The Emperor entered through the terrace glass door, tucking Patricia’s sword under his arm.

Patricia was so surprised that she almost dropped the teacup she was holding. She had been trying to clear her mind, inwardly reproaching herself as the image of the Emperor vaguely came to mind while looking at the illustration of a man in the book.

While Countess Schmidt stood up from her chair to greet him formally, he approached the table with large strides and sat down.

“May I take a look?”

As soon as he set his eyes on the open book, Patricia put down her teacup and closed the book. She had hidden the illustration on the page, but couldn’t conceal her flushed cheeks.

“Your cheeks are red.”

He smiled brightly, dressed in a white uniform. A breeze filled with the scent of lilacs blew in from the garden.

“Why are you hiding it when it’s not even a picture of yourself?”

Patricia’s face grew even redder and heated up. All the blood rushed to her face in an instant, making her feel like her reddened blood vessels might burst.

“I thought you had left the palace.”

“Are you already keeping track of my schedule?”

“That’s not it.”

“Lady Schmidt. Give me ten minutes.”

“Your Majesty. Today’s education is over. Please talk comfortably. Then, Imperial Princess. We’ll see you tomorrow.”

The lady bowed her upper body and left. The Emperor placed Patricia’s sword, which he had been tucking under his arm, on the table.

“Is Riklisha engraved on the inside of the grip the name of the sword? Or the person who gifted it?”

“It’s the name of the sword.”

“Who gifted the sword?”

“Patrick.”

Patrick, how annoying.

Patricia found it awkward to meet the Emperor’s gaze and turned her head to look at the garden outside the terrace.

The Emperor reached out and turned Patricia’s chin with his bandaged left hand to meet her gaze.

A faint scent of mint emanated from his white gauze bandage.

His deep green eyes shot her a look like a hunter targeting prey. He had come using the sword as an excuse to confirm the thoughts that had been tormenting him all dawn today.

At dawn, the butler brought a transparent glass vase and placed the wilting, pitiful lilacs in it, saying,

“Your Majesty, ladies place meaning in flowers, their legends, and their language. Lilacs symbolize first love, the beginning of love, and love’s vow.”

What an exciting flower, quite fitting for me.

Harchen buried his nose in the lilacs, inhaling their scent until it wore off, when suddenly the thought that the Imperial Princess had accepted the royal marriage to use him to rescue Patrick from Tane began to torment him.

“Imperial Princess, did you accept the royal marriage for Patrick’s sake?”

The wind blew.

Unlike the humid wind of Tane, it was a fresh breeze. The scent of lilacs from the White Palace garden was carried by the wind and scattered. The lilac scent mixed with the scent of mint.

“Answer me.”

“…Yes.”

“…”

After a moment of silence, the Emperor gritted his teeth and said in a low voice.

“I expected it, but confirming it… I don’t like it.”

I got excited all by myself.

So it was a plan to use me to bring back Patrick, who had been exposed to the Empress’s poison.

Harchen’s mind went blank, but he continued in a cold tone.

“At 3 AM this morning, the Knight Commander Lean and the former Amir of the palace, an old Heun woman, left for Tane. Through the condor, we should be able to accurately assess Patrick’s condition in three or four days. After that, we’ll discuss it together.”

The ultimate goal must be to make Patrick the Emperor.

“Ah, Your Majesty. Thank you.”

Patricia had been secretly disappointed, thinking he had left the palace without considering her request. She bowed her upper body in greeting.

Alright, go ahead and use me as much as you want. You ungrateful… Patricia.

Patricia.

“Do you know the meaning of lilacs?”

“No, I don’t.”

Ha! This is ridiculous. But what did you say suited me?

“You must have been preoccupied with worrying about Patrick’s well-being. Now, put aside your concerns for Patrick and think deeply about this royal marriage.”

“I’ve been thinking about it on and off since coming from Tane. I intend to do my best in everything.”

For a moment, the corners of the Emperor’s mouth twisted up strangely as he smiled.

