0% ‘Love’ was a truly perplexing topic.
Wouldn’t everyone feel the sa? The deeper I tried to probe into this intangible emotion, the more ambiguous and indistinct its boundaries beca.
It was embarrassing, really.
For a grown man several years past adulthood to internally ponder ‘love’.
Yet, I couldn’t help but question it, no matter how shaful.
What exactly is ‘love’?
Could the words Emma murmured just now possibly have sothing to do with that?
My mind went utterly blank.
It was just like when Senior Elsie had confessed to back then.
While I was lost in thought, silence stretched between us.
Only the crackling of the logs in the fireplace marked the passage of ti in this place.
Emma didn’t avert her gaze from for a long ti.
She remained silent, breathing softly and sweetly.
Suddenly, I realized how dangerously close we were.
If I leaned in just a little more, what would happen?
Every ti Emma’s gentle breath grazed the tip of my nose, my heart fluttered. I found myself wondering if her lips would carry the sa sweet fragrance.
To hesitate—
My heart wavered precariously, as if walking on a tightrope. Just as the thought of how dangerous this mont was crossed my mind, I beca aware that Emma’s face was still gradually drawing nearer.
What would happen next was obvious.
Yet, I stood frozen, unable to retreat.
My mind beca a chaotic ss of conflicting thoughts. I couldn’t decide whether I should surrender to her or step back.
Only several faces flashed vividly through my mind.
Senior Elsie, the Saintess, Senior Delphine and Seria.
This shouldn’t be happening.
But by the ti I finally reached that conclusion, Emma’s face was already too close to mine.
I couldn’t retreat even if I wanted to.
Our lips would inevitably touch at the slightest attempt to move.
That’s how dangerously close we were—
Close enough for Emma’s exhale to brush warmly against my face.
Just as I was bracing myself inwardly—
“...Pfft.”
A clear burst of laughter suddenly echoed through the silent bedroom.
The source, needless to say, was Emma.
As if unable to contain herself any longer, she jerked away, clutching her stomach as she burst into laughter.
She looked so amused that tears were starting to gather at the corners of her eyes.
I was so taken aback—no, utterly flustered—that all I could do was furrow my brows slightly.
“Haha—ahahaha! Ian, aren’t you being a bit too serious?”
“...Then, should I have just scoffed instead?”
Feeling strangely disappointed, I curtly replied.
But my grumbling tone only seed to amuse Emma even more.
Her bright laughter continued for quite so ti.
Long enough for my sullen expression to deepen and for Emma to finally wipe away the tears gathering in her eyes.
Only after she’d sowhat cald down did I ask, letting out a sigh,
“Do you feel a bit better now?”
“Yes, thanks to you.”
Looking genuinely refreshed, she smiled broadly.
I honestly felt disappointed about having my expectations dashed, but what could I do?
The mont I saw Emma’s blissful smile, my irritation lted away entirely.
Suddenly, I recalled sothing Emma once told .
‘Stupid, idiot, dummy. At this rate, you’ll just end up getting taken advantage of by a commoner girl like .’
Those were the words she spoke when I sacrificed a nad Demonic Beast to save her, insisting I expected nothing in return.
Back then, I simply laughed it off, thinking it was absurd.
But now that I reflected on it, her words weren’t entirely groundless.
It was hard to shake off the feeling that her empty warning was gradually coming true.
No matter how I thought about it, when it ca to Emma, I was unusually soft.
Of course, nothing else really mattered as long as she was happy.
Eventually, I bit back a bitter smile.
“But don’t you think this was too much? Toying with my feelings with a lie.”
“Hm?”
Emma blinked innocently, as if she had no idea what I was talking about.
All I could do was let out a sigh as I spoke again.
“Emma, no matter how close we are, confessions should always be sincere—”
“But I wasn’t lying.”
Just as I was about to laugh it off, ready to dismiss it as a joke, our eyes t.
And in that mont, I understood,
Emma was completely serious.
My brow furrowed once again.
“I really do like you.”
“But just a mont ago, you—”
“Yes, because you looked so serious.”
Her voice was more earnest than ever before.
I instinctively shut my eyes tight. Sohow, it felt like I had to do that.
Anyone would have done the sa when faced with that sorrowful smile.
“I’ve known it for a long ti, but now I finally realize it clearly—You and I don’t belong together.”
Deliberately, I revealed no emotions.
All I did was quietly gaze at her.
Perhaps interpreting my silence as so sort of cue, Emma smiled gently and added,
“That’s just how it is, isn’t it? You’re a noble, the Empire’s rising star trusted by His Majesty himself. anwhile, I’m just a commoner girl—who is poor and completely useless to you.”
