Chapter 316
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: The Lion and the Fox
A week is seven days.
And I spend time with a different partner every day.
They all have incredibly distinct personalities.
Owners of countless charms—pure and innocent, cute, sensual.
However, among them, the trickiest one to deal with is probably this woman.
"Dozing off during work hours again, Veil."
I was dozing off nicely on the office sofa.
Above my head cascaded brilliant golden hair.
From that hair drifted a faint, sweet pomegranate scent.
"Y-Your Majesty...?"
The Emperor of the Empire, Leah Andalusia.
She smirked at my flustered self, as if I were a cute pet.
"I told you to call me by name when we're alone."
Still half-asleep, I shot up from the office sofa.
I hurriedly glanced around and was relieved to see she had brought no one with her.
"Have you finished your duties?"
Only then did I relax and look at her properly.
But in that moment...
My eyes widened like a startled fox.
"No, today's schedule includes an undercover inspection."
She stood with her hands behind her back, looking around the office.
Not her usual white uniform, but the academy outfit she'd worn with me during our Norton inspection.
"So I thought we'd go together after a long time."
In an instant, all sorts of thoughts flooded my mind about whether she really intended to do just the inspection.
Of course, Leah looked so youthful that she could pass for a student even in uniform.
However, her figure was incredibly sensual for someone in her twenties.
To the point where even the right uniform size strained against it.
"Come on, let's go."
Leah also put on glasses she'd prepared in advance.
Her golden hair turned a sleek black, like obsidian.
"This should be enough, right?"
"Yes, it is."
She'd put real effort into the disguise, so I felt inwardly relieved.
Leah was always completely professional during work, without a hint of personal feelings.
I let out a wry chuckle at myself for suspecting otherwise.
Then I stood, left the office with her.
"Hold out your hand. Walking apart awkwardly would draw suspicion."
"Ah, true."
I took her hand as she said.
But in that moment...
I couldn't shake the suspicion that those sea-blue eyes of hers held personal motives.
When our hands met, she naturally intertwined our fingers.
"Let's head down the hill first."
"Without a carriage?"
When I asked, Leah looked up at me with a queenly, haughty gaze.
"Students getting out of a carriage always attract eyes."
Honestly, she'd attract plenty even without one.
As we walked downhill, I stole glances at her sensual curves, which stood out with every step.
...
Leah narrowed her sharp eyes, sensing my gaze.
She placed her other hand on my back and quietly said,
"Acting like a student, are we? You're definitely clumsier at handling stares now, Veil."
"What do you mean? I was just wary of guards."
Leah's red lips curved faintly at my blank expression.
"You know your heartbeat quickens when you lie?"
The Emperor disguised as an academy student lifted our clasped hands and asked.
The reason for holding hands was now revealed.
"It's just the heat."
Leah gazed leisurely at me as I turned my head away, in true empress fashion.
"How fascinating."
"What's that?"
When I asked back, Leah raised one finger and said,
"That a boy who handles life-or-death duels without batting an eye only shows it in moments like this."
"Well, this is human instinct for me too."
Who wouldn't feel their heart race with a partner like this?
Especially a uniform shirt strained so tight it barely fit...
I was maintaining a poker face admirably.
"Then why not act on instinct?"
Leah gently released our clasped hand.
The skin where we'd touched was slick with hot sweat.
"How could I? Besides, we only spent one night together."
I countered with a cool expression.
In the stern voice of the Empire's guardian.
"Honestly, we haven't even held hands much, and that night we were drunk..."
Leah stared up at me blankly, like an old soul lecturing.
As if a much smaller fox were trying to teach a beast about life.
"Anyway, to maintain a harmonious marriage for the long term, we need to follow more steps..."
As I monologued alone about ideal married life...
"......!"
Leah suddenly grabbed both my hands.
She lifted them up and stood on tiptoe.
"Interlocking fingers with both hands means we've held hands twice more already."
Her red lips, blooming with pomegranate scent, met mine.
She half-closed her sharp eyes and breathed her essence into me.
"Huu... haa..."
The Emperor's hot fluids caressed my mouth softly.
Her sticky tongue coated every corner of my mouth with sweet saliva.
"Huaa..."
The Emperor of the Empire openly deep-kissing a man for minutes.
No one would believe it.
That their leader was actually possessed of immense lust.
"How is it?"
Leah pointed to the long, transparent thread between us and said.
With a sensual smile.
"The kiss without being drunk."
"......"
I wiped my lips with the back of my hand and cleared my throat.
Gazing at the unfolding streets of Norton, I replied,
"Well, it's not bad."
I casually shook out my shirt collar.
My mouth watered instinctively at the pomegranate scent blooming inside.
"Good. All unnecessary steps are done now."
