The Spider's Web
After sending Representative Alexander away, I thought I would be able to spend the rest of the day in peace. But that night, an unexpected ordeal found me.
"Why are you lying there?" Theodora asked, looking at me with utter incomprehension as I lay on the sofa, pulled up to my chin with a pillow and blanket. I answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Well, because this is where I usually sleep." At my casual response, her beautiful face contorted in displeasure.
"You are a patient right now! Get into the bed this instant!"
"Huh...? What?!" Her demand caught me so off guard that my mind went completely blank. Wait... she wants me to go to the bed?
"I—I mean, there should be a proper boundary between a man and a woman! How can we share a bed?!"
Theodora narrowed her eyes, looking at me as if I had lost my mind. "We are married. What is so strange about a husband and wife sharing a bed?"
When I actually thought about it, she had a point. "Oh?"
"If I let you sleep on the sofa when you are sick, what do you think people will say about me? Are you trying to make me look like a wicked wife? Now, get up."
With those words, Theodora grabbed my wrist and tugged. No... No! I can't let myself get pregnancy-assassinated like this. What do I do?
"Are you really not going to get up?" No matter how hard a delicate woman pulled, she couldn't possibly overpower me.
"Hmph, fine. If you want to sleep here that badly, I have my ways." She let go of my hand and turned back toward the bed. Did she give up? Just as a mixture of relief and a strange, lingering regret washed over me—
—Theodora returned with her pillow, sat down right next to me, and said, "What are you doing? Move over."
Alarmed by her ominous words, I asked cautiously, "W-What are you doing?"
She placed her pillow next to mine as if it were nothing. "Since you refuse to sleep in the bed, I will sleep here too. Now, move inward."
The sofa was far too narrow for two adults to lie down. Watching her settle her pillow with absolute determination, I let out a defeated sigh. "Sigh... Fine, I'll go to the bed."
Theodora nodded, her face instantly brightening. Looking at her, I turned my gaze toward the bed, realizing that tonight was going to be a long, difficult battle.
Tonight, the bed looked incredibly ominous, as if a spider named Theodora had meticulously woven a web, thread by thread, just for me. And now, I was being forced to dive headfirst into that very web. What could be more terrifying than this?
At this very moment, her intentions felt far too blatant. Did she pick tonight of all nights? Even if you're dragged into a tiger's den, you can survive as long as you keep your wits about you. I had to evade the blatant pregnancy assassination she had prepared at all costs. Fortunately, she couldn't overpower me physically.
While I was busy steeling my resolve, Theodora climbed into the bed. I followed, keeping myself as close to the very edge of the mattress as humanly possible. The sweet scent of rosemary wafted over, making my heart race. Deep breaths... Calm down. If I cross the line here, I might be dead in ten months.
My influence within the Imperial Palace was far inferior to Theodora's. Frankly, it was safe to assume that every single experienced servant in the palace was on her side. If she decided to orchestrate an assassination, surviving would be next to impossible. And knowing her... she was entirely capable of going through with it.
I recalled the Theodora I had seen in my dreams. To achieve her goals, she had carried out brutal, bloody purges, regardless of whether people followed her or not. Nobles, commoners, the elderly, and the young—she had sent them all to the gallows.
"Dear... you will catch a cold if you stay all the way over there." As she spoke, I felt a gentle tug on my clothes.
"It's a bit chilly, but... not enough to catch a cold."
"Oh, honestly... what are you talking about? Come closer."
"Huh...? No, no! It's perfectly warm over here!" I shook my head vigorously, prompting another sigh from her.
"Why are you so flustered? Stop arguing and come here. Don't catch a cold and make me worry."
"U-Uh... okay..."
Rustle...
I reluctantly slid a tiny bit toward the center of the bed.
"Closer."
"W-We're already so close..." We were close enough that her scent completely enveloped me. I didn't think we had ever been this close since our marriage.
"Hurry up and come closer."
Rustle.
"Good boy." Theodora murmured, gently stroking my hair. With her pressed right against my side, my heart began to hammer wildly against my ribs. Why is she acting like this tonight?
Before, I thought we had reached a decent, somewhat friendly dynamic... True, even before I collapsed, things weren't as hostile as they had been before our marriage, but she had never been this affectionate. What on earth happened while I was unconscious?! I was struggling to keep up with her sudden change in attitude.
"Fufu, are you shy because we are sleeping in the same bed?" At her teasing, I snapped back defensively, "I am not shy!"
Rustle...
Theodora wrapped her arms around my arm. "Since you only just woke up... we can't do anything tonight, so you must endure it, okay?"
