I Didn’t Tame The Beastly Duke!

She woke up in the middle of the night.

It was spring, almost summertime. Even though her clothing was very thin, it was still quite chilly at night. Celia got out of bed wearing only a thin negligee.

“Leon…?”

Leonis was not in the bed. Something had happened in his sleep, as he had apparently gone out of the bedroom, leaving Celia sleeping.

Celia let out a heavy sigh and then drew the flimsy blanket closer to her body. She was still feeling sleepy, but she didn’t want to sleep. Leonis was on her mind a lot.

‘What’s going on?’

Celia got up and moved to the edge of the bed. It was a very wide bed.

Celia stood on the carpet wearing loose slippers. The air was pleasantly cool. She looked fit to go for a walk.

‘Is it cold outside?’

In addition to the fireplace, the interior of the imperial palace was equipped with magic stones to regulate the temperature. Celia hesitated before putting on the gown that she had laid out on the chair.

She slowly crossed the bedroom and opened the door. It was just her, but the realisation hit her that it had been a long time since she had opened the door alone.

Someone will come if she pulls on the rope or makes a lot of noise right now. That wasn’t what Celia wanted to do, though. She felt a little like a child when she came out of the bedroom.

Outside the bedroom were a drawing room and a living room. She has to pass this far before she comes into the hallway.

Here, there was a sofa where she could sit and relax and a desk where she could simply write documents. In fact, there were too many.

Celia’s office was one of them. The only office that was close to their bedroom was Celia’s, while Leonis’ office was quite a distance away.

Within the Empress Palace, there is a separate office designated specifically for Celia.

When Leonis became emperor, he gave a palace to Celia, but she rarely stayed in the empress’s palace. Leonis always wanted to be with Celia, and Celia was considerate of Leonis, who had more work to do than she did, so she and Leonis always stayed at the emperor’s palace.

So, the office attached to this bedroom must have actually been for the emperor. Leonis gave it to Celia.

So Celia didn’t even look around her office. She looked into the drawing room, passed through the living room, and entered the door that led into the hallway.

The imperial palace at night was lit with soft lights. The ceiling was very high and could have been scary, but Celia also liked this view. For some reason, she felt warm.

‘Is Leon at the office?’

If he wasn’t there, he would be in the training room. Otherwise, a library?

Celia walked slowly down the hallway, worried. Even though walking around in slippers wasn’t appropriate for an empress, it seemed like she was doing just fine on this night.

This was because she now had no maid following her or a guard knight guarding her side.

Actually, she was afraid of monsters, but humans were not something to be afraid of to Celia with her divine powers. If they are close, she can sense their presence.

‘There is someone.’

A guard who was out on night patrol quickly bowed his head. Celia praised him for his hard work and then asked as to the whereabouts of Leonis.

“His Majesty has gone to the training hall.”

“Really?”

He was at the training ground this night. Thinking that he must have been unable to sleep at all, Celia slowly headed towards the training ground. The soldier offered to take her and escort her, but she refused.

She wanted to walk alone. Up until the time she met Leonis.

She went down several hallways, across the hall, and down the stairs. She wasn’t aware of anyone else around her, so she didn’t feel self-conscious about walking in the dim light by herself.

‘It’s also a good time to take a walk.’

She thought about going to the garden instead of where she was going, but she was worried about Leonis. Why did he go to the practise field out of the blue? He couldn’t stay away from Celia.

Every step she took caused the hem of her dress to flutter in the breeze. The breeze that was blowing gently was just breezy enough to feel invigorating. As she picked up her pace, she could feel his long hair trembling all over his head.

The moment Celia realised she could feel Leonis’ energy, she sped up her steps. When she saw that he was at the far end, her heart started to beat faster.

Leonis also seemed to have noticed that Celia had arrived. While hastily putting away his sword, he got a hazy view of the proportions of her body.

“Celia?”

As she entered the training hall, she saw Leonis approaching her. Anyway, the only clothing he had on was a pair of pants.

When Celia saw the beads of sweat that were forming on his chest, her eyes widened in shock.

“I do not put on… Are you here to look for me?”

Celia smiled at the look in his eyes that contained a hint of excitement.

“Because the bed is empty. The guard told me that Your Majesty is here.”

“I was going back soon…”

Celia approached Leonis after noticing that he was smiling through an embarrassed expression. Leonis took a pause, perhaps because he noticed that he was sweating and was concerned about it.

“Hold on a second, let me take a quick shower and then I’ll meet you outside.”

“You don’t need to.”

“I’ll be soon. I’m waiting for you.”

Even though it would have been difficult for Leonis to touch Celia with his hands covered in sweat, he gave her a kind look before hurriedly running away to the shower room attached to the field.

Celia did not go after him but instead waited patiently.

Because he must have been overheated from his training sessions, she had all of her windows open. Celia went to the window and gazed out into the nocturnal garden.