Leah lightly trailed her fingers along my waist and walked ahead.
I unwittingly tilted my head at her meaningful words.
"Pardon...?"
"Look, there's an ice cream vendor, Veil—"
When I asked again, Leah adroitly changed the subject, hands behind her back.
Amazed by her, I let out a short sigh and followed.
'Seems like she's picked up the art of changing the subject since becoming Emperor.'
Thinking that, we arrived at the market.
The city streets now sold authentic Eastern ice cream.
It looked like whipped cream on the outside, but frozen, cold, and sweet—soft-serve ice cream.
Unique atop a waffle-like cone pastry.
"Here, here—vanilla ice cream."
"Thank you!!"
The young male student politely reached with both hands.
But in that instant...
"Eh...!!"
The vendor quickly twisted his wrist and snatched it back.
With a sly grin.
"Try taking it again—"
The student with short-cropped golden hair bulged his eyes.
Realizing it was the old man's prank, he thrust out his hands at a decent speed.
However...
"Ooh—impressive reflexes for an academy student?"
It was nothing against a vendor with over ten years selling ice cream.
"Urgh...!!"
Leah and I watched their intense back-and-forth intently.
I worried she might get bored waiting.
Outwardly so noble, Leah actually loved sweets.
But unexpectedly, Leah observed the scene very seriously.
"No mana flow means it's pure physical ability."
'As expected, she's all Emperor in moments like this...'
"Haaa... I lose, mister. Can't you just give it before it melts?"
"Heh... fine, fine."
The student finally got his ice cream.
The edge had melted a bit, but he chomped it determinedly, basking in triumph.
"Now, you couple students want one too?"
The Eastern vendor looked at us and asked.
Leah, who'd been silently burning with scholarly zeal, nodded.
"Sure, one each for us."
"What flavor—?"
The vendor grinned slyly at the bespectacled, seemingly dull Leah.
But he soon sensed she was no ordinary foe.
"Whichever you're most confident in."
He felt oddly overwhelmed by her blue eyes meeting his.
"Alright, let's go."
The vendor's eyes burned with competitive fire as he prepared the ice cream.
The moment he cautiously offered it to Leah...
"......!!"
The Emperor instantly predicted the vendor's wrist twist and reached accordingly.
The middle-aged man lost the ice cream in a flash.
"I-Incredible...!!"
"Eat well."
Leah replied to the vendor with an empress-like sensual smile.
Knowing her true identity, I thought as I watched.
That the ever-haughty and mature Leah had exactly two girlish moments.
One was like this, facing sweets.
And the other...
"Tastes good. Whipped cream flavor?"
Leah elegantly brushed back her bangs and licked the ice cream.
She glanced at me and smiled, queenly and pure.
"Want a bite, Veil?"
I approached silently as she said.
I reached for the offered ice cream.
But in that moment...
"Oh my."
Leah dodged with the exact same move she'd studied in the vendor.
"You're a quick learner..."
"And you're awfully naive, Veil."
I smirked and beckoned her to try again.
Leah offered the ice cream with a serious expression in response.
"......"
A quiet silence fell between us for a moment.
A duel between the continent's top mage and knight.
Soon, as the ice cream edge began to melt...
――――――.
"Eh, Your Highness Irina? What brings you here?"
I looked past Leah's shoulder with a blank expression.
She reflexively turned to her natural enemy.
Thanks to that, I easily reached for the ice cream.
"......!!"
Leah realized too late and tried to pull her hand away.
But by then, my hand had touched hers holding the ice cream.
Plop——.
The ice cream shook from the impact and fell.
Right onto her voluptuous curves.
It landed between the strained shirt buttons, cold and sticky.
Her hot body heat melted the cream, seeping bit by bit into the gaps.
"Ah, sorry. I got carried away trying to win..."
I hurriedly reached for a handkerchief in my back pocket.
Leah gave a merciful, imperial smile.
"It's fine. I started it."
"But the spilled ice cream is such a waste."
Especially for her, who loved sweets so much.
I scratched my cheek with a troubled look.
Then, in that moment...
"A waste?"
Leah's lips curved with an amused idea.
"Yes, what to do about feeling sorry?"
"It's okay."
She casually dropped the ice cream cone into a nearby trash bin.
Then, half-closing her eyes...
She pinched her shirt collar and said,
"If it's a waste, eat it."
The continent's ruler stroked my chin softly with noble eyes.
Like a queen taming a fox.
"Eat."
Was it memories of past jealousy toward Irina?
Leah's eyes seemed oddly piqued.
"......"
I blankly stared at the soaked, ample shirt and the sweet cream seeping within.
Already melted into sticky viscosity.
My mouth watered unwittingly.
"Let's go somewhere quiet first..."
She was just that formidable an opponent.