As always, Lionel's expectations of Carlyle were spot on.
This was because Carlyle, after hearing from Asha the reason why Count Lubach and the others were executed, almost went berserk and caused another storm.
Although Asha stopped him and a big mess was avoided, Carlyle became fixated on something irrelevant and started to pester Asha.
"It's all my fault. How indifferent must I have seemed to them for them to have said such nonsense?"
Carlyle gritted his teeth again, thinking about how Count Lubach and his followers believed that they would willingly take over the empress position if Asha gave them permission.
"I need to show everyone for sure how crazy I am about you."
"Huh? Wait a minute. I think you're missing the point here."
"Asha, I'm sorry for making you go through something like that. It won't happen again."
Carlyle kissed Asha lightly on the forehead and left the room with eyes burning with determination.
"Somehow… I have a feeling something ridiculous is going to happen…"
Asha muttered, rubbing her goosebumps arms.
* * *
And a bad feeling never goes wrong.
"What is all this…?"
Asha asked with a tired face, looking around her room where the fragrance of flowers was vibrating.
Her room, which was usually kept clean with almost no luxury items, was filled with gorgeous flowers.
If the old Asha Pervaz, who used to feel the end of the war with a few wildflowers in a vase, had seen this extreme luxury, she would have been furious.
However, the maid, who she thought was just admiring, whispered with a proud face.
"His Majesty the Emperor sent them. No other woman in the empire has ever received so many flowers."
She already knew who sent them. There was only one person who would do such a crazy thing to the Empress's room.
Asha, whose head started to throb because of the smell of the flowers or for some other reason, rubbed her temples and went straight to Carlyle.
"Carlyle!"
"Asha! You're here?"
Unexpectedly, there were several officials sitting in his office, discussing something with him.
However, Carlyle ignored them and approached Asha, kissing her briefly.
"I, I didn't know you were working. I'll come back later."
"It's not important. It's more important that you came to see me."
TL/N: ⁄(⁄ ⁄•⁄-⁄•⁄ ⁄)⁄!! *INAUDIBLE SCREAMING!!*
As Carlyle stroked Asha's hair and whispered sweetly, the officials sitting there didn't know where to look and just flipped through the documents.
The matter that Carlyle said was not important was the reconstruction of the eastern region affected by the monster damage.
"Carlyle. What the hell are the flowers in my room?"
"I've always been bothered that I haven't been able to give you flowers properly while I've been busy. I'll do it more often from now on."
"The eastern part of the empire is devastated by monsters, and you can't support it a little more, but you're wasting money on useless luxury!"
The officials sitting behind held back their desire to actively agree with the Empress' words and exchanged glances.
However, Carlyle knew Asha well. That she would even get angry like this.
"Among the damaged eastern regions, there is a place famous for flower cultivation. But this time, the flower fields were badly damaged and the remaining flowers couldn't be sold, so I bought them all."
"Oh, th, that's what happened… …"
"If you look closely, you'll see that there are many flowers with damaged petals or small buds. But I thought you'd like this kind of meaningful consumption."
Asha blushed.
"I spoke presumptuously without knowing the details. I'm sorry."
"Asha, whatever you say to me, don't add the word 'presumptuous' to it. You are the one who can say anything to me."
Carlyle's voice became more affectionate, Asha's face turned even redder, and the officials became even more restless.
TL/N: HEY, OFFICIALS! SPECTACULAR VIEW, ISN'T IT? XD
They came to work only to witness the emperor and empress' love affair right in front of their eyes.
Thanks to this, rumors spread that the emperor cherished the empress quite a bit, but Carlyle wasn't satisfied with just that.
"My goodness! This is incredible."
"Even Her Majesty the Empress is wearing such magnificent jewelry. It's my first time seeing it."
It was a grand imperial banquet that was held after a long time.
The ladies, who were sensitive to jewelry, couldn't help but sparkle their eyes when Asha, who usually only wore simple accessories, appeared wearing a tiara, necklace, earrings, and bracelet.
"Haven't you heard the rumor yet? His Majesty the Emperor personally designed the jewelry set to give to Her Majesty the Empress."
"His Majesty designed it?"
"The price is even more shocking. It's said to be worth 500,000 Veronas in total for the tiara, earrings, necklace, and bracelet?"
"Oh my! So Her Majesty the Empress is wearing a mansion on her body right now?"
In fact, that was exactly how Asha felt.
'I have a castle on my body....'
Even to Asha, who was an outsider when it came to jewelry, the design of the jewelry set that Carlyle had completed after contemplating for several days and nights was truly beautiful. She was also touched by the fact that he had even flipped through books on jewelry for her sake while designing it.
