Floyd stared at her as she looked up at him, leaning against the giant wolf.

Long platinum blonde hair, clear purple skin shining under the sunlight, large eyes containing forest-like irises, slightly parted lips, and delicate shoulders extending from a slender neck.

The moment their eyes met, Floyd’s time stopped. Her surreal beauty stole his time away.

His heart, which remained calm even with beasts nearby, was beating unusually hard. Though his ears rang with the thudding heartbeat – thump, thump, thump – he was too focused on her to pay attention to it.

‘She looks healthy.’

Floyd barely managed to squeeze out a single thought. Otherwise, he felt he might do something uncontrollable, overwhelmed by this unknown emotion.

Indeed, she looked healthier than before she left. Her once pale skin now had a rosy hue, and her flushed cheeks were full of life, as if rubbed with strawberry juice. Her green eyes sparkled more than before, and her lips looked moist like flower petals covered in dew.

I want to kiss her.

The moment he saw her lips, an intense urge took over his mind.

Even though she no longer seemed fragile or about to scatter, he wanted to kiss her.

‘Why?’

He didn’t know the reason.

He only knew that this was purely a desire for himself. He wanted to kiss her not to save her, but solely to satisfy his own greed.

Realizing that this overwhelming emotion was entirely his own, his breath caught. At the same time, a memory he had barely crumpled up and buried deep inside burst forth.

−”Every time you do something wrong, your mother will be punished in your place. Do you understand?”

The damp voice crawled up like a snake and burrowed into his ear.

And his mother, collapsed and covered in blood inside a tower without a speck of light. Yet he couldn’t tend to her, only able to see her through the small window of the solid iron door. Like a beast trapped in a cage, like an old animal past its usefulness in a circus, his mother lay on the cold floor, gasping for breath.

Even while enduring torture that made her wish for death, his mother didn’t bite her tongue. It was quite some time later that he learned the reason was because of him. He found out too late that the cursed woman had repeatedly told his mother, “If you die, your son will take your place.”

If he had known earlier, he would have thrown away his life to break his mother’s shackles.

Remembering the sticky voice and the cold touch on his shoulders made him nauseous. He thought he had improved a lot, no longer feeling sick when dealing with women because of that woman, but he didn’t know why she suddenly came to mind at a moment like this.

Roxiana didn’t resemble that woman at all. Not a single part of her was similar.

At that moment, Roxiana composed her surprised expression and slowly stood up. After lightly adjusting her skirt, she walked towards Floyd.

Floyd wanted to stop her from approaching while also wanting to embrace her. As he stood frozen, not knowing how to sort out these contradictory feelings, Roxiana stopped in front of him and looked up at him, tilting her head back.

“Your Highness, are you feeling unwell?”

Large eyes. Eyes with a golden rim around the deep green edge. Those eyes were truly like a forest. A forest on a very fine day with strong sunlight. Sunlight seeping through the dense trees of a forest.

Floyd remembered the scent of such a forest on that kind of day.

The scent of damp earth and trees, with a faint mix of flower fragrance – a scent Floyd loved very much.

With that, his churning insides gradually settled. The terrible past that had been shaking his mind silently scattered.

“No, it’s just…”

Floyd barely managed to squeeze out his voice.

His hand gently caressed her smooth cheek. As her soft cheek touched his palm, the terribly damp memories disappeared completely.

“It’s dazzling.”

As he said it, he really thought so.

“The princess is dazzling.”

“What?”

Seeing her eyes widen in surprise, Floyd smiled. The smile that appeared on his face was kind and sweet as usual, but with an unfamiliar touch of loneliness.

It was the first time he had smiled at Roxiana like that, so she held her breath. Thinking that his hand on her cheek felt particularly hot.

“May I kiss you?”

An unexpected question flowed from between his lips. Roxiana took a deep breath and barely managed to answer.

“But I’m not sick anymore.”

“I am.”

“Ah!”

Roxiana was startled and moved closer to him.

“Where are you hurt?”

Roxiana, examining his body here and there, was like a rabbit. So very small that it seemed she might burst if grasped in his hand – a delicate and lovable creature.

Unable to hold back any longer, Floyd wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close. Pressing their bodies tightly together, he whispered intimately.

“May I?”

Roxiana held her breath.

Her mind was in a whirl.

