1st Kiss Was Intentional - Chapter 9

A guard, he says. Carolyn Reilly did try to take me down, and there’s no law against this happening again.

Previously, it was okay to live in secret if I acted like I was dead, but since I have showed my presence openly today, I don’t know what will happen. There’s no guarantee that none of the other concubines will be different than Carolyn.

Well, I’d be relieved to have a strong guard like him, but I think the risk is too high. I’m a little worried about being alone with a man out in a remote castle.

Oh, what should I do? It’s either all or nothing.

“I can’t?”

Maybe he has noticed my internal conflict, and in a blink of an eye, Mar appears in front of me, staring me down with his jewel-like red eyes.

When I look up at him reflexively, I stutter like a mess. “Yes, but I still don’t trust you completely. To be honest, we’ve barely met before, and if you want to stay here, you have to listen to me, but you’re not even a servant. Your name sounds like an aristocrat from another country. Wouldn’t it be uncomfortable for you to listen to my orders, the last concubine? So…”

I hesitate and hesitate, and Mar, who’s listening to me without saying anything, suddenly disappeared from my gaze. Where’d he gone? Surprised, I open my eyes widely, and before I knew it, Mar, who’s on his knees, looks up at me and says calmly.

“I’ll listen to you.”

“Uh, eh?”

“I’ll listen to whatever you say. Can we live together, then?”

Oh, he’s really handsome when he smiles, so much that it makes me speechless. Mar looks like he’s carved by a genius sculptor. Moreover, his fantastic silver hair and red eye bloom beautifully, combine with that gentle smile, they were enough to make me agree like a possessed person.

If you listen to me, then I’ll be fine. Besides, he’s the benefactor who saved my life.

She rationalizes to herself.

—Never, never fall for that handsome face!

In fact, Mar saved me from a crisis, and because he was smart, he was able to trick Carolyn into perjure herself. He might be useful in many ways. Then won’t he be perfect as a guard? Besides, I don’t have to pay him, so it doesn’t cost me any money! Of course, his physical appearance has a little affect on me, but—

I swallow a lump in my throat, then ask to confirm. “Will you really listen to me?”

A couple of distinct nods were given by Mar. I hold out my right hand for a confirmation. Mar rolls his eyes, as if asking me what I am doing.

“Hand!”

It sounds like dog training, but I have to make sure he’ll really be obedient. This is my life at stake.

Don’t tell me you’re too embarrassed to do it? I look at him with a mixed of suspicion. Then Mar put a hand on my palm.

So cute!

Mar looks up at me with his eyes shining brightly, and in that moment, I almost have a nosebleed. I then pat him on the head with a big smile.

“Well done.” While looking up at my patting hands, Mar has an unreadable expression, but it doesn’t seem like he’s unhappy. It seems he’s now my live in guard. “You can stay in the guest room from now on. There are several downstairs, so you can choose any room you like. I work in the city of Ahol every morning, so you can get up then. See you in the morning?”

I indulge myself once more by running my hand through his silky hair.

He’s taller and bigger than I am, but seeing a handsome man bending his knees in front of me and listening to me quietly make me treat him like a cute puppy without realizing it.

Mar blinks. His long eyelashes flutters as he leans into the touch. Then I send him out contentedly, finally accepting that I now have a live in guard who will help me in my everyday life.

I quickly pull off my fancy dress, wash it, and go to bed with pride.

While lying in bed, I make up my mind again as I look back on the events from today.

I was really spared.

From now on, I’ll never be seen and will live quietly!

–

The emperor’s bedroom is not only vast, but also colorful like that of a jewel. The silver-haired man sitting in the golden chair took off his veil. The fresh green-colored eyes, which had been hiding behind the veil, are revealed. “I am pleased to meet you, Your Majesty the Great.”

With polite greetings, the green-colored eyes man turns to a man of vivid silver-haired, red-eyed man, who appears in the bedroom without a sound like a shadow. “Are you here?”

He hurries up from his seat and bows politely.

The man, who naturally sits on the golden chair with his head raised, dresses in a plain, black uniform that does not match the fancy room. However, it rather highlights the fine silver hair and vivid red eyes, which seem to stand out.

In the end, who is the emperor?

If anyone has been here, they would have been astonished to see a silver-haired man dressed in fancy clothes bending over, using the extreme honorific title to a silver-haired man in an ordinary position. Apparently, the man who has just been wearing a veil on his face was called the God of War, the emperor of blood, who sits on the highest position in the land.

