Chapter 2: First Night’s Bet

“WAA! I apologize! I can’t really do it!”

Before Kiert could catch her, Lissie ran as fast as a squirrel. Lissie quickly rolled to the corner of the bed, where she held on to the bedpost and cried.

“Then, why don’t we call off the wedding?”

“We can’t—”

Lissei was in pain, so she rubbed her head against the column of the bedpost. 

She was about to go crazy when she thought that she couldn’t do this or that. 

Lissie wanted to close her eyes and sleep through the night, but she hated it so much that she thought it would kill her. 

But the couple did not split up. 

Is killing Kiert really the only option? 

If Kiert is killed, the wedding won’t continue, but at least the war won’t start back up right away. 

Kiert gave Lissie a strong warning when he saw her sneak a look at the candlestick.

“Are you going to stop making plans to kill me?”

“When did I—”

Lissie acted innocent, but she could never fool Kiert.

Lissie’s shoulders hung down like a grassy puppy. 

She wasn’t sure enough of herself to quietly accept Kiert, but she couldn’t even run away after killing Kiert. 

Kiert’s eyes showed all the worries that were going through his mind. 

He can’t play tag like this all night long any other way. 

Kiert’s voice was as soft as it could be. 

In doing so, the princess of the enemy country came to be flattered.

“You know that you can only be considered married if you spend the night together, right?”

“I know—”

“What if I make it as easy and painless as I can?”

“Pain?”

“…”

A few things Lissie didn’t seem to know that some people at first could feel pain. 

“So. As much as possible, I’ll make sure that you won’t feel pain. If you tell me to stop, I’ll do it right away. I’ll never do anything you don’t like.”

“I still hate it!”

“Ha, how can you not even try to think well?”

“Even if everyone in the world died, it won’t be enough for Your Majesty… you sure you’ll put in an effort?”

It was a fight between two people who were trying to kill each other on the battlefield. 

The emotional distance was greater between the two of them. 

Also, it made sense to say Kiert was the Emperor. 

He was also young, attractive, in good shape, had a smart head, a kind personality, and even treated women with respect. 

He’s never met a woman that didn’t like him. 

Many women said they would come, but no one said they would not go. 

He had never been turned down before. 

This really made Lissie feel bad about herself.

“I’ll try.”

Lissie noticed and added something later, but by then Kiert’s patience had run out.

“No, I don’t think I can get out of it.”

“What did you say?”

“No one is looking, so shouldn’t we just agree that we did it between the two of us?”

“Hmm… can we do it?”

She opened her eyes wider. 

If one doesn’t show up on the first night, the marriage might be canceled later.

“Who knows if just the two of us could keep a secret? Instead, we need to have a way to work together.”

“What?”

Can they stay married without spending the night together? 

Lissie could never work with anyone or anything. 

Lissie put her mind in place and paid attention to Kiert.

“People say that after a physical relationship, the mood between a man and a woman changes a lot.”

“Ah… is that—so?”

“If we don’t want to be revealed too early, shouldn’t we at least act friendly around other people?”

“I understand.”

“It will also give us a chance to show how strong we are in front of Rogan.”

This wedding was a sign that the armistice was real and a message to Rogan that they were holding hands. 

It’s fine to live roughly in front of Rogan. 

Like most arranged marriages. 

But Rogan is on the lookout. 

It was an arranged marriage at first, but they had to show that things are going well and that the peace won’t break any time soon. 

Kiert’s idea was a good one. 

They had no reason not to work together. 

Lissie nodded sternly.

“I’ll do my best. Oh, one more thing. That means it still happened and will still happen, right?”

The emperor and his wife still do share a bedroom once a month, even after the first night. 

Lissie did everything that was written in the contract.

“Yes… I won’t touch you until you want me to touch you.”

Kiert also said something that could be considered as misunderstanding. 

Whoever didn’t like it also won’t like it. 

They wanted to see where they would hate it and for how long. 

Do they not want to spend the rest of their lives together? 

Kiert was the emperor who was not used to being turned down. 

Whether or not she knew what was in Kiert’s heart, Lissie went back to the middle of the bed and smiled to herself.

“Then… then… Can I sleep now?”

“You’re… sleeping?”

“Your Highness?”

Kiert didn’t answer, but he did sit on the couch next to the bed with his legs crossed. 

He didn’t look like he was going to get into bed.

“Night… won’t you sleep?”

“Do you know for sure that you’ll be safe while you sleep?”

Lissie thought, ‘Oh right… I told him that I would kill him and run away—’

“Now that we have a deal… I won’t have to kill Your Majesty anymore.”

“Right… I get that.”

Kiert did not get up from the couch, though. 

Words don’t build trust. 

But it’s also clear that he lies in bed alone and sleeps alone. 

