A new morning arrived. Lloyd opened his bloodshot eyes.
“...”
His back ached, and his shoulders hurt. There was tension in his thigh, and his right hand felt numb. Well, he should have expected the pain.
I slept in this position on my stomach the whole night. Argh.
He could not lie down on the bed since his hand was tied to the queen's, and lying down meant lying next to her on the same bed.
If I dared do that... it would only be right for me to be executed.
He was eventually forced to place a chair alongside the bed, with his legs and lower torso on the chair and his upper torso and right arm stretched on the bed, much like how he used to lie down in school. Naturally, he could not get much sleep.
I barely got any sleep.
He sighed again because sleeping in this posture was impossible, and to make matters worse, he had to keep injecting his own mana into her left arm as promised, which proved to be more difficult.
It's a tough job to push my mana in her because Alicia's manaheart is bigger than mine.
Mana, like water and air, flowed from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure, and because her manaheart was larger than his, the pressure was higher and stronger, which meant Lloyd had to be careful how he injected mana into her left arm. Otherwise, the flow of mana reversed each time he lost concentration, and her mana traveled into his system.
I can't let that happen. I have to continue giving her my mana. The mana needs to continuously circulate in the queen's left arm even if it's by force.
In other words, it was similar to a blood donation in that he had to supply as much mana as possible. So, Lloyd could not lose his focus and had to stay up the entire night to concentrate on the task, which explained his sleep deprivation.
"Did you not get a good night's sleep either, Your Majesty?"
"Of course not," she said, still laying on the bed, her head inclined toward his side, her eyes bloodshot like his, as if she had not gotten any sleep either. "I could not sleep because of you," she muttered.
"Your Majesty?"
"Your body ran hot sometimes, only for it to turn cold, prickly, then uselessly soft."
"Oh... um."
"I meant my left arm," she clarified. "My arm felt strange as it kept receiving your mana."
"Forgive me, Your Majesty."
"Forgive me, my foot," she huffed.
“...”
"And how you moaned in pain all night! I considered asking if giving me mana was that exhausting of a job but decided against it since doing so might place more burden on you."
"I am overwhelmed with gratitude, Your Majesty," replied Lloyd.
"Gratitude, my foot."
“...”
"How was your sleep?" she asked.
"That is..."
"You can be honest."
"It was extremely uncomfortable, Your Majesty."
"I knew it. You should have told me."
"How could I-"
"Ask to lie on the same bed?" she interrupted first.
“...”
"I guess I am right. You should have asked," she said with a chuckle.
Contrary to her nonchalance, Lloyd's heart beat fast. "But Your Majesty, it is indecent-"
"Is it not indecent that you spent the night with me in the same bedroom already?"
“...”
"You have committed a grave crime of treason by spending last night alone with me, the queen. Did you not expect this when you proposed it to me?"
"I did," confessed Lloyd.
"You did?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Then, why do you look so shy?"
"Ehem, I am in your presence in closed quarters."
"You must have been embarrassed," she said, finally understanding Lloyd.
"No, Your Majesty!"
"You must have been shy then."
"Not at all, Your Majesty!"
"Really?"
"Of course, Your Majesty!" Lloyd argued firmly.
"Why do you dare to raise your voice in my presence then?"
"Ack..."
"Ha, I understand. I know how you feel. Seeing how you are denying my words so desperately, I can tell what you are thinking."
"Your Majesty!"
"I will have the Lord Great Chamberlain prepare a makeshift bed for you, which will be placed beside mine, and you will feel less pressured because we will not be sharing a single bed."
"W-Words fall short of my gratitude to you, Your Majesty."
"Tsk. How you only say that when you want something," she mumbled as she turned to his side. Unlike her usual appearance, her hair was in a naturally disheveled state, her eyes toward him sparkled under the morning sunlight, and she was dressed comfortably.
"Um," hurriedly uttered Lloyd. "I have to change my clothes now. I need to untie our hands, Your Majesty."
"You should. The Lord Great Chamberlain will pass out if he ever finds us like this."
"Yes, Your Majesty," said Lloyd, "I believe the least we could do to prevent him from passing out is wearing our daily clothes."
"I agree with you."
When Lloyd loosened the rope, he discovered marks around his wrist. As he massaged his wrist, the queen walked across the enormous bedroom, and he soon heard the rustling noise of her changing clothing. "But I have a question for you."
"Yes, Your Majesty?"
"Why you?" she asked.
"Your Majesty?"
"Why did you bind yourself with me instead of using Javier Asrahan? The question came to me last night when I was thinking to myself instead of sleeping. You said the Asrahan Core Technique was created by Sir Javier Asrahan, so I figured he must be far more adept in its use."
"Yes, that is the case, Your Majesty." Lloyd was quick to admit.
"He should be. Plus, he is a grandmaster."
"You are certainly right, Your Majesty."
"Then, why you?"
"Hmm, that is..." Lloyd stopped short of revealing the honest answer, which was that Javier was too gorgeous for this, but he disregarded it and said with a logical and sensible answer, "As Your Majesty knows, he is a genius in swordsmanship."
