A Snake’s Life Ch 41

Chapter 41

 

The room he peeked into through the slightly open door was filled with the harmonized breathing of two people sleeping soundly. Zerpell was holding Shuiren tightly in his arms as he slept peacefully. Despite having waited outside, Zerpell had fallen into a deep sleep. He didn’t even wake when Cedric opened the door and came inside.

“That’s a relief, Your Highness.”

Cedric looked at them warmly. Zerpell, startled by the voice, opened his eyes wide. Cedric stood before him. Zerpell, hiding his surprise, cleared his throat and asked,

“What is?”

“You, you’ve woken up?”

“Yes, I heard your voice…”

Zerpell looked at the sunlight filtering through the curtains with drowsy eyes. He hadn’t even realized Cedric had entered, and was shocked to find the sun already up.

“Is it morning already…?”

His tone suggested he couldn’t quite accept the fact he had slept until morning. Cedric felt more relief than concern. He had been deeply worried about Zerpell, who always slept late and rose early.

“I don’t think it’s particularly late. Waking at this time is more appropriate, in fact.”

“Is that so…”

“Yes. I must have disturbed your rest. Would you like to sleep a bit more?”

“No need.”

Zerpell pulled the blanket off to sit up, wiping his face with his hands as if to shake off the sleep. But Shuiren’s hand gripped his collar, stopping him. Cedric smiled gently at the peaceful look on Zerpell’s face. Zerpell frowned, displeased by the expression.

“What’s with that look?”

“It’s nothing.”

Cedric gave a small cough, averting his gaze. Seeing this scene, one might think all that had happened the night before was merely a dream. Cedric decided to give them some space and began to take his leave with a polite bow.

“Then I’ll be waiting outside.”

Zerpell stopped him before he could exit. Having dozed off the night before, he had missed hearing the day’s report.

“Wait. Bring Casa to me.”

“…Understood.”

Cedric sighed, thinking perhaps it had been too much to hope Zerpell would take a full rest. But Zerpell wasn’t finished speaking.

“We’ll be selecting royal guards today. We must quickly add more capable fighters to our side… What happened yesterday must not happen again. Gather them in advance. I will inspect them personally.”

Zerpell spoke with eyes full of determined resolve. Cedric thought to himself that the knights were in for a tough day, but kept his thoughts to himself. He bowed again and quietly exited the room.

The door shut with a soft thud, and the sound of footsteps receded into the distance. With Cedric gone, silence returned to the room.

“Have I grown so at ease that even my habits are changing…?”

Waking before sunrise had been a long-standing habit since childhood. He couldn’t even remember the last time he rose with the morning sun. With a faint, wry smile, he looked over at Shuiren, who showed no signs of waking.

“Shuiren. Please open your eyes.”

He wanted to see those red eyes looking straight at him. As Zerpell whispered softly into Shuiren’s ear, a knock came at the door. Casa entered quietly. Zerpell asked about his condition first.

“Are you all right?”

“Yes. Thankfully, it was only a mild sedative poison.”

“If you’re unwell, take some rest.”

“I’m fine.”

Casa replied firmly. Zerpell looked him over from head to toe and spoke.

“What’s your take on yesterday’s attack?”

Casa paused in thought before answering in a composed tone.

“I believe their objective was not to kill Lord Shuiren, but to capture him. The fact that the assassins used sedative poison is strong evidence.”

Zerpell had suspected the Empress, but his theory faltered. From her perspective, killing Shuiren would have been more advantageous than capturing him. His fingers twitched slightly.

“If the goal was to capture him… then the culprit could be the Pope. Also, I didn’t hear about Shuiren’s activities yesterday. What did he do?”

“I have something to report about that.”

That was the reason Zerpell had summoned Casa. He always asked Casa where Shuiren had gone, how his mood had been, and whether he had eaten properly. Shuiren thought Casa’s attitude indifferent, but in fact, Casa observed him more sharply than anyone. Calmly, Casa began recounting what had happened in the forest the previous day. As he listened, Zerpell’s eyes gleamed ominously.

As consciousness returned, the events of the previous day came flooding back. His eyes flew open, and he flung off the covers to sit up—but a blocking arm stopped him. It was a situation he had grown familiar with. When had he fallen asleep? Trying hard to recall, he blinked slowly.

They say the body doesn’t lie. Though his mind had been clouded, his body must have been tired. He remembered counting up to three sheep and nothing beyond that.

“Sigh…”

A deep sigh escaped him. He rubbed his eyes to regain clarity.

“You’re awake? Sighing first thing in the morning… Got something on your mind?”

Startled by the voice beside him, he quickly turned his head. Zerpell’s eyes met his squarely. It was the voice of the one responsible for all his current confusion. Was he asking because he didn’t know? Or did he know and just want to tease him…? It’s your fault! He wanted to shout but bit his tongue.

