I’m in Trouble Because The Emperor Thinks My Time is Limited - Chapter 44

“Lindel! Don’t stop me today! I’m going to fix that guy’s attitude once and for all.”

Melaine’s pupils transformed into those of a dragon. The deep-rooted feelings he had accumulated had reached their limit, and this time, he wasn’t going to end things with mere words.

He had been under enough stress from following human orders, but what he’d seen today only fueled his rage. Seeing Lindel shyly confess her love made it all the harder for him to hold back his irritation.

Sionel wasn’t any better. The dragon’s interference had pushed his own limits.

“There’s a limit to how much you can interrupt.”

Even as he looked into the dragon’s eyes, Sionel showed no hint of wavering. If anything, he seemed to welcome the confrontation, a smirk forming at the corners of his lips.

He wasn’t happy that Lindel had pushed him away because of Melaine’s sudden intrusion.

The cold, murderous glint in his eyes showed he was serious.

“You should’ve known when to stop. Even my patience has its limits!”

But just as the two men were about to attack each other, they heard an unusual sound—laughter.

Of course, it came from Lindel.

“Haha, hahaha!”

“…What’s this?”

“Lindel?”

Noticing the strange behavior, Sionel rushed over to Lindel. Melaine, too, seemed worried, hesitantly approaching her.

But despite their attention, Lindel didn’t raise her head.

Then, once more, she burst out in laughter.

“Hahahaha!”

“What’s wrong, huh?”

Concerned, Melaine reached out to Lindel, and at that moment, she finally lifted her head.

As their eyes met, Melaine felt a sense of unease.

“W-why are you looking at me like that…?”

“You saw, didn’t you.”

“Huh?”

Melaine instinctively took a step back. There was something off about Lindel’s dilated pupils.

He even slipped into formal speech without realizing it.

Sionel also seemed to sense something amiss and cautiously withdrew his hand from her.

“You saw, didn’t you? The kiss.”

“I-I saw. Yes, I saw. So what?”

“Hahaha!”

“W-why are you laughing like that…”

As Lindel’s laughter rang out again, Melaine looked at Sionel, seeking an answer. But Sionel shook his head slightly, equally clueless.

“You saw. You did! Hahaha!”

“I’m starting to get scared now. Did I do something wrong?”

While Melaine was nervously glancing at Sionel for help, Lindel mumbled darkly, “There’s only one way to handle this.”

Melaine turned back to her, and their eyes met again. His dragon’s eyes disappeared, replaced by his usual gemstone-like ones, but that wasn’t the concern right now.

“Lindel, did I do something wro—ah!”

Lindel lunged at Melaine at lightning speed. In an instant, she was right in front of him.

With her eyes wide open, Lindel looked terrifying as she lunged at him.

“Forget it!!!”

Lindel shouted incomprehensibly, striking Melaine on the head.

“Aagh!”

Melaine’s scream echoed through the halls of the Imperial Palace.

***

“I’m sorry.”

“Go away.”

“I really am sorry! I wasn’t in my right mind at that moment!”

I was kneeling before Melaine, head bowed, desperately apologizing, but Melaine’s gaze remained icily cold.

Sionel stood a step away, watching our conversation with amusement.

“I don’t need your apology, so just go away. Go to the person you like.”

“Hey—”

I tried calling out, drawing out my voice, but Melaine turned his back to me entirely.

And as he did, the bump on his head became even more visible.

Guilt, a feeling I hadn’t realized I could still experience, gnawed at me.

This was already the second time I had given Melaine a bump on the head, making me nothing less than a sinner.

Last time was an honest mistake, but this time, it was undeniably my fault.

The reason I’d lost my temper was simple.

Melaine had caught Sionel and me kissing. It was such an embarrassing moment that I wasn’t thinking straight.

“I just got embarrassed,” I muttered in a voice barely louder than an ant’s, and Melaine’s eyes narrowed.

“And yet you have no trouble saying things even more embarrassing, then hit me because of that?”

“More embarrassing?”

“I loooove you~ You were absolutely thrilled!”

Melaine mimicked my words in an annoying tone.

But I tilted my head in confusion. “What’s so embarrassing about that?”

I couldn’t understand what was so shameful about saying ‘I love you.’

“What?”

“Is saying ‘I love you’ really something to be embarrassed about?”

This time, it was Melaine who looked at me as if I were some strange creature. After staring at me like that, he pointed a finger at Sionel.

“Now that I think about it, you’ve always said things like how cute or handsome this lunatic is.”

Following his gesture, I looked over at Sionel.

