MHCEN Chapter 8
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Chapter 8: I Can Take Off More if the Princess Wants
My head was pounding. I felt dizzy as if someone had pushed my back hard at the end of a cliff.
“…Why?” Livanfell’s voice hardened. I couldn’t see his expression since I hid behind his back, but I could tell he was wary.
On the other hand, Elihu was still smiling like an angel.
“The young priests felt uneasy because the temple remained empty for too long. So I’m going to send the senior priests in my stead, and I’ll take care of the younger ones myself. After all, Lord Semula entrusted that to me, too. Also, I have to attend Your Majesty’s wedding.”
“Ah…”
It’s such a perfect reason that I couldn’t find fault with it.
“… That’s great.”
“Everything is Lord Semula’s will.”
When Elihu said that, he glanced at me again. His gaze stung as if needles were being driven into my body.
I couldn’t let the secret come out when I met the high priest here.
“… I’m tired. Can I go back and rest?” I grabbed Livanfell’s sleeve and shook it. Livanfell quickly turned his gaze to me.
When our eyes met, I clenched my teeth and eagerly widened my eyes as I said with a look, ‘You know it’s all over when my secret is revealed, right?!’
Livanfell gave a very subtle nod and tapped my arm with his finger. Fortunately, he seemed to have understood me.
“The princess seems tired, so we’ll go back now.”
Good. Great job.
Livanfell wrapped himself around me and turned us around. We just had to walk quietly like this.
And from now on, we needed to make sure I had no contact with Elihu.
“Wait.” And as if Elihu had read my thoughts, he stopped us. “May I bestow the blessing of purification on Your Majesty and the princess?”
Elihu’s eyes were fixed on me, almost burning. My body stiffened, and I froze. My beating heart almost deafened my head.
‘Did he notice?’
My body shuddered with tension.
“It’s fine,” Livanfell, who noticed my concerns, whispered lowly so that only I could hear.
“I told you.”
His hand rested on my back.
“I will keep the princess’s secret.”
Then, gently pushing my back forward, Livanfell turned around.
I was accidentally pushed forward and could get out of Elihu’s field of vision.
“I’ll receive the blessing of purification alone. The princess is tired. I’ll introduce you properly later, so can you do it again then, Elihu?”
“Yes, of course. Your Majesty.”
“Take the princess to the bedroom.”
I followed the maid out of the hall. Fortunately, Elihu didn’t catch me, and I could get out safely.
‘Phew. Thank goodness. I thought I was getting caught.’
I placed my hand on my chest and sighed in relief. I felt bad for escaping while using Livanfell as a shield, but my priority was keeping my secret.
‘If Livanfell visits in the evening, I’ll have to ask him how it went.’
When I was walking while apologizing to Livanfell in my mind…
“Squeak!”
“Hmm?”
As soon as I left the hall, I heard an unmistakable squeak, an animal cry, as if it were calling me.
I lowered my head to where the sound came from and saw a cute gray hamster.
‘…Hamster?’
Maids constantly maintained the palace, so where did this little one come from?
It must have recently come in with people coming and going in preparation for a wedding, or it must have followed Elihu.
‘I raised a hamster with my mother when I was young… It’s the first time I’ve seen one since then.’
As a child, I once raised a gray hamster with Mother in Lupeon. It happened to look similar to the hamster in front of me right now.
I remembered that the hamster disappeared at some point later, and I was so sad I cried.
Strangely, when I saw that hamster, the memory of that time welled up like a rush of water.
The hamster didn’t even avoid me. It just stared at me as it stood with its body stretched out. It was like looking at me and asking me to take him.
‘I’ve heard of cats choosing their butlers, but this is the first time I’ve heard of hamsters choosing their owners…’
Yet, strangely, I couldn’t take my eyes off the hamster.
As I stood there blankly, the maid tilted her head and approached me.
“Princess, what are you looking at… Aaaack!” When the maid followed my gaze, she jumped in surprise. “Kyaa! M-mice! P-princess! Are you okay?! Where did the mice come from!”
When a person screamed like that, they’d usually startle and run away, but the hamster didn’t move or make a sound and just kept looking at me.
“… I’m fine. Don’t make a fuss.”
I leaned over and reached for the hamster.
“P-princess! If it’s infested with germs…!”
“No, it’s fine.”
I didn’t know why, but I was certain.
The hamster wasn’t dirty, and it wouldn’t hurt me.
It was an inexplicable feeling.
When I stretched out my hand, the hamster naturally climbed onto my palm as if it knew it would happen.
“P-princess.”
“…”
The hamster on my palm stared at me with its ears pricked up. Even up close, it looked very similar to the hamster I raised with my mother.
“Could you check to see if anyone around you has lost their pet hamster?”
“Y-yes. I will do that.”
“And if the owner isn’t there, prepare a hamster house.”
“House? Does the princess want to raise it?”
“Yes. Unless it has an owner.”
I reached out and rubbed the hamster’s head. The hamster looked happy as if my touch was very familiar.
“I should call it ‘Mu.’”
Because the name of the hamster I raised with my mother was ‘Mu.’
