Conquering the Emperor

Chapter 201: Talks of Love

Huh?!

I lifted my head of his chest and stared at his face in shock. What did he just ask me? I felt heat rise to my cheek and knew that I was blushing red. Hopefully, he couldn’t see so clearly in this darkness.

“I wouldn’t lie and say that I fell in love with you at first sight, but I knew that I wanted you the first time that I saw you. Your face with the now falling down all around you was a very enchanting sight,” Ren continued since I was too shocked to reply.

“You seem to remember a lot for someone who was on the verge of freezing to death...” I muttered.

“Are you feeling shy, my princess?” Ren teased. freewebnøvel.coɱ

“No...of course not...” I mumbled.

“I fell in love with you when you supported me all the way back to your house and tended to my wound. I told you that I was completely broke, but you still helped me anyways. That was when I felt like I really fell in love with you,” Ren said as he ran his fingers through my long hair.

It felt so strange laying in his arms as he confessed his love to me. I was too happy that I couldn’t speak and all of it just seemed so unreal. Ren...he’s really in love with me...

“Yet you still raged a war on my town...” I said as my brows furrowed.

“Meeting you and learning about those secret passageways helped end the war quite swiftly. You may view it as a dirty and unfair trick and it probably was; however, you don’t know how many hundreds of men on both sides were able to return to their wives, children and family because of it,” Ren said as his eyes bore into mine.

I have never thought about it that way before. Was Ren really looking for the fastest way to win the war so that he could lessen the number of casualties? Even so, was lying to me the right way to go about it? Does the end always justify the means? Honestly, to this day, I still had no idea.

“What about you?” Ren asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.

“Huh? Me?” I asked, confused at what he meant.

“Yeah. When did you fall in love with me?” Ren asked as his face came close to mine. Too close.

“Umm...I...” I stuttered. freēwebnovel.com

“You’re in love with me too, right?” Ren asked, although, it wasn’t really a question.

“I guess...no...I am. I’m really in love with you, Ren,” I said hesitantly at first before I spoke with conviction and certainty.

Instead of running away and giving him a vague answer, I decided to be straight forward with him. I love him. I’ve loved him for a long time now, although unlike Ren, I wasn’t sure when I started having feelings for him.

“I’m not sure when I started feeling this way though...” I admitted honestly.

“Well, I’m more than satisfied that you’re in love with me...” Ren said tenderly before he placed a soft kiss on my foreheat.

“Thank you...for loving me, Ren...” I thanked him softly and shyly.

“I did tell you before, right? I’ll take care of you,” Ren said and to me it sounded like a promise.

That night we slept together in my house. It was the first night in a while that I slept without dreams. I never imagined that telling Ren that I love him would make me feel so relief and void of burden. It was nothing short of a miracle that he loved me back in return. Honestly, I didn’t expect for him to love me and I probably wouldn’t mind much if he didn’t. I was already too in love with Ren to imagine a life without him regardless of what he thought or how he felt towards me.

Sometimes, I would wonder what my life would be like now if I hadn’t met him on that fateful snowy day...

...

The light shining in through the crack in the window was what woke me up. I stirred in my sleep and heard Ren calling my name softly. Slowly, I opened my eyes and saw him next to me on the bed, fully dressed. His hand reached out towards my face before he caressed my cheek with the tip of his fingers.

“Good morning, Ren...” I said sleepily.

The sight of my bedroom felt comfortingly familiar, and I felt myself about to drift off to sleep again...

No! Wait!

I bolted up in bed with my eyes wide opened and a soft cry left my lips. We’re at my house which means that we slept here last night? What about the war?

“Ren! We have to get back to camp!” I cried out loudly as I turned to Ren in a panic.

Despite my worries, Ren just laughed at me. I couldn’t understand how he could be so carefree. Usually, Ren went to work very early, and I never caught him when I woke up in the morning.

“It’s ok. Shin is taking care of things. I told him already that we’ll get back a little later today,” Ren explained before he smiled at me.

“But I still need to work. Let’s head back...” I said as I grabbed my clothes and started dressing.

“If you say so. I’ll prepare the horse and wait for you in front of the house,” Ren replied.

I got dressed very quickly and checked in the mirror that I looked presentable. My hair was a mess. After combing it and styling it into a basic updo, I headed out of the house to meet up with Ren. He was waiting for me along with his horse in front of the house just as he had promised.

“Sorry...that took a while...” I apologized as I came to his side.

Ren was holding his horse’s reins, but he seemed to be thinking about something.

“Umm...Ren?” I called his name, trying to get his attention.

“You might not believe it but...when war broke out in your town, I came back for you,” Ren spoke up randomly.

Huh? There’s been too many sudden development and surprises lately that I was struggling to keep up. Just now, what did he just say?

--To be continued...