Chapter 132 - I Missed You

"Don't cry. I… I'm sorry," he said slowly. Jubelian looked at him with trembling eyes for a moment, then parted her lips.

"You should be sorry! Do you think you've done a good job? Is it so hard to send a single letter to me?" she shouted even though he had apologized.

Max sighed. 'From now on… I will remember to write a letter to her if I end up leaving her for a while,' he thought, then became concerned about Jubelian's tear-stained face.

Max took out the handkerchief she had given to him and gently said, "Wipe your tears."

Jubelian's eyes widened at the sight of the handkerchief. She soon snatched it from his hand and said, "How dare you try to take credit with something I gave you…"

He couldn't deny her words as they were true. 'When will she stop being angry?' he sighed, thinking she was certainly being difficult today.

At that moment, Jubelian muttered under her breath. "I'm sleepy."

'It's been a long time since we've last seen each other. How could she say that she's sleepy?' Disappointment filled him from this thought, but he couldn't just leave her be when she was standing there, blinking slowly and fluttering her long eyelashes.

"Go to bed if you're sleepy," Max exhaled in a resigned tone. As soon as he spoke, Jubelian collapsed to the ground. Max barely managed to catch her in time. "Jubel—!" He was about to call her name again, thinking that something was wrong when he began to hear her soft, regular breaths.

Max felt dispirited. 'I can't believe she actually went to sleep right away.' He carried Jubelian to bed and carefully put her down, afraid that she might wake up. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly when he did so. Max watched her peaceful sleeping form for a moment, then blushed unconsciously when he noticed that Jubelian's clothes had become disheveled from all the fuss she had made. Max hurriedly covered her with a blanket and turned away. He felt as if his sense of reason was going to fly out the window if he kept looking at her like this.

'I should come back tomorrow,' Max hastily turned away.

"… Don't go," a quiet voice sounded at that moment as his hand was grabbed. Max looked back at Jubelian who was grasping his hand, but she was still breathing evenly with her eyes closed.

'Is she sleep talking?' Her grip was weak enough for him to escape if she were to let go slightly, but Max didn't think about doing so. 'You're the one who clearly told me not to leave.' Max intertwined his long, masculine fingers with her slender ones. The warmth that he felt through his fingers spread and filled his heart. His overheated heart began to beat passionately. Max watched Jubelian's sleeping face for a while, then slowly closed his eyes.

* * *

I saw him in my dream for the first time in a while. Contrary to my worries, he seemed perfectly fine. 'He could have… sent me a letter if he was alright.' That was why I had nagged and vented all my emotions to the man who had appeared in my dream. "What? Contract? It's been two months since we last saw each other, and you're talking about the contract?" I had snapped at him.

At first, I wasn't sure if it was a dream or not, but there was a reason why I was convinced that it was. If it wasn't a dream, then it wouldn't make sense for a person who was normally arrogant to meekly apologize to me and be flustered. 'At least I was able to relieve my stress by pouring my emotions out on him,' I thought as I slowly opened my eyes.

'Huh?' No matter how much I thought about it, the handsome face in front of me and the feeling of his hand tightly holding mine was definitely real. 'Wait, that wasn't a dream?' At that moment, I remembered the side effects of the incense and all of the unseemly sights I had shown to him in my dream. I had cried, complained, and even nagged at him! Even I could agree that I was being a terrible nuisance.

'I can't believe this!' I wanted to kick my blankets out of embarrassment right away, but I couldn't free myself from his grasp. Judging from what I had done, I must have grabbed his hand as well. 'Ah, I feel so sorry for him.' I started to feel uncomfortable when I saw him sleeping awkwardly on his stomach near the foot of my bed.

"E-excuse me," I softly called out to him, but he didn't budge.

'Oh, my God.' I tried to pinch my cheek, thinking this would all be better if it were a dream.

"What are you doing?" he suddenly asked. He had quickly opened his eyes and had grabbed ahold of my other hand.

Having unexpectedly caught both of my hands in his, I answered him quietly. "Ah, well… I feel like I'm having a terrible dream."

His eyebrows knitted at my words, and he let out a sigh. "Did you have a nightmare?"

'No, I think my reality is worse than a nightmare.' Such a thought occurred intensely inside me, but I couldn't bring myself to say such words.

Max observed me, then his eyes curved as he suddenly smiled as if to tease me. "Don't worry. I'll be here for you from now on."

'No, you don't have to. Can you please just leave for now?'

Nevertheless, he kept talking as if he had no intention to stop making fun of me. "I didn't know you missed me that much to the point of crying…"

I couldn't bear to listen to him any longer and shouted, "Why don't we have breakfast!"

He gazed at me for a while, then smirked. "So, what kind of nightmare did you have just now?"

If I told him the truth, that I remembered everything I did yesterday, then I wouldn't be able to live it down, so I opted to make up something instead.

"The crown prince was in my dream."

****

Hope you enjoyed it,

Love,

Biji ^^,

Oct.23.2023