“I’m saying it won’t be special as you mentioned. So, I have prepared a truly ‘special’ performance. To capture the atmosphere of a Tebelo Empire-exclusive party that cannot be seen on the Northern Continent.”

“A special performance? What is it?”

Lionel asked Emperor Adrian with a puzzled expression.

“After all, isn’t it crucial that parties are visually pleasing? You won’t be disappointed. Please look forward to it. Well, then, I will disappear to the star palace.”
“Yes, it might be a bit late, but thank you. Have a good rest, Emperor Adrian.”

In accordance with Lionel’s greeting, I also gave a slight bow to Emperor Adrian.

Emperor Adrian, who briefly met my eyes, walked towards the reception room door, extending one hand toward the door. As he did so, the reception room door opened automatically.

The silverfish left a perverted comment in my mind and disappeared.

Although it wasn’t very late, my fatigue was deepening like the night.

In the end, as Lionel suggested, I couldn’t return to the Empress’s palace and had to stay in the main palace bedroom.

“You seemed a bit off today.”

Lionel, coming out of the bathroom, asked me as I sat on the bed.

“That’s true.”

“From tomorrow, it will be even more hectic. I guarantee.”

Lionel approached me affectionately, releasing a hint.

Actually, there was no need to go until tomorrow, right?

Starting from the way he loosely tied the towel around his waist, he was making me restless.

I exchanged friendly glances with his muscles, each prominently displaying their presence from their respective positions.

He placed his hand on his waist and spoke to me.

“Earlier, I didn’t break our promise. You couldn’t resist and kissed me.”

“Oh, I didn’t kiss you because I couldn’t resist; it was the cocoa…”

I stopped speaking up to this point and closed my mouth again.

‘It might sound strange, but I can hear Emperor Adrian’s inner thoughts. But why did that damn silverfish test me by saying there was poison in the cup? So, seeing Lionel drinking cocoa, I lost my reason and kissed him…’

Forget it. Let it go.

Even if I told him the truth, he wouldn’t believe it.

More importantly, what is the real identity of Emperor Adrian?

And why can I hear Emperor Adrian’s inner thoughts? How is he able to communicate with me like this?

But how can I find out? What can I do?

In the midst of a momentary distraction, Lionel’s shy voice reached my ears.

“No more excuses. Even if you hadn’t kissed me first, I wouldn’t have been able to resist anyway.”

Lionel’s hand, with a towel wrapped around his waist, headed towards me.

“Even now, I really can’t resist…”

“Wear this!”

I held up his gown, which I had placed next to the bed, shaking it like a handkerchief.

Lionel looked at his gown, tilting his head with an expression asking, ‘What is that thing for?’

“Zelda. Do you need that now?”

“You might catch a cold.”

“My body would be warmer wearing you than wearing that thin gown.”

His eyes, casually spitting out such warm words, were boiling with heat.

Why does the expression ‘wearing me’ sound so peculiar?

Stay calm. Stay calm.

“To get warmer, running is the best.”
I cooled down my heated face, which had flushed jokingly, with a fan in my hand.

“Well, that’s true. So, speaking of that. Tonight, how about running together?”

“…What are you talking about?”

“If you get caught, I can do whatever I want, but if you come back to the bedroom without getting caught, then I’ll grant you one wish.”

“Really… Are you suggesting we literally run, right now?”

“As expected… Our Empress was expecting something else, huh?”

Lionel, holding the edge of the towel around his waist, asked lazily.

“Oh, no, it’s not that.”

“Your face completely says otherwise.”

Lionel mimicked my tone and laughed.

“Well, naturally, you would lose the game.”

“I… This might surprise you when I say this.”

I should have kept my mouth shut here.

“Hmm, I see. I’ve never let go of someone I should have caught.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah.”

“Then shall we give it a try?”

“Tonight, the history of one of us will change.”

“Really, are we going to start?”

“We should.”

He nodded willingly.

I slowly descended from the bed with a determined expression.

“If you get caught while running, it’s over, but if you manage to come back to this bedroom without being caught, then you win. Got it?”

“Okay.”

Unexpectedly, a tense atmosphere arose between us in the middle of the night.

A sudden tension, unrelated to what was felt on the bed, began to circulate between us.

“Throw that first. It’ll be perfect for turning into a real beast when this towel comes off while running.”

Lionel pointed to his clothes placed on the bed.

I tossed his gown to him.

Oh, come on… Am I not supposed to do one thing at a time?

While Lionel used one hand to put on the gown I handed him, he used the other to pull the towel down.

For a moment, my right eye and left eye played separately.

This seemed to be a plan to disturb my mind unnecessarily, but it’s not going to work.

I closed my eyes tightly, preparing to run as much as I could.

Lionel, as if doing warm-up exercises, turned his waist seriously and spoke.

“To say it again, if you get caught, then I’ll do as I please.”

It won’t be that easy.

“Tonight, Your Majesty, you’ll realize that things don’t always go as planned. Now is the time for that.”

While stepping back towards the bedroom door, I provocatively challenged him.

He laughed as if pitying me.

“Cute. I feel like I’ve become a hunter chasing a rabbit. What does a hunter do first when he catches a rabbit?”

“Well, what? Do they give it a carrot?”

I replied seriously.

“They skin it.”

“…You’re not seriously targeting my skin, are you?”

I covered my body with both hands.

“Fortunately, humans have another layer on top of their skin.”
In short, it was a statement to undress.

“You won’t find the hunt easy tonight.”

Coincidentally, I was in a comfortable state, having changed into a light dress that Sharon brought from the Empress’s Palace during the evening.

“Yeah, it won’t be fun if it’s easy. In that sense, I’ll give you a 5-second head start.”

“You’ll regret it, won’t you?”

“Not at all. What are you waiting for? Bunny, start running!”

With a fist on his chest, he began counting.

Five seconds could cover quite a distance.

He surely knows this fact, so why is he giving me 5 seconds?

Isn’t he really underestimating my running ability?

“One, two… thr…”

Moreover, Lionel was counting slowly, leisurely.

With a triumphant smile, I dashed to the bedroom door and swung it open.

Though torches were lit in the middle of the corridors on each floor of the main palace, the long corridor felt even more distant in the night.

Tonight, I’ll show you the human cheetah.

Without a chance for him to turn around, I started running through the corridor.

“Clear the way!”

The attendants waiting outside the bedroom were blocking my path with surprised faces but quickly split apart on both sides.

“Come on, come on, come on!”

Behind my desperate voice, Lionel’s voice immediately overlapped.

“Move, move, move!”

Is this guy really counting 5 seconds?

It feels like he followed after only 3 seconds.

While running through the corridor, I glanced back briefly.

Lionel was chasing me at a terrifying speed.