🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter : 82
This and That
Someone from the Imperial Palace had come by.
Suffering from muscle soreness, Charlophe spent the entire day lying down.
With a body lacking strength, it was especially hard on him.
Those who used to attend him used to say that due to his frail constitution, Charlophe severely lacked muscle strength.
It was an entirely constitutional issue.
“Mm.”
And so a day passed.
He took medicine for the soreness and slept through the evening.
“Was the muscle pain that bad?”
A presence stirred beside him.
Charlophe, lying on his side, slowly let out a steady breath.
His mind felt submerged, as though underwater—hazy and dull. That feeling of sinking into a deep abyss, that wretched sensation again.
“I’m sorry I left your side.”
The hand stroking his skin was tender.
He wanted to linger in that comfort just a little longer.
His eyes blinked slowly.
The hand resting on his forehead brushed aside stray hairs. A familiar warmth pooled against his brow.
Like raindrops spreading across a lake—tap, tap—ripples stirred in the consciousness that had been drifting emptily in his unconsciousness.
“Are you awake?”
A cool hand touched his forehead.
“If it hurts, sleep a little more.”
“I’m fine. I took my medicine.”
“It’s surprising how weak the human body can be.”
The chill cooled the heat lingering on his brow.
“I’m sorry for pushing you so much.”
“……Why do you keep apologizing? Did you do something you should be sorry to me for?”
Charlophe lay facing him, propping himself up on one arm, sinking into the bedding.
“Then… may I trouble you again?”
“…….”
“I don’t know why, but I keep wanting to trouble you. Yesterday, seeing you cry—it hurt my heart, yet I still wanted to make you cry again.”
Benjamin toyed with Charlophe’s earlobe.
“You cried so much yesterday.”
“…….”
“So much that the area under your eyes was swollen.”
His hand traced down Charlophe’s back.
“Ah!”
Fingertips brushed along his spine, tracing bone as they moved upward. The motion was fluid, like swimming through a hollowed valley.
“That’s why we couldn’t do this or that.”
“Why are you touching my back…?”
“Mm. Why indeed.”
Benjamin pressed firmly into the muscles beside Charlophe’s spine.
“Why was it, I wonder.”
“There are many attendants outside.”
“So what?”
“They can hear.”
“And after doing all this, you say that?”
“…….”
“Enough, Charlophe. I troubled you too much again.”
With the hand that had been tracing his spine, Benjamin twined Charlophe’s long hair around his fingers.
“It’s a shame you’ve learned caution, when you used to have none.”
You don’t really understand how regretful that makes me feel.
“Where does it hurt?”
“I’m not sure.”
“You have to tell me where it hurts so I can know. It’s like the soreness when you first held a sword—your muscles were startled by unfamiliar stimulation and stiffened. You just need to loosen them.”
“My back aches, and aside from my pelvis, my sides feel stiff too.”
“So it all hurts.”
Benjamin let out a quiet chuckle.
“Come here.”
As if drawn by something, Charlophe lay facedown. A soft line ran from shoulder to upper arm as Benjamin pressed along his muscles.
“Your shoulders are tense again.”
“Ah!”
“Did I press too hard?”
The deep pressure made Charlophe shudder.
“Is it here?”
“You find it easily.”
“If you look at how someone curls up, the angle they stretch their arms, the movement of their joints—and the line from shoulder to arm—it’s easy to tell.”
Benjamin ran his hand over the trapezius muscle, watching Charlophe’s subtle reactions.
“Was that too boring?”
“A little.”
“You need that kind of boredom. You look more comfortable when you’re just blank like that.”
He pressed firmly, as though applying acupressure. The sensation of loosening muscles was dull and heavy.
“My body feels warm.”
“You seem numb to pain usually, but you’re honest about muscle soreness.”
“This one’s shallow but stretches on.”
“Is it different?”
“Yes. It aches sharply every time you forget about it.”
A whole day passed like that—smooth and uneventful.
“Sleep some more. By tomorrow, your muscles will loosen.”
Charlophe buried himself into the blankets. The bedding sank softly beneath him.
Benjamin stayed by his side, gently stroking his forehead.
The soothing touch made his body grow languid.
“Are you asleep?”
There was no answer.
Only steady breathing followed. Tracing that breath, it was clear—he was fast asleep.
The breathing gradually grew calmer.
As Benjamin adjusted his posture so he could sleep comfortably, Charlophe stirred with a soft groan.
“Mm…”
Ah—once again, Benjamin lost himself at the sight.
“He’s asleep.”
“…….”
“What if you cry even in your sleep?”
He wiped Charlophe’s eyes with the back of his hand.
“I think I’ll keep making you cry in the future.”
Benjamin stretched out his arm, brushing over Charlophe’s delicate neck and tracing the hollow of his collarbone.
You’re right here. Within reach, if I extend my arm.
I can feel your breath.
Doesn’t the breath you exhale touch me and scatter?
Your lukewarm body heat disperses.
That troubled him.
Like building a castle from grains of sand—fragile, delicate—
Yet beneath it all, it was solid.
Then why did it feel as though it would scatter away?
You’re here, yet it feels like you might leave somewhere.
Pull you down.
Hold on to you.
Just as you said.
If I don’t cling to you forcibly, it feels like you’ll vanish without a trace.
Benjamin placed his hand over Charlophe’s solar plexus.
“Why does there feel like such a distance between us?”
Marriage is a human relationship.
The bonds of a relationship spread like a net, and the denser that net becomes, the deeper the bond.
