for now.”

“…Why? Aren’t you curious?”

“I am. To the point of madness.”

But he was quite cautious in his attitude toward questions and answers.

“Thanks to someone who kept assuming as a baseline that I would take other women, and said so.”

“……”

This… is my fault.

…But it was widely accepted as established fact that Arpad had a lover before the regression.

No one had raised any objection.

Thus, I thought it was an undeniable proposition.

A future that would naturally come to pass.

Even though I was the one desperately struggling to change that predetermined future.

I hadn’t believed the party who kept denying it, and had accepted the pre-regression rumors more deeply.

I spoke honestly.

“I’m sorry.”

“That wasn’t said to receive an apology. But does that mean… you believe my words now?”

I gave a slight nod.

It was right to believe the sincerity of the man whose hot body temperature and solid form were touching me now, rather than pre-regression memories or rumors.

Simultaneously, one question arose.

This one wasn’t a thought born from my rash trust in memory or prejudice.

It was something I had heard directly from this man’s own mouth.

“Should I love such a being, or hate it?”

“I think I’ll come to hate it, so that’s why.”

Arpad had desperately wished for a being who could soothe the madness born from his dragon blood.

And because he wanted it so much, he answered that he thought he would instead come to hate that counterpart.

That reason weighed heavily on why I hadn’t properly told Arpad about my ability.

There was also the trauma of being attacked by him when he was an experimental subject before the regression.

But ultimately, according to those words, Arpad should hate me.

Especially since I hadn’t told him the truth even after marriage, all the more so.

The answer to this was frightening, but I had to confirm it.

I asked honestly.

“Why don’t you ask?”

“…Ask what?”

“How I soothed your madness last dawn.”

“……”

“And why I hid the fact that I possessed such an ability.”

I thought Arpad would ask about that first when he regained his senses.

‘No, precisely… I thought I’d have no excuse even if he interrogated and blamed me.’

But until now, when I openly asked, Arpad hadn’t even attempted to confirm his doubts, let alone blame me.

“Why don’t you ask?”

I laid bare even the part I most dreaded and wanted to avoid.

Since I was going to confirm things, I wanted to confirm everything.

“And… don’t you hate me?”

Arpad’s eyes widened.

After a moment’s hesitation, Arpad’s lips parted.

My shoulders stiffened with tension.