Raniero Actilus thought, ‘It was not something to be thankful for.’ After all, it was no coincidence that he appeared with such perfect timing and was able to save Angelica like that. If you think about it, it wasn’t a coincidence. He already knew that Angelica’s drug efficacy would disappear at an ambiguous time.
Designing the hunting ground in such a structure…
Giving Angelica a bow that matches her physique…
And, giving drugs that erased her fears and gave her poison…
Even pushing Sylvia into the place, instilling false hope in Jacques’ mother and son…
All of them were done by Raniero, without leaving out exceptions.
The greatest blessing Actilla, the War God, bestowed upon his godson wasn’t the prosperity of the nation. It was to occupy an overwhelmingly advantageous position in terms of slaughter and war. Not only did he have a strong body, but he was more agile than anyone when it came to splashing blood and flesh.
No one had an equal footing with him. In addition, since he wasn’t well aware of the individuality of each human being, all human beings were more like ants moving in groups rather than beings with their own personalities to Raniero.
It was his hobby to scatter and trample their swarm with branches or to make paths with honey to make them follow frantically.
The Empress from a foreign country was no exception.
All he did was put the four ants into a fight.
While the three ants had their own reasons to fight to the death, Angelica’s priority was to save her life. Because of that, he gave her the drug to engage in the hunt to create interesting scenes actively…
There was no guilt, knowing what side effects it caused on her body. This was because, no matter how eccentric Angelica was to suggest a fun game, she, whom he couldn’t distinguish by her face, was also just one of the ‘ants’ to him. For Raniero, the hunt for the summer solstice this time was nothing more than a play in which the desired scenes were elaborately produced for the purpose of entertainment—all the characters were swept away according to the Emperor’s wishes and his intentions…
One by one, everything went as planned.
What was unclear was how much Angelica, who had lost herself for a moment, would accept what happened at the time though he was convinced that she couldn’t attend the banquet because of guilt and grief.
…Nonetheless, she calmly entered the banquet hall wearing the dress that was given to her.
Raniero, who had entered a little earlier than her, shuddered lightly. It was because, at that moment, he ‘saw’ what her face looked like as if she had been lying.
Why?
Perhaps, it was because she was a strange individual. Even at this moment, she expressed her gratitude to him for planning the nightmare, declaring that she had done nothing but only winning her fight… Somehow, the face of Angelica Unro Actilus gradually became clearer on the ground that was gradually being shaded.
Raniero asked, drenched in the strange sentiment.
“Did you decide not to feel guilty or self-hatred towards yourself?”
Angelica trembled as though the question was horrifying. Her barely focused gaze fell to her shoe as usual before smiling shyly and rubbing her cheek.
“Well. It’s because I’m weak, as Your Majesty said. I’m not sure if I’ll survive even if I invest everything in my survival…”
It was interesting that he, who was stronger than anyone else, recognized her face even though she was the weakest human being first. Still, he had no idea what that fact meant… no, he didn’t even try to think to understand.
“Let’s go back.”
To be honest, he might have had a glimpse of the future had he dug deep into the situation at that moment, but it was the usual impulse that governed and dominated his behavior. As Raniero reached out his hand, Angelica’s eyes slowly grew bigger as his hand approached her. She quickly withdrew her hand as his hand went closer to her fingertips. At the same time, confusion and fear filled the pale green eyes.
Reading her expression has always been easy.
Was holding this hand not a mistake? Would it be presumptuous? Conceivably, it would be an act that the capricious Emperor considered rude or disobedient…
Like a rabbit that hides in the burrow at the slightest sound, she was too terrified. Raniero followed and grabbed the hand that was pulling away. It was a hand that had been left scarred from holding the bow for several weeks.
“Let’s go back.”
He uttered it again.
Angelica’s gaze naturally turned to the banquet hall. It seemed that she didn’t want to go back to the banquet hall as her awkward heart had been conveyed transparently.
Raniero grabbed her hand and pulled her with him, although it was in the opposite direction of the banquet hall. It was common before that the Emperor, who got bored of the banquet, would disappear somewhere in the middle of the event.
