Chapter 1: Gabriel Scott

“Gabi, come here.”

“It’s Gabriel. And I’m more comfortable standing here than there.”

“Gabi. I said come here.”

I’m saying, you bastard… It’s more comfortable just standing here than sitting on your lap.

I couldn’t bring myself to say the truth, so I gave an awkward smile. Rivan smiled back at me like sunlight.

“Gabi, where did I put my sword?”

“I was about to say I’d go there now.”

The emperor swept back his golden hair, more dazzling than the sun, and muttered in a leisurely way. He should just hide the damn sword somewhere.

Whenever something didn’t suit him even a little, he’d bring up that sword. ‘Where did I put my sword? Gabi, bring me my sword. Gabi, this sword, you see, blah blah blah.’ He mentioned it at every turn.

It sounds like a name when you say “sword,” but it was just a sword. A longsword.

The man who sat me on his lap and stroked my cheek as if looking at the most lovable thing in the world was, unfortunately, a sword addict.

This lunatic who searched for swords, cradled swords, and sharpened swords… no. Rivan was the emperor of the fantasy world I’d been dropped into. The… what was it. What empire was it again. Right… ah, Sedian. He was the 15th emperor of the Sedian Empire.

According to the original work, Rivan, the 15th emperor born with the golden light bestowed by the gods, was the greatest and most dangerous figure in the empire’s entire history.

Do you have any idea how dangerous the man whose lap I’m sitting on is?

This Gabriel I’d possessed was a man who got by on his face alone, and he was also the one who came up with a wicked plan to assassinate the emperor. And he’d conspired with the emperor’s closest aides to do it.

The emperor knew their plan from the start. He knew and still let them play him. Scary bastard…

This foolish Gabriel had hatched a grand plan: after spending his first night in the emperor’s bedroom, he would stab the emperor in the neck with the sword hidden under the pillow and take the empire. But as these romance dramas go, he only spent the first night before his head was cut off.

I had possessed that foolish, half-witted character.

“Gabi, Gabi!”

“Uh, yes? D-did you call me?”

“I asked what you were thinking about.”

“Uh… I wasn’t thinking about anything.”

“I can never tell. Your black eyes are beautiful, but I can’t read what’s inside.”

Liar. You know everything.

I pretended not to notice his lie and smiled it off, resting my forehead on his shoulder.

“I was thinking the weather is nice.”

I had possessed a foolish beauty of this era, a fate that was never mine, and now I had to seduce an emperor I didn’t even care about.

I just wanted a normal love affair. Not one that walked on thin ice, and not with a sword-crazy lunatic.

“Ha…”

“What’s wrong, Gabriel.”

“Huh?”

“I asked why you sighed.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you. Gabi, if there’s something you need to tell me, say it comfortably. I can fix it.”

The emperor said exactly what I’d read. ‘Gabi, I’ll fix it for you. Tell me.’ He knew the plan, and because he’d given Gabriel some affection in his own way, he was showing the magnanimity to spare him.

But I’ll say it again. This romance drama had none of that.

Gabriel, who only had “no brakes, keep going,” kissed him deeply and pulled the emperor into bed. I knew how Gabriel ended after he kicked away his last chance, so that was enough.

I just had to not live like that.

I blocked all of Gabriel’s plans in advance.

I pretended not to know the emperor’s closest aides who’d been in league with Gabriel and sent them into exile far away.

And I couldn’t fall out of the emperor’s favor, had to maintain intimacy, but couldn’t go to bed with him. The moment we spent that first night together, I was dead.

The more I chewed over the situation, the more uneasy I felt.

If I left the emperor, his closest aides might think I’d betrayed him and assassinate me. They wouldn’t even know I’d saved their lives. These treacherous bastards. The emperor knew everything anyway.

I clicked my tongue inwardly and worried about my own safety.

I had to survive somehow. If possible, I thought it would be nice if the sword-crazy lunatic, no, Rivan, attached a guard to me and sent me far away.

“Um… Your Majesty.”

“Gabi. I told you to call me by my name.”

“…I’m not sure I dare.”

“Gabi, my sword was here.”

Rivan fumbled at his thigh.

“Rivan.”

At the emperor’s name, which slipped out without a second’s hesitation, Rivan smiled as if he would crumble in the sunlight.

“I heard Lady Cecil is staying in the palace.”

“And?”

“I’m concerned she seems to be alone too much.”

