At first he vaguely assumed that Oliver must have the personality of a young boy since he was a young boy, but after meeting him a few times, Shed understood. Oliver’s manner of speaking, and his personality itself was like an old man.
“You are right.”
“Right?”
“But the Princess who seems so eager to see me has not shown her face for days.”
Oliver blinked, recording.
“It can’t be helped. Because in the Delo Empire, the New Year’s Banquet is as important as the founding of the country. The Princess is always busy taking care of all the preparations.”
“Does she sleep……?”
Oliver chuckled.
“Are you worried about her?”
“Am I worried?”
Yes, as a slave, of course Shed was worried about his master.
He could give Oliver this answer without changing a single expression on his face. It was both an appropriate and a suitable answer.
Shed looked at Oliver softly and said.
“Yes.”
“…….”
“If possible, I want to bring her here, sit her down in front of me, and watch her.”
The problem was that he couldn’t do that.
Oliver blinked and scratched his chin lightly.
“You’re not just an aggressive man….”
Shed lifted his eyebrows.
But Oliver’s words were sincere. This imperial bedroom slave, a man sometimes called a doll, was really perfect in every way.
Many people would fall in love with him based on his appearance alone.
He wished the Princess were here, Oliver thought. Because love heals a lot more pain than you think.
Of course, it was only Oliver’s hope.
“Didn’t you get invited to the New Year’s party?” (Shed)
“You meant you want me to go see how the Princess was doing?” (Oliver)
Shed did not answer. But Oliver just smiled.
“But for me, the Princess’s orders are more important.” (Oliver)
“What orders?”
“She asked me to be your companion because you’re alone on New Year’s. She also asked me to find out what you used to do on New Year’s to have fun before you became a slave and asked me to hang out with you more……” (Oliver)
Shed gasped at the words Oliver said. What in the world is this Princess?
“What did you do on New Year’s?” (Oliver)
Didn’t the Princess think that she should just take care of herself when she had time for such consideration?
Is there any idea that in a time of such consideration, one must just think of one’s own sleep first? Shed slowly regained his thoughts after Oliver repeated the question several times. He was reminded of what Raha had said about being kind to this young Imperial doctor.
“I didn’t do much.”
Shed looked out the window. It was snowing.
“After the New Year’s party, I just came home and watched the snow fall.”
“So it’s no different than it is now.”
“Yes, it’s no different.”
It was really no different.
Except for the fact that he now waits all day for someone. Shed looked out the snowy window and down at the treasured sword on the table.
The other day, Raha gave him a present while smiling brightly.
It was that sword on that snowy day.
* * *
Raha’s attendants were in the middle of sorting through their blue jeweled accessories when they raised their heads. There was quite a lot of snow falling.
The location of Raha’s palace and the main palace with its grand banquet hall were not far apart. First of all, the size of the main palace was so overwhelming that some of its gorgeous light was visible from here. The light from the thousands of crystal lamps was magnificent.
They wondered if the Princess would be coming in late again today.
She had been busy with work recently. For years, however, she has been quite busy because she has been taking on the work that should have been done by the empress all by herself.
Raha did not care whether she was busy or not at that time. She was too tired to be happy when she came back to the palace, other than to sleep. On the other hand, the only person who knew that she did not want to work “for Karzen” was Oliver.
The maids did not know much about these circumstances, but there was certainly one thing that was different now than before.
The maids could not freely enter the inner palace. Moreover, neither their master nor the slave was talkative.
But that did not mean that either the masters or their slaves were of a nagging nature.
However, the maids who had been taking care of Raha’s body could tell the difference.
She had a dazzling naked body, thanks to all the care of the maids
her natural beauty, but that was all. Before, her body was stiff with tension. That noble princess even breathed extremely little, recently had changed.
Like an animal not yet cowering, the attendants who took care of Raha’s baths were sometimes speechless.
Because it was clearly shown on her body.The seemingly cowering Princess was actually a hidden beast.
“Princess?”
