Click.
There was the sound of a door opening. Lev, who had been leaning his belly against the terrace railing, taking in the cool night breeze and enjoying the impressive nighttime view of the garden, flinched and turned his head.
A young nobleman who had been about to step inside noticed someone was there and wore a flustered look.
“Pardon me.”
At once, the young nobleman crinkled the corners of his eyes and smiled. He was a man with a gentle look that inspired goodwill. But for some reason it felt contrived, and Lev quietly watched him.
“Would you mind if I join you?”
Before Lev could answer, the man came closer of his own accord. He held a glass in each hand.
In truth, the terrace was broad enough for three or four people to use, and it belonged to no one.
‘Still, in this kind of situation, wouldn’t most people go somewhere else?’
Or perhaps that was simply how things were done here. Lev had never attended a ball, so he had no way to know what was proper, and could only respond ambiguously.
The gentle-looking man finally came to stand beside Lev. In such a spacious place, why come specifically here.
Lev could not help thinking the man must have some business with him. But Lev had no intention at all of humoring him.
The man could hardly be unaware that Lev was the Emperor’s consort. If so, whatever came would hardly be pleasant.
‘I only wanted to be alone for a bit. So much for that.’
Just as Lev finished thinking this and started to turn his body…
“The weather is nice, isn’t it?”
The gentle-looking man rested his arms on the terrace railing and turned his head toward where Lev stood. He still wore a pleasant, friendly smile at the corners of his mouth.
“It is.”
Lev, who had been about to yield the spot, missed his timing, hesitated, and replied reluctantly.
“I was really curious.”
The man set the two glasses on the terrace railing and turned his body. At the same time, his gaze fixed on Lev and slowly traveled up and down as if appraising him.
“How much are you really worth, I wonder.”
That meaning was plain in his rude eyes.
“The one His Majesty goes to every night.”
Meeting the man’s undisguised malice, Lev regretted not leaving the terrace earlier.
Just then, as the man’s smile deepened, click, the door opened.
Startled by the sudden sound, Lev snapped his head that way.
“A knight?”
Unexpectedly, the new arrival was a knight in silver armor.
“Hey!”
The knight met Lev’s eyes and raised one hand as if greeting a friend. Then, as if it were only natural, he walked over to where Lev and the man were.
“I heard they call you of peerless beauty, that your smiling eyes are ravishing, and that your movements overflow with coquetry.”
The voice came again from beside him. There was a hint of laughter at the end of the words. It was clearly mockery, not goodwill.
“Not truly peerless, I would say. You’re too tall and striking for that.”
Never taking his eyes off Lev, the knight grinned and picked up the line. Lev instantly recognized the look of disdain.
“Well, for a second I thought you were one of His Majesty’s guards. But you were not holding his sword, you were holding his arm.”
The two batted lines back and forth as if performing a play.
“Exactly. Your face was stiff, and your dancing was ever so proper.”
They were openly sneering now. No one could fail to see they had come with a plan. It seemed wise to leave this place.
“Pardon me for interrupting your conversation, but someone is waiting for me, so I will be going back first.”
Lev offered a pretext they could not argue with and took his leave. The man’s eyes flashed with surprise.
“Well, look at that.”
That was the meaning.
“Leaving so soon?”
The man soon asked, in a politely even tone as if nothing had happened. At the same time, the newly arrived knight neatly blocked Lev’s path.
“Since fate has let us meet, stay a bit longer.”
Unlike the gentle-looking man who feigned benevolence, the knight did nothing to hide the contempt in his eyes.
A knight in front, and the gentle-looking man at his side. It was a perfect checkmate.
“Come now, stay for a moment.”
The man with the gentle face tried to soothe him, taking one of the glasses from the railing and offering it to Lev. The ivory-colored liquor bubbled and shimmered.
Lev did not readily take the glass. So this was what had kept catching his eye earlier, a device to ensnare him.
‘More than that, who knows what they might have put in it.’
As Lev hesitated, the knight in front bumped his shoulder. The impact was hard enough to make a thud, and Lev’s eyes twisted for an instant.
“Oh dear, forgive me!”
With a face that showed no regret at all, the knight apologized, both hands raised.
“It is Alrode Mountain sparkling wine. Only the finest. Please, try it.”
The gentle-faced man once again offered the glass to Lev, with a look that said he had no idea what had just happened.
Swish, swish.
The liquor in the glass wavered precariously. Lev looked down at the glass pressed so close it almost touched him.
A few droplets of the wavering liquor finally splashed onto his clothes and left wet spots. Lev’s eyes wavered for a moment.
Seeing that, the gentle-faced man let out a small, derisive chuckle as if he had been waiting for it. There was no misunderstanding to it. It was plainly deliberate.
“Well, well.”
If this were the original story’s villainous bottom, he would have flared up at once and made a scene and would have diligently shaved down his own reputation by doing so.
Of course, Lev was not the sort to meekly suffer, either. From the covert harassment since coming to the palace to these prodding little tests. Since they seemed determined, it felt about time to show them something from this side too.
“I had been trying to be as quiet and well-behaved as possible, not to cause trouble.”
The consort’s proper role. It was what the Emperor had emphasized again and again. And it surely did not only mean to stay at his side.
Having made up his mind, Lev slowly lifted the half-filled glass. The gentle-faced man looked surprised, then raised his own glass.
“Shall we toast?”
“Of course.”
Smiling as if pleased, the gentle-faced man drank at Lev’s suggestion. Lev looked in turn at the young nobles surrounding him and then drained about half his glass.
“Ugh.”
