Chapter 180 - North Korean rabbit

Episode 180

"Arpad……?"

Why is he here?

I instantly suppressed the bewilderment and chagrin that threatened to surge up.

Just as I was entering Delphin, the cold expression that had fleetingly appeared on Arpad's face melted away like snow.

His face was now filled with the gentle, affectionate expression he usually reserved only for me.

But I couldn't relax.

Because the situation itself was the problem.

'Don't tell me he even knows where I've been?'

That would be very troublesome.

I hadn't informed Arpad or his close associates about my outing today.

The excuse I had prepared in case anyone came looking for me was precisely this.

'I stopped by the ducal residence briefly due to internal matters of the Ducal House of Delphin.'

But if Arpad had come to the ducal residence and was waiting for me, it meant my excuse was exposed as a lie before it even began.

Meanwhile, Arpad had approached from the wall he had been leaning against to right in front of me.

His fingertips touched my cheek.

"It seems your knights have not been properly attending to their mistress."

"...?"

Only then did I realize my current state.

During the fight between Aaron and the Tower Lord at the Magical Tower, I had been tumbling around. Naturally, my clothes and hair were a mess.

I had planned to tidy my appearance at Delphin before entering the imperial palace, so being caught by Arpad in this state was unexpected.

Arpad carefully wiped my cheek with a silk handkerchief and then sighed in relief.

"Fortunately, you're not hurt."

It seemed he had been worried I might have been injured, seeing the dust and such on my cheek.

He began wiping my hands himself with another handkerchief offered by Yulken.

It's truly rare to see Yulken with such a tense expression.

He couldn't bring himself to meet my eyes in front of Arpad and stepped back.

Before I could even attempt an excuse,

Lord Beltain, who was guarding Delphin, and Lord Müzen, who had personally escorted me, simultaneously knelt.

"It is my fault for failing to fulfill my duty as Her Highness's guard knight."

"No, punish me instead."

Arpad's cold gaze fell upon my knights.

It seemed an order for a harsh punishment for the two of them would fall from his lips any moment.

So I made the first move.

"These two are not at fault."

"……."

Arpad's gaze silently turned to me. I emphasized again.

"Their only crime is being loyal to my orders."

Arpad's eyes narrowed. A brief silence settled before he finally nodded.

"As they are your knights, they are under your jurisdiction."

I was given no leisure to sigh in relief.

Because at that very moment, Arpad picked me up. My feet left the ground.

"...!"

I exclaimed in surprise.

"I can walk perfectly well on my own!"

"Consider it the price for leaving your knights be."

I had nothing to say. And when we entered the bedroom at Delphin, I lost even more words.

Everything was perfectly prepared, from a bath to grooming.

A tub brought into the room was filled with steaming, rippling hot water, and beside it were fragrant flower petals and perfumed oil prepared.

On the torso were an inner dress and a robe in a design I liked.

It was a scene I often saw both at the ducal residence and the imperial palace.

Because it coincided with my grooming time.

But there was one difference. There wasn't a single lady-in-waiting or maid to attend me.

Only Arpad and I were in the room.

While I stood there momentarily flustered, Arpad rolled up his shirt sleeves.

The sharply defined muscles and prominent tendons stood out unusually.

He put his hand in the bathwater, swirled it, and nodded.

"The temperature is just right."

He picked up a handful of red rose petals and scattered them into the tub, then lifted the bottle of perfumed oil.

I finally regained my senses and asked. Since it was just the two of us, my speech naturally reverted to a casual tone.

"What are you doing now?"

Arpad replied nonchalantly as he poured the oil into the bathwater.

"Washing comes first, of course."

My face flushed bright red as I exclaimed.

"Is now the time for that sort of thing?"

"That sort of thing? What sort of thing?"

Arpad tilted his head, then soon grinned.

"I'm merely planning to wash my wife, who clearly had a hard time, with warm water, change her into clean clothes, and let her rest comfortably?"

The smile that rose to the corners of his mouth deepened.

"Don't tell me you were having lewd thoughts?"

"...!"

Seeing my crimson face, Arpad strode over.

And reaching behind me, he locked the bedroom door.