I liked this hamster that reminded me of my happy childhood.
“Squeak!”
Mu’s ears perked up as if saying he liked it.
After the midnight bell rang, Livanfell came to visit me again.
“Y-you didn’t get caught, did you?”
I paced in front of the bedroom door and grabbed his arm as soon as he entered. Livanfell, whose hair had turned white, stroked my uneasy arm.
“I’m sad because it seems you’re more worried than excited to welcome me.”
“Because I’m worried! You know that if my secret is revealed, the deal with Your Majesty will end, right?!”
“…Why me?”
“What do you mean, why? I can’t be the empress if my secret comes out.”
Livanfell furrowed his brows as if he hadn’t even thought of this. Then, sweeping his chin, he tilted his head in disapproval.
“…Shall we get rid of Elihu?”
“If I kill the son of God, will not meteor fall to the ground this time? Didn’t the high priest say something after I went back?”
“I think he felt something different from usual, but there’s no need to worry.”
“Isn’t that something to be concerned about?”
“Elihu is not so reckless as to move only with suspicion. He rose to the position of the high priest at a young age because he had high holy power and a prudent personality.”
“What should I do if Jaerim finds me suspicious because I ran away like that?”
“Then I’ll assign him a lot of work so he doesn’t think about anything else. If he works like crazy, he wouldn’t even have time to think.”
Sorry Jaerim, but it’s a good idea.
“…Can I trust you? What if the high priest and Jaerim are planning something else behind the scenes…?”
Meeting my gaze, Livanfell crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. His eyes looking at me were always as fragrant as pure lilies.
“Princess. Do you still not believe me after showing this? The only person the princess can trust here is me, am I not?”
“I like to be safe, so I want to confirm it.”
“Don’t worry about it. I won’t put the princess in danger.”
Livanfell was convinced. He was sure of a problem I wasn’t sure about, cutting it like a knife.
“You don’t know that. People’s minds are not consistent, and they always change.”
“Well, I don’t think so.”
Livanfell smoothed my hair with his hands, his touch as warm as dandelion seeds. When he acted like this, my whole body felt like it would melt, as if he had taken a big bite of cotton candy.
“T-take off your clothes already, Your Majesty. We should do it tonight.”
Livanfell’s hand, which was stroking my hair, stopped. I had told him to unbutton his clothes so I could heal him, but he looked dissatisfied.
“Princess. Do you see anything wrong with my body now?”
“Yes?”
“I can take off my clothes right away.”
“N-no! Y-you don’t have to take it off!”
He ripped off his shirt in reply. The thin buttons fell helplessly to the floor and the shirt opened wide like a castle gate.
“Have you forgotten that the princess and I are alone in this bedroom?” Linvalfell asked, leaning close to me.
As I stepped back without realizing it, Livanfell’s large hand dug into my waist and pulled me hard.
“I can take off more if the princess wants it.”
Livanfell’s golden eyes were filled with an endless obsession. As time passed, he swept his lips with his tongue as if he felt an unbearable crazy thirst.
“…”
I slowly reached out my hand. As always, Livanfell wasn’t afraid of my touch. Not only did he not avoid it, he also didn’t refuse it.
Slap–!
And I hit his chest hard with the palm of my hand. The loud smack against his skin echoed through the quiet bedroom.
“This is my bedroom, right? It’s hard for the maids to clean if you pull all the buttons like this, Your Majesty.”
“…Ah.”
“And I’m your doctor. Did you forget that you’re a patient? Of course, I need it to heal you! Do you not want me to treat you, Your Majesty? Huh?! If I don’t treat you, you’ll have to spread the rumor that you’re drinking again and stay in the bedroom alone every night. Would you like that?!”
“…No.”
When I placed my hands on my waist and nagged at him, Livanfell responded in a docile manner.
“Then please sit here!” I patted the seat next to me on the bed.
Livanfell stared at me in disbelief, but he still followed my words and sat next to me.
I placed my palm on the seal and applied the power I had gotten used to. Soon, the seal disappeared, and his hair color began to return.
“Princess, it seems like the way you treat me now is very different from when we first met.”
“Isn’t Your Majesty mistaken? I’ve always acted this way.”
“Can a person change like this just because they know my weakness?”
“That’s why you shouldn’t carelessly reveal your weaknesses.”
Seeing as I didn’t let him get the last word, Livanfell stuck out his tongue.
I lowered my hand once I confirmed Livanfell was completely back to normal.
“I don’t want to meet the high priest. We won’t see each other again, will we?”
“Where is the fearless woman who hit me a moment ago? You’re the first person to leave a handprint on the body of the emperor of the great empire.”
“I’m serious. Even if I lie, he seems to know everything.”
“You’ll never see him again. Even if the princess wants to meet him again, I won’t let it happen,” Livanfell jokingly muttered before looking away.
When his gaze reached the table, his eyes narrowed. “…A mouse?”
“Ah.”
Right. I forgot to introduce it to Livanfell.
I walked over to the table and pointed at Mu, who was spinning the wheel.
“This is my friend who will be with me from today. This is Mu.”
