By Zephyria 
Just how did rumors about us spread across the sea to the western countries?
“So, the rumor about the Emperor sleeping with his children is also a lie?”
“Well…”
That part is true, though.
But I was too ashamed to admit it outright. It’s all because of that Khalifa, that inhuman bastard… Ugh, so annoying.
While maintaining a blank expression and committing patricide in my mind, Aegis asked again.
“It’s not a lie?”
“It’s a lie.”
“Really?”
“No.”
“What? No?”
For a moment, I thought about lying, but I figured I should at least let her know that the guy is crazy, so I just told her honestly.
“Yeah, so if you ever meet the Emperor, don’t even make eye contact or exchange words.”
At my words, Aegis straightened up in shock. She detached her back from the wall she had been leaning against and cautiously approached me, stammering.
“You, you too?”
“I don’t have any children?”
“With the Crown Prince…”
Could it be Mahir? Is she asking if I’m sleeping with my brother? I never expected Mahir to be brought up. Khalifa is one thing, but it was absurd for Mahir to be summoned in such a dirty context.
I stared at Aegis for a moment before opening my mouth.
“You ask such questions so casually.”
Aegis seemed momentarily flustered by my mumbling. But before she could say anything, I asked.
“Do you happen to have any male siblings?”
“What?”
Aegis’s expression turned bewildered at my sudden question.
“Why are you asking that all of a sudden?”
“We’re family now, after all.”
“What?”
“I slept with your brother after sleeping with my brother. Or maybe a younger brother?”
“……”
“Or even your father would be fine.”
“……”
As I said this with a laugh, Aegis’s face began to fill with horror.
It was then that sparks flew in Aegis’s eyes as she stared at me with a wide-eyed, shocked expression, her mouth hanging open as if her jaw had dropped. With a face that had turned savage, like an animal about to pounce, Aegis slowly moved past me like a gentle breeze.
Perhaps it was because the series of movements, from slowly passing me to grabbing the vase behind me, were so fluid and natural?
I couldn’t even question why she was suddenly reaching for the still vase.
The moment her delicate fingertips touched the glass vase, water poured out vertically with a whoosh.
“……?”
Aegis had turned the vase upside down, spilling the water and flowers onto the floor. Holding the vase, which was bigger than her forearm, in one hand, Aegis slowly approached me again. The closer she got, the higher the vase in her hand rose.
And when Aegis stood before me, the vase in her hand was raised above her head, as if ready to fall and shatter into pieces.
Until the moment a drop of water fell in front of her, I couldn’t understand the situation.
Why was she suddenly holding a vase over her head in the middle of a conversation, and why was she brandishing it in front of me…?
“You, you sl—”
Before the word “ut” could even finish, the vase struck my forehead with incredible speed and accuracy. If I had been even a little slower, my head would have been shattered.
Barely managing to dodge backward, a loud, clattering sound assaulted my ears. I stared blankly at the shattered glass vase on the floor, forgetting to breathe, before raising my gaze.
“……”
I couldn’t even close my gaping mouth and just gaped like a goldfish. Regardless, Aegis moved again, reaching for the chair I had been sitting on earlier.
There was no time to say anything. Aegis grabbed the back of the chair with both hands and was preparing to swing it at me, raising it above her head.
“Wait a minute!”
Belatedly snapping out of it, I shouted frantically, but it was not enough to stop the crazy woman.
“You son of a bitch. You mess with family?”
“Hey! Are you crazy…! Aah! Crazy, crazy? Are you crazy?!”
“Aren’t you coming here?”
“If you hit me! If you hit me, something really bad will happen! I’m telling you! Don’t do it! Don’t chase me!”
I desperately shouted as I circled around a table, but Aegis’s eyes were half-crazed. Aegis, who looked like she couldn’t even lift a pebble, held the chair above her head with her slender, pale arms and chased after me without any sign of strain.
“Who’s the barbarian, you crazy woman! Put that down?!”
