The Queen Who Deserves To Be Tainted - Chapter 50.2

Ejnar smiled at her, then lifted Elfreda in his arms.

She stared at him with wide eyes, surprised by the sudden change in position. Her hands still seemed unsure where to go, and when he firmly placed her gloved hand on his shoulder, she flinched in surprise.

He then walked into her bedroom and gently laid her down on the bed.

“Get some rest. You look tired.”

“Your Majesty, I’m fine…”

She was actually feeling a bit anxious. He had left so nonchalantly the previous night, and she wondered if he had already grown tired of their nights together. She didn’t realize that Ejnar was intentionally stirring those emotional concerns in her.

When he didn’t seem to have any intention of joining her on the bed, Elfreda slowly closed her eyes in resignation.

As Ejnar read her emotions clearly, a slight twisted smile appeared on his lips.

After gently touching her hair a few times, Elfreda quickly fell asleep despite her saying she was fine. After attending to matters in the morning and the banquet in the afternoon, she must have been exhausted.

However, as Ejnar was about to get up, holding the teddy bear, something caught his eye.

‘She’s still wearing the gloves?’

He had been told the burn from the tea wasn’t too severe, but seeing her still wearing gloves as she slept seemed odd.

Curious, Ejnar gently took her gloved hand and brought it closer.

After briefly handling it, he carefully removed the glove from her left hand to check how bad the injury was.

The area around her wrist was already healed, looking completely clean.

However, it was the other hand that caught his attention. He furrowed his brows as he gently held Elfreda’s bare hand, carefully inspecting each of her five fingers.

“…This.”

There were countless puncture marks all over the joints of her fingers.

While the scars had mostly healed to the point where they were barely noticeable at first glance, the sheer number of them caught Ejnar’s sharp eye. His frown deepened as he examined them more closely.

At first, he was startled, but the teddy bear that caught his eye helped him quickly piece things together. He suddenly remembered the evidence Marchioness Magnum had tried so hard to hide when she mentioned that the queen had feelings for him.

“Yes. I couldn’t be sure with just that, but later, more concrete evidence surfaced…”

“What was it?”

“Unfortunately, I can’t reveal that right now. For your sake, I think it’s better that I remain silent.”

This… was it?

As Ejnar pieced the memories together, he finally understood why she had rejected him for a while. He also solved the mystery of Elfreda’s proactive behavior at the last banquet. She hadn’t gone to the bedroom to avoid exposing it and had chosen embarrassment over taking off her gloves.

Now that so much time had passed, it must have been far worse back then. A sudden tightness in his chest made Ejnar unconsciously clench his fist.

Elfreda was still sound asleep. She was probably unaware of the expression on her face.

Ejnar found himself touching her hand with his reddened eyes. He kissed her soft hand, then moved lower, planting a kiss on each of her delicate fingers.

As he wondered what kind of expression she must have had when the sharp needles pierced her soft skin, Ejnar felt his chest sting, like a needle pricking it.

Had she cried with the pain, or perhaps, had she sobbed from feeling ashamed of her clumsy stitching? Much like how he had imagined Anders’ final moments, Ejnar now found himself picturing Elfreda in that moment.

At the end of his thoughts, he kissed her as many times as there were needle marks. Then, he leaned down and gently kissed her forehead, cheeks, and lips.

Though her body twitched slightly with the ticklishness, Elfreda remained in a deep sleep, only emitting faint sounds.

D*mn it.

Her peaceful, sleeping face made Ejnar want to hold her even more. Just before she woke up, he stopped all his actions and simply held her quietly.

The tangled sounds of their heartbeats reached Ejnar’s ears. Then, a profound sense of peace filled him.