…… Is that the only reason you are doing it with me? Because of my face and body?”

“And… because you’re my husband?”

She’s kind of adorable.

But I can’t say this out loud.

The latter answer touched Lyle’s heart more than the first. Rather than saying that anyone with a face and body could enter Medea’s bedroom, it meant that only her husband, Lyle, could embrace her.

“… I call the maid.”

“No, wait! I’ll put on my clothes first.”

Medea cried as she stumbled from her seat, grabbing her clothes from the floor. As she fumbled for her thong and put it on sloppily, Lyle sighed and turned away, trying not to get excited.

“Underwear.… why aren’t you working?”

grumbled Medea, who was tying the strings together on the corset.

Lyle, who couldn’t watch her struggle anymore, came up to her.

“Come here.”

Lyle pulled up the corset, tied the corset’s laces with a better skill than Medea. After helping her put on her dress again, she managed to look more dignified than she did in the nude.

Medea picked up her torn petticoat and hesitated whether to wipe off Lyle’s semen. She grew flustered again.

“If you’re thinking of wiping it, stop; it’s not the Empress’s job. Throw this away, too.”

Lyle bluntly said, snatching away a bundle of clothing that was in Medea’s hands.

Medea couldn’t understand why Lyle was now brusque.

“… What?”

asked Lyle, conscious of Medea’s gaze.

Medea shook her head.

“Nothing.”

It’s none of my business. We aren’t dating—not that I wanted to. But for now, being sexual partners was enough.

His face, body, and personality are good……, and I also have admit it was good sex.

Well, it wasn’t good, but it wasn’t enough to say that it was bad.

‘That’s enough, I guess.’

… Anyway, it seemed that if I gave birth to a child, my life as an Empress would be secure.

Because Lyle, the male protagonist of this novel, was loyal.

‘Then Seira?’

Seira was truly like the main character. According to her character described in the novel, it was clear that she would not even be interested in a married Emperor.

The first time Seira sees the Emperor as a man rather than a monarch, it was only after Lyle first shook Seira.

‘How did the original work begin?’

I was worried about changing the original timeline. Things were already unpredictable enough in this strange world.

The story began around the time Medea died, and her funeral was held. Around that time, Seira’s uncle attempted an attack to take over their territory.

Seira’s brother was very weak, but Seira tried to lure the pursuers by changing clothes with him to protect him.

However, Seira’s brother is murdered while wearing Seira’s clothes, and Seira decides to pretend to be her brother, Ian. Seira planned to hold out until her second youngest brother, Nicole, reached adulthood so that they wouldn’t lose their land to their uncle.

‘But now I am Empress now.’

It was late autumn when the incident broke out, and now it was at the end of summer and the beginning of autumn. It was said that nothing had happened yet. It wasn’t because I really wanted to take it, but……. If Seira’s brother is saved and kept alive and Medea could protect them, wouldn’t it be compensation for taking Lyle away from Seira?

In addition, if I appointed Seira, who is skilled in swordsmanship, as my escort knight, I would be able to support Seira’s dream to be a knight.

There will be overenthusiastic writers who try to kick, interfere, sexually harass, and rape a woman for daring to be a knight.

‘Wouldn’t it be better to have her dress up as a man? It seems that the uncle’s child is still trying to murder Ian……. It would be better if Seira came to the capital pretending to be Ian. Ian pretends to be Seira and manages the estate.’

If Ian left in the manor and took care of his younger brother Nicole, the original work would not be damaged, and Seira would become a knight according to the storyline of the novel.

“What are you thinking about?”

As soon as he finished putting her clothes on, Lyle harshly asked Medea, who was lost in thought and did not even look at her husband who was in front of her.

Medea raised her head and looked at Lyle with distant eyes and asked,

“I want to go on a retreat. Where’s the Siloere province?”

***

Naturally, Lyle immediately refused.

Now that the summer was almost over, it wasn’t a good time to travel, and during the harvest season was when taxes were due.

The Emperor said that he should be guarding the capital.

‘Couldn’t I go alone?’

When Medea asked, only Lyle’s unpleasant gaze responded.

Medea returned to the Empress’ Palace, surrounded by maids, while Lyle returned to his bedroom of the Emperor’s Palace to change his clothes.

Medea’s request to go on a recuperation trip circled in his ears.

‘I want to go on a recuperation retreat, I’d like to take a rest.’

‘You want to go on a trip alone? Leave me—the Emperor?’

While continuing to deny the feelings that fill my heart, Medea’s words were unpleasant—no, it was beyond simple displeasure—they filled me with anger.

It sounded as if she wanted to leave me in the capital and run away. And although Medea didn’t express that nor did it seem like she meant it that way, knowing my own struggles of trying to keep my feelings hidden and cold I couldn’t help but wonder if this wasn’t also her intention.

I knew why I kept getting angry, why I couldn’t get away from what Medea said—it was me, Lyle—himself.

But Lyle still wanted to deny it, so he was upset without understanding Medea’s thoughts and unable to stop speculating about them.

***