Chapter 39

The corners of my mouth crept upwards as I gently patted the sleeping Haniel as she snuggled into my arms .

Though I was surprised that I am smiling even in this situation, I was more fascinated that I did not feel an ounce of loneliness that I always had .

“…”

PAT PAT . My hand wrapped carefully around her wings, and as I placed my fingers on her, I could feel her little heartbeats .

As expected of her to be the same bloodline as her brother, their hearts beat relatively fast…

“Cough cough!”

[Madam!]

“Selene, you know, I’ll raise our princess very well . I have the responsibility over anyone else to raise her beautifully and safely . ”

[…]

“And, so . ”

I could not control my overwhelming emotions and even expressed my unquestioned decision . I clung to Selene’s feet, who was instinctively trying to get away from this .

“Pack your bags . Let’s move!”

To put it nicely, it was moving . But honestly, it was no different from a daylight escape .

It was the second day, and I had been making careful preparations without anyone noticing .

There might not be a lot to pack, but since we are a family of three, including baby Haniel moving our base, there was still quite a few baggage to take with us .

I now understood why mothers back in Korea had their hands full of bags while carrying their kids .

“We must take a blanket for Haniel . Though she’s a white cygnet, they are still unable to maintain their body temperature . ”

[Madam . ]

“Oh, let’s pack all the fish jerky dried out on the roof and the bird feed . We can’t let the young one starve while looking for a new lake . ”

[You said there was none when I asked for more previously . ]

Selene grumbled as she brought out the blanket with her beak and threw a scowl at me .

As I was in a hurry, she had no choice but to follow my pace, but still expressed her discontent .

[Will you even leave? You didn’t budge even though Lady Rania had bullied you so much . ]

“I have nothing else to lose to her, but it’s not the case with the Emperor . ”

[Just what happened between you and His Majesty?]

“…Nothing . ”

I avoided Selene’s eyes and hurriedly packed Haniel’s ribbon .

Strangely, it was always at such moments that Selene moved so fast that her head appeared from under the ribbons .

[What really happened? Please tell me . ]

“Well, he’s just huge, scary, and sturdy . ”

[Sturdy? Where?]

“The empire’s economy . ”

Although it was unintentional, if Selene had touched the Emperor’s chest, there was a high possibility that she would have ran away, wanting to live alone .

Selene started raking the ground violently as she could not stand seeing me rolling up ribbons hurriedly and pretending to not hear her .

[We’re running, and yet you’re packing ribbons?]

“Seriously . I’m not packing just ribbons, but taking along Haniel’s cuteness . If you’re a nanny, act like one and widen your outlook . ”

[Besides that, have you decided where and how we’re going to wherever we’re heading to? Lady Rania won’t let us off so easily . ]

Selene took on a practical stand out of the blue .

[Lady Rebecca pops in occasionally as well . It doesn’t matter if Haniel and I are not around, but they’ll find out if you disappeared . ]

“I suppose so . Since I’ll have to show them that I’m still around . ”

[You knew that, and yet you want to run away?]

“What else can I do then? Keeping myself alive comes first . ”

It did not feel like I was living at the thought of facing the Emperor and the lake, while unsure when he would return .

“It’s been a while, Duchess . ”

“I, I committed no crime, Your Majesty!”

“Which did you mean? Kidnapping, or sexual harassment?”

“Ughhh . ”

Just last night, I had a dream of the Emperor gesturing with his middle finger, calling for me .

The saying of even living a cursed life is better than living a sinned life, was not for naught .

“This isn’t the only lake anyway . Though we won’t be able to get out of the Northern Lands overnight, but we’ll be able to find a small lake using the map you gave previously . ”

[Did you think Lady Rania won’t be able to find her way there? She even has the wizard who cursed us with dark magic . ]

“We’ll have to move from one to another . I have thought about it, once we’ve left the Northern Lands, the huge risk will be reduced . Since we are not allowed to intrude on other regions besides the Emperor, I think we’ll have to either head east or west . ”

I never expected the knowledge I got from Lady Melleo would come in handy now .

The Emperor was in the center of the empire, much like the egg yolk, and the other regions surrounding it .

Even under the powerful authority of the Emperor, only the four lords in their respective territories were recognized and acknowledged for their long time efforts against invasions from other countries .

“It would be a loss to Rania as well if she uses dark magic in the territories of other lords . She wouldn’t risk it . ”

[Even so…]