Conquering the Emperor

Chapter 144: Asking Me Out

I shook my head from side to side as I realized that I had gotten ahead of myself. Somehow, my mind had already assumed that Ren would allow me to go and that he would come along with me. That was clearly wistful thinking. It would delight me beyond description if we could go to the festival together, but I knew that the possibility of that happening was probably very slim.

When I was about to arrive at my room, to my surprise, I ran into Ren. He didn’t send a message to me to tell me that he would be coming by, so I wasn’t expecting to see him tonight.

“Rin, you’re back,” Ren greeted me as he came to my side and put an arm around my waist.

“Yeah...I just got back. Were you waiting long?” I asked.

“No, I just got here,” Ren replied.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you tonight. You should have sent word in advance if you were going to drop by...” I said, sounding a little worried.

“I wanted to surprise you,” Ren said with a small laugh.

“Well, it worked. I am pleasantly surprised,” I admitted honestly.

“Let’s head in, it’s getting a little chilly,” Ren said pushing me towards the door with his arm.

I nodded in agreement. Since the sun had set a while ago, it was already dark, and the wind felt chilly. I led Ren into my room before closing the door behind us. I gestured for him to sit down before I started to prepare some tea.

“There’s no need for tea. Just sit down with me,” Ren said.

I turned to look at him in surprise but decided to do what he told me to. Slowly, I sat down on the sofa next to him. Now that Ren was here, I remembered that I wanted to ask him if he would allow me to go out to see the festival even if it was just for a short while. I honestly just wanted to take a look so just a bit of time would suffice.

However, now that Ren was sitting beside me, I just couldn’t form the words. I guess it was my fear of hearing his rejection that made it difficult for me to ask him for his permission. While I was worried and pondering my thoughts Ren spoke up.

“There’s a festival in town. It’s called the summer festival. If you’d like, should we go together?” Ren asked as he turned to face me.

“Huh?” I whispered in shock.

Did Ren just ask me to go to the festival with him? Really?! I was having a hard time believing what I had just heard.

“Why do you look so surprised? I said that there’s a festival in town. If you’re interested in going, we can go together. What do you think? Do you want to go?” Ren asked again, before smiling brightly at me.

“Yes...Yes! I want to go. I want to go so badly!” I said, unable to hide my excitement.

“Haha...you’re super excited, which is good. I guess you heard about the festival already?” Ren asked.

“Umm yea, to be honest, I overheard the maids talking about it and found it interesting. I was about to ask you for permission if I could go and see it...” I told him about my plans.

“So, I beat you to it and asked you out first then,” Ren surmised.

“Yes, you did...” I said a little shyly. I was glad that he asked me though.

“I’m free tomorrow so let’s go to the festival together,” Ren said, his voice so gentle that I wanted to melt from the warmth that he stirred up inside of me.

“I’m so excited to be honest. I’ve never really been to a festival before...” I admitted. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com

“It should be fun and very eye-opening for you. It’s been a while since I’ve worn a disguise to sneak into town too,” Ren said cheerily, and I could see a slightly mischievous gleam in his eyes.

“We’ll be in disguise?” I asked. That was unexpected.

“Yup. It’s not like I can dress as the crown prince and you as Lady White Lotus and walk randomly around town,” Ren explained.

“I guess that makes sense...” I murmured in agreement.

Just like magic, somehow, my wish was granted by Ren. Better yet, he didn’t just allow me to go to the festival, he was going to accompany me there. I looked forward to going to the festival but now that I knew that I would be going with Ren, I looked forward to it even more. I couldn’t wait for tomorrow to arrive.

...

Honestly, I had trouble sleeping last night because of how excited I was. When dawn broke and I could see light coming in from the window, I sat up in bed and welcomed the arrival of this new day. Today, I’m finally going to the festival. I wasn’t sure what I should expect but I was sure that it would turn out to be a good experience regardless.

“You’re up early...” Ren said sleepily.

Ren looked so sleepy. He clearly wasn’t a morning person either. I watched as he repositioned his body and continued to sleep. Smiling a little to myself, I got off the bed after deciding to let him sleep in for a bit. He was right, I woke up super early today. Even if we went to the festival now, it would be too early. The festival probably doesn’t start until closer to noon and would probably end late into the night.

That doesn’t mean that I couldn’t do anything right now though. I could get the maids to bath and dress me so that when Ren woke up, we would be ready to go. After all, it doesn’t take Ren long to get ready for the day while it took me what felt like half an eternity to be ready. freewebnovel.cσ๓

After taking a bath, the maids readily helped to dress me. Today though, their task was different because I had to be in disguise.

“I’m going out to the festival, so I’d like you to help dress me in normal clothes,” I told the maids.

“Normal clothes, My Lady?” the maid asked, looking very confused.

“Yes, like...clothes that normal women in town would wear...” I tried to explain.

--To be continued...