Chapter : 15
The moment Elfreda saw the king, she felt as if all the blood in her body turned cold. Ainar was looking straight at her. Her mind went completely blank, and she couldn’t think of what to do—but she knew what she had to do right now.
Elfreda quickly lowered her head and walked faster. But behind her, heavy footsteps followed at the same pace as hers. It sounded like a hunter chasing its prey.
He had longer strides than her, so he would catch up quickly. The closer the footsteps got, the more she felt like her throat was tightening. Without realizing it, she shut her eyes tightly.
“…Ah.”
Finally, he grabbed her wrist and turned her around. Elfreda faced him with a frightened expression. Ainar narrowed his brows and stared at her face. Soon, anger appeared on his face. It was a quiet, cold anger—different from Serina’s.
At least she hadn’t come back completely beaten up. But still, she couldn’t stand how embarrassing this situation was. To be seen like this again. Elfreda felt like she wanted to die and lowered her head deeply toward him.
“…It’s just…”
“…”
“We were arguing.”
“Serina, the princess?”
“…Yes.”
And a suffocating silence followed. Unable to bear the awkwardness, Elfreda spoke again.
“It’s not like I’m the only one like this. I was the one who first slapped the princess…”
She tried to explain, but she couldn’t find the right words. In the end, she finished weakly.
“She… she must also be regretting it.”
“…Ha.”
A cold laugh came from Ainar’s lips.
“So the queen doesn’t listen to a word I say.”
“…What?”
Elfreda asked in confusion.
At that moment, he suddenly took off his jacket and handed it to her. Elfreda, confused, accepted it.
Then—
“Ah!”
Ainar suddenly lifted her up in his arms. Elfreda looked at him in shock, but his face stayed completely emotionless as he looked forward.
“Cover your head.”
Only then did Elfreda understand. She quickly pulled the jacket over her head, hiding her injured face. Inside the dark space of the jacket, she could barely breathe.
Every breath carried his scent, and she could feel his warm body heat. It was soft and warm.
Strangely, she felt like she was being protected. A rare feeling of safety made her want to cry. Soon, tears filled her eyes and started falling.
If she cried like this with a swollen, beaten face, how ugly would she look? She was glad he couldn’t see her right now. She bit her lip tightly to stay silent.
She needed to stop crying before he removed the jacket.
She struggled to calm herself.
After a while, the darkness disappeared.
When Ainar removed the jacket, his brows furrowed at what he saw.
Her face was completely red. Both cheeks were swollen from being hit twice within days. Her eyes were red from crying, and her lips were bleeding. They had looked fine before, which made his expression darker.
“Why is your lip like that too?”
“….”
Elfreda couldn’t answer and looked away awkwardly. Ainar let out a cold laugh.
Did she really think she could hide this?
He called a court physician, then asked her coldly:
“What did I tell you?”
“….”
“Have you already forgotten?”
There were many things he had told her, but the answer was clear now.
Elfreda avoided his eyes and answered carefully.
“Always… wherever I am…”
“Yes.”
“To act as the king’s partner.”
“And this is the result?”
His tone felt like an interrogation. Elfreda felt smaller under his gaze.
In Makaeri, what she did today was unthinkable. A princess of a concubine’s bloodline had touched the emperor’s legitimate daughter first. Normally, she would never have done something like that.
But Ainar had kept reminding her of her position—as queen, as the king’s partner. And because of that, she felt like she couldn’t disappoint him.
Still, she couldn’t explain all of this. It was frustrating and unfair.
“…Did you really hit her first?”
Ainar suddenly asked.
Elfreda nodded.
“…Yes. But it was complicated…”
A sigh escaped him.
“Fine. As long as you weren’t just beaten.”
His eyes turned sharp.
“Listen carefully. Machi does not just take hits silently. If you get hit once, you return two or three times more.”
His voice sounded meaningful.
“This is our rule.”
Our.
Elfreda’s heart beat heavily. He included her in “us.” It felt like he was saying she was now one of Machi’s people.
She nodded quickly, feeling unexpectedly happy.
Then she spoke carefully.
“About Princess Serina…”
“You don’t need to deal with that.”
His tone turned cold again.
“Focus only on your own matters.”
At that moment, a court physician arrived, and Ainar left.
Elfreda received treatment in silence. The physician looked curious but kept quiet.
Meanwhile, the noble meeting hall was extremely noisy.
“The queen and the princess must be punished immediately! This is an insult to Machi!”
“Let’s take the army and attack Makaeri!”
“This is something we cannot ignore!”
In the center, Ainar felt a headache.
What are these people talking about?
Even if the emperor of Makaeri was weaker compared to Gunner, Makaeri was still Makaeri. They had conquered vast lands and united many tribes. They had built a powerful eastern empire.
Even if Machi gathered everything and formed an alliance, attacking Makaeri first would still be a guaranteed defeat.
The sea between them made invasion difficult, and even using nearby Giver as a base was dangerous, since Giver had barely defended itself from Makaeri’s invasion years ago.
These fools clearly didn’t understand the difference between defending a country and invading one.
But Ainar had no intention of explaining. He had a faster, simpler way.