“What did you say earlier? Say it again!”
“Hey! Hey! Don’t throw it! No! Aaaagh!”
“Say it again!”
Aegis shouted as she threw the chair she was holding towards me. I quickly twisted my body to avoid the flying chair, but I lost my footing and collapsed to the ground.
I heard the sound of the chair flying through the air and smashing into the display case with a crash. And the moment a dark shadow fell over my head, I felt a genuine threat to my life.
Kicking the floor with my feet in a desperate attempt to survive, I scooted backward on my butt. As soon as I stuck to the wall and escaped from the shadow, Aegis’s voice struck my eardrums like thunder.
“Don’t say such dirty things in front of me!”
She was running towards me with a clenched fist. She looked like a bull enraged by the sight of red.
I felt like I just wanted to get hit by that small fist flying towards my chin and pass out. But if I did that, Aegis’s head would definitely be hanging on the castle walls the next day, so I grabbed her wrist.
“First, calm doooown!”
“Let go, you bitch!”
“No, what! Strength! Hey! Hey! Just calm down!”
I flailed like a flag on a windy hill, holding Aegis’s wrists with both hands. Even though she was older than me, Aegis looked like a frail and delicate girl to anyone.
Her wrists and forearms were thinner than mine, and she was shorter than me, but I couldn’t figure out where she was getting this strength from.
“Don’t touch my body!”
Aegis screamed as she struggled to hit me while lying almost flat on the floor, and I was doing my best to stop her. I wanted to retort, but just stopping Aegis, who was charging at me like a crazy bull, was already my limit.
“What is this…! Did you take drugs! How are you so strong! Hey! Get away from me!”
“Let go of my hand first!”
“You get away first!”
We screamed and yelled at each other, panting, and glared at each other.
I could see that the tips of Aegis’s fingers, who was kneeling and sitting on my lap with her legs straddling me, were clenched tightly. I felt like the moment I loosened my grip on her wrists even a little, those fingers would gouge out my eyeballs.
“……”
“……”
In the room filled with nothing but rough breathing, we stared at each other for a long time before opening our mouths at the same time, without either of us saying anything first.
“You let go first.”
“Get off me first.”
“……”
“……”
As I bit my lip, Aegis slowly and heavily exhaled. As Aegis took several deep breaths as if trying to calm her anger, the strength in her arms gradually lessened, and my body also began to relax.
Now I was just lightly holding Aegis’s wrists without even exerting any force.
“I’ll get off if you let go of my hand.”
“……”
Aegis said in a slightly calmer voice, as if she had taken a step back. Seeing that, I finally realized what position we were sprawled on the floor in.
My breath caught in my throat, and my heart began to race. Did that crazy woman even realize that she was on top of me right now?
I wanted to get out of this situation as quickly as possible, so I hesitated before letting go of Aegis’s wrists. And I asked with a suspicious look.
“You’re not going to hit me, are you?”
“No.”
“Really?”
“I said no. Have you been living a lie?”
I swallowed a curse and looked at Aegis, suppressing my breath. She was foul-tempered, but she didn’t seem to be lying, so I cautiously let go of her hand.
Aegis, now free, touched her wrists a couple of times as if they hurt, then clenched and unclenched her fists. The situation had been too chaotic, and Aegis’s strength had been stronger than I had expected, so I had unknowingly gripped her wrists with all my might.
I belatedly worried that she might get bruises later. I suddenly felt so embarrassed and ashamed that I had used all my strength against a mere girl, and my vision blurred.
“N-Now, get off.”
As I mumbled in a trembling voice, Aegis lowered her gaze and looked at me. Despite facing the sun, her clear eyes sparkled like dewdrops holding light.
Aegis, who was lightly rotating her wrists, looked down at me for a moment before reaching out and grabbing my hair.
“……?”
The moment I realized my hair had been grabbed, Aegis’s fist was right in front of my nose. And then.
Pow!
“Agh!”
I saw stars before my eyes.