Captured into the Bedroom of the Enemy Emperor (1 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 16
Bri, with her yellow beak, was the white eagle gifted by Patrick. Tamed by Eden, Bri carried messages between Tane’s main palace and the western tower, and when Patricia was on the battlefield, she delivered news of her well-being to Patrick.
Patricia hung from the windowsill of Pana Castle, gazing endlessly at the sky. She expected Eden to send Bri the moment he heard she’d been captured.
The instant she spotted Bri gliding across the azure sky, a blue flame sparked in her mind, and her escape route unfolded clearly before her.
Pretending to sketch the scenery of Pana Castle visible beyond the window, she drew the castle walls.
A maidservant approached, glanced briefly at the drawing, and seemed about to report it to the steward, making Patricia tense—but the steward appeared unbothered and didn’t inspect the sketch.
She marked with an arrow the spot where she would stash sulfur powder. They’d surely released venomous snakes into the moat, and snakes detested the smell of sulfur.
Since she couldn’t gauge the outer castle wall’s condition, she instructed Bri to perch where the rope would be lowered.
At dawn, when everyone was asleep, she initiated her move upon seeing Bri circle three times. Distracting the guard in the watchtower was Eden’s job. *Bang, bang, bang!* The moment the castle gate echoed with pounding knocks, Patricia dove into the moat.
“My lord, I truly must be a genius at devising plans.”
“You’re also a genius at twisting and burning people’s hearts. Mine has turned to white ash.”
Eden had sent Bri solely to learn even the slightest news of her after she’d been taken captive.
From the moment he saw the escape plan and the meticulously drawn castle map tied to the eagle’s leg, his heart burned black until her feet finally touched the ground outside the castle.
“Hehe, my lord, that must be Luken over there.”
As soon as they crossed the Karsik border, carriages and passersby increased. True to Tane Empire’s reputation for bustling trade, the border city of Luken had grown into a large marketplace centered around its train station and plaza.
Eden checked the train schedule and headed to the station to buy tickets. Patricia dismounted and sat on a stone bench by the fountain in the plaza.
People walking through the plaza cast sideways glances at her. Even a back-alley errand boy openly stared. The boy hesitated whether to report this unfamiliar woman’s presence to his mid-level boss.
It was understandable—she seemed suspicious to him. Like an angel fallen from the sky, the noble-looking lady radiated light yet sat alone in the plaza wearing a fine white shirt and ragged trousers stained with black dirt.
Her golden hair, cascading down to her waist, stood out vividly in the dimming plaza. Even the black horse standing beside her wasn’t an ordinary steed—it was enormous and gleamed with a lustrous sheen.
Yet the boots she wore were large, worn, and resembled those of a discharged soldier. Most notably, dried, dark-red blood clung to the tall shafts.
Her clothes were far too unkempt for a lady trying to seduce men, yet her aura exuded dignity. This strange contradiction seized attention.
The boy decided to keep watching. He was the youngest member of Vinenn’s organization, which controlled Luken’s back alleys, and the fountain area was his territory.
Though the central station plaza appeared ordinary on the surface, two of their members had recently gone missing, and Luken’s chief of security, Kiel, had been taken to the capital. Thus, the boy kept a low profile while observing the peculiar lady.
“My lord.”
A tall man in Tane Imperial Army uniform dismounted his warhorse, bowed with his forehead touching his bent elbow in deference, and handed her something.
Indeed, she was clearly a remarkable lady with a significant past. The boy was glad he hadn’t reported her to his mid-level boss.
“Ugh, but just who is that woman being called ‘my lord’ by a man in uniform?”
The boy let out a sigh of relief and fled toward the back alleys. An unforgettable face was now etched into his memory.
Eden sat beside Patricia.
“The train to Burck Central Station departs in two hours. You must be exhausted. How about resting here for a day and leaving at dawn tomorrow?”
“Eden, let’s go to that inn.”
Patricia pointed to an inn with its entrance open toward the plaza. Eden’s face instantly flushed red.
“No, I mean… so blatantly… Should I go exchange the tickets?”
“What are you talking about? Why’s your face red?”
Seeing Eden scratching his head with a flushed face, Patricia gave a soft chuckle and walked ahead into the inn.
“Pay for the room. While I bathe, go buy me some clothes and shoes. I’ll just change and we’ll leave.”
“Shall I get a dress?”
“Just buy men’s clothing. And a black robe too. Hurry.”
Patricia took the key from Eden and went upstairs to their room.
She’d have preferred boarding the train immediately, but considering the stares she’d endure during two days on the train, changing clothes was necessary.
Besides, she couldn’t possibly appear before Eva and Patrick wearing the dead soldier’s bloodstained boots Eden had taken.
After finishing her shower, she waited a long while, but Eden didn’t return. She opened the window and let the eagle inside.
“Patrick, are you alright? I’m fine. I’m coming to you now.”
