Something moist and soft pressed against her forehead. Then it tickled a bit lower on the bridge of her nose and eyelids. This soft and strange sensation…!

“Pfft.”

At the sound of barely suppressed laughter, Patricia slowly opened her eyes. Harchen’s face was right in front of her. Deep green eyes gazed down intently.

“Ah, Harchen?”

He smiled with a fresh expression, neatly dressed in his formal uniform.

“W-What is it? Did I oversleep?”

“Isn’t it thrilling to open your eyes in the morning and see a handsome man looking at you?”

“It’s startling to have you so close.”

“Don’t worry, you slept beautifully.”

Harchen lightly pressed his lips to her cheek, then sat on the edge of the bed and pulled her up to sit beside him. He hand-fed her the lemon water brought by the maid.

“I couldn’t delay any longer. We’ll have to have a simple breakfast with attendants, pfft.”

But why does he keep laughing?

“Stop laughing and go out.”

Even after all the preparations for the wedding trip were complete, Patricia didn’t get up. When Eva tried to wake her, Harchen said he would do it and entered the bedroom.

While he was fully dressed in his uniform jacket, the sight of Patricia sleeping disheveled in her see-through nightgown was subtly stimulating and lovely.

He lay down beside her and, under the pretext of waking her, touched her cheeks, neck, and arms. She frowned each time his hand made contact, but didn’t open her eyes.

The hand that had been lightly touching began to caress and press her cheek. He thought he would die from how cute it was when she didn’t wake up but responded with a nasal sound.

Harchen wiped the remaining smile from his mouth with his hand, pulled the bell cord, and left. Behind Anna and Eva, little maid Annie followed carrying a tray of food.

“Eva, please wake her up.”

“His Majesty said to let her sleep in. You can start getting ready now.”

As Patricia was getting dressed, Anna relayed the emperor’s instructions by her side.

She said that an arrest warrant had been issued for Lena, who had stolen jewels from Eva’s quarters in the White Palace and fled.

Eva would stay in the White Palace quarters during the wedding trip, then live in the Notos Palace with Annie afterwards. She was permitted to return to Tane with Patrick or live out her days in the Notos Palace.

Eva curtsied, holding the hem of her dress and bowing at the waist, just as she had done when the emperor gave direct orders that morning.

“The Empress’s radiance has reached the sea. I will find ways to make myself useful.”

Patricia wanted to embrace Eva, but controlled her emotions and just held her hand.

“Having Eva by my side is enough. You’ve been to the Notos Palace, right? Rest and read your favorite books in the library.”

“Have a safe trip.”

The wedding party heading to the Kingdom of Torun was modest.

Three carriages and a procession of knights. Patricia and maid Annie rode in the first carriage. Patrick and the court doctor rode in the second, and two ladies-in-waiting and a manservant rode in the third.

The emperor rode a warhorse, with the three knights Calip, Lean, and Bern following. Eden and his confidant Kin guarded the rear.

After traveling for about half a day, they stopped by a river to rest and have a light picnic. When they set off again, Patrick told Annie to ride in his carriage and climbed into Patricia’s carriage.

Harchen frowned when he saw Patrick get into Patricia’s carriage, but not enough to grit his teeth in anger.

The feeling of jealousy that rose like fire whenever he heard their laughter from inside the carriage was still raw and vivid.

Harchen would come right up to the carriage and hold Patricia’s hand through the open window, or when the carriage briefly stopped, he would pluck wildflowers from the roadside and suddenly offer them.

“Heh. Harchen, Risha likes dirt. If you tell her it’s pretty, she might even give you some soil.”

Harchen was taken aback by the mention of liking dirt, but he disliked Patrick acting like he knew her better than himself. He asked seriously:

“Patricia, is dirt pretty… Should I give you some?”

“Hahaha, actually I prefer pebbles to dirt.”

Did that bastard just make fun of me?

It was nice that Patrick was teasing him, and it was nice to hear their laughter and constant chatter.

Occasionally, words like Carolina, charm, and attraction could be heard. Harchen guessed from the snippets he heard that Patrick and Carolina’s romance was beginning.

But why is that platinum blond guy like that?

Eden stared blankly ahead as he rode, only to glare at the emperor. When their eyes met, he would abruptly turn his head away.

On the afternoon of the second day after departure, they arrived at the Beil Viscount’s estate. The Beil estate’s main source of income was vineyards, which stretched endlessly.

A feast was laid out on outdoor tables in the vineyard. The excessive amount of food was elaborately set and tasted excellent.

Patrick, sensitive to the summer insects clinging to him, couldn’t hide his startled expression as he rubbed his goosebump-covered arms.

Harchen found it adorable and fascinating when white and yellow butterflies and dragonflies landed on Patricia’s arms.

“These insects sure have good taste. They recognize your beauty.”

Harchen pulled Patricia’s arm close and whispered in her ear. Then when a bee flew in, attracted by the sweet grape scent, he was ready to draw his sword.

Patrick excused himself to retire early, saying he hadn’t slept well at the hotel the night before.

The viscountess and servants rose to guide guests to the guest rooms in the mansion. Eden and Kin, who had maintained cold expressions and silence, followed.

