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***

He didn’t say that he was going to hug her! He didn’t tell her beforehand that they were going to jump this high!

Maybe if both of her feet were on the ground, she would’ve grabbed his neck and shook it aggressively.

That was how much Helen had gone out of her mind.

Did the Emperor expect this kind of moment to happen when he told her to go to the front wall?

That was the reason why his voice sounded so playful!

Helen bit her lower lip tightly at the feeling of the strange betrayal creeped up inside her.

“We’ll be there soon. Please hold tighter onto my robe.”

She couldn’t even answer, therefore she just nodded quickly.

She was experiencing a heart-wrenching event at night in the arms of a man she has never met before.

She wanted to open her eyes, but she didn’t dare to do that due to the fear of falling.

However, the hem of the robe that constantly fluttered, the light smell of the cold night air, and the man’s high movement in the sky as well as his poor breathing.

It was an experience that made her feel as if she was in a dream.

She eventually felt like the gray-haired knight had come to a halt. When she opened her eyes slightly, she was still in the knight’s arms.

“We’ll be there soon.”

Although the man didn’t say it sweetly, his hands wrapped around her shoulders were firm.

She was a little relieved at the hand as if it assured her that she wouldn’t fall down.

She was surprised and blushed slightly at the sudden thought of the man whose name was unknown when he wrapped his hands tightly around her shoulders.

‘I hope everything will go well with the Emperor, just like with the man...’

She must ask the man to bring her again if they were going to meet each other next time.

At that time, his movement stopped with a snapping sound.

When she gently opened her eyes, they had already entered the building and stood with their feet on the window frame.

‘He.. He’s really similar to a cat.’

The gray-haired man lowered his head once again to take a bow.

“You did well.”

He should’ve deserved those words more than her after doing such a complicated job. It felt awkward for her even if she was just being held in his arms.

Unlike Helen, who was panting to catch her breath with a flushed face, his complexion remained calm.

He looked refreshed as if he had just returned from a morning walk.

The knight extended his hand and pointed it out to the left.

“Go straight down the hallway from here and stop at the last room. You can go in there.”

Helen, who was completely dumbfounded, looked to the left in a bewildered manner.

“Will I go on my own there?”

The knight nodded.

‘I-I think I’m not in my right mind. Is this really the Lion Palace..?’

When she pointed to the left with a puzzled look on her face, the knight nodded again.

She turned her back slightly only after she got a definite answer from him. The knight stood still in his spot while looking at Helen, which then led her to think that he would probably leave after her.

Helen turned around but walked ahead slowly before she suddenly came to a halt and turned around again.

“Thank you for taking me here.”

Then he bowed his head again.

The gray-haired knight looked at Helen with a slightly puzzled look.

If she was a concubine, obviously she must have been a princess from an Empire, and if she really was one before, he thought she would have acted like someone who was a sh** on wheels.

[t/n: arrogant people who are popular and think highly of themselves but are actually not.]

Although the man just followed the Emperor’s order, he looked puzzled for a moment since he didn’t expect to receive such an answer in return.

“Yes...”

Helen turned around so she didn’t hear the knight’s faint murmur, and headed toward the end of the hallway on the left like the knight said earlier.

Walking through the dark hallway without any light made her mind pounded anxiously without any particular reason.

Thump, thump.

Upon hearing the Emperor’s order, only suspicious things had happened, so she was worried that something unexpected would suddenly happen.

She thought it was weird to tap on the front of the wall, but...

Wouldn’t it be good if he had told her beforehand that the knight would come to pick her up...!

The Emperor almost didn’t explain anything to her. At the same time, she couldn’t believe he demanded her to come to the Lion Palace every night to do what he wanted her to do in his pastime.

‘What is he going to make me do...’

While her heart was pounding nervously, the last words of the Emperor came to mind.

‘When you come into the room, you will know what I mean. What you need to do is to come into my room every night.’

Said him in a quiet voice.

Did he try to unintentionally seduce her? His voice made her feel dizzy.

But she had already known and heard about the rumor. The Emperor was gay, and had a charming lover.

‘It was said that he is the Emperor’s aide.’

She wasn’t the only one who heard the rumor. The concubines also knew, and even Ellie seemed to know about it, but she didn’t say anything.

She only overheard the conversation of other concubines, but if she, who was just stuck in her abode all day, knew about it, then everyone in the palace must have known about it.

‘Let’s not misunderstand him.’

Then, why did she have to come to the Emperor’s place every night?

Walking through the hallway, she walked by the window where the moonlight shone through. The sky wasn’t dark due to the moonlight, but it was dark because there was no one around.

It was filled only with the sound of her trudging footsteps and her heavy breathing which was filled with anxiety. She walked by herself through the hallway and reached the end of it.

She was greeted by a huge door.

‘I ended up coming in.’

It was fronted with marble, even a door handle was embedded with gold. The yellow house pattern is embedded in detail, so none of the doors are private. There was no door engraved by the imperial pattern in detail except this one.

This is the Emperor’s room.

Gulp.

Helen unconsciously swallowed on her own. She lingered in front of the door and contemplated without even knowing what to do.

“Your Majesty...”

She was hesitant because she couldn’t just open the door carelessly.

Her voice resonated in the hallway.

“E-Excuse me, Your Majesty...”

She called again just in case he didn’t hear it, but her voice was as small as an ant.

She knew the Emperor was inside the room from the light that was seen from under the door.