‘Really? Is this not a joke? A kiss? To me? Because he’s sick? Where is he hurt? Is it very painful? But my kiss won’t be of any help. Does kissing make it less painful? But even if it’s for healing, is it okay to keep kissing someone you haven’t made any promises with? Is it alright? Is that so? Or not?’

Her thoughts, unable to find their bearings, floated around in her head, making her feel dizzy.

Even in the midst of this, he was gazing at her intently, as if waiting for an answer. Amidst her confusion, Roxiana realized that his ash-colored eyes were similar to the color of the dark clouds that had covered Torcan for the past few days.

‘Is that why I thought of this man whenever I looked at the sky?’

She realized she had been thinking about him all along without even knowing it. Although there was no way his eyes could read the various thoughts contained in her mind, she lowered her gaze, feeling as if he might see through her thoughts.

Then she saw his lips.

‘With these lips…’

So this is what healed me. These lips that touched my lips and neck, breathed life into me and pieced together my shattered soul.

Her heart started beating wildly, just as when she first saw Floyd earlier. In the midst of that violent throbbing, Roxiana thought.

‘What’s the use of all this worrying?’

Roxiana was no longer a princess who had to maintain proper posture and be careful with her words and actions. Like Floyd, who used a barrel as a table and drank from a wooden cup, Roxiana too could do whatever she wanted.

‘If they want to point fingers and say it’s unladylike, let them.’

She knew that at least Floyd wouldn’t mock her for it. Although she didn’t know much about this man, for some reason she was certain of that.

That was enough.

When she was with Floyd, she could act as she pleased. Just as he had pulled out snacks from his pocket, Roxiana decided to be free. At least in front of him.

And so, Roxiana closed her eyes.

His lips overlapped with hers. It didn’t take long for the lips that had touched carefully to move deeply and intensely. His body heat seeping through her parted lips led her to a hot and intimate place.

She could vividly feel his palm on her back. The heat flowing along her neck gathered warmly below her solar plexus. Sensual sounds dominated her hearing, and his breath brushing her nose shook her brain.

Although she had kissed him several times before, a new sensation tickled the tips of Roxiana’s toes as if it were the first time. For some reason, her legs kept losing strength, but his thick arms firmly bound her, preventing her from falling and pulling her towards him.

Just as she thought she might melt into his flesh, his lips parted from hers. As she slowly opened her eyes, his eyes filled her vision.

He looked a bit tired.

Roxiana found herself gently brushing aside the hair covering his eyes and said,

“Shall I put you to bed?”

“What?”

Just as Roxiana had been surprised by his request for a kiss, now it was his turn to widen his eyes in surprise. Finding his flustered appearance a bit amusing, Roxiana said,

“Your sleeping arrangements are uncomfortable, aren’t they? If I’m by your side, you’ll be able to use a blanket, so please rest your eyes for a moment before you go.”

“Ah…”

Floyd turned his head to the side and covered his mouth. The cheek above his hand covering his mouth seemed to redden for a moment, but Roxiana pretended not to notice and lowered her gaze.

After staying like that for a while, he spoke in a somewhat lower voice.

“Then I’ll take you up on that offer.”

+++

Kirshan didn’t have the luxury to enjoy the welcome party. Although the greatest task for the knights, the subjugation of magical beasts, was over, Kirshan had an even greater assignment left.

Kirshan gathered all the herbs brought from the Kingdom of Enilta and those in the Grand Duke’s palace storehouse, and headed to the research lab at the top of the west tower. It was time to put into practice the treatment method he had only been thinking about throughout the subjugation.

Adrian and Cain helped move the boxes. Walking close by, Cain grumbled to Adrian.

“What’s with you? Why aren’t you dancing like a madman in front of people and instead here?”

“Oh my. You, pretending to dislike it but actually wanting to see my dance? I can dance for you right now, shall I perform a dance just for you after so long?”

“…Please don’t.”

Although dust had settled thickly in the long-abandoned research lab, Kirshan paid no mind and plopped down in the chair in front of the desk. As a cloud of dust rose, Adrian coughed and opened the window.

“Shan, shouldn’t we clean up first?”

“No time for that.”

Kirshan replied perfunctorily while quickly writing something down on a long piece of paper. It was the method for making an ointment that could heal deep wounds without leaving scars.

From now on, he would make everything he had thought of one by one, verify their effectiveness, and then proceed with Roxiana’s treatment. Kirshan wanted to erase the brand from that brave princess’s shoulder as soon as possible.