Just Because I Kept My Distance Doesn't Mean You Can Disrespect Them

The next morning.

When I opened my eyes, I felt weight on my thigh.

White and black hair.

Lang Ei was lying face-down on my thigh, asleep.

Steady breathing.

She seemed deeply asleep.

“……”

Physical appearance truly had powerful persuasiveness.

The dignified goddess who had led allies with roars while covered in blood and dust on the battlefield couldn’t bear to leave my thigh.

Of course she was cute and lovable.

On top of that, she loved me and had even borne my child.

Looking at her dulled my feelings.

Made me unable to hate her even when trying.

“This is why I……”

“……Mmm.”

Twitch.

Lang Ei’s tiger ears flinched, then various parts of her body wriggled.

Like waking from light sleep.

She slightly lifted her chin from my knee, stretched both arms forward, and yawned.

“Time to wash your face now?”

“Mmm.”

Lang Ei, eyes closed and still drunk with sleep, only moved her head.

She skillfully found my palm and placed her chin on it.

Rub rub.

My wife rubbing her chin against my palm with eyes still closed…… was lovable even after 110 years.

Cutely twitching tiger ears, gently swaying tiger tail.

I eventually moved my fingers and rubbed Lang Ei’s chin.

“Mmmmm……”

Lang Ei made a pleased sound and stretched both arms forward as she yawned.

After stretching her hands forward to the fullest, she relaxed her body and firmly grasped my arm.

This was the ritual for waking up the morning after Lang Ei and I slept together.

Lang Ei’s golden pupils, now alert, looked at me.

“……Oh. Uh.”

A face surprised yet anxious.

When she got scared anew, I silently rubbed her chin again.

“……”

Only then did Lang Ei release the tension from her body.

Still, anxiety lingered around her eyes.

She was watching me very carefully.

“Lang Ei, it’s morning. Time to get up.”

“……Mm.”

When I withdrew my hand, she looked extremely reluctant.

I pressed my forehead and said,

“Nothing happened last night, but if others saw, they might misunderstand.”

“……Misunderstand?”

“……”

Ah, right, if someone saw this situation without context, they’d think the Empress slept with another man.

But Lang Ei already completely believed Rigen = Sirik, and didn’t care how others saw it.

I’d have to handle it myself.

“Lang Ei, I’ll say it again — you must not call me Sirik. If the name Rigen really doesn’t stick, call me special officer.”

“Mmm.”

“What am I?”

“Si…… Special Officer.”

“……”

Compared to Lang Ei, Arsen was award-winning actor material.

“And to the other empresses?”

“I won’t say anything. Won’t meet them.”

“……No, I told you to contact Dragon Princess. Do it by letter.”

“Mm, understood.”

Lang Ei nodded stiffly.

But she kept fidgeting, clearly wanting to say something.

I deliberately smiled.

“What is it?”

“……When we’re alone, can I call you Sirik?”

“There won’t be many times when we’re alone.”

Going forward, this kind of thing would be troublesome.

Others might misunderstand if they saw.

People couldn’t normally imagine I was Sirik, but affairs were gossip people loved to imagine.

On top of that, hadn’t Rigen been notorious back home for only touching women who belonged to someone else?

Droop.

Lang Ei’s chin lowered and her ears, tail, and shoulders all sagged.

A look of disappointment and dejection.

I spoke moderately.

“Still, at those times you can be comfortable.”

“……Yes!”

Lang Ei’s face was extremely pleased.

She reflexively reached out her hand toward my arm, then stopped.

As if something had occurred to her.

“……Sirik, do I have to keep it secret from the other girls too?”

“No, I said I’d go through a verification process one by one while repairing the empire. And when everyone gathers, I’ll sort it out.”

Let’s finish imperial household and family matters while organizing the empire’s interior.

Lang Ei thought for a while and said,

“……Iselen will be incredibly happy if she finds out.”

“She was trying to kill me though?”

Swoosh, swoosh.

Lang Ei shook her head vigorously.

“She must be misunderstanding. So……”

“Got it. I’ll be lenient.”

I spoke concisely.

I wanted to appease the Queen of Assassins who held information if possible.

Then a knock sounded.

Jolt!

Lang Ei’s tail shot up, and in an instant she vaulted over the sofa and hid behind it.

Her instincts were good — she hid herself automatically.

“It’s Arsen. May I enter?”

“Come in.”

At my words, Arsen entered.

Arsen, who entered alone without guards, looked around and said,

“Your Majesty, you’re alo…… HUAK!”

Arsen, who had been speaking heartily while looking at me, recoiled.

“S-Second Empress!”

