Chapter 11.2

Lowering my head, it felt like everything had gotten very messy.

“Aakk!”

“Oh? Is it a chronic disease to scream out of nowhere as well?”

“Uuaak…!”

When I turned around hurriedly as if being struck by lightning, Raniero Actilus was already within reach of my nose. With my eyes wide open, I stuttered.

“Wh-wha—what, what brings you here, hiik?”

I was so surprised that I even hiccuped!

The next moment, Raniero locked me in his arms with both hands placed on the railing. He asked softly as he approached closely with his upper body.

“Should I come only when there’s something?”

Yes…!

It wouldn’t be good if he came without anything happening… He has to forget about my existence! Of course, I suggested a game that His Majesty liked very much, although that was something I had to do because I thought I would die if I didn’t do it then…

Regardless, I couldn’t tell the truth so I continued to hiccup and shook my head instead.

“Well, I just thought it was time to come back here. Can’t I?”

“I-in that obligation, hiik—please feel free… Hiiik.”

“Oh, you’re hiccuping.”

Muttering that, he pressed my lips and whispered.

“Poor thing.”

I know you don’t feel sorry for me at all!

After he said that, he pushed my chin with his thumb and parted my lips, and I had no choice but to obey. The moment Raniero turned his head to conceal my lips, I was breathing heavily to the point where my chest was filled with air, and to the point where I was narrowly dizzy. As the kiss fell, the breath I had been holding back rushed out at once. Raniero watched my flushed face with interest.

“It’s okay now, hm?”

“….”

The hiccup really stopped. Strangely, this person’s talent seems to shine even in the small areas of stopping other people’s hiccups… 

How annoying.

I glanced at Raniero with a preposterous face.

“Thank you.”

Huhu—

Even though I think like that in my head, I was sincerely expressing my gratitude with my mouth. I was so fed up with my immobility, but I couldn’t help it if I wanted to live. As I tried to smoothly sneak out of his arms, Raniero tightened the hand holding the railing as if he had sensed my intention. There was no way I could beat his power, so I had to stay locked up in this little prison.

“Did you have fun today?”

“What about Your Majesty?”

When I sneakily tossed the question back to him, Raniero’s eyes widened softly.

“Hm, I had a lot of fun. The prey went into training today… Oh, right. I added two more rules to the hunting game. Would you like to listen?”

I nodded slowly as a reply.

“One was to give weapons to the prey. If they survive for three hours, they win and will be released, and… Ah, I added the rules at my disposal without telling the Empress in advance, but…”

His eyes, which had been chattering like an excited child, fell and stared at me. Somehow, it seemed that at night, his eyes glowed even more dangerously against the light of the room.

I shrank a little.

“You won’t have any complaints, will you?”

Squeak.

At the tension, my saliva dried up and I nodded again. After all, hunting was done by His Majesty, anyway, wouldn’t it be all right as long as you enjoyed it…?

Raniero’s thin lips drew soft arcs at my answer.

“I asked first how your day was.”

However, he asked the initial question again without explaining what the second rule was. Then, his right hand climbed up my arm and rubbed the tip of my hair before stroking my neck.

“How was the Empress’s day today?”

Thinking that I might be strangled, I responded quickly.

“I-I’ve been busy. There is talk of re-landscaping the garden, reporting and surveying…”

Even though I swiftly came up with a reply, Raniero had an expression that didn’t look pleased. I glanced at his reaction and slowly halted my words. It was because he was wearing an expression like he was about to die of boredom.

“Hm. Anything other than those boring things?”

Aaaahh! We need to find a more provocative event—!

“Well, actually…”

In the end, I had no choice but to tell him what had happened with Sylvia. It was only after I finished the story did  Raniero’s eyes finally had a lukewarm interest.

“Take her in.”

“…Yes?”

Hearing the words that came out of his mouth so casually and easily, I winded my eyes. No, this person is talking without thinking… I’m not a person who possesses both a powerful force and position like Your Majesty. What would happen if I accepted this wrongly? With that thought, I tried really hard not to utter the word ‘But.’

Raniero, who had been fiddling with my lips, which were constantly trying to hold back what I wanted to say, smiled.

“It sounds fun.”

What? What’s fun?

The days that I worry about whether my food would be poisonous or not…?

However, it wasn’t just that. Raniero Actilus’s way of thinking was beyond imagination—

“It would be fun to set her up on the hunting grounds as a hunter. Oh, if you do that, wouldn’t you be able to wash away the past and prove your loyalty to me?”

Hiik.

—As expected, it was unimaginable for a normal person like me to understand him.

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