It Was a Carrot
In the midst of the stir, Laniakea realized how this must look to everyone else.
The Emperor appearing in a sudden rush, the hand that seized hers, even the words about going to the Main Palace.
To any eye, he was a husband who could not master his desire and had come for his wife in broad daylight.
But Laniakea knew better. Hyperion was not a man who bared his lust to her like this. Before that, he would not even have had the mind for it!
No—that's not it!
She wanted to grab Hilde, who looked even more delighted than she was, and shout it on the spot. She couldn't. Hyperion had already taken hold of her and was leading her away.
“Oh my.”
“Your Majesty?”
“Your Majesty the Empress?”
The people they swept past rubbed their eyes, doubting whether the figures before them were truly the imperial couple. The two had vanished so quickly that no one managed so much as a proper greeting. Those left staring blankly after the pair disappearing into the distance turned to whoever stood beside them and murmured.
“Was His Majesty… smiling?”
“I'll follow you to the Main Palace shortly, Your Majesty the Empress!”
From the distant entrance of the office, Hilde waved, smiling as if nothing in the world could please her more.
In a blink, the two of them were out of the Empress's Palace.
“Your Majesty, just a moment…!”
“I'm sorry I failed to notice how much you longed for this—so much you couldn't even finish the letter.”
“No, that's not—”
“I should have spoken first, before you ever put pen to paper. I won't let it happen again.”
This was all wrong. Whatever she said now, it seemed it would never reach Hyperion's ears.
Lucy? Where did Lucy go?
At a time like this, she ought to have come running at once.
When Laniakea looked back, Lucy stood beside the smiling, waving Hilde with a sullen face, waving along with her. Judging by the mood, Hilde had told her this was not the moment to step in.
Realizing even her last hope of rescue was gone, Laniakea looked at Hyperion, who was hurrying her along. At this rate, he truly seemed intent on making straight for the Main Palace. How on earth was she supposed to stop him?
In that instant, a thought flashed through her mind. Half disbelieving, half hoping, she opened her mouth at once.
“Your Majesty, I'm hurt.”
At that, Hyperion—who had looked ready to sweep her into his arms and run—stopped dead.
The one startled when he actually halted at a word she had only tried on a whim was Laniakea herself.
Last night, Hyperion had bitten and sucked at her without pause. In the heat of it, his strength would sometimes surge. The moment his teeth grazed her neck, Laniakea could no longer hold back a moan edged with pain. Hyperion, who had seemed as if he might go on drawing at her for the rest of his life, had stopped the instant he heard that faint sound. He had risen, checking whether she was injured, and spent a long while at a complete loss.
She had remembered that and tried it on the off chance—and to think he would stop this immediately.
For now, Laniakea quietly slipped her hand from his. Saying she was hurt was not a lie. Hyperion's hand was large, and his grip was strong. Trying to keep pace with his swift stride, she had all but been dragged. When she worked the hand he had clenched so tightly, she saw that his shoulders—lifted with such bright excitement only moments ago—had already slumped.
Sensing he had calmed somewhat, Laniakea asked him.
“Did you come because of the letter?”
“I did.”
“Even so, there was no need to come running so suddenly…”
“I was relieved.”
“Relieved?”
“Last time you struggled so much that I worried you might come to dislike spending the night together again… and then you said waiting was hard…”
His voice was smaller than usual, ill-suited to that great frame. Was this really the Emperor others called frightening?
She had been hauled out on the strength of a sudden misunderstanding; by rights, she ought to have been in a foul mood.
“Pfft.”
Somehow, the sight of him like an oversized puppy with its tail tucked, watching her face for a reaction, made Laniakea burst out laughing before she knew it.
“Laniakea?”
At her laughter, Hyperion looked at her with bewildered eyes. Worry still lived in his gaze—worry that what he had just done might have displeased her.
Laniakea lowered the hand whose numbness had mostly faded and answered.
“I don't dislike it.”
It had been hard, and exhausting. It had been embarrassing, too. But she didn't dislike it. Hadn't she, more than once, even moved her own body, wanting to be stirred further? And she knew that everything he did was consideration for her.
Even now, Hyperion could take her in his arms whenever he wished. The first time she fainted, he had not needed to stop. If he had kept moving without a thought for her, he could still have seen his purpose through. But he had called a physician at once and stayed beside her, helpless, until she woke. After that, he kept meeting her at the Main Palace, giving her time to grow used to it slowly so the next time would weigh on her less.
Since his accession, Hyperion had been moving without a moment's rest. And still he came to the Main Palace every time, setting aside long hours just to attend to her. Laniakea was always grateful for that.
If the Emperor had been anyone but him, would he have worried over her like this? He would not.
First, she thought, she needed to sort this situation out. By now not only the Empress's Palace, but Signo—who had followed him from the Emperor's Palace—and the other knights were staring in bewilderment.
“That letter—I set it aside because I'd written it in such a rush, all out of order, and I meant to rewrite it. Something came up that I urgently need to ask of you.”
“What is it?”
At the words that she had something to ask, Hyperion's eyes lit.
Laniakea glanced around and lowered her voice a little.
“It's about our contract…”
The contract she meant was, of course, the Marriage Contract, with the new clauses Hyperion had added still attached.
“Among the things you promised—that any residence within the Empire would do—you remember that, don't you?”
“Of course. Is there a place you've come to want?”
Hyperion's expression brightened further.
“It's less that I want to own it, and more that I'd like to borrow somewhere for a little while. Ah—of course I'll count it as one of the ten you promised.”
Afraid he might take “borrow” to mean she wanted something outside the contract, Laniakea hurried to add the explanation.
“Where is it, exactly? If it's a place you want, I'll give it to you, wherever it is.”
“No, you really don't need to give it to me. If you'd just lend it for a short while…”
As she spoke, Laniakea turned her gaze. Hyperion, looking where she looked, murmured.
“The Annex Palace? You want the Annex?”
At his words, Laniakea nodded vigorously. His face turned uncomprehending.
“If it's the Annex Palace, isn't it already under your management? You can use it however you like. Why make a request like that?”
“Well, that's…”
Wondering how to answer, Laniakea asked him.
“Could you spare about an hour—no, just thirty minutes?”
“If you want, I'll give you the whole day.”
“It won't take that long.”
Answering as if that settled it nicely, Laniakea held out her hand and took his.
“Come to the Annex Palace with me for a moment. I'll explain there.”
Then, with a face as excited as Hyperion's had been a little while ago, she caught hold of him and led him off. Hyperion, built like a mountain, was drawn along far too easily by Laniakea's hand, and they walked together toward the Annex Palace.
The whole way, his gaze stayed on the hand she held.
The hand she had taken first.
At the imperial couple's sudden visit, the maid who managed the Annex Palace bowed in a fluster. Since Laniakea had left, the place had been emptied, and aside from two or three people for cleaning, the Annex had no real staff.
“Lucy, would you keep watch around here?”
To Lucy, who had come trotting after them at some point, Laniakea asked that no one else approach, then took Hyperion straight toward the rear garden.
He was wondering why she had brought him to the Annex Palace—and to this garden in particular—when Laniakea peered into a corner and cried out in a glad voice.
“Here! This is what I wanted to ask you about!”
Hyperion looked, and murmured.
“A… carrot?”