The interval between the incessant rain showers widened and finally stopped.

As cotton-white clouds pushed away the dark clouds, the midday sun broke through the white clouds. Sunlight poured through the raindrops clinging to the green leaves.

The day after returning from burying her mother in the seaside kingdom’s beach cemetery, Eva was doing dishes in the western tower garden where sunlight was pouring in. She wiped rainwater off the wooden bench with a dry cloth.

“Your Highness, please sit here.”

“Eva. Should we live like this?”

Eva wiped the iron railing around the garden with the cloth.

“Oh my, if you don’t wipe off the moisture properly, it’ll rust quickly.”

“Eva… I just want to die.”

Eva came in front of Patricia, who was sitting on the wooden bench, and knelt down. She held Patricia’s hands with her damp hands.

“Your Highness, the pouring rain has stopped, and white clouds have pushed away the dark clouds, and now the sunlight is shining like this.”

“……”

“Someday, a beautiful day will come that will illuminate Your Highness’s fate.”

“……”

“Yes, you must live.”

*

Patricia felt that the beautiful moment Eva spoke of, the one that would illuminate her fate, was now.

Looking into those green eyes that held all the warmth of the world and the brilliant sun, while hearing the sincere voice pledging love, she felt moved. She was glad to be alive.

“Yes, Your Majesty. I swear.”

“Call my name.”

“……Harchen.”

As Patricia’s lips pronounced his name, their lips, which had been so close they could almost touch, met. He held her head and pressed his lips against hers.

Without rushing, he slowly teased her lips as if toying with them. When Patricia’s lips slid inside, he groaned and delved deeper.

“Ah, ah. Patricia.”

Harchen separated his lips and examined her hair. His fingers tangled in her braided and styled hair, and pins pricked his fingers.

“Whew. See? Please remove the pins first.”

“Want to eat something while I remove the pins?”

He quickly scanned the table and gave her the chocolate cake she liked. He planned to remove the pins from her hair while Patricia ate the cake.

Five, seven, eleven, twenty-seven.

“How many did Bern say earlier?”

“Thirty-two, sir.”

Haa.

He couldn’t find all the pins by the time Patricia finished eating the chocolate cake and even the orange pudding.

Disheveled and puffed up from being loosened haphazardly all over, her golden hair made it harder to find the pins hidden within.

“Har… Use your fingertips well.”

Patricia said this and blushed. She was reminded of what Countess Schmidt had said.

‘He seriously listened to methods like using his hands.’

“Ah!”

A pin pricked his index finger, but thanks to that, he found one more pin. A drop of blood formed on his index finger.

“Are you alright?”

He looked at his index finger, smiled slyly, and put his index finger in her mouth.

“It stings.”

Patricia used to suck on the blood from scratches during sword practice.

So she unconsciously sucked on his index finger. When his fingertip touched her soft tongue, she looked up with her bright blue eyes at the unfamiliar sensation.

Patricia was also surprised by her own unconscious action of bringing his finger to her lips.

A shiver ran down her spine as she met his intense green eyes looking at her with furrowed brows.

“Ha. Patricia.”

You don’t know how provocatively you’re tempting me.

Harchen grabbed her waist and lifted her up.

“I didn’t think of that. Wetting your hair will make it easier to find them.”

Harchen unfastened the buckle and silver chain with diamonds at the back of her dress neck as he led her to the bathroom connected to the bedroom.

As they passed through the dressing room, he pulled down the shoulder straps, causing the dress to flow downwards.

Ah, I don’t like anything too explicit.

Patricia recalled what Madam Schmidt had said on the first day of her wedding night education. Don’t make a fuss when seeing the body of the person you’ll spend your life with as a married couple for the first time, don’t be flustered, and if possible, compliment your partner.

But this wasn’t a situation where they were facing each other and undressing, and the emperor hadn’t even undressed.

Although she was still wearing her slip.

This seemed more like a situation where a maid was attending to a bath, not a married couple.

He carefully lowered Patricia’s body into the bathtub, cradling her in his arms. The arms touching her waist and calves seemed as hot as steel, but when she came to her senses, she was in the bathtub. Fortunately, the tub was full of white foam.

Patricia instinctively lowered herself, burying herself in the foam. It felt like entering between white clouds.

The water temperature was just right, and the scent was subtle, not overpowering. As she cupped the foam in her hands, she noticed white flower petals scattered among the bubbles.

“Turn your head this way.”

Harchen rolled up his shirt sleeves, sat on the edge of the tub, and rested Patricia’s head on his thigh.

His large hand pulled her shoulder, and Patricia closed her eyes for now. She felt that closing her own eyes might lessen her embarrassment.

Harchen looked down at her with her eyes tightly shut and smirked.

“Open your eyes a bit, look at the ceiling.”

Patricia opened her eyes, looked at the ceiling, and exclaimed.

“Wow. It’s amazing.”

The entire bathroom ceiling was made of glass, allowing a full view of the night sky. Stars could be seen through the lightly scattered clouds.

