04 In His Arms

  The Empress Dowager tapped the back of Elena's hand. Elena turned her head towards the old woman and nodded her head as she got her silent signal.

Elena stood up slowly and walked to the Emperor but failed again when she stumbled and fell.

"Yaah!" She yelped,

Luckily, The Emperor caught her with his arms wrapped around her body. She had her eyes shut tight, scared of having her face land onto the grass. She had given her life to the grim reaper, embarrassed of what just had happened.

But—what she smelt was different, it was the smell of pure ocean smell. Once you close your eyes, you could imagine relaxing on the beach peacefully.

Elena closed her eyes, smelling his scent as she pulled him closer. It didn't stop, not until she was pushed away by her husband.

"Elena," Alexander called.

"Ah, yes?"

She knew something was wrong "Ah!- Did- Did I do something wrong?"

"..." He stared at her before patting his suit and tie. He held her left hand and placed his other leg before bending and kissing the back of her hand. He stood up as he placed her hand around his hooked arm. He patted her hand and walked, "No."

While they walked towards the table, the Empress Dowager giggled and clasped her hands together before saying anything.

"How sweet~"

Alexander cleared his throat, "Empress Dowager, why did you call us here?"

"Well, it's been almost a month since the Empress, dear, came." She replied as she looked at her and held her hand.

She smiled and placed her hand above the old woman's, "I'm fine, Good Mother."

The Empress Dowager cupped her daughter's cheeks and giggled with her, while the Emperor looked at them emotionlessly.

As he had his eyes on her, kids from the bush were spying on the three, they had their cameras placed in front of them.

"Hey, are you ready?" He whispered, "Don't make some noise!"

"I will! I will!" The little girl yelled quietly.

"Shh!" The kids hushed the little girl.

"Okay, I'm ready!" He held the camera and clicked the button, flashing onto them.

He pulled the camera out and took a look at the printed picture, the children pinned themselves just to see the picture.

"Oi! That's blurry!" Another little girl shouted quietly.

"Hey, don't shout!" Another little boy slapped her arm.

Alexander cleared his throat, sending shivers to these four kids. They slowly looked towards the scary man.

"H-Hello, Emperor." The kid with a camera stuttered nervously.

"What were you doing here?" He asked, darkness was spreading behind him, his stares were scary.

The kids cried out and ran away without any hesitation, leaving the camera and the printed picture on the ground.

As soon as they ran away, crying, he noticed there was something they forgot to bring. He picked the camera up and tried to call them, but it looks like they had already run away.

Before he could turn around and give the camera to his men, he notice there was a picture on the ground. They looked familiar.

He turned around again and knelt on one knee, he picked up the picture. It was a photo of him staring at his wife smiling with his mother. Soon, a smile crept upon his face. He smiled dearly and was happy for those kids to catch a picture of them.

But, his smile ended when he heard the sound of the grass shaking. His smile turned to a serious frown. He held the bottom of his sword, preparing to fight or kill someone who was in there.

He was calm and collected because he knew that if you are nervous when it's a serious fight, you'd lose. The sound of the grass shaking was getting louder and louder. It stopped when suddenly, a little rabbit came out hopping with a carrot in its mouth. He tapped his sword and placed his hands beside him.

'It was just a rabbit, then.' He closed his eyes. Before she could walk towards the garden, another bush sounded and just like that, she came out hopping with grasses around her dress and hair.

"Hey, you rabbit! Come back!" She shouted, "Where are you- Oh..." She was caught off guard by her husband.

It was the moment for them to stare at each other in calming silence inside the little forest. His eyes were quite wide as he saw her in a messy position, while hers were wider for she didn't know this would happen.

It was calm, not until she ruined the moment by slowly walking away without looking for directions, causing her to fall onto the ground and wound herself with a scratch on her wrist.

"Aah!-" She yelped,

He shook once and walked to her. He faced her to him as he checked her wound. Her wound was not that big, he sighed in relief and plucked all those leaves out of her. He then carried her in his arms and turned around.

"Ah, you can just put me down. I- I can walk. It's just my wrist that was wounded." She placed her wounded wrist in front of him, "S-See? It's just a small wound. And- my body is heavy-"

He cut her off as he turned his head towards her, giving her a stern look. He replied, "You are not heavy. And it is my duty as your husband to carry his wounded wife."

She crouched, blush slowly spread across her cheeks, "B-But, We- We're alone here. And- it's- it's not like we're real.-"

"You may think it's just us inside this quiet place, but since it's the castle, there are also guards and people watching us from afar." He said the last word in front of him. The heads that popped out a while ago suddenly hid behind those trees, while Elena covered her red face.

As he walked towards the garden where the Empress Dowager was, he kicked the leaves and asked for a leave.

The Empress Dowager gasped, "What- What happened to the Empress?" She asked.

"Ah, It's okay, Mother, I'm fine-"

"She got wounded on her wrist." He looked at the woman in his arms, "Do you want your blood to come out and pass out?"

She swallowed her saliva and shook her head obediently.

"Good." He nodded. He looked at the Empress Dowager one last time before saying goodbye, "I'll treat her, mother. Goodbye, Her Royal Majesty."

The Empress Dowager waved her hand with a worried look on her face. "She must not lose a little drop of blood!"

* * *

It has been a few minutes since they walked away from the garden, and she felt uncomfortable by those stares and lovely murmurs from those people. She couldn't stay still.

As they were nearing the castle, she tapped her husband's chest, signaling her to put her down, but he was silent. He didn't listen to her. As soon as he stepped the first floor of stairs, their children came running towards the couple with anxious looks on their faces.

"Mother!" Elise ran to their mother as she held her skirt up anxiously, "Mother, did something happen to you?"

"H-How did you know?" She asked,

"Of course, we can! Our accessories turned red!"

Elena looked at her daughter's necklace. The sapphire necklace turned to pure ruby. She rubbed her eyes one more time, it was real. Charlotte stepped in and showed her diamond ring that turned to ruby. Henry showed his small pearl ring on his thumb and turned to red. The others showed their accessories and quickly turned red.

"So..." She slowly turned her head to Alexander's diamond pin on his tie and turned red. 'Wait isn't that just a pin?'

"You may think this is just a pin, but this is not an ordinary pin. Compared to other pins, this pin has been passed to Emperors for generations. After you pass the pin to the new Emperor, their blood and relations will be transferred inside the pin. So, whenever his family members are in danger, the accessory will turn red." He explained.

Just like a mind reader, he explained to her about those accessories. Well, it was written on her face, and he was quick to answer it.