Open Wider
“Ko, Conrad.”
“And you think it’s a relief to see you like this?”
“I thought you’d have enough mana.”
The words came out like an excuse, but that only seemed to irritate Conrad more.
“You know that if I hadn’t arrived in time, you might have died from mana depletion?”
Conrad hadn’t been sitting still all this time, either.
After learning that Regina’s mana had been sealed, he had searched for the emperor’s library, hidden deep within the Fredericks Imperial Palace. There, he had gone through every recorded case of mages whose mana had been sealed, comparing each one carefully against Regina’s condition.
“Conrad.”
“A mage who has someone beside her capable of mana exchange, and still collapses from mana depletion. It’s the sort of thing that deserves a place in the magic archives.”
At the cold edge of Conrad’s voice, Regina couldn’t think of a reply. Because everything he said was true.
But it’s embarrassing.
Though they had spent their first night together, it was still difficult for her to be the first to approach Conrad.
It bothered her more that he was the person she had shared that night with than the fact that he was the emperor of an enemy nation.
It wasn’t as though she had never tried to go to him first. But Conrad was busy, and she had her own duties to see to.
Using that as an excuse, Regina had kept her distance from him.
Come to think of it, I’m the one who’s been avoiding him the whole time…
She had been the one to back away.
Conrad had tried his best to cooperate with her. Yet she had failed to act the part of a proper partner and was the one who had avoided him instead.
When Regina realized that, she whispered to him, “I didn’t do it on purpose.”
At that small, quiet voice, the ferocity in Conrad’s eyes gradually eased.
Encouraged by that change, Regina spoke again. “I won’t avoid you anymore.”
No—she didn’t even intend to.
The casual use of informal speech, uttered without thinking, went unnoticed by Regina.
After experiencing mana depletion once, she had learned more than anything else just how important mana exchange was. Without it, she could have lost her life. And if that happened, she would never get her revenge.
That can’t happen.
The reason she had survived this long, against all odds, was to return to the Ferman Empire.
She had to go back and take revenge on those who had abandoned her. If she shattered the Magic Barrier and returned to them the suffering they had inflicted, then her contract with Conrad would finally be over.
And then maybe this seal will be broken, too.
The seal Heres had cast could be undone by destroying the magic circle he possessed. But to do that, she had to cross over to the Ferman Empire first.
“Conrad.”
Regina’s hand came to rest against his cheek. As she softly caressed his face, she felt a faint exchange of Aura and mana between them.
Her hand drifted lower, coming to his long throat.
Feeling the pulse of his Adam’s apple beneath her fingertips, Regina slid her arm around his neck and drew him closer.
“Kiss me.”
The tension was plain in Regina’s lashes as they trembled lightly.
Conrad did not refuse her sweet, breathy request.
His eyes curved with a smile as he tugged at the corners of his mouth. He lowered his head and took her red lips into his.
At the touch of his soft flesh, Regina inhaled sharply and parted her lips. The tongue that slipped in between them filled her mouth entirely.
“Mmph!”
“Open wider.”
Conrad’s tongue claimed her reddened lips and pressed unhurriedly deeper. He trapped Regina’s tongue and drank in every drop of saliva that spilled over.
The wet sounds of lips striking against lips echoed obscenely against Regina’s ears. Her face burned all the way to the tips of her ears as she panted for breath.
“Hah—!”
A muffled moan slipped out of Regina before she could swallow it back.
Conrad laid his tongue against her plump, swollen lips and slowly licked upward.
That blatant movement over her parted mouth made Regina’s heart pound hard.
“I’m not going to rush you.”
Their lips brushed as he spoke, making her fingers tighten on the sheets. Conrad lowered his gaze to the hands she had clenched in the bedding and murmured again,
“I can wait. Until you want it.”
Warm breath spilled out and curved around Regina’s ear. It felt as though the heat blooming from his lips had spread through her entire body.
