Murderous Emperor’s Inconvenient Behavior

Eiden, who had been looking at Claire as she drank her tea, made a low sound.

Claire felt ashamed on the inside.

But when she spoke, she didn’t even blink.

“This is how I’ve always been.”

She was just a maid in real life, but now she looked like a beautiful noble lady.

Eiden was lost in thought as he tapped his chin with his finger. He kept looking at her as if he was trying to figure out a secret.

She was so nervous that she thought her heart was going to explode.

“Well, never mind. Have you had enough to drink?”

Eiden shrugged and nodded in the direction of her teacup.

“You didn’t even touch it. Don’t you like it?”

“I don’t like stuff like this.”

“Ah, okay.”

She could see the disappointed look on the face of the cook, who had been working hard since morning to serve the Emperor.

“Don’t drink something you don’t like just because you have to.”

“Pardon?”

Claire blinked her wide-open eyes. She couldn’t believe that he knew she didn’t like tea.

“I can see it on your face. It’s not what you want.”

He used his finger to point at her face.

Claire put her hand on her face. She felt like he could see right through her.

Indeed… He was good enough to be Emperor. From the way people looked, he could tell what they were thinking.

She thought that in the future, she would have to be more careful around an Emperor like that. Claire closed her hand behind her back.

“Let’s go. The original plan was to go for a walk, but we’ve lost time on things that weren’t important.

Claire said yes.

Both of them didn’t like tea, so there was no point in making them sit down and drink it.

When they went back out to the porch, only the emperor’s guards were there. Mrs. Stanton and the staff were nowhere to be seen.

“I told them to get out of the way because they were getting in the way.”

When he saw that she looked confused, he explained.

In a way… He was a cruel ruler, that’s for sure.

“Your Majesty, are you ready for a stroll?”

The guard’s leader came closer.

“Is everything all set up?”

“Everything is set.”

When the head of the guard made a motion, a nearby worker brought two horses.

One was…

“Wow.”

She could not help but be impressed.

It was a black horse with a shine. It was bigger than any other horse she’d seen. Its chest and shoulders were strong, and its muscles twitched with every step.

“Andre.”

Eiden called out while touching the horse’s face.

It looked like the name of the black horse was Andre. Andre looked down at her with his dark eyes.

Thump, thump. The horse’s tail flicked at its behind as if to make fun of her.

“It’s… quite big.”

“Lady, be careful. He has a mean personality. It’s best to stay far away.”

The guard captain told Claire to be careful around Andre.

“I will.”

Claire took a step back.

The other horse was nothing like Andre at all.

It was a horse that was as clean and white as snow. Its body was thin and stretched out, and it was smaller than Andre’s.

“This one’s for the lady to ride…Oops!”

At that time, Andre jumped forward all of a sudden. The head of the guard pulled Andre’s reins because he was surprised.

“Andre! Woah, woah!”

As Andre did whatever he wanted, the white horse also began to move.

The captain of the guard, who was scared to death, tried hard to calm down Andre and the white horse.

Eiden, who had been watching what was going on, grabbed Andre’s reins.

“Give it over here.”

“Please forgive me, Your Majesty. I’m not sure what’s wrong with him. It might be hard to go for a walk…”

Eiden walked up to her with Andre and the white horse, ignoring the worried captain.

“Um, Your Majesty, why are you coming to me?”

What did he mean when he said that bringing a horse would make a fuss? With a fake smile, Claire stepped back.

“Stand right there.”

Eiden kept making a mad face as she kept taking steps back.

“Ah, okay.”

Claire had to stay still and watch Andre come right up to her face.

Neighing.

Andre let out a long whine and then licked her cheek long and hard.

“…”

Even the white horse kept blowing on her head and nipping at her shoulder.

“Haha, I don’t get it, why are they doing this?”

Claire used her hand to push Andre away when he tried to lick her.

She suddenly thought back to a similar situation. She remembered how Chandler, Richard’s horse, had charged at her in a scary way and stuck close to her.

“He’s not happy.”

Eiden had been mumbling in a cold voice. Suddenly, she reached out and tightened her grip on Andre’s nose.

“Don’t be careless with her.”

Eiden yelled at Andre’s ear and then pushed his nose away. Then he pulled Andre and the white horse away from her by their reins.

The white horse did what it was told, but Andre fought back furiously. But he couldn’t stand up to Eiden’s power. Andre and the white horse couldn’t get close to me because Eiden had caught them. They could only look sad at her.

“Do you know how to ride on a horse?”

Eiden didn’t seem to care about what had happened. He didn’t care why Andre and the white horse had changed so quickly.

Only the captain was only kind of surprised by what he was seeing.

“I can’t ride a horse.”

“Have you never ridden before?”

Eiden’s eyebrows went up.

“I was too weak to ride, so I didn’t get the chance.”

“I’ll carry you.”

The guard captain was still dazed when Eiden gave him the white horse. Then he went back and got Andre.

