For the One Who Hates Me - Chapter 46

Aura couldn’t bring herself to speak. She simply placed her hand on his cast with a serious expression, as if she couldn’t bear not to.

To be honest, Karl didn’t dislike this moment. Her expressions were clumsy, but she was clearly worried about him. However, it was time to tell the truth.

“The part about aftereffects was a lie.”

“What?”

“My bones, muscles, tendons, and ligaments are all fine. The doctor said I just need rest. If you don’t believe me, you can go ask the Imperial Physician yourself.”

“How… how could you lie about something like that?”

Aura looked at him as if she couldn’t believe it. Karl couldn’t bring himself to say that he was simply tired of being hated.

“You hid things, too. Ryan’s relief supplies.”

In the end, Karl couldn’t help but act so mean. Even though he no longer cared about the relief supplies at all.

He was already prepared for it. Aura was going to be furious. She would take this as an insult, having shown such distress. But whatever happened, it was better than her being so dejected.

Sure enough, Aura looked a little hurt. But she bit her lip and stared at Karl’s shoulder. Her expression was incredibly complex. In the end, a look of relief settled on her face.

Karl watched her with an intense gaze, as if trying to memorize every single one of her expressions.

“Still… be careful. With the aftereffects,” Aura whispered, as if to herself.

Just then, Karl’s hand wrapped around the nape of her neck.

“!”

He suddenly kissed her. His tongue, rushing in, brushed against hers. Aura instinctively pulled back.

“Why, what are you…!”

Karl took a step forward, following her relentlessly. The sensation of him sucking on her lower lip and gently gnawing at it made her shiver. It felt as if he was consuming her, both her lips and the inside of her mouth.

He used his tongue to forcefully explore every corner of her mouth. The moment he tangled with her helpless little tongue, Aura squeezed her eyes shut. Her head was reeling.

Aura’s leg hit the bed with a thump. Karl gently laid her down with one hand. Only then did he break the kiss.

“Ha…”

Aura panted, looking at Karl. He was looking down at her with eyes she was all too familiar with—eyes full of desire.

“I told you I was fine,” Karl said in a low voice. Aura swallowed hard.

The whole situation made no sense. Was his shoulder really fine? Why did he lie? Why had he even come to her bed in the first place?

She had so many questions, but for now, she felt she needed to get him to sit up.

“Your shoulder must hurt.”

“It does. The blood’s pooling.”

“Then get up.”

“Damn it. Why did I have to get hurt?”

“…I said I was sorry.” Aura’s face grew serious.

“I’m not blaming you! This… this is different.”

“Different?”

“I want to do more, but I can’t because of my arm.”

Aura looked at him strangely. “Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?”

“Because you’re worried about me. Genuinely.”

“…”

“And you don’t hate me.”

At his words, Aura slid away and sat up. It was certainly not a good position for someone with a shoulder injury. Seeing how worried she was about such things, it was clear that she didn’t want him to get hurt.

“It’s not pleasant to see someone get hurt.”

“That’s a contradiction. It’s okay for you to stab me with a sword, but not for me to get hurt?”

His words were mean, but not wrong. Aura admitted the contradiction and nodded.

“…Yes. It’s not okay.”

Karl, who she thought would have made another teasing remark, just watched her quietly.

“Then you have to promise something, too.”

“What?”

“Don’t die-“

Don’t die. Karl wanted to say that. But if he did, the quick-witted Aura might figure it out—that the way to break the seal on Finn was through Aura’s death.

“Stop saying that you’ll die.”

In that moment, Aura recalled something she had said to him once.

Because you’re making me want to die.

What had Karl’s expression been then? She had been crying so much that the memory was hazy, but she remembered parts of it. His tightly pressed lips, his rigid fingertips, and his somehow wounded eyes.

“Alright. I promise.”

“Can I kiss you?” Karl suddenly asked.

“Again?”

“As a sign of our promise.”

It was unusual for him to ask for permission to kiss her. And it would be equally unusual for her to grant it.

“…Okay.”

But she decided to just let today be one of those days. That way, him getting hurt would also be an unusual occurrence.

Karl slowly approached her. Just before their lips met, he spoke as if he had forgotten to say something.

“Forget what I said earlier. It was all nonsense.”

“What did you say?”

His lips brushed against hers as he spoke.

“That I suspected you and Ryan.”

“Did you confirm that I didn’t do it?”

“No.”

Karl’s lips touched hers lightly before pulling away.

“I just… I think I understand now.”

Their lips gently met again. His mouth was scorching hot, as if it was melting.

The Next Morning

Early in the morning, Aura woke up in her bed. Karl was sleeping beside her like the dead. It seemed he was catching up on the sleep he had missed for the past few days.

Still, there were dark circles under his eyes. Aura instinctively reached out to touch his face but pulled her hand back.

She suddenly noticed that her lips were numb. She licked them and couldn’t feel a thing.

