8 – While You Were Sleeping
When I opened my eyes again, it was morning.
The sunlight streaming through the window made me furrow my brows involuntarily.
But something was strange.
The warm and smooth sensation that spread through my arms and chest.
What could this possibly be?
Someone was holding me tight.
And…
I was also holding that someone in my arms.
At the tip of my nose, the faint scent of wildflowers lingered.
I cautiously raised my hand.
A few strands of long golden hair came along with it.
They shimmered dazzlingly in the sunlight.
A strange sensation washed over me.
Thump thump.
With a trembling heart, I lowered my gaze.
Elaine was nestled in my embrace.
Even if you added up all the time we’ve spent together, it wouldn’t be more than an hour.
Yet, here we were, lying side by side on the same bed like a married couple, facing each other.
And we were even tightly clinging to each other.
“……”
Fortunately, I was wearing clothes.
Elaine was also wearing a nightgown made of a single piece.
She was peacefully breathing, exhaling softly and regularly, sound asleep.
Anyway, since nothing happened, I should consider myself lucky.
But still, somehow…
My mouth feels dry, and I involuntarily swallow my dry saliva.
In case of any unforeseen accidents, I urgently rummaged through my memories.
After hastily making a contract with the spirit of the wind, I almost died from overusing my energy to return quickly.
And fortunately…
Elaine came at the moment of my imminent death.
At first, she didn’t know what to do.
But eventually, she awakened her divine power and dramatically saved me from dying.
It was truly a close call.
Luckily, she awakened in time.
If luck hadn’t been on my side…
I probably would have lost my life last night.
I lowered my head.
It was to look at Elaine.
She is now…
I fell asleep with a slap on my chest.
The sound of breathing, softly coming through, seemed to calm my heart.
I felt it a while ago as well.
As expected, she had an extraordinary beauty, like a heroine in a novel.
Being so close like this.
My heart was pounding, as if it wasn’t my own heart.
And then, I suddenly woke up.
Now was not the time to be like this.
I don’t know how I ended up in this bed, but that wasn’t important either.
I had to leave this place as soon as possible.
As someone who would need her help in the future, it would be best to avoid any unnecessary misunderstandings.
So, for now.
The first thing was to quietly get out of bed without waking her up.
However, it seemed quite difficult to remove my left arm that was placed on her body.
***
Elaine’s brows slightly furrowed as she slept deeply.
It was because of the lively sound of birds singing in the refreshing morning.
She had already woken up from her sleep.
But she still hadn’t opened her eyes.
The fatigue was much more severe than being sick.
It was because every inch of my body was being pressed down heavily.
Moreover,
Something that wrapped around me was so warm and cozy.
If I could,
I wanted to stay like this even until the sun rose in the sky.
“But what am I being embraced by right now? Am I dreaming?”
That thought crossed my mind for a moment.
But the scent of the forest blowing in front of my nose was so pleasant.
I fell back into a comfortable sleep.
I felt so happy.
The soft bed that gently supported my body.
The sweet slumber that didn’t allow even trivial delusions.
It gave me a feeling as ecstatic as flying in the sky with my eyes closed.
Then, my reason, which had started late, caused a commotion in my mind.
“Where is this?”
The question and the answer came to mind simultaneously, so it couldn’t be considered a question.
The revived memory was unbelievable.
It was shocking enough to make goosebumps rise all over my body.
As if in my head,
A fierce whirlwind accompanied by thunderstorms, heavy snow, and hail was blowing.
It was undoubtedly true.
This place was clearly a palace.
And not just any palace. It was probably the prince’s palace. Perhaps even his bedroom.
!!!
If that’s the case, then what I’m holding right now…?
No way…
With a sudden ominous thought, my eyes snapped open.
“What, what is this?! Why am I in a place like this, in this position, with the, the, the, prince!!!”
Elaine realized for the first time today that she could stumble over her words even in her thoughts.
Truly, it was an unbelievable sight.
The prince and she, both holding onto each other with their arms.
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Their hot breaths touching each other’s skin.
The distance between them was too close.
