The Young Consort Wants to Live Quietly

Chapter 12

***

“It must have been quite disgusting, but Sanya, you’re very composed.”

No sooner had I thought that than Mirinae’s words almost made me spit out the tea I was sipping. It was my turn in Russian roulette.

I had to answer well. Saying, ‘Yes, it was disgusting, but I have a strong stomach, so it was okay,’ would probably land me in the same situation as the maid who was dragged to the flower garden.

“…It wasn’t disgusting.”

That’s not it. You’re not a monster.

I quietly responded as if I had become the protagonist of the novel. In fact, this was a tactic Yehwa first used on Mirinae. So, Mirinae ended up hopelessly charmed by Yehwa, who had truly seen him.

Not that I was aiming for that, but without adding any unnecessary details, it was the best response.

“Eyes are all the same, aren’t they? What difference does it make? I was truly sorry to have caused you any worry, Noble Consort.”

It was a clean response. Flawless and quite mature. Just what I had hoped for. Mirinae looked puzzled at my apology, but then he smiled.

“It’s okay.”

Good. Passed.

I inwardly felt a sigh of relief. However, what troubled me next was Mirinae’s behavior. He said it was okay but then made an awkward face.

After fidgeting with his lips for a moment, Mirinae cautiously extended his hand towards me. I flinched unknowingly, and his hand stopped mid-air. About to retract his hand, Mirinae asked softly,

“May I pat your head?”

Me?

I’m not particularly fond of physical contact. Besides, isn’t patting on the head something you do to a dog? But if he insists, what can I do?

As I nodded, Mirinae placed his hand on my head. His touch was careful, as if afraid of messing up my hair, and gentle.

Honestly, I don’t know why he’s doing this.

“Sanya is kind. You even know how to apologize.”

Yeah. I’m naturally kind. So now, please remove your hand from my head…

“But, not everyone else is as kind as Sanya, you see.”

Mirinae withdrew his hand and adjusted his posture. He whispered to me quietly with a soft smile,

“I’d prefer if you didn’t talk about this.”

That’s a threat.

“Yes, Noble Consort.”

I answered without hesitation. There was no way I could speak.

I knew how snakes digested their prey, and I had no desire to explore the insides of Mirinae’s stomach.

Mirinae smiled, seemingly pleased with my answer. Relieved that I had overcome the hurdle, I felt my strength drain.

Anyway, I hoped the conversation was over and I could leave soon. I glanced outside, noticing the day beginning to darken.

Noticing my gaze, Mirinae’s gaze also shifted. He seemed to contemplate as he observed the twilight.

“It has gotten quite late.”

Exactly. So now let’s end this—

“Won’t you have dinner in my palace?”

Excuse me?

I doubted my ears. More accurately, it was a desperate hope. I had heard wrong, right?

Understanding my look, Mirinae smiled mischievously.

“The chefs in the palace are quite skilled. I heard they prepared a sweet dessert for today…”

He paused after saying that. What am I supposed to do? Even if the dessert is tempting, the company might spoil it.

“Doesn’t it tempt you?”

Who do you think I am, a child? I’d rather have money.

But then I faced reality. Right now, I was indeed a child, and I held a lower position than the Noble Consort.

Meaning, I couldn’t refuse the option he offered.

“…I’m looking forward to it.”

I managed to squeeze out that response with a strained voice.

* * *

I glanced around as I used my chopsticks, feeling like the food was just going through my nose. The claim of their good skills was true; it did taste good. It was like delicious sand.

Mirinae was using his chopsticks with elegant gestures. The way he gracefully picked up food and brought it to his lips was refined.

I felt a bit of self-loathing watching him. Sanya had been harshly trained to exhibit perfect manners, which were now supposedly inherited by me.

Except that my hands were those of a short young child.

There couldn’t possibly be any dignity in a child stacked on several cushions to reach the table.

I wanted to finish eating quickly and get up. With that thought, I hurried with my chopsticks. I didn’t touch the side dishes and consistently brought only rice to my mouth. After all, finishing the rice meant the meal was over.

Then, a pair of chopsticks holding meat suddenly appeared in front of my bowl.

“…?”

As I looked up, I saw Mirinae smiling at me.

“Try this. It’s delicious.”

I looked at the meat placed before me—it was clearly braised short ribs. The richly marinated meat was small enough to fit perfectly into my small mouth.

What’s this? Did he poison it?

That was the natural thought. But it wasn’t something I could just ignore, so I put the meat in my mouth and chewed.

Then, I was slightly thankful to Mirinae. The meat I had been eating until now—was it even meat or just paper?—compared to this tender flesh with its sweet and savory seasoning was incomparable. There was no trace of the usual meat smell. It really melted in my mouth.

