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Lucina
I had been eagerly anticipating the arrival of my new books-a kind gesture from His Majesty-but there was an immediate complication.
"Your Majesty said that you would send me some books, but I don't know how to read, so I asked for help! I wanted to learn the official language, and Gillai offered to teach me!" a girl explained to the man, referencing a character I had mentioned.
My friends whispered amongst themselves. "GILLAI IS A GOOD TEACHER BECAUSE HE'S SMART," one said, while another grumbled, "I DON'T LIKE HIM!" followed quickly by, "I HAVE NO INTEREST IN HIM WHATSOEVER!"
I tried to enjoy the sunlight in the garden, but suddenly, a dark shadow fell across me.
I looked up and froze. The man standing before me had long, dark, wavy hair, and his expression was terrifyingly intense. GLARE. His gaze alone felt like a physical weight pressing down on me.
He strode closer, his presence demanding, a low but undeniable aura of danger surrounding him. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING," he demanded, each word sharp and cold.
My heartbeat thundered as he took deliberate steps toward me. STEP... STEP. I instinctively recoiled, my eyes wide, trying to shrink away from his overwhelming presence.
"EEEK!" I gasped, my voice barely escaping. I scrambled for an excuse, flustered. "A MISUNDERSTANDING...! M-MY EYE... THE WIND!"
The tension escalated in an instant. A scuffle broke out nearby-RUMBLE! The dark-haired man was suddenly restrained by another figure, and I watched in shock, my chest tight with fear.
---
Moments later, the dark-haired man-Gillai, I realized-pulled me gently into a protective embrace, patting my head with unexpected warmth.
"I see. I understand," he murmured. "You told me that you couldn't read, but I thought you were talking about the Tayar script and overlooked this." His rare, kind expression made me feel seen and understood.
He stroked my hair softly. "You can always pick up what you don't know. You did well finding someone smart to help you."
Then, a second dark-haired man entered the conversation. His presence carried an air of authority, a challenge in every line of his voice. "Gillai, do you think you can do a good job teaching me and Titi?"
Gillai's confidence never wavered. Placing a hand over his heart, he declared, "I'll make sure that they can both read and write the official language in one month."
The rival, however, was relentless, his words sharp. "You were born with a frail constitution, you're utterly ineffective in combat, you have a cunning personality, and you are both arrogant and impudent..."
Gillai remained calm, absorbing each verbal blow. Finally, the man ended his critique with a grudging acknowledgment. "...Yet there's no one smarter than you in the entire palace. I'll leave them in your capable hands, Gillai."
Despite the tension, the conversation shifted toward my safety. The man stepped closer to Gillai, eyes blazing. "If you lay a finger on me one more time, I won't forgive you."
A literal GLARE passed between them, electric and heavy, before the rival relented. "It's getting late now. Why don't you end your lesson here?"
Gillai finally nodded, accepting the situation. He turned to me, a warm smile spreading across his face like a beam of light. "I'll take you back to the palace. Come with me."
---
Gillai pulled me close, wrapping me in a protective embrace, and gently patted my head. "I see. I understand, I," he said tenderly. "You told me that you couldn't read, but I thought you were talking about the Tayar script and overlooked this." He continued to stroke my hair. "You can always pick up what you don't know. You did well finding someone smart to help you," he reassured me, and I felt a rare warmth in his words.
Just as I was beginning to relax, a second man, stern and protective, entered our conversation. "Gillai, do you think you can do a good job teaching I and Titi?" he asked, challenging Gillai directly.
Confident as always, Gillai responded, "I'll make sure that they can both read and write the official language in one month."
The other man didn't stop there. He launched into a harsh appraisal, each word sharp as a blade. "You were born with a frail constitution, you're utterly ineffective in combat, you have a cunning personality, and you are both arrogant and impudent..." The verbal STAB lingered in the air, but he concluded with a grudging acknowledgment of Gillai's intellect: "...Yet there's no one smarter than you in the entire palace. I'll leave them in your capable hands, Gillai."
The tension quickly shifted. The man stepped close to Gillai, his eyes filled with warning. "If you lay a finger on I one more time, I won't forgive you." A literal GLARE passed between them, the air crackling with a dangerous energy. Then he added, "It's getting late now. Why don't you end your lesson here?"
Gillai accepted, nodding calmly. "Okay." He turned to me, a warm BEAM of a smile radiating from his face. "I'll take you back to the palace. Come with me."
Later, I saw the man who had issued the warning. He looked sullen, a slight POUT on his face as he muttered to himself, "I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT SHE LIKES ABOUT HIM." He was closing a door with a CREAK when another man, Giaret, appeared.
"GREAT TIMING, GILLAI," Giaret called out, and the other man flinched slightly. "G-GIARET?" he stammered. Giaret beckoned him closer. "COME HERE. I HAVE SOMETHING TO TELL YOU." Hesitant but obedient, he replied, "OKAY..."
Sometime later, Gillai and I discussed the cleric's findings about my health. "The cleric provided me with the results of your diagnosis, but she noticed something a little strange," he said. I tilted my head in confusion, a question mark hovering in my mind.
Gillai explained, "Compared to other people, your body is malnourished and low in energy, but you recover much quicker than most people."