That net is wide.
Their body heat intermingled,
And the warmth shared in the same bed slowly made them resemble each other.
“Haa…”
Charlophe let out a small groan.
His even breathing sounded almost like a sigh, dispersing softly into the air.
“Sleep more.”
Benjamin withdrew his arm.
A spring wound tight.
Somewhere, an old melody—
A crackling mechanical sound, as though mixed with static.
That sound echoed.
—Click.
Was it unconsciousness?
He sank into it.
“Your Majesty. You look at ease. Did you have a pleasant dream?”
The head maid asked as she drew back the curtains.
“It felt like I heard a music box.”
“Ah, then perhaps this.”
She tied the curtains back, her gaze lingering elsewhere.
An old wooden box—
It looked like a well-worn antique.
“Was something like this always here?”
“Well… perhaps someone placed it beside you so you’d have pleasant dreams. The spring kept turning beside you.”
A wooden music box carved simply, with no decoration.
“This is a Yashanka tribe music box. There’s a superstition that if you sleep with it playing, it eats nightmares. People place it by a child’s pillow, hoping they’ll sleep peacefully…”
The head maid trailed off, watching Charlophe’s expression.
“My apologies. I spoke too long.”
“No. I feel light and refreshed.”
So the mechanical sound he heard last night was from that music box?
He picked it up from the table and wound the spring. Thin coiled wire bent with a faint rattling sound.
“The melody is deep despite its age. Even when the sound splits like it’s tearing, it feels like it’s holding you gently. Leave it as it is.”
Charlophe leaned his head back and sat quietly.
“Bring water for washing.”
“…….”
“Why are you spacing out so early in the morning?”
“I—I apologize, Your Majesty.”
The head maid hurried to assist with his morning wash.
“All done. I’ll take my leave.”
She departed with the basin.
Outside, the Emperor had already arrived. The chief attendant announced him.
“His Majesty the Emperor enters.”
Charlophe tilted his head and slipped his ankles out from under the blankets.
His sprained ankle felt light now, having rested well.
“You’re sitting there absentmindedly again.”
“It’s still early.”
He was sinking into that drowsy warmth—
“How’s your body?”
“It’s always the same. The music box…”
“I obtained it long ago while traveling battlefronts. They said it was a lullaby to help one sleep peacefully. It carries a superstition of the Asanka tribe—that it lies beside the weary and watches over their dreams.”
“Did you play it for me last night too?”
“Yes. I found it by chance in my office. It’s so old I’d forgotten it existed.”
So that you might sleep peacefully.
“I’m glad the rest was comfortable.”
His body carried the chill of the outdoors. As if shaking it off, Benjamin brushed his shoulders.
“I’m cold for a moment. If I pass that chill onto you, you’ll catch a cold.”
“I’m not some child left by the water’s edge.”
Benjamin smelled faintly of dry earth.
“Did you come from the training grounds?”
“Yes. It’s the only time I can properly inspect the Imperial Guard.”
Along with that came the crisp bitterness of grass and the comfort of burning dry firewood.
“Is the muscle soreness better?”
Benjamin gently rubbed Charlophe’s waist.
“It improved thanks to how you loosened it yesterday.”
“You look worn out.”
“I feel pleasantly drowsy.”
“When the body is recovering, sleepiness can come easily. If fatigue builds and recovery is slow, sometimes the body stores strength through sleep.”
Like being slowly soaked by a drizzle, his body grew heavy with languor.
“Is training finished?”
“Yes.”
“It usually lasts until late morning.”
“I couldn’t help it. I couldn’t focus on sparring while you were lying here alone.”
My whole mind was on you.
That was his answer.
“We haven’t had breakfast yet, right?”
His tired eyelids ached. He shaded his eyes from the morning light with the back of his hand.
—Thump.
Charlophe stumbled, his ankles tangled in the blankets.
“Were you forcing yourself to stay awake?”
“I wanted to have breakfast together. It’s been a while since we ate quietly, just the two of us.”
Benjamin wrapped an arm around his waist.
“Is your hair bothering you? Shall I tie it?”
“It’s so long—it might be uncomfortable to tie.”
“Do you have a ribbon?”
“There’s a spare in the drawer.”
Benjamin retrieved it.
“Was it this long before?”
“No. It’s gotten longer recently.”
“I thought it reached your hips before.”
“Is it too long below that?”
With practiced hands, he gathered and tied Charlophe’s hair, fingers moving smoothly between the strands.
“I like it long.”
“Mm.”
“It’s all fine. Anything is fine. You shine red like a candle—that’s enough.”
“That’s rather abstract.”
“As long as you shine beside me, it’s enough. You’re like a canvas layered with red paint—no matter who you’re among, you stand out the most.”
Benjamin brushed aside the hair at Charlophe’s temple.
“Should I tell the head maid to just trim the ends?”
“It does feel heavy on my neck when it gets too long.”
Benjamin adjusted his hair once more.
“You said it was heavy—so I thought I’d hold it for you.”
He pulled Charlophe into his arms.
“If you’re tired, it’s better to sleep more.”
“I just woke up too.”
“Then I’ll have them prepare food that’s easy to digest.”
He gave the order, instructing the attendants to serve breakfast in the bedroom.
“Do you have plans for the afternoon?”
“I’ll remain in the central office. I’ve been away from the palace too long—there’s much to handle.”
A light breakfast was laid out: scrambled eggs, potato salad, and the like.
“Or… would you like to come to the office with me?”
