When the Mad Emperor Suddenly Becomes Sweet

50

Lucius closed his eyes and groaned, clearly inconvenienced to be stuck in such a weird situation.

“Freya, why don’t you get off of me now?” He asked the girl who lay sprawled on his chest.

Freya desperately wanted to come down. She had no intention of crushing the scary man under him, but it felt like her body had no strength left in it and she couldn’t move.

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty, I can’t move,” She mumbled sheepishly and her voice stuck in her throat as a sob spilled out, followed by a volley of cries.

“Gemini, help?” The Emperor ordered in a low voice.

As Freya sobbed quietly, Gemini walked towards her stiffly and lifted her from her arms. He then sat her on a tent chair while giving her water.

“Here, take this,” He offered her a pill along with the water and urged her to calm down.

“Thank you,” Freya stammered as she drank the water carefully.

A bewildered Lucius lay on the ground as he watched the sight in front of him, too confused to laugh.

“I’m the one who’s hurt,” he stated matter-of-factly.

He’d instinctively stuck out his arm to stop Freya from falling on the floor and lost his balance as a result. To protect Freya from the fall, he’d pulled her on top of him.

He let out a cough, and finally caught Herro’s attention.

Herro looked at him coolly and asked, “Your Majesty, are you hurt?”

Lucius raised an eyebrow at his formal tone.

Freya left the tent for Archer’s and Lucius was left behind glaring at his men.

Herro, a wizard, whose thoughts he couldn’t figure out to begin with, and his knight Gemini, who barely spoke so Lucius had no idea what he was like either.

“I am deeply touched with your loyalty,” he spoke coldly, hoping his blockheaded underlings understood his sarcasm.

Gemini flinched while the Herro smiled leisurely, waving his hands as if he were dissipating the situation physically. “Your Majesty,” he purred softly and closed his arms as he continued. “I assumed a big strong man like you would’ve been able to fend the little maiden, so I didn’t interfere. You were very heroic in helping her and I wouldn’t have stolen your thunder,” his smile widened like that of a Cheshire Cats.

Lucius clenched his fists, annoyance boiling under his skin as he looked at the impish wizard smirking at him nonchalantly. “I think you’d find yourself a better actor than a wizard,” He spoke sourly.

“Ah, although it is a sin that my charming good looks are being covered by this hideous wizard cloak, I find myself to be pretty popular here- therefore I stay.” He smirked again, running a hand through his long raven black hair.

Lucius scoffed, muttering, “all right pretty boy, I’ll keep that in mind.”

Herro’s smirk faded and the pleasantries in the air evaporated. He put his arms together and spoke out somberly.

“What were you thinking… treating Count Adelion like that?”

Lucius scoffed again.

“I’m tired,” he announced and turned to fix his clothes.

“You know you need his support,” Herro urged impatiently.

Lucius’s face darkened as he recalled the events of the day. He’d adorned fancy clothing and mustered through the loud celebrations of the Count’s arrival. Lucius knew that wasn’t enough. He didn’t have many nobles supporting his reign and he was dependent on the famous southern family of Count Adelion’s.

He knew there were two reasons that the Count supported him; his later mother belonged to the southern parts and she was close to the Adelion family. The second reason was the daughter of the Count, Selena, who Lucius assumed fancied him.

The little red-headed lady whose name he couldn’t remember even after hearing it a million times had started to show her affection towards him a few years ago.

“Did she not get my message? It clearly stated my rejection,” he grumbled.

Even after rejecting her, Selena hadn’t yielded and it came to a point where the Count had come to him with his daughter in hand.

Herro smiled sheepishly.

“Of course, it’s hard to tell what liking me truly means.” Lucius thought bitterly. He did not trust anyone at this point in his life and neither did he like the Count’s blatant arrogance. The Count believed that Lucius was not in a position to reject his proposal and that did not sit right with him.

“I believe Miss Selena would make a perfect companion for you,” Herro commented.

“Probably,” Lucius replied without any effort.

Considering everything, it would be hard for Lucius to find a good match like this one. If he married Selena, he’d unite with the southern power and could receive wealthy support from the wealthy Adelions.