It was still dark outside and she felt it would be a long time before dawn.

‘Tomorrow is a holiday… Shall we relax? The two of us.”

She had a feeling that Leonis would like it too. If it were Leonis, he would no doubt lock her in his bedroom and not let her out, but she was nagging and thought about going out for a day.

“Celia.”

Leonis came out of the bathroom with water running out of his hair from washing so quickly. Celia approached and fiddled with Leonis’ wet hair her.

Still, the clothes were properly dressed up and down.

“Where’s the towel?”

“Inside, there…”

Leonis was sitting on a chair in the field when Celia got the towel. Leonis stood still and let her dry his hair while she did it with her familiar hands.

“If you sleep like that, the Empress’s pillow will get wet, right?”

“That’s fine, but no matter how healthy Your Majesty is, if you walk around like this, you’ll catch a cold.”

“I’ve never had a cold.”

Funny enough, the same thing happened to Celia. However, that was a memory after being reborn in her current body, and she remembered that she suffered from frequent minor illnesses in her previous life.

It’s good that you have a healthy constitution. Now, it’s done.”

Perhaps because Celia’s touch was good, Leonis looked disappointed. Celia tried to put the towel back in the bathroom, but Leonis took it and placed it on her chair.

“The servants will clean it up.”

The hand that pulled him into her arms was familiar. Celia felt a warm energy spread deep into her heart and hugged Leonis’ waist.

“I wish Your Majesty was by my side when I woke up.”

“I’ll try my best next time.”

Celia dithered for a moment before raising her head. As she looked down, her eyes met Leonis’s.

“But why did you suddenly come to the training ground? You train every day, right?”

“That’s…. It’s…..”

When Leonis looked away as if embarrassed, Celia stretched out her hand and cupped his cheek. She asked back, following the red eyes that were avoiding her here and there and making eye contact.

“That?”

“Future… I dream of the future.”

Leonis’ cheeks were red as he spoke. Celia looked up at Leonis with an expression on her face that asked, “What was your dream?”

“Then?”

“It’s always sexy, but today it’s even more… Just solving it in the bathroom won’t stop it, so I won’t be able to wake you up from your sleep.”

Celia felt her face heat up and looked at Leonis before correcting something important.

“I’m not sexy at all.”

“The empress is lewd. You ask for it, too much.”

Celia had mixed feelings as Leonis declared. Should she be happy about this?

“…You’re not cursing, are you?”

“It’s a compliment. Anyway, that’s why I came down to calm down the heat. If I stay as it is, I think I will wake up someone who is sleeping.”

Anyhow, she thought, he was a feisty husband. It was a shame because her own body was strong; otherwise, they wouldn’t have suffered so much.

“What did I do in your dream?”

Leonis’ face turned redder when Celia became interested all of a sudden.

“If you ask me now…It makes me think of it again.”

It was hard for him to get it down.

“I’m awake now?”

Whispering, Celia lifted Leonis’ shirt. The sensation of gentle, tender hands moving across Leonis’s skin caused the back of his neck to tremble. Celia moved her fingers along the texture of his muscles as she lovingly stroked the scar that was so familiar to her.

Immediately, a signal came from the lower part of his pants. Leonis let out a muffled groan before grabbing Celia’s hand and placing it over the bottom of his shirt.

“Stop. If we continue here…”

The low growling voice seemed both embarrassed and excited. Celia lifted her head and looked at his lips.

“What if I continue?”

Leonis swallowed dryly. He cupped Celia’s cheek with both of his hands and captured her lips in one go. Celia calmly and compliantly submitted her body to the rough kiss that caused her to lose her breath.

“If I rip your gown here… The empress will be in trouble?”

“I can just go back to the bedroom.”

She didn’t want to call her maid at the training field. Regardless of who they were, whether the empress or the emperor, there was a degree of nuisance. Is it not the wee hours of the morning right now?

Leonis made a groaning sound as if she knew that would happen.

“You are very….Damn it. Don’t struggle too much.”

Leonis, who was holding Celia in his arms, hurriedly walked towards her. She giggled as Celia teased him by playing with his collarbone, which could be seen because the lapels of his shirt were open. Leonis glanced at Celia disapprovingly with her red face.

“Then… Th-Thank you. But wait, don’t put your hand in.”

Leonis’ steps seemed to get faster as she clung to his chest and played with it.

It didn’t occur to him that even moving almost as fast as he could would be dangerous. He was Leonis, who could survive safely even if he jumped from the second or third floor while holding Celia.

Leonis calculated that Celia would dislike making loud noises at night, so he opened the door hurriedly instead of slamming it and went in.

As the bedroom door opened across the living room, Leonis’ burning gaze fell upon her. Celia, who was pressing her lips to his collarbone, grinned.

“……You must be horny, right?”

“A little?”

Celia giggled in response. Leonis’ eyes narrowed.

“It won’t be enough”

Tomorrow is a holiday.