Her toes curled. Her fingers folded inward. To Regina, caught helplessly between wanting and not wanting, Conrad whispered softly,
“But these lips are mine for now.”
***
When a dazzling shower of gold light spilled across the bedroom, Conrad’s eyelids stirred.
He opened his eyes and stretched out an arm, but found nothing beside him.
Rising onto his upper body, he looked around. The clothes he had stripped from Regina with his own hands the night before were still lying on the floor.
“Hm. She didn’t run off, but…”
His mood soured.
He had woken in the morning, and the woman he had spent the night with was gone.
Annoyance rose in him, though Conrad didn’t quite understand the reason behind it.
Then the bathroom door opened, and when Regina appeared, Conrad finally got out of bed.
“Didn’t you call for the maids?”
“It’s hardly necessary.”
Adding that it was still early, Regina sat at her vanity and casually towel-dried her hair.
Having spent her life traveling the borders to hunt monsters, Regina had long grown used to doing everything on her own.
In the past, she had accepted attendants only so the Ferman imperial family wouldn’t look down on her, but after learning that even that was being reported back to Heres, she had stopped altogether.
“My empress has no sense of herself, does she?”
Before she knew it, Conrad had come close and taken the towel from her hands.
As he carefully dried her hair, Regina stared at him blankly through the mirror.
“You’ll catch a cold if you walk around with your hair this wet.”
His low voice was so sweet that Regina’s cheeks warmed.
Last night, she and Conrad had not gone all the way, but they had kissed over and over while exchanging mana.
They had touched each other deeply, and by the end she had been so flustered she had nearly clung to him, begging him to hold her quickly.
And yet Conrad had simply gathered her close and gone to sleep without hesitation, leaving Regina with nothing but disappointment to swallow.
She let herself enjoy the quiet morning, a pleased smile on her lips, while his hands slowly combed through her hair.
The two of them remained like that, simply looking at each other, until the chief attendant outside announced the start of the state council meeting.
***
By the time the state council meeting was about to begin, word that Conrad had spent time with Regina right up until then had already spread throughout the imperial palace servants’ quarters.
Conrad had lingered, leaving the bedroom rather late, and Regina, left alone, had asked one of the maids to bring her a book.
While Regina sat on the sofa turning pages, servants came and went.
“We greet Her Imperial Majesty the Empress.”
After the brief greetings, they moved briskly according to Conrad’s orders, which had been issued before he headed to the meeting hall.
A screen was set up in the empty part of the bedroom, and a desk was placed beside it.
“His Majesty the Emperor said that until the Empress’s Palace is fully arranged, your work desk should be kept here.”
“Very well.”
Though it was a small thing, Regina accepted Conrad’s consideration with clear pleasure and rose with the book in her hand.
The servants looked on with satisfaction as she sat at the newly brought-in desk.
After offering their farewells and leaving, Regina gave a light wave and turned her eyes back to the book.
“Looks like she likes it.”
She thought she heard someone whisper, but Regina’s expression didn’t change as she kept reading. Curtains fluttered in through the open window, and the room was filled only with the faint rustle of pages.
Even the maids who remained in the bedroom to wait on her held their breath so they wouldn’t disturb her reading. In the silence that filled the room, Regina felt a rare sense of peace.
Just as the corners of her mouth began to lift, the bedroom door opened and a servant entered.
“His Majesty the Emperor has sent someone.”
“Show him in.”
She closed the book and turned toward the door. A familiar face stood there—someone she had seen many times before.
“We greet Her Imperial Majesty the Empress.”
At Limutan’s greeting, Regina welcomed him with a smile.
“Welcome.”
Limutan, who had risen from his seat, looked toward the maids. Regina waved them away.
Once the maids had completely left the bedroom, Regina spoke first.
“What brings you here?”
“I’ve brought a letter from His Majesty the Emperor.”
“Bring it here.”
Limutan came right up beside her desk and laid several sheets of paper on it.