#568. you promised
Iâd rather lie to myself
use it at will.
may be restrained
It doesnât help.
Even if it feels like a hindrance sometimes.
A bird can rest to its heartâs content in such a cage.
But a bird that can already fly freely doesnât need a balloon, and a doll that has no will of its own is just a hindrance.
An absolute being who has lived a long time.
Even if you could do anything.
As a sword master who has remained the protector of mankind up until now.
Hasneti, who was staring at Limon, who spoke calmly, opened his mouth quietly.
âIs that the qualification you were talking about?â
âNot some of them.â
âRight.â
Hasneti agreed.
Although Limon also has desires.
Why do you keep a bystander stance?
whether to remain as the guardian of the world.
And why did he ask to prove his qualifications if he wanted to become his bride?
Above all, what was the reason for accepting it without getting angry even though he was being ridiculed by himself?
Because I felt like I could now understand everything that I had only accepted before but couldnât understand.
âIs it your wish that I decide the treatment of my subjects?â
âBecause this is the country of the pharaohs.â
âWhat if I make the wrong decision?â
âRelax. At least I donât intend to make Pharaoh alone bear the responsibility.â
ââ¦â
The militaryâs job is to believe that the master will make the right decision, and the role of the concubine is to take responsibility together.
If it turns out that Hasnetiâs decision was wrong, heâll help to sort it out.
A calmer, more calming answer.
A deeper gaze for stillness.
So she felt
Itâs heavy for trust.
Scary to expect.
Seeing the various emotions in his golden eyes, Hasneti closed his eyes.
Iâd rather this be a test.
could have been patiently accepted.
But he understood that Limon wouldnât interfere, not to test himself.
She couldnât help but be nervous.
ânervous?â
heavy shoulders.
throbbing heart.
Not to mention any wars youâve been through all your life.
A feeling I had never felt even in a fight with Rose or Joan of Arc.
ââ¦is it.â
What is this feeling that is too reluctant and anxious to be called tension?
Hasneti quickly realized.
Because this was the familiar feeling that had visited her whenever she thought she might lose him.
âIs it so scary that I must make the right decision?â
She is the Red Dragon Princess.
to seek only power.
Even if he made a wrong decision, he was a tyrant who overturned it with force and considered it lacking in strength if he failed.
but this moment.
She was feeling the pressure ahead of a problem that could never be solved by force alone and that could not be undone once a mistake was made.
That his choice might disappoint Limon.
And the thought that he would share the responsibility instead made my heart tremble.
Enough to want to run away from this choice.
Butâ¦
ââ¦and youâve always made this choice.â
He is an absolute being who can do anything.
Because you can change the fate of the world.
He is the last sword master who has protected the world for hundreds of years even though he is always forced to make a choice that must never be wrong.
protector of mankind.
How heavy and frightening was the title, which he thought was only a bondage.
Hasneti, who had finally come to know the truth, opened her closed eyes and looked straight at Limon with bloody eyes.
I donât know if anyone else
Because I could never show him giving up his choice and running away.
Therefore, Hasneti, who had been silently thinking, opened her mouth only after a long time had passed.
âdecided.â
âWhat are you going to do?â
âTo those who wish for freedom, I will give them wings as they please.â
âHmm⦠is that so?â
As if a little unexpected.
Limon nodded.
she could tell
That her decision, while not wrong enough to cross his line, would not be good enough to prove her qualifications to him.
But I knew that fact from the beginning.
she continued.
âFor those who need cages instead, we will put them in cages even if they donât want to.â
ââ¦?â
right after that.
Hasneti saw it.
One time as if I didnât understand.
As you might suspect, once.
Surprisingly, once again.
It was only after Limon blinked three times that he understood what he meant and put on a very grotesque expression.
ââ¦Iâm serious. Pharaoh?â
âokay.â
âIt must be a very difficult road?â
âI was determined.â
Until a little while ago, I put a distance that I wouldnât intervene in the choice.
Hasneti said unwaveringly to Limon, who seemed hesitant to change his mind now.
âI can afford this much if I can make your wishes come true.â
More restraint than freedom.
If you want a cage, Iâll give it to you.
Instead, its own cage is harder and heavier than any other cage, and one day the bird will not be able to escape even if it wants to escape.
Of course, it will take a lot of effort, and you will have to make more difficult choices in the future.
Still, Hasneti did not hesitate.
Becauseâ¦
âThis is the path you have already walked and I must walk.â
Even if the road is difficult and rugged, I can walk as long as I want to be with him.
Like a red dragon princess who never avoids a fight.
However, at the end of being silent while watching her make a decision that was so unbecoming of a red dragon princess.
âunder.â
with a light laugh.
Limon laughed.
no i was laughing
âHa ha ha ha ha!â
I never imagined that she would give such an answer.
As if he was hit by a glove protruding from the cake, he was dumbfounded, so he hoped for a cooler laugh.
At the end of holding the belly button and laughing.
Limon looked at Hasneti, wiping away tears.
