By Zephyria 
I thought I would naturally be by Mahir’s side when he ascended the throne. I even spent a lot of time thinking about what kind of gift I should give him. It was a joyous day that officially marked the end of Khalifa’s tyranny, and I always thought I would celebrate it to my heart’s content.
Mahir probably ascended the throne in a hurry, as if he were being chased. The damage caused by the Magical creatures pouring down as the sky above the Imperial Castle tore apart, my disappearance, and the Emperor’s death… he probably couldn’t even rejoice properly. I could vividly picture the enthronement ceremony, which should have been perfect and complete in itself, being somber like a funeral.
“Why aren’t you saying anything?”
“……”
Mahir, who had been holding me tightly, let go slightly and asked. Seeing his face up close, I suddenly started sweating. He didn’t say anything to blame me, but I couldn’t help but feel nervous, like a scolded child.
Because I had ruined the day he had been waiting for so long, the day that should have been the most glorious, all because of me.
“Let’s go inside.”
Come to think of it, I had been keeping Mahir standing at the door. When I turned my head, Aska, who was wearing a hood, was standing blankly next to the sofa.
Mahir and two men who seemed to be his guards entered the room. The guards stood behind Mahir, and Aska and I naturally sat in the seats opposite them.
Then, the guard and Mahir looked at Aska at the same time.
“Could it be Aska?”
Mahir asked with a look of doubt.
I wondered if it was because he was wearing a hood even indoors, but it seemed he didn’t recognize Aska. I felt Aska glance at me. I pulled the collar of the robe and took off the hood.
Mahir flinched for a moment when he saw Aska’s face, then opened his mouth.
“Still, it looks like you’ve both been eating well. You’ve gotten so big since I last saw you.”
Seeing that he could remain calm even after seeing those blue lips, it seemed Mahir was truly fit to be Emperor. Moreover, he was asking after the well-being of his younger brother and his partner, who had caused such a mess and disappeared for several years. If it were me, I would have immediately made them kneel and spanked their bottoms for causing so much trouble.
“Why aren’t either of you saying anything? Cat got your tongue?”
Mahir narrowed his eyes and asked. I should say something, whether it was a joke or an excuse, but I couldn’t bring myself to speak. I didn’t know where to start, and it was even more difficult because he was treating me so casually.
I would have felt less guilty if he had slapped me on the back and scolded me as soon as he saw me.
“Are you hurt anywhere? What’s wrong with your chin? It doesn’t seem to be from the candy.”
In a brief moment, Mahir saw the blue candy on the plate and figured out why Aska was like that. I tilted my head with a puzzled expression and carefully examined Aska’s face.
What’s wrong with his chin…?
“Ah……”
Aska scratched the area near his left chin with his fingertips. I had been looking at it for so long that I didn’t even notice it. There was a faint mark left where I had kissed and sucked so much that it had eventually bruised.
Still, Aska, being perceptive, didn’t answer directly and told a suitable lie.
“I bumped into it while playing with a puppy.”
But of all the lies he could have told… he should have just said he fell.
I cleared my throat and changed the subject.
“Congratulations on your enthronement, though it’s late.”
“Congratulations.”
Aska echoed my words from the side. Mahir, receiving the clumsy greetings from the two fools, narrowed his eyes again and looked at us as if observing us. The blatant gaze was uncomfortable, so I slowly turned my eyes to the side to avoid it without being obvious.
At that moment, there was a knock, and Abyss entered. He skillfully placed tea and refreshments on the table and knelt down.
“I greet the Sun God Rahan.”
“Rise.”
Mahir raised Abyss up as he had done with me, and smiled with genuine joy.
“I knew you would be by my side.”
“Thank you.”
Abyss answered stiffly with a very nervous face. I felt like my blood was drying up like this, so how much more would Abyss feel? I wanted to save him, but I couldn’t because I was in a difficult situation myself.
“I expected you to be together since you suddenly disappeared.”
Ah, so it was already exposed.
Even when I was smuggling people out of the Harem, Mahir would always indirectly warn me. He didn’t know their exact location, but he seemed to have a rough idea of where they were living.
Abyss was flustered and kept glancing at me sideways. I maintained a blank expression and ignored his pleading eyes.
“You two, go out and wait for a while.”
Perhaps feeling sorry for our plight, Mahir stepped in. As the two bowed and turned to leave, Aska whispered in my ear.
