Chapter 209 - North Korean rabbit

Side Story Episode 4

The bed that had been in the cabin from the start was too cramped for two people to lie in.

In truth, it was an ordinary double, but the problem was that Arpad was too large.

And Arpad, stubbornly trying to squeeze into the bed together, was another problem.

Hilia struggled and shouted.

“Sleep on the floor!”

“I’m the owner of the house and the owner of the bed. And it’s only natural for a married couple to share a bed.”

“When have I ever acknowledged you as my husband?”

“I have acknowledged you as my wife. So there’s no problem.”

“There’s nothing *but* problems! What on earth are you talking about?”

It was absurd.

In truth, what was even more absurd was something else.

Her own reaction, which grew larger the longer they spent together and the closer they were.

A strange churning reminiscent of nausea, or things like the occasional, frantic racing of her heartbeat.

Hilia desperately tried to deny it.

‘This is ridiculous!’

It wasn’t even Stockholm Syndrome.

Trying to push him off the bed was part of that effort.

But Arpad was immovable.

In the end, Hilia sprang up from the bed and walked out.

“Then I’ll just sleep on the floor!”

However, Hilia could not take more than one step away from the bed.

Because a solid arm wrapped around her waist and pulled.

In an instant, her feet left the floor, and she landed with a soft thud.

When she opened her eyes, Arpad’s crimson pupils were right before her.

Hilia’s shoulders hunched slightly.

‘Is he going to get angry?’

It occurred to her that she, a prisoner, had been acting too boldly.

After all, she was in a kidnapped state, and Arpad could treat her however he wished if he so desired.

Though she acted stiff and defiant out of resentment, it was only natural for her courage to fail if the man seemed even slightly displeased.

But the thing Hilia feared or braced for did not happen.

He gazed at Hilia intently for a long while, then sat up.

“Just sleep here. I’ll sleep on the floor.”

“…!”

Hilia watched with a dazed expression as Arpad lay his body down on a suitable spot on the floor.

Her lips twitched.

After glaring at Arpad’s broad back for a long time, Hilia turned over without a word and crawled alone under the covers.

It was absurd that the back of the kidnapper lying alone on the floor looked lonely.

She must be crazy, or that man must be crazy…

Hilia could easily remember that Arpad was famous for being mad.

That man was definitely mad, so unless she was mad or the world was mad, such a thing could never happen.

It was easy to hurl words of resentment, sarcasm, or curses at her kidnapper.

But she absolutely could not tell him to come lie beside her or to at least take the blanket.

Even if the words caught on the tip of her tongue, she chewed and swallowed them firmly.

This stalemate lasted longer than Hilia had anticipated.

Until two intruders appeared at the cabin where only the two of them had been.

And in the final moment, she came to regret never having spoken the words that had risen to the surface until the very end.

* * *

Through the open window, cherry blossom petals flew in on a gentle breeze.

A spinning pale pink petal landed on Hilia’s eyelid.

A long, white finger reached out and carefully plucked the petal away.

A gesture worried about waking her.

But perhaps it was because the spring breeze and petals had stirred her eyelashes.

Jewel-like amethyst eyes were revealed.

Arpad, wearing a bright smile, offered a morning greeting.

“Did you sleep well?”

Then, after blinking a couple of times while staring blankly at Arpad, a blissful smile spread across the woman’s face.

“Yes.”

Hilia whispered, smiling like a spring flower in full bloom.

“I had a dream.”

“What dream?”

“A happy dream. But a dream full of regret and things I wished I’d done.”

“…?”

Arpad tilted his head.

Hilia smiled and did something she hadn’t done in the dream’s memory.

She pulled the blanket over his bare torso.

There was no need to tell him not to sleep on the floor and to come up to the bed.

Because they were already lying together.

“I’m not cold.”

Even as he said that, Arpad looked quite pleased.

The bed in Sia’s bedroom was not as cramped as the one in the cabin.

The goose-down bedding was soft as clouds, and the lace curtains draped all around were like a gentle mist.

But to Hilia, the bed they had fallen asleep in together in the cabin and this bed now were not so different.

Because the person she loved was lying beside her.

If they were together, even sleeping with the grassland as a sheet and the wind as a cover would be warm and happy.

Hilia did one more thing she hadn’t done in the past.

She captured her beloved man’s breath with her own lips.

Side Story 2. The Emperor and Empress’s First Vacation

The wind seeping through the window cracks had grown quite gentle by now.

It was certainly different from the depths of winter, when even slightly opening the door would let in a sharp wind, forcing it shut helplessly.

A faint smile also touched Arpad’s lips.

Recalling the brief but sweet moment in the early morning, a smile bloomed on its own.

‘I’m glad we can finally open the bedroom window in Sia’s room a bit more comfortably now.’

Since her pregnancy, Hilia’s hands and feet had grown unusually cold, so she couldn’t open the windows recklessly all winter.

They of course continued the usual heating methods—keeping the fireplace lit and boiling water in a large tin kettle.

But there was another, most effective and best method.

“My hands and feet are excessively hot. I wish someone would cool them down.”

“…Isn’t that overly filled with personal desire?”

Though Hilia shot him a sidelong glance, she lifted the goose-down filled quilt and wiggled her fingers.

Arpad had jumped into the bed, overjoyed.

A truly sweet and warm memory.

Merely recalling it was enough to make his lips soften.

As sweet as the memories he recalled were, no, even more so, reality was harsh.

Though the season had come for warm spring breezes to seep in, his reality was such that last winter felt warmer by comparison.

Arpad ground his teeth as he irritably signed documents.

‘Of all times, to take a vacation during the most critical period. Lack of backbone!’

He recalled the subordinate who, after being overworked to the extreme, finally forced his lord to choose between resignation and vacation, emerged victorious, and fled to the southern beach.

“Ahahaha! Farewell, Your Majesty! I shall cast off all bonds and shackles and go to a happy beach!”

Of course, Yulken’s ability to boldly shout and escape like that was largely due to Hilia’s support.

Arpad could have, and wanted to, tear up all the resignation and vacation requests and ignore them.

But Hilia showed deep sympathy to Yulken, who tearfully pleaded about how much he had suffered preparing for the coronation while the two of them were away, dark circles under his eyes.

“Vacation is a worker’s, no, a vassal’s noble right. Rest well and return.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty the Empress! I love you!!”

“I was going to grant the vacation if you hadn’t said that last thing.”

“Ahahaha! Threatening me is useless, Your Majesty the Emperor! For I have Her Majesty the Empress on my side!”

Leaving behind a crazed laugh, Yulken leisurely disappeared.

As a result, Arpad could not relax and rest beside his lovely, pregnant wife but was instead trapped by work, stuffed into his office.

Arpad let out a long sigh and gazed at the excessively bright and beautiful scenery outside the window.

‘On a day like this, we should go on a picnic together.’

Far from a picnic, they hadn’t even been able to take their promised honeymoon trip again yet.

Waiting until Hilia woke in the early morning had already been a stretch.

The mountain of work did not permit him to be by his wife’s side on this fine day.

‘Damn it!’

It was an environment far too harsh for a newlywed couple.

It was then. The news Arpad had been waiting for so eagerly arrived.

“Your Majesty, Her Majesty the Empress has sent word that she wishes to visit… Y-Your Majesty?!”

The flustered voice of the secretary echoed frantically behind the back of his lord, who had dashed out the window faster than the wind.

Romance, Fantasy,