âAlthough I said I would take responsibility, isnât the strong sale a bit too much?â
âIt doesnât matter if you donât acknowledge me. Still, I will grant your wishes.â
âThatâs called hard selling, Pharaoh.â
Itâs like I canât stop.
Shake your head for a while.
Limon put his hand in his bosom.
And put a small object on the edge of the bathtub.
âPharaoh, do you know what this is?â
ââ¦Is it a new piece?â
âI heard that the one I gave you before was burned this time. Itâs a bit different to say instead, but I made it similar for now.â
I always carried it in my arms.
While absorbing the energy of the nuclear fusion reactor this time, it was burnt after bearing the heat instead.
To her staring blankly at the golden bird statue that resembles the first wooden bird sculpture she received from Limon.
he said.
âAt the same time, it is the thousandth piece I give to Pharaoh.â
ââ¦â
âYou know what that means?â
ââ¦know.â
What I made while staying at the royal palace.
Something secretly made in the garrison.
It was made to spread the gold rush of the eight gates of the stone bottle.
And even what I made in this large public bath in the past few days.
Recalling the 999 pieces he has carved for himself one by one.
Hasneti said.
âThat means you are no longer my concubine.â
âAre you sorry?â
ââ¦No, it doesnât matter.â
If she had been afraid of losing him before, she might have been agitated and tried to deny it somehow.
But because Iâve already made up my mind.
Compete with other princesses.
Even if it is defeated and taken away again.
Instead, the princess decided to prove her qualifications by facing the challenge head-on.
âBecause Iâve already decided to fight.â
âI guess so.â
Of course he seemed to know that.
Limon smiled and picked up the bird piece again.
âThen take it here.â
It seems like heâs definitely going to end the contract.
Hasneti silently approached Limon, who sat down on the edge of the bathtub and handed out a piece of bird himself.
The moment she reached out in front of him as if she was half-swimming through the baths still emitting hot steam, she reached out her hand.
Mouth open suddenly.
âBy the way, Pharaoh. Arenât you forgetting something?ân/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
ââ¦?â
what have you forgotten
With a cold face as always.
However, Limon did not bother to explain to Hasneti, who looked up at him with obvious doubt.
instead of suffocating
After grabbing her wrist.
I just tugged at it and bent my back.
When Hasnetiâs eyes widen at the unexpected and unavoidable action.
Iâm going to go to the middle of the day.
The two lips overlapped.
He didnât really stick his tongue in, and he didnât even breathe out or suck it in.
Quiet.
soft.
light.
Thatâs why, despite having tried dozens of times, she was still hardened by the rather unfamiliar feeling, and finally opened her mouth after he slightly parted her lips.
âwhy?â
In her ear, who could not hide her embarrassment.
he whispered.
âYou promised. If you win the war, I will give you a âprizeâ.â
ââ¦I havenât qualified yet.â
âFor my bride, yes.â
Hasneti is just now standing on the starting line.
Itâs a bit too early to say that Iâve proven my qualifications, as long as I canât show that the choice is right.
Danâ¦
âBut the fact that this is the thousandth piece means that I am still the Pharaohâs concubine until he gives it to me.â
ââ¦â
âI thought it would be okay to give you a reward for your hard work, or even if you look at that resolution, at least one last time.â
ââ¦â
âSo Pharaoh.â
slowly.
Limon raised his hand.
After that, he put the new piece he was holding down next to him again.
said a little bit sarcastically.
âIs this a secret?â
Even as mischievous as a bad boy.
Looking at that strange smile that made my throat dry up.
Hasneti thought.
that you have to refuse
This is both temptation and poison.
Itâs so sweet that in the future, no matter how hard it is, it will make me not give up my qualifications as a bride.
Best encouragement.
At the same time as a reward for victory.
That it was revenge for fooling him all along.
Because I could understand it instinctively.
But I know it in my head.
its covert.
hot whispers.
Above all, the orders given by the master.
Because I could never deny it.
The slave of love, who had already been deprived of both his heart and life, swallowed dryly as he looked at his master who had allowed him to serve.
* * *
âAinsha, how are you and your brother?â
[â¦I want to know why you ask such an obvious thing.]
âI havenât been able to meet you since the last meeting of the seven dragons. I donât even get in touch often.â
[This is my job. I donât care. Also turn off the wiretapping device.]
âYou donât know because you wiretap, you know because you planted a spy?â
[Anyway, itâs none of Yekathriceâs business. More than anything, I love you. There is no such thing as neglecting a relationship just because you canât meet for a while.]
âWell, can I be relieved like that?â
[Iâd like to know what that means.]
âEven if I donât lose my relationship with you, I donât know if Iâll have a strong relationship with Hasneti again.â
[This is nonsense. That Hasneti. Itâs obvious that he was only interested in the war.]
âHmm, is that so? No matter how hard it is, Hasnetiâs personality isnât easy enough to allow his heart to the opponent, even if itâs an older brother.â
Among the seven princesses, she is the most cold-hearted warmonger.
Recalling the tyrant who had no interest in men, let alone dating, Ekatriche could only nod her head like that.