Patricia’s face, which barely remembered blushing at Patricia’s words, turned as red as a scarlet pumpkin.

“How do you feel?”

“I’m fine.”

“Was His Majesty gentle?”

“Very much so.”

“Um, well…”

“It was good, don’t worry.”

“I see.”

While drying her hair in the dressing room after bathing, the bedroom door opened and Harchen entered the dressing room.

Harchen had entered the dressing room thinking Patricia would be alone, seeing Anna setting the breakfast on the hall table.

Having ridden his horse at full speed, sweat beaded on his forehead and his bangs were damp. At that sight, Patricia’s heart fluttered and raced.

“Your Majesty?”

“Ah. I came to wash up.”

Harchen was about to enter the bathroom but came back out.

“The assassin was a Heungjok old woman.”

“Father, I mean, Your Majesty, are you alright?”

“No injuries, just a bit startled but calming down.”

While unbuttoning his shirt, Harchen looked at Patricia and glanced at Eva with his eyes.

It meant to send Eva out.

Eva seemed to have no intention of yielding to the emperor, gently wiping Patricia’s thick hair with a soft cloth and brushing it.

“I have something to talk about too. Hmm, stay by my side while I wash in the bathroom.”

“Yes.”

As Patricia was about to jump up from her chair, Eva grabbed her arm.

“Your Majesty, breakfast will be soon, so you should hurry.”

Harchen wanted to embrace Patricia right away as she looked up at him with a moist face in a white shower gown.

However, since the maid was tightly gripping Patricia’s arm and didn’t seem likely to let go, he just entered the bathroom. He thought it would be better to wash quickly and come out.

When Harchen entered the bathroom, Eva said,

“Don’t do everything His Majesty says. Make him a little impatient.”

“Why should I do that? I like it too.”

“Oh my. You’re too honest. It’s too much… So, about that…”

Patricia couldn’t hear Eva’s nagging at all and was on edge from the sound of water flowing in the bathroom.

Eva sat down in front of Patricia and held both her wrists. It was Eva’s last time alone with Patricia.

“I’m returning to Tane tomorrow. Now, I’m no longer the shadow princess of Tane West Tower.”

“Ah!”

Eva let go of Patricia’s wrists. Taking a step back, she held the hem of her skirt with both hands, bowed her upper body and head, and said in a concise manner,

“Your Majesty the Empress! Become an empress respected and loved by all the people of the Karsik Empire.”

“Eva, I will.”

Eva was relieved to see Patricia’s expression shining transparently with resolute will and determination. Eva chose and dressed her in a dress that covered the marks on her chest and neck as much as possible.

Soon after, the sound of water in the bathroom stopped abruptly.

Then the door opened and Harchen, wearing a white robe, entered the adjacent dressing room, roughly wiping his dripping hair with a towel.

“Huh. Patricia. On my body.”

And immediately, Harchen, wearing only pants, came over to Patricia’s dressing room.

“What’s all this?”

He stood with his thumbs hooked in his waistband, as if intending to show off his firm muscles without any sign of embarrassment.

“Oh my goodness… Ah!”

Eva exclaimed in surprise and blushed, but she didn’t take her eyes off the fragmented chest muscles and marks on his neck, looking at them with satisfaction.

“Your Majesty. Mind your manners. And my body is the same. I’ll go out to the hall first.”

Haa. Suddenly?

Harchen became anxious when Patricia, who had been looking up at him with a face like a blooming flower bud, suddenly spoke in a cold voice and turned away, so he hurriedly put on his formal uniform and went out.

Breakfast was laid out on the central table in the hall. As Harchen sat down, the chef came out with a tray.

“Your Majesty the Empress. This is Argentum cutlery. The blacksmith brought it late last night. It was delayed because Argentum is hard to come by.”

“Why give such a precious thing to me?”

“It was His Majesty’s order.”

Patricia looked at Harchen and smiled brightly.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

At her smiling face, Harchen’s anxious feelings melted away and he just felt ticklish. His mood improved and he finally turned to look at Calip standing beside him.

“Calip. Report.”

Calip had gone to Notos Palace and came back pale, but thanks to his lord who made him wait endlessly with worry, the Notos Palace incident seemed as round as a peeled apple.

With a feeling of, well, it could happen.

“Lady Julia Leak was sleeping in Eden’s bedroom at Notos Palace.”

“What?”

“His Highness Patrick dined with Princess Carolina at Arteum on Epi Street last night. He didn’t come out until morning.”

“Really?”

It was a disaster.

Carolina looked at the maid who entered after a knock with bleary eyes.

The maids showed her the purple dress they had taken down and mended yesterday. Carolina was even inwardly impressed, thinking it looked like a new dress.

‘Ah!’

She bolted upright in bed. It wasn’t her own room’s bed. It was the Arteum she had come to with Patrick last night.

She was lying alone in the large bed, and the white bed sheets were crisp without a single wrinkle. She carefully examined the inside of her body, lifting the front of her nightgown. There were no marks or pain.

‘Haa, how could this be.’

That fox-like man… She had been captivated and followed him in. And then she fell asleep waiting for him all night and had an erotic dream.

