AWWEWNR Chapter 26

“I don’t like it,” Ethan answered.

 

“Your Majesty!”

 

“I miss her.”

 

“…!”

 

“I want to keep her by my side.”

 

“Your Majesty.”

 

“I know she’s your precious daughter, your lifeblood, and I’m sure you’d hate for her to become involved with the imperial family.”

 

“…”

 

“But your daughter chose me.”

 

‘Your daughter was the one who asked for the affair, and she was the one who pulled down my pants without hesitation.’

“And I accepted that choice.”

 

“…”

 

“So help me. I want to keep Hanaella close.”

 

“…I can’t give you that, not at the Crown Prince’s expense, and Her Majesty won’t stand for it.”

 

“I know that. She is the one who would most fear the Knights falling into my hands. He wants to make Lionel Emperor.”

 

“…You’re the one who dragged my daughter into this dangerous situation, and when did you start planning this…”

 

“You won’t believe it, but I haven’t really thought about it. It’s not a plan. She’s your only daughter, the one thing you care about. You and the Knights have the respect of the Emperor and myself for remaining neutral. Besides, you are one of the few who knows of the Empress’s double persona, and I had no intention of using your daughter in this fight.”

 

“…”

 

“Though I suspect you already have.”

 

“…Are you serious?”

 

“…”

 

“Are you sure you’re serious about my daughter?”

 

“…I really miss her, I really want to have her by my side.”

 

As he said that and looked at Ethan, Lloyd’s eyes never wavered. Ethan let out a short sigh.

 

“Between preparing to become the next Head of House and studying the dark arts, she won’t be in the palace for long, and I’m sure His Highness will have his hands full as well, so I’ll see if I can arrange for you to spend a little time with her this afternoon, perhaps for tea.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

Lloyd smiled brightly, almost like a child. 

 

Ethan looked at his smiling face and thought of the Empress before him. 

 

Before the current Empress, when she was still healthy, Lloyd had always smiled like that. 

 

However, at some point, a fake smile had become the norm.

 

‘Such an unapproachable disposition, and Hanaella has made him laugh like a human being. If that’s the case, I’m proud of my daughter.’

 

💫

 

When Rosaryn returned home after the hunt was canceled due to the Crown Prince’s attempted murder. 

 

She was worried about Tharrott, who had seemed distraught since their meeting at the camp, and went to his room as soon as he had bathed.

 

“You were the one who suggested we be careful around the servants for a while, Rose.”

 

With a short sigh, Tharrott, who had been drinking with his shirt unbuttoned and wide open, addressed Rosaryn.

 

“I was just stopping by the room. You don’t have to search everyone, just the maids who are familiar with Ariel’s maids.”

 

“…”

 

“So, what’s the matter with you? Did things not go as planned at the hunt?”

 

Rosaryn wrapped her arm around Tharrott’s shoulders and sat casually on his thigh, then snatched the goblet from his hand and took a sip.

 

“…”

 

“Well, it couldn’t be helped this time, who would have thought something like that would happen to the Crown Prince out of the blue? Didn’t get a chance to plan?”

 

‘No, we didn’t. I tried, and the results were disastrous, for I tried to make him fall in love with me, and instead, I fell for her.’ 

 

Instead of answering, Tharrott snatched the goblet from Rosaryn’s hand again and raised it to his mouth. 

 

She slipped her hand through Tharrott’s open shirt and gently stroked his hard chest.

 

“It’s okay, we still have plenty of time, just take it slow.”

 

Glaring at the way Rosaryn pulled his shirt open a little further and lightly kissed his left chest, Tharrott took a sip of his drink and called out to her in a low voice.

 

“Rose.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“And what if I really do fall in love with Young Lady Hanaella?”

 

“…?!”

 

At his words, Rosaryn lifted her upper body, which was leaning against him, to look at Tharrott. 

 

She was so flustered by his sudden words that she could barely control her expression. 

 

Tharrott continued, glaring at Rosaryn, “Isn’t that the problem, that in trying to win her heart, I might actually fall for her?”

 

Not that she hadn’t thought about it. 

 

It wasn’t easy to let the man she loved marry another woman. While she searched for a suitable wife for Tharrott, for their love, she had felt a twinge of jealousy at the prospective wives she hadn’t yet decided on.

 

But it was unavoidable. 

 

As Tharrott’s legal sibling, she could be Tharrott’s mistress, but she could not marry him.

 

His presence was the only thing that kept her going in a house that was cold to her, and that looked down on her mother for being so frivolous.

 

This man was her only light. 

 

The only way to keep this light alive was to give birth to the next generation of his family. 

 

If she and Tharrott could have a child of their own, and that child could become the next Lord and Lady Paladin of Count Thearine, then she could at least make amends for her persecuted and neglected past.

 

‘I’ve prepared and planned for this, but what if you fall in love with Hanaella? …I’d kill her, of course.’ 

 

Rosaryn smiled and caressed Tharrott’s cheek.

 

“Why, do you think you’ll fall in love?”

 

“…”

 

“And leave me?”

 

Rosaryn asked, pecking Tharrott’s cheek with a slight pout.

 

“I said what if.”

 

“Why are you thinking about that what if?”

 

“Do you think you won’t change your mind, if you marry Duke Edward?”

 

At the mention of Edward’s name, Rosaryn’s previously grim face instantly brightened.

 

‘What, was it about Duke Delioffe? Tharo, are you jealous of Duke Delioffe, hmph— what a cutie.’ 

 

“Tharo, are you upset because I partnered with Duke Delioffe today?”

 

“…”

 

“Hmph— my cute little love.”

 

Rosaryn kissed Tharrott on the lips. 

 

It wasn’t Edward or Delioffe specifically, but Tharrot couldn’t tell Rosaryn that he couldn’t get Hanaella, who had saved him today, out of his head.

 

“Don’t worry. It’s you that I love, Tharo, and if you were going to change, I wouldn’t have found it so hard to stay by your side.”

 

“…”

 

“The whole reason I’m marrying the Duke of Delioffe is to be by Tharo’s side. Of course, if he wants me to, I’ll have to fulfill my marital duties with him, even if I don’t like him.”

 

Tharrott’s brow furrowed at the mention of ‘marital duties’. 

 

Rosaryn snuggled into his chest, assuming he was jealous of Delioffe after all.

 

“When the time comes, I will think of you, and when you perform your marital duties with Miss Hanaella, you will think of me.”

 

At Rosaryn’s words, thoughts of Hanaella’s naked body flashed through Tharrott’s mind, and his member reacted as he imagined her moaning hotly beneath him, the way she had easily slain a demon with her dark magic in the daylight. 

 

Rosaryn smirked, mistaking his reaction for her own.

 

“Do you want me to suck you off after all these years?”

 

Whispering in Tharrott’s ear, Rosaryn asked, and without waiting for an answer, she reached down and without hesitation pulled out his raging member and began to lick it gently. 

 

Tharo grabbed a strand of her red hair and fiddled with it. 

 

He remembered Hanaella’s pitch-black hair as she had captured the demon, and imagined that the woman burying her face in it from below was Hanaella.

 

Then a stream of nectar oozed out of the hole at the tip of his shaft. 

 

The fishy, scented, salty-sweet smell assaulted her nostrils, and an indescribable taste coated the tip of Rosaryn’s tongue.

 

“Mmm…!”

 

A low moan escaped Tharrott’s mouth. 

 

Tilting his head back and closing his eyes, he tangled his hands in Rosaryn’s hair and imagined Hanaella sucking his.