The morning sunlight hurt her eyes. It was strange, as the palace of Sierou usually didn’t get much sunlight and was often dimly overcast in the early morning. As Eustar rolled over, his hand touched the empty pillow.

At that moment, Eustar felt the sleep that had been making his whole body sluggish completely vanish. First, he realized this wasn’t his room, and then the events of last night washed over him like waves.

It had been a very long yet short night. He remembered that when the two of them fell asleep exhausted in each other’s arms, the sky outside was already turning blue.

“Laila.”

He tried to call out, but his voice was hoarse and no proper sound came out. After coughing a few times with a raspy voice, Eustar abruptly sat up.

“Laila!”

“Lady Kristrad is bathing.”

Mel’s voice was heard from outside. Though not visible, her calm yet somewhat excited tone made Eustar feel slightly embarrassed.

“I see.”

“Is there anything you need, Your Highness?”

“No, no. Don’t tell Laila I was looking for her. Let her rest slowly.”

“Understood.”

After Mel’s voice cut off, the soft sound of footsteps on carpet faded away. Suddenly, as if drained of energy or like a lazy person, Eustar lay back down and then suddenly giggled.

Again, the soft sound of footsteps brushing the carpet was heard. Eustar didn’t get up, but pulled the sheet to cover half his body. This time it was Laila.

With her hair still wet, wearing a thin robe, she returned alone looking somewhat angry. A fresh yet deep floral scent wafted, suggesting she had used perfumed oil.

“Did you sleep well?”

As Eustar raised his upper body and asked, Laila barely nodded, still averting her gaze from him. Seeing this, a smile appeared on Eustar’s face again.

Laila glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. His expression was like that of a young boy. That expression revealed a hint of shyness and an even more vivid joy.

“Why are you standing like that?”

Laila bit her lip for a moment, then cleared her throat.

“Because you’re occupying my bed.”

“We shared the bed, so you can’t say it’s just yours anymore.”

A blush as if on fire could be seen rising on Laila’s cheek, which was turned slightly to the side. Finding this sight unbearably lovable, Eustar stretched out both arms outside the bed.

“Come to me.”

“I just bathed. It’s already well into the morning. Eustar, you should also hurry and… Ah!”

A thin, sharp scream disappeared into warm lips.

Eustar pulled Laila into his arms, embracing her as if she were the only precious thing in the world, as if there was nothing more valuable and dear than this, and gave her a long kiss.

Their lips parted when they ran short of breath. Laila looked up at Eustar with a reddened face, somehow seeming to tremble.

The skin under the thin robe was still moist with water. Eustar’s palm touched it. It was a pleasant dampness.

“We overslept, Eustar.”

Laila added a word, but Eustar didn’t seem to mind. Laila also didn’t try too actively to stop him.

Her pomegranate-red eyes trembled. An emotion like anticipation tinged with lingering sensation rose up like a pulse and sparkled in the sunlight.

“Since we’ve already overslept, no one will say anything if we sleep a little longer.”

She felt his fingertips. Though she thought she had become familiar with it, having spent the entire night until dawn, it wasn’t so. Eustar’s movements were as new as if experiencing them for the first time, and they repeatedly caught Laila off guard.

“Eustar.”

Laila, barely managing to murmur a word, hugged his neck and clumsily kissed him. Her lips, swollen from the night before, stung slightly. But neither of them had time to feel any pain.

Mel did not tell anyone—finally—about the fact that Eustar and Laila had slept together, and ordered the other servants attending to Laila to keep their mouths shut as well.

But since one cannot sew people’s mouths shut, at some point, without knowing who started it, the rumor quietly spread.

At first, it was just the servants whispering among themselves for fun, saