“I think that I am angry because the Demon King, who is loved by her, wants you.”

“If you’re going to have a bad heart, isn’t it rather good?”

“No, I want her to be happy.”

“You have a big heart. I feel like if the person I have a crush on goes to someone other than me, I’m going to hold on to the blanket and cry all night long.”

“Yes, there is love of that kind.”

The Emperor laughed and spoke. I didn’t smile back and met the Emperor’s words with a face that could be considered a little calm.

“What kind of love is Your Majesty?”

“A love that wants to wish her happiness and make her smile bright like blossoms in spring.”

“I’m just saying. It’s really just what I’m saying, so don’t listen to it. You know? I think it’s more like cheering than love, like a helper feeling…….”

It wasn’t long after I regretted it but I spoke again. However, I wanted to reveal his wrong feelings, which were frustrating and even pitiful in some ways. If he didn’t realize even a little bit now, he would live his whole life being held captive by the Saint without knowing what love was.

“Are you denying it unconditionally because it’s different from you?”

The words themselves sounded strong, but the tone was not at all. Just as a child doesn’t sincerely reprimand someone else for telling a false wrong common sense, the Emperor asked me in the same way.

“When was the last time Your Majesty felt that you loved her?”

Again, the Emperor’s words came to a halt.

“I can’t forget the moment I fell in love, whether it was love at first sight or when someone I wasn’t interested in got hooked into my heart.”

Moving my hips, I sat closer to the Emperor. He won’t have anything to say, right?

In the midst of the breathing, the Emperor moved and came closer to me, just as I had done. We were so close that each other’s waist seemed to rub against each other.

“She said it.”

He approached and spoke. I felt burdened by the close face and wanted to pull my butt back, but I tried to concentrate on the Emperor’s words lest the flow of the conversation be interrupted.

“She said I was in love with her.”

“Did she say that?”

“Yes.”

“With her own mouth?”

The Emperor lightly nods his head several times. And he believed that, so he has been mistaken for liking the Saint until now?

My mouth hung open in embarrassment. No matter how dull he is, how can a person do that? It was as absurd as a grown adult believing firmly that Santa Claus exists.

“Is that the moment of love?”

“Thinking back at it, it is.”

There is no more need to argue. I didn’t want to go on like this, so I lowered my eyes and let out a breath. The Emperor secretly called me, but I did not respond.

Then, as Merson often did, the Emperor had a sad, feeble look. Oh, the look is so rotten! I forcibly grabbed the Emperor and made him look at me.

“Your Majesty.”

“What, what?”

“Look at me for a moment.”

“Even if I don’t want to look at you, you’re forcing me to look at you.”

In the end I closed my eyes tightly and let go of what I was struggling with. Then, I looked at the Emperor with a rather serious light, excluding the playfulness.

The air that had been lightly bouncing clung to my whole body, tightening it and changing the atmosphere. The Emperor’s distorted face gradually relaxed.

“You are being deceived.”

“…….”

“It’s me that Your Majesty truly loves.”

“…….”

A cool breeze entered my hair and played with it, then a few strands brushed the Emperor’s cheek and landed again. A stubborn strand was still clinging to the Emperor’s white face illuminated by the moonlight. I raised my hand and brushed the hair that sat down beside his lips.

Silence. and static.

I was reflected in his pupil. As I was looking at it, it seemed that the Emperor was also looking at himself in my eyes. No, is he just looking into the eyes?

I raised my hand and waved it in front of the Emperor. There was no movement, like he had hardened like a doll. I let go of my expression and hit the Emperor’s shoulder with both hands.

“Are you hypnotized?”

“… no.”

“It was just completely ridiculous? Right?”

“…….”

“I felt exactly the same when I heard that from His Majesty. Someone said ‘You love me’. Then ‘That’s right! I love you.”

“…….”

The Emperor, like a man who had lost his mind, did not listen to me at all.

“Are you looking back at how pathetic you were?”

“… it’s pathetic.”

“Right? Let’s take a closer look into our own hearts. Don’t be swayed by others.”

I sat down again, keeping my distance from the Emperor. The Emperor flinched and moved to a spoke far away. Well, even if it was joking, the reaction is too immediate, isn’t it?

“Do I smell bad?”

When I tried to close the distance, he now stands up altogether. Wow, now that thing hurts a bit.

“How far are you going?!”

We walked quickly to the other side of the lake where we were sitting. The Emperor shouts from afar.

“I’m just asking out of curiosity… Is it true that you are the Demon King’s companion?”

“Since the Demon King said it himself, it must be true.”

“How did that happen?”

There was no reason to sit any longer, so I got up too. After roughly brushing off the dirt from my back with my hand, I brought my hands to my lips and shouted to the Emperor.

“It hurts to know!”

It was dark and I couldn’t see very well, but I can imagine the Emperor’s expression. He is probably raising his eyebrows with the feeling of ‘What is this?’.

I didn’t think I would be able to continue the conversation with the Emperor, so I bowed my back and left the garden. The night breeze was enough to make me feel cool, so all I had to do was go to my room and cover myself with a blanket and go to sleep.