“This is where I spent my teenage years. The late emperor had me grow up independently, separated from the crows, I mean, my three sisters.”

Patricia laughed at the thought that this large and perfect man had gone through childhood and adolescence.

“What was your teenage life like? I’m curious. It seems like you would have become an adult right away.”

“Are you showing interest? That makes me feel good.”

He spread her tangled, thick golden hair on his thigh.

“It was boring, as if I had the whole world. Others probably saw me as arrogant.”

Patricia smiled with her eyes. She could picture it vividly even without seeing it.

“Hehe, I can imagine. Getting angry at everything and speaking informally to everyone.”

“Well, I didn’t get angry at everything.”

Harchen cupped water with his large hand and wet her hair.

“…Ah! You’re getting your clothes wet.”

Patricia lifted her head from his thigh. He tapped her cheek lightly and then ran his right hand through her wet hair.

“Cooperate a bit, will you? I’m in a hurry too. I’ll take off my clothes.”

Patricia tensed, biting her lip, knowing the implied meaning of those words.

Harchen pricked his finger on the last pin. He placed four pins on the side table next to the bathtub, lifted her head, and stood up.

She was looking up at the night sky through the glass ceiling with her neck craned, but all her attention was focused on him standing behind her.

Whew, the emperor exhaled and entered the bathtub. She tensed up, thinking he would come right next to her, but he sat down at arm’s length. Patricia gathered foam in both hands and glanced sideways.

‘Eek. What should I do.’

She found herself staring, entranced, and when their eyes met, she looked up at the ceiling.

Being tall, his upper body was fully exposed above the white foam.

His wet white shirt clung to his angular shoulders and thick frame, emphasizing his masculinity.

“Aster. It means star in Latin.”

“Yes.”

Gulp. Patricia swallowed and looked up at the ceiling. Her neck was stiff, but she couldn’t lower her head. Even without turning her head, she felt her cheeks tingle as she became aware of his gaze on her.

“Patricia.”

Harchen called her name in a languid voice. She instinctively turned her head.

He was staring at her intensely, as if about to devour her, with an impatient expression. His dark green eyes had grown even darker.

“I wasn’t going to ask because it’s petty, but I think I need to clear up this doubt.”

“…Yes, please ask.”

She lowered her gaze noticeably unnaturally. Harchen gazed intently at her moist, dewy eyelashes.

“You danced quite a lot of waltzes with Patrick, didn’t you?”

As the foam surrounding her body dissipated, her smooth skin was revealed. It was dizzying.

“Yes, we danced a bit.”

“Haa, that bastard, did you dance with the platinum-haired knight too?”

“Do you mean Sir Eden?”

He reached out and grabbed her cheek, turning it.

“Answer, quickly.”

“I didn’t. Patrick was just learning… Ah, Your Majesty.”

He, who had been gazing at her with sensual eyes, grabbed her slippery waist and pulled her.

In an instant, Patricia was seated on his lap, and she instinctively placed her hands on his shoulders to balance herself. The parts of their bodies that touched felt as if they were on fire amidst the lukewarm water.

Harchen leaned forward to meet her eye level. She didn’t avoid it either. She tilted her head and looked into his green eyes, gleaming with possessiveness.

“From now on, only with me. Swordsmanship, waltzing, and this too.”

“This, you mean?”

Patricia slowly pressed her lips to his.

Whew, as if he had been waiting, he devoured her lips. Their breaths mingled and hot things entangled. She felt as if her body was floating in the air.

He lifted her up in his arms and stood up from the bathtub. He went straight to the dressing room. Water dripped onto the white carpet spread on the bathroom floor.

He grabbed a large towel from the console and wiped her body as he went to the bedroom. Patricia was laid down on the soft bed. Immediately, Harchen’s large and firm body covered her.

“…Your Majesty.”

“My name.”

“Harchen, please… go slowly.”

Only then did Harchen, releasing the force he had been pushing with, come to his senses and recall the wedding night education. Green-tinged eyes boiling with desire appeared before her eyes. He buried his face in her neck and inhaled.

“Patricia, I’m at my limit. Today, no, since the day you arrived from Tane, no, since the day you fled from Pana Castle, I thought I was going crazy.”

He kissed her while simultaneously tracing her collarbone, neckline, and waistline with his long fingers. He slowly stroked down her thin arms to her wrists, following the blue veins.

He traced each of her neat finger bones one by one. He grabbed her ankle, brushed his lips along the back bone, and his insistent hand loosely pressed down from her calf towards her thigh.

“Patricia… do you want this?”

Patricia felt her mind go blank and her breath catch.

“…I want it.”

At her answer, Harchen carefully cradled her delicate waist with both hands and lowered his face. As she twisted her waist at his gentle movement, he exhaled violently and delved in deeply.

Sensations of joy and climax combined seamlessly into one. They wanted each other. Harchen possessed Patricia, and Patricia possessed Harchen.