Before I End Up as Rabbit Stew - Chapter 22

She was prepared to knock him unconscious if he seemed too drunk. The Black Dragon’s personality and emotions were unpredictable when he was drunk. Yimae could handle a clingy or whiny Black Dragon to some extent. But this, this was too much…

“It tickles.”

The Black Dragon’s breath tickled Yimae’s neckline like a living creature. Without realizing it, Yimae shook her head slightly, where his hair and face were touching her ear. It was ticklish and somewhat uncomfortable.

The Black Dragon seemed frustrated that he couldn’t do as he pleased, and he growled lowly at Yimae. He firmly grabbed her chin, preventing her from moving.

“Look at me.”

“Alright, I’ll look…”

His face was directly in front of her. Perhaps because she was sitting on the windowsill, their eye level was perfectly aligned. As Yimae looked at him, she felt the thoughts she had barely suppressed resurfacing.

Did this happen to everyone when a man and woman were too close? Her pulse quickened, and the blood that rushed from head to toe circulated endlessly.

“The golden bedding is ready.”

The head palace guard announced, knocking politely on the door. Yimae sighed inwardly. She had been holding her breath without realizing it.

“Enter.”

Contrary to expectations, the Black Dragon, who she thought would let go, didn’t budge. The door to the Suyeon Hall opened, and a few palace guards entered with the head guard. Yimae urged him with a flustered look, but the Black Dragon didn’t release his grip on her chin.

Fortunately, the palace guards didn’t raise their heads, as if their necks were broken. They simply and meticulously spread out the bedding. The red golden bedding was neatly laid out on the floor of the Suyeon Hall.

“Shall we bring in the drinking table?”

The palace guards, who had stepped back around the golden bedding, asked. Hearing those words, Yimae’s patience ran out.

“A drinking table? After seeing this state…”

“That’s enough. No one is to enter until morning.”

Yimae’s hand, which had been about to throw a shoe at the palace guards, was stopped. The Black Dragon grabbed her trembling wrists and spoke softly, and the palace guards left without a word. The head guard personally closed the door of the Suyeon Hall firmly.

“Let go of this! I’m about to smack the back of your head.”

Yimae twisted her captured wrist, realizing the difference in strength between her and the Black Dragon. Her wrist didn’t move at all, as if glued in place. However, it wasn’t as if the Black Dragon’s grip was particularly strong. He didn’t seem to care that she was pulling and twisting her arm wildly. With his other hand, he closed the large window and immediately pulled Yimae into his arms.

The feeling of the golden bedding against her back was strange. The thick, soft blanket pulled her in as if trying to capture her. Every place her fingers touched felt the vibrant and elaborate embroidery. The Black Dragon’s eyes, looking straight down at Yimae, were filled with flames. It was a deep fire, as if the color of the golden bedding had been transferred to them.

Yimae couldn’t help but ask.

“Are you sober?”

This was definitely a different Black Dragon than before. He was also completely different from his sane self when he hadn’t been drinking. Suddenly, the Black Dragon chuckled softly. Yimae’s heart throbbed.

“Maybe I am, maybe I’m not.”

The laughter that followed was almost self-deprecating.

“I wonder if I’m crazy.”

“Yes, even you must think you’re crazy today, right?”

The Black Dragon laughed again at Yimae’s serious, irreverent words. Lying on the red golden bedding symbolizing the wedding night, with her wrists restrained, she had no shortage of words.

What about me, ordering the red golden bedding to be laid out for Yi-i? All the circumstances surrounding him were irrational. Even though he wasn’t a heavy drinker, he had never been so foolish and unable to distinguish right from wrong. He seemed to be completely bewitched.

“Please let go, it hurts.”

What reason could there be for a man’s heart to be moved by such words if he wasn’t bewitched? The slight wriggling of her body, as if her tightly held wrist hurt, only fueled him further. The Black Dragon felt a dizzying sensation.

“I don’t want to.”

He said honestly. Yimae’s eyes widened. Having lived among expressionless people his whole life, the Black Dragon liked her diverse expressions. He wanted to keep teasing and tormenting her to see more of her expressions.

“Then just bite it off like this.”