“…It’s nothing.”

“Let’s go eat. I’ve asked the chef to prepare something special since we’ve had a lot going on.”

“Something special?”

Zerpell moved the arm from his chest and gently stroked his hair. His kind gesture melted away the irritation. Maybe he was just tempted by the mention of a special meal… Though it felt like he was being conditioned by food, surely that was just his imagination.

Even though he had slept, his head was still foggy, and he wasn’t sure what to make of the confession. Whatever! He would go with the flow. He hated overthinking. If he liked something, he liked it. If not, then not. First, food. People need to eat to have energy.

Though Zerpell had basically declared his intent, he didn’t seem eager to bring it up again. So he decided to just act like normal.

“Hey, are we having some good meat today?”

“I’ve asked for your favorite steak to be prepared especially.”

“Great!”

Determined to act normal, he clung to Zerpell’s waist. Zerpell kindly stroked his head in return. He sneaked a glance, but Zerpell looked no different than usual. See? Nothing to it. Just keep things normal. As he smiled brightly, Zerpell gazed at him with warmth and gently brushed his bangs aside before kissing his forehead.

“Mm. Just so you know, I hope you give some serious thought to what I said yesterday. I’m not rushing you, but I’ll be waiting for your answer.”

He stared at Zerpell, mouth agape. That soft smile was infuriating. Most of all, his eyes didn’t look like someone who wasn’t rushing for an answer. People are hard to read, and Zerpell clearly had no intention of letting this slide easily.

“Uh…”

“Let’s go.”

Because Zerpell brought up the confession he had tried to ignore, he walked to the dining hall feeling a bit nervous.

We sat in our usual spots and began to eat. When I was still a snake, I always sat beside him, but since becoming human, we now sat across from each other. The only issue was the table was so long, the distance between us felt greater. Maybe it had always bothered him, or maybe it was just today—but the long table seemed to be annoying Zerpell.

“Why is this table so long?”

“Excuse me??”

The attendant’s face was full of confusion. There had never been anything wrong with the table. But it was the Crown Prince speaking. Sweating bullets under Zerpell’s intimidating presence, the attendant bowed repeatedly.

“I-I’ll prepare a shorter table by tomorrow!”

Zerpell smiled, satisfied, and began eating. What a ridiculous thing to complain about mid-meal… Guessing his motives made me feel embarrassed. He smiled at me with soft eyes, and I averted my gaze, focusing on the food in front of me.

So focused was I that I didn’t even notice Zerpell approach. I flinched when he suddenly grabbed my chin. Surprised, I looked up into Zerpell’s drowsy eyes. For some reason, I gulped nervously.

“Wh-what is it?”

“You have something there.”

Following his gaze, I reached up to touch the corner of my mouth, and sure enough, my fingers came away with a bit of sauce.

“You’re right. Thanks.”

I expressed my gratitude and tried to push his hand away, reaching for the napkin nearby. But my hand didn’t make it. His fingers brushed the corner of my lips, collecting the sauce.

When I turned my head, he was licking the sauce off his finger.

“Salty.”

Zerpell grimaced slightly. I stared at him with my mouth hanging open. Of course it’s salty! I like bold flavors, so the steak was heavily seasoned. I was utterly speechless. When our eyes met, his sharp gaze softened gently.

Damn it… I felt my face burn and quickly bowed my head. Zerpell tilted his head slightly as well, making his dark hair fall to one side, glimmering despite its color.

He looked at me with a lingering gaze. That kind of look would devour me if I reacted! I remained motionless, and he gave a faintly disappointed smile.

“Finish your meal.”

Though he had looked at me like he wanted to eat me up, he calmly returned to his seat. After that, the morning meal passed peacefully without further conversation. Later, I returned alone to my room and stared blankly at the ceiling.

“How the hell does that guy know I like his face so much?”

With a face that lethal, of course it hit hard. When he leaned in and smiled… Might as well hypnotize me. He’s basically a fox. His normally blank face became so gentle when he looked at me… Well, his expression hadn’t actually changed, but the impact of yesterday’s confession and his actions made it all the more powerful.

Lying on the bed, something kept brushing the edge of my memory—something I had forgotten in the chaos of recent events…

“Come to think of it, I feel like I forgot something… Is it just my imagination?”

As if to tell me it wasn’t, I heard a soft tapping sound. Thinking it was Casa, I looked at the door, but it remained closed. Then where?

I turned my head toward the sound. It was coming from the window. But there was nothing visible outside the glass.

Jumping up, I approached the window cautiously. There, I saw what appeared to be a branch tapping on the glass. Looking closer, it was Kir’s tail. Kir was hanging from the end of a branch, tapping the window with his tail.