“Are you saying… that we should both ride on one horse?”

“Yes.”

“…”

Claire had to force herself not to make a face. She did this because she thought that being too close to him would be hard.

She tried to answer, but Eiden grabbed her waist before she could.

“Wait a moment!”

Claire was startled and reached out to grab his hand.

“Do you dislike it?”

Behind the mask, the color of his blue eyes changed. He gave her a look that made it look like he would eat her if she said she didn’t like it.

Claire thought hard about how not to upset him.

“I… I don’t dislike it, but it doesn’t seem right.”

“Not right?”

“How can I get on the same horse as Your Highness? I’ll get on the white horse.”

“You said you can’t ride.”

“I can do it if you teach me. I learn things quickly.”

“Next time, I’ll teach you. We’ll ride together for now.”

As he said this, he gave the hand that was holding her waist more pressure.

“Ugh.”

Claire was in a tough situation.

“Why?”

He frowned as he looked at Claire.

I can’t breathe because you’re so close. Claire could hardly keep the words from coming out of her mouth.

She was looking right at his big chest. Every time she took a big breath, the smell of man filled her lungs.

It was the same as the day before.

Yesterday, she wiped the monster blood all over his face, which was covered in blood and a mask.

If they were this close to the horse, it felt like the strange feeling from the day before would come back. So, she wanted to ride on her own…

But, sadly, the mood was already back to normal. Her heart was going a mile a minute.

Even now, when she was like this, he could hear her heart beating wildly if they rode the horse.

Moreover…

“Kyaa.”

Her body suddenly lifted.

When she finally woke up, she was already on Andre. Soon after that, he carefully climbed up and moved behind her.

“Lean back in a relaxed way.”

He was nice and seemed to like her.

Claire pulled her waist in. No matter what, she wouldn’t lean back.

Claire’s eyes were fiery as she looked forward. But because of her dress, she had to sit on the side, so it was too bad that she couldn’t ignore him.

Pfft. She let out a small laugh, but she did not turn her head at all.

Clip, clip, clip.

When he hit Andre’s side lightly, the horse started to move.

“Eek.”

Claire fell against his chest because she couldn’t keep her balance.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!”

She quickly straightened her waist when she felt his strong chest against her cheek.

“You might want to hang on to me.”

“…”

Claire was surprised and asked him why he would say that.

“Stay put.”

Suddenly, Andre started running like crazy.

“Aaaah!”

Claire turned her body to the side and grabbed his waist as hard as she could. Every time Andre hit the ground hard, her body shook and her joints popped. If he hadn’t been holding on to her, she would have been tossed around.

But not only that. He also stopped her from jumping on the back of the horse.

The fast-moving scenery made her feel sick. Claire shut her eyes tight and put her head on his big chest.

Thump, thump. She could hear the strong beat of his heart. And the sound of a laugh that tickles.

Strangely, the sounds made her heart feel better. Claire opened her eyes slowly.

The scenery went by quickly. She could see the house getting farther away while she was in his arms.

Her hair was blown by the wind. He pushed her hair behind her ears with his rough fingers.

“…”

Claire turned her head and looked at the Emperor.

Under the mask, she could see sharp cheekbones, tight lips, and blue eyes that were looking forward.

And the two arms that kept her from moving. They seemed as strong as walls.

Claire turned her head away in silence.

Still, the scenery went by so fast that it seemed to swallow her up, but it wasn’t as scary as it was at first.

Where had they gone?

Andre stopped when Eiden pulled on the reins.

“Phew.”

She let out the breath she had been holding and looked around.

Even though it felt like they had run a long way, they weren’t too far from the house. When the sun hit the windows of the ducal house across the field, they sparkled.

He grabbed Claire around the waist and helped her down.

“Thank you so much.”

As she smoothed her knotted hair and dress, she stuttered.

“How’d it go?”

He kept looking at her, as if he was very interested in what she would say.

“…I enjoyed it.”

“I’ll take you back home too.”

He talked to her as if he was doing her a big favor.

Claire started to walk away when she felt uncomfortable with his steady gaze. Her legs felt so weak that it wasn’t like they were hers.

Andre went quietly after her.

Was it because they’d been through everything together? She felt like she was used to his big, intimidating size.

She thought it was cute how he rubbed his nose on her back and tried to touch his face.

“It’s not necessary to touch.”

When Eiden said the words, he did so in a rough way and pulled on the reins. Then he pulled Andre behind him and tied him to a tree.

“What’s going on?”

Claire looked on as he pulled Andre’s ear and yelled at him.

After a while, he walked back, and Andre was dragging his tail behind him. He seemed to be feeling better.

“What did you tell him?”

“Not a lot.”

“Why does he act that way?”

Andre was shaking with fear and tearing up the grass under him.

“He seems hungry.”

When Eiden saw that, he gave a small smile.

“…I see.”

He was eating, but it didn’t look like he was hungry at all. But since that’s what the Emperor said, let’s go with it.