She was saying so sweetly that the blood wasn’t circulating in her wrist. The Black Dragon chuckled and brought her hand to his face, rubbing it against his cheek. Yimae frowned subtly as his chin touched her small palm. Her light and soft hand conveyed warmth to him.

The Black Dragon lightly bit the smallest finger, the pinky, of that small hand. Although it was Yimae who was bitten, it was the Black Dragon whose body was convulsing. He leaned on her slightly with his upper body, which he had been holding up with effort, worried that Yimae would be crushed by his weight.

“Ugh…”

Yimae, pinned underneath, squinted her eyes. He thought he had pressed down very gently, but it seemed to be too much for her, given the difference in size. The Black Dragon knew he had to lift his body again, but he didn’t. He liked the feeling of their soft bodies pressed together.

Using the remaining intoxication as an excuse, he kissed Yimae’s palm. Yimae, who he thought would jump and make a fuss, was quieter than expected. Instead, she wiggled her fingers and curled them up, making a fist.

“Did you think I wouldn’t be able to do this, my lady?”

The Black Dragon grinned mockingly and stuck his tongue out, digging into her fist. But the teasing ended there. Yimae’s fist quickly came down and struck the Black Dragon’s solar plexus. The Black Dragon, who had been distracted by watching Yimae’s expression, was hit squarely and fell to the side. Yimae raised her upper body abruptly.

“You…”

The Black Dragon tried to point at Yimae with his finger, but then collapsed. Yimae fanned her face repeatedly, trying to dissipate the heat.

“I almost had a heart attack.”

After sitting there for a while, she looked at the Black Dragon. The Black Dragon remained motionless in the position he had fallen. Yimae waved her hand in front of his eyes for a moment before concluding decisively.

“He won’t die, my husband.”

I almost died just now. Yimae placed her hand on her chest, which was still beating wildly. Her heart was pounding like a gong. She widened her eyes as if struck by lightning and rubbed the hand that the Black Dragon had licked and sucked on her clothes.

Yimae wrapped the Black Dragon in the blanket like a shield and glared at him.

“Anyway, don’t even think about drinking while I’m staying here.”

Too many things had happened in one day, and her head was a mess. How many surprising and absurd moments had there been? She almost felt sorry for her overworked heart.

Sitting on the edge of the golden bedding, Yimae felt the sudden chill of the night. It was clear that the Black Dragon’s intoxication hadn’t worn off at all, as evidenced by the fact that he had only closed the large window, leaving all the other windows in the Suyeon Hall open. He probably thought that was enough to secure the outside.

She got up and closed all the windows that were letting in the cold wind. The inside of the Suyeon Hall, softly lit by candlelight, quickly became cozy. Yimae returned to the golden bedding, checked that the blanket was well wrapped around him, and lay down in the same direction as him.

The unconscious Black Dragon looked calm and innocent. The man who had been so reckless when drunk looked more composed than anyone else when asleep.

“Petty, small-minded, crybaby.”

Yimae muttered every insult she could think of, thinking that if she didn’t do it now, when would she ever get the chance? The Black Dragon didn’t wake up, but he frowned instinctively, as if trying to filter out the bad words. Yimae found it both amusing and absurd, and repeated them again.

“Petty, narrow-minded, crybaby.”

Perhaps because she was lying on a high-quality blanket, sleep came quickly. In fact, she would have slept soundly even if she had been lying in a muddy field in the back garden today. Please, let’s just end this day here. Yimae, exhausted, blinked slowly as she wished for that.

“…Mother.”

The Black Dragon murmured softly. His voice was like a very low whisper, so faint that even Yimae, who was close to him, could barely hear it. She quietly watched the man who was calling for his mother as he succumbed to sleep.

“Are you that heartbroken? Do you miss your mother that much?”

Yimae hesitated for a moment before placing her hand on the blanket. She patted the Black Dragon over the thick blanket as if soothing a baby.

“…that rabbit is willowing the willow…”

“Ugh.”

Yimae turned away abruptly. An inviolable silence settled in the Suyeon Hall. Yimae, breathing in the strong scent of dried herbs and lotus flowers, soon fell asleep as well. She welcomed the end of this bizarre and strange day and fell into a deep slumber.

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