He placed the plate back in front of Patricia.

‘Ah. He mistakenly thought I didn’t eat because there might be poison in the food.’

Come to think of it, Patrick had said that even when eating Tane Palace’s cuisine out of anxiety, he couldn’t tell what it tasted like. It was common for serving maids to collapse while tasting the food.

Recently, Patrick said he checks the food with an argentum rod before eating. Of course, Patricia had never experienced this as she had never been invited to a Tane Palace banquet.

Since the emperor had already tasted it, Patricia couldn’t refuse to eat. She cut a small piece of the foie gras. Due to her mother’s strict diet, she rarely had the chance to eat meat. Unaccustomed to it, she didn’t know its deep flavor and didn’t like it.

She put a small piece of the dark meat in her mouth out of courtesy. She was surprised by the savory taste of the meat juice enveloping her mouth and the meltingly tender texture. A smile involuntarily spread across her face.

The emperor picked up the pewter cup and intently observed it, making circular motions with his wrist. When she faintly smiled, he brought the cup to his lips. He swallowed the smile spreading across his own lips.

Patricia wanted to quickly finish the meal and go to her private space. She hoped this evening and night would pass safely and that dawn would come soon. She anxiously looked at the clock placed on the console in the reception room.

She ate small portions of the butter-seared scallops with black truffle and the salmon salad.

Although the food was exquisite enough to melt on her tongue, and for the first time in her life there were no nagging comments about calorie counting, her mind was busy checking over her plans.

She drank some water. She neatly set down the used cutlery.

Perceiving this as an indication that the meal was over, the emperor rang a bell. After clearing the table, the butler brought out tea and dessert plates.

Patricia, who had been watching the darkness settle layer by layer on the red sky, looked at the dessert placed before her. Her bright blue eyes widened in surprise, unable to take her gaze off the plate.

It was a chocolate cake topped with cherries dusted with cocoa cream, chocolate, and gold powder.

‘This isn’t the time to be distracted by cake… No, I should eat it to gain strength.’

Trying to restrain her emotional expression, she took a bite of the cake with the dessert fork.

It melted in her mouth, so sweet it sent shivers down her spine. It was the first cake she had tasted in her life.

It was a flavor she couldn’t give up even if the large emperor sitting across from her with a cold expression drew his sword and aimed it at her neck.

As her composure crumbled, she used her fork to pick up a cherry that had fallen onto the plate. She rolled the slippery cherry on her tongue before biting into it.

Patricia’s eyes had closed involuntarily, but she opened them with delight, marveling at the subtle flavors in her mouth. Only then did she notice the emperor staring at her intently with the pewter cup to his lips.

The emperor was leaning his waist slightly, resting his elbow on the armrest, rubbing his lips with his index finger as he gazed at her.

His dark green eyes stared at her as if piercing through her.

For a moment as she met those emerald eyes that seemed to hold magical power, it felt as if her soul was being sucked in.

Uncomfortable with the sharp gaze on her skin, Patricia lightly bit the corner of her lip and lowered her gaze. Her long, white neck trembled slightly as if she had swallowed sweet poison.

“Princess.”

Patricia raised her head.

“I’m going to interrogate you as a prisoner now, but there’s something I need to confirm first.”

“Yes.”

“We’ve met before, haven’t we?”

A cool early summer breeze blew.

The candles in the ornate 5-branched golden candelabra that the butler had lit on the table flickered in the wind before settling and burning quietly.

Patricia took slow breaths to calm her trembling heart. She sat up straight with perfect posture and looked naturally at the emperor. She answered in a calm voice.

“No, I saw Your Majesty for the first time yesterday.”

“Is that so? Then why do I feel like I’ve seen the princess before?”

The emperor stood up, leaned on the table with one hand, and stretched his upper body towards her, bringing his face close.

“May I check something?”

‘…Could it be. Is he recalling the academy graduation celebration?’

Patricia bit her inner lip nervously.

The emperor slowly reached out his large hand and placed it on her cheek. At the sudden touch of his hot hand, Patricia leaned her upper body back.

“Your Majesty, please maintain proper etiquette.”

Haa.

The emperor sat back down, running the hand he had withdrawn over his own face.

The princess sitting there wearing his shirt maintained a clear and pure expression.

Although he was in a state of intoxication from the strong liquor, it was an unforgettable experience. He had thought it was an illusion, but the reality was clearly sitting before his eyes now.

However, it was a reality that could change unpredictably. Countless soldiers had fallen to her sword on the battlefield.

He picked up the pewter cup and drank it in one gulp. He felt thirsty and anger rising. He wanted to grasp something, and that object was…

He drank the strong liquor again. Before the harsh sensation fading as it burned down his throat, he drank repeatedly. He suppressed the rising desire with the strong liquor as gaps formed.

Whether reinforcements would come from Tane, or a negotiation proposal would arrive, was uncertain. But until then, the princess was his prisoner… Huu. Yes, Harchen, don’t rush.

The emperor placed his interlocked hands on the table. Looking at the side profile of the princess gazing out the window, he called her name inwardly.

Patricia.

It was a slender face that suited her name.

“Princess. Is it true that you led three battalions?”

“Yes.”

This isn’t just some minor principality, nor a minority ethnic conflict zone prone to looting. The empire with just three battalions? But can this princess’s statement be trusted? He couldn’t believe it.

They had clearly met on the terrace, but she denied it with an upright posture. Those thin arms had cut down at least ten soldiers. And she dared to aim for my neck…

“Who ordered this reckless battle? Was it Emperor Kazan?”

‘This entire scheme was Pamila’s plot.’

“His Majesty has been bedridden for three months due to illness.”

“I received a letter from the Tane Emperor about a month ago?”