Thump thump! Thump thump! Thump thump!
Their hearts, already surpassing their limits long ago, were having a frenzy.
In those eyes that seemed like they couldn’t get any wider.
The trembling pupils were in the midst of saying “Well then, goodbye” as they prepared to go out.
The body, now hot like a burning ember.
It even tingled as if someone was massaging their entire body with cotton candy.
That’s how shocked she was.
My mind was intact to an unusual degree.
And I was as infinitely embarrassed as I was surprised.
The intimate proximity with the Emperor was clouding my judgment.
I was so bewildered that even my breath seemed to stop.
I wanted to scream right away.
But Elaine was no fool.
There was nothing worse than waking up the Emperor right here and now.
There was no room for doubt.
Except for the slim chance that he would wake up now.
I couldn’t find the words.
Trapped in a suffocating silence.
It would be a desperate feeling, like a wanderer lost in the middle of a desert.
Even without looking, it was obvious.
It would be a disaster, that was clear.
How on earth could this have happened?
Elaine’s memory went back to last night.
It was the moment when she held the Emperor’s hand.
Intense light burst forth from her own hand.
It was as if she held the sun in both hands, so dazzling that it felt like I would be blinded.
That was all.
Right after that, I lost consciousness, and there was no remaining memory.
If that’s the case, there was only one answer.
In a faint state of consciousness, I had climbed onto the bed by myself.
…My goodness.
No matter how out of it I was.
I had climbed onto the bed where the man was sleeping with my own feet.
It was so embarrassing and shameful that tears welled up in my eyes. My body lost strength, and my arms and legs trembled.
And then, belatedly.
I remembered the prince from last night.
Last night.
The prince was undoubtedly dying.
To think that I only now remembered such an important fact.
Elaine quickly lifted her head.
And the moment she caught sight of the prince’s face.
The chaos that had been swirling around in her mind like madness suddenly subsided.
How could this happen…!
The prince’s face, which had been completely withered, was now as clean as white jade.
The moans that had been mixed in with his breathing no longer reached her ears.
In the blink of an eye, the prince had recovered, just like a few days ago.
“Really… You really recovered…!”
It was undoubtedly true.
The intense light that had emanated from her hands last night.
It had brought the prince back to life.
Just as he had said.
She truly had the power to heal.
Of course, she still couldn’t fully grasp it.
Having such an incredible ability herself.
No matter how much she thought about it, it was unbelievable.
But still.
At this moment, there was one undeniable fact.
A tremendous sense of relief was flooding her heart. To the point where she couldn’t help but smile brightly with flushed cheeks.
That’s when it happened.
The prince’s narrowed eyes trembled.
It seemed like he had woken up from his slumber.
Elaine tightly closed her eyes.
She must not let him know that she was awake.
If she did.
Given her inability to lie.
In the end, she would have to admit that she had climbed onto the prince’s bed of her own accord.
So let’s just stay like this.
Pretending not to know anything, she stayed quiet.
And still, as if deeply asleep.
Soon after, the left arm of the prince began to move cautiously from under her side.
Swoosh- Swish-
He was slowly and carefully slipping away with highly restrained movements, so as not to wake her.
Fortunately.
If the prince could just quietly escape like this.
Perhaps this embarrassing situation.
Would become something that never happened between the two.
However, in such actions.
There was a significant issue that could never be ignored.
Of all things, the prince’s arm was touching her side.
Swoosh- Swish-
An unbearable itch tried to contract the muscles of her entire body.
It would have been better to just push him away.
Slowly and gently.
She stopped moving and continued to repeat.
It was incredibly painful to hold back the laughter that kept wanting to burst out.
Controlling her body from reflexively flinching was also not an easy task.
Elaine tightly bit down on her incisors.
My hands clenched tightly, my strength flowing into them.
This is not my body. Absolutely not my body. I have constantly brainwashed myself.
I made a resolution, again and again.
I will never get caught. Never.
Suppressing the itchiness was making my head spin.
But no matter what, I must not open my eyes, I must not smile. I relentlessly whipped myself.
