The lake was shimmering with soft moonlight.

Scattered couples who had enjoyed the festival and slipped away could be seen between the trees.

I looked around, searching for a place to sit.

“That spot looks good!”

The place I chose was in front of the lake where the grass had grown evenly.

Kashar, who was being dragged along by me, belatedly pointed to what I was holding.

“What’s that?”

“Hehe, look forward to it.”

It was the picnic bag I had been carrying since before attending the festival.

‘I’ve prepared everything.’

The monthly street festival in the capital was a dating course for couples.

As the finale of the eating and playing festival, the lake was recommended, and it was quite well-known that the moon on the water surface viewed from there was beautiful.

‘But Kashar can’t taste anything.’

In fact, he couldn’t taste or smell anything except the food I made.

“Wait just a moment!”

I hurriedly set up the place, leaving Kashar standing beside me.

I opened the bag, spread a cloth on the ground, and took out a thermos with magic on it.

“…A box?”

Kashar gave a puzzled look.

Indeed, the thermos was so large that it took up most of the space in the picnic bag.

“Come on, sit down quickly!”

When I patted the spot next to me, Kashar, who had been standing still, sat down on the picnic cloth.

His legs were so long that they stuck out, but in a place like this, it was perfect as long as your bottom was protected.

“You didn’t eat dinner again, did you?”

“Well. It’s fine even if I don’t eat.”

“Still, I worry about you.”

On days like today when he left the castle, he would either starve all day or only eat the lunch box I packed for him.

‘Today I could only prepare lunch for him.’

Not only was it a chore to eat food when he couldn’t taste it, but there was another problem.

‘He must still feel hungry.’

Even though it didn’t affect his health as a member of the imperial family, he still felt the emptiness in his stomach.

To not feel hungry at all, he would have to starve for a long time without eating even one meal. I disliked that even more.

‘…Is that why his personality has gotten worse?’

After all, meals have a significant impact on one’s mood.

Just because he became my man doesn’t mean I can say Kashar’s personality is good.

“I put my culinary skills to use.”

With those words, I opened the thermos, and a burst of heat rose up.

“Ta-da, roasted chicken!”

It was oven-roasted chicken, made by seasoning chopped chicken and baking it in the oven.

Between the well-roasted brown chicken pieces, there were whole potatoes and beautifully carved carrots inserted.

It was the perfect late-night snack.

But I still had a secret weapon left.

“You can’t have chicken without beer.”

There were two cans left in the picnic bag. One was alcoholic, and the other was non-alcoholic beer.

The midnight picnic was beginning.

“Doesn’t it smell good?”

“…It’s different from the smell of blood I’ve been smelling all day.”

This guy, what on earth did he do outside before coming back?

‘Come to think of it, he said he could recognize bad smells and tastes.’

I was curious about where he had been during the day, but I didn’t really want to know.

Instead, I just picked up a plump, glossy chicken leg and put it in his hand.

“Here you go.”

I should just feed him and pretend I didn’t hear anything.

Kashar, who had been quietly admiring the chicken’s appearance, put the tender meat to his lips.

‘Properly speaking, the skin should be chewy and crispy, and the meat should be full of juicy moisture.’

As proof of this, there was a faint trace of oil at the corners of Kashar’s mouth as he chewed.

As Kashar slowly chewed and swallowed the meat, his eyes gradually widened and his red pupils shook.

His hand automatically reached for the next piece.

‘Roasted chicken is the answer!’

He always ate my food with relish, but this time his reaction was the most definite.

I watched contentedly as Kashar tore into the chicken.

Of course, preparing food like roasting chicken and packing lunch boxes was labor-intensive and troublesome.

But.

‘If you think of it as an allergy, it’s easy.’

It was nothing to go to this much trouble for someone who could only taste the food I made when I brought him to a festival.

‘And he eats it so deliciously.’

The way Kashar ate the chicken could rival any model in a roast chicken commercial.

I didn’t wait and picked up the remaining leg.

