The moment I raised my body after barely kissing his lips, he wrapped my waist with his hand suddenly and pulled me. In a moment of confusion, he put his tongue into my mouth. I suddenly came to my senses when he was at it again. What the heck? Was he awake until now?

Although I was struggling in embarrassment, he pulled me closer to keep me from getting away. As he gave me a deep kiss, grabbing my waist with one hand and supporting the back of my head with the other, my stiffened body began to relax slowly. I naturally closed my eyes that I opened in surprise.

How much time passed? I willingly accepted his deep kiss without any resistance, but when he unbuttoned my jacket and touched my breasts gently, I came to my senses. I was not supposed to do it at this time when the sun already rose in the sky.

I hurriedly raised my body and squinted at him. Normally, he would have adjusted my dishevelled clothes, but this time he didn’t show any reaction. Instead, he looked at me quietly, then hugged me tightly all of a sudden before I said something to him.

“Your Majesty?”

When I called him in a low voice, curious about his actions, he kissed my temple lightly and said, “Are you going to kill me?”

“Pardon? What do you mean…”

“You gave me a morning kiss, right? Do you know how much I was surprised? My heart might have exploded when you kissed me!”

“…”

I knew I was taken in again. When I was silent with a sullen expression, he giggled at me and tugged me closer to him. He said, burying his head in a lock of my long hair hanging loose.

“Whew…I really don’t want to get up. It’s because you are so pretty. ”

“… Your Majesty.”

“By the way, why did you get up so early? Besides, you’re already done dressing.”

“Well, I didn’t get up that early. The sun is already up in the sky. Besides, you don’t sleep a lot, I’m not a sleepy head, either.”

When I answered in a sullen voice, he laughed loudly again. Then he gently put his lips on my forehead and got up with a sigh.

“I think I have to get up now. Otherwise, I’m afraid I’m going to ruin my schedule including the meeting today.”

Giggling at his annoyed tone, I pulled the string. Even though it’s already been six months since I got married to him, I always felt refreshed whenever he showed such actions. I felt warm in my heart.

“Excuse me, Your Highness. What can I do for you?”

“Let me prepare the official robes for the emperor, so you can help him with washing. Lina, can you come here for a minute?”

While he was being served by the maids who just came in, Lina came to me and tied up my dress. While adjusting my dress and combing my hair again, Lina seemed to have a lot to say to me. But I received his clothes from the maids, trying to ignore Lina’s glance, who was all smiles on her face.

When I was examining any wrinkles or blemishes on his clothes that were as white as snow, he already finished washing his face and waved at me lightly. I let the maids out and approached him. It’s almost one month that I have been in charge of preparing clothes for him since I initiated this job one month ago.

As if he was familiar with my serving, he gladly let me take care of his clothes with a satisfied expression, though I was still clumsy at it. When I adjusted his shirt and trousers, a waistcoat and a jacket, and finally the blue cravat, he lightly kissed my forehead and whispered low, “Thank you, Tia.”

“You’re welcome, Your Majesty. Are you comfortable now?”

“Very good.”

“Really? If you feel any inconvenience, please let me know right away instead of hiding it like you did last time. Do you know how embarrassed I was when someone tipped me off?”

When I gently squinted at him, he smiled and reassured me that it was not too bad. Then he reached out to me politely, “Will you give me the honor of eating with you?”

“Yes, of course.”

When I put my hand on his, replying prudishly, he giggled and led me. I smiled, as I was walking, escorted by him in a happy mood.

***

“Let’s go together.”

“But Your Majesty…”

“Well, it’s not without precedent anyway. What’s more, it’s not the first time you’ve been there. Who is going to take issue with your attendance?”

“That’s right, but…”

Regardless of the purpose of his persuading me, he had a point. When I was a bit hesitant, he immediately got back to persuading me, “Anyway, you are the empress as well as the successor of the Monique family. No one will complain about your attendance at the political meeting because Marquis Monique is away.”

“Um, yes, I understand. Then let’s go together, Rube. ”

He smiled at me when I accepted his offer to attend the meeting, then rose from his seat. I put down the sorbet I was holding without saying something then followed him.

The atmosphere of the conference hall I entered after a long time was still vibrant. The noble faction members who saw me entering with him were a bit embarrassed, but the tense mood of the rival factions melted away when their leaders welcomed me with a smile.

After greeting Marquis Mirwa with a nod, I hesitated for a moment before sitting next to the emperor. Even though I was the successor of the Monique family, it seemed to be right for me to sit at the head table as I was the empress.

“Hmm…I will start the political meeting. Today’s agenda is …”

While listening to the agenda of the meeting announced by Duke Verita, I looked around the conference hall again. As I was not sitting in the seat I sat as the designated successor of the Monique family half a year ago, I felt a bit awkward about the atmosphere of the political meeting where rival faction members used to exchange barbed words. It was perhaps because the new members of the noble faction replaced Duke Jena and his clique who were always in confrontation with the pro-emperor faction.

When I cast a glance at the vacant seat of my father who was dispatched as the head of the delegation to the Lisa kingdom, I felt somebody grabbing my right hand gently. When I looked aside, stunned, he was smiling at me furtively.

A smile came to my lips when he smiled at me as if he shared some secret, but I looked straight, managing my expression, for fear they might think my actions strange. But the more I tried to concentrate on the meeting, the more I became distracted because he became more and more aggressive in caressing my fingers under the table.

I tried to pull out my hand gently, but he casually stopped me and intertwined his fingers with mine one by one. His large palm gently covered the back of my hand, and his fingers tightly pressing on mine tickled my palm slowly. Just like last night, I could feel his warmth in his palm, which began to soften after the calluses disappeared.

I was sensually heated up because of his erotic movement that reminded me of the passionate sex we had last night. I was getting out of breath more and more, so I silently stared at him while trying to catch my breath. What the heck is he doing to me in the public place? What if he is caught doing this?

However, he didn’t show any reaction even though I sent him a clear alert. Now he slowly caressed my hand.

As I was a bit annoyed, I pinched the hack of his hand with my left hand. Only then did he release my hand tightly intertwined with his fingers. Although he managed to keep a blank expression because he had been used to it for a long time, it seemed that he did a double take when he looked around.

‘Yeah, I wish you had released my hand when I signalled to you.’

I was about to turn my head with a sullen expression, when my eyes met Marquis Mirwa’s who was looking at me and the emperor. There was nothing particular in his light green eyes, but I felt a bit embarrassed. So, I took my eyes off of him naturally and looked around the conference hall casually.

“… In that case, I think we’ll be done overhauling it by this fall.”

“Good. Please go ahead as planned.”