‘So that was a dream.’

Last night, after the maids finished helping Carolina bathe, when she went out to the terrace, Patrick wasn’t there. Only the scent of cigars lingered in the air.

Carolina looked at the terrace with a dumbfounded expression.

The three-tier candlestick, Panian wine bottle, and silver tray filled with cheese and fruits that had been on the table were all gone, and it was cleaned up neatly.

At first, she waited for a while, then paced around the living room recalling what Patrick had said.

She remembered his words in sequence and gritted her teeth.

She wondered why she had taken the contraceptive pill if this was going to happen. Then she tortured herself imagining if perhaps he had another lady.

She realized that she knew too little about romance and men’s psychology. She also felt self-loathing, thinking she had performed a play alone behind a black curtain, as Isabella had said.

She got up from the bed and poured herself some Panian from the mini-bar. Then she tried to recall his words and actions again.

‘He said he was giving me a choice and pressed my lower lip.’

At that time, she tried to remember if she had spoken words of refusal. She had hoped he would seduce her rather than leaving the choice to her.

She had clearly been swept up by him. Feeling like her cards were on the table, she wanted to make him pine for her. She wanted him to be captivated by her.

She wanted to become a temptress and completely capture his body and soul. She wanted to pull him deep into the swamp of desire and corrupt him at her feet.

‘But how could I, with what means.’

She didn’t like pretending to be a virtuous woman, but she had no knowledge of seduction to speak of.

She hadn’t read a single one of the common romance novels that Isabella and Julia were always reading.

The woman who challenged a goddess and became a spider, the female warrior who threw her sword towards the sun, the story of a girl sailing the sea on a ship, the tale of a girl who went to the realm of the dead to find medicine to cure her parents’ illness – none of the books she had read had any hint of romance.

‘Haa, if I had known it would be like this, I should have received first night education earlier.’

Carolina regretted it. In Karsik’s royal and noble society, first night education began around the time of one’s debutante ball.

Isabella, who had diligently received education about the first night, had indirect experiences reading romance novels and even seduced a guard knight in mischievous acts of love.

Carolina, two years younger than Isabella, had stubbornly maintained an attitude of extreme hatred towards men, using the debutante incident as an excuse. Even when Countess Schmidt coaxed and cajoled her, she made excuses this way and that and didn’t receive the education.

“My lady, the gentleman is waiting on the terrace. Shall I bring breakfast when you’re finished getting ready?”

‘Hadn’t he left?’

“Keep it simple.”

Carolina received the maid’s assistance.

“What should we do with the flower crown?”

If it had been in her own space in the palace, she would have treated it with chemicals and dried it. The soft gold-plated petals had curled at the ends, and some parts had turned brown.

She couldn’t wear it on her head, but holding it in her hand seemed like it would look like she was fixated on the browned flower crown, or more accurately, like she was obsessed with Patrick. She hesitated.

“Dispose of it.”

She instructed firmly. Obsession, clinging, lingering – those weren’t like her.

When she went out to the terrace and saw Patrick’s figure, she immediately bit her lip.

‘Oh, no. What a predicament.’

Patrick was sitting with his arms crossed and legs crossed, looking out at the lake. He looked fresh in a dark navy suit with a white shirt underneath, rather than the white formal wear he had worn yesterday.

A simple breakfast was set on the white tablecloth, but only a teacup was placed in front of it.

“You’re here?”

Patrick stood up to pull out the chair for her, then returned to his seat and crossed his legs. Sitting across from him, it seemed clear as if lines were being drawn.

He stood on a new line, as much as he had changed into neat clothes. He looked so tidy it felt refreshing.

Carolina herself was still lingering in yesterday’s events, disheveled in her regrets.

‘What kind of person are you? Is the play over? Should I leave this stage now?’

Yesterday, Patrick had reserved two rooms. After showing Carolina in, he went to the adjacent room.

At dawn, Eden rode his horse through Epi Street and went from Oro Alley to the entrance of Kaosan.

The wealthy empire where gold and diamond mining was beginning was strangely quiet and calm. Even the entrance to Kaosan, which he had expected to be chaotic, was a space like a meticulously planned blueprint with thorough verification.

The mining sites were divided into spaces with trees and white tents. The facilities for the mining workers were clearly large-scale at a glance.

There were several solid wooden buildings. Overall, it was so clean and pleasant that it didn’t seem like a mineral mining site.

The emperor’s imposing and sturdy physique and arrogant face came to mind.

“I’ll have to work harder.”

The dawn light cut through the murky air and rose. Patrick, who had been looking at the Kaosan iceberg, turned his horse’s head and rode off.

Eden was waiting in the Arteum room. After washing up briefly, Patrick changed into the clothes Eden had prepared.

“Your expression looks grave?”

Eden reported to Patrick about last night’s incident at Duse Palace.

“I said it was reckless and knew the Heungjok old woman would fail anyway. But it’s surprising that your confidant Kin couldn’t breach the bedroom.”

“Duke Parse was in the bedroom reception room, I hear.”

“What! A lover? While the emperor is in the bedroom… Crazy.”