As soon as I bit into the meat, hot steam and juices flowed out.

Now, at this point!

“Kashar! Let’s cheers!”

“Cheers?”

I opened the non-alcoholic beer can and handed it to him.

My share was, of course, a 6.5% alcohol lager beer.

“Cheers!”

I clinked cans with him and took a refreshing gulp of beer.

“Ahh-!”

The carbonation going down my throat made my whole body shiver.

It wasn’t extremely cold, but this cool sensation felt just like drinking beer at the end of a summer night.

‘It’s just like the Han River.’

If there’s Han River chicken and beer in the original world, there’s lake chicken and beer in this world.

I thought to myself that both were equally unbeatable late-night date courses.

Kashar followed my lead and put his beer to his lips.

After taking a few sips, Kashar tilted the can and narrowed his eyes.

“Is this a soft drink?”

“No? It’s alcohol? Just a different kind from mine.”

I lied, smearing chicken grease on my lips.

‘Patients shouldn’t drink alcohol.’

It wasn’t certain whether alcohol affected his madness, but alcohol was never good for chronic illnesses.

‘I’ll protect my lover’s health!’

It was the intense determination of a novice girlfriend.

The chicken was delicious, the moon reflected in the lake was beautiful, and my boyfriend’s appearance was perfect as always today.

Kashar put down the bone of the last piece of chicken on the napkin.

‘They say you should make it impossible to tell whether it’s seasoned or fried chicken just by looking at the bones.’

A man with talent for deboning.

I felt somewhat proud of him for perfectly practicing something he didn’t even know was a saying.

“Amazing.”

“Huh? What is?”

I was licking the saltiness off my fingers when he said this.

“How you can make food like this. And how I can taste what you give me.”

It was I who hesitated at Kashar’s words.

‘Have I been thinking too lightly about this?’

For him, tasting food and smelling good scents might be a much more special experience than I thought.

Like regaining color in a black and white world, that kind of miracle.

I asked again about something I already knew.

“You said it was madness, a curse, right?”

“Yes.”

The Alluvi fruit was only a temporary measure; only the holy power of the female protagonist could resolve the curse.

‘I wish I could break it for him.’

It was frustrating that I could neutralize the fruit that suppressed the madness, but couldn’t resolve the madness itself.

There was less than a year left before Elcius awakened as a saint.

It was a short yet long time.

‘But, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Kashar eat the fruit.’

Even though I neutralized the poison with my food, I had never actually seen him consume the fruit.

“Kashar, you’re eating the Alluvi fruit properly, right?”

“Well.”

Kashar only gave an indecipherable smile at my words.

“Do you want the curse to be broken?”

“Of course! Then that thing on your back would disappear too, right? Didn’t you hate it?”

The Oath of Truth. The leash put on by the Emperor was what he abhorred most.

Eventually, a bleak smile spread across his lips.

It was a chilling and cruel smile.

“I detest it. More than anything else.”

The oath was a vow to control the madness.

If Kashar showed abnormal symptoms, the Emperor could inflict pain on him. Terrible pain enough to wake him from the madness.

‘It’s not even an anti-barking collar.’

It would be abuse even if put on a dog. And he was doing this to his own child.

“Then we should break it quickly! I’ll look into it too!”

It would be fine to meet after the female protagonist awakens as a saint, but the earlier it’s broken, the better.

Kashar spoke as he watched me getting fired up.

“I think I know a way.”

“Really?! What is it?”

You should have told me such important information earlier!

As I brought my face close to his, he pulled me even closer into an embrace.

“If you give me about ten thousand kisses, I think the curse will be broken.”

“What are you talking about… Eek-!”

My body lost balance and tilted forward.

Before I could even brace myself on the ground, I was straddling Kashar.

“If you wanted this position, you could have just said so.”

“You’re the one who pulled me!”

I struggled, but the hands holding my waist showed no sign of letting go.

He was getting more and more lecherous.