“Emma, you’ve already saved my life several tis.”
“Thank you, Ian, for saying that.... but anyone else could have done the sa thing.”
Fuuuu, I exhaled deeply.
I’d already lost track of how many tis we’d had this conversation—now it was starting to feel exhausting.
Unaware of my frustration, Emma continued her self-deprecating words.
“Yeah, anyone could’ve done it—not just .... If you threw ten thousand gold at any commoner girl from the Alchemy Departnt, they would’ve probably managed to do the sa, don’t you think?”
“Emma.”
“But it’s alright— I’m good at knowing my place, at least. If I try really hard from now on, maybe I could at least be your concubine? Ahaha... I guess I’ll have to do my best from now—”
In the end, I couldn’t hold back anymore.
I understood Emma’s feelings.
Inferiority was like a monster that gnaws away at your heart. Facing it alone is nearly impossible.
I have experienced it myself.
Because I was a lesser noble, because I lacked exceptional talent.
By so stroke of luck, I managed to surpass those limitations.
But even now, I couldn’t be sure if this role suited .
A hero destined to save the world?
It felt as though I’d beco the protagonist of so outdated fairy tale.
Perhaps that was why I was especially careful around Emma.
Because her self-deprecating tendencies were so similar to mine.
Frightened and suffering, endlessly belittling herself, yet secretly hoping soone would reassure her otherwise.
It just so happened that, for her, that soone was .
“Stop whining already.”
Emma’s eyes widened in surprise at my sigh-laden remark.
Then her gaze quickly dropped.
With a sorrowful look, as if she’d expected this outco.
“R-Right? Sorry, I shouldn’t have— Mm?!”
I leaned in, silencing her murmurs by pressing my lips against hers.
It was an ambiguous sensation.
The kisses I’d shared with Senior Delphine had been far more passionate. Compared to the pleasure of entangling tongues, there was little to be gained from a re brush of lip against lip.
Yet, it felt strangely special nonetheless.
Emma’s lips tasted exactly as I’d imagined they would.
Soft, moist and carrying that familiar sweet breath.
Emma appeared more stunned than ever before.
Her eyes, opened wide, revealed genuine astonishnt. Like a sinner caught breaking a taboo, she looked ready to pull away at any mont.
Of course, her resistance was weak at best.
The mont I gently cupped her chin, any trace of her struggle disappeared completely.
A few seconds later—
Our lips parted, allowing us to breathe again.
‘Puhwa’ Emma let out an adorable, breathless gasp. Her face had long since flushed a deep shade of red.
I cautiously asked Emma, who was anxiously peeking at ,
“You’ll stop now, won’t you?”
It was a vague question, missing even its object.
She could’ve asked back, ‘Stop what?’ But Emma didn’t respond at all.
She instead simply slightly turned her head, avoiding my gaze.
When she finally spoke again, there was a faint tremor in her voice.
“I-Ian...”
She sounded as if she’d burst into tears any mont if I left her like this.
I quietly waited for Emma to continue.
“I really think... even being your concubine would be enough.”
Because even that would make incredibly happy.
Listening to her heartfelt confession, I bitterly smiled to myself.
Suddenly, a single question surfaced in my mind:
But is it really okay for to do this?
**
I only ca to my senses the next day.
“...Have I gone insane?”
Caught up in the atmosphere the previous night, I hadn’t realized it, but thinking back now, I practically caused a huge disaster.
Just counting the won I was already entangled with—
Senior Elsie, the Saintess, Senior Delphine and Seria.
It was already far more than I could handle, yet yesterday, I’d gone and kissed Emma as well.
It was a cri serious enough to justify being ripped to pieces.
If there was one consolation, it was that the issue I’d entrusted to the princess had been successfully resolved.
That was also the reason I was able to face Senior Delphine today.
Late at night as always, Senior Delphine wore a faint smile, as if she found the situation amusing.
“How interesting. So, in short, you’re suggesting that the Yurdina Family should take responsibility for integrating the elves as the subjects of the Empire.”
“It won’t be disadvantageous for the Yurdina Family either.”
I quickly added, worried she might feel offended.
Senior Delphine was, in truth, far smarter than . She had been grood as an heiress from childhood, after all.
But maybe the reason I deliberately added an explanation was simply because I wanted Senior Delphine to notice.
To subtly emphasize just how much effort I’d put into this.
n could be incredibly childish creatures in front of won.
And so, I finally started explaining the plan Leto shared with .
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