1st Kiss Was Intentional - Chapter 5

“I’ve been summoned by the great king. As your majesty’s 31st concubine, I will do my best not to embarrass Ferilland.”

‘Wow, she’s so cool!’

Yuri Sina comes as a prisoner but is not daunted by that fact at all. Although her kingdom has already been defeated and incorporated into the empire, she’s not embarrassed by it, and instead shows her resilience spirit when she says its name.

‘Should I at least get an autograph before she becomes the Empress?’

Perhaps the emperor has already fallen in love with that graceful, imposing figure at first sight!

“I heard that this is a celebratory party for the triumph of the empire, as well as welcoming the princess into the palace. Is it possible that your majesty has any particular interest in her?”

“Oh, is that so?”

I look forward with curiosity and a bit of envy like the others around me.

‘All right, I’m sure the emperor will choose  Yuri Sina at this point!’

Nearly 500 people are glued to the emperor in stifling anticipation. Yuri Sina approaches the emperor’s right shoulder and gives him a kiss in a manner that only concubines could do. Even though it is customary to do so, it’s also an act of trust that she is showing him. Her action says that her heart is close to the emperor, a husband, and a soldier, and at the same time she vows her loyalty to him.

In addition, usually the empress will kiss the emperor’s forehead in a more intimate position, so soon enough, Yuri Sina will kiss the emperor’s forehead, and not his shoulders.

After she finishes, Yuri Sina steps back and stands elegantly in place.

The emperor slowly raises one hand after receiving the attention of the audience, which is filled with envy, anticipation, and prying eyes. They are all wondering what his reaction will be. Yuri Sina, who’s also curious and nervous about the emperor’s actions, looks at the podium with unsure eyes.

At the emperor’s command, Geppetto, the Imperial Chief, quickly goes up the steps. He comes closer to the emperor and bows down. After the emperor ordered something from behind the veil, Geppetto then approaches Yuri Sina and says something.

‘Oooh, does that mean he wants her to come closer? What did Geppetto say to Yuri Sina?’

‘Ah, I wonder!’

“Thank you for your grace, your majesty.”

‘Huh?’

Surprisingly however, Yuri Sina, who heard Geppetto’s whisper, bows her head politely, still wearing a calm, beautiful smile. Then she grabs her dress and walks down the high platform with graceful steps.

‘It’s not possible! There was nothing eventful at all! What is this?’

‘I need to see that the emperor has a heart for Yuri Sina here. Aren’t you supposed to be a candidate for the Empress instead of being the 31st concubine because he fell in love at first sight? Is it the next day, and not today? Did I get confused for a second?’

All the people’s eyes are on Yuri Sina’s graceful figure, which has left me confused. The official greetings with the emperor ends and the dance begins as the orchestra starts playing.

Then suddenly, it stops.

The dissonance of playing the wrong instrument rings out— and the people who were moving in pairs look at Geppetto, wondering what’s going on. He then straightens his back and utters loudly. “There’s still someone who hasn’t said hello yet!”

The crowd roars. Already all famous aristocrats have stood before the emperor, and today’s hero Yuri Sina gave her greetings as the last person.

Everyone’s eyes seem to be asking who was left.

I also look around with a curious face.

‘Who are you? Come out!’

As if Geppetto could not find the last person, he looks around several times before quickly instructing the drivers. Several drivers begin to run across the hall, as if a servant in charge of entry and exit had informed them of the description of the missing person.

As I focus my attention at the busy scene in front of me, I’m shocked by the fact that things did not go away as the novel says.

Then suddenly, a realization dawns on me.

“Let’s go.”

‘…What?’

A couple of knights stop in front of me, and at the same time, the loud voice of Geppetto, like that of a train, echoes throughout the hall. “Thirtieth concubine, Lydia Odette! Come on and say hello to his majesty!”

The people who filled the vast hall look at me like a bunch of surprised meerkats.

My mouth drops opened as my eyes widen with surprise to the situation at hand. It’s also seen that the red-haired concubine, who tried to sit down, hardens like ice on the spot.

But the most surprised out of all them is definitely me.

‘What, me?!’

I feel like my soul has left my body as I shudder and raise my index finger to point at myself. I wonder if my ears heard wrong. Despite my earnest question, the knights nod with a blank expression. Only then do I wake up like cold water has splashed my face.

I am now being sought out by the emperor.

If I don’t follow orders right now, I might die by trying to deceive the emperor! I jump up from my seat in a flustered manner and tense from all the glares coming my way.

Climbing a high platform across the hall feels like climbing a golden path. There’s a silence so still that if a needle falls, I will hear it. Countless people stare at every move I made, and it’s suffocating.

‘Let’s calm down. Even if I’m bitten by a tiger, I can still live if I have my head on straight!’

I desperately hide my trembling legs. Then I slip once on the stairs and almost again, but fortunately I arrive safely to the top, breathing a sigh of relief. Carefully I raise my head.

