Sultan's Love

Chapter 4 – [Part 1]

It was a night when the moon shone exceptionally. As if he couldn’t afford to be apart from her for even just an inch, Kainer embraced her tightly and lowered his eyes to look at her face, taking a shallow breath. With her stamina, it was understandable that her body couldn’t stand their love making, which lasted until late in the afternoon, and that she couldn’t open her eyes until now.

“Ah…”

The trembling eyelids soon fluttered open slowly.

“It’s because I am too weak.”

She was definitely different from the other women he ever held.

“You’re awake now, but you’ll probably fall asleep in the morning instead of at night. If you can’t see much sunlight, you’re bound to be so pale.”

He liked her milky complexion, but he hoped that she would have a bit of color on her skin soon.

“…My skin …it’s always been this way, Sultan.”

“Hmm…”

“My mother always said that my skin is not too affected by sunlight.”

She recalled her mother in her murky memories. Even ten years later, the image of her mother crying as she said farewell was still clear. All the other memories were fading, but the scene of her sobbing remained clear in Saye’s mind.

Her mother was the only one who loved her.

“Do you want to see your mother?”

“Oh, no. I was separated from my mother when I was too young… I don’t really remember anymore.”

Hurriedly, Saye shook her head. But when he realized that she was lying, Kainer smiled broadly.

“You must not lie.”

“Yes?”

“Both your cheeks are flushed.”

Seeing the only blush on her white skin reflecting in the moonlight, he smiled cheerfully. It’s really the first time he’s seen a girl who displayed such an expression.

Saye, who couldn’t even make eye contact with Kainer, only stared at her fingertips, then buried her face in a pillow when he couldn’t stop laughing.

“My wife who can’t tell lies. There’s no way you’ll betray me.”

All the women he knew lied. They hid their claws as they approached him. A typical example was Erencia, who was a threat to his life. It was then that he realized the meaninglessness of blood. If a sister born of the same blood and in the same womb was like that, how terrifying was the thought of other people?

The women he once had relations with were sometimes assassins. Hearing that he was a strong candidate for Validak, there were countless girls who gave their bodies to him. There were also times when Enin also deceived him supposedly for the sake of doing what’s best for him.

Kainer then asked, gently stroking Saye’s cheek with his finger.

“What is it that you want?”

He was willing to listen to everything. Apart from hearing that she wanted to leave him, he was ready to sacrifice anything for Saye.

Saye didn’t respond. She acted as if she didn’t hear him. Kainer, who understood that it took a while for her to reply, waited.

“…What I want…”

She wanted freedom. She wanted to fly away. She wanted to thrust herself out to the wide world, cross the desert, meet bandits and fight bravely. She wanted to visit a place called the sea that embraces the ends of the world, the sea that she had only read about in books.

“Think about it.”

Kainer gave her a kiss on the cheek, seeming as if he could wait forever. She knew what she wanted most, and knew that it was something he couldn’t give.

“Can I go to the library?”

Going to the library was the only thing you could think about even when I gave you the chance to ponder? Kainer was taken aback by this woman’s naivety. She didn’t wish for jewelry, silk, or ornaments. For Saye, it seemed like those things never existed in the first place. What a strange woman.

“Yes. You can go anywhere in this Imperial Palace, as long as you don’t go out.”

“Really?”

Saye blinked her eyes in surprise. Kainer nodded his head even as she looked at him with a suspicious look, as if in disbelief, but then this soon turned into a smile.

Kainer stopped breathing. For a moment, it was like something was lodged in his throat when she saw her radiant smile, the corners of her eyes curling up to express her unrestrained happiness.

“So… you like it?”

Instead of answering, Saye nodded her head vigorously. When she was talking about books, it wasn’t like this. If anyone had seen her, they would have shouted at her for rudeness, but Kainer has no intention of berating her.

“Why?”

He really wanted to know. Every single word this girl uttered meant the world to him.

“Well…”

At Kainer’s question, Saye thought for a moment.

“My world…”

She said, drawing a circle the size of her palm with her two hands. And then she stretched out her hand and drew a large circle.

“Has grown this much.”

Was this the correct answer? Saye, who glanced at Kainer, said so with a proud expression. She really felt happy about it. The imperial palace was too large for her to comprehend, however, there were only a few places where a harem woman could access. Additionally, she never took a walk in the rear garden because of other contemptuous women, and she never had a chance to go out on a sunny day.

“What if I take you outside?”

Suddenly, Kainer asked the first question that popped into his mind.

“What?”

“Then you’ll like me very much.”

“Outside… outside…”

Saye, who had been thinking about what he meant, suddenly shouted.

“You’re going to take me outside!?”

Saye sat up and unconsciously placed her hands on Kainer’s chest. Her voice was so loud that the chief attendant, who was on standby outside the door, almost barged into the room as he called ‘Your Majesty!’ The reaction was interesting, so Kainer dismissed the servants.

