The Emperor Reverses Time - Chapter 30

Knock, knock, knock.

Leonhardt, who had been rolling around on the spacious bed happily as he recalled Elizabeth’s lovely appearance, sat up abruptly.

He opened the door and saw Elizabeth standing there, wearing her soft cotton lace one-piece pajamas with new bandages on her legs.

She pursed her lips, it seemed that she had something to say, but she remained like that for a long time.

“Lizzie! What’s wrong? Come on in for now.”

Leonhardt, noticing that she was standing in the cold hallway with her bare feet, pulled her in so she could stand on the soft carpet of his room.

‘Ugh…If only I had a little more power, I would do a better job than this…!’

Elizabeth blinked at him with a troubled expression.

“Umm, Le-Leon.”

“Hmm?”

Elizabeth’s head slumped as her eyes were glued to the ground for a long time. She stood there, hands clutching on the hem of her nightgown, face solemn and lips twitching.

Leonhardt admired and admired the way his cute little lips moved like a chick’s beak.

‘Cute… so cute… She’ll be my future wife, but she’s so cute… !’

Elizabeth could barely utter a word.

“Thank you! … Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

Leonhardt blinked puzzledly.

Sudden thank in the middle of the night? For what?

Elizabeth’s face was flushed.

Leonhardt was worried that she might be sick, so he brought their foreheads against each other.

“Leon! …Your…Your Highness…!”

Instead, he found something unpleasant.

“Lizzie. When it’s just the two of you, just call me Leon comfortably, as your fiancé, not the Crown Prince. Even if I were to be strangled and cursed at, I will take responsibility. Stop that awkward way of talking, okay?”

“But Your Highness…!”

“Now…Let’s try it. Repeat after me.’Good night, Leon’.”

Elizabeth agonized for a long time with a look of uncertainty.

But she soon followed him in a muffled voice.

“… Good night, Leon.”

Only then did Leonhardt smile contentedly, embracing Elizabeth once more and kissing her soft cheek.

“It’s a goodnight kiss. Before I went to sleep, my nanny always did this to me. I’ll do it for Lizzie today.”

“Goodnight kiss…”

Elizabeth’s head was tilted downward again.

She wasn’t sure she could raise her head again to look straight at Leonhardt.

“Lizzie, Lizzie?”

“Good…good night, Leon!”

And Lizzy ran to the bed in front of her and crawled under the blanket.

Leonhardt looked at her back proudly and contentedly, then shortly realised that the bed she was lying on was his. He was perplexed.

Of course, he could give her his own bed, or even his room itself, if she wanted to…

In the middle of a large bed that could fit more than five children, Elizabeth, who had fallen asleep in an instant, was breathing evenly.

After much agony, Leonhardt, who was about to climb into his bed, careful not to wake her from her sleep, halted when he put his knee on the bed.

‘Wait, isn’t their first time sleeping together? Is it okay to share a bed before the engagement? What did the etiquette say again? Nevermind, I just need to sleep on the floor.’

Leonhardt came to a simple conclusion, curled himself up on the carpet, and shut his eyes. It was a little cold, but it wasn’t to the point where he couldn’t sleep.

But less than ten minutes after closing his eyes, he got up again.

‘How many times have I shared the same bed with the Empress?’

A scene from the future that was now the past once again flashed through his mind.

After the first night of their wedding, he never once shared the same bed with the Empress.

‘You…you idiot! You jerk! You fool! You are the most foolish being in the world!’

Leonhardt grieved in regret as he pounded his head on the floor, yet, still minding not to wake Elizabeth.

The uncarpeted marble floor was cold enough to be felt even on the top of his head, hard enough to make his whole body tremble, and painful enough to make him cry.

Holding back his tears, Leonhard rubbed the top of his head with his small palms.

Once again, he silently lifted the edge of the blanket and slowly slid in, putting his feet in first.

Like a wriggling worm or a crawling caterpillar, Leonhardt moved closer to Elizabeth.

On one hand, he was inwardly complaining that his bed was too wide, on the other, his heart pounded wilder the closer he got to her.

At last, after closing the gap enough to feel each other’s breath, Leonhardt licked his dry lips as he nervously put his hand next to Elizabeth’s.

‘…It’s very small.’

Her hands, and his own. It would be fair to say that their hands were the size of a fern leave, or rather a maple leave.

‘Can I protect her with these hands?’

Leonhardt agonised with a disturbed look.

Inches from him were Elizabeth’s small face, small hands, small nose, small face, and her shut eyes with long, thick eyelashes. Underneath them were pupils of the most beautiful sky hue that he had ever seen.

His appearance, as he last checked in the mirror, was somewhat close to what people called ‘gracious’. And after a few more seasons, he would grow up to look just like his father.

‘Father…’

Like the Emperor, he also used to feel the urge to be a great lord, his image was close perfection. But at the same time, he was an Emperor, so he never found the need or the time for a woman’s companion.

By the time he realised it, it was already too late, and the regret was irreversible.

Leonhardt clenched his fist, reaffirming that he would never make such a choice ever again.

He pursed his lips as he pondered about what Elizabeth was dreaming of.

Leonhardt, holding his breath, had been observing her for a long while, dazed. Soon, he shifted to face the other edge of the bed.

‘It would be nice if only the sound of laughter could be heard from those lips every day.’

Could he really do that? Did he even deserve it? His eyes were getting heavy by the minute.

Leonhardt yawned and let his eyes shut. A blanket warmly embraced his exhausted self.

After hearing that the two had fallen asleep in the same bed, the nanny who came to check on them looked down at the bed with a happy smile.

The young prince and his fiancée, lying comfortably on a pillow the size of themselves, were asleep with their backs pressed together as if seeking a little familiar warmth.