The Sub Male Lead is Burning with Jealousy - Chapter 5 Part 9
With that thought, she decided against pinching and instead lightly tapped Rahil’s arm, which was wrapped around her waist, with her fingers.
Rahil was different from her; even this minor contact was enough to wake him.
‘Or not?’
After lightly poking him for a while without any sign of Rahil waking up, Anais pressed slightly on the veins bulging on his forearm, a part of him she had wanted to touch.
“…”
As she moved her fingertips down the vein on his forearm, she could see the corners of Rahil’s mouth tighten. He was trying not to smile.
Sure enough, he’s pretending to be asleep! Anais’s eyes narrowed with certainty. Irritated, she pinched Rahil’s side, but he was so solid that it hardly made an impact. Instead, he seemed to tense his face as if tickled, which only annoyed her more.
“Your Majesty, I know you’re awake. Your lips are moving.”
“I’m still asleep… This is sleep talking.”
Had they been a typical couple, such a playful complaint might have been seen as endearing. Anais felt irritable with the fact that she couldn’t completely hate Rahil.
She tapped Rahil’s hand wrapped around her waist calmly.
“Enough, let me go. I have a busy day ahead.”
Rahil, who Anais had expected to be more stubborn, relaxed his grip easily. He watched with a longing gaze as Anais quickly freed herself from his arm and got out of the bed, wishing he could keep her from leaving.
“Is being busy because of the party happening today?”
“Yes. I’ve hosted gatherings for the ladies a few times, but this is the first time for a ball…”
Of course, she didn’t include the times she had hosted balls as Lady Ruol in her count. Those were local events in her territory, and this was different.
It was her first ball as the Empress. She had hosted a couple of tea parties for ladies after returning to the capital, but this was her first ball.
This ball was meant to boost the morale of knights before the large-scale monster subjugation preceding the harvest festival and winter. With bandits becoming more active before the harvest and monsters becoming more aggressive during their breeding season, knights were often relied upon.
There were also reorganizations and promotions within the knighthood around this time, so the knights’ resolve was particularly high. Many nobles hoping for their children’s promotions would attend, which meant there were many details to be mindful of.
“Will you dance with me tonight?”
“It’s not such an important event that requires us to dance the first dance together. I’ve already arranged for a suitable couple to do so.”
Usually, such roles were filled by princes or princesses, but they had no children. Even if they did, it would take a long time for them to participate in such events.
Rahil slowly got out of the bed and approached Anais, who backed away with a wary look in her eyes, stirring his feelings.
“Wouldn’t the second dance be okay? Since we came back from our honeymoon like that, there are rumors.”
“Rumors can’t be helped. Since we’re newly married, we have to deal with such talk… Ah. Don’t embrace me.”
Despite Anais’s attempt to push him away, Rahil didn’t budge. He looked into her face and said,
“I don’t want to. We embrace when we dance, don’t we?”
“We don’t embrace as tightly as this. You’ve embraced me enough in bed already.”
Despite his stubbornness, Rahil kept sneakily checking Anais’s reactions. Anais furrowed her brows at the realization that she didn’t find Rahil’s embrace unpleasant. Rahil, looking into her eyes as if he wanted to kiss her, muttered softly.
“I want more than just enough. I wanted to sleep embracing you~ I was asleep so I didn’t even get to see my wife’s face properly.”
“I’m really busy. Please let me go, Your Majesty.”
“…Then let me kiss your cheek.”
As she looked up at Rahil with a ‘Huh?’ expression, he pouted with his face turning red. From his flushed face, it seemed he knew his request was unreasonable.
“It’s not like I’m asking for you to do it to me, so it’s fine, right?! Otherwise, I really won’t leave. I’ll keep following you around!”
“…”
Anais, her expression cooling, gave Rahil a chilly look, making him quickly lose his spirited stance. The strength drained from his arms that he had stubbornly kept wrapped around her.
“Ugh… I’m sorry. That was wrong of me.”
‘I shouldn’t indulge him all the time.’
Hesitating, Anais then cradled Rahil’s cheek. Since the idea of him kissing ‘her cheek’ was off-putting, she thought, ‘Maybe I should kiss ‘his cheek’ inste…’ as she reached out to his face.
However, Rahil looked at her with such eager anticipation that Anais quickly withdrew her hand, rethinking her impulse.
The thought, ‘What am I doing?’ flashed through her mind. As she fled the room, Rahil’s shoulders sagged in disappointment.
* * *
Sion placed a thick stack of documents next to the emperor, who was sprawled out at his desk like a drenched corpse, having finished his morning schedule. This too was part of his morning routine. Rahil, lying on the desk, only moved his eyes to glance at the paperwork.
“I can’t even remember the last time we kissed. I feel so lonely I could die…”
“You remember the day of your first kiss, don’t you? Besides, if you’ve never kissed her since then, how does loneliness come into play?”
“Who said I’ve never kissed her since then?!”
Rahil bristled, but it was clear he was seething with frustration from head to toe. Sion, maintaining his composure, accepted additional documents from another Aide and piled them on top of the stack.
“Have you? It doesn’t seem like Her Majesty the Empress would have allowed it?”
“Ugh…”
Rahil slumped in his chair, sighing deeply. Despite his gloom, paperwork continued to pile up, passed down by his Aides.
“Anais must be planning to drive me to my grave.”
“It’s a fight that could last 20 years, so it seems Her Majesty the Empress wishes to keep you around for a long time.”