“Yes.”

“When?”

Again, her cheeks turned red. Kainer grinned at her enthusiasm, glad that she was expressing her excitement.

“Soon. I have business to deal with, so not now.”

He truly was so busy that he couldn’t properly give her attention. He didn’t really have enough time to be with Saye. There was still some work left to be dealt with, like the missing Emperor who had to be found and the upcoming coronation ceremony had to be taken care of. He had to cut off the buds and plant his people inside the imperial palace, and diplomacy was his responsibility as well.

It was a harsh realization, but being the Emperor was a much more boring and uninteresting occupation than he thought. And Saye, who was his only comfort, couldn’t open her eyes for half a day each time he embraced her. It was great that he took the time to find out about her all the way through.

“Are you that happy?”

A place where people gather. A place where real people gather, not the anonymous, masked people in this palace. With that thought in mind, Saye nodded again.

“You really do show it all over your face.”

“Ah…”

This time, Saye, who was flushed even to the bridge of her nose, bowed her head. Her long hair tickled his chest as she did it, unaware that her hand was still on his chest. He reached out and grabbed Saye’s wrists, and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Oh…”

Saye’s eyes, which had fallen on Kainer, fluttered open. Only then did she realize that she was naked, and so was Kainer. Her nipples, which had become sensitive after being harassed by him all night, were swept away by Kainer’s body.

“How can you be so defenseless?”

And how can you show your expressions that obviously!

Kainer held back the urge to burst out laughing again. Oblivious to the fact that he was naked while talking to Saye, who made a face like she wanted to hide somewhere, he was about to burst out laughing. Kainer patted her small back quietly, knowing she would be at a loss if he so much as chuckled.

“Once again, I did not intend to hold you in the hammam*.”

He had half a mind saying that he shouldn’t tease her anymore, and the other half wanting to tease her even further.

“Hammam…”

Saye’s hand wrapped around Kainer’s neck as if she had suddenly remembered what had happened while taking the bath. She buried her face deep into his shoulder and she let out a brief sigh. Her breath gave strength to Kainer’s lower body.

“You’ve seen everything, haven’t you?”

The maids all bowed their heads, but that didn’t mean they were ignorant of the deed they’d done. Saye, who was already unsure of how to act around Enin in the future, sighed again.

“It’s their job to cover their ears to pretend not to hear, and close their eyes to pretend not to see.”

“But…”

“I will continue to hold you regardless of the time and place, so if you respond like this everytime, you’ll only wear yourself out.”

Saye’s nape blushed furiously as she continued to bury her face in his neck while hugging him. In return, Kainer embraced the small body closer to his own. He couldn’t hold her tighter because he thought she might break if he used a little more force.

* * *

“Do we have to go together?”

“Yes. We are the maids serving Your Majesty.”

At Enin’s resolute answer, Saye dropped her gaze.

When she woke up, Kainer was already gone. She woke up in the afternoon, had a quick meal, and stepped out of the harem, but no one stopped her. Even if a dozen maids continued to follow her around silently, she knew that what Kainer told her last night was definitely real.

Saye stopped walking.

“But then people will notice.”

“Oh, but that’s why we’re following you. That way, everyone in the Imperial Palace knows who you are, Your Majesty.”

Saye was already famous in the Imperial Palace. She was the only concubine left by the Sultan in the harem, the only woman who spends more than half a day with him despite his hectic schedule. Most people in the harem and the Imperial Palace who had never seen her wondered about her circumstances and what kind of woman she was to have captured the emperor at a glance.

When Saye stood in place and peered at the maids behind her with a troubled look, Enin came forward with a compromise.

“Please allow me to have just one other maid to assist me as I escort you, Your Highness.”

At this, Saye smiled awkwardly. She never enjoyed someone watching and following her every move with interest. She was a concubine of the Sultan, but she never once had a common maid serving her.

“All right.”

“You don’t have to be so respectful, Your Majesty.”

But she couldn’t bring herself to speak informally to Enin, who looked much older than her. Moreover, she was the Sultan’s nanny.

“I understand.”

Enin said as she can’t help it when Saye was going to be respectful again.

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“You will get used to it gradually.”

There was a mountain of things Saye needed to know that Kainer had firmly asked to teach her, but she couldn’t tell Saye anything. Enin was instructed to let Saye remain as she was, not to make any demands of her, to report the people she’d met and the places she’d go. Enin wasn’t requested to be respectful, but she thought about it for a while, and so she soon closed her mouth.

The Sultan, who she treated like her own son, never once had a person in his heart, but it was Saye who was the Sultan’s woman now.

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*hammam: the steam bath or bathing place, referring to the previous chapter, where they had done the deed in the bathing place. Apologies for writing it as hamamu in the previous chapter.