Chapter 22
22. Rain, Tears, and the Desert (7)
“I don’t need such pathetic medicine, I will never—”
KWA-KWA-KWANG!
The Black King’s last words were drowned out by a thunderclap that seemed to split the sky in half.
Already half out of his mind with humiliation, Regulus shrieked, “Kyaaah!” at the sound.
In contrast, the Black King shot to his feet with lightning speed and wrapped Elena in his arms.
That huge, rock-hard body with not an ounce of fat squeezed her tightly, as if trying to shield her from harm.
“What’s going on?!”
“Th-the thunder…” Regulus stammered, trembling all over.
“God… God must be angry at this lewd conversation.”
What? God’s angry?
No. The one who’s angry is me, you pervert! And—
“Lewd conversation? That was between the two of you!”
KWA-KWA-KWANG!
“Have you… calmed down a little?”
The Black King cautiously studied her expression.
Regulus, flustered and drowning in shame, had practically fled in tears.
The list of people who would be writhing in bed tonight from embarrassment had grown longer.
The thunder had finally died away, but Elena’s mood was still overcast.
She pressed her hand to her forehead, grinding her teeth and muttering over and over, What must he think of me…
Elena suddenly blurted out,
“Your Majesty too.”
“Hm?”
“Did you… really have to say something like that at a time like that?”
She involuntarily let her gaze flick toward the space between his legs.
“That was… instinct, I couldn’t help it…”
The Black King, seeing her bristling with indignation, fidgeted, then pushed the plate on the table toward her.
“Something sweet… Eat something sweet.”
On the plate sat a star-shaped cookie.
Honestly… he’s impossible to figure out, Elena thought as she stared at it.
Sometimes he seemed as timid as a rabbit, and at other times as aggressive as a leopard.
Which one is the real him?
She suddenly wanted to know.
That time when the flush had crept all the way up his neck and he’d trembled so hard…
That image kept resurfacing in her mind.
“…Is your hand all right now?” she asked quietly.
At the reminder, his face turned bright red.
He cleared his throat and tried to speak with dignity.
“It’s just a scratch. I told you it’s fine.”
“Hmm… Still, let’s have a look.”
Before he could react, Elena suddenly seized his large hand.
“Wh-what are you doing?” he yelped in surprise.
“What do you think? Checking the injury.”
She spoke lightly, running her thumb slowly along his index finger.
Even that light touch made him flinch.
“Did you… check for poison?” she asked, gently stroking his finger.
“What? No—there wasn’t any poison!” He squirmed as if to pull away, yet made no real effort to take back his hand.
Maybe I should tease him a little more.
“Still… just in case, should I draw the poison out again?”
“What?”
“By sucking it out. Like last time…”
She lowered her head, bringing his finger close to her lips.
“N-no, don’t—” His low voice trembled.
But just before her lips touched his skin—
Pfft!
She burst out laughing.
She… smiled? In front of me?
The Black King stared blankly at that smile.
“Haha, if you didn’t want it, you could have just pulled your hand back. Your words and your actions don’t match at all.”
Still smiling, she let go of his hand.
When her soft, warm touch slipped away, he felt an unexpected pang of regret.
What… what is this feeling?
Trying and failing to hide his bewilderment, he heard her say gently,
“You really do have a cute side, don’t you?”
Cute? Me?
The word snapped him back to his senses.
He was the Black King.
He had to be the cold, ruthless ruler of this desert.
And she was the High Priestess from an enemy nation in the north—a woman who would return to her homeland in three months’ time.
Could she have figured it out? Because of… that incident?
He abruptly stood.
“We’ll… continue this meal another time.”
Iago’s face and voice turned icy, as if he had become a completely different person.
He made no attempt to hide his oppressive aura.
Normally, that cold expression, like it could drop the temperature of the whole room, would make people bow their heads and avert their eyes.
But the priestess met his gaze squarely.
“As you wish. Next time, then.”
Her eyes—like golden honey, or perhaps tart lemon—lingered on his, as if trying to discover something hidden.
No… I can’t let her find out.