After Emperor Karsik’s death, amid the chaotic situation, a letter came from the Tane Emperor. It said they would provide mercenaries to support gold and diamond mining in the Kaosan region.

The emperor politely replied that he had no intention of mining gold and planned to focus on stabilizing and reorganizing the empire for the time being.

Not long after, the bodies of three Tane envoys were found at the border. Emperor Karsik’s handwritten letter was not found.

As if they had been preparing for war and waiting, Tane invaded without even a declaration of war.

The deployment order found in the prisoner’s armor and Patrick’s commander appointment letter bore the Tane Emperor’s seal.

“Moreover, the deployment order found on the princess’s person was in the emperor’s handwriting.”

“It was the empress’s scheme. The emperor’s letter and the deaths of the envoys were also her doing.”

“The empress. Does the empress have such strong authority?”

“Shamefully, yes. The empress may have hoped Your Majesty would kill Patrick.”

Pamila probably already knew through spies that Patricia was wearing armor. She might have even invaded the west tower of the detached palace.

“Why should I believe the princess’s words?”

“…”

“Whether a negotiation proposal or reinforcements arrive, we’ll see. I look forward to whatever comes.”

Patricia’s insides were burning with worry for Patrick. She was thirsty.

She gnawed on her lip with her teeth, then stuck out her tongue to moisten her lips.

“Princess, have a glass of Panian.”

The emperor never asked for others’ opinions. He simply gave orders. Of course, Patricia wasn’t opposed to wetting her throat with strong liquor and relieving her tension.

“Please.”

The emperor rang a bell and the butler entered. Following the emperor’s instructions, the butler set down crystal glasses and a plate of fruit and cheese.

The emperor poured Panian into a crystal glass and handed it to Patricia, then poured some into his pewter cup as well.

“Why did you wear armor and pretend to be Patrick?”

Patricia picked up the glass and drank. The strong liquor flowed down her throat. It briefly eased her tension.

“Patrick was born smaller and weaker than me, with a congenital illness. At first, I wore armor in his place at my mother’s request, without the emperor knowing.”

The emperor looked at her quizzically, noting her use of “mother” and “Your Majesty” as titles.

“Have you participated in war before?”

“I observed when I was young, but as I grew up I commanded expeditions to conflict zones and against plundering tribes.”

“And the Tane Emperor didn’t know? Is that possible?”

“…”

Patricia remained silent at the emperor’s question.

She also wondered about it. She had never met the emperor without armor on the battlefield. Her mother said the emperor didn’t know, but did he really not know?

She recalled the time on the battlefield against the Marcus Kingdom when she fell from her horse and was sprawled on the blood-soaked ground. The emperor glared at her as he rode his massive warhorse, trampling over her as he passed by.

Mother, Your Majesty, did you trample over me knowing it was Patrick? If Lord Eden hadn’t been there, I…

Risha, wear the armor in Patrick’s place only until he comes of age. You’re the only one who can protect Patrick, remember that.

Yes, Mother. I’ll remember.

Risha, if you eat whatever you want like that, how will the armor made for Patrick fit? Stop eating.

Yes, I won’t eat anymore.

Risha, practice your swordsmanship more. You must protect Patrick.

Yes.

My child, I’m sorry. For not letting you wear dresses like other ladies, for making your hands rough from wielding a sword. Make sure to help Patrick become emperor.

Yes, I’ll help Patrick become emperor.

Risha, bury me in Torun, the seaside kingdom, in the beach cemetery.

Yes, Mother, I will.

It was her mother’s dying wish. When she went to see the emperor after her mother’s death, saying she would visit the Kingdom of Torun, the emperor looked at Patricia without surprise, only seeming dazed.

“…Princess?”

Patricia, who had been recalling her mother’s final moments, raised her eyes brimming with blue water. She hadn’t heard the emperor’s question.

“Yes?”

Seeing her teary eyes, the emperor felt a sharp metal fragment painfully lodge in his chest.

“Hmm. Your accomplices… Who else knows?”

“Patrick’s knight and deputy commander knows.”

“His name?”

“Eden, Eden Patterson.”

The emperor asked no more questions and fell silent with a thoughtful expression.

After slowly taking a sip from his pewter cup, the emperor rubbed the part where his lips had touched with his thumb while looking at Patricia.

It was a blatant gaze, as if trying to uncover secrets. Feeling burdened, she lowered her head.

The emperor’s chest ached as if being scraped by metal fragments, but his body felt itchy and unnatural. All his nerves and blood heavily rushed to his lower body.

Her slender, oval face, white and smooth neck, and collarbone exposed by the loose shirt that had slipped down despite being buttoned up to the top collar, gleamed whitely.

Haa, no Adam’s apple either. How could I have mistaken those thin shoulders for a man’s?

“Your Majesty, if you have no more questions, I would like to withdraw now.”

Patricia.

“…Princess.”

The emperor said nothing until Patricia raised her head. When she looked up, he met her gaze.

“You must have pretended to be Patrick quite often, not just in war but at other times too.”

The emperor set down his pewter cup and stood up.

“For instance, like during academy classes.”

The emperor approached her with his gaze fixed, placing his left hand on the back of her chair and leaning his upper body down.

“There’s something I need to confirm.”

He cupped her delicate neck with his right hand. His deep green eyes flickered in the candlelight.

Whoof.

He blew out all five candles at once.

As the candles went out, the window-side table quickly darkened, with only faint moonlight filtering in.

He leaned his upper body down, bringing his face close to Patricia’s and tilting his head slightly.

Their lips were almost touching.

“Princess, you see, I once kissed a lady of marriageable age in this level of darkness.”

Translation complete. 100% of original text translated.