“That’s a good attitude.”

Yes, Your Majesty. I will do my best to make Patrick the Emperor. Even if it means starting a rebellion.

This body that stole nutrients that should have become Patrick’s bones and flesh in the womb, and whose existence was denied from the moment of birth. If I use this body for Patrick and then disappear or die, I will have no regrets.

If that is my fate, I have lived with the determination to accept a harsh destiny, and I accepted this royal marriage.

If the Emperor helped, Patricia was determined to repay him with all her heart and do her best in the royal marriage.

The Emperor stood up and slowly walked behind Patricia.

“Did Countess Schmidt tell you? That I also received first night education from Count Schmidt?”

“Yes, I heard.”

He leaned over, placing his hands on the backrest and armrest of the chair she was sitting in.

“You know, I learned for the first time that women’s ears are sensitive.”

He whispered into her ear. Feeling his hot breath and what seemed like his lips touching her ear, she moved her body to the side.

“Learn well.”

“Pardon? What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean. If you need a practice partner, I’ll be available anytime.”

“I’ll pass on the practice.”

Patricia’s face and neck turned as red as if they had been painted with red paint. Harchen wanted to push further, smirking.

“You said lilacs suit me, right? The meaning of lilacs… I can’t help but think you gave them to me knowing.”

“No, I really don’t know. Do you know, Your Majesty?”

“…”

I know, but I’ve come to know. I can’t bring myself to say it. He thought that perhaps he might not be Patricia’s first love.

“Look it up yourself.”

He stared at her silently, then abruptly turned and walked towards the corridor connected to the terrace with heavy steps.

Patricia couldn’t understand why he seemed angry when he turned away, after smiling just a moment ago.

Was it because her words of gratitude for Patrick were insufficient?

Patrick. With reliable imperial court physicians and a Heun Amir, they should be able to remove the poison with an antidote. She felt elated at the thought of being able to meet Patrick here soon.

She picked up the sword placed on the table and put it on her knees, holding the hilt with both hands.

It was a bastard sword that Patrick had personally requested to be made by the imperial royal blacksmith. At the end of the grip, under the bronze decoration, an engraving was carved.

Riklisha.

It was the name of the sword given by Patrick. The remaining part after removing “Pat,” the common part of Patrick and Patricia.

Empress Aldisha had told Patrick that a knight of his age had worn the Crown Prince’s armor.

Patrick, who abhorred war, especially the wars his father started, had never seen a departure ceremony, even from afar.

Patrick, who had been unaware of Patricia’s existence, was furious when he learned that she had played his role wearing the Crown Prince’s uniform and armor.

He was angry but couldn’t offer a solution. It was a time when he felt dizzy if exposed to sunlight for too long and was born with weak lungs, becoming short of breath with even slight physical exertion.

“I’m sorry. This is all I can do for you right now. This sword will protect you, Risha.”

Patrick’s thick eyelashes were wet with tears as he handed over the sword. He gritted his teeth, but a sob caught in his throat.

“My dear Patrick,

As the sky is the sky and clouds are clouds. Fish are fish, trees are trees. And we stayed together in our mother’s womb before being born. I as myself, and you as yourself.

By some invisible force of fate, not our own will.

If my coming here is an unavoidable fate, I will accept that too and live for our future.

Patrick. The summer breeze in Karsik is not sticky, but refreshing and neat. Come here.

Your Risha.”

Patricia rolled her lower lip with her finger and made a whistling sound.

Not long after, an eagle with a yellow beak descended fiercely through the air. It perched on Patricia’s elbow.

“Bri.”

She slipped her hand between the stiff wings and rubbed the firm, muscular body. She tied the letter to the eagle’s ankle. After giving a bird kiss to its yellow beak, she pushed its wings toward the sky.

“Bri, go to Patrick.”

Eva was greatly moved by the news that the Emperor had sent a court physician and an old Heun woman to Tane. Still, she said she would try to get an antidote from an apothecary in Oro Alley as planned.