At that moment, a familiar servant suddenly entered.
Seeing the servant, the maids rushed to Raha.
“I’m running late.”
Raha immediately took off the heavy ruby earrings on her ears and walked to the bathroom. The maids hurried to follow.
Today was the New Year’s banquet, so the attendants put a great deal of effort into dressing her up. The long hair was artfully braided, and the net-like headdress, was covered with at least 50 diamonds, was so complex that it took two maids to remove it.
Raha blinked quietly while the servants stripped herself off. Perhaps because of the sheer scale of the event, the New Year’s banquet was much more exhausting than the other banquets.
It lasted three days, and she had to show up tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.
But it was unfortunate that she only had to attend for a short while tomorrow night. But the day after tomorrow she had to attend all day again……
‘I have to dance again.’
The nobles of the Empire did not dance well with the Princess because they were conscious of Karzen.
She would have been grateful for a situation in which she had to look out for the interests of those in power, because she hoped that no one would have known about the subtle possessiveness that Karzen showed toward herself.
However, many delegations attending the New Year’s party always tried to dance with the royal family as a courtesy to the visitors. And Raha, of all people, was the only female member of the royal family in this huge empire.
More precisely, the only member of the royal family who could show up at social functions.
She really had to do a lot of dancing today. So her ears were very sore, more than in other places. She had to wear a pair of earrings made of pure gold with big rubies dangling from them, and at the end she felt like her earlobes were ripped open.
“Please return those earrings to the main palace tomorrow immediately.”
“Yes, Your Imperial Highness. I will send them immediately.”
Karzen sent another set of jewelry today. Wasn’t he aware that Raha had to dance all day today? Couldn’t he think of something more delicate because he was a man who always killed people?
How many times did they already have this New Year’s banquet that he did not know such large earrings could kill people?
Perhaps it was because her ears were sore, but the anger that she normally suppressed raised to the end of her throat.
“You’ll be alright if you put this on, Princess.”
Raha sat in the tub with a cold hand towel over her aching ears. How many people did she dance today? 30? 40?
Raha remembered Shed for a moment when the maids brushed her hair down. But she was going to sleep in her inner palace tonight. The thought of him whom she hadn’t seen for a long time made her feel relieved slowly. The scent of bath salts in the bathtub was sweet.
“…….”
Raha slowly closed her eyes and eventually fell asleep. Then she opened her eyes in astonishment. She was still in the tub. The water was as hot as the first soak, but if Raha continued to sleep in the tub, the maids might have continued to mix the water.
“What time is it?”
“It hasn’t been long.”
“Really……?”
“Yes, Your Royal Highness. I will wipe you down right away.”
“Okay……”
It was fortunate. The tension was released from her tense body. Her body was dried and her hair was brushed. With her half-dried hair, she put a thick shawl over her head and headed for the inner palace.
Not too late, the attendants said, but it was already well past midnight, because when she came back down the banquet it was already late.
It would be nice to sleep in, or just look at Shed’s face if he was asleep.
Still, Raha hoped that he would be awake.
With that thought, she walked down the long corridor of the inner palace a little faster. However, she thought she would wake Shed, so she stopped running and started walking slowly.
She opened the door and entered, calming her breathing. The fire was almost out and only two round crystal lights illuminate the window.
As she approached, she felt a slight breeze of cold wind at the window.
A familiar back figure was seen near that cool spot, staring out the window. Snowflakes were falling incessantly through the windowpane. The silver hair shone in the faint light and Raha’s was drawn to the figure helplessly.
It was not her intention. Shed slowly turned his head toward her as Raha gazed at the back of his head in a daze.
“…….”
Shed’s blue-gray eyes shook faintly. Strangely, Raha choked for a moment. She herself could not explain or guess why, immediately. Perhaps it was because she was running earlier.
But it was Shed who was faster to call her name.
“Raha?”
Raha looked up at the large man who came up to her at an amazing speed.
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Shed looked a little puzzled, and then reached out to her cheek.