Lovers Beyond the Mirror

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Chapter 10 – Desert Bride (5)

‘I should have stayed in my room!’

Belated regrets came.

As a result of acting on her curiosity, Seriana’s heart was beating fast as if it was about to explode.

Her face must also be dyed bright red.

Seriana covered her face with her hands, barely holding back from turning and running to her room.

“I wish my Ranua would be a little more vigilant. This is certainly a safe place, but on a desert night, things can happen and there would be nothing thought strange about it.”

“Yes, sorry…….”

“You don’t have to apologize to me, since you don’t know yet.”

“Ah…… thank you…….”

“It’s not something that deserves any special thanks.”

“…….”

Seriana quietly shut her mouth and looked into Vaisha’s eyes.

Now that she’s here, whatever she said to him would be a stupid answer, so shutting her mouth would be the right answer.

“You are suddenly quiet. Are you surprised?”

“A…… little. I didn’t hear that you had arrived…….”

“I told them not to tell you.”

“Yes?”

“Because I thought it must have been an unfamiliar journey and you needed plenty of rest.”

“Ah…….”

“By the way, I didn’t know you enjoyed a walk at night like this.”

Vaisha smiled leisurely as he combed his hands through his wet hair.

He slowly began to observe Seriana trying to hide her red face, which was clearly visible even under the moonlight.

She hadn’t changed much compared to what he had seen in Rajen.

But she was pale enough to look pale in the moonlight, and her white skin was tinged slightly red, giving life to her doll-like appearance.

‘It’s strangely calming my mind.’

He was returning without resolving all the problems of the Uru tribe, which had been rebelling until the very end.

Skilled in surprise operations, the Uru were the last remaining fragments of the desert people and the most difficult tribe to conquer.

He set out to deal with those who resisted and did not accept Vaisha as king of the desert and Kudra, but this time it was unsuccessful.

Welcoming him, Chiarin began to praise Seriana.

Chiarin was so uncharacteristically enthusiastic that Vaisha flinched.

As he heard her start with compliments and end with compliments, he wondered what the little girl did to Chiarin……. Tired of Chiarin’s endless gushing, he fled to the oasis.

Ignoring the nagging to go the right way, he climbed the walls of the palace and ran down the roof.

It was his own shortcut.

He seemed to hear a mixture of blasphemous sounds to the meaning that if he interrupted Ranua’s sleep, Chiarin wouldn’t allow him peace, but he ignored it.

Sometimes this kind of mercy is necessary.

He climbed the wall again and threw himself into the oasis.

His swimming was the only sound breaking the silence all around.

For a while…… Did he float on the water and look up at the moon? The white moon seemed to calm his soaring irritation.

Uru will eventually bow their head under his feet.

It was a prophecy he was born with, and it was the goal he was trying to achieve, so it must be so.

Vaisha brushed off his last annoyance and started to leave the water.

If he hadn’t met Seriana as she headed toward the oasis, he would probably have returned to his room.

‘Can I say that there was no objection to the desert, but rather a favorable reaction?’

Vaisha concentrated his thoughts on Seriana, recalling some of the useful things Chiarin had said in her constant chatter before his escape to the oasis.

She was a woman who had assets beyond her resemblance to the legendary Ranua to exploit.

She was a powerless foreign woman. It wasn’t a very good condition for Ranua, but Vaisha was very satisfied that Seriana’s appearance resembled Ranua so closely.

In addition, she’s a woman who couldn’t hide her feelings.

She was the ‘perfect’ Ranua for his purposes.

In fact, the fact that he brought Seriana to Chaitun, where Kudra and Ranua had equal power, was originally a nonsense story.

However, the situation in which Ranua had been vacant for a long time, the prophecy received by Vaisha, and his power made it possible.

The former servants of Ranua tried to fill the vacancy of their master, but it was not the real power of Ranua.

So, the people of Chaitun were more enthusiastic about Kudra, who, as prophesied, began to conquer the desert, and boasted an overwhelming power in front of them rather than the absent Ranua.

Rather than the power of the god who was far from his eyes, he kept his eyes on the prize and swung his sword.

And in the palace, the servant of Ranua previously would not listen to orders from anyone other than her original master or bow her head, now obeyed the orders of Vaisha.

As a new Ranua appears, the power of Kudra will gradually diminish over Chiarin and the priests who serve Ranua.

But for now, it was as if everything in Chaitun was going according to Vaisha’s will.

In this situation, Vaisha had no choice but to like Seriana, who could sleep as she wanted.

Of course, he thought he was a little bit sorry too.

Even though she was bound by love, he brought in a powerless woman from a foreign country to take advantage of her difficult position. So Vaisha was going to show his Ranua a little docility.

“Do you know how to swim?”

“Yes? Ah, that’s…….”

“You don’t.”

“…… Yes…….”

As soon as he felt a little annoyance that Seriana’s lack of confidence caused her to turn her gaze away from him as if she had committed a sin, Vaisha impulsively reached out his hand.

“I’ll teach you.”

“Yes?”

“From now on, you will be living in this palace, so if possible, you should fully enjoy the oasis. Don’t you like it?”

“No, it’s not…… Because I left without saying anything to Chiarin. I would feel bad if she went looking for me…….”

“…… You lack vigilance, but you seem to be caring.”

Seriana was worried that Vaisha might be offended by her refusal and let out a small sigh of relief at the sight of him nodding his head more graciously than she had feared.

“You don’t have to worry about other people. Especially if it’s Chiarin. You are my Ranua and the queen of this Chaitun. Whatever you do, take it for granted. Because no one can complain about it.”

“But really…… No, I haven’t officially become Ranua.”

