Your Majesty, I’m Not that Man - Chapter 13: First Date (6)

Levinia, having boarded the carriage with Cassion, headed to her favorite restaurant. The moment the imperial carriage arrived, the manager, who had already been on edge, looked like he might faint when the door opened and revealed the Emperor himself.

“I-I greet the Sun of Adalaxus! Welcome, welcome, Your Majesty, Duchess Wendell… It is a great honor!”

His mustache quivered as he spoke. Cassion glanced at him with cool indifference while Levinia, stepping down from the carriage still holding Cassion’s hand, spoke in a gentle voice.

“I’d prefer a private room. I don’t want to draw attention.”

“Of… of course, Duchess!”

The manager bowed repeatedly and hurried ahead. Like most establishments catering to the upper nobility, this restaurant kept one or two top-tier rooms available at all times for unexpected visits. Today, the two best rooms happened to be vacant—so all that remained was to deliver on the food.

“It has to be perfect!”

Serving the Emperor himself—if he so much as uttered a word of praise, the restaurant’s value would skyrocket overnight. With eyes burning with ambition at the thought of starting a new trend among the nobility, the manager scurried ahead. Levinia, watching, chuckled inwardly.

Thanks to the original novel, she had a rough idea of Cassion’s food preferences. He wasn’t someone with particular tastes. As a child, he’d been neglected by the previous Emperor and often went without proper meals. Later, during his years in slavery, he was humiliated every time he ate.

So, he didn’t have strong likes or dislikes—unless the food was extremely burnt or salty.

However, he did dislike onions sautéed in beef fat. Because the previous Emperor, Kylon, loved them, and Cassion had often been forced to serve him as he ate them.

As Levinia took her seat and the manager approached, she quietly instructed him to avoid that ingredient. This was her regular spot, and both the manager and owner were decent enough that she hoped they wouldn’t have to suffer any consequences.

Cassion blinked in surprise—he hadn’t expected her to know.

Even the Imperial chefs were aware of this detail, but it wasn’t something people outside the palace typically knew.

“How did you know that?”

“Well, sometimes when we eat together, you won’t touch onions, and other times you’ll eat them just fine. So I paid attention to the difference.”

The Imperial chefs never used beef fat for his meals, but Levinia’s dishes occasionally included it. And since they sometimes shared food, this made for a convenient excuse. After all, she couldn’t exactly explain it was because of her past-life memories or knowledge of the novel.

Cassion looked pleased. The fact that Levinia had noticed something so subtle—and remembered it—touched him.

Levinia had never gone out of her way to win his favor, so it meant even more. It was a clear sign she cared.

“What’s this place known for?” he asked—not to the manager, but to Levinia.

She recommended the thin-sliced veal, crab bisque, and scallop steak. Following her lead, the dishes were served one by one. The food, perhaps because the staff had pulled out all the stops after hearing the Emperor was present, was even better than usual.

By the time dessert was being brought in, Cassion was staring at Levinia so intently it felt like he might burn a hole through her. Levinia, familiar with this by now, realized what it meant.

Cassion wanted something.

“Seriously?! First food, now lust?!”

Well, if she was being honest, Cassion leaned more toward lust than appetite in general. She didn’t know what had set him off, but it was clear as day—he wanted to hold her right now.

“Y-Your Majesty, even though this is a private room, people still come and go!”

“So?”

His tone was casual, but the heat in his eyes was anything but. Levinia swallowed hard, remembering past incidents.

“This isn’t the palace!”

Cassion calmly loosened his tie with a lazy smile.

“Does the location really matter? Wherever the Emperor stays is considered part of the palace. I’ll post my knights outside the door so no one comes in.”

As he looked about ready to rise from his seat and come over to her, Levinia panicked. If he touched her here, she’d never be able to show her face in this restaurant again.

“T-Then in the carriage! Let’s just do it in the carriage!”

At least the imperial carriage had soundproofing spells. Most carriages for high-ranking nobles had them, but the Imperial ones were exceptionally good.

“…You’d rather it be in the carriage? Well, if that’s your preference.”

No, it definitely wasn’t!

Still, Levinia felt a flicker of relief. At least the immediate crisis had been averted. She shot Cassion a death glare, but he only smiled back at her with lazy satisfaction.

‘I should’ve known better than to let my guard down just because he was being sweet!’

She mentally knocked several points off Cassion’s score.

＊ ＊ ＊

As Levinia delicately shaved off bits of her cake with her fork, Cassion looked at her with an exasperated expression. Levinia, pretending not to notice, casually licked the cream off her fork. That was all she did—yet Cassion tensed up and let out a low, frustrated groan.

“Duchess, are you really going to do this?”

“Do what?”

Levinia was stalling for time, claiming she was too full and eating her dessert slowly—so slowly, in fact, that Cassion had initially let it slide, thinking it was just one plate of cake. How long could it possibly take?