Patricia asked the head maid if Eva could use a carriage for her outing, or if they could call a commercial carriage for her.

Anna said there were several carriages assigned to the Empress’s palace that could be called for the maids and other staff to use for outings.

Things were going smoothly. Eva boarded the carriage with Annie to go to the market, women’s specialty store, stationery store, and Oro Alley.

Patricia toured various parts of White Palace under Anna’s guidance. Knight Bern followed a step behind on her left like a shadow.

They left the first floor private space corridor and crossed the central hall to view the audience chamber, study cum office, library, refreshment room, and art room displaying paintings of the daily lives of past empresses.

Returning to the central hall, they went to the small banquet hall at the back.

The banquet hall, mainly used for hosting dance parties for noble young ladies, had a large central hall with side tables. It couldn’t really be called small. Patricia estimated the size of the spacious hall with her eyes.

If it rains, I could practice sword here.

“This banquet hall connects directly to the garden, this way.”

Anna went to the back of the banquet hall and opened a door. After passing through some shrubs and grass, they came to a garden with lilac trees.

“Anna, was there originally a bench over there?”

Patricia looked up at the Emperor’s office, trying to gauge the distance, wondering if it was the same lilac tree from last night.

“You have a good eye. The Emperor ordered it made this dawn, and a carpenter set it up.”

Patricia felt a lump in her throat from emotion. She was grateful that the Emperor had listened seriously to Patrick’s situation and said he would look into it.

It was like being handed a solid ladder when she was desperately grasping at straws. She wanted to give something in return, and when she picked and offered the lilac flower in front of her, it suited the handsome man well.

But what was the meaning of lilacs? Was it something bad? He seemed angry earlier. She thought she should look it up when she had time.

Could it be that the Emperor had ordered the bench made at dawn because of that? No, probably not. But it seemed like it might be true.

Ah, this keeps making me misunderstand, and even have illusions.

“Please have a seat, Imperial Princess.”

“Should I?”

She sat on the wooden bench. The scent of lilacs settled all around her.

Patricia thought that as Empress, she would only need to maintain decorum and dignity, participate in major events at minimum, and live quietly and peacefully in the White Palace.

As far as Patricia could remember, her father, Emperor Kazan, had never visited the separate palace where her mother stayed.

Was it because of Empress Pamila? Before the Empress came, they must have lived like any other couple. That’s how Patrick and I came to exist.

The marriage to the Emperor and Countess’s first night education made married life feel real.

Even dinner with the Empress Dowager and the Imperial Princesses was daunting.

Patricia had been strictly taught table manners by her mother, but it was always in preparation for attending banquets in place of Patrick, not as herself.

Of course, she had never actually attended a banquet in Patrick’s place.

“Anna, could you tell me the Imperial Princesses’ names again?”

Anna explained the names of the three Imperial Princesses and added some brief information.

Imperial Princess Isabella was twenty-six years old and had married the second prince of the Rubelin Kingdom a year ago. She had come to visit her family and decided to stay until after the royal wedding upon hearing the news.

“How old is His Majesty?”

“Pardon? Imperial Princess, you didn’t know?”

Patricia realized she knew very little about the Emperor.

“His Majesty is twenty-seven years old.”

He was two years older than her. She leaned back on the bench, closed her eyes, and tilted her head up.

A twenty-seven-year-old Emperor. A beautiful and perfect handsome man, an admirable, ever-burning sun of the empire. In twenty-one days, she would marry him.

Patricia had thought the Emperor would be arrogant and self-righteous.

She was deeply moved by the fact that he had dispatched the imperial court physician and the old Heun woman to Tane for Patrick’s sake at night, and that he had ordered a bench to be made under the lilac tree.

If the Emperor helped bring Patrick here and lent his strength to make him the Emperor of Tane, he would be Patricia’s benefactor and noble person.

The scent of lilacs fell drop by drop onto her golden hair and pink cheeks.