He bent his upper body to match Patricia’s eye level. When his deep green eyes approached right in front of her, the startled Patricia turned her head away.

He smiled and tilted his head a little more.

“For someone who defied the emperor’s orders and fell asleep claiming to be tired, you seem to have a lot of energy?”

Noticing that he suddenly spoke to her in a respectful manner mixed with sarcasm, Patricia realized that she felt even more twisted inside than when he spoke casually to her.

“I apologize, Your Majesty. I fell asleep but woke up. What brings you here… I thought the White Palace was a space only for the empress.”

“My order?”

“Ah… that.”

“You can follow it now. Let’s go to the office.”

“No, that’s a bit difficult.”

“Why?”

“It’s too late at night and my attire is not suitable for going to Your Majesty’s space…”

Attire? Harchen placed both hands on his sword and bent his long waist to the side.

She was wearing a loose-fitting white ramie nightgown that didn’t reveal any bare skin or cling to her body to the point of revealing her figure. The ribbon knot was neatly tied up to below her neck.

“Well, it actually looks neater than the dress you wore during the day?”

“That’s because Your Majesty’s gaze is distorted. The dress I wore during the day was clearly for going out, and right now I’m in my nightwear.”

My gaze is distorted? Not just my gaze. These days, he couldn’t control his emotions as he wished either.

He got irritated by trivial things and felt annoyed. He knew the cause of his emotions swinging to extremes was because of her, but he didn’t want to admit it.

Harchen lowered his gaze absently and covered his mouth.

The thin dress hem, through which the outline of her body could be seen in the moonlight, was crumpled. Her bare feet in maid’s sandals were white. She looked disheveled. He frowned and stared, his soul captivated.

His blood vessels moved quickly and his heartbeat pounded against his chest.

“Well, either change into neat clothes and come, or wait.”

Harchen straightened his upper body and pulled out his sword from its sheath. He drew a circle in the air with his sword and spun around once.

He had resolved not to look in Patricia’s direction, but as if bound and pulled by an invisible chain, his body automatically swiveled towards her.

Patricia, who had been silently absorbed in some thought, spoke with shining eyes.

“Your Majesty, I have a request.”

“You’re not in a position to do that.”

Harchen made an astounded expression, but seeing her earnest eyes and expression under the moonlight, he felt a tickling sensation somewhere.

“Would you like to have a sword duel with me?”

Harchen, who was slashing the air with his sword, looked down at her as if she was ridiculous.

“You’re quite fearless.”

“The winner gets their request granted, how about it?”

The imperial princess took a step closer to Harchen, truly fearless. Harchen took a step back from the scent of her body that suddenly hit him.

“A request. You mean letting Tane’s maids stay in the palace?”

“Eva and Annie? Do I need Your Majesty’s permission for that? They’re like family to me.”

“What do you want to request then?”

“I’ll tell you that once the match is decided.”

“You’re saying you’ll make a request after the match is over?”

“Yes, I intend to win.”

Hah. Look at this. Intend to win? Do you know what I’ll demand if I win?

Harchen tucked his sword under his armpit and touched his own pointed chin with his fingertips. Then he slowly lifted the corners of his mouth and grinned.

“Alright. Let’s set the rules.”

He threw the sword sheath on the dirt floor, raised his right hand, and put it in the pocket of his black uniform pants.

“I’ll only use my left hand. The moment my clothing is cut or my right hand comes out of the pocket, it’s a foul and considered a loss. Princess?”

“Yes, I will do my best.”

Patricia gripped the sword with both hands, her eyes shining.

Cute. She doesn’t even consider the possibility of losing.

“If my sword cuts the hem of the princess’s nightgown, I win.”

“Yes, I’ll avoid it well.”

Ten minutes. I’ll cut the hem of the princess’s nightgown before then. What should I demand, huh.

“The summer night is nice! Come at me, princess.”

“Wait a moment.”

Patricia untied her hair tie. Her abundant golden hair flowed down in waves, and a faint scent of lavender spread.

She tightly tied the tie around her waist. The fluttering nightgown hem was firmly fixed.

In an instant, Harchen recalled how the gauntlet’s movements had distracted his gaze in Tamil Valley. Thanks to that, a wound was left on his neck.

At that time, he had thought it was Patrick. Knowing Patrick’s swordsmanship skills, he was startled by the flashy sword swings. Now that he looked closely, her body was much smaller and thinner than Patrick’s.

“Your Majesty, let’s begin.”

Patricia immediately charged forward, raising her sword diagonally with vigor.

Harchen laughed and parried her sword effortlessly with his left hand, keeping his right hand in his pants pocket. One side was attacking with all their might, the other was at ease, and between them…

The clever moonlight flowed.

Patricia’s breath touched Harchen’s statue-like face, nose, and lips. The scent of poisonous panian he exhaled intertwined with Patricia’s breath.

Clang clang clang.

Patricia swung her sword flashily. Her desperation to win outweighed her urgency, causing her to move her body excessively.

Time passed effortlessly. The clouds drifted away, leaving the night sky empty.

Patricia’s gaps were exposed, and her agile movements slowed down.

On the other hand, Harchen, with his right hand in his pants pocket, moved his solid upper body minimally and leisurely tapped away her sword with his left hand holding his own sword.

As the moonlight accumulated on her body, Patricia’s breathing became disordered and the hand holding the sword trembled.

Like a predator annoyed by the attack of prey, Harchen, who had been passively defending, kicked the dirt with his right foot. He moved his feet quickly and nimbly, pressing on fiercely.

Clang clang clang clang.

In an instant, Patricia was pushed back.