“Gabi, every woman you show interest in will die.”

This lunatic. I didn’t care about Cecil. I cared whether Rivan had any interest in Cecil.

“Do you really think I have feelings for Lady Cecil?”

I raised my round eyes and met Rivan’s gaze.

“No.”

“I just feel sorry for Lady Cecil…”

“Gabi, I have a sword.”

This sword-obsessed bastard… I shut my mouth at Rivan, who kept bringing up his sword. I thought that if I said any more, I’d upset him.

“You should go now.”

“You can stay with me in my office.”

“Rivan…”

I called Rivan’s name in a slightly sorrowful voice. The end of my voice cracked, making it sound even more pitiful.

Rivan lifted my chin as if he couldn’t hold back even a little and kissed me.

“Mmph…”

A lewd sound echoed. Yes, kissing was more familiar now than the first time. The first day we kissed, I’d been so startled I nearly jumped out of my skin…

I told myself I’d never even had a first kiss, so when would I ever kiss an emperor, and opened my mouth. Our soft lips pressed together more deeply.

The stimulation against soft membranes and the roof of my mouth made a moan escape on its own. What drove me even crazier was that Gabriel’s body was responding faithfully. To the point I wondered if this bastard was terribly experienced.

He was supposed to spend his first night with the emperor, so shouldn’t he be inexperienced? No, but wasn’t he feeling it too well for someone with no experience?

With my mouth open and moaning, I seriously pondered whether Gabriel had experience or not. Then, afraid I’d get excited too, I calmed myself by singing the national anthem all the way through the third verse. By the time I finished, Rivan’s lips pulled away.

His lips pulled away with a wet sound, then a feather-light kiss landed on mine.

“Come to my office.”

“…I was going to take a nap.”

“Stay where I can see you, Gabi.”

My reflection filled his golden eyes, which resembled the sun. Looking into those beautiful eyes, I thought, please just leave me alone. f*ck…

I’d tried to live like a potted plant in the emperor’s room, barely there, but it seemed I’d gotten it wrong.

I walked after Rivan. To the place where he handled state affairs all day.

It was a space filled with old books on all sides, but unfortunately, I couldn’t read. Gabriel probably could, though.

So while Rivan handled state affairs, I either lay sprawled on the long table or, when even that got boring, drew Rivan on yellow parchment.

I didn’t know what Gabriel was good at, but I was good at drawing. Even I could tell it was quite good.

Rivan would be surprised whenever he saw me draw him. As he muttered, ‘Did you have this kind of talent?’, I shrugged and rolled up the parchment to tuck it into my sleeve. All while running my mouth, saying it was a worthless skill not worth showing anyone.

Then he’d grumble that it was a drawing of him, so why wouldn’t I give it to him.

“Hmm…”

I checked the drawing I’d made with a slightly dazed face. Rivan, drawn on the yellow parchment, was sitting on a wide desk, deep in thought.

I glanced at him and moved my hand. Then at the voice calling, “Gabi,” I lifted my head straight up.

“Did you call me?”

“Come here.”

With a reluctant look, I straightened up awkwardly. As I straightened, the chair pushed back with a screech, an unpleasant sound. As I approached with slow steps, Rivan reached out his arm.

At that, I naturally climbed onto his lap. That was another part I didn’t understand. The emperor doing this with a man named Gabriel when he had a pretty fiancée named Cecil.

No matter how much Gabriel used his beauty, could he be prettier than a woman? I’d bet Cecil, whom I’d seen once from afar, was a hundred times prettier than Gabriel.

As usual, I rested my forehead on Rivan’s shoulder and let out a small sigh.

“Why lately.”

“Huh?”

“I was wondering why you aren’t seducing me.”

“…”

“You used to want to drag me into bed at every chance.”

At his low voice, my drowsy eyelids shot open.

“Ah… haha…”

That’s because I want to live long. After the first night, the emperor killed Gabriel without hesitation. Of course, it was natural since he knew Gabriel’s foolish plan, but still. The moment I slept with him, I would die. That fact was carved into my head.

“Ah… that’s not it…”

“Not it, my foot. A passing dog would laugh.”

“…There’s no need for Your Majesty to… I mean, um… I’m fine like this.”

I stammered out the words. To survive long, I had to receive exactly this much affection. No more, no less, just like now.

“But I’m not, Gabriel.”

But what was this bastard saying now? I put on a stupid face and met Rivan’s eyes.

“…What?”

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