"Oh..." I pondered the cause. "IS THAT DUE TO MY HEALING POWER?"
He nodded. "That will increase your chances of surviving my fire energy... but there are other factors that concern me."
It finally clicked for me. "THAT MAKES SENSE. I'VE SURVIVED THIS LONG THANKS TO MY HEALING POWER. But it's not like my body itself is that healthy."
Gillai's concern deepened. "You faint if you overuse your healing power? This is the first time I've heard of holy power causing those kinds of side effects." He emphasized that possessing the ability doesn't mean it's entirely good for the body. The cleric recommended medicine to help me recover my energy more reliably.
Gillai then spoke of his own upcoming regimen. "I think it would be best to check your progress after you've taken that medicine for two months. Yes. I should be at my most potent in two months anyway, so I need to take some medicine and practice celibacy."
I blinked in surprise. "WILL IT... HELP?" I asked, seeking clarification. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHEN YOU SAY YOU SHOULD BE AT YOUR MOST POTENT?"
He explained, "It's the time when I have the highest chance of siring an heir." He added that his fire energy would significantly increase, so he needed to prepare in advance to keep it under control. "We'll check our energy levels in two months' time. That's when we can talk about sleeping together again."
I felt a little blush creep across my cheeks. I quickly interjected, trying to get a clearer boundary. "WAIT...!" My face burned as I squeezed his arm (SQUEEZE). "W-WHEN YOU MENTIONED PRACTICING CELIBACY... H-HOW STRICT DO YOU HAVE TO BE?"
C-can we... sleep in the same bed? The words felt small, fragile, almost as if they might shatter before reaching him.
What? Hakan's reaction was one of stunned disbelief, his eyes widening. My heart thudded painfully in my chest. I quickly tried to explain, looking down as a blush crept up my neck. "W-we... slept in your bed last time..."
He remembered, of course. His expression softened slightly, though that deep, intense fire still flickered behind his eyes. I swallowed nervously and pressed on, my voice a desperate whisper. "Can't we... just sleep... in the same bed together?"
I knew the reality of his position. He had countless responsibilities as King of Tayar, all-consuming and inescapable. I murmured softly, concern lining my words, "You'll be busy with all the meetings... I just..." I trailed off, letting the weight of my longing hang in the air. I wanted to see him, to be close, to feel the warmth of him near me.
Hakan lifted his head, a complex look crossing his face-a mix of exasperation, desire, and a tenderness that made my heart ache. His voice was low, measured, serious. "...So I'd like to have your undivided attention at night, at least."
I blinked, startled at his words, and then he added another line that made my breath catch, his tone laced with mock pain: "I don't want to sleep by myself for two months."
A wave of relief washed over me, and I couldn't help the small smile that tugged at my lips. In the next moment, we were in bed, the sheets pooling around us. Hakan was stiff, clearly trying to maintain a respectable distance, his large, imposing body a formidable presence beside my own. His eyes were wide open, staring straight ahead, perhaps at the ceiling, as if keeping some internal struggle at bay.
"Good night, Hakan," I murmured, snuggling closer, wrapping my arms around his massive, muscled chest. It felt warm, safe, like home. I pressed a soft HUG against him.
"TSSSSS..." he hissed, his face a mask of profound struggle, eyes squeezed shut in a great effort of will.
"GOOD NIGHT, LUCINA," he responded, his voice coming out as a strained GROAN, the sound trapped somewhere between his lips and the black bubble of his inner turmoil. He finally closed his eyes, a bead of sweat tracing a line near his temple.
Lying there, I felt utterly content. The bed was enormous, yet his presence made it feel like the coziest spot in the world. Sleep came quickly, and I drifted off, oblivious to the King of Tayar's internal battle beside me.
I was still snuggled against him, but a restlessness began to stir within me. My fingers started to FIDGET, tracing lightly against the smooth skin of his arm and chest. He was so warm, so close...
I looked up at his face, still rigid with forced stoicism, and my mind began to wander. After a moment, I spoke the first thing that came to my mind. "How about... a kiss?"
A slight SQUEEZE of the sheet marked my nervousness. Hakan's eyes snapped open, a flicker of panic and intense focus replacing his earlier tension.
"CAN I..." I started, pulling the sheet up to cover my mouth, my face heating under his sharp gaze.
His eyes were wide, and his chest rose and fell rapidly beneath my touch. "O-OF COURSE," he managed to grit out, a trickle of sweat running down his temple. "IF THAT'S WHAT YOU WANT." His heartbeat was frantic-BA-BUMP, BA-BUMP, BA-BUMP-echoing through the bed like a wild, passionate drum.
He shifted slowly, carefully, until his face was inches from mine. "WELL..." he murmured, his breath warm against my cheek. I could feel his massive, bare chest radiating heat, and my own heart pounded in unison.
As I leaned in, I caught the desperate, silent prayer in his mind: OH GREAT ANCESTORS... GRANT ME THE STRENGTH TO STAY RATIONAL AND FIRM IN MY RESOLVE!
His heart was practically bursting-BA-BUMP, BA-BUMP-a chaotic rhythm at odds with his Kingly composure. Finally, he gave in, leaning down until his lips met mine in a soft, tentative kiss.
That kiss completely rattled the King of Tayar.