However, she thought she was going to faint when she heard the price.
[Are you crazy?]
[Not at all. Rather, I've been neglecting you all this time. The Empress of the Chad Empire can't be too frugal. There are people who judge the dignity of a country by the appearance of its empress.]
Although she had received the jewelry set with tears in her eyes, Asha was still in a daze.
However, when everyone who saw her said that it suited her well and that they envied the emperor's love, she felt good even though she knew it was all empty flattery.
'I shouldn't get used to this kind of flattery....'
But because it was from Carlyle, she kept on giving it meaning.
Seeing Asha showing signs of liking it, Carlyle became more and more bold in expressing his love.
"Carlyle. There are many people watching...."
"If you don't like it, should I gouge out all those eyes?"
"Can't you think about not doing this?"
"Nope. I can't."
He had chased after Asha, who had come out to bask in the sun, and was now hugging her and savoring his happiness while burying his nose in her neck.
At first, it was a kind of show for others to see, but now he enjoyed doing this so much that he had half forgotten his original plan.
Moreover, he found Asha, who was embarrassed by the stares but did not actively push him away, to be very adorable.
"To think I've been putting off this happiness. I was a fool."
Asha snickered as he muttered in a voice soaked in satisfaction.
"It couldn't be helped. The atmosphere when you ascended to the throne was chaotic, and in fact, it's not completely sorted out yet. We had no choice but to postpone our happiness."
No one complained or raised any issues about Carlyle's throne. However, there were many things he had to deal with, as he had taken the throne of blood by waging war against the previous empress, who had colluded with the black magician.
It was not easy to find personal happiness.
Although Carlyle and Asha were both physically fit, they were so busy that they would fall asleep as soon as they hit the bed late at night.
It was perhaps only natural that they didn't have any children yet.
"Yes, we did our best. We will continue to do our best, but I have decided to make your happiness my top priority."
"That's impossible. You have to put the country first…"
"How can a man who can't even make his own wife and family happy make the people and the country happy?"
Carlyle hugged Asha tightly and rubbed his cheek on her shoulder.
"If you're not happy, I won't be happy, and if I'm not happy, I can't seriously think about the happiness of others. I'd rather not see those happy people."
"I'm happy, so please don't do this."
"No. You still think my love has a deadline. I have a duty to dispel that doubt."
Asha was a little surprised that Carlyle could see right through her. He used to be so self-centered, but when did he become so good at understanding her?
"And doing this… is a great comfort to me, too."
The strength in his arms that held her increased.
Carlyle had no real family. His mother died shortly after giving birth to him, and his father was a man who tried to kill his son out of jealousy. He couldn't have expected his fifteen-year-old son to return alive when he sent him to the war-torn battlefield.
Not to mention the stepmother who had tried to kill him since he was a fetus.
To him, Asha was his first family.
"Expressing my love to someone I love and who loves me… It's a much better feeling than I thought."
Asha felt goosebumps at Carlyle's dreamy voice.
His voice always made her heart flutter, but now it made her heart race with a different feeling than sexual tension.
'Family….'
She thought back to what he had said when they visited the Imperial Museum together.
[From now on, I will be your family.]
At the time, the word "family" had sounded a bit light. But now, it hit her with a whole different weight.
To her, family used to be more about duty and responsibility than love. But now, as she lived with Carlyle and basked in the sun, that thought changed.
"It's strange, but… I'll try too."
"Try? I'm not giving you a new job. I just want you to enjoy yourself."
"But this is something I have to work on."
Asha tried to ignore the stares of those around her as she kissed Carlyle.
To those who were glancing at the imperial couple, it would have been nothing more than a sight that made them think, "Oh, they seem to be on good terms." However, for Asha, it was something that required a great deal of courage.
As their lips parted, making a small wet sound, Carlyle's eyes deepened.
"If this is your idea of effort, then it's a huge disappointment."
He grabbed Asha by the back of the neck and kissed her even more passionately than she had.
Then he called over to the chamberlain who was standing far away and canceled all of his afternoon appointments.
"Have the bedroom and bath prepared."
The chamberlain nodded calmly at his command and stepped back, and Asha hit Carlyle's shoulder with her fist.
"What are you doing in the middle of the day?"
"What do you think? We're going to do what I know, you know, and my chamberlains and maids all know."
"Carlyle!"
He playfully picked Asha up and held her in his arms.
"And I know you won't refuse."
He didn't put her down even as she covered her blushing face with her hands, and he started walking away with her in his arms.
It was a really good thing to express love.