“That, my friend.”

“Oh yes, your majesty. I’m sorry. What happened today was so sudden that I was busy taking care of it.”

With a blank expression on his beautiful face, the man, who was previously called the emperor, generously apologizes and puts his hand on his head. Then he pulls the silver wig off his head and the black hair appears. Only then is there only one the silver haired emperor in the room. Marquez, the only emperor of the Harron Empire, looks indifferently at the silver wig on the table.

“Give me your report.”

“Yes, your majesty.” Jamie Genovia, the emperor’s only servant, finishes reporting as usual in a quiet voice even under the harsh stare of the stoic emperor. From Jamie’s mouth came everything he saw, heard and said today as an emperor’s stand in. The report’s concise and pointed out all the key points.

Jamie Genovia was a former prince of the kingdom who lost the war against the Harron Empire.

He was different from other royal families who rushed to surrender when the kingdoms that were on the verge of surrendering after being occupied. Marquez felt that Jaime, who was trying to fight till the death, would be useful so he brought him here and made him his stand in. If he performs well, and the Harron Empire’s able to unify the continent, Jamie’s country will gain independence. That was their condition.

Luckily, Jamie’s a quick learner.

Marquez, the emperor of the Harron Empire, who sweeps the battlefield like a blood maniac. Though he’s like a cruel God of War from the rumors, he does not enjoy wielding his power as an emperor.

Although Jamie has covered his face with a silver wig just like his, he allows Jamie to enjoy all the rights as well as his imperial duties as an emperor. The only time he exercises his own right as the Emperor of the Harron Empire is when he goes to war to paint in the blood of his enemies.

It’s not a bad deal for Jamie, the prince of the defeated country, so he has been serving as emperor Marquez for nearly eight years. “Princess Yuri Sina or Princess of Perilland — as I said, is suspicious. When she came close to me and greeted me, I could smell the scent of Astra. If I hadn’t taken my meds in advance or if its scent was stronger, I would have been possessed.”

Astra.

It was the flower that caused numerous casualties when Perilland fought against the Harron Empire.

Fermentation of the petals and stems of the flower creates a fascinating fragrance. When the scent is mixed with the smell of the woman’s flesh, if a woman even breathes the scent of Astra at a close distance, the men will lose their minds and be possessed.

Perilland used Astra to raise female assassins, and foolish soldiers were lured away and killed countless times.

Only the mentally strong can withstand it, such as those like Marquez, who are used to the smell of blood rather than perfume.

“But her aroma was so weak that she could not be charged with treason. I’m sure that she has prepared it for your majesty.”

“Watch closely. The scattered morale of the Perilland can be instantly destroy if the princess is executed. Once the princess uses a highly enriched Astra, charge her with treason on the spot.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Jamie then bows his head and thinks of her, the 31st concubine, or Princess Yuri Sina of Perilland, whom up close, was dazzlingly beautiful. In addition, she became a princess of a defeated country, and he sympathizes at the similarity in their circumstances. If not for the subtle aroma of Astra from her, she was still a dazzling beauty that can attract even the undead.

The irresistible attraction that might have been possessed because of her weak Astra. He felt a strange, and an unaccustomed sensation comes about for the first time in his life. If his thoughts are to be found, he will die on the spot so Jamie hides them at once.

“Oh, by the way, Your Majesty. I have one more thing to tell you.”

Jamie, like a faithful servant, recalls another suspicious thing he had stumbled upon. He gets up from his seat and catches emperor Marquez, who’s about to disappear like a shadow.

Marquez looks back.

“The 30th concubine, Lydia Odette, may I ask why you called her?”

The emperor left everything entirely to himself as a stand-in, but yesterday, the emperor invited her to the party on his own. He even sent out invitations with the seal of an emperor that he didn’t own. He had not said about it, which made Jamie curious about it.

The emperor, Marquez answers coldly. “Why do you ask that?”

“She smelled like Astra, too. I’m asking if she has anything to say about it because she seemed to have a dangerous drug in the Imperial City.”

Half of it is because of curiosity, and half is true. She’s the first woman the emperor has ever shown interest in other than war.

Lydia Odette, the last person to give the greeting, smelled more like Astra than Yuri Sina did. Because of that, he was so fascinated by her that he almost held her back.

Marquez then approaches Jamie, who spoke carefully. The green-colored eyes of a loyal servant lower as he pretends to be calm.