“I think he’s going to scold us now.”
Hearing his stiff voice, I whispered in Aska’s ear.
“Weren’t you not scared?”
“You’re so nervous that you’re making me nervous.”
“It’s because of me?”
He said he would run away with me if I gave the signal, but he’s all messed up because he’s so nervous. Seeing me glare at him, Aska mouthed ‘what, what’ while raising his chin and nodding.
I clicked my tongue inwardly at his delinquent behavior and shook my head.
While we were doing this, we heard the sound of the two leaving and the door closing. As I quietly looked ahead again, Mahir asked.
“Have you been causing a lot of trouble while I haven’t seen you?”
I couldn’t keep my mouth shut, so I sighed and shook my head.
“It’s not like that.”
Actually, it seemed like I had caused a lot of trouble, but I decided to skip it for now. I wasn’t ready to talk about it yet.
“Or are you just awkward because it’s been a long time since we met?”
Rather than awkward… how should I put it? To be honest, I was uncomfortable with Mahir bringing up Khalifa’s death.
But I knew he would want to address this issue at some point.
I didn’t regret killing him. Even if the same situation arose again, I wouldn’t hesitate to kill Khalifa. But it was difficult to explain my mindset in words without any excuses.
After all, Khalifa was Mahir’s blood relative.
“Being like this reminds me of when you were young.”
Mahir suddenly said something out of the blue. He looked at me, who was puzzled, and smiled with an expression that didn’t suit an Emperor.
“Back then, it took you a long time to answer my questions too. When we went on a picnic by the lake and I asked you what you wanted to eat, it took you a week to say sandwich.”
The sudden old story made my head spin. I could feel Aska giggling silently next to me.
“Why are you talking about something so old?”
“I was wondering why you hadn’t contacted me, even though you didn’t seem to be dead, and then I thought of that. I thought it might be because you couldn’t, not because you didn’t want to.”
I frowned without realizing it at the sudden change of topic. Mahir took a sip of the tea that Abyss had brought and continued.
“Like you said, that was a long time ago. It shouldn’t take you that long to contact me. So, what could be the reason why you couldn’t? You could have been injured or lost your memory. There could be reasons like that, or……”
He was like a real ghost. Aska was also surprised and stared at me with wide eyes. Seeing our reaction, Mahir was also surprised and asked.
“Is that right?”
Aska and I nodded at the same time to his question.
“Were you injured, or did you lose your memory?”
“Both. And it hasn’t been long since I met Aska. Aska was also badly injured.”
Before I could finish speaking, Mahir’s expression was already distorted. He closed his eyes tightly and remained silent for a moment. And when he opened his eyes, he looked exhausted.
“Were you so seriously injured that you lost your memory? Where, and how much?”
I don’t actually remember exactly what my body was like. I spent most of my time in bed while we were separated. Until Aska came, I was so weak that I couldn’t even walk alone.
“Even so, I was very worried because I saw signs of you being injured while investigating Talim.”
What Mahir was talking about was probably the fragments that flew everywhere when Aska exploded.
“And now?”
Mahir asked again. It was ambiguous to say that I was completely healed, but I wasn’t in pain, so I nodded.
“I’m okay.”
“Just in case, I brought the Royal Physician, so get a checkup later. Aska, you too. He’s not the type to go around blabbing about you, so don’t worry.”
“Yes, thank you.”
Was he worried that Aska might not get proper treatment because his identity might be revealed? It was amazing that he even thought of that and brought the Royal Physician.
Seeing his gentle demeanor, which showed no anger, I couldn’t help but ask.
“Why aren’t you angry?”
At the sudden question, Mahir leaned back on the sofa. Then, he took a breath and opened his mouth.
“No matter how impulsive you are, you wouldn’t have assassinated the late Emperor for fun, so there must have been a reason.”
As sudden as the question was, an uncomfortable topic suddenly began. Mahir looked at the air as if thinking about something and continued.
“At first, I was taken aback that you committed such a thing and disappeared without any explanation. But I always thought that you might do that someday.”
“……That I would kill him?”
“No, that you would leave the tiresome Imperial Castle and go somewhere alone.”
“……”
An indescribable emotion surged inside me. I was confused, not knowing how to react or what expression to make, when Aska grabbed my hand under the table.