She tied a letter to the eagle’s leg. As she sat on the bed, tickling the eagle’s side—feeling its warm, firm-yet-supple body beneath white feathers—a knock sounded at the door.
“Eden, why are you so late?”
“Well… I was buying things meant for a lady.”
Patricia snatched the paper bag containing clothes and shut the door. Inside were an ordinary dress, low-heeled shoes, and even women’s undergarments.
‘Huh, that’s why he was late.’
As Patricia began removing her bathrobe, she noticed the white eagle tilting its head while staring intently at her.
“Bri, you go too. Head to Patrick first.”
She sent the eagle out the window, changed into the dress, and draped the black robe over it. Both undergarments and outerwear fit her perfectly, as if tailor-made.
In the Tane Empire, nobles needed to present proof of their house to purchase train tickets. Eden apologized for only securing second-class tickets with his viscount family credentials.
“I’m embarrassed—I couldn’t even procure first-class seats, let alone special-class, for you.”
“It’s fine. Riding the train side by side with you, Lord Eden, will be a pleasant memory.”
Patricia took the window seat.
Before Eden could even open the food parcel he’d bought as a snack, Patricia leaned her head against his shoulder and fell asleep.
“Princess Lisha… for me, such memories are happiness.”
Eden lowered his right shoulder as much as possible so Patricia’s neck wouldn’t ache.
*
Eden was the second son of Viscount Patterson. The Patterson family had served the imperial court in administrative roles for generations.
The eldest son, Jason, was the administrative chief assisting their father, the viscount. Viscount Patterson had wished Eden to train in administration like his elder brother.
Though Eden accompanied his father and brother to the imperial palace, he found no affinity for sitting at a heavy desk copying documents or sorting through paperwork.
Defying his father’s wishes, he took and passed the royal guard cadet knight examination.
As a cadet knight, he was assigned as assistant bodyguard to the Crown Prince. Crown Prince Patrick, except during medicine-taking hours, remained stuck like a book on the library shelves. He read silently like a wall without even a shadow—utterly dull.
“Your Highness, shall I teach you how to shoot a bow?”
“Hmm, no thanks.”
“How about swordsmanship?”
“No.”
“Your Highness, it’s hot—shall we go swimming?”
“No.”
“Your Highness, would you like to ride around the lakeside?”
“Hmm, you go.”
“Your Highness, they say a witch lives in the western tower of the secondary palace—shall we go see?”
“Western tower?”
For the first time, Crown Prince Patrick looked up from his book and showed interest.
Thirteen years old, summer.
Eden and Patrick decided to explore the western tower rumored to be haunted by a witch.
After passing through the Petra Oak Forest, they saw the secondary palace and the western tower. Expecting a lofty spire, they found instead a modest tower only five stories high—the same height as Tane’s main palace.
The tower, with its amber-hued brick walls and crimson roof, didn’t appear at all like a witch’s dwelling.
At the tower’s entrance stood unfamiliar knights, not of the imperial guard. According to Eden’s discreet inquiries with a senior knight, they were the Emperor’s personally selected elite guards.
It was clear they wouldn’t open the bronze door even if they revealed the Crown Prince’s identity. Causing a commotion recklessly would be unwise. They spent several days quietly scouting the tower’s rear.
One day, as Patrick and Eden walked through a thicket, they stopped.
Amidst summer insects’ chirps and cicadas’ drone came singing. The tower’s outer wall was wrapped below in red roses and above in ivy.
“The west wind blows, tousling my hair and lingering.”
Then Eden noticed trampled and broken grass in the shrubbery and followed the trail. At waist height on the stone wall, a boulder-sized gap opened into a stairwell leading upward into the tower.
As Eden and Patrick climbed, the singing grew louder and clearer.
“Touch me with wind, and like magic, my hair grows long.”
“Wind carrying floral scents, stay with me.”
It was not a witch, but a young girl’s voice—though not particularly skilled at singing.
“Hello, Patricia Rose. Your face is red. What are you shy about?”
“Hello, Patrick Narcissus. You’re pale again today.”
“…!”
“Your Highness, she called you Patrick Narcissus.”
Eden, ahead on the stairs, bent slightly and whispered into Patrick’s ear.
“I heard it too.”
From afar, the tower had seemed a narrow rectangular pillar, but halfway up the stairs, they emerged into a surprisingly spacious, open area.
It was arranged like a garden. Iron frames held large glass panels on all sides, and with every window open, wind flowed in from every direction.
“Oh.”
“Oh.”
“Oh.”
All three simultaneously covered their mouths.
Eden was startled by the girl swinging a sword with her dress hem gathered and tied at her waist with a ribbon. Patrick and Patricia, meanwhile, were shocked to see each other as if looking into a mirror.
Moreover, Eden and Patrick had clearly heard:
“Patrick Narcissus, you’re pale again today.”
