Eaten By The Tyrant I Raised - Chapter 23

“Cough.”

Ronée had only gotten little sleep after staying up late. To add to this, she had also caught a cold.

“Does the owner of the Shinsu have a fever?”

The mages of the Tower, who were preparing for the trial, were on alert.

The same was true of Domelo, the royal physician of Ronée Palace.

They flocked to Ronée’s room in unison to examine her.

It would be a great crisis if the trial of the Tower was put on hold.

Fortunately, Ronée’s energy did not completely fade away.

– Kyaang!

The mages and doctors, who rushed to her side, were relieved to find the divine beast, Bell, protecting her with its large body.

As long as Bell’s size remained large, her cold would pass lightly.

“Are you doing any work during the day?” Domelo asked Ronée while examining her.

Regardless of how light the cold might be, he was still determined to find the cause.

“No,” Ronée replied, shaking her head.

Domelo tilted his head slightly and asked, “Are you skipping any meals…?” His gaze turned toward the maids. Ryne shook her head.

“Then, are you doing any strenuous exercises?”

Domelo scratched his chin in confusion when Ronée shook her head again.

“Exercise is…” Ronée paused as she recalled Nabel’s request not to leave Ronée Palace.

Because of this, her range of activities consisted of walks in the gardens of Ronée Palace.

“…Is difficult to do.”

Worried that the traces left by Nabel would be discovered, Ronée gently lowered the sleeves of her clothes, which had been rolled up her arms.

“From this point on, you have to go to bed early and reduce your strenuous activities at night,” Domelo spoke sternly before leaving the room.

Ronée covered her flushed face with her hands, wondering if Domelo and the maids could see how embarrassed she was.

“I’ll give you a warmer blanket,” said Dia, the head maid, without any additional words.

It was meant to help her sleep a little warmer at night.

However, Ronée’s face flushed even more because everyone in Ronée Palace already seemed to know what was going on in her room at night.

“His Majesty has commanded that we prepare for the National Wedding once the trial of the Tower has ended.”

The news of a royal wedding had quickly spread throughout the castle until it eventually reached her ears. There was no way that the servants of Ronée Palace, most of whom were loyal to Nabel, were unaware of the relationship between the two.

No matter what secret methods Nabel used to enter her room, there was no way that the maids and servants, who managed the entire palace, would not know.

While Ronée fanned her blushing face, Nabel received a visit from Domelo in his office.

“While it’s a blessing for the imperial family that the two of you have a good relationship, please refrain from keeping the owner of the Shinsu from sleeping at night.”

Domelo spoke in a calm voice like a doctor with a strong professional spirit. Nabel didn’t like his words, but the doctor’s advice was valuable.

Nabel quickly continued his paperwork in silence.

 * * * * * * *

Nesha had been very busy with the preparation of the trial of the Tower. While Nabel tackled the paperwork, he also worked directly in the field.

First, he removed all the suspicious people inside and outside Ronée Palace.

He also caught a maid, who had approached Ronée to take advantage of her poor health, attempting to poison her medicine.

The maid, who did not work at Ronée Palace, soon fell into Nesha’s hands.

After spending some time with him in the basement, the maid was forced to confess.

One touch from Nabel’s hand was enough just to confirm the validity of the confession. After comparing the maid’s confession with the thoughts Nabel saw, Nesha easily figured out who was behind the plot.

Viscount Hans.

He was trying to revive his declining family by aligning with Duke Lloyd.

“I’m certain of their involvement, but the physical evidence has already been burned.”

Nabel’s response to Nesha’s report was simple.

“Cut the maid’s head off and send it to the Hans Family.”

It was a very simple and definite warning.

After that day, Viscount Hans disappeared into one of the provinces on his own.

And like that, the day of the trial of the Tower arrived.

Fortunately, Ronée’s health had recovered, and the cold disappeared without a trace. Her complexion was also much better than when she’d first arrived at the Imperial Castle.

“The preparations are complete,” Nesha reported to Nabel.

Nesha had vigilantly searched around the Tower several times because he was worried that there might be some suspicious device.

“The Mages’ Tower has also been cleared.”

The last thing he checked was whether anyone had entered the Tower before the trial began.

To successfully complete the trial of the Tower, anyone claiming to be the owner of a Shinsu had to go in alone and couldn’t receive any outside help.

“Have you been inside the Tower?”

“I checked as much as possible, but there are limitations as the trial is under the jurisdiction of the Tower mages.”

Nesha bowed his head with an awkward expression. It was an unavoidable obstacle.

Nabel nodded and stood up from his desk.

Before the trial of the Tower began, there was somewhere he needed to be.

* * * * * * *

Before the trial of the Tower could take place, a simple procedure had to occur.

A meeting was held between the person claiming to be an owner of a Shinsu and the temple people.

Immediately after that, the trial of the Tower took place.

During the meeting with the people of the temple, a strong mage watched over the owner of a Shinsu and prevented anyone from approaching.

It was only natural that those who were close to the Gods would want to be closer to the owner of a divine beast.

Ahead of the trial of the Tower, Ronée stayed in her room. She didn’t want to go out because she had to pass through groups of mages before she could leave.

At the sound of a slight knock on the door, Ronée turned around.

