I Didn't Know I Was Secretly Dating the Emperor
��Would you like to come inside?”
The first thought that crossed my mind at Lina’s invitation was, Is that really okay?
Edwin was a man with extremely conservative views on romance.
They weren’t married—weren’t even officially engaged—and entering his lover’s bedroom would, in his eyes, be thoroughly ungentlemanly.
“Yes.”
But he was no gentleman.
The moment he answered, sounding almost entranced, Lina stepped aside with a small smile.
Edwin vaulted over the terrace railing in one smooth motion.
“I missed you.”
The instant his feet touched the ground, Lina threw herself into his arms.
“Me too.”
Edwin wrapped his arms around her, then froze.
Lina was wearing her nightclothes.
The fabric was thinner than her daytime attire, and the overall ensemble far lighter.
They had embraced dozens of times before, but never had the curves of her body been this clearly, this intimately felt.
Edwin desperately summoned the most boring, wholesome topics he could think of and carefully released her.
Even so, he couldn’t quite let go of his long-unseen lover completely; he kept just enough distance that their bodies no longer touched.
Fortunately, Lina seemed unaware of what that particular distance meant.
Instead, she looked delighted to finally see his face clearly and began chattering away.
“Are you done with all your busy work now?”
Her face was filled with nothing but pure affection and concern. Edwin’s conscience stung sharply.
He gazed down at her for a moment.
He knew there were far more conventional ways to silence the temple and the western territories than what he was currently doing.
But he still lacked the courage.
With a slightly sullen expression, Edwin made a silent vow to himself.
Soon. Very soon.
He placed restrictions on the part of himself that kept wanting to retreat, and only then could he answer her.
“Not yet. But meeting here like this is fine.”
A great deal had been left unsaid, but at this moment, those were the most honest words he could offer.
Lina beamed and hugged him again.
His body had instinctively grown warmer, and Edwin felt a twinge of self-loathing.
“Then can you come every day?”
“I can.”
Of course, his answer to her next question was once again affirmative.
“That’s wonderful.”
I mumbled the words with my face buried in Everett’s chest.
The moment I finished speaking those three short syllables, Everett went completely rigid.
His muscles swelled noticeably, and I could feel the tension radiating from him.
The place where our bodies touched wasn’t just warm anymore—it was practically burning.
But we’re not going to stop at just kissing, right?
Not that today was necessarily the day, of course.
I hid my rather wicked intentions and nestled even closer to Everett.
He only grew hotter.
Then it suddenly occurred to me that we had been standing far too long in a place where people might pass by.
As befitting the Saintess’s residence, the detached palace had strict security and plenty of servants.
They even patrolled the area regularly, so if we stayed out on the terrace like this, the chances of running into a guard or a servant on duty were quite high.
“Let’s go inside.”
If this had been my actual room, I might have hesitated, but this was a guest room in the detached palace that had been touched by the hands of cleaning and organizing masters.
It was a place where I didn’t have to worry about what I had been doing that morning, and aside from the morning cleaning hours, almost no one came in or out.
I’d asked for it because I wasn’t used to being waited on, but…
It was the perfect condition for luring in a lover.
However, at the suggestion to go inside, Everett froze solid.
I was starting to worry whether he was even breathing.
I grabbed him before he could spiral off into excessive fantasies on his own.
“The room connected to this door is the drawing room.”
The guest room Ivetta had given me was a luxurious suite complete with a drawing room and dressing room.
Everett’s face flushed bright red as he caught the implication behind my words.
“Were you expecting something?”
“No.”
His answer came so quickly it was actually suspicious.
“It seems like you were.”
“I wasn’t.”
“Then do you know what kind of expectation I’m talking about?”
“……”
Everett remained silent with the face of someone who knew the correct answer all too well.
I teased him a little more before heading into the drawing room first.
Everett, whose face was still red, followed me inside.
When I glanced back at him, he flinched noticeably.
“Sit down.”