“A mouse? Where did you get it?”
“Hmm. When I was walking?”
“What?”
Livanfell stood from the bed and looked at Mu, who continued spinning on his wheel.
“I once raised a hamster with my mother in Lupeon. When I remembered that, I thought I wanted to bring it. Back then, Mother named the hamster ‘Mu.’”
“… Isn’t it dirty?”
“Squeak squeak!”
As soon as Livanfell said that, Mu got off the wheel and tapped the wall with its foot, seemingly in protest.
“…Do hamsters understand words these days?”
“Mu must be smart… Do you hate hamsters? Or maybe you’re scared of it?”
I wondered if I had been too impulsive and didn’t even ask Livanfell.
Livanfell looked away from Mu and said, “No. I don’t care as long as the princess likes it. The more things the princess puts her heart into here, the better it is for me.”
“It’s fate that I met Mu like this, but I’ll take care of it.”
Livanfell lightly tapped Mu’s house before standing. Then he turned his attention to the letters I had lined up next to the hamster house.
“Did you read the letters Jaerim gave you earlier?”
“Yes. It would be nice to know at least who wrote me… There are so many that I haven’t read all of them yet.”
“If you’re having a hard time, you don’t have to read it. After all, someone will come and prostrate themselves when they see the princess.”
Livanfell skimmed through some of the correspondence.
“…Count Tennen sent you a welcome letter.”
“Count Tennen?”
“My former swordsmanship master.”
“Then will he come to the wedding? It would be nice to see your master after a long time.”
“No. I don’t think he will.”
Livanfell handed me the letter, his expression bitter. In Count Tennen’s message, he apologized for not being able to attend due to personal circumstances.
“When Count Tennen participated in the last war before the peace treaty was signed, all his family members suffered.”
“…Oh.”
“Even the emperor didn’t protect his family…After that, he gave up his post and returned to his territory.” Livanfell’s face was filled with inexplicable guilt. “Now, apparently, he comes out of his mansion once a week, but only to buy alcohol.”
The Count’s penmanship was jagged, like a crawling earthworm, and the paper smelled slightly of alcohol and was still damp.
The atmosphere instantly became heavy, just like it would before it rained heavily.
I hurriedly grabbed another letter that I could get my hands on to shake off the heavy atmosphere. It was one of the letters I set aside since Jaerim had recommended it.
“W-what about this person? What kind of person are they?”
I squeezed the random letter in my hand before pushing it toward Livanfell.
When he saw the letter, his face distorted even more.
“… It’s from Marquis Liranev.”
Livanfell’s tone also changed. He wasn’t playful or soft like he usually was when he talked to me, and he didn’t have the sadness and guilt for Count Tennen a moment ago.
As if facing the enemy in war, Livanfell was fierce and intimidating.
I shuddered at the chill that ran down my spine.
“Princess, I respect your choices, but.”
Livanfell tore Marquis Liranev’s letter to shreds. It looked like he wanted to tear apart the Marquis himself.
I looked down at the floor to see bits and pieces of the paper, and the sentence “I want to meet you” caught my eye.
“Don’t get close to Marquis Liranev.”
“…Yes?”
“Didn’t you hear the rumors that I killed half of the officials when I ascended the throne?” His golden eyes shone coldly.
The man from a while ago disappeared. What I had in front of me now was an uncontrollable beast.
The Leonhardt Empire was much better than I thought. The emperor who ruled the empire was even more comfortable.*
Livanfell was the first person in my life with whom I shared my secret, willingly or unwillingly.
The rumor that he locked his bedroom door every midnight and drank was also fabricated due to his personal circumstances.
So far, I had raised thorns to protect myself from those who antagonized me, but for the first time, I lived in the arms of those who welcomed me.
So, I thought to myself that all of the rumors about him were false.
“At that time, there were two people I couldn’t kill yet, and one of them was Marquis Liranev.”
“…”
“I really wanted to skin him and kill him because he was a cunning snake, but right now… I can’t. Because they said that killing them will change the future.”
“Hiccup!”
It was like the day we first met.
My hiccup came out by itself in surprise, probably in fear at what Livanfell said. His eyes, which had been staring into the air as he muttered those words, turned to the sound.
As if recognizing his prey, his gaze instantly caught me.
I hurriedly covered my mouth with my two palms to muffle it. However, Livanfell’s unfocused gaze was still on me.
“Hiccup!”
Now, I couldn’t stop my hiccups. Livanfell lowered his gaze, his long, drooping eyelashes casting a shadow on his cheeks. His golden eyes, which always shone like the moon, were trapped in the shadows of his lashes.
“…I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said, his voice cracking as if he had been crying for a long time.
Livanfell quietly turned and left the bedroom.
‘Why did I have such a letter in my hand…’
I tightly closed my eyes.
A man Livanfell hated enough to say he wanted to kill him.
‘Jaerim would have known. Why did he recommend Marquis Liranev to me?’
What Jaerim said to me during the day lingered in my mind.
And Mu, still in his hamster house, stood and watched all this without returning to his wheel.
*Not 100% sure about the translation
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