Lysith was half-lying against the headboard, and Verheigen was embracing her from the front.

“Your Majesty, your heavy……”

“……”

He showed no sign of listening. Lysith, who had suddenly ended up dealing with a drunk person, sighed, feeling tired already and tried to grab her hair with both hands.

But as soon as she tried to free her hands and arms, a low voice stopped her.

“Don’t let go.”

“……Yes.”

Lysith, who ended up back in an embracing position at his words, sighed again. What on earth was wrong with this person.

Maybe his drunk habit was skinship…….

Though it was a thought that came without much consideration, it was a possibility. Certainly, only his closest confidants would know about something like this. She had neither seen nor heard of him being drunk in public settings.

But she still needed to sleep. In this state, it looked like she wouldn’t be able to move at all. Or should she just sleep like this and hear tomorrow about what she did to him…… This must be what they call walking in someone else’s shoes.

Then Lysith suddenly had a thought and opened her mouth.

“Your Majesty.”

“……Mm.”

“So is it really not hard having to receive everyone’s greetings?”

If he’s drunk, wouldn’t he answer all questions? Of course, everyone would react differently to this. Lysith somehow felt that this man embracing her now would answer honestly.

And as if proving that feeling right, a slow, honest answer flowed out.

“……It’s sh*t.”

“Pfft……”

Lysith trembled trying to hold back the laugh that suddenly burst out. Perhaps interpreting that in some way, Verheigen embraced her again more firmly.

Hey everyone, His Majesty the Emperor says this! Lysith inwardly laughed while shouting that and spoke again.

“But you don’t show it on the outside.”

“Of course I can’t……”

The room fell into silence again. After giggling, reality suddenly hit her. How was she really supposed to sleep like this? Even if she asked him to let go, it didn’t seem like he would. Using force to shake him off wasn’t even a consideration from the start. It was impossible.

Lysith squirmed around but nothing worked. ……Do I really have to sleep just like this?

Even if there were misunderstandings tomorrow, there was no choice now. As she was making that firm resolution, Verheigen’s mumbling voice reached her ear.

“But you managed your expressions so well in the banquet hall……”

“……”

“Why have you become so foolish?”

‘Is he insulting me?’

Lysith tilted her head slightly while inwardly being sarcastic. Hearing this, it seemed he was talking about this because of the God of Acting passive skill.

‘That has a cooldown……”

Lysith rolled her eyes slightly to bring up the passive window.

[Passive: God of Acting(OFF)]

[This passive will be available after a certain time.]

[311:23:54]

She was shocked at the cooldown time and checked the detailed description, and what do you know, the cooldown was one month.

This is why you should read all the skill details when playing games.

Anyway, that’s why she couldn’t turn the skill back on. Even if she could, she probably wouldn’t have used it since he seemed to have figured most of it out on the first day she woke up.

As she was thinking this, Verheigen’s low voice reached her ear again.

“……You.”

“Yes?”

“You’re the first one to say such things to me.”

Though his voice was mumbling, his speech was still proper. After catching his breath from the alcohol, he continued.

“……It’s irritating. Weren’t you quite wary of me at first? Then why do you confuse me like this.”

“What did I do?”

“You bristled up like a cat.”

“I don’t have fur though.”

At Lysith’s firm response, Verheigen heaved a deep sigh.

“Now you even talk back so precisely……”

“……”

“Why doesn’t it irritate me.”

Lysith’s eyes widened at those words. Isn’t this good news? No matter how she looked at it, it was definitely good news. No, the fact that he clung to her like this while knowing who she was itself was a positive signal.

Then would he answer if she asked this too?

“But Your Majesty, why are you embracing me like thi… eek!”

No sooner had she started speaking than Lysith was suddenly pulled downward. From her ambiguous position of half-sitting half-lying, she moved to a completely lying position. It was more comfortable than before, but if there was one problem, it was that Verheigen was still on top of her.

Yet peculiarly, perhaps because the Emperor was aware that she was underneath him, it didn’t feel that heavy. In his own way, he was making sure not to crush her with his weight.

