‘On three, I’ll roll over and get all the way over there.’
If he moved quickly enough, he thought he could finish before Henry opened his eyes.
‘One.’
Breathe, breathe. Please.
Jeri prayed desperately, over and over. Had there ever been a time since possessing this body when he had prayed this earnestly? If he thought about it, there were probably a few…. But at this very moment, he prayed with all his heart that Henry wouldn’t notice what had happened and that he could get through this without incident.
‘Two.’
Please!
‘Three!’
Jeri quickly rolled his body across the bed, tumbling all the way to the far end. Holding his breath, he strained his ears for any sound around him. He wanted to turn toward Henry and check, but he couldn’t muster the courage because he felt like he would end up meeting the eyes of a newly awakened man….
‘What do I do?’
If this was reality he had to face eventually anyway, wouldn’t it be better to face it sooner rather than later?
Breathing quickly, Jeri turned his head. Henry was still lying in the same position as before. His chest rose and fell steadily as well.
Thankfully, it seemed he still hadn’t woken up.
Jeri got up even more carefully than before and headed toward the bathroom on legs trembling with tension.
He lifted a hand and pressed down on his assertively pink hair. Then he splashed ice-cold water over his face, which was already pale from the cold. The chill seeped deep into his bones and snapped him fully awake.
“I’m insane.”
This was a frightening place where one wrong move could cost him his life. If he went around acting this absentmindedly, he could die.
“Get a grip.”
After washing himself with that freezing water, Jeri opened the bathroom door and immediately saw Henry sitting on the edge of the bed.
Feeling guilty despite himself, Jeri awkwardly greeted him.
“Henry, you’re awake?”
“…Yes.”
Perhaps he still wasn’t fully awake, because his expression was blank.
It was surprisingly cute.
When they had first met, Henry had seemed so cold that Jeri had thought not even a drop of blood would come out if someone pricked him with a needle, but right now he looked soft, like bread freshly taken out of the oven.
“Did I happen to sleep holding something?”
Jeri’s heart dropped.
Unable to hide his panic, he stammered without even realizing it.
Like someone guilty of a crime.
“W-What?”
“I’m certain I was holding something while I slept, but when I woke up, it was gone.”
He isn’t saying that because he knows something, right?
Jeri’s throat bobbed visibly.
Should he confess the truth even now?
No.
No, absolutely not.
Since when had he ever lived with such a strict conscience?
Jeri stiffly tilted his head to the side in an unnatural motion, his voice trembling.
“I-I’m not really sure? M-Maybe you were hugging some clothes?”
Ha ha.
After adding an awkward laugh, Jeri nearly screamed when Henry suddenly appeared right in front of him.
‘When did he even get this close?’
Hadn’t he been sitting on the bed with a dazed expression just a moment ago?
Jeri instinctively stepped back, but Henry was faster in reaching out.
“Did you wash?”
“Yeah.”
Henry’s fingers touched Jeri’s still-damp hair.
The displeased look on his face was an added bonus.
Why was he making that expression?
Could it be that he already knew Jeri had slept clinging to him like some kind of pervert?
Jeri swallowed automatically.
“With cold water?”
“Yeah.”
Of course.
There were barely any necessities for daily life here. There was no way they would have hot water.
Honestly, Jeri considered himself lucky that water came out at all. If there hadn’t even been running water, life here would have been much more difficult than it already was.
“…You should have woken me.”
“What would I wake you for?”
Jeri asked because he was genuinely curious.
There was no sarcasm in it whatsoever. He simply wanted to know.
They couldn’t even chop firewood, could they?
And even if they somehow did chop some, there wasn’t a pot large enough to boil water in.
There was nothing Henry could actually do, so what would be the point of waking him while he was sleeping so soundly?
Stand beside Jeri and cheer him on while he washed in freezing water?
Or dump cold water over himself too so they could share the suffering together?
“…….”
But it seemed Jeri had unintentionally hurt his feelings.
Jeri’s eyes rolled from left to right, then right to left.
Uh.
What was he supposed to do about this?
How should he comfort him?
Apologizing felt a little strange, but pretending nothing had happened and moving on also felt strange….
Before the situation could get any more awkward, Jeri quickly opened his mouth.
“Want to eat?”
“…The same thing as yesterday?”
“Mm-hm.”
Unfortunately, there was nothing else to eat right now.
Not a single thing….
Jeri stared at Henry, lowering the corners of his eyes as far as they could go as he nodded.
Should he tell him that there wasn’t much of that left either?
No.
No, he shouldn’t.