The aroma was certainly smooth, with a seemingly fruit-sweet scent, but the alcohol was quite strong. It did not seem to be wine.
“Mm… and they called it a fine liquor…”
Lev squinted one eye, set the glass down with a sharp clack, then looked between the gentle-faced man and the knight and added:
“It does not suit my taste. Perhaps the palace has too many excellent things.”
A crooked smile played on Lev’s lips. It was the very sneer the Emperor often showed him.
The knight understood the meaning at once, and his face twisted.
“You vulgar thing, how dare you!”
Suddenly Lev felt a strong force on his shoulder and his body was forcibly turned.
“…!”
Staggering from the sudden force, Lev struck the glass on the terrace with his hand.
With a crack, the thin glass shattered, and the liquor left inside splashed up and soaked the sleeve of Lev’s justaucorps. Lev glared savagely at the other man.
“Do you even realize that is an insult to the Emperor. And you call yourself a member of the Guard.”
“What did you say?”
Lev’s mocking words made the knight’s eyes flare a cold blue. At the same time, someone grabbed his hair in back and yanked his head sharply backward.
“Ah!”
Lev groaned at the dizzying pain. The knight thrust his face close with a grimace and asked in a low voice:
“Where did a cur like you crawl out from?”
“I did not crawl out of anywhere. And I do not believe I need to tell you.”
Lev shot back in plain speech without backing down. He pretended to be calm, but the pain at the back of his head made his voice tremble.
“What? How dare you!”
The grip tightened. Now the pain felt as if his hair would be ripped out. Lev no longer held back. He grabbed the knight’s arm and twisted it.
“Aaargh!”
The knight screamed and snatched his hand away. The arm he had twisted on Lev was reddening.
“You!”
At the same moment as the knight roared, the gentle-faced man lunged from behind and grabbed Lev in a mock embrace.
“Let go!”
Lev twisted his torso to peel off the body clinging to his back. But the gentle-faced man seized even his arms firmly and held tight so he could not get free. The knight sneered and kicked Lev’s right leg.
“Huh…?”
Lev’s body pitched, losing balance. Not missing the chance, the knight hooked the raised leg and lifted it. Having suddenly yielded both upper body and leg, Lev could not hide his dismay.
“I said let go!”
However he twisted, a body once subdued would not easily be freed. With his rough struggling, the buttons of his justaucorps came loose and flapped open.
“Shall we see just what it was about you that made His Majesty fall for you.”
The gentle-faced man holding Lev wore a vile smile and handed the glass in his hand to the knight. That gesture alone told the knight all he needed, and his eyes gleamed as he tilted the glass. Liquor spilled and soaked the front of Lev’s shirt.
“Oh dear. Your clothes are wet. Leave them like that and you will catch a cold. As long as it has come to this, let us have some fun.”
The knight flicked the glass out over the terrace, then reached straight for Lev. He clearly meant to strip him.
Lev, who had not imagined they would go this far, for the first time showed a look of complete discomposure.
“Stop!”
Lev jerked his body to avoid the hand reaching for him. Thanks to that, the knight’s poor grip on his collar slipped off.
“Hold still!”
The knight barked. At this rate, he really might be stripped. Lev bit his lip hard and threw back his arm that had been poorly pinned.
“Aagh!”
The gentle-faced man took Lev’s elbow hard in the solar plexus and, shocked by the sudden blow, stumbled back. Lev seized the moment, shoved the knight hard, and bolted for the door.
“Catch him!”
The gentle-faced man recovered first and shouted. As the knight, at the order, lunged swiftly for Lev…
“You seem to be amusing yourselves.”
A low, chilly voice struck all three pairs of ears at once. The first to turn was the knight.
“Your Majesty!”
The gentle-faced man, looking toward the terrace entrance, saw the Emperor and blanched pale. Guiyen’s gaze passed over the two young nobles and landed squarely on Lev.
His front was damp and his top half half-disheveled, his hair in disarray and his brow beaded with sweat.
For an instant, Guiyen’s eyes sharpened.
“Go on. I am curious what you were in the middle of.”
But the keen look hid itself at once, and in its place Guiyen assumed a face of feigned interest.
He was clearly smiling, so why did it feel so menacing. No one there dared move carelessly, watching the Emperor’s eyes.
Then the gentle-faced man dropped to both knees and cried out in a loud voice:
“Your Majesty! We have done nothing wrong!”
“Nothing wrong?”
Guiyen folded his arms and looked down at the gentle-faced man kneeling on the floor.
“Yes, Your Majesty! That man drank and then suddenly attacked Jérôme.”
No sooner had the gentle-faced man finished speaking than the knight quickly knelt beside him.
“It is true! Your Majesty, that man pretended to be drunk, leaned on me, and groped me!”
“What?”
Lev, suddenly made into a molester, wore a look of outrage. The Emperor’s eyes, turning to his consort, grew even colder.
“What did he do?”
“Right here…”
The knight rubbed his chest, accusing Lev of what he had done. The gentle-faced man quickly nodded, saying his friend spoke the truth.
“That is not so, Your Majesty!”
Lev immediately refuted it. Looking at his own state right now, who could be forcing himself on whom.
But Lev felt that the severe gaze fixed on him was saying it did not trust him. For an instant, he felt a sharp pain as if somewhere had been cut.
Again. Again. Just like when he had barely escaped into the maze garden and then faced the Emperor. The rasping pain scored another mark in Lev.
T/N: So if they knew Guien favors this consort, how did they have the courage to do this during the Emperor’s birthday celebration? I need this story to pick up some sweetness because aarrghh poor Lev T_T
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