She had to go in no matter what.

After letting out a long sigh, she applied the strength to the hand placed on the handle and pushed it.

“Your Majesty, I-I’m coming in......”

She opened the door quietly. The door opened with a squeak.

The lights were on when she came in.

It was a living room with sofa and table. The living room itself was bigger than her abode, so her eyes were opened slightly in surprise.

Where is His Majesty..?

While peeping around, she saw a room connected to the living room.

It was when she spotted an edge of a bed and stuck out her head slightly to see if someone was there.

Whip, I hugged my neck in my protruding arm. Suddenly, she was hugged in the neck by a pair of arms that stuck out of nowhere.

Huck!

She was caught off guard and had to take a deep breath. She thought he was the Emperor because it was the Emperor’s room, but his firm back and familiar voices were indicating that he was not the Emperor.

“It’s been a while.”

She was so surprised that she froze in her spot. Why is he here?

He grabbed the man’s arm that was wrapped around her neck and couldn’t even speak as she was frozen in her spot.

When she was unable to breathe and gave a proper response because she was so surprised, the man spoke in a slightly trembling voice and hugged her even more tightly.

“I really missed you.”

He knew she couldn’t say anything when she was surprised. More like her mouth was gagged because there were so many things that she wanted to say.

She wanted to turn her head a little bit to see him, but this time she suppressed the desire to do so.

He hugged her from behind and tightened his arms around her neck as if he intended not to let her go.

“Stay like this for a little longer...”

She couldn’t even ask him to release his arms because his voice sounded desperate.

Being held in his arms made her feel like they were in the library.

‘I missed you too. I want to say that I missed you.’

She wanted to say that.. but she couldn’t just say it so hastily.

If he appeared to be here, did it mean his curse had been lifted? Did he finally manage to get out of the library? Then, was the man that she saw back in the hunting ground really him?

..what if he’s still mad at me?

Her worries were growing bigger and made her uneasy. She bit her lower lip and repressed her anxiety.

I shouldn’t cry.

If his curse had been lifted, it was supposed to be something that should have been celebrated. It wasn’t something to cry about.

While trying hard to hold back his tears, the man slowly turned her around.

“I missed you.”

The red eyes of the man was curved upward and turned into a half-moon shape.

Has this guy ever smiled like this?

It was full of affection, delight, and joy. There was no hate and anger no matter how hard she was looking for it.

Then what about at the hunting ground..? Did I really dream such a dream?

The strange thing was that the man smiled for a moment before pulling her hand gently and settled in his arms.

She buried her face in his arms and spoke out unconsciously.

“Me too. I missed you so much.”

She felt bad that her voice was shaking while talking.

The man’s body stiffened at her voice. His breathing came to a halt and he stayed still, as if time had stopped at that exact moment.

“I missed you so much that I had gone crazy.”

She unraveled her true feelings without knowing how to suppress them all. She leaned her forehead on the man’s chest while grasping his collar with both of her hands.

He wasn’t the only one who didn’t want to fall.

***

-She will be shocked. Probably.

‘Indeed, I was so surprised.’

Helen, who thought about the words of the calm Emperor and the gray-haired knight, flickered her eyes and stared at the man who was holding her.

She still remained in his arms.

‘Ten minutes? Or, has it been longer than that?’

The man had a pleasant smell and his clothes were smooth, so she wanted to rub her cheeks against it for no particular reason.

He hugged Helen and caressed her head. She liked that affectionate touch and wanted to whine even more for no particular reason.

“I didn’t know you would accept it (the Emperor’s order). I was going to turn it down but you accepted it...”

Accepted it?

The man seemed to already know about the Emperor’s plan.

‘Does he think I’m going to refuse?’

A faint concern passed through his face when she looked up at him.

“.. I don’t intend to refuse.”

‘How can I refuse you?’

She thought that he was mad at her, so when she was ready to cry, the man poked my cheek with his finger.

“It’s alright.”

Just like the day when she cried, the voice of the kind man led her to burst into tears.

“How am I supposed to accept this?”

Sitting on a huge sofa in the bright room, the man snickered and spoke in a jovial manner.

Helen reddened because she was embarrassed at herself for crying.

‘That was too much.. It has been a while before I knew it.’

When she turned her head slightly out of embarrassment because of her swollen eyes from crying, the man pulled her chin with his finger and turned her head.

She could have resisted his touch because it wasn’t strong, but she didn’t want to.

The warmth of the man that touched her chin was pleasant, and perhaps since it has been a while, the warm atmosphere tickled her heart.

When her gaze met the man, she couldn’t bear the ticklish feeling at her toes.

‘Looking at me so sweetly like that...’

The man’s eyes were as sweet as honey. The honey was dripping down as he looked at her like a precious jewel and she couldn’t help but let her heart get tickled by that.

“Please don’t tease me...”

She couldn’t raise her head out of embarrassment. She couldn’t believe that she burst into a flood of tears after saying that she missed a grown-up man.

She didn’t even think about relieving the redness on her cheeks. In the midst of that, his gaze didn’t even budge at all, giving no time for her to relieve her red cheeks.

“I’m kidding. Aren’t you going to show us your face to me? You said you missed me.”

The man never intended to stop teasing her.

When she lowered her head because he said that she missed him, her face turned red again as if it was going to burst, the man cackled and laughed again.

It was nice to hear his refreshing laughter.

***

[t/n: guys we finally got to see some sweet moments here!!]