Chapter 36
(36) Overwhelming Affection (7)
“I desire an affection too great for me to bear.”
“Oh my. It seems you’ve caused a misunderstanding with my mother?”
“Yes. Her Majesty likely thinks His Majesty cherishes me deeply, that we go on dates, that he buys me dresses, and even that we’re having lunch together like this.”
Heraith wiped the smile off his face and let out a short sigh.
“I told you not to do things like this.”
“You needn’t worry about my safety, Your Majesty. Just give me your love.”
As Eleanor smiled sweetly, Heraith gazed at her steadily. She was smiling like a woman truly yearning for a man’s affection.
To someone unaware of the truth, that smile could easily befall them.
Pretending to love Eleanor would certainly make things easier. Enemies, believing that Heraith had fallen for a woman, would focus on winning her over, putting her on a leash, or trying to kill her which would distract from Heraith’s actual movements.
And since Eleanor was beautiful, no one would doubt that Heraith had fallen for her.
But he didn’t want to do that. He didn’t enjoy how Eleanor carelessly risked her life and made absurd proposals.
“You are truly greedy, wishing for something so excessive.”
“It’s only natural for a wife to wish to be loved by her husband. I want to love, and be loved by Your Majesty. If we are an affectionate couple, wouldn’t the people be pleased too?”
“That’s a sweet suggestion, but I don’t know how to give love.”
He subtly rejected her, but Eleanor didn’t back down.
Instead, she got up and came to sit beside him, quietly gazing up at him.
Heraith, taken aback by this unprecedented rudeness, couldn’t even tell her to return to her seat and simply looked down at her.
Eleanor gently reached out and placed her hand over the back of Heraith’s.
It was cold in the North, but it seemed that their women were warm.
‘What a ridiculous thought’
He nearly chuckled, when Eleanor whispered,
“Sometimes, even when it’s not the right moment, one needs to hold hands sweetly like this.”
“Must it be now…”
Knock knock.
At that moment, someone knocked on the dining room door.
Only then did Heraith realize Eleanor had sensed someone approaching outside the room and acted accordingly.
And he realized that he had been so absorbed in Eleanor that he had paid no attention to his surroundings.
Normally, he would’ve remained alert no matter what he was doing, but now, every ounce of attention was fixed on Eleanor. To the point that he hadn’t even heard the attendant walking toward the dining room.
‘This isn’t good.’
As he thought that, Eleanor whispered softly,
“Tell them to come in. Now.”
With the whisper, her hand moved, and her fingers interlocked with Heraith’s.
“Go on.”
Only after Eleanor prompted him did Heraith snap out of it.
He furrowed his brow, lowered his head until his lips nearly touched her ear, and whispered:
“No matter how many times I reject you, you’re determined to receive my love, aren’t you?”
“I am rather greedy that way.”
“I can’t protect you.”
“People should protect themselves. As for me, I’m already head over heels and desperate for your love, so please just love me in return.”
For some reason, a memory resurfaced.
– ‘Also, Your Majesty. If I become the Empress, I’ll risk my life to protect you as well. Because we’ll be family.’
Like a spell, like a curse, her murmur pierced his heart.
Heraith tightly clasped her hand in his and growled:
“Enter.”
Only then did the door open and the attendant step in.
The attendant, and even Eyo, who peeked inside from outside, froze upon seeing Heraith and Eleanor sitting close together, fingers entwined.
Ignoring Eyo’s gaping mouth, Heraith glared at the attendant.
“As you can see, I’m a bit busy.”
“Ah…”
The attendant, who had served in the palace for a long time, seemed at a complete loss for how to process the unbelievable sight before him. He merely opened and closed his mouth for a while.
Then Eleanor raised her free hand and gently placed it on Heraith’s chest.
The attendant gasped strangely, and Eyo even stumbled back in shock.
But Eleanor, who had startled the two men, smiled sweetly and seductively at Heraith as she asked,
“Your Majesty. Should I return to my seat?”
He desperately wanted to say yes.
It was most displeasing to show this side to the attendant, who might well be the Empress Dowager’s eyes and ears.
But Eleanor was pressing her clasped hand firmly against Heraith’s thigh, as if to say she wouldn’t return quietly.
He was afraid of what she might do if he told her to go back.
Had he ever been this afraid in his life?
Perhaps as a child, when he suffered threats of assassination for unknown reasons. But once he matured, nothing had ever truly frightened him—Until this woman, who was impossible to predict cane along.
“No.”
Heraith replied, grinding his teeth while locking eyes with Eleanor.
To anyone unaware of the context, it looked exactly like a man hopelessly in love, unable to take his eyes off his woman.
“Stay. The food you feed me is unusually delicious.”
While everyone else froze in shock, Eleanor alone smiled radiantly, like a woman overjoyed to be loved by the emperor.
It was Eyo who first came to his senses and nudged the still-frozen attendant.
The attendant gasped, cleared his throat, and said,
“Your Majesty. Um… Count Snow has sent something.”
When Heraith looked at Eleanor for an explanation, she gently shook her head, indicating she didn’t know anything about it.
“A number of wagons and several knights have arrived, but they are waiting due to the sealed city gates. What shall we do?”
The gates had been ordered closed until the fissure issue in the capital was resolved, so technically, no one was to be let in.
But now, Heraith had to appear as if he wasn’t in his usual state. Without taking his eyes off Eleanor, he responded,
“Make sure no one sneaks out, and receive Snow. Send the White Knights to escort them to the palace and treat them generously. And bring Count Snow’s representative here.”
After the attendant left, Heraith whispered,
“Was that enough affection for you?”
“For now, yes.”
For now?
“I gave it my best. I’m starting to fear just how much affection you expect from me.”
Eleanor smiled, her eyes forming crescents.
“Don’t be afraid. I’ll guide you well.”
***
The attendant ran down the hallway and relayed the emperor’s orders to a waiting knight.
Then, passing by a noble, he shared what he had seen and heard in the dining room.
The noble told a maid, the maid told a lady-in-waiting, the lady-in-waiting told a knight, the knight told another maid… And just like that, every move of the emperor was relayed to Hensa.
Unable to believe what she had heard, Hensa questioned the maid again and again before rushing to the Empress Dowager’s quarters.
After hearing the story, Stephanie let out a dry laugh.
“The emperor did that? Hensa, are you mad? Where did you hear such nonsense?”
“It’s true, Your Majesty. The palace informants never exaggerate or diminish anything. You know that.”
“I do, but still…”
Stephanie couldn’t even imagine Heraith sitting side by side with a woman, holding hands, accepting food from her.
After failing to kill him when he was young, Stephanie had isolated him by bribing or eliminating everyone around him.
Betrayed and stabbed by those he once trusted, Heraith had learned to trust no one.
“This is a very good thing, Your Majesty.”
“Yes. If the emperor has truly fallen for that wench, it would be wonderful.”
“Indeed. Even if the spells we planted in the palace fail, we now have something else we can use. We must absolutely bring Eleanor Snow to our side.”
Drawing Eleanor to their side was indeed the easiest method, but Stephanie still couldn’t shake her doubts.
“Still no word from the spy we sent to the North?”
“We expect a report soon.”
“Until we hear from them, we should just observe. This might all be another trick of the emperor’s.”
