Contract Marriage Rewritten
Chapter 40
Amidst the buzzing atmosphere, Laniakea realized how the situation must look to everyone else.
The Emperor arriving in an urgent rush, seizing her hand, and demanding they head to the Main Palace.
To any onlooker, he seemed like a husband overcome with desire, seeking out his wife in broad daylight.
Yet Laniakea knew better. Hyperion was not the sort of man to bare his lust before her like this. In fact, he wouldn’t even harbor such thoughts in the first place!
‘No, that’s not it at all!’
Laniakea wanted nothing more than to grab Hilde, who was beaming beside her as if overjoyed, and shout the truth.
But she couldn’t.
Hyperion was already tugging her along.
“Oh my.”
“Your Majesty?”
“Her Majesty the Empress?”
The people passing by rubbed their eyes, wondering if the couple before them was truly the Emperor and Empress.
The two swept past in the blink of an eye, leaving no time for proper bows or greetings.
Watching the pair disappear into the distance, the onlookers stared blankly at one another and murmured.
“Was His Majesty… smiling?”
“I shall follow you to the Main Palace shortly, Your Majesty!”
From the entrance of the office far behind them, Hilde waved with a delighted smile, thoroughly pleased about something.
In the blink of an eye, the two had exited the Empress’s Palace.
“Your Majesty, wait a moment…!”
“I apologize for failing to notice sooner how deeply you yearned for this—so much that you could not even finish your letter.”
“No, that’s not what happened…”
“I should have spoken to you before you felt the need to write. I will see to it that this never happens again.”
It was useless. Right now, whatever she said would fall on deaf ears.
‘Lucy? Where did Lucy go?’
Normally, she would have rushed over in a heartbeat.
When Laniakea glanced back, Lucy was standing beside the waving Hilde with a sullen pout, sheepishly waving along.
Judging by the mood, Hilde must have told her that now was not the time to step in.
Realizing her last hope of rescue was gone, Laniakea looked up at Hyperion as he hurried forward.
At this rate, they really were going to march straight to the Main Palace.
Just how was she supposed to make him stop?
At that moment, a thought flashed through Laniakea’s mind.
Unsure if it would work, but clinging to the chance, she spoke.
“Your Majesty, you’re hurting me.”
In an instant, Hyperion—who had looked ready to sweep Laniakea up into his arms and sprint—froze in his tracks.
When he actually stopped at words she had thrown out on a whim, Laniakea was the one caught off guard.
Last night, Hyperion had kissed and sucked at her skin without pause. In the heat of passion, he had occasionally grown too forceful.
The moment his teeth grazed her neck, Laniakea had been unable to hold back a soft whimper of pain.
Hyperion, who had seemed intent on tasting her for the rest of his days, had instantly halted at that faint sound.
Pushing himself up, he had flustered over her for quite some time, frantically checking to see if she was hurt.
Remembering that moment, she had taken a chance, but she hadn’t expected him to stop so immediately.
For now, Laniakea gently slipped her hand from his grasp.
Saying it hurt hadn’t been entirely a lie. Hyperion’s hands were large and his grip formidable. Trying to keep up with his long, swift strides had amounted to practically being dragged along.
As Laniakea rubbed her sore hand after pulling it free, she noticed his shoulders—so lifted with joy only moments ago—had slumped completely.
Realizing Hyperion had calmed down to some degree, Laniakea asked him:
“Did you come because of the letter?”
“Yes.”
“Even so, to rush over so suddenly…”
“I was relieved.”
“Relieved?”
“You had such a difficult time before, so I worried you might hate the thought of spending another night together… but when you said you couldn’t wait…”
Hyperion’s voice was unusually quiet, entirely ill-suited to his massive frame. Was this truly the same Emperor whom others spoke of with terror?
Having been dragged out like this over his sudden misunderstanding, she had every right to be upset.
“Pfft.”
Yet seeing him act like a giant puppy drooping its tail and walking on eggshells around her, Laniakea couldn’t help letting out a laugh.
“Laniakea?”
