When Embert smiled darkly, the mages paled.
On the other hand, Severin laughed carefreely. “Looks like he found us.”
He’s used to this by now.
“You’ve finished your business with Ally, correct?” Embert asked Severin. “In that case, you won’t mind if I take her back, right?”
Embert pulled me to my feet as he spoke. He’d already decided to take me away.
Severin laughed again. “Of course not,” he said while waving goodbye. “Thanks for everything today. Let’s hang out again sometime. I’ll contact you when the magic devices are finished.”
As Embert pulled me by the hand, I turned around and waved my free hand at Severin. “No, thank you. I had fun too. See you next time.”
When we exited the building, Embert snapped his fingers, and a magic circle appeared beneath his feet. However, we teleported to a place other than his office.
“Where are we?” I asked.
We were in a chic room with uniform black furniture. Despite its imposing atmosphere, I felt strangely at ease.
“These are my private chambers,” Embert responded.
As I jumped in fright and tried to race over to the door, he hugged me from behind.
“Um, Em…” I mumbled. “We might be engaged, but we still haven’t made an announcement to the entire kingdom. It might be a little early for this, don’t you think?”
Though I tried to free myself from Embert’s restrictive embrace, I couldn’t budge an inch. In fact, he tightened his grip on me.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “The bedroom is actually next door, and I haven’t completely lost my senses.”
Um, did he say next door? And he hasn’t completely lost his senses? Doesn’t that imply he’s not fully in his right mind?
I flailed about in vain, feeling concerned for my safety. Nevertheless, Embert sat down on the long living room sofa while holding me in a gentle embrace. Once again, I found myself on his lap. Upon realizing that I couldn’t flee, I stiffened as silence hung over us for a short while.
“Um… Em,” I said, unable to bear the silence any longer.
“Yes?” he responded curtly.
I shouldn’t have gone to the mage’s headquarters without telling him. Doing so had completely soured his mood.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
In response to my heartfelt apology, I could feel Embert shaking his head behind me. “It’s fine,” he said. “You should be able to spend time with your friends.”
With that, he sank into silence again. As I wondered what to do, he spoke up again a little while later.
“Actually, it’s not okay,” he said. “My whole body was burning with jealousy. The idea of you meeting up with another man without my knowledge nearly drove me insane.”
His sulky tone coaxed a laugh from me. “Heh, I know. Honestly, I’m really sorry. I promised to visit the mage’s headquarters with Severin a long time ago. Plus, I know how busy you are right now. I planned to stop by here on the way back since I was still on the castle grounds.”
Embert’s features softened to his normal expression. My words seemed to have improved his mood.
I furrowed my brow as something occurred to me. “Still, how did you know where I was?”
His answer was, if I may say so myself, absolutely bonkers.
“I placed a tracking spell on your amulet,” Embert revealed.
Uh, come again? What did he just say? Do I need to clean out my ears?
“You put a tracking spell on my amulet?” I asked, not bothering to hide my bewilderment.
Embert responded with the most charming of smiles. “Indeed. I never know when you might be faced with danger. As such, I need to know where you are at all times.”
Wowzers. I’m here to report a stalker, officer. This is way beyond overprotective.
“You never call for help, no matter how dire the situation,” Embert said. “There’s no telling what kind of danger you’ll face when our engagement becomes public knowledge. You might be kidnapped or targeted by assassins. Even so, you’ll still try to resolve those situations by yourself. Well, you can probably take down any criminal with one hand tied behind your back, considering how strong you are. Regardless, I still want to be the sort of man who can save the woman he loves.”
Gah, you’re going to make my heart melt. This man is just too much.
When I turned to face Embert, he kissed my shoulder, which his head had been resting on.
“Thank you for worrying about me,” I said.
I suppose I could overlook his borderline stalker tendencies. He might have been overprotective, but that was the man I’d fallen in love with. Embert looked momentarily puzzled by my words of gratitude. A second later, however, he beamed at me.
“Think nothing of it,” he said before kissing me on the temple. “It’s what any man should do.”
When I closed my eyes and leaned into his kiss, he proceeded to kiss me on the lips. “Ally,” he said when our lips had parted. His sensual voice caused my heart to skip a beat.
“Yes?” I asked.
“I can’t control myself much longer.”
“Uh, what?”
My pulse quickened for an entirely different reason. Embert had made this carefree statement with a wide grin on his face. As I stared at him dumbfoundedly, he continued speaking, his smile unfaltering.
“My bedroom is just next door…”
Yes, yes, I’m very aware of that fact. You just said so just a few minutes ago, remember?
“No, not yet,” I said, giving a firm rejection.
We obviously can’t do that yet. I would die of embarrassment.
“Ally,” Embert whined, looking at me like an abandoned puppy.
“Ugh…”
Don’t look at me with those big, watery eyes. You’re going to break my heart.
“N-No, not yet,” I repeated. “And stop looking at me like that.”
“But Ally—”
“Still no.”
This back and forth continued until I finally summoned Custode.