Doll 145

 

Chapter 145 (End)

    ****

    Slowly, Raha accepted the objects Duke Esther held up. The things that had been heavy and weighing her down all along....... now glowed gently in her hands.

    She lifted her head.

    The clusters of light that guarded the insignia danced beautifully.

    A late spring day.

    The sun was so warm, and a gentle spring breeze blew in from the distance, carrying with it the scent of dried flowers that she could never forget. She wanted to believe that it was, even though it wasn't.

    ****

    Epilogue

    It was just over a month later that Raha was able to leave the patronage that housed the insignia. A temporary cabana was set up on the grounds. By the end of the month, the Princess’s temporary residence, which had started out as a cabana, had become a small palace.

    "This is too much, please stop."

    Raha furrowed her brow. Shed asked as he peeled off her nightgown.

    "What's too much?"

    “Do you know that this is the back garden of the princess’s palace? Anyone who sees it will think that I want to make this my new main palace.”

    "It's yours anyway."

    "It is. Everything that belongs to Delo is mine. It’s mine but......."

    Raha's shoulders shuddered. It was because Shed, who had peeled off her gown, pressed his lips to her neck. His lips were hot. Worst of all, she could tell his arousal with the slightest movement, because she could feel his erection straining against her thigh.

    She stroked her hand over his thigh, feeling his body stiffen. A wicked smile tugged at the corners of Raha’s mouth. She reached to unbuckle his pants, pressing deliberately at the contours that one hand couldn't quite capture.

    Her hand was caught.

    "What are you doing?"

    "I can't do it, you can."

    Raha said in a gravelly voice.

    "You really put up with this for a month?"

    "I stuck by your side for a month."

    "There were many times when I was asleep."

    "Ah."

    Shed grinned, finally understanding what Raha was saying.

    "Did you masturbate while watching me?"

    "I might have."

    The look of childish wonder in Shed’s eyes made Raha feel a little more amused.

    "Answer me, Shed."

    He'd been holding Raha somewhere for the past month, every time, but never with the same force as before. Unconsciously, he'd tighten his grip on Raha, and then, as if on fire, he'd panic and    pull away.

    Taking full advantage of the fact that she was a mortally wounded patient, Raha reached for the buckle of Shed’s pants again. It was the job of the servants to remove them. Raha, like the royalty she was, would only take the easy stuff.

    Her hand cupped his cock halfway down. It was swollen to the point of bursting, and she didn't seem to mind. With a little effort, Raha pulled Shed’s cock out.

    She'd half-jokingly pulled it out, but now that it was in front of her, her stomach started to feel strangely tight. Raha didn't have small hands.

    Imperials were expected to play at least five instruments, and Raha's fingers were straight and elongated as a result of her training. Still, holding this stake made her hands look small.

    The hand that wrapped around his penis and moved slowly. Raha's gaze, which had been fixed on it, lifted. Shed kissed her right back. It wasn't the usual kiss that pushed Raha back.

    Even in that moment, she could tell how much he was holding back. His hands moved with a calmness that belied his burgeoning desire.

    But the penis in Raha's hand was pulsing and throbbing.

    Her throat began to go dry. Her legs went weak and she stumbled a little. Shed sat Raha down on the bed, his eyes staring at her, fierce with dark desire.

    Shed bent down to her. Raha's hands on the bed were quickly grabbed. This time, she couldn't escape, so she wrapped her hands around his thick shaft and balls. White palms rubbed against the searing flesh.

    Sticky semen splatters beneath her fingers, trickling down Raha's thighs. The whitish liquid was certainly not what Raha was used to seeing in bed every day. It had the thick odor of fluid that hadn't been released in a long time.

    Only then did Raha believe that Shed had really been abstinent for a month. Raha lay upright on the bed. Shed, who had slept with her in his arms for more than half the month at the palace, would not slip into her sheets in this cabana. It was the bandage on her abdomen that kept him away.

    Instead. Shed lay on his side, his head in his hands, staring at Raha. For a month, Raha fell asleep almost every night looking at Shed's face. It was a pleasant sleep.

    "Even if you take the bandages off......."

    Raha said, getting a little serious.

    "You can't push me."

    "I know, your doctor has been warning me about it five times a day."

    "Oliver?"

    "Yeah."

    Raha glanced toward the entrance to the cabana. There was supposed to be a cloth door there, but in the additions that had been made, there was now a large, jewel-encrusted partition.