Patricia’s cheeks flushed as she accepted and drank various wines offered by Viscount Beil.

“Stop drinking. Your cheeks are red.”

When Harchen said this while gazing at her contentedly, she covered her cheeks with the back of her hand and replied in a slightly higher tone:

“It’s not because of the wine… It’s red because of the sunset glow.”

Ah, I’m dying.

Reading the impatience filling Harchen’s face, Viscount Beil offered the imperial couple a villa in the middle of the vineyard.

Though called a villa, it was actually a modest wooden bungalow where the viscount and his wife stayed when they didn’t want to go back to the mansion after helping with work.

Moonlight and the scent of grapes flowed in through the open window. Harchen rolled grape berries over Patricia’s white body before bursting them and sucking the slippery, sweet juice.

*

The next day, they departed early from the Bern estate. Harchen said if they headed straight south from here for about a day, they would reach Pana Castle. He suggested stopping there for a day on the way back to the capital.

On the fifth day since leaving the imperial capital, they crossed the southwestern border of the empire at noon. After traveling by carriage for about two more hours, Harchen poked his head through the window and gestured for Patricia to look outside.

“Patricia, look, it’s the sea.”

As they rounded a low mountain corner, the sea with crashing white waves came into view. It looked like blue silk with white lace overlaid.

Dozens of wooden ships with white sails were neatly moored on one side of the gently curving shore. They had arrived in Torun, the seaside kingdom.

The Torun Palace could be seen on a low hill facing the sea. Its cream-colored outer walls with red garnet-adorned spires were magnificent.

The King and Queen of Torun, Crown Prince Pamuk, and over a dozen members of the Valenti family had come out to the palace entrance to greet them.

The King of Torun unhurriedly introduced the royal family and Valenti family members one by one to Patricia, Patrick, and Harchen.

Crown Prince Pamuk, who was studying at the Tane Academy, seemed quite friendly with Patrick, pulling him into an embrace close enough for their shoulders to touch after shaking hands.

Led by the King of Torun, they went to the beach cemetery.

Red beach roses bloomed abundantly on the sandy beach. The deep blue sea was visible through the red flowers swaying in the sea breeze. In the middle of the red beach rose field stood a grave with a white tombstone.

「Beautiful Rosa, Aldisha.
Here she rests in peace.」

Patricia saw the epitaph, which lacked birth and death dates, the surname Evas, or even mention of the Valenti family. It resembled her neat mother.

“Aldisha always put Rosa before her name. She loved beach roses so much that in summer she would pick one and wear it as a hair ornament on the beach.”

The King of Torun reintroduced Monica Valenti, saying she was Aldisha’s cousin of the same age. She added that even in letters Aldisha sent after marrying the Crown Prince of Tane, she signed as Rosa Aldisha instead of using her surname.

Patrick, who had been standing in front of the grave, knelt on his left knee and bowed his head deeply in greeting.

Beside him, Harchen and then Calip and the knights, Eden and Kin knelt in succession to pay their respects. The Valenti family members bowed their heads while standing. A solemn silence passed.

*

The King of Torun had prepared a wooden house on the sandy beach. Built on thick wooden pillars, the house looked like a ship floating on the sea.

Especially for the newlywed couple’s bedroom, going down the terrace stairs and taking a few steps led directly to the seawater lapping at one’s ankles.

Even lying in bed, the waves of the sea could be seen through the window. Harchen held Patricia on the unusually undulating bed.

“You’re like a mermaid just risen from the sea.”

“It feels like the sea is covering my body like a blanket.”

“It’s not the sea, it’s me.”

The sound of waves continuously flowed into their ears. Patricia felt like she was sleeping on a drifting wooden ship, drifting in and out of sleep before finally falling asleep in the early morning.

She woke to intense sunlight on her forehead and the sound of boisterous voices and laughter. She lifted her head to look out the window.

In the sea, the three knights Calip, Bern, and Lean were playing in the water, swinging wooden swords as if slashing the sea.

Each time the burly men moved, white foam splashed up as if shaking the entire sea.

Annie and the two ladies-in-waiting were also running back and forth on the wet sand, gathering their dress skirts to avoid the incoming waves.

Harchen and Patrick sat in rattan chairs under a spread awning, smoking cigars.

Eager to go to the sea quickly, Patricia did a quick touch-up without calling Annie. Wishing Eva had come along too, she went down the terrace stairs.

“Your Majesty…!”

Annie, spotting Patricia, came running, kicking up sand that sank with each step. This caused all the men in the sea to turn and look.

Patricia took a step and momentarily lost her balance as her heeled mule sank into the sand. Eden immediately approached and took her hand.

Holding his hand, she went under the awning. Eden placed a single rattan chair next to Patrick.

“Thank you, Sir Eden. Did you sleep well last night?”

“Yes.”

That bastard deliberately put it there.

Harchen glared at Eden, displeased that he had placed the chair next to Patrick when there was space beside himself.

Then he leaned back leisurely in his chair, crossing his legs. He covered his mouth with his right hand, which wasn’t holding a cigar, and laughed softly.

‘Emperor, are you laughing now?’

Eden glared at the emperor with an even colder expression.