Chapter 137 - Book Rabbit

Episode 137

W-wait, hold on. If you just barge in like this……!

Before my bewilderment could even begin to fade, the Emperor’s follow-up strikes continued.

“Personally, I find myself rather hopeful this time.”

“…Pfft!”

In the end, I couldn’t hold it back and sprayed my tea.

At least Arpad swiftly covered it with his handkerchief, preventing a major disaster.

But that was little consolation.

I was momentarily stunned by the pressure of a father-in-law, skillfully deployed by the Emperor.

‘This… this is… the in-law world!’

It felt somewhat novel, to be honest.

Of course, the Empress is a mother-in-law of sorts, and Evangeline is akin to a sister-in-law.

But it’s hard to see those two as Arpad’s real family, isn’t it?

So this situation essentially constituted my first experience of in-law pressure.

‘To be honest, I never imagined the Emperor would pull in-law antics…….’

In reality, far from acting like a father-in-law, Arpad was the one who kept behaving like a rebellious son.

I had struggled to lighten the mood between them.

The Emperor probably never considered this to be in-law pressure at all.

He likely just tossed it out as a parent’s well-meaning remark.

Because the Emperor believes we are a real married couple.

A lovey-dovey couple that started with a marriage of abduction, no less.

Nearly half a year had passed since the wedding.

It was a bit early, but people were indeed starting to expect good news (?).

“With you two getting along so well, soon… oh, I’m being presumptuous.”

“Perhaps by next year, I’ll have to send baby clothes as a gift.”

…and so on. The Emperor’s statement was in a similar vein to the many remarks I’d heard so far.

But it was an expectation that was not just premature, but downright rash.

‘Ah, no. We haven’t even looked at the sky yet, let alone plucked a star.’

…was what I couldn’t say to the Emperor.

Then, the memory of the significant progress in my relationship with Arpad during the Crimson Moon period came to mind.

‘We haven’t looked at the sky, exactly… but we did get quite high up…….’

As I indulged in such frivolous thoughts, I had to shake my head.

Now was not the time to wander off on tangents!

That’s when it happened.

While I was momentarily speechless and dazed, Arpad seized the opening with perfect timing.

Astonishingly, he was now beaming brightly, a stark contrast to the awkward, reluctant reactions he had shown to every word from his father just moments before.

“Please do not worry. I am currently doing my utmost to live up to Your Majesty’s expectations.”

“…!”

If there had been any tea left in my mouth, I would have sprayed it out spectacularly again.

‘Are you insane?!’

Was it fortunate that I had already sprayed it, or not?

I glared at him as hard as I could, but it was utterly useless.

Because Arpad just smiled brightly back at me, head-on.

It was such a beautiful smile that I couldn’t even muster the mood to get angry.

…Of course, the fact that it was difficult to do so in front of the Emperor played a big part.

I absolutely had not been completely bewitched by his looks.

* * *

The Artanua Plains Harvest Festival was conducted in a peculiar manner.

The plains themselves were the domain of the dragon Artanus, and as his descendants, the imperial family ruled it as imperial territory.

However, the Harvest Festival was a ritual to pray for abundance, so the temple’s influence could not be absent.

Originally, rituals praying for abundance were indeed based on faith.

Thus, while the imperial family was the main body of the ceremony, its methods and forms largely followed those of the temple. The assisting roles were also performed by priests.

For this reason, the temple and ritual vessels used in the Artanua Plains Harvest Festival bore the crest of Despoina alongside those of the Chief God and the Earth Mother Goddess.

For Despoina was the goddess of seeds and harvest.

‘Come to think of it, although neither Arpad nor I possess it now, I did see one of Despoina’s divine artifacts before the regression.’

The Tear of Agrippina, which I gave to Arpad.

The Star of Statalia, which I received from him.

And… the Fruit of Despoina, which by now was probably in Evangeline’s hands.

Those three were the divine artifacts I had seen with my own eyes.

I only knew that the remaining two existed somewhere.