Worried that my shy lover might choose to flee, I ended my teasing there.
We sat side by side on the long sofa.
It had already been over two weeks since Everett sent that letter saying we wouldn’t be able to meet for a while.
We had seen each other very briefly last time, but it hadn’t been nearly enough.
Just sitting next to him made my heart race as if I had drunk a glass of wine.
I think I like Ed more than I realized.
I studied Everett’s slightly haggard face and thought to myself.
Well, so what if I do?
“Ed.”
I called his name, met his eyes, and then cupped his cheeks with both hands.
Since we hadn’t seen each other in so long, it only made sense to share at least that many kisses to make up for lost time.
Of course, this calculation had only taken place inside my head.
A flustered Everett blinked once, eyes wide.
His long lashes—unusually long for a man—fluttered, and somehow he looked incredibly pure and innocent.
It was a new side to his sculpturally handsome face that I hadn’t noticed before.
I want to keep discovering more sides of you.
Everett stimulated my curiosity far more than my longtime hobby of ancient history ever had.
I smiled and kissed him.
Soft, light pecks.
Like little bird kisses, our lips met and parted again and again.
By the third kiss, Everett was gripping the armrest of the sofa as if he might break it in his effort not to wrap his arms around my waist and pull me close.
Fortunately, the kiss ended before the armrest could be destroyed.
It hadn’t been a very long time, but it seemed like an eternity to Everett.
He looked noticeably exhausted.
His mind, which had seemed to wander far away, soon returned.
The moment I let go, Everett quickly scooted to the very end of the long sofa and sat there stiffly.
“Lina.”
His voice was slightly hoarse as he called my name with clear dissatisfaction.
“Yes?”
I answered on purpose with extra cheerfulness.
Everett let out a deep sigh.
“……It’s nothing.”
It didn’t seem like nothing at all.
I slid closer to him by exactly the distance he had moved away.
Everett shot up and moved to the chair on the opposite side.
“Why are you running away?”
When I pouted and asked, Everett answered in that same hoarse voice.
“The fact that this is a drawing room isn’t the problem, Lina.”
His low tone carried a warning.
The tide had turned, and now I was the one flinching.
When he saw my eyes darting around uncertainly, Everett gave me a beautiful smile.
As if using his looks to feign harmlessness.
It was an obvious trick, but Everett was far too handsome for me to resist it.
I fell for his ploy completely and lost all sense of tension.
“I have very ordinary tastes.”
“So do I.”
An agreement was reached.
I gave up on chasing him around and simply stayed seated on the long sofa.
The atmosphere, which had grown a little sticky, became refreshingly light again.
Only then could we have a normal conversation.
We had accumulated plenty to talk about after not seeing each other for so long.
Everett’s tired face gradually regained its vitality as he listened to my stories.
We were chatting about everyday things for quite a while when I suddenly remembered what had happened earlier that day.
I should probably spread the word to as many people as possible, right?
The temple’s schemes were always underhanded and secretive, so the more eyes watching, the better.
It had also been hard to meet Kylus lately, so I wanted to drop a hint to him as well.
“Oh, that’s right. I heard the person in charge of the Saintess’s divine power lessons changed recently.”
I naturally steered the conversation in that direction.
“So I’ve heard.”
Everett’s expression crumpled slightly.
It seemed he knew about the situation where I had practically been forced to give in to the temple’s unreasonable demands.
That was fortunate; I wouldn’t need to explain the background.
“A priest from the temple was supposed to come, so I went to observe the Saintess’s divine power lesson today.”
Everett showed a bit of interest and gave me a look that said, Go on.
I carefully considered how to continue without sounding suspicious myself while still making him doubt that priest.
“From what I saw, that priest…”
My words trailed off at an ambiguous point.
Everett leaned toward me, urging me to finish.
But no good excuse came to mind right away, so I bought time by laughing it off.
Everett’s face crumpled even more than before.
Then he asked in a sulky tone.
“So, is that priest handsome?”