What...? Endure what, exactly? I had heard that female praying mantises devour the males after mating. Was she saying she wouldn't eat me tonight because my health was poor? Did that mean she would devour me once I recovered?
"So, focus on recovering your strength... and next time... I will let you... do it. Understood?"
What is she going to let me do? Hearing her practically promise that she would devour me next time instead of tonight made my heart race in more ways than one. The instinctive thrill of doing that with such a breathtakingly beautiful woman clashed violently with the sheer terror of knowing I might die afterward. Primal desire and the desperate urge to survive collided within me. Is... is this what hell feels like?
Lost in these thoughts, I turned my head to look at her face. It was too dark to make out her expression clearly, but I had a feeling she was smiling.
"Your answer?" she asked, her thumb gently tracing my lips.
"Uh... okay..." Starting tomorrow, I absolutely have to find a way to sleep in my office.
"Goodnight, Deviang." How much time passed? Soon, only the steady, rhythmic sound of Theodora's breathing filled the quiet room.
Soft, even breathing...
But... I couldn't sleep. Her soft breath tickled my senses, keeping me wide awake. No, seriously... isn't this too cruel? Right next to me lay a gorgeous woman whom I had every legal right to touch. And I was a healthy, hot-blooded man in his twenties. Yet, if I laid a hand on her, the probability of triggering a death ending was astronomically high. What kind of diabolical, sadistic dilemma was this?
I tried my absolute best to force myself to sleep, but the soft, warm breath of this stunning woman was far too stimulating, leaving me stiff and aching below. I was completely trapped, unable to move or do anything. How could Theodora fall asleep so defenselessly in a situation like this? Meanwhile, I felt like I wouldn't get a single wink of sleep tonight... This was a disaster. I definitely had to sleep in my office for the foreseeable future.
I tried everything to fall asleep, but—
Soft, even breathing...
—it was utterly impossible. Her scent and warmth continuously stimulated my mind and my lower half. I even briefly contemplated sneaking off to the bathroom to take care of things, but I decided to just endure it. Dawn would break soon anyway.
What should I do going forward? The assassination attempt that had taken place in the Imperial Palace was not something that could be easily swept under the rug. The scale of the incident was too massive, and both my prestige and the authority of the Imperial Family were on the line.
"Hmm..." Someone had to take the fall. But it would be incredibly unfair if that someone were me. Since I already knew exactly who the culprit was and who needed to be sacrificed, there was no reason for me to suffer.
In my upcoming negotiations with Yohanes, I planned to demand that they track down, arrest, and hand over the culprit. Come to think of it, I heard Yohanes had been relying heavily on a certain Count Savinelli lately. Rumor had it that Savinelli was a young, brilliant noble from the fringes who had ousted the previous count to claim the title for himself.
"Since he seems to trust him that much..." I would demand that he hand the man over first. If he turned out to be as capable as the rumors suggested, I could put him to work as my administrative slave. If he proved useless, I could just throw him in prison.
Of course, I expected fierce resistance. To put it bluntly, Theodora would oppose it, as would Yohanes and everyone loyal to the Emperor. But talent was of the utmost importance to our faction right now, so I had no choice. Still, it would be hard to fully trust the man as long as Yohanes was alive.
"Well, I can figure that out slowly..." First and foremost, summoning Savinelli to Roman would effectively sever Yohanes's right hand. But my thoughts grew complicated, knowing Yohanes wouldn't hand him over easily. If I were in his shoes, even with my weaknesses exposed, trading away someone like Agrippa or Lucius would be a bitter pill to swallow.
Of course, Agrippa was absolutely out of the question, but if it were Lucius... I might actually hand him over. It sounded cold and cynical, but if trading Lucius could avert the absolute worst-case scenario, it was a sacrifice I would make. As for Agrippa... he was the sword of our faction. I could never give him up. He was, after all, one of the two hopes of humanity.
The sun was slowly beginning to rise. The pitch-black darkness that had enveloped the room was gradually giving way to a deep, dusky blue. Should I head over to the Grand Ducal Department soon? Since Theodora had handled some of the paperwork, maybe there wouldn't be as much work waiting for me as I feared.
Tyrant though she was, she wasn't stupid. Even in the original novel's future, she had made quite a few correct decisions. It was just her methods that had been terribly flawed. With that thought, I began to slip out of bed. In the dim blue light of dawn, my beautiful wife's face came faintly into view. She was so breathtakingly lovely that it was easy to see why she was hailed as the greatest beauty in the Empire.
If only she weren't trying to kill me... that would be nice. Well, it couldn't be helped. To her, I was the son of her sworn enemy, a husband forced upon her whom she probably wished to murder. Keeping that bitter truth in mind, I quietly prepared to leave.