    You could even go around the partition and open a cloth door that led to another cabana. Raha felt like she was exploring as she kept seeing new things. She felt like she was traveling.

    After that day, Raha never saw Oliver again. Thanks to the power of the insignia, she suffered little physical pain, but she was quite seriously injured. Her sleep had increased tremendously. Fifteen hours a day, she couldn't stay awake.

    When she woke up, the cure was complete.

    The bandages were freshly applied, and every tiny scratch had been meticulously medicated, even if Raha hadn't realized it.

    A child was a child, even if he was a hidden sage. Or a sage, because he was wiser than anyone else....

    "So that's why you're my doctor. The eyes of the heir must be monitored.”

    "I broke my hermit's vow and confessed my identity to the royal family. Before that, I just wanted to protect you, so please don't say that."

    She wondered if he had guessed the magnitude of the hurt Raha was harboring.

    Either way, it was clear that Oliver was on the run because he cared about Raha. Raha couldn’t chase after him. She's been trapped by the patronage.

    All she had to do was get out.......

    She must seize Oliver, seize the boy doctor, and say a word.

    That she had never resented him.

    Raha turned her face to look at Shed, who was staring at her.

    She reached out a finger to tickle his cheek. Raha smirked, moving her fingers until Shed’s grip on her hand tightened.

    "When we leave the patronage tomorrow, we'll have to say hello to the queen again."

    The Queen of Hildes was still in the palace, they said, and that day, in the presence of countless other nobles and royals from other lands, Raha committed treason. The owner of the crown had changed hands.

    Dazed as if swept away by a torrent, the many ambassadors of other nations quickly realized that the tide of power was turning.

    The wise men crowned Raha as emperor, and the Holy Land was known to have sided with her and even aided her.

    A coronation. And a national marriage to follow.

    Raha furrowed her brow.

    "For a kingdom to produce an Imperial warrior, we've found a whole mine of gems in Hildes."

    Shed tilted his chin.

    "I'll send a letter to my brother if you feel like it."

    "To say what?"

    "There are few gem mines that belong to the royal family. I'll ask him to give Delo one.”

    "What....... You're kidding, you want to turn me into a moon?"

    Raha asked incredulously.

    A still moment passed. Then he laughed, and Raha reached out and threw her arms around Shed’s neck. He obediently leaned into Raha's embrace. Strong arms hugging upward, away from the bandages.

    Hugging him as if to say something, Raha said nothing. She had done this a few times before, and she'd always fallen asleep, but today was different. Raha buried her face in Shed’s neck and    slowly opened her mouth.

    "If you marry me......Shed."

    Her voice was tinged with the faintest hint of fear, like a grain of sand.

    "I don't want you to die before me."

    "Yes. I will."

    "If you die before me......."

    Raha trailed off in a rare lisp.

    "That would be really scary."

    "Isn't your body weaker than mine?"

    "....yes?"

    "Yes. I promise."

    He could promise anything. If she wanted, she could bring her dead twin's sorcerer with her, cast a spell to force him to do anything, and Shed would comply. Willingly, as if he were making a vow to a god.

    "Shed."

    Raha slowly tightened her arms around Shed. Everything about him pulsed alive beneath her slender hands.

    "I'll be with you as long as I live."

    Shed smiled faintly at the whispered words.

    "Please, Raha."

    His answer was firm. From the beginning, until now, always. Every single word, every single syllable that had been forced into her ruined mind, had belonged to this man.

    Shed Hildes, her true love.

    The man who would soon become part of her family.......

    Somewhere inside, she felt a gust of wind. Like a whisper of love, Raha whispered Shed’s name twice more.

    Since when?

    Every time Shed heard Raha's voice, he thirsted. No matter how many times he heard it, his throat went dry. Sometimes he felt like a madman, but thankfully Raha didn't know that.

    He buried his lips in her forehead.

    He whispered I love you. A childish smile crossed Raha's lips, and for a moment, Shed’s as well.

    Raha closed and opened her eyes, still. For the umpteenth time, the eyes of the man who would never change were in full view.

    They were heavenly, expansive eyes.

    ***

    *TL: The author didn’t write side stories for this novel as it had been finished a long time ago and she had already published a few other novels. So we will have to say goodbye to Shed and Raha here. It has been a long journey and Raha was one of strongest female leads ever. Thanks for reading and please check out my other projects.