The emperor, positioned on the huge, glittering golden left, sit in an unwavering, delegated position.

‘Let’s be clear. I haven’t done anything wrong yet. I won’t do anything wrong so nothing’s going to happen!’

I convince myself to move my legs mechanically and position myself in front of him, even though I wanted to turn around and run away instead.

‘Right, the emperor sent me an invitation, so he must be wondering who I am.’

Even the last concubine is still a wife! Yuri Sina and the red hair concubine have already done their greeting. What can I not do again?

As I stand before the emperor, I quickly recall how the red-haired concubine and  Yuri Sina greeted earlier.

A silver-haired man with an opaque veil gaze at me.

‘Ugh, my heart’s about to pop out!’

“Lady Odette, please be respectful to the emperor.” The Imperial Chief, Geppetto, secretly urges me sternly.

‘Alright, I got it. You’re making me nervous for no reason!’

I shiver inwardly, pretending to be indifferent, and move forward with faltering steps. “Greetings to the Great Emperor. I am the 30th concubine, Lydia Odette, your majesty.”

Though I stuttered a little, I finish my greeting properly. Then I grab the hem of my dress and bend forward. I tell myself to stay calm, but the fact that I am in such close contact with the war-mad emperor keeps coming to my mind.

A cold sweat run down my back.

‘I’m going crazy! Just standing here feels like my life is going to end! The emperor’s wearing a veil, but I could feel that he’s staring at me.’

I could not put my eyes on the emperor’s face because I could feel his hot gaze touching my face. With my eyes closed tightly, I turn my head in a hurry to kiss the emperor’s right shoulder, bringing up a slender trembling hand on his left shoulder.

‘Well, let’s get this over with and leave!’

But why is it like this?! My hands get mixed up when I go to kiss him. The hand that I thought was on a hard shoulder brushes against the soft veil instead. I immediately press my lips to his right shoulder and release, accidentally getting the veil tangled in my hand and manage to lower it.

“…!”

A silent shock breaks out.

‘You, you, you are crazy!’

“Lady Odette?”

Geppetto, who’s behind me, calls me in a wonderfully low voice, but in my head, I hear, “I’m dead now! Dead!” ringing like a chorus.

The rumors of the emperor’s character are beyond words. They spread far and wide that even though I live in the corner of the Imperial Palace, I can still hear them.

Some are about how the emperor is young, but he is cruel and eccentric because he spent his entire life rolling on the battlefield. Even a ridiculously small mistake by a servant can get his head cut off right away.

Therefore, the emperor’s care is provided exclusively by one servant who has been with him since childhood.

But I took off the veil of such a cruel emperor••••

I’ve been struggling by myself for three years to ensure that I wouldn’t bother the heroine, and now, I’ve walked into the guillotine with my own feet!

‘God is so indifferent!’

Quickly, let’s throw myself on the floor and say, “I have committed a deathly sin!” to prolong my life a little bit, but I couldn’t. I have turned stiffed and nervous.

In the meantime, the veil, which has been gently swept down, lowers down to the bottom of his eyebrows, and catches on his nose. I then make eye contact with the emperor.

Jade, green eyes stare at me.

The emperor’s eyes, which I thought would be as fierce as blood dripping, are clean and cool, and surprisingly even gentle. I don’t think there are any murderous intent behind them.

Though if I have seen him outside because he looks so ordinary, I would probably mistake him as a fellow servant who brought me daily necessities once a month.

Is this person, really, the protagonist of those terrible rumors?

I unintentionally stand there staring at him.

Those green eyes silently look at me then raise their hand to push me slightly.

“Ah!”

‘Hyuk, I must be crazy! What have I done?’

Only then did I return to reality and quickly step back.

At the same time, I begin to think of the terrible future where my neck is hanging on the guillotine, and it trembles like a cedar.

The emperor wears the veil again in a blink of an eye.

“Your majesty, I have sinned to death!”

Geppetto, who’s been behind me the entire time, is puzzled as if he has not noticed anything.

I quickly try to kneel on the floor and plead with a voice of a nervous, rattling goat.

Just then, the emperor touches me slightly and stops my action.

As if a red light comes on, I immediately stop moving. It’s because I instinctively realize that I can survive by obeying the emperor’s words without knowing what he meant.

Thanks to that, I stand there in a ridiculous position with my knees and waist half bent.

‘What’s going on? Does he want a sword to be brought to him right now?’

Geppetto, who is so astute that I don’t doubt how he got to the position in the Imperial Palace, approaches, and whispers to me in a stern voice. “Lady Odette, let’s go down now.”

‘No, this old man! Can’t you see that I’m about to be sentenced? How can you tell me to go down…?’

However, even though I smile at the emperor like crazy with trembling lips, he asks with a curious look, “What’s wrong with you?”

Then he whispers, as if he’s scolding a child who knows nothing, “It’s rude to keep doing this.”