NOVPUB
Chapter 223: I Will Look Forward to It
Time went by quickly and without realizing it, it was already 05:00 am. At this moment, Queen Althea was still sleeping in Ren’s arms.
Even though she had once slipped from his embrace and slept on his right side, she had returned to his arms again.
"Of course, the duo had no idea what was happening since they moved around while half-asleep.
"Mmm..." Althea finally woke up.
’It’s been a long time since I slept this soundly. It feels like today is going to be a good da-’
Her eyes widened in shock when she realized she was in Ren’s arms.
’What’s going on? Why is he in my tent?’
She shifted her gaze to check her surroundings.
’No! This is not my tent. Did I come to his tent last night?’
Even though she was panicking, she tried her best to stay calm.
’Luckily, he is still sleeping. I will use this opportunity to return to my tent.’
When she was about to stand up, Ren unconsciously tightened his embrace, making it impossible for her to slip away.
’He is hugging me firmly. It’s difficult to slip away from his embrace.’
She didn’t use force because she didn’t want him to wake up.
As she tried to slip away from his embrace, Ren opened his eyes, causing her to freeze.
’Hmm?’
He didn’t say a single word and only stared at her in disbelief because he found it hard to believe what he was seeing.
’Am I still dreaming right now?’
He closed his eyes and reopened it.
’It’s still the same.’
He still saw Queen Althea in his arms, so he skimmed his surroundings.
’This is my tent, so why is she in my arms? Did she come to my tent when I was sleeping?’
Countless questions popped up in his mind.
"Ren, can you remove your hands from my waist?" there was no sign of shyness in her face or voice as if nothing happened to them.
Ren stopped hugging her when he came to his senses. "Queen Althea, why are you in my tent? And how did we end up sleeping together like this?"
"I think I mistook your tent for mine last night." She didn’t tell him she left her tent to pee because it was too embarrassing.
"I see." He tried his best to act normally because Althea didn’t make a fuss about it.
"I will return to my tent now." Her daughter and General Lara were still sleeping, so it was a good opportunity to return to her tent.
"Alright." He didn’t stop her because it would make the situation awkward if her daughter and General Lara found out about their incident.
As Althea left, Ren got out of his tent.
He was no longer feeling sleepy, so he decided to sit by the bonfire.
’Luckily, Queen Althea could control her emotions or else we would have been caught by everyone.’
If she had panicked and screamed, everyone would have known what had happened in his tent because the distance between their tents was close.
*Growl...
The sound of his stomach growling echoed in his ears.
’I’m hungry.’
He retrieved four sweet potatoes from his space ring and tossed them into the bonfire, letting the flames slowly roast them.
As he waited for the sweet potatoes to roast over the fire, he took the time to check his system.
He let out a deep sigh when he saw his Warrior class EXP and Mage class EXP because he still needed a lot more to break through to the next rank.
’I will absorb a beast core while waiting for the sweet potatoes to roast.’
When he was about to take out a beast core, a voice suddenly rang out.
"You are already awake?" Zaria approached him slowly.
Ren turned to her and smiled softly. "I just woke up.’
’Wait. She didn’t see her mother leaving my tent, right?’
He paid attention to her to find the answer.
’It seems like she doesn’t know about it.’
He came to this conclusion because she still behaved normally.
Zaria sat next to him and spoke, "Ah! You are roasting sweet potatoes?"
"I’m hungry and I can’t find food in this time." It was still 05:15 am, so he decided to roast sweet potatoes. "Let’s eat them together once they are roasted."
"Un." She nodded.
As the duo chatted happily, Althea’s voice rang from behind them.
"You two are already awake?" Althea smiled as she approached them.
Actually, she tried to sleep again, but the memories of what had happened in his tent kept appearing in her mind, so she decided to join them.
"Yes." Zaria responded,
Ren didn’t say anything, but he smiled softly at her.
He also acted normally, as if nothing had happened in his tent.