‘At this rate, we’ll have a celebration before completing the bucket list!’

As everyone knows, a celebration meant a big and joyous event.

“So why don’t we try it?”

“Try what?”

“Ten thousand kisses.”

Before I could answer, our lips collided.

The deep kiss made my head spin, and the effects of alcohol suddenly hit me.

‘I only had one can of beer.’

Maybe it was because my breath was taken away.

I caught my breath like someone who had just surfaced from underwater, then suddenly asked something that came to mind.

“Kashar, can I ask what you like about me?”

It was a question I couldn’t ask without the help of alcohol.

As Kashar was about to say something, I cut him off with a warning.

“Except for the funny stuff.”

It meant if he said what he said at the room cafe again, he wouldn’t get even a drop in the future.

“What?”

He burst out laughing, shaking his abs, as if even my words were funny.

I shook along with him, being on top.

“Don’t tell me you’re really laughing because that’s all there is?”

You should change your future career to comedian or something.

As my eyes were gradually turning into triangles, Kashar cupped my cheeks.

“You’re unpredictable. When I think I’ve figured you out, you flow in a different direction. That’s why I can’t take my eyes off you.”

“…Ahem, that’s my charm.”

My eyes were already starting to glaze over. Even clearing my throat to compose myself didn’t help.

“You’re kind to children, and people are always around you. And yet these eyes.”

His touch caressed my eyelids.

“They keep following me like the moon or sun that appears when I turn around. This is a first for me.”

It was the first time he had shown his true feelings.

At that moment, Kashar’s narrative was sprouting in my mind.

‘He said his mother went mad.’

The woman who was said to have been locked in a tower due to mental illness even pushed away her own son.

“…I’ll keep caring for you.”

“Please do.”

Our overlapping lips were hot.

Maybe they’ll be swollen tomorrow.

But I wanted to cherish just this moment.

On a night when all other lovers had gone home.

Only he and Eileen remained by the lake.

Kashar was looking at the sleeping Eileen.

‘The reason I like you.’

He first became aware of his feelings on the balcony at the Oloje party.

‘It’s not just the food.’

It was when her hand touched his forehead, asking if he had a headache.

At that moment, the Oath of Truth responded for the first time.

He knew without seeing it. The red moon mark engraved on his back had faded ever so slightly.

If one escapes from the madness, they can also escape from the Emperor’s sphere of influence.

He realized then.

That Eileen was an even more special person than he had thought.

He knew she was special, but he thought that was the extent of it.

But.

Watching the whip about to strike Eileen in slow motion, he realized.

That he wasn’t viewing Eileen merely as a tool.

He almost burst into madness.

It was the first time he genuinely wanted to protect someone, not just an object.

On the way to escort her back to the Cold Palace.

Watching Eileen thank him for helping and comforting the children, dozens, hundreds of emotions crossed his mind. All of them were feelings he had never experienced before.

After that, when he kept Eileen in his domain, he felt fulfilled, and when she went out and was in danger, he wanted to destroy everything except Eileen.

Whether she knew these thoughts or not.

‘You shouldn’t skip breakfast!’

Eileen always bustled around him like a busy rabbit.

That sight was incredibly lovable, and he wanted to taste it again.

She still thought she was only treating the side effects of the Alluvi fruit.

‘I haven’t looked for that fruit in a long time.’

With Eileen by his side, he had nothing to fear.

‘Maybe the curse will really be broken on the ten thousandth kiss.’

He had long wished for the curse to be broken.

But now he had another thought.

Would she still care for him this much when that happens?

Putting aside what he had wished for and looking at the other person.

He thought this must be what it feels like to like someone.

“You give me a soft drink and drink alcohol yourself?”

She was even drunk.

It was so ridiculous he had to laugh.

Just as Kashar was about to rise from his seat, holding the sleeping one in his arms.

A faint light was emanating from Eileen’s nape.

‘…This is.’

Kashar’s face hardened.

The light that had flowed in her sleep was now gone.