At the sound of her laughter, Hyperion looked at her with wide, bewildered eyes.
Worry still lingered in his gaze. He seemed terrified that his earlier behavior might have offended her.
Lowering her hand now that the numbness had faded, Laniakea answered.
“It’s not that I dislike it.”
It had been exhausting and overwhelming. It was embarrassing, too. But she hadn’t disliked it. In fact, hadn’t she moved her own body several times, craving more stimulation?
Besides, she knew that all his actions stemmed from consideration.
Even now, Hyperion could hold her whenever he wished.
When she had fainted the first time, he hadn’t needed to stop. He could have ignored her and kept going, achieving his goal all the same.
Instead, he had summoned a physician immediately and stayed by her side in a state of helpless worry until she opened her eyes.
Ever since, he had arranged their meetings at the Main Palace so she could slowly grow accustomed, taking care to ensure their next encounter would be less overwhelming for her.
Hyperion had been relentlessly busy since his coronation.
Yet he still set aside long stretches of time to meet her at the Main Palace, devoting so much care to her.
Laniakea was always grateful for that fact.
If the Emperor had been anyone other than him, would they have worried over her like this?
Not a chance.
First, Laniakea decided she needed to sort out the present situation.
After all, from the servants of the Empress’s Palace to Signo and the knights who had followed from the Emperor’s Palace, everyone was watching them with baffled eyes.
“That letter—I thought I had written it far too haphazardly in my haste, so I set it aside to rewrite. There is an urgent favor I wished to ask of Your Majesty.”
“What is it?”
At the mention of a favor, Hyperion’s eyes sparkled.
Laniakea glanced at their surroundings and lowered her voice slightly.
“About our contract…”
Naturally, the contract Laniakea referred to was the Marriage Contract, complete with the terms Hyperion had newly appended.
“Do you remember promising that I could have any estate within the Empire?”
“Of course. Is there a place you wish to have?”
Hyperion’s expression brightened even further.
“Rather than wanting to own it, there is a place I wish to borrow for a short while. Ah, of course, I will count it as one of the ten residences you promised.”
Laniakea quickly added the explanation, worried he might mistakenly think she was asking for something outside the contract.
“Where on earth is it? If it is a place you desire, I will give you anywhere.”
“No, you truly do not need to give it to me. I only need to borrow it for a short time…”
Saying so, Laniakea turned her gaze. Following her line of sight, Hyperion murmured.
“The Detached Palace? You want the Detached Palace?”
At Hyperion’s question, Laniakea nodded vigorously. His face fell into confusion.
“Is the Detached Palace not already under your management? You may use it as you please at any time, so why ask for such a thing?”
“Well, you see…”
Hesitating over how to explain, Laniakea asked him:
“Could you spare about an hour of your time? No, even just thirty minutes?”
“If you wish, I will give you the entire day.”
“It won’t take that long.”
Answering as if everything had worked out perfectly, Laniakea reached out and took his hand.
“Come to the Detached Palace with me for a moment. I’ll explain everything there.”
With that, Laniakea beamed excitedly and pulled him along, just as Hyperion had done earlier. With his mountain-like frame, Hyperion let himself be led along effortlessly by Laniakea’s hand as they walked together toward the Detached Palace.
The entire way there, Hyperion’s gaze remained fixed on the hand holding his.
The hand she had taken first.
At the sudden arrival of the imperial couple, the maid tending to the Detached Palace bowed in a flustered hurry.
Since the Detached Palace had been entirely vacated after Laniakea moved out, it had no caretakers other than a few staff members assigned to cleaning.
“Lucy, could you keep watch around here?”
Having asked Lucy—who had scampered after them—to keep others from approaching, Laniakea led Hyperion straight to the Rear Garden.
Just as Hyperion was wondering why on earth she had brought him to the Detached Palace, and specifically to this Rear Garden, Laniakea scanned a corner and called out in delight.
“Here, this is what I wanted to ask you about!”
Looking down at the spot, Hyperion murmured.
“Car… rots?”