When the Mad Emperor Suddenly Becomes Sweet

34

Herro entered the portable bathroom to find two ladies conversing loudly with each other. At Herro’s sudden appearance, the lady standing furthest from him quickly busied herself by making herself appear to be helping Freya with her bathing. Herro let out a dry cough and began to speak.

“Freya, is everything okay?” he asked.

Freya started to feel a little anxious and stared at his shadow as she began to wonder what on earth was going on.

Not wishing to show her confusion to Herro, she paused and then simply replied, “Of course.”

Herro continued and told her that he had a few things that he wanted to ask, and began explaining the ingredients of the soap. Freya was confused when she heard him talking about rose petals, oils, and other extracts.

“Do the aromas of the rose come through clearly?” he asked.

Freya hesitated before answering with some uncertainty, “Well, I can certainly notice that something is there,” she answered, reasoning to herself that that something was probably the rose that Herro was talking about.

Herro extracted a small, paper notebook from his hip pocket and began to scribble down a few words. Then he looked up from his notes and fixed his eyes on Freya. He continued his questioning, and Freya became increasingly more nervous as he pressed the matter further. Finally, she exclaimed, “My heart and my body feel as though they are melting!”

Herro sighed deeply and replied, “Oh, Freya. If we continue like this, you are likely to sink.”

Freya could faintly hear Herro’s voice, buzzing as if from afar, but she was unable to focus on it. She could feel the strength gradually leaving her body, starting from the tips of her toes and then moving up to her legs. She was getting weaker, and with fading hope, she cried out, “I can’t be like this.”

But her body ignored her cries, becoming heavier like a dead weight and after a few seconds, she sank under the water.

“Herro, have you gone crazy?”

“I can’t figure out why you’re mad.”

Lucius had received word of some unusual activity at the border, so he went outside to investigate. Upon his return, he saw Herro with a sinister smile on his face which sent a chill down his spine. It would later transpire that he was indeed correct to be alarmed.

There was a body sprawled on the bed in the connecting room. Herro followed him and explained, all the while seeming to be attempting to stifle his laughter.

“This lady is your lifesaver. It is necessary for us to do this,” said Herro.

Lucius was shocked, and began to ask, “But why did you…?”

Herro quickly interrupted, “Her clothes were covered in blood. If you had witnessed it, you would have been deeply upset, Your Majesty.”

Lucius could not see any humor in this situation, and snapped at Herro, “Stop this nonsense. This is no time for tomfoolery and jokes.”

“But Your Majesty, is this not a very interesting situation? I have certainly not encountered events like this before,” said Herro.

Lucius was getting more annoyed as he listened to Herro and raised his voice to say, “Herro, I don’t want you here now. I suggest you leave quickly, and not return for a long time.”

Herro knew that he had to leave, but he could not resist one final comment to Lucius as he walked out of the room. “Well, I suppose you want to have that annoying gaze all for yourself.” Then he was gone.

Freya began to stir from her slumber, and the sounds of someone fighting started to enter her ears. She could feel a soft mattress and clean linen underneath her, and in her semi-awake state, she imagined herself to be floating on a cloud. An inner voice told her to keep her eyes closed, to maintain the illusion.

As she inevitably started to slip away from sleep and into consciousness, the images of a hot water bath formed in her mind’s eye. She knew that there was an element of danger in the hot water, but she also thought that it would be quite amusing if she were to dunk Archer in there. She smiled to herself and let out a sleepy laugh as she imagined Archer, in a wooden barrel of hot water, flailing his arms frantically.

Sleep was quickly getting away from her and she was drawn into the reality of the room she was in, wondering who on earth was fighting like that. She felt some pangs of annoyance, as she wanted to sleep more but this loud man was yelling and preventing her from doing so. Who was this inconsiderate ruffian? As she came into her fully awakened state, she realized with a shock that the hot bath hadn’t been a dream. She was now laying on a bed, wearing unfamiliar soft clothes, with a man staring at her. Her brain could not quickly process the situation that she was in, but the first thing that she perceived was the scent of this man filling her nostrils.

“Well, now that you are awake, I think you should probably get off my bed,” he said. Freya instantly recognized his voice, and the fact that he had said my bed confirmed that she was indeed in His Majesty’s bed. She wondered how this situation had come to pass, and quickly tried to extract herself from the bed. Unfortunately, her legs were not back at full strength yet, and as she stood up, she stumbled and began to fall, instinctively reaching out to grab something to protect herself from falling.

It was fortunate that Freya had managed to avoid a fall, but she suddenly realized that what she had grabbed to protect herself was actually a pair of shoulders belonging to Lucius himself. They were broad and solid, and Freya’s heart skipped a beat as the aroma of Lucius again came into her nostrils.

The sounds of Lucius’ deep voice poured into her ears, as he said, “Well, this is somewhat embarrassing.”

An awkward silence followed, and then Freya gasped and replied, “Forgive me, Your Majesty. It wasn’t intentional.”

She felt her face getting hotter as she blushed bright red, realizing that she was almost in his arms in a lovers’ embrace. His shoulders felt like a hot surface beneath her hands, as if they would burn her if she clung to them for much longer. She quickly snapped out of her imagination and moved away from him, standing up straight and clearing her throat.

Lucius let out a long breath and shook his head, while muttering, “I’ve heard that excuse plenty of times.”