“……”

Suddenly Lang Ei had popped up from behind me.

Arsen went pale and covered his mouth.

I shook my head.

“Lang Ei already knows. But watch your mouth.”

“Hk, haaagh. Haaagh……”

Arsen was relieved, but Lang Ei growled.

A threatening rumble.

Wondering why, I saw Lang Ei glaring at Arsen as if to devour him.

“……You already knew?”

“Hm? Ah, that His Majesty has returned?”

Arsen grinned widely.

Like a child showing off toys saying ‘annoying, right? Annoying, right?’

“Hahaha! Of course! I was the first to know!”

“……”

Lang Ei growled again.

But Arsen spoke heartily as if completely unafraid.

“Hahaha, why are you glaring like that? Does Your Majesty the Empress have some complaint against me? Some resentment that His Majesty trusts me most and sought me out first?”

“Yes.”

“Hahaha, is that so? Then you should have done better normally! How much His Majesty couldn’t tru……”

“Arsen, why are you here so early?”

Arsen was half-joking and teasing, but some sensitive topics might come up.

Arsen immediately straightened his appearance and sat before me.

“Actually, early this morning we received word from the imperial military. They heard about Byorn’s incident that we transmitted and want to unite our strength. They want to create a Joint Counter-Terrorism Investigation Headquarters.”

“What are the imperial military’s conditions?”

“They say let’s meet and discuss. They’ll send someone for advance coordination.”

At my gaze, Arsen rubbed his chin.

“Since we provided information first, internal opinion in the imperial military seems to have changed. They’ll likely be more cooperative than before.”

“That’s fortunate at least……”

I thought for a moment.

If the terrorists were inducing a military coup, they must have planted collaborators inside the imperial military too, right?

The problem was finding a way to root them out.

“The imperial military’s Grand General is Lerik. Where is he now?”

“That friend is currently on an eastern inspection tour. With the situation like this, he’ll return.”

“Right. Then for now……”

Should I coordinate with the imperial military and set up the investigation headquarters?

Arsen lowered his voice.

“However, the person the imperial military is sending for advance coordination is a bit ambiguous.”

“Who?”

“Kalbina — which is to say, Your Majesty’s older sister.”

“What?”

What are you talking about?

I was an orphan who met my teacher……

“Ah, Kalbina Librata?”

Not Sirik, but the sister of my reincarnated self, Rigen Librata.

Arsen nodded.

“Yes. Probably trying to gauge Your Majesty’s intentions, or perhaps using bloodline to gain priority?”

“Hmm……”

After thinking, I nodded.

“I’ll have to see, but it’s not bad from my side either. I don’t know if we’ll understand each other, but…… I also want to know about internal imperial military affairs.”

“Then should I accept?”

“Yeah, tell them I’ll meet.”

Arsen nodded vigorously and rose from his seat.

Then he looked at Lang Ei and grinned.

“……”

Bristle.

When Lang Ei bared her teeth threateningly, Arsen crossed his arms and snorted.

“Your Majesty, even if you have a secret meeting, wouldn’t it be better to be mindful of others’ eyes? If someone sees, you might accidentally……”

“Are you trying to lecture me right now?”

Arsen flinched.

I spoke seriously.

“What’s your intention bringing up something I’ll obviously handle myself, right in front of Lang Ei? If you genuinely worried about that, you could have said it when we were alone, right? Are you picking a fight with my woman right now?”

“……N-no.”

“I won’t say anything about joking around, but don’t test where my line is. Just because I kept my distance from my wives doesn’t mean you can disrespect them, got it?”

Arsen stood at attention sweating coldly.

“No. I absolutely didn’t mean that.”

“At ease.”

“……I apologize, Your Majesty. I apologize.”

“At ease, I said. Would you like it if I disrespected your wife?”

When I softened my voice a bit, Arsen quickly shook his head.

“But why would someone who knows do that? Do I have to say this?”

“I-I’m sorry.”

“I understand you have feelings about the empresses one way or another. But if you respect me, respect my wives and children too. Don’t cross the line. Understand?”

“……I’ll keep it in mind!”

Arsen shouted until his throat tore.

Even when I nodded, Arsen repeated.

“I’m sorry, so sorry, Your Majesty. Please forgive my rudeness, Your Majesty the Empress.”

Arsen, not knowing what to do with himself, bowed his head to Lang Ei.

He was fidgeting, knowing he’d upset me.

Lang Ei, who had been somewhat startled, shook her head.

“……It’s fine. I’m over it.”

“Thank you!”

Arsen glanced at me anxiously while flustered.

I shook my head.

“Got it, so go now. Contact me when the schedule’s confirmed.”

