Chapter 32: The Real Nature of Those Feelings

Aloof King and Cool (Acting) Queen*

T/N: *IMPORTANT* When I was translating this, I just remembered that his character isn’t supposed to act “Cold”, but cool. I can’t really change the title on Novel Updates, but I will just put the title at the start of every chapter from now on so people don’t get confused with Shane’s character. He isn’t supposed to act “Cold” at all. He supposed to be like a “independent, reliable, and sophisticated” person.

On another note, sorry for the late update. When I wanted to update,  I had to go to a mandatory 4 day excursion for my university, and then my classes started right when it ended. I wanted to adjust to the new school life, so I couldn’t really update until now.  Well, anyways, enjoy the chapter!

Raws: http://novel18.syosetu.com/n8981cr/32/

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*POV: Leonhart*

A wedding ceremony to welcome an empress was a special thing. The entire country expressed their welcomes and the citizens gave their blessings.

The marriage with Shane was exciting because it had been a while since this country had married with another country for purposes other than military expansion.

At the wedding ceremony, the beautiful Shane attracted all the attention again. I gave a slight smile when I saw his lovely figure wearing the indigo dress. He had a dignified appearance that many people couldn’t take their eyes off of. I, myself, was no exception.

When I gave a kiss to complete the oath, I was surprised to see wide eyes staring at me. That’s when I saw a glimpse of his youthfulness. I got interested in Shane who showed a different side of himself.

 

But no matter how beautiful he was, Shane was a man. I was worried it would be unpleasant if we were to embrace on the bridal night.

His attempt at facing me as equals was conveyed as he also used a different first person pronoun than the usual.

Since Shane didn’t want an intimate relationship as a married couple, I thought that was fine too. For that reason, I had him call me by my nickname that close friends would call me by.

After that, Shane taught me how to play “Othello” and it became a daily routine to talk about anything other than love. Our relationship was one where we didn’t mind each other much, like friends, it was very comfortable to me.

 

It seems I had so much fun to the point where it became unreasonable. The moment I collapsed, my vision turned black, and the next thing I knew, I was staring at the ceiling of my room.

Kristoff severely scolded me while throwing in sarcasm.  

After a while, Shane visited my room and said he was here for nursing. He got angry that I was working, so I asked to him to wake me up after a short while, but he completely disregarded that request and I ended up giving up on it altogether. I thought it wasn’t a bad idea to slowly pass the time with Shane.

And for the first time, I saw Shane’s real smile, and not his forced one. Seeing that smile, I felt my heart becoming warmer.

Naturally, a smile floated across my face.

* * * * *

The Prime Minister was also astonished when Shane made use of his knowledge on agriculture, lending me his strength.

To me, who is called the “Cool-headed King”, that figure of his that gives me his opinion without holding anything back, gave me the feeling of reliable support. Coincidentally, before the marriage, I had spoken to Kristoff and said my ideal lover was “a wife with the spirit to change the country with me”.

 

However, about two months after the marriage, I saw a completely different side from the usual beautiful and reliable impression I had of him.  On that day, a visitor from Orania was scheduled to visit Shane, so I thought I should greet him and visited Shane’s room.

And then, as I was thinking I should probably open communications for the sake of better relations, on the other side of the opened door, I saw a full-faced smile that appeared on Shane’s face as he conversed in mutual friendship with the figure of a young man. With this, I was convinced that was Shane’s real nature. I hesitated to greet them, and ended up going back to my office.

Ekart, the Knight Commander, was already waiting in my office.

“Oh, Leo-sama, you have returned early.”

“Ah, well Shane was chatting so happily, I missed the chance to greet them.”

When I said this, Ekart, for some reason, seemed like he understood the situation.

“I guess it would be enjoyable for Shane-sama. I think today’s visitor is the former lover.”  

I couldn’t utter out an answer to that unexpected reply. Come to think of it, it was reported that he had a lover in Orania. It doesn’t seem like their relationship has continued until now, but I was convinced they were once lovers when I saw their smiling faces.

Why was I so shocked?

That night, I visited his room as usual, and sat on the chair near the window. Then, the potted plant caught my eye. That was one of the few things Shane brought from Orania.

Even though the leaves had been growing until yesterday, it was now bare. When I asked what happened, he said he used some to make “herbal tea” for the guest that came today.

For the sake of his usual lover, ever since he came to Caspar, was he diligently tending to the leaves? For some reason, my heart felt heavy.

Was this a desire to monopolize a friend, or was it a completely different emotion? I didn’t dare to answer myself.

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T/N: I want to say thank you to Asami (who is an amazing editor) for always putting up with my shit and my laziness. Also, I want to thank everyone for always helping me with sentences I don’t understand! I hope you all can help me again this chapter! Thanks for reading!

Edit: I want to give a BIG thank you to C.T. World of Words for the huge help and suggestions! I also would like to give a thanks to Ninish for the help as well! 

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