I’m in Trouble Because The Emperor Thinks My Time is Limited - Chapter 54

The place Sionel led me to was the familiar greenhouse retreat. Secluded from the noisy world outside, this place was as peaceful as ever. The only difference from before was the absence of Melaine, which seemed to make Sionel even more pleased. As I savored the quiet atmosphere, I hesitated for a moment before speaking to Sionel.

“…You’re not angry?”

A weary shadow lingered on his face with his eyes closed, but as soon as he opened them, it disappeared.

“Why would I be?” Sionel asked gently. However, feeling guilty, I averted my gaze.

“You told me to stay put, but I didn’t listen again.”

Back when my mana had run amok, Sionel had said he was scared to find me in the middle of the chaos. I had promised not to do it again, yet here I was, breaking that promise.

Just before confronting that suspicious woman, I even avoided Sionel’s gaze. I had been bracing myself for his scolding, but no matter how long I waited, he said nothing. Sionel let out a short laugh at my words.

“I didn’t expect you to worry about something like that.”

Leaning back lazily against the white bench, Sionel continued, “There was too much that you wanted to protect there. So it couldn’t be helped.”

“What I wanted to protect?”

“Fragile things.”

His blue eyes briefly glanced at a flower imbued with mana. For a moment, a cold expression flickered in his gaze like an illusion.

“Things you cherish so much, you fear they might break if you hold them too tightly.”

I wasn’t sure how to respond. Sionel continued nonchalantly, “At first, you couldn’t avoid it because Sir Utilia was by your side. Then, you had a child behind you, so you had to endure.”

How kind of you. Sionel laughed almost like a sigh. It was amazing that he had read my intentions so precisely, but it also made me feel slightly awkward. Hearing him put it that way made me sound like a genuinely good person.

At that moment, his languid voice continued, “Since I, too, owe your kindness, how could I blame you?”

“You, Sionel?”

At his unexpected remark, I quickly looked up. The eyes meeting mine were as warm as if they were about to melt.

“When I first met you, I was also young and weak, and I was able to win your affection.”

It seemed he was recalling his childhood. His eyes appeared to trace memories, staring off somewhere far away. However, I couldn’t agree with that wistful recollection.

“…Who exactly was young and weak?”

I stared at Sionel’s face with a perplexed expression, and soon I also began recalling the past.

Young and weak Sionel, huh…

“Hello! What’s your name?”

“Buzz off.”

“Is your name Buzz Off?”

I quickly stopped reminiscing. The face of Sionel, with his eyes lowered amid the dappled sunlight, looked saintly. The young face in my memory overlapped with his current face. Though my recollection stumbled from the very beginning, I resolved to do my best and resumed the memory.

“I’ll protect you!”

“Who will protect whom?”

“I-I will protect you, Sionel!”

“Stop bothering me and get out of my sight.”

“……”

My expression became utterly disgruntled. I hadn’t realized it before, but Sionel’s nostalgia was seriously exaggerated.

As far as I remembered, Sionel Woodburgh had never been weak. He might have been physically weak, but his venomous words had never made him seem that way. To be honest, as a child, he was a downright brat.

“Who was weak again?”

“Me.”

Sionel smiled gently despite my sour expression. I thought to myself as I looked at his smile: how shameless.

“Sure, let’s just say that’s true.”

Any guilt I felt for worrying him vanished like dust in the face of these childhood memories. Sionel laughed softly, almost like a sigh. His mechanical smile looked somewhat sad, but it was probably just my imagination.

“By the way, I’m assigning Melaine to be your bodyguard for the time being.”

“Alright.”

I answered absentmindedly, but soon realized something was off.

“Wait a second. Who are you assigning as my bodyguard?”

“Melaine Crostan will be your bodyguard.”

Just as I was lamenting my poor taste in men during my youth, Sionel suddenly made this surprising announcement. I looked at him in shock, but I hadn’t misheard.

“There’s been some strange occurrences lately. He’ll only act as your bodyguard during movement.”

“Did Melaine agree to this?”

“He volunteered.”

I frowned, deep in thought. I had to be the only person carrying around a dragon as a bodyguard, even if it was all due to a misunderstanding.

“He still doesn’t know I’m human, does he?”

Instead of answering, Sionel gave a faint smile. Despite seemingly meeting more often than I did, the relationship between them remained as cold as ever.

“Melaine is currently hiding out in the imperial palace, so it’s difficult for him to appear even if something happens. That’s why he couldn’t help with the recent incident.”