As someone above Henry in status, he couldn’t whine to someone beneath him.
Only useless people did that.
“How about today, instead of carrots….”
What was there besides carrots again?
Jeri hurriedly recalled the pitiful food storeroom.
It was practically empty, so it wasn’t hard to remember what little was there.
“…Want me to add spinach?”
He had offered it with complete sincerity, but Henry didn’t answer the question.
“How about going out and purchasing ingredients?”
“There’s no way I can do something like that….”
“Why not?”
“Well, obviously….”
Uh, wait.
Could he go outside?
Once you stepped into the imperial palace, weren’t you supposed to get permission from someone above you before you could leave?
Wasn’t this the kind of place that was like a birdcage, where once you entered, you could never leave again?
‘I don’t know anything.’
Jeri suddenly became afraid that if he opened his mouth carelessly, Henry might become suspicious of him.
What if Henry used that distinctive cool voice of his and said, ‘You do not even know something like that? Suspicious….’ and then dragged him deep into the imperial palace somewhere?
In a tiny voice that seemed to crawl away, Jeri whispered to Henry.
“Don’t I need His Majesty’s permission…?”
“…….”
“He might not like a concubine wandering around outside whenever he wants.”
Once he had said it aloud, Jeri gradually gained confidence.
Right.
In <The Emperor Who Doesn’t Know Love Is Too Much!>, as soon as the Emperor found the person he loved, he imprisoned them.
Jeri could vividly remember the scene where he warned them not to take a single step outside the palace.
‘I want to leave? You’ll never get out, even if you die. Even after death, you’ll be buried in the imperial palace, beside me.’
He was pretty sure the Emperor had shouted something like that.
Of course, the current Jeri had such a faint presence that the Emperor probably wasn’t even interested in him, but a person’s fundamental nature didn’t change, so who knew?
“What exactly do you think of His Majesty?”
“Mm, as someone scary…?”
Of course he was scary.
He was terrifying.
How could Jeri not be afraid of someone who was going to kill him in the future?
Jeri clasped both hands together.
“If I can avoid him, I want to avoid him as much as possible….”
“Even though you entered the palace as his concubine?”
“That’s why.”
…That’s why I’m planning to run away.
Jeri swallowed the rest of the sentence as naturally as breathing and gave Henry a small smile.
Henry let out a deep sigh.
“You are free to go out.”
Really?
Seriously?
Suspicion surged up inside him, but there was no reason for Henry to lie to him.
And Henry had no reason to do so in the first place.
“I really don’t need permission to go out?”
“Yes.”
If he could leave the palace freely, his life would become much better than it was now.
The fear of starving to death would lessen too.
He could finally feed Henry until he was full.
Jeri was happily thinking about what he should buy outside when he suddenly realized one horrifying fact.
“But Henry….”
“Yes.”
“I don’t think I can go out after all.”
“Why now?”
He should probably tell Henry the truth, right?
It sounded pathetically miserable, but it was still the truth.
“I don’t have any money.”
“…….”
“Even if I go out, I can’t buy anything.”
“…Why do you have none? As far as I know, concubines are given an allowance to maintain their dignity when they enter the palace.”
Mm-hm, I thought so too….
Turns out that isn’t actually true.
Maybe they only give it to certain people….
Jeri barely swallowed those words and blinked.
Henry let out a deep sigh.
“…I have money.”
“How could I spend your money?”
“It is fine.”
Good grief.
How shameless could a person possibly be?
A master had no money, so he extorted money from his attendant?
It sounded like something that would appear in a scandal rag.
Until now, Jeri had only ever been the one clicking his tongue and saying, ‘How could someone wearing a human face do something like that?’
And now he was going to become the one actually doing it!
“It truly is fine. So please stop making that expression.”
Jeri nodded gloomily.
There was no helping it even if it was shameless….
He really didn’t own anything.
After quickly grasping the situation, he whispered in a resolute voice.
“I’ll pay you back later, Henry.”
“…Yes.”
“I’ll definitely pay you back. Should I write an IOU or something?”
The instant he said it so confidently, he realized something.
There wasn’t even any paper in this palace that could be used to write a letter.
Nor was there a pen.
The moment he realized that trivial yet critical fact, cold sweat streamed down him.
What if Henry nodded right now and told him to write an IOU?
‘I’m sorry, but there’s no pen or paper either?’
In other words….
‘There’s absolutely no evidence that you lent me money. What should we do? I guess I’ll just have to swallow your money whole.’
That was more or less what it sounded like.
Even if Jeri hadn’t meant it that way, wouldn’t the person hearing it inevitably take it that way?