And finally, the prince’s arm completely slipped away.
Without realizing it, I held my breath, almost letting out a sigh, but managed to pretend to talk in my sleep, narrowly avoiding the crisis.
The prince cautiously got out of bed.
Clank-
It was only after a long time had passed since he left.
Elaine carefully got up from her spot.
And then she realized.
Her dress, which her sister had put on her.
It was stripped off.
Her already flushed face turned even redder.
All she was wearing was a thin nightgown made of incredibly soft fabric.
Her body was completely exposed.
Wearing only this and sharing a bed with the prince…
Holding it tightly in her arms…
In the end, her ears, neck, and even her fingertips turned red as she let out a sigh.
Surely, the prince wouldn’t have taken it off…?
That couldn’t be possible.
He was a patient wandering in the world of books.
But since she hadn’t seen it for herself, she couldn’t easily make any judgments.
Once again, tears welled up in Elaine’s eyes.
But that didn’t matter at all.
After all, it was an event that had already passed, and she could only console herself.
Anyway.
What was truly important was the act of putting on the dress again.
But a dress was not something a woman could put on by herself.
That’s why it seemed even more maddening.
Although she was eager to leave this place before the prince returned.
Since she couldn’t put on the dress, she could only pace back and forth restlessly.
And then, when the door to the bedroom opened, she thought she would collapse.
“He sent for you.”
Fortunately, it wasn’t the prince.
The women who were holding a much more extravagant dress, shoes, and even a jewelry box than what her sister had given her.
They were the maids sent by the emperor.
Emperor Belcreed Supertor Caldebrion of the Mersenne Empire.
He was standing in front of his son’s bedroom, facing his own son.
“Are you awake?”
“……”
He wondered how surprised he must have been last night.
The prince who came out of the bedroom was shocked beyond comparison when he saw him.
Even the imperial physician and high-ranking officials were taken aback.
The prince had firmly asserted that he would never survive the night.
He had said it with a bewildered expression, carefully watching his every move.
In fact, the prince’s condition was deteriorating rapidly. It had been like that until the daughter of Marquis Bart arrived.
It was definitely like that….
After leaving only the two of them in the bedroom, a bright light suddenly seeped through the crack in the door.
It was a strange phenomenon that he had never seen before in his life.
The astonished emperor immediately entered.
And he saw it clearly.
The woman lying on the floor.
And the face of the prince, who had recovered under the flickering candlelight.
At first, he doubted his eyes.
It was an unbelievable sight, to the point where he couldn’t believe it himself, suspecting that he had hallucinated after desperately wishing for his son not to die.
I approached closely, not knowing how many times I blinked my eyes.
I looked at my son’s face, recovered miraculously, over and over again.
The candle almost fell onto my son’s face as I brought it closer, but luckily I caught it with my palm.
It was truly unbelievable, no matter how much I thought about it.
Not only the sudden return from the brink of death, but also the fact that he revived right before dying.
Even for someone like me, who had protected the throne for many years and experienced countless battles, it was something I couldn’t possibly comprehend.
While struggling with unresolved questions.
I had the chief physician examine my son and his woman. I had the maids change their clothes and brought them onto the bed.
Seeing the two lying on the same bed.
It made me feel as if I was looking at my own youthful days, and my eyes became moist.
After that, I stood outside the bedroom, pondering over and over again, until it was well into the night.
But by the time dawn broke, I had let go of my suspicions.
What does it matter now to dwell on the past?
In any case.
The fact that my dying son came back to life was the most important thing.
And once my son wakes up.
Naturally, I would be able to know what had happened, no matter what it was.
And now.
The emperor was looking at his standing son with a cold gaze.
It was quite late.
But now, I finally had the intention to fulfill my duty as a father.
The Emperor opened his mouth with a solemn expression.
“You defied the Emperor’s orders and once again left the palace.”
His voice was filled with force, as if interrogating a criminal.
“….”
“You were warned of severe punishment if you disobeyed. Do you remember?”
“….”
The face of the Crown Prince, without any response.
Unusually, it was filled with a sense of confusion.