But now she was picking at it—just a bit of sauce here, a dab of cream there, a crumb or two at a time—and his patience was wearing thin.

And damn it, why did licking a fork look so seductive?

Levinia probably wasn’t doing it on purpose, but Cassion was nearly seething.

“If you don’t like the dessert, you can stop eating.”

“I do like it. I’m just full.”

“If you’re full, you don’t have to force yourself.”

“It’s not like I’ll get to come back here anytime soon.”

This kind of outing was rare. Even if Levinia became Empress, trips outside the palace would likely be few and far between.

Cassion frowned and replied, a little sulkily.

“Then I’ll just bring the chef to the palace. That work for you?”

“There’s no need to—okay, okay!”

What would happen to the restaurant if the chef got scooped up by the palace? Levinia finally set her fork down. Cassion’s face instantly brightened. Levinia shot him a side-glance, her cheeks tinged pink.

She couldn’t exactly say it out loud with attendants and maids nearby, but seriously—after seeing each other almost every night, how could he still be this eager?

Cassion stood and quickly came to her side, positioning himself just close enough to touch her—his hands twitching like he wanted to pull her into an embrace. Instead, Levinia stood and wiped her lips with a napkin. She didn’t step into his arms, but she did take his hand, and he looked just a little disappointed.

As they exited the room, they saw the restaurant manager waiting nervously outside. Levinia felt deeply relieved they hadn’t done anything inside.

“How was your meal, Your Majesty?”

“Excellent,” Cassion said, glancing at Levinia as if urging her to hurry up. She added her own compliment and then they departed. The bill had already been settled by one of the palace attendants.

The imperial carriage was waiting outside. A few steps ahead, an attendant opened the door and stood by. Cassion helped Levinia into the carriage by her hand and told her maid that she didn’t need to follow.

Philia glanced at Levinia for confirmation, then turned and headed to one of the other imperial carriages.

Once Cassion climbed in after her, the attendant shut the door. Raphael and the escort knights mounted their horses and readied for departure.

Sitting beside Levinia, Cassion lifted her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it, whispering:

“So, where to next?”

“I was thinking… the magical device shop…”

She looked at him warily as she said it. Cassion smirked at her expression.

“Don’t worry. I’m not planning to ruin your outing. Just a little touching.”

“Y-Your Majesty, your ‘little’ is never a little!”

Levinia’s face turned into a pout. Cassion chuckled at her reaction and slid open the window to the driver’s seat.

“To the magical device shop. ‘White Radiance’ should do, right?”

White Radiance was the largest magic store in all of Adalaxus. Naturally, it sold magical tools as well.

“Yes.”

When Levinia nodded, Cassion shut the small window that connected to the coachman’s seat. Though the carriage hardly jostled, it was clear it had started to move.

“…It’ll take about twenty minutes to get from the restaurant to White Radiance, right?”

As Cassion gauged the distance and timing, Levinia stared at him, tense. She didn’t dislike being with him—if anything, she liked it a lot. But here, in the carriage?

Even if I try to say no… the moment he touches me, it feels too good…

Just kissing him was enough to make her melt. And lately, their nights together had been so intense that it was Levinia who struggled to keep up.

No, no! Not in the carriage!

“You really are something else,” Cassion muttered, gripping her chin and turning her to face him.

“Huh?” she blinked, startled.

“Most people don’t even dare think of anything else in front of me, the Emperor… So what do I have to do to get you to actually look at me, hmm?”

His voice low, Cassion leaned in. His lips pressed against hers, hot and demanding. The kiss deepened quickly, his tongue parting her lips and exploring as if desperate for her.

“Mmph… Mmm… Your Majesty…”

“I should’ve eaten the cake you left behind… Your lips taste better than anything. They could melt me.”

He murmured the words in a daze, pulling her into him. Half-risen from his seat, he leaned over Levinia, pressing her against the backrest as their lips met again—more urgently this time.

“Mmm… why do you taste so sweet? Open up more, Levinia. I’m dying to have all of you…”

His mouth covered hers again, greedy and relentless. He kissed her until they were both gasping, his desire clearly pulsing between them. Levinia, pinned under his weight, couldn’t move—but she liked how openly he showed his passion.

“How can you… make me this crazy? You always drive me mad.”

As his hands slid up her dress, Levinia suddenly came to her senses. She’d nearly given in again.

“Y-Your Majesty!”

Cassion, for all his teasing, always stopped when she truly said no. Levinia knew that—and it gave her the courage to push back.

His blue eyes still burning, he looked down at her with amusement, one hand resting just under her lifted skirt.

“Weren’t you the one who said it was okay in the carriage?”

“Wh-when we’re back in the palace… I’ll do anything you want!”

“And how am I supposed to wait until then? Do you want to see me waste away from longing?”

“You say that after what you did all last night?!”

Flushed with embarrassment, Levinia cried out, and Cassion pouted like a scolded child.

“That’s nothing. You have no idea how much I’m holding back… because your stamina doesn’t even come close.”