"I am aware of that. He is not just any genius."
"Yes, Your Majesty. I believe he is someone who will be remembered throughout history. That is the reason."
"Is it because he is too much of a genius? Or because he cannot understand the perspective of an ordinary person?"
"Yes, Your Majesty," Lloyd replied, nodding and speaking toward the partition where she was standing. "To him, the Asrahan Core Technique is as simple as breathing, which means he will not easily understand the challenges you and I will face. He will only wonder why we cannot do something so easy."
"Ha. You are right. His perspective must be different from ours to begin with."
"Truly yes, Your Majesty," Lloyd replied. Javier was the genius among the geniuses. It was only natural that he would not understand why she was having so much difficulty. To him, the entire job would be as simple and ordinary as drinking and eating. Any challenge she faced would be a mystery in his eyes.
"As such, I have been entrusted with this grave duty in place of Javier Asrahan."
"Hmm."
"Moreover, I judged that it is more advantageous for me to take the job as I devised the plan and would be allowed to judge the situation, given how significant the success is in this job."
"Hmm..."
"Moreover, please forgive me for saying this, but I am more immune to the scandals that may arise," explained Lloyd further.
"Hmm..."
"Your Majesty?"
"What?" she snapped.
"Why do you only 'Hmm' instead of saying more?"
"Nothing. I just happen to find your excuses to be pathetic."
"Your Majesty?"
"Would it not be enough to say, 'I just wanted to'?"
"Your Majesty...?"
"Answer me or we will spend the entire day training."
"Yes, Your Majesty. I wanted to take this job. I wanted to be beside you more than he did. I am serious."
"Tsk. Is that how much you hate our training?"
“...”
"Anyway, I understand how genuine your concern is for me. Come here then."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Lloyd walked to her side.
Now dressed in her usual clothes, she held out her hand. "Tie us now."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Tying their hands together proved to be extremely difficult once again. Right when he finished, the sound of a bell came from outside of the bedroom.
Cling. Cling. Two ringing noises came from outside the bedroom. "Your Majesty, the rightful owner of this kingdom, I am here to greet you in the morning."
"Come in," naturally answered Queen Magentano.
Lloyd imagined her giving the same reply every day. The bedroom door opened to let in the Lord Great Chamberlain and a group of maids to tidy her up for the day. But everyone froze.
"Your Majesty...?"
Lloyd noticed the shiver in the man's lips and how the latter's face gradually grew paler with each passing second.
"Y-Your Majesty!" The old man's eyes moved in utter dismay. One glance at the queen. And the other one at Lloyd. He did it once again. One glance at the queen. And a glare at Lloyd.
"Ehem. Hmm!" Lloyd cleared his throat to act as natural as possible.
But Queen Magentano was utterly composed. "Why are you surprised?"
"Your... Majesty..." The great servant stuttered. "It is..."
"Are you surprised to find Lloyd Frontera with me so early in the morning?"
"That is..."
"Or are you shocked by the possibility that I seemed to have spent the night with him?"
"Th-That's..."
"It is all right. Your guesses are right," affirmed Queen Magentano.
"Y-Your Majesty!"
"Tsk," she said. "Nothing that you are imagining happened. We are doing this for a good reason."
Her reaction was even more unexpected than Lloyd had anticipated. She acted as though the entire matter were trivial and unimportant. "What is the big deal? Would you dare try to meddle in choosing my future spouse if we are what you think we are?"
"That is not true, but-"
"Yes, I know," she said softly. "You must be concerned about the reputation and honor of the imperial family. Rest assured that this is nothing of the sort that requires your concern." She chuckled. "Do you see how our hands are tied? We are doing a special joint training together to pave a new path of swordsmanship."
"I see that your hands are tied, Your Majesty," replied Lord Great Chamberlain.
"That is the proof. As such, continue your daily business like you always have."
"I am at your service, Your Majesty... Then... How do you wish to arrange the clothes and breakfast?"
"As you can see, I have finished dressing myself. I will come down for my meal. Oh, but I need help with my makeup."
"At your service, Your Majesty." The Lord Great Chamberlain hung his head, breaking out in a cold sweat. He seemed half-dazed by the unexpected scene.
Ha... I showed him something unsightly there.
Lloyd felt apologetic as he watched the old man hurry out.
"Oh, and one more thing." Her voice stopped him short. "Tell the House of Peers that I will visit them soon."
"Your Majesty?" The Lord Great Chamberlain's eyes widened at the unexpected order.
She smiled at him. "Why are you surprised? Did you really think that we would just sneak around inside the palace like this?"
"Yes, Your Majesty, of course-"
"This is a part of our training, and I have no plans to hide it from anyone else," she gravely announced.
“...”
"Just as you reacted, the House of Peers will seriously consider this training method between myself and Lloyd Frontera. As such, I shall pay them a visit and put an end to any of their suspicions in advance." Her demeanor could not be more confident. It appeared to Lloyd that she was about to split open the head of anyone who opposed their relationship.