“No. That, if you want to embrace me, lying on our sides would……”

“……Mm.”

He was strangely docile to the point where she wondered if this was the same person. Compared to how he made her wary of him in the beginning, it was like opposite extremes.

Only their position had changed from before, everything else remained the same. Whenever Lysith tried to free her arms or remove her hands, he inNoonated she keep embracing him.

“This feels……”

“Yees.”

“Strange.”

If it feels strange, why keep embracing? Though she almost talked back reflexively, Lysith swallowed the words down her throat and listened carefully to his next words.

“Is another person’s warmth always like this? Or is it like this because it’s you?”

“……”

“Even I don’t know why I’m……”

Lysith, who had been listening quietly, slightly lowered her head at the suddenly cut-off sentence. She first noticed his densely arranged eyelashes calmly lowered downward.

……He seemed to have fallen asleep.

Wondering if she could escape now, she tried to carefully extend her hand to free her arms, but it was still impossible.

“Sigh……”

She couldn’t stay up all night in this state. Though being tightly embraced was a bit uncomfortable, it seemed she could sleep.

Thinking that, Lysith finally gave up and closed her eyes.

After a night passed in that exact position, this time too the drunk person woke up first.

What’s this warm, soft, and tender thing…… Was something like this in the bedroom?

His drowsy mind, not long awake from sleep, was slow to grasp the situation. Embracing this made him feel like his recently sharpened nerves were becoming dull and round.

……But really, what is this? As his sleepiness gradually cleared and he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a woman’s snow-white skin.

“……?”

The position of the two people hadn’t changed at all from when they fell asleep. So when Verheigen raised his gaze, he saw Lysith’s face, sleeping soundly while embraced by him.

After roughly grasping the situation, Verheigen scrunched up his face as he recalled last night’s events. Whether it was a good thing or not, he perfectly remembered everything from when he was drunk, without missing a single detail.

Carefully freeing his arms so as not to wake her, and unwrapping her arms from around him, Verheigen sat on the side of the bed and leaned against the headboard with a deep sigh.

In truth, his recent irritability was all because of this woman. He had thought, how dare someone of her status make him confused.

However, perfectly remembering everything from when he was drunk, another thought came to him first. When he was with this woman, his chronic suspicion diminished one layer, and somehow his imperial authority gradually crumbled away.

Moreover, what about last night? When had she stopped being wary, quietly letting him embrace her and following everything he asked…….

“I’ve truly gone mad……”

……He had found her cute. The sensation he felt when she was in his arms, which he initially mistook for queasiness, was nothing of the sort upon reflection. He had simply failed to properly name the feeling of affection he was experiencing for the first time in his life.

With one hand on his forehead, he looked up at the ceiling, then lowered his head to see the woman’s sleeping face, breathing softly.

When he gently stroked her smooth cheek with his fingertips, her brow furrowed as if ticklish. He quickly removed his hand from her cheek and gently pressed her wrinkled brow to smooth it, returning her face to its peaceful state.

Yes, exactly like this. What if she relaxed languidly like a satisfied cat under his touch, without wariness? What if she showed no suspicion towards him while maintaining her guard against others, only letting him embrace her, embracing only him, touching him, connecting with him…….

As he reached that imagination, a sharp euphoria ran up his spine.

At that sensation, Verheigen briefly clenched his fist, then slipped his hand between the woman’s cheek and the pillow as she lay on her side. His large palm cupped her face fully.

Suddenly disturbed from her deep sleep, she briefly furrowed her brow, then rubbed her face this way and that against his palm as if trying to find a comfortable position.

How much time passed like that? After staring at Lysith as if enchanted, he checked the clock placed to the side.

……He was seriously late. Verheigen let out a small sigh.

Normally, Serul would have come to wake him by now. The fact that he hadn’t meant he must have learned something from the recent incident. If not that, then he was expecting something strange.

Slowly removing his hand from Lysith’s cheek, he got up from the bed leisurely. After staring at her blankly, he decided to show some uncharacteristic kindness.