There’s no way I can beat him. But I have to win.

The moment my right hand comes out of the pocket, it’s a foul and considered a loss.

Right, I’ll lure his right hand out.

Patricia gritted her teeth and pushed her body towards the emperor’s sword. She relaxed her body, lost balance, and fell.

Even if I have to use a trick, I must win.

Harchen quickly lowered his sword and caught her slender waist.

For a moment, their movements stopped as if frozen. Their gazes intertwined.

Her bright blue eyes under the flowing moonlight widened, then narrowed as she laughed.

“Your Majesty’s right hand supported my waist. You removed your right hand, so is it a foul?”

“Sorry, princess.”

“Yes?”

“Before that, your nightgown…”

Patricia straightened her waist, which was supported by the emperor’s right hand, and lifted her nightgown hem to examine it. The bottom of the dress was torn.

Harchen picked up the fallen sheath on the ground, sheathed his sword, and smiled brightly. Then he looked down at the princess holding and examining her dress hem.

“I won. Shall we have a glass of panian?”

Patricia’s shoulders, who was sitting crouched and turned away, trembled.

“Princess?”

Harchen bent one knee on the ground, grabbed her shoulders, and turned her around. The tears that flowed down Patricia’s cheeks in the moonlight sparkled.

It felt like slowly driving a rusty nail into Harchen’s heart.

“Prin…cess, is this something to cry about?”

Without answering, Patricia pressed her hand on the ground and grabbed the fallen sheath. She sheathed the sword while sitting crouched. She didn’t think of getting up while sitting hunched over.

Patricia.

“What’s the matter?”

“…”

“What request were you going to make if you won the bet?”

“…”

Harchen felt a surge of irritation. This princess was too self-centered. She didn’t pay much attention to him, the emperor, and was indifferent.

“This is no fun.”

Harchen swiftly turned his body.

He walked away with large strides. It was the first time in his life that he felt so conscious of his back.

The tense strands of his nerves, no, it felt like the princess’s golden hair was grabbing his ankles as she sat crouched.

He passed two or three lilac trees that were starting to bloom small purple flowers and stood in front of the outdoor stairs leading to the terrace.

He grabbed the railing and looked back. She was still sitting hunched over, looking down at the ground.

He went up the stairs and entered the office. He put his sword on the desk, picked up a pewter cup, and drank. He put down the cup and tilted his head.

Clearly, the princess had charged at him, trying to stab his waist with her sword.

What if he hadn’t removed his right hand to support her? Was it reckless? No, she predicted that I would remove my hand. Hah, is she calculating? Confident? Was she thinking of toying with me?

Whatever it was, it annoyed and angered him.

Could it be that she didn’t want to have a political marriage?

Bang, bang, crash, crash.

Harchen slammed the desk with his clenched left fist. The corner of the heavy mahogany solid wood desk shattered, and wood splinters pierced his hand.

Why is she crying like that, making me concerned?

She cried in Pana Castle too. And she disappeared the next day.

Hah, that crazy b*tch. I should have asked what the request was.

He felt dizzy.

He quickly went from the office to the reception room. He went straight out to the terrace and stopped halfway down the outdoor stairs.

“Oh my.”

Patricia, holding a sword, was climbing the stairs while holding the railing and looking up.

“…You came?”

Harchen guided her through the reception room to the office.

Looking around the office, Patricia was inwardly surprised. It was a large and spacious room that seemed to be three times the size of the Tane emperor’s office. The round table placed in the center was large enough to waltz on top of it.

On the table, documents of varying heights were neatly stacked. Single-person chairs were lined up against the wall.

Patricia stared blankly at the shattered corner of the wooden desk on the window side as the emperor was about to sit on the sofa he was granted.

“Tea? Or panian? If you’re going to have tea, I need to call the chief attendant. Princess, is that okay?”

“I’ll have panian.”

Harchen poured panian from the console table into a pewter cup and gave it to her.

He placed a medicine box on the table, opened the lid, and took out tweezers. He removed the wood splinters embedded in his left hand, poured disinfectant, wrapped it with a cotton gauze, and sat in front of Patricia.

“Could you tie this for me?”

Patricia silently looked at his hand and brought the medicine box placed on the console table.

“Are you hurt?”

She took his hand and unwrapped the gauze.

“A little.”

She lowered her head to examine his palm and pulled out a few more wood splinters with tweezers.

“You just need to tie it for me.”

She ran her index and middle fingertips over his palm to check if any splinters remained. After confirming there was nothing bothering, she wrapped the gauze again.

Harchen felt ticklish somewhere just by her holding his left hand, and when she rubbed it with her fingers, his blood rushed with a strange feeling.

“But how did you…”

“I tried to seduce someone, but they didn’t fall for it, so I got angry?”

After tying the knot on the gauze, Patricia let go of the emperor’s hand, held the pewter cup with both hands, and took a sip.

“But now that someone has come like this, should I try seducing them again?”

“Your Majesty, the reason I came…”

“You lost the sword duel.”

“That too, but… Your Majesty, would you like to make another bet?”

“A bet?”

“How about chess?”

“I don’t want to.”

“How about archery?”

“I don’t like that either.”

“You’re left-handed, right?”

“How do you know?”

“I saw the desk. People usually slam it with their right hand.”

“You have keen observation and deduction skills. But why do you lack tact?”

“Your Majesty, then you should have put your left hand in your pocket. Let’s do it again. This time with your right hand.”

“Judging by how you’re changing the subject, you know who that tactless someone is… Do you dislike me?”

“Let’s have another sword duel.”

“So if I win, will you grant my request?”