In the first place, he had no intention of going where the noisy swarm of ants would cling to him or her.
Angelica just followed him gently as Raniero was leading her blindly. Though their fingers were intertwined, she didn’t actively hold onto his hand. The direction he took them was neither the banquet hall nor the Empress’s Palace, because of that, Angelic’s body resisted… well, it was only ‘slightly’ anyway. Rather than disliking it, she simply hesitated because of an unfamiliar path.
Raniero burst into laughter at her hesitant steps.
As usual, Angelica felt a sense of rejection on a road she had not been to before even though this was inside her house, the Imperial Palace. Because of that, he had the erroneous guess that this complacent little woman would voluntarily be locked inside the Actilus Imperial Palace forever and that she would never even dream of going outside.
It was his first wrong answer in this world as the arrogance that he had been raised by his natural predecessor Actilla accepted this false assumption as a foregone conclusion.
That thought entered and settled in his mind like an absolute truth.
“Oh, this is…”
Angelica, who had only followed him without any rebellion, licked her lips.
It was because the place the two of them headed was indeed the Imperial Palace. However, the location where Raniero led wasn’t an external space where she was allowed to enter but a more private, secluded space. The path to the Palace was like a maze, preparing for any possible assassination.
If there were a vague thought that there might be a path open in this direction, it’d definitely be blocked. Likewise, if you pushed some walls, they would open up, showing secret spaces instead.
Dizzily, it seemingly felt like she had entered the land of mirrors. At the same time, Raniero simply headed for the destination without any consideration for Angelica.
The door swung open.
It was a room with several windows so small that even a child couldn’t get in.
The exterior walls were thick at first glance. Several red pillars were hung over the clean white bedding at the end of the sunset.
Even though the room was massive, the only furniture was a bed, a desk, a bookcase, a bedside table, and a medium-sized wardrobe. To cover up the empty appearance, carpets were laid on the floor, and tapestries were hung on the walls. Still, it was inevitable that the space seemed too vast for the simple objects.
There weren’t even attendants in the Emperor’s space.
Angelica knew ‘by reading’ that no one knew how to get here. This room was managed by the Emperor alone—from dusting, sweeping, and mopping to the chores of changing bedding.
It was such a secret space.
Confusion flashed in Angelica’s eyes as she had never dreamed that he would bring her here though it seemed that this wasn’t the final destination. Walking through the tapestry, another door appeared again, and Raniero took her hand and went down the stairs.
The door opened where the mechanical lock was a puzzle that no one but he knew the answer to.
There was a bathroom with a large bathtub. Angelica shuddered lightly at the close touch of Raniero, casually returning to her back and unbuttoning her. Her face dyed bright red when she realized what he was soon going to do.
“That…”
“Yes?”
Although he had no intention of listening to her, he asked back softly. Angelica, who became subtly poorly dressed from his touch, turned her head. Biting her cheek and ear, Raniero stretched out his hand and rang the bell placed somewhere.
The next moment, servants entered the large door on the opposite side, prepared perfume oil, soap, and silk towels, and filled the bathtub with hot water.
Raniero devoured her lips, whether or not there were attendants with them.
“Ah…”
Angelica followed obediently, albeit she seemed unable to concentrate. It was because she was worried that there were people watching. Regardless, Raniero chose to bother her a little more than to convince his shy wife that they were now blind and deaf to what they were doing.
Angelica was feeble with the sexual pleasure.
She had thin skin and sensitive flesh, and marks were easily engraved with the slightest push or sucking. She couldn’t stand his hand gestures that were so close to the touch as if they were brushing her down rather than hurting her.
She eventually fell down from the pulsating breath.
Even thinking about it again was ridiculous. She was dragged along and flustered every time he grasped her.
As he slowly pulled his hand away, leaving her glancing over, Angelica didn’t even look this way until Raniero’s lips touched her fingertips. She turned to him only after his teeth grazed her fingernails and the first knuckle of her fingers gently wrapped around the tip of his tongue.
Raniero smiled sweetly as if he knew she would look this way.
Little by little, her fingers began to be swallowed into his mouth as she gazed up her eyes to meet him.