Shortly after that, General Lara woke up.
The group of four ate the sweet potatoes once they were roasted. Even though they were royalty, Queen Althea and Princess Zaria were willing to eat them.
They were not picky because, from their point of view, food was food.
At 07:00 am, they continued their journey.
They stopped and set tents when the sun was setting.
Like yesterday, each one of them set up their tents.
They went to sleep when they were sleepy.
----
Next morning.
"Mmm..." Althea sat up after opening her eyes.
’I don’t feel as refreshed as I did yesterday.’
She had only felt truly refreshed once since she rose to the throne, and that time was when she slept in Ren’s arms yesterday.
She had slept longer than the night before, yet she still didn’t feel the previous sense of refreshment upon waking.
It was as if Ren was her source of comfort and peace.
’As I thought, it was because of him.’
She rose to her feet and got out of her tent.
’He is already awake?’
She approached Ren when she saw him sitting by the bonfire.
"Do you always wake up early every day?" she sat beside him as she threw a question at him.
"Not every day. Just sometimes." He often woke up early when he slept alone because he could only feel truly comfortable when he was with his women. "Did you sleep well, Queen Althea?"
"I didn’t sleep as well as I did yesterday." Althea said with a teasing smile.
Ren didn’t know that she was telling the truth.
He thought she was only teasing him because she wore a playful smile while answering.
"Then, you should sleep in my tent again tonight." She was teasing him, so he decided to tease her back.
"Should I?" Althea replied with a mischievous grin.
When Ren was about to say something, General Lara approached them.
"Good morning, Your Majesty, Ren." General Lara greeted them.
"Morning."
"Good morning, General Lara."
Ren and Althea responded in unison.
Shortly after the trio talked, Zaria woke up.
The group of four continued their journey after breakfast and stopped when the sun began to set.
The distance between the border and the palace was so far, so even riding a fast bird, they needed a week to reach their destination, so they traveled at a steady pace without overexerting themselves.
"Your cooking is so delicious, Ren!" Althea praised him. "If you were not a genius awakener, I would have hired you as my personal chef."
Zaria and General Lara nodded, giving a sign that they agreed with her words.
"Thank you for the compliment." Ren didn’t expect her to praise his cooking again.
"Since you’ve cooked for us the last two days, I will be the one cooking tomorrow," Althea felt it would be unfair to him if he had to cook for them every day, so she offered to take over.
"You are taking over tomorrow? Queen Althea, can you even cook?" Ren quickly corrected himself when he realized how rude he sounded. "Sorry, I mean, you are a queen, so..."
He struggled to find the right words and ended up trailing off awkwardly.
"Who said a queen can’t cook?" of course, Althea was not offended by his words because his perception was perfectly normal.
After all, a queen was served by countless servants, so she would normally not have to do household chores, especially if she came from a wealthy or royal family.
"Then, I will be looking forward to it." He suddenly could not wait for tomorrow to come because he had never tasted food cooked by a queen before.
"I will make sure you won’t forget my cooking," Althea said with a smile.
After dinner, they didn’t head to their tents.
They talked until 10:00 pm before finally going to their tents to sleep.
----
"I can’t sleep," Althea had tried to sleep but failed.
’Should I go to his tent and sleep with him again?’
A crazy idea suddenly popped up in her mind.
Of course, she knew he was only teasing her when he offered for her to sleep with him, but the feeling of being refreshed after waking up was so comforting and invigorating.
She wanted to feel it again because it could lift her mood for a whole day.
’I will go to his tent.’
After making up her mind, she carefully stepped out of her tent, scanning her surroundings as she made her way to Ren’s tent.
’Great!’
She was thrilled when her daughter and General Lara had fallen asleep because she could head to his tent without being noticed by them.
’Safe.’
She glanced left and right before slowly and carefully opening Ren’s tent.
But unlike yesterday, Ren was still awake this time, so he knew when she started to open his tent.
"Queen Althea, why are you here?" He inquired.