Last night, he had been relentless with his kisses. When she pulled away, he would follow, and if she tried to escape, he would grab her and push in. He was so ravenous that she ended up regretting having given him permission to kiss her.

And his hands had kept tugging at the ribbon of her nightgown. When she gave him a glare that said stop there, he would let out a soft laugh. Aura tried her best to forget the things that had stuck in her memory.

She soon got out of bed. The maid would not have been able to enter since the Emperor was inside. When she opened the door, Minah was waiting in the hallway.

“Good morning, Your Majesty the Empress.”

“A cup of coffee… no, make it two, please.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Ah… should I serve the tea that arrived yesterday?”

“Tea?”

“Yes. A tea was sent by His Majesty the Emperor last night.”

Aura hadn’t heard anything about tea. She nodded without thinking. “Yes, please get that one.”

A little later, Minah placed two cups of tea on the table. It was the traditional Zenia tea they had drunk yesterday in Ansena. She couldn’t hide her delight at the familiar scent she hadn’t smelled in so long.

Karl sent it…

Karl had once called Aura an unpredictable person. But from Aura’s perspective, Karl was the unpredictable one.

In Ansena, he had not backed down from her even once. No, he had deliberately cornered her. And yet, he bought her this tea afterward. On top of that, he had gotten injured because of her.

Aura slowly enjoyed her tea.

…It’s fragrant.

As she swirled the bitter liquid in her mouth, it would become sweet at some point. She kept bringing the teacup to her lips because she liked it. Even though her lips were still numb.

“Is it good?”

Karl’s voice came from behind her. How could he approach without making a sound? Especially with his voice so hoarse.

“Yeah. There’s one for you, too. Drink up.” Aura took another sip. Just then, Karl came closer and kissed her. Aura nearly dropped her teacup.

Karl swirled his tongue around the inside of her mouth, as if to taste the tea she hadn’t swallowed yet. He lightly sucked on her lips one last time before pulling away.

“…It doesn’t taste good. I don’t think I’ll drink it.”

Despite being the one to kiss her out of the blue, he was grumbling about the taste of the tea. Aura was utterly speechless, but when she saw his shoulder, she couldn’t say a word.

Karl sat down across from her. His face, bathed in sunlight, looked much better than yesterday.

“When will the cast come off?”

“The cast will be removed in a few days, and then they’ll just stabilize it with a cloth. And…”

“And…?”

“The doctor said I absolutely must get a lot of rest.”

After saying that, Karl stared at Aura. Aura thought, Surely not.

“…You’re going to keep sleeping here?”

“Only until the cast comes off.”

“But still.”

“You have some responsibility, too.”

“!”

“You said you were sorry. Was that a lie?”

Of course it wasn’t a lie. Aura was very sorry. Wasn’t that why she couldn’t say a single word of complaint even in this situation?

And Karl knew Aura well. He gently stroked his injured shoulder.

“Ah- it hurts like hell.”

“Fine. Fine, I get it. Stop.”

Clink.

Aura put the cup down on the saucer. She looked at Karl with a look of annoyance and said, “Only until the cast comes off.”

Another Scene

Theo, in his formal uniform, was walking down the main palace stairs. An imperial edict was in his hand.

But he heard someone running down the stairs from above. Theo instinctively turned around.

“Oh? Josh.”

“Ah…”

Josh stopped short when he saw Theo. He then asked with a feigned air of composure, “Where are you going?”

“To the Duke’s estate to deliver an edict.”

Delivering edicts was the job of the aides. Of course, it was unusual for the chief aide, Theo, to be doing it. It meant that the matter concerning the Duke’s family was a sensitive one.

“To summon Duke Tein to the palace?”

“Yep. Well, I’m going now.”

“Hey! Hey, wait…”

Josh hurried down and blocked Theo’s path. When Theo looked at him as if to ask what was wrong, Josh scratched his head.

“I’ll go. You’re busy.”

“Because of Lady Elise?”

“Hey! Don’t say things that will get me in trouble!” Josh covered Theo’s mouth and looked around. “I mean… that Lady asked me to deliver a note to His Majesty the Emperor the other day, but the Empress took it from me.”

“Ah, that time,” Theo said from inside Josh’s hand. The feeling grossed Josh out, and he quickly pulled his hand away.

“Why are you talking into my palm? Gross.”

“So? Will things be different for Lady Elise if you deliver the edict?”

“…I don’t know. But still…” He would rather die than say he cared about Elise. “If things go according to Duke Tein’s wishes, I’d… feel a little bad for her.”

“So what are you going to do about it?”

“Ah, I don’t know! Just… give it to me for now. I’ll deliver it properly.”

Josh held out his hand. Theo chuckled and placed the edict in his hand.

“Fine. How could I stop you? Go carefully. I’m entrusting this to you because it’s you. I think His Majesty would approve, too.”

“Ahem… I’m going.”

Josh hurried down the stairs.

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