As his face was incredibly close, I could feel his breath right under my nose. Because of that, I averted my gaze and lowered my eyes.
"Do it Your Majesty's way."
He had real power, so it does not matter. However, all I had was a fragile illusion.
'I am in a position to reign over.'
That was what Raniero said, but…
I turned my head back slightly and gazed at him. I could remember clearly. He sat me down on the throne and enjoyed it. Still, I could not be on the same line with him forever. I understood and knew my position the most acutely.
My personality was not even bold enough to brag, so I needed armor to protect me — the armor called information. Besides, I was not going to be within his influence forever. I would run away before I became a winter prey.
…Even then, I need to study for that time.
I glanced at Duke Nerma's notebook that he had left on the floor. Seeing that, Raniero shook his head slightly and his lips came close to my ear.
"Why can't you use my methods?"
His cool lips grazed my ear.
"I'm the only one who knows that you're so weak."
His tone sounded like he was very satisfied.
Somehow, my spine shivered and my body stiffened with a slight strain. Even though Raniero moved a little further away from me, that did not ease my tension. His hands wrapped around my cheeks. He stroked my eyes with his thumb, keeping me from turning my head away.
"And, if you really want to make armor, learn to control your expressions instead of memorizing the names of nobles and trivial information."
…This was a point that was too poignant. I have a personality where what I think would clearly be visible on my face.
I mumbled.
"Perhaps, God Actilla also gave Your Majesty the privilege of reading people's minds…"
"You're just too easy to understand."
Even though I was about to say, 'Even so, you are too specific,' I bit my lips and held those words back. Let's engrave it again. Words such as 'But' and 'Even so' are forbidden words… It meant that Raniero's words must be absolutely correct.
Thanks to the Emperor's personal visit, my stress was slightly rising again.
With resentful eyes… I looked at the table. Well, it was too arrogant to look at Raniero with resentful eyes. Nevertheless, I was still biting my lips. The next moment, in front of me, I could suddenly hear a laugh that seemed to be saying, 'easy to understand.'
I bit my lip harder.
"Don't do this."
Raniero uttered in a voice mixed with laughter.
"It'll only hurt you."
At those words, my eyes naturally turned to his lips. The wound on his lips had healed, leaving only a few traces. With his lip wounds healing so quickly, this was a scary thing with Raniero's resilience.
"By the way, the wound you put on my lips…"
I replied quickly.
"Haha, you're all better."
"Still, that doesn't mean that there won't be any scars."
"Sorry, I'm sorry."
"Even with the words of an apology that you easily spewed out don't solve all the responsibility for injuring my body."
…He had tightened around me like a snake as usual.
It had only been a little bit since I was advised to take care of my facial expressions, though I could not help but feel like crying. Every time Raniero did this, my heart rate rose too dangerously. It felt like my eyes were spinning.
In addition, strangely, heat surged up my cheeks. Was it because it was summer? I trembled a little and opened my mouth.
"Then, Your Majesty also wounded my lips."
Raniero narrowed his eyes and stared at me quietly. If he had been satisfied, he would have laughed right away.
Ha.
I answered quickly because it was idiocy to delay answering for a long time in front of Raniero. However, the batting average of the answers seemed to be not very good these days.
I shut my eyes tightly, thinking 'it was broken' before quickly speaking.
"I'm sorry! Was that too strange? Haha, what's the point of my lips hurting? It's not on the same level of equivalence with me injuring Your Majesty's body!"
When I thought I was doomed, I could not stop rambling. As I carefully opened my eyes again and glanced at him, it was difficult to comprehend how he was feeling. Raniero's head tilted slightly and said it with an unknown expression.
"You always have such a simple pattern, and you are very talkative."
At his words saying that I talked a lot, I shut my mouth.
It also bothered me when he said my pattern was simple… That meant that it was boring after all. When he said things like that, he just easily took my breath away. I could not help but grab the seat a little — with a vague feeling that no matter what I say, it does not seem like the right answer.
Then, he said to me.
"Close your eyes."