“Nabel.”

She nodded her head, letting him know it was okay to come in.

“Are you nervous?” Nabel asked as he stepped into the room. “The trial won’t be difficult.”

Ronée’s hands were cold, perhaps due to nervousness. Nabel placed them gently on his chest.

Ronée did not refuse his touch.

As he touched her hand, several of her thoughts flowed through Nabel.

She was definitely nervous.

“There are a lot of mages, so you must be concerned.” Nabel gave a small smile as he read her thoughts.

“Don’t be too nervous. You only need to show your Shinsu’s strength.”

While the process was simple, she was still afraid to jump from the top of the Tower.

Feeling her fear, Bell gently rubbed its face against her cheek.

Its large tail flicked back and forth in front of her eyes several times before it buried its head into her arms.

“Since you’re nervous, maybe I can do something to help ease your worries?”

Ronée was silent as she returned Nabel’s gaze. She knew she couldn’t hide the worry on her face.

She was trying to not worry, but the sound of the mages’ bracelets jingling, resonated in her head.

When the Countess’ bracelets shook, magic would always fly.

The sound of the bracelets was more memorable than the deafening sound of her magic hitting a wall.

“Come on in,” Nabel said abruptly. His voice snapped her out of the memory.

Ryne walked in, holding a small pile of clothes.

She gave Ronée a warm smile as if cheering her on, bowed, and left the room again.

Nabel, who had received her clothes from Ryne, handed her the clothes.

It was a red cape. The red color went well with Ronée’s dark pink hair. The lower part of the cape was embellished with golden leaves.

It didn’t seem to compliment her dressing gown.

“Wait a moment.”

Nabel went into the dressing room and returned immediately.

Seeing as he had spent the duration of his life either as a slave or on the battlefield, Ronée didn’t think he knew how to select a good dress.

However, when she saw the dress he selected, her eyes widened in surprise.

The pure white dress came down to the knee and didn’t have a ruffled bottom hem, so it would be easy to move around in.

“With a dress like this, there is no need to be nervous,” Nabel said as he handed her the dress.

As she accepted the dress, Nabel pulled her close and kissed her cheek.

“This type of greeting is used when you want to tell someone that they will be safe.”

Ronée burst into laughter at his words.

It seemed to relieve some tension.

But soon, her cheeks reddened slightly as she felt the back buttons of her dress loosen.

“Nabel…”

“Shh, I’ll help you.”

‘He has a cute smile.’

Ronée wondered if the maids would figure out that Nabel had been the one to dress her.

Nabel moved his hand to the front of her dress, which had loosened a bit from his unbuttoning.

“Are you going to wear it like this?” Nabel chuckled.

His hand brushed against her waist.

The dress he chose was far from the modest clothes she usually wore.

Small jewel decorations were swaying from the bottom hem of the white dress.

“Where did you learn how to dress a woman so well?”

Nabel chuckled at Ronée’s innocent question.

“I’m not familiar with dressing women, but…”

His warm breath brushed against her ear as he whispered.

“I am familiar with undressing you, sister,” he said casually, and her face heated up.

“Nabel!”

He embraced her from behind and buried his face in the crook of her neck. His hand swept across her chest as he adjusted her clothing.

“From here on, I would like to be the one who dresses you.”

Nabel gently lowered his hand and pushed her dress down.

Swish.

The sound of several layers of light fabric falling to the floor was the only noise in the silent room. Nabel lifted her chin, forcing her to look at the mirror in front of them. Ronée, dressed in a chemise, was reflected in the mirror. Behind her, Nabel watched her expression in the mirror as his gently tousled golden-blonde hair tickled her neck.

While Nabel kissed her shoulders, he pushed down her chemise as well.  Her underwear was the only piece of clothing remaining.

He slipped a finger beneath the hem of her panties and slid it along the top, leaving a hot trail along her skin. When Ronée began to shiver from the sensation, he slowly moved his hands upwards and cupped her bare breasts.

“Ahh….”

Nabel’s lips curved into a smile when Ronée moaned. As he slowly kissed and sucked on her neck, he gently rolled her nipples between his fingertips.

“Mmhm.”

When his hand slid under the hem of her underwear again, her legs quivered. Then Nabel lightly kissed the nape of her neck and pulled up her chemise again.

“Would you look at that,” Nabel said as he pointed at the mirror.

The white dress Nabel had chosen, which was made with a thick fabric, gave her a modest appearance. However, her figure was completely visible beneath the sheer fabric of the chemise.

“Oh my gosh.” Ronée gasped and covered her face with her hands.

Her body was covered with traces from their nightly lovemaking.

Since the maids assisted her in getting dressed, Ronée rarely saw herself naked, so she had no idea it would be this much. However, when she lowered her hands and gazed at her reflection, the reddish marks were clearly visible.

From neck to toe, there wasn’t a place on her pale skin that hadn’t been touched by Nabel.

“I must have missed this spot, sister.”

Nabel’s gaze stopped at one place in the mirror. Unlike the right side of her hip, where several reddish marks lingered, only a few traces remained on the left side.

Nabel shifted his stance until he was crouching before her on one knee. Sliding his hands up her calves, he slowly lifted the hem of her chemise with his teeth.