Sionel’s fingers intertwined with mine. His hand fiddled with my fingers, drawing my attention momentarily as he spoke in a voice that almost sounded like a complaint.

“If he stays by your side as a bodyguard, he might be a little more useful.”

His fingers, which had been playing with mine, now pressed firmly against my palm. After growing closer to Sionel, I’d learned many things about him.

Touching hands was one of his ways of expressing himself. He conveyed emotions that were hard to put into words through such gestures. Sometimes it was affection, other times worry. But now, it seemed his feelings were different from either of those.

“If you dislike him so much, why did you choose Melaine as my bodyguard?”

“Because it’s safe. He’s stupid, but he’s a dragon, so it’s a more reasonable choice than others.”

Sionel stopped fidgeting with my hand. He blinked lazily, then leaned his forehead against my shoulder.

Seeing him look so exhausted, I instinctively embraced him. A small laugh came from within my arms.

“I trust you, but I don’t trust him.”

“Did Melaine do something wrong?”

“It wasn’t exactly a mistake. More like an incident. It’s a matter of feelings. He doesn’t realize it yet, though.”

Sionel’s words were once again cryptic. He sometimes spoke in riddles like this, leaving me frustrated. When he acted this way, getting a straight answer seemed impossible.

Giving up on understanding, I relaxed my body and looked up at the greenhouse ceiling. Light scattered beautifully as it hit the glass. At this moment, it felt as if all the chaos of recent events was nothing but a dream, and everything was at peace.

The noon sunlight tickled my skin, and I closed my eyes, following Sionel’s lead.

***

As Sionel had declared, Melaine naturally became my bodyguard. His sudden appearance, of course, drew intense attention.

Initially, it was his appearance that caught people’s attention. Wearing a knight’s uniform instead of a shabby black robe, Melaine looked quite different from the awkward image I had seen before. People couldn’t take their eyes off the sight of such a beautiful man, as if he had stepped out of a dream.

Next, their curiosity turned to his origins. Those gossiping about Melaine naturally became curious about where he had come from.

The fact that he had been personally brought by the emperor was enough to pique their interest. Melaine was unforgettable in appearance, and because of that, many remembered that he had once been a priest serving the god of death. And that became the problem.

I watched their interest from afar, but things took an unexpected turn. People speculated on why the emperor had brought a “priest of the god of death.”

“Why else would His Majesty bring a priest who can see souls? It means the situation is dangerous.”

“It’s gotten to the point where the priest’s healing powers aren’t enough anymore.”

“She’s been pretending to be okay for everyone else’s sake. She’s been enduring the pain all this time.”

The incident of me coughing up blood after waking up had already spread throughout the entire palace. Rumors, unchecked, spread far and wide, and Melaine’s presence only added fuel to the fire. The conclusion of these increasingly sensational rumors was that “Lindel Bodebachne doesn’t have much time left to live.”

It was utter nonsense.

Nevertheless, the dreadful conclusion was directed straight at me.

“Life is short! Hahaha!”

When someone is pushed to their limit, they either let go completely or go on a mad rampage. In my case, it was the former.

After hearing the rumors, I felt my blood pressure rise to the point of nearly killing me. It was amazing how vivid their imaginations were. However, when the palanquin was brought back before me shortly after, I finally let everything go.

The palanquin, which had been thrown into the storage room by Sionel’s orders, returned to me after countless petitions. They claimed that I needed a safe means of transportation because I was ill.

Having given up on everything, I often burst into laughter at random moments, and Melaine watched me with pity.

“Poor Lindel.”

Melaine lamented, saying that humans were bullying a powerless dragon. His words were enough to make me feel deeply sorrowful, but he remained oblivious to it.

“There’s no turning back now!”

With the enthusiastic shouts of six knights, the palanquin carrying me was lifted.

On my way to meet Sionel, I was being escorted in a manner more extravagant than the emperor himself. If this moment were to be recorded in history, future generations would find it utterly ridiculous.

As I sank into the plush cushions, I felt all eyes on me. Wanting to drown my sorrows, I lifted a bottle to my lips and gulped.

But unfortunately, the bottle contained an herbal brew, not alcohol. The concoction, made by boiling a medicinal root that was supposedly good for my health, was horrifically bitter. Luna, who had handed it to me with a smile, now seemed like an agent of the devil.

“Ugh! So this is the bitter taste of life!”

I laughed like a madwoman.

But then—

“……”

“……”

Count Bodebachne—my biological father—stood before me.

I later heard that, at that moment, I truly looked like someone who had lost everything.