Lissie, who couldn’t lie down or sit down and had trouble standing up straight, made a cautious suggestion.

“Then, wouldn’t it be hard to stay up all night and not move?”

“It’s not as bad as dying.”

“Well… Since we’ve decided to work together, I’ll stay up all night with you, even if it’s the last thing I do. Ah! Right. I heard you got some toys ready for this and that.”

Before she went into the new room, she heard different things said about him. 

She thought she could just do what she needed to do and go to sleep, so she skimmed over it, but then she remembered it.

In all of history, the wedding of an emperor has never been a love marriage. 

So, to make those who have to have a physical relationship less stressed, they said that he had prepared this and that. 

They were told about it by the person who suggested that they both use it when things are awkward. 

They’re both useful, but in different ways. It would be more fun than just talking all night.

“I think everything I’ve made up here has been a toy.”

When Lisse started looking for things, Kiert watched her with interest and went up to her. 

There was a lot going on.

“Are you saying this is going to kill you?”

Lissie found a pink rope and a whip among the things she found. 

She can find something like this, after all! 

Kiert took the items and threw them out of the window.

“I must have done it by accident.”

I looked around and saw a lot of different kinds of toys besides them. 

Dice games, cards, and so on. 

But none of the first night toys were unusual.

“Kiss him/her on the cheek, kiss his/her eyelids, and kiss his/her lips three times—”

Lissie was scared when she saw the rules written on the dice and cards, so she threw them away. 

Kiert, who was looking at other gaming equipment, put the thing he found down with the same look. 

All of it was like this. 

Getting them to touch each other or having deep conversations with them. 

It was too hard for two people to play, so they agreed in a dramatic way to skip the first night. 

She looked for a long time before she finally found the chess board. 

They were both so happy when we found it and cheered. 

Each chess board had the same penalties written on it, but they could be ignored.

“Do you have your own rules?”

“Well… I’m not sure. I use it to plan strategies.”

Lissie, who had raised her standards for a long time, was already thinking of a plan. 

Her brain was trained to conjure different strategies. 

But as it became more popular, rules for how to play were made, and chess pairs were simply chosen. 

Like Lissie, Kiert used his brain a lot for strategy, but he also knew how to play the game. 

This is because nobles also often used it as toys at parties. 

Long-term rules were a little different for each person and each region. 

They used to switch it up every now and then.

“Then look at the rules for how to play.”

“What will be the reward?”

“Part of the strategy?”

It makes sense to offer a bet.

“You need a reward for hard work.”

“Is this why Edrin is so powerful?”

Kiert looked at Lissie as if she were making a fool of herself. 

Lissie gave a smile and a shrug. 

‘It felt good to have the enemy commander tell me right in front of my eyes that I was strong.’

“Great. What are we going to bet on?”

“Hmmm—”

After all, staying up all night is a fun game. 

It doesn’t matter what kind of light there is. 

When Kiert agreed to the bet, Lysis gave it a lot of thought. Lissie thought about the condition too much, so Kiert also thought about it a lot.

It was a chance to get something pretty good, as long as they didn’t have to risk their neck.

At some point, they both stopped thinking. 

But there was another argument about who would go first. 

In strategy, it’s important to get ahead, but it’s also important to know how many opponents you have. 

The usual routine didn’t change. Lissie made a proposal at the end.

“At three—”

“Sure.”

Kiert agreed.

“Yes, I’ll keep track. Three, two, one!”

“What happened when you hit my back on Norak Hill?”

“Talking informally—”

They both looked at each other like they didn’t understand. Conditions for betting came up that were very different from each other. 

Kiert’s wish was a plan for the battle where he almost died because Lissie beat him so badly that he almost didn’t make it. 

After that, no amount of strategic analysis could help him figure out where Edrin was going. 

It was a chance to learn the secret at last.

“With that out of the way, I’m going to tell you about Edrin’s physical features, but first—”

“What you want is to change the order of the Shiran family.”

In its own way, Lissie’s wish was clear. 

She was the daughter of a princess and an emperor. 

She was an empress, but she was more like a hostage than a normal empress. 

Based on this difference, Kiert used informal words, while Lissie used honorifics. 

Lissie called Kiert a lot of different names on the battlefield, like Kier, Emperor, that jerk, and bastard. 

Then all of a sudden, she felt lost when she decided to call him ‘Your Majesty’ suddenly.

Both of them bet on something cool. 

But it’s true that the game gets more exciting as you bet more.

“It’s a bet, right?”

“Yes, a bet is a bet,” he said.

Their eyes lit up like fireworks. 

If their opponent wins, the game is over, no matter what it takes. 

Both of them rolled up their sleeves and grabbed a puff of breath with all their might. 

It had nothing to do with how war looked at the time.