He all but fled from the room.
For several days now, the Black King had not come to see her.
Elena lay idly on her bed again today, doing nothing.
She actually preferred staying holed up in her room… but the man who used to visit nearly every day had stopped coming, and the emptiness gnawed at her.
Have I… gotten used to his presence?
She grumbled to herself, staring up at the ceiling.
Iago was no different.
He sat in his office, staring blankly at the desk, unable to focus on the documents in front of him.
“You haven’t been visiting the High Priestess lately,” Uther remarked.
He had only just recovered from several days in bed—a consequence of spending his nights kicking his blanket in embarrassment.
“…I’ve been busy,” Iago said, glancing at the piles of paperwork.
“What about you? Is your ‘Operation Make the Priestess Cry’ over?”
“N-no, Your Majesty! I was merely… recovering my strength…”
“Not your heart?” Iago asked in rare teasing tone.
He knew Uther had collapsed with guilt after falsely accusing the priestess of stealing a necklace.
“Ugh…” Uther bit his lip, at a loss for words.
“Uther,” Iago said in a lowered voice.
“Shall we… stop?”
“…Stop what?”
“Making the priestess cry.”
His tone was careful but serious.
He’s serious.
When the king had that expression, he never went back on his word.
“Your Majesty!” Uther protested.
“Maybe it was the wrong approach from the start. Expecting rain to suddenly fall after ten years of drought… Let’s go back to addressing the root cause of the desertification, like before.”
Iago spoke calmly, signed a few documents, then rose to leave for the council of elders.
“No… No, we can’t,” Uther muttered once alone in the office.
Their resolve was weakening—both the king’s and his own.
But that could not be allowed to happen.
Rain had to fall on the Kingdom of Lihue.
For ten years, the desert had been spreading. Water was drying up, arable land shrinking.
“The longer we delay… the weaker we’ll become, every time we see her.”
Uther rose abruptly, face set with grim determination, and called for a knight.
“You summoned me?”
“In the market outside the palace, there’s a leather shop. Inside, there’s a bearded man.”
Uther’s tone was cold—unlike his usual self.
The knight listened in silence.
“Tell him you’re looking for the Tiger Hunter. He’ll come willingly. Bring him here.”
“Yes, sir!”
The knight saluted sharply and left.
As soon as he was gone, Uther collapsed into his chair.
“No more delays… Someone has to do this.”
The leather shop looked ordinary, selling hides of wild animals and monsters.
But the “Tiger Hunter” in the back room was actually a contractor who took on dangerous jobs.
A skilled man with a silent tongue—no one knew he occasionally worked for the palace.
“You called for me?”
Uther, gazing at the dark clouds outside, spoke slowly.
“There’s a job that needs doing.”
“Just say the word,” the man replied gruffly.
“In the detached palace, there’s a woman with sky-blue hair. She’ll probably be asleep. Kidnap her and…”
Uther shut his eyes tight, then opened them.
“…leave her in the western desert.”
The man showed no surprise—if anything, his expression said easy job.
“As you know, the western desert is the largest in the south. Where exactly?”
“…Not too far from the capital. Far enough to get lost for a bit, but close enough to get out again.”
The man frowned. “You want me to abandon her in the desert… but make sure she can get out?”
“Yes. That’s all. Just scare her—do not harm her! Even she… if left alone in the desert… will cry.”
By the end, Uther’s voice almost broke, as if he might cry himself.
Ugh… so dry…
Her throat burned like fire.
A rough, sandy wind stung her delicate cheeks, and Elena came to her senses.
Sand…? Where am I?
She lifted her head and looked around.
Aside from one massive dune shaped almost like a pyramid, there was nothing—no cacti, nothing but desert.
It was a landscape she had never seen before, the horizon swallowed entirely in yellow sand.
So this is a desert…
One moment she’d been napping in a soft bed, and the next she was waking up in the middle of this.
She’d only ever seen deserts on her computer wallpaper, but in person, they were even more barren than she’d imagined.
A dry wasteland of nothing but sand—like no living creature could survive here.