When he met my eyes, he smiled warmly, even waving at me. He looked so lovable that I couldn’t help but nod.

“He is cute. And handsome.”

At my unhesitating response, Melaine’s expression became bewildered.

“So saying that isn’t embarrassing, but kissing him is?”

My face turned red in an instant. “T-that—that’s different! A kiss is something… more… just between the two of us, you know? It’s soft and…”

“A kiss with that lunatic is ‘soft’?”

“W-well, maybe not exactly…”

I’d never minded expressing my feelings openly before. It was part of why everyone had always been aware of my one-sided love. But kissing the person I loved was a completely different matter.

Just thinking about being caught kissing Sionel was enough to make me want to curl up and die.

Melaine, however, clearly couldn’t grasp the nuance. “Most people find both embarrassing, you know?!”

“No, they’re separate things.”

“Argh!”

Suddenly, Melaine screamed and began pulling at his own hair.

I took the opportunity to glance at him as if I were looking at a lunatic. Of course, when he looked back at me, I pretended to be distracted.

If he caught me giving him that look, he’d sulk even more.

“Fine, whatever! But why’d you only hit me?!”

“I can’t exactly hit Sir Sionel, can I?”

Melaine puffed out his cheeks, clearly annoyed, but what could I do? It wasn’t as if I could just go up and hit the emperor.

Sionel let out a delighted laugh.

I merely shrugged, but Melaine shot him a glare that could kill.

And then something unexpected happened.

Melaine’s eyes, fixed on me, grew wet.

-Poof!

With a light popping sound, gray smoke enveloped Melaine. I was bewildered at the sight, but soon the smoke dispersed, revealing a small black figure. It was Melaine in his miniature dragon form, the one I’d seen in the greenhouse before.

“Meanie.”

His plump, black front paws tried to reach his face as if to cover his eyes, but his arms were too short.

When Melaine wriggled his tiny body and curled up, only then did his paws manage to hide his face.

I watched the shocking sight with my mouth agape.

“I worked so hard every day to help Lindel, but she always hates me.”

While I struggled to find words, Melaine mumbled again, “Lindel, you’re mean.”

I panicked, rushing over to Melaine.

His small, adorable black tail slapped the floor in frustration, making even that gesture unbearably cute.

After hesitating for a moment, I awkwardly picked Melaine up. He was a bit heavy, but not impossible to lift.

“You’re so cute!”

Oops, I’d meant to apologize, but my true feelings slipped out instead. Realizing my mistake, I watched as Melaine lowered his front paws, his large eyes now brimming with tears. It looked like he might burst into tears any second.

“No, wait, I really am sorry! You worked so hard to help me, and I didn’t appreciate it!”

I babbled out an apology in my panic, and Melaine tilted his head.

Was it true? His gaze seemed to ask silently.

Then, his short front legs reached out as if asking for a hug. I was about to pull him into my arms when my hands suddenly felt light. By the time I realized what had happened, Melaine was no longer in my grasp.

The culprit was Sionel.

“What do you think you’re doing!”

I turned my head to see Melaine dangling from Sionel’s hand.

I glared at Sionel.

“What are you trying to pull? You damn dragon.”

Sionel looked at the tiny dragon with clear irritation. “Don’t think you can take advantage of Lindel’s soft spot for small, cute things.”

“You’re the one who always acts weak in front of Lindel! Why shouldn’t I be able to do the same?!”

The two—well, one man and one small dragon—began to bicker once again.

Melaine swung his short paw at Sionel as if to attack, but Sionel easily avoided it, simply keeping Melaine at arm’s length.

Melaine’s tail flapped in the air in frustration. It was overwhelmingly adorable.

“Oh my goodness…!”

Adding cuteness on top of cuteness was enough to make anyone lose their mind, and it seemed that was my fate. I clasped my hands over my mouth, overwhelmed with emotion.

Meanwhile, Sionel and Melaine’s argument grew even fiercer.

“Put me down, you devil!”

“Change back into your human form if you have any complaints.”

“Ha! You just hate that Lindel likes this form, don’t you?!”

“Didn’t you hate letting anyone see you like this?” Sionel spoke through gritted teeth, trying to hold back his irritation, and Melaine flared his nostrils in defiance.

“If I could beat you in this form, I wouldn’t care!” Melaine shouted like a man who had sold his soul to the devil. It seemed his hatred of losing to Sionel had driven him to this point.

Though Melaine let out an evil-sounding laugh, his tiny, cute form made it anything but menacing.

As the petty argument continued, I found myself regretting that I couldn’t record this scene to keep forever.