The five sister goddesses associated with the five divine artifacts had weak influence, as their temples no longer remained.

Thus, the artifacts could wander without the protection of a temple or become possessions of powerful figures.

Only the temples of the Chief God and the Earth Mother Goddess, with the greatest influence, barely maintained their existence.

These two temples barely sustained their influence by involving themselves in traditional sway over marriage arrangements and in continental events like the New Year’s Festival and the Harvest Festival.

The thought of these two temples inevitably brought one person to mind.

‘Archbishop Bio.’

He seemed to have been lying low at the temple since the trial.

‘According to the roughly established intelligence network, no noticeable movements have been reported yet…….’

Right after entering the imperial palace, one of the things I poured my heart into preparing was my private intelligence network.

The espionage organization managed by Yulken was quite capable, but that was, after all, Arpad’s.

Just in case, and in preparation for the future, I wanted to establish my own independent channels.

I had invested considerable effort into it and was now beginning to see the results.

But even with that, obtaining information about Archbishop Bio or the Tower Lord was difficult.

Both were hard to approach, so I would need to devise more means.

Truthfully, my desire to have a separate intelligence network was underpinned by distrust towards Arpad.

And because I thought we would part ways someday.

Now, I couldn’t help but think:

‘…I wonder if it was really necessary to create a new one… though…….’

I had taken divorce from Arpad for granted because I was convinced there wasn’t a speck of emotion between us.

I thought I could never like him. To be precise, I was weary of love and affection between men and women.

And the Arpad I knew had a personality that seemed utterly incompatible with the image of someone flustered by love. So I thought he could never love me.

I also knew that before the regression, he had a lover.

Now, all these issues had either crumbled or become insignificant.

Even if that rumor were true, I had even come to think it didn’t matter.

‘After all, it’s me that Arpad said he likes.’

Unconsciously, the corners of my mouth began to soften.

Moreover, during the Crimson Moon period, spending many passionate nights alone with him had also confirmed our feelings……

No, no!

Saying it like that makes it sound like we’ve gone all the way!

Not yet, we haven’t reached that point yet.

Not yet.

Suddenly, the outrageous remark Arpad made during today’s teatime with the Emperor came back to mind.

“Please do not worry. I am currently doing my utmost to live up to Your Majesty’s expectations.”

Those words sounded exactly like a declaration that he would strive to do so, even tonight.

I shook my flushed face vigorously.

‘Ugh! Why am I like this since earlier? I’m trying to sort out the situation seriously, but it always ends up with that man……!’

Seeing this, Ani, who was attending to me, made a worried expression.

“Your face has become too red, Your Highness. You also seem to have a bit of a fever. Was the bathwater too hot earlier?”

“Ah, no. I’m fine.”

I’m really fine.

The bathwater was just the right temperature, and with rose petals and lavender oil sprinkled in, it felt wonderful.

I barely managed to reassure Ani, who was about to make a fuss about bringing an ice pack, and drank a glass of cold water.

I finally seemed to be regaining my senses.

I grumbled inwardly to the culprit of this situation.

‘Making unnecessary remarks to get on my nerves. Really……!’

I’ll have to give him a piece of my mind when I see him tonight. I steeled myself with that thought.

And my resolve melted away helplessly the moment I entered the bedroom.

* * *

When Hilia entered Sia’s bedroom, she stopped short in surprise for a moment.

It wasn’t particularly surprising that Arpad had arrived first.

During this time, she had spent the night with him quite a few times—no, so many times that counting them was meaningless.

‘Well, that’s just in the literal sense, though.’

Seeing Arpad standing by the bedside, his damp hair hanging loose as if freshly washed, wearing only a red silk robe, her thoughts halted as if enchanted. Her feet stopped along with them.

Once again, her heart began to race.

She recalled the day she first fell asleep with him in the detached palace after the marriage of abduction.

‘Back then… he was dressed like that too…….’

Unnecessarily damp, and excessively… stimulating. Both then and now.

No, not quite. Now, it seemed several times more dangerous.

Romance, Fantasy,