Even if I were to die here, I’d have to take another bite.

While I was searching the table for where that meat came from, Mirinae gently pushed a plate containing something brown towards me.

I sneakily glanced around again and picked up the meat.

As I was chewing on that meat, Mirinae asked,

“You said you turned eight this year, right?”

“…cough, Yes, Noble Consort.”

I coughed once as I hurriedly swallowed.

Why is he suddenly asking about my age?

I found myself nervously chewing on my chopsticks, sneaking a glance at Mirinae. He seemed lost in thought, murmuring to himself, oblivious to my actions.

“Eight years old…”

His voice was laden with concern. I wondered why he was dwelling on my age again, enough to sound so troubled. And then, his lips turned down.

“Just, eight years old.”

A shiver ran down my spine at his softly whispered words.

Was he wondering how an eight-year-old managed to captivate the Empress? The meat I had swallowed felt like it was about to come back up.

“Such a pretty face, why don’t you smile more…”

Mirinae reached out with an expressionless face and caressed my cheek. His hand, cooler than the average adult’s body temperature due to its chill, touched my warmer skin.

I shivered reflexively, causing Mirinae to hesitate.

“You’d look even prettier if you smiled. Right?”

His whispering lips were frighteningly stern.

I wasn’t particularly fond of smiling. Moving facial muscles to smile seemed bothersome.

I didn’t know which part of my expressionless face annoyed him, but if he asked me to smile, I had to smile.

As soon as I lifted the corners of my mouth, Mirinae finally smiled.

“Good.”

“Cough”

I ended up choking again. The sudden rush of seasoning made my nose sting. However, I couldn’t just cough recklessly as usual, so I pressed down on my breath, trying to hold it in. That made my breathing uneven, and Mirinae, with almost a sixth sense, caught on.

“Sanya?”

“…Cough, yes.”

“Are you uncomfortable? Your complexion—”

“No, cough cough.”

Ah, damn. So much for pretending to be fine. Despite thinking this, I forced a smile at Mirinae.

“I’m fine, Noble Consort—”

Thud, thud, thud. Slide, bang!

I’m sorry for causing you concern.

That was the apology I couldn’t utter because of the earth-shaking footsteps.

The footsteps approached, and in the blink of an eye, the sliding door was flung open, hitting the frame on the opposite side.

Startled by the sudden entrance, both Mirinae and I turned our heads towards the door, only to be met with flaming red hair and even more fiery blue eyes.

“Mirinae!”

“Hic!”

This time, hiccups burst out of me uncontrollably before I could stop them, truly startled.

Even horror stories give you a moment to brace yourself, but this jump scare—this sudden appearance—had me trembling and hiccupping uncontrollably. Mirinae quickly approached me in concern.

“Sanya, are you okay?”

“Hic, huh. Yes, hic. I’m, hic.”

The hiccups made it impossible to breathe. Experiencing hiccups for the first time since entering this body, I found it truly disconcerting.

Garam, pale as a ghost, strode over and grabbed Mirinae by the collar.

“What did you— What have you done to her!”

Mirinae’s lips immediately tightened, his expression turning icy. If his eyes were visible, they would surely be filled with contempt as he retorted sharply.

“If you had any sense, you’d see for yourself what you’ve done.”

“Hic, hic. Huh.”

If only the diaphragm could think, how wonderful would that be?

I wanted to detach this relentlessly reminding organ from my body, not wanting to stand out between their heated exchange.

Garam then turned his head towards me, his eyes widening at the sight of me hiccupping.

“What’s wrong with you! Did you eat something bad? Did he feed you something strange?”

“Ah, no. Hic.”

“This child was perfectly fine, eating her meal until just moments ago. If you hadn’t rudely barged in, she would still be fine.”

I was taken aback. Did you just get angry?

Mirinae wasn’t known to get angry like this. At least, the Mirinae I knew wasn’t.

Something had changed.

Mirinae, who had grabbed a maid by the hair, threatened me, kindly offered me a meal, and now even scolded Garam.

They say people change when death is near, but does that apply to dragons too? After all, he’s in human form, isn’t it possible?

My hiccups stopped in surprise. As I stared blankly at him, Mirinae’s gaze returned to me, and for a moment, his eyebrows seemed to droop sorrowfully.

“It’s okay. Relax.”

Mirinae reached out for me, and suddenly, I was lifted up. It felt like déjà vu.

The difference was that previously I was merely being moved, but now I was cradled in his arms, being comforted.

“You were quite startled.”

His voice was soothing, speaking gently. I gave up trying to make sense of it. Let’s just chalk it up to madness.