“……Yes.”

“Arsen.”

“Yes?”

“Make time later. I’ll visit your place and have a drink.”

Arsen finally relaxed his expression and quickly nodded.

“Yes, I’ll prepare especially well.”

“Good.”

Arsen left.

Having tightened then released the pressure, I propped my chin and sighed.

“Well……”

Actually, I couldn’t just blame Arsen unconditionally.

In the end, I had kept the empresses at a distance for ten years.

Vassals who wondered about the reason speculated on their own…… anyway, they reached a tentative conclusion that the empresses had committed some great wrong.

Would they easily respect empresses that I, the Emperor, openly treated coldly?

As much as they worshiped me, they wouldn’t view favorably those I treated coldly.

While I was alive there were no major incidents, but…… suspicions spread that my sudden death was the empresses’ conspiracy, making the situation worse.

It led to a fall in the imperial household and empresses’ authority.

Actually after I reincarnated, there were too many instances of my wives and children not being respected.

The imperial household’s short history and being a nation of mixed races were reasons, but…… my attitude in my final years probably influenced it to some degree.

That’s why scum like Byorn crawled up without knowing their place.

“I need to correct this too.”

As I muttered to myself, I looked up at the hair tickling my shoulder.

Lang Ei was gripping the sofa back and looking down at me.

Her porcelain-white cheeks flushed red.

“What’s wrong?”

“……Did we have a secret meeting?”

“……”

Biologically, wasn’t it early-stage affair?

But knowing this would completely kill the mood, I kept my mouth shut.

Lang Ei looked at me steadily while embarrassed.

“……Let’s start with the Central Police’s first cleanup. And I’m returning to Welling Manor in the afternoon.”

“Understood.”

“What do you understand? You need to stay here.”

“……”

A severely shocked face.

I spoke decisively.

“If the Central Police Chief became a permanent guest, you need to firmly hold position here and stabilize public sentiment. Police originally have a high beastmen ratio, and your martial prowess is well known, so it’ll have a crime rate reduction effect too.”

“……You’re not taking me?”

“Just stay here and maintain your presence. Please.”

“……”

Lang Ei looked at me with extremely sad eyes.

Like an abandoned puppy.

……She really knows how to tug at people’s hearts.

“Ah, I’ll come get you soon, so just do your work well.”

“……Yes!”

Lang Ei finally relaxed her expression and smiled brightly.

She looked like a tiger but to me was a large puppy-cat.

A dark room.

A man kneeling before a woman seated in a chair leaning against the wall spoke.

A dark elf — Albert.

“……That concludes my report. Therefore, I judge that antagonizing Librata is foolish.”

“……”

The woman sitting with crossed legs, the Queen of Assassins, frowned.

The dark elf leader’s decisions were absolute — to refute them head-on.

Normally instant execution.

The Queen of Assassins observed her other subordinates’ reactions.

Even without speaking, they seemed to agree.

That Albert’s argument was reasonable.

The Queen of Assassins might have a big picture, but still, killing Rigen Librata right now would be a mistake.

“Withdraw.”

“……”

Albert silently rose from his position.

To return alive after such direct advice — had the Queen of Assassins changed her mind?

When the dark elves in the room watched carefully, the Queen of Assassins spoke decisively.

“Everyone withdraw.”

“Yes.”

Everyone left and she remained alone in the room.

The Queen of Assassins bit her lip.

Right, Albert’s words were correct.

If it was a rational judgment…… she should try to settle the current chaos by putting Rigen Librata forward.

Wasn’t he accomplishing it repeatedly?

Planning for dark elves’ survival alone could be done afterward.

At minimum, it should be done in parallel.

“……I can’t forgive.”

But the flames burning in her chest.

That fury in the rain wouldn’t cool.

The fact that she’d been shaken by such a guy was too shameful, like committing betrayal against the Emperor.

Unable to forgive herself for wavering as a woman…… she had to kill the other party.

“But……”

Albert had defied orders in front of everyone.

Other dark elves tacitly agreed too.

At this point, if she forcibly carried out Rigen Librata’s assassination, trust in her would itself shake.

That couldn’t happen.

While killing Rigen Librata, she had to preserve the dark elf race.

That was her duty as Queen.

Once Lang Ei attached herself to Librata, assassination by ordinary methods was impossible anyway.

“Then……”

One method remained.

She would approach Rigen Librata herself and handle it.

Without anyone else’s help.

With only her strength alone.

The Queen of Assassins embraced her own shoulders and whispered.

“……Watch over me, Sirik.”

By killing him.

I’ll prove my heart that thinks only of you hasn’t been sullied.