*Click.* The sound of the metal latch engaging sounded unusually meaningful.

Arpad wrapped his arms around my waist and brought me to the front of the tub.

"Here, I'll help you."

"Call the maids for me. And where's Ani?"

"Wasn't it you who left the ladies-in-waiting at the Crown Prince's Palace? Should I have brought them?"

His sarcastic tone betrayed his anger.

So I retorted in kind.

"It's too presumptuous to be attended by someone who will soon be Emperor."

At that, Arpad chuckled softly and whispered in a low voice. A somehow damp-feeling voice wound around my ear.

"What nonsense. You know better than anyone how well I serve in the bedroom."

He began pulling the laces of my corset at the waist.

*Swoosh*, they came undone so effortlessly.

Regardless of my wishes.

My mental defenses or resolutions always crumbled absurdly easily in front of Arpad.

Like this moment.

* * *

The tension I felt when I first entered Delphin and faced Arpad now seemed a little absurd.

After being washed clean, having perfumed oil applied all over, and being dried until fluffy, I felt incredibly good.

In a languid state, I was held in Arpad's arms and laid on the bed.

Only then did I broach the topic he hadn't brought up.

"Why aren't you angry?"

"I am angry enough."

Saying he was angry, yet he followed me to Delphin, washed me, cared for me, and sat here.

He did seem genuinely angry. Normally, he would have retorted, 'Why would I be angry?' to my question.

Perhaps because I cut to the chase first, Arpad finally asked me the question he had been steeling himself to ask all along.

"You must know the Black Serpent is dangerous."

"……."

As expected, he knew everything, even who I had met.

I strained my facial muscles, which were threatening to go slack, and asked.

"Are you having me watched, by any chance?"

At that, Arpad closed his mouth for a moment, looked at me intently, and then asked in return.

"Aren't you having me watched?"

"……."

I had nothing to say. Because I actually was.

The only difference was that the people I had placed to monitor Arpad's movements had missed him, while my movements had been caught by him.

Arpad, who seemed to be organizing his thoughts for a moment, spoke as if admonishing me.

"I haven't been watching you constantly. I mostly stopped after I thought our hearts were connected."

"Then what about this time?"

"The side monitoring the Black Serpent reported information related to you."

"……."

Arpad's words continued.

"To be honest, seeing another man by your side turns my stomach. And now a new one appears, how could I not be concerned?"

"……."

"If you get angry saying I look like a jealous husband... I have no defense. Because it's true."

A completely unexpected statement popped out.

"I've been tormenting myself with the sinister imagination that perhaps, in a life before your regression, that fellow was your lover or something."

I let out a disbelieving laugh, finding it absurd.

"The Black Serpent, my lover? That's ridiculous!"

"Well, that's a relief then."

I suddenly recalled Arpad's reaction when we had talked about the regression before.

"So, that Ludwig fellow was your husband? Three times?"

"...He was, yes. Though he was never a proper husband even once. ...Why that expression?"

"I just don't feel like letting that Ludwig fellow off the hook anymore."

"He's missing anyway, so what."

"True, that's probably fortunate for Ludwig. If he had fallen into my hands, he would have learned through his very bones just how jealous a man I am."

Since Ludwig isn't here, is he going to be jealous of the Black Serpent now?

Even in this serious and precarious situation, if I find that side of him cute, it seems my infatuation is quite severely thick.

I stretched out my arms, pulled his neck close, and whispered.

"I only met the Black Serpent to secure the fifth divine artifact."

"Then you should have taken me with you. Like with the Archbishop."

"...Sorry."

I still couldn't say that I wanted to see if I could stay by your side and still protect you.

Because I had confirmed it.

After obtaining Remnemia's needle and completely breaking the seal on the <Book of Fate>.

After freeing the Black Serpent from the Tower Lord's interference.

The very first thing I attempted was none other than modifying the future in the <Book of Fate>.

The cursed sentence written there.

「Hilia stabbed Arpad through the heart and killed him, thereby becoming complete.」

With the <Book of Fate> having regained its full power, I tried once more to rewrite the future fixed by Artanus's dragon words.

And.

"It won't work!"

I failed again.

This meant one thing.

That I would truly kill him someday.