Fake if not real. Seriana remembered that she was a fake princess, and then turned her head away, muttering.

Because she believed that she didn’t deserve to be called Ranua or his wife by him.

However, Vaisha’s thoughts seemed to differ from Seriana’s.

Of course, he did not know that Seriana was an illegitimate child.

But he opened his mouth with a slight frown on his brow, as if offended that Seriana was thinking about her own qualifications.

“I say you are my queen, my Ranua, who dares to judge the real from the fake?”

“…….. Yes?”

“From the moment I welcomed you as Ranua, you have been my wife.”

“But the god of Chaitun…… So, Helaim…….”

“Our Helaim is not that stuck up. There’s the right amount of flexibility.”

If Kayan had heard it, he would have shook his head because of the frivolity in the words he addressed to the God.

But he was not present, and standing before Vaisha was a woman who did not know how far Helaim’s mercy could reach.

“It’s not just about enjoying rights. You don’t have to feel burdened too much because it means that you have to do your duty as well. No, doesn’t this make it more burdensome?”

“…… Thank you.”

“I’ll accept that greeting for now. So……Swimming?”

“Ah…… !”

Seeing Vaisha reaching out his hand again, Seriana hesitated a little and shook her head.

With his kindness, she had gained little courage to say no to him.

She carefully placed her hands on her chest and spoke to Vaisha.

“I think it would be difficult to learn to swim right now. Today is the first day at the palace…… You said you don’t have to worry, but I feel sorry for Chiarin.”

“Really? Then…… soak your feet for a while.”

“Yes?”

The rough-looking hand grabbed Seriana’s hand.

She held back and resisted for a moment, but then she noticed that his large hand was pulling her more softly than she had expected.

“You’ve been looking for the oasis for a long time, but isn’t it a waste to only see it through your eyes?”

“Wait, wait a minute, Vaisha! Shoes, shoes!”

“Oh, that’s right.”

Vaisha stopped and looked at Seria with a mischievous smile.

Seriana tilted her head, not knowing the meaning of that smile, and screamed briefly as Vaisha hugged her waist and put his hands behind her knees to lift her.

“Kyaak!”

“There is no need to be afraid.”

“Vaisha, wait a minute… … !”

The shoes hanging from her toes were easily removed as she struggled to escape from his shoulders.

Laughing contentedly as he looked at Seriana, still struggling with surprise and unable to hide her embarrassment, Vaisha began to move and walk inside the oasis.

“I’ve dealt with the shoes, so there’s no problem, right?”

Without giving her a single glance, Vaisha looked at the water and asked a question that Seriana couldn’t answer.

She just stared at the innocent but mischievous smile on his face.

‘I feel like my heart is going to explode.’

A man who she had only looked through the cold mirror neared her in an instant.

Not just got close.

He even held her in his arms.

Seriana inhaled sharply, startled by the sound of her heart, which sounded louder than the ripping of heavy currents and the crowing of grass bugs.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“…… Yes?”

“I thought I had something on my face because you were staring at me.”

“Ah! I’m sorry…… Kyaak!”

Vaisha’s face was close.

He turned his head to face her, and the moment she noticed her reflection in his amber eyes, Seriana leaned back in astonishment.

The problem was that.

She lost her balance as she reclined her body, forgetting that she was in his arms.

Vaisha didn’t expect her to be so surprised, so he missed her waist in an instant.

“Oh God. Are you okay?”

“Cough, cough, yes, I’m, okay…… cough.”

She was only falling into the depth of her knees, but she felt like she was drowning, so even if Seriana’s appearance was good, she could not avoid looking like a drowning mouse.

As she pushed back the wet hair clinging to her face, she blushed again at the sight of Vaisha reaching out his hand and looking at her with worried eyes.

Without noticing, she continued coughing.

“My Ranua can’t finish her words properly. Or is it your usual habit?”

“That…… No. I’m just …..flustered.”

“Then it’s my fault.”

Vaisha took Seriana’s hand and lifted her up with ease.

The wet cloth clinging to her skin made her body heavy.

Seriana began to walk slowly into the deeper water, guided by Vaisha’s somehow friendly hand.

“Since you’re already wet … On a moonlit night, the water in the oasis feels warmer.”

“…… is that so?”

“In the desert, the temperature difference between day and night is large, but the water in the oasis warms up slowly and cools down slowly. Chiarin will be here soon, so stay here until then.”

She wondered how Chiarin would find her, since she had left without a word, but Seriana refrained from asking.

If Vaisha says so, she’ll just have to trust him.

Vaisha stopped his steps only after the waters of the oasis had reached Seriana’s chest.

It would be the invisible ripples of this mighty spring that tickled beneath her feet.

Seriana caught a glimpse of Vaisha looking at her with his back to the moon.

“First of all, I’ll apologize.”

“Yes?”

“I wanted to talk in a place no one could hear. In the process…… I was a little rude.”

“No!”

“Huh?”

“Ah, I…… that is…….”

Without realizing it, her voice rose.

Seriana, convinced that her face would have turned red again, bowed her head to avoid Vaisha’s eyes.

How could she choose to show him only such stupid and silly faces…… If there was a mouse hole, she felt she would crawl into it right away.

Unaware of her internal thoughts, Vaisha was looking at the grass that surrounded the oasis in the distance.

He could feel the escort warriors who he personally called the shadows, hiding in the shadows of the bushes, watching the two of them as they were unable to follow them into the inside of the oasis.

They were trained to hear sounds from afar and read the movements of their lips if they could not hear them, but even if they had eyes and ears, they could not tell what they had heard or seen.

Vaisha turned away from the shadows and spoke to Seriana, who seemed restless.

“Do you know why I accepted you as Ranua?”

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