The girl moved swiftly. In a nimble motion, she swung her sword and pointed its tip at Eden’s throat.
“Who are you?”
“Who are you?”
“Who are you?”
Their voices echoed like a chorus. Patrick and Patricia stared at each other as if into mirrors.
“But you know my name?”
They asked the same question—but with different inflections. Patrick asked because he didn’t know Patricia existed. Patricia, knowing Patrick, was actually asking who Eden was.
“Eden Patterson. I am the sword of His Highness the Crown Prince.”
Upon seeing the girl who looked so much like Patrick, Eden instinctively bowed, pressing his forehead to his bent arm in formal greeting. He immediately knew she wasn’t merely a lady-in-waiting’s sickly daughter.
“So you’re Patrick.”
The girl took Patrick’s hand with a conflicted expression, then gave a faint smile.
“Still… I’m glad… truly glad to meet you.”
“You know me? …How?”
“They say we shared Mother’s womb together. We’re twins.”
Eden could never forget that day.
He thought he’d gladly die by the sword of Patricia—whose waist-length, sun-molten-gold hair shimmered in the light.
At that moment, he became Patricia’s knight.
Of course, after completing cadet training and receiving knighthood, Eden formally swore his oath to Crown Prince Patrick—his official liege. But in his heart, his true liege was Patricia.
By the time the train arrived at Burck Central Station, the sun was sinking beyond the Hesperos Mountains.
In early summer in Tane, dusk came late. The earth, heated all day, remained warm even after sunset. Travelers stepping off the northbound train looked up at the sky and removed their coats.
Patricia had slept soundly for two days, except during mealtimes. Eden had watched her sleeping face, oblivious to the passage of time.
The warhorse unloaded from the cargo car raised its front hooves, eager to gallop.
As they stepped into the station plaza, a white eagle swiftly descended from the sky and perched on Patricia’s shoulder, rubbing its yellow beak against her slender nape.
Patricia untied the letter wrapped around the eagle’s leg.
“Lisha, your rose has fully bloomed. Come carefully—I’ll wait. I miss you.”
“Let’s go, Eden. Patrick’s waiting.”
*
Eva, who had been weaving lace by the window in the secondary palace, leapt up when she saw two black horses galloping rapidly toward her.
Wiping tears with trembling hands, she rushed outside.
When Eva heard Patricia had been captured, she collapsed on the spot.
Only after Annie—the maid Patrick had assigned to care for Eva—delivered news that a messenger hawk had arrived, confirming the princess’s safe escape and that she was returning with Lord Eden, did Eva regain her strength.
She’d expected them tomorrow—yet here they were. Rubbing her eyes with her sleeve, Eva sprinted toward the western tower.
At the bronze door of the western tower, she watched Patricia leap off her warhorse, her simple dress hem hitched up, revealing bare legs beneath.
‘Doesn’t matter. She’s unharmed. That’s all that counts…’
The royal guards blocked the tower’s bronze door.
“Step aside.”
“…”
Patricia removed the hood of her black robe, straightened her spine, and spoke in a cold, clear voice.
“As publicly declared, I am Princess Patricia Kaliyan Ebas of the Tane Empire.”
Patricia’s capture had revealed the princess’s existence to the entire empire.
“We humbly greet Her Highness the Princess.”
“Our apologies. We were ordered to escort you immediately to the Imperial Guard upon your arrival.”
Male lead reborn without memories — but he still falls for her.
The person he finds displeasing in this life turns out to be his cherished wife-master in previous life…
Xie Zhi and Fang Xianxing who had known each other for less than three days through a blind date sat in the same car in front of the civil affairs bureau. They had a disagreement and failed to get married.
Xie Zhi immediately took out his phone, slid through his contacts, and randomly selected the next marriage candidate.
The woman snatched his phone and hung up. Looking at his phone wallpaper, she awkwardly changed the subject: “An ancient painting, eh? It looks pretty good, it’s just that the person in the painting looks a bit like me.”
When he heard this, he sarcastically mocked her for being so delusional, completely unaware that, the person in front of him was the reincarnation of Wen Ru, the famous prime minister of Yuan Shun whom he most admired…
The female CEO who doesn’t want to get married with a divorce agreement in hand × The male archaeological researcher who will only get married if he’s sure he can get divorced
Re-reading this chapter, it made realize how little Patricia regarding her life compared to Patrick, all because of her guilt over her twin’s sickness which she assumed caused by her taking away his nutrition during pregnancy (in my opinion, it’s an entirely absurd superstition and baseless theory at best). Glad Patricia has come far by started relying in Harchen until she can trust him and vice versa.
Oh! Harcen made a surf board and have Patricia surfing at the sea? That’s so nice of him! If I were her, I too would be thrilled as I riding the waves.
Could it be the grave with the red hibiscus is the late Empress’ (a.k.a Patricia and Patrick’s mom) grave? Talk about cutting onion.