Rachel tried to put the duck in her mouth because she wanted to stop having useless conversations, but she had to put down her fork and opened her mouth again.
"Thanks to your Majesty's concern, I was able to spend my time without getting bored."
"...."
"Your Majesty? Was there anything else you wanted to say?"
Ian shook his head slightly, and looked away.
Rachel quickly moved her hand and pushed the meat into her mouth.
She thought that Ian would talk less if he was eating.
'The conversation was longer than usual today.'
Three days.
It's already been three days since he started coming to this mansion in the morning and evening.
Of those three days, this was the longest conversation we'd had.
He stopped by this mansion for breakfast and dinner, but there were many meals when he only ate without a single word of conversation.
There was no dialogue on those times other than a small bow of greeting to him.
'Does he look a little happy today?'
Rachel glanced at Ian, who was taking a sip of red wine.
If Rachel had been able to act of her own free will, if there were no threats to her safety if she asked the way she wanted.
If she wasn't the maid who ran away, and Ian wasn't the emperor, she would've asked him if he was crazy.
No, in the first place, there would've been no reason to sit and eat with him.
Unfortunately, Rachel was the maid who fled, and Ian was the emperor.
Because it was uncomfortable and she was forcing herself to endure it, Rachel took medicine to relieve her stomach ache after he'd left every day.
When she saw Ian looking happy for some reason, a small anger rose inside her.
Since she'd lived as a free citizen without serving anyone for six years, she hadn't fully adapted to this life yet.
"Your Majesty, have you been busy today?"
Rachel glazed at Ian once, and carefully opened her mouth.
She thought that if she could match his moods, perhaps the day when he lost interest, she could return to Ravenna without incident.
So she'd asked cautiously, while paying attention to his mood.
"...No, not really."
Honestly, she wasn't interested in his answer, but Rachel nodded and opened her mouth again.
"When you've finished eating, will you be returning to the Imperial palace?"
Rachel quickly asked a question, because Ian seemed to like conversation more than silence.
"...Why?"
"What?"
"Do you want me to do that?"
Rachel blinked as Ian asked her that.
"Shall I sleep here since it's so late?"
Ian said as he looked out the dark window.
He seemed to be thinking about whether to sleep in the mansion overnight since it was dark outside.
It's dark, so he thinks I'm worried about him returning.
But that was nonsense.
He arrived at the mansion only after the sun set today, so it was clear that it had been dark when he'd traveled from the Imperial palace to the mansion.
