FLBE Chapter 4 Part 9
by SYLPHLiena swallowed hard, looking up at the towering Rhetrik. She wanted to say, ‘Let’s pretend this never happened and just eat,’ but she knew it was too late to calm his temper.
“Apparently, I’ve been too kind to you.”
“Your Majesty, please sit down, and let’s continue with our meal.”
“So, you think. Anyone can dare interrupt the Emperor’s mealtime and live to tell the tale?”
“I-It’s not like that…”
As Rhetrik ominously circled the table, Liena quickly stood up, though she knew escape was futile. She couldn’t just sit still as a fearsome predator approached.
“Trying to run away? Why didn’t you escape yesterday then? You could’ve fled if you had taken that rat’s hand. You lured another beast with your damn pheromones. Did you plan it with him?”
“No! I didn’t… I don’t even know who that person was!”
“Then how did he know to find you in the palace?”
“H-How should I know? I told you, I don’t know him!”
Liena argued her innocence as they faced off across the table, moving away as Rhetrik approached.
“Clearly it wasn’t your first time meeting him. He wouldn’t behave like that with women he doesn’t know. He, who never leaves that place.”
Rhetrik seemed to know the man well, though the nature of their relationship was unclear. But it was evident they weren’t on good terms.
“What should I do with you? Should I keep you by my side, or kill you and find another Omega, just as you wish?”
Liena maintained a constant distance from him, circling the table. She felt certain capture meant death.
“First, you dare to call the Emperor’s name, then you talk back to the Emperor, make demands of the Emperor, even threaten the Emperor!”
Ah… His words made her feel as if she was a criminal deserving the guillotine. But she felt it was unjust. Was it so wrong to want to live like a human?
“And you dare to be in the arms of another man. Yesterday, the pheromones you released in that place even reached the throne. Did you enjoy it that much? Planning to summon all the alphas in town?”
“No, that’s not it… Really, it’s not…”
Tears filled Liena’s eyes, where previously there had been defiance. She felt overwhelmed by fear and injustice as if thrown alone into a den of hungry beasts. No matter what she said, Rhetrik seemed not to believe her. And why would he?
Rhetrik’s prowling steps halted abruptly. His expressionless face stared piercingly at her.
“Your Majesty… I’m scared.”
“Now you’re scared? Weren’t you the one who just said you didn’t need to beg? Now you’re full of the will to live?”
“If you’re going to kill me, do it in one blow! Don’t terrify me like this!”
Once again, Liena’s eyes narrowed fiercely, and she burst out angrily. Though tears had previously hung in her eyes, trembling on the brink of falling, her gaze now regained its intensity. It seemed she had a tendency to become stronger when cornered.
“I’m curious.”
“…”
“What will you become if pushed to the edge?”
“Even earthworms squirm if someone tries to step on them! So stop provoking me!”
“Strange, you’ve picked up some peculiar sayings.”
Rhetrik, who had been advancing menacingly, suddenly pulled a chair and sat down. It was Liena’s chair. Clutching the back of the chair he had vacated, she finally let out a sigh of relief. Then he said something unexpected.
“You are very different from the previous Saintess. She was dignified and noble. She didn’t speak unnecessarily and asked nothing of me.”
That’s because the writer made her that way.
Liena pouted internally at his comparison, praising the previous Saintess while indirectly criticizing her. She hadn’t sought his praise, but she didn’t want to be disparaged in comparison either.
“But you are unpredictable.”
Well, I move according to my own will.
“Perhaps if the previous Saintess had acted like you, her end wouldn’t have been so tragic.”
What…?
“If she had been more human like you, I wouldn’t have been so harsh. Her dignity was her duty as a Saintess, her pride was her self-respect. Not speaking was perhaps her wish to avoid me, and having no desires indicated a lack of will to live.”
Do you miss her? His wistful gaze felt unfamiliar.
“That’s why I detested her. She was always around me with an expressionless face like a doll. If she weren’t an Omega, I would have dismissed her long ago.”
“……”
No, the saint in the novel loved Rhetrik. She simply didn’t speak about it.
Her dignity was an effort to avoid disrespecting Rhetrik, her aloofness was merely a facade of indifference to her fate. She didn’t speak needlessly because he disliked conversation, and she desired nothing because being near Rhetrik was her only solace.
She had believed that being the only woman permitted by the Emperor’s side was akin to possessing the world.
Liena slumped into the chair Rhetrik had vacated, completely drained from the tension. She let out a deep sigh of frustration.
Despite his misunderstanding, she couldn’t reveal the previous Saintess’s feelings for him. It was pitiful yet tragic that he had killed a woman who loved him. If Rhetrik had realized her feelings earlier, perhaps she wouldn’t have met such a hollow end. Then, Liena wouldn’t be in this situation.
Liena looked directly at Rhetrik and spoke earnestly.
“I have a question.”
Unperturbed by the switched seating, Rhetrik sat back leisurely, crossing his legs and folding his arms. It seemed he was willing to continue the conversation. He nodded for her to proceed, and Liena bravely broached the subject she had most feared.
“Will you eventually kill me too, Your Majesty?”
“Why would you think that?”
She had expected some surprise from him, but Rhetrik responded calmly. So, Liena replied in kind.
“Because the previous Saintess died.”
“You think I killed her.”
“Didn’t you?”
“You speak as if you saw it. Or did someone tell you I did?”