Usually, he walked from the main palace to Notos Palace. But now he was riding a horse at full speed. Two knights followed behind him, leading another horse at full speed.

The guard knights standing watch in the palace looked at them rushing by like a storm with puzzled expressions.

He arrived at Notos Palace. He didn’t want to get off the horse. As he slowly entered the garden, circling around the shrub hedge, Eden was standing leaning against the Minerva statue.

“That statue wasn’t meant to be leaned on.”

Eden moved away from the statue and silently greeted him with one knee and arm bent in a formal bow. Harchen spoke without dismounting.

“Last night, Emperor Kazan was attacked by an old Heun woman. Patrick must know. Raise your head and answer.”

Eden raised his head.

“Did you know Patrick’s whereabouts last night?”

“Yes. With the Second Princess of Karshik…”

Patrick, he used Carolina deliberately for an alibi and reason to stay in Tane.

“So he left the palace.”

Harchen gestured to the horse whose reins were held by a knight.

“Guide Sir Eden to Arteum on Ephi Street. Tell him it’s enough proof of absence now, so he can go pay respects to the Emperor.”

“Understood.”

He’s not mentioning Lady Leak? They were alone in the palace all night. Well, maybe nothing happened. Even if it did, it’s none of my business.

“Is there nothing else to say?”

‘If you make my lord cry because of your woman! Emperor, you will die by my hand.’

Eden forcefully suppressed the words rising to his throat.

“No, there isn’t.”

That bastard, his eyes are disrespectful. He must be jealous of me.

“Alright, go to Patrick.”

Harchen took out a cigar he had put in his pocket in the office and lit it.

Now, let’s go. To Patricia.

Oh dear.

As the horse started running, forgotten sensations came alive. He took a puff of the cigar and then yanked the reins, urging the horse roughly.

The sunlight falling directly on his crown and shoulders made him dizzy. In the bright midday light, the events of the night and dawn stood out as if cut out.

The night sweet and black like brown sugar, and the blue dawn, the breathing climbing up the bedroom wall, the quick and lewd fingers.

“Haa.”

He exhaled cigar smoke and slowed the horse’s pace.

Patricia, Patricia’s whining tone, her azure eyes looking sidelong while leaning on his slippery shoulder.

Ah, Harchen… Is this what love is?

We were pressed together without a gap, but more, more, Patricia… Patricia.

Yes, this is love.

As soon as Harchen arrived at Aster Palace, he leapt down from the saddle and crossed the garden. He went inside without answering the guard knight’s greeting.

Passing through the corridor and entering the central hall, he stopped walking. She was sitting under the light falling in a straight line from the circular glass ceiling.

There were maids around, but he only saw Patricia. Just looking at her gave him an indescribable, overwhelming feeling.

“You’re here?”

He approached her directly. Several boxes were piled up on the table.

“Are you busy?”

“I’m checking the gifts to take to the Kingdom of Torun before our honeymoon. But why are you so wet?”

“I rode a horse. Have the maid do that, I have something to talk about.”

He took her hand and made her stand up.

“We’ll tidy this up.”

Anna, the quick-witted one, answered. She guessed at the passionate night and dawn hours while cleaning the bedroom.

Glancing up at the Emperor with a new perspective, she smiled contentedly and lowered her head. The Emperor hadn’t known a woman until he was twenty-seven years old.

He had even gotten irritable during the first night education. During his study abroad at Tane Academy, a maid overheard Lady Leak complaining to Carolina that she had visited the townhouse countless times to seduce him, but he didn’t fall for it.

There was a rumor that he avoided women because he was tired of his three younger sisters. Then from two years ago, rumors of him being homosexual were rampant. He actually favored Sir Bern, who was delicate and pretty like a girl.

The palace was turned upside down when they received a telegram from the butler of Pana Castle asking to send lady’s dresses and supplies.

Anna thought Patricia was charming from the moment she first saw her. She was usually confident in her discernment, and indeed, as she experienced it, the aura she emitted, or rather the nature she held, was upright and bright.

Her facial features were fine, making her look prim when expressionless, but when she smiled with her eyes curved, she was so pretty that even Anna, a woman, couldn’t take her eyes off her. She shone.

She treated the maids who came with her from Tane without discrimination and sometimes acted silly in front of them.

At those times, she was so cute like a cat that Anna wanted to stroke her cheeks. The more she watched her closely, the more she acknowledged that it was understandable for the Emperor to fall for her.

‘I wonder if he’ll come out for dinner.’

Harchen pulled Patricia’s hand and entered the bedroom.

“Riding the horse reminded me of last night and dawn.”

Patricia hesitated, then brushed his fallen hair back with her hand.

“Are you hot?”

“I’m burning.”

“Shall I bring a cool drink?”

“Patricia can solve it.”

He looked down at her with his deep green eyes narrowed. Holding both her wrists together with one hand, he walked towards the bed.

“You.”

He sat on the edge of the bed and pushed her body back slightly.

“A few days ago, you seemed to run away saying your learning ability for first night education was excellent, thinking of sword fighting with some bastard.”

He leaned back on his arms on the bed, tilted his head slightly, and smiled arrogantly.

“Show me your excellent learning ability, take me.”

Patricia used to be bothered by Harchen’s arrogant smile.

When she saw that smile at Tane Academy, she was jealous of the composure possessed by the Crown Prince of the Golden Empire. Not from the standpoint of Patricia as a woman, but from Patrick’s standpoint.

But last night, he broke down that arrogant expression and desperately wanted her, tenderly and earnestly. It wasn’t bad to see him pleading like that either.

She understood exactly what Eva meant by making him desperate. She approached him closely, smiling prettily with her eyes curved.

“Your Majesty, we have time until dinner.”

“Mmm. Show me your skills. Hoo, I’m looking forward to it.”

“Yes, I’ll show you my skills. Have three sword matches with me.”

At her words, Harchen was completely dumbfounded and almost cursed.

“What do you want to do? This is ridiculous.”

“Sword matches. We were so good yesterday and today, weren’t we?”

“So?”

Patricia stretched out her right arm, pressed her elbow with her left hand, and tilted her head.

“We used our muscles too much in a lewd way, so my body is stiff. Let’s use our muscles in a healthy way…”

“Ha, this is driving me crazy.”

Harchen snatched her outstretched wrist. He grabbed her waist and pulled her between his knees.

“I think we need to use our muscles. I also have something to ask.”

“Using muscles in a healthy way means sword matches?”

He held her leaning against one of his knees, supporting her back and waist.

“Yes.”

“Haa, I think I need to use my muscles in an unhealthy way more? If you have a request, just say it.”

Every time she has a request, she pounces on me asking for a sword match. What on earth is she relying on?

“Will you listen?”

“Right now, I feel like I could give you my heart if you asked.”

“There are several large and small palaces in Karshik Palace, right? Please let Eva and Annie stay in Notos Palace. Even after Patrick returns to Tane. I’ll reduce my discretionary funds to cover the living expenses for Notos Palace.”

Harchen rubbed his eyebrow and eye socket with his index finger, wearing a thoughtful expression.

It was impossible to have maids and servants from Tane live in Notos Palace. He could easily imagine what attitude the Empress Dowager would show if she found out right away.

She didn’t even allow Isabella’s nanny, who had been her maid, to follow Rubelin during the national marriage period. On the day Isabella left for Rubelin, the maid went down to her hometown in the countryside.

So Isabella and the guard knight’s love affair was buried in Karshik, and Isabella started a new life alone in Rubelin.

“I heard you were going back to Tane today.”

“Yes. That was the plan, of course.”

Patricia emphasized that Eva was not affiliated with Tane Palace but was her mother’s maid. If she returned to Tane, she would have nowhere to go as she had no family.

So Patricia picked out the most expensive of her belongings and national wedding gifts. She told them to find a house for them to stay in Tane.

Harchen was somewhat flustered as he had never seen her speak at such length before, usually only giving short answers to questions.

Explaining so actively for her maids and servants. Ah, making that whining voice by curling her tongue strangely. The novel stimulation excited him.

Perhaps because of the pleading tone, his body reacted sharply to the cat-like purring, coquettish voice.

He decided to listen more as she sat on his thigh, talking in detail about her maids.

“It must not have been easy to give national wedding gifts to a maid, but you did.”

He responded while slightly moving his index finger to untie the ribbon near her nape.

“… Eva realized this morning that the bag containing those items was missing. Moreover, Lena wasn’t seen from breakfast service.”

“Oh my, where did Lena go?”

In fact, Harchen wasn’t curious about who the maid was. He buried his face in Patricia’s nape.

What he was curious about was whether these red marks on her nape were from last night or this dawn, whether she would get angry if he untied all these ribbon knots, whether she would give in and go along with it. Such thoughts.

Ha, using muscles in a lewd way, she says. Such, an audacious statement.

“Annie kept failing to wake up… Eva helped with my bath. She carefully told the head maid Anna.”

“I see… Hoo.”

As Harchen’s hands untied all the ribbons on her back, the upper part of her dress tumbled down. He slid his hands down her back.

Stroking the two thin streams of bones and down to her waist, indented from using those lewd parts too much.

“Ah, what are you doing? I’m being serious right now.”

“I’m listening. Keep talking. I like hearing your voice.”

“Head maid Anna found out that Lena had newly joined on Princess Carolina’s recommendation… and when she looked into her previous experience, would you believe it, she was Lady Leak’s maid.”

“Oh my.”

“Harchen? Uh, it tickles. Did you hear me?”

Of course he didn’t hear. Harchen brought his lips to her back, as if about to devour her prominently white spine.

“Hmm, Patricia yes, do that. Eva and Lena to stay in Notos Palace… and now.”

“What? It’s not Eva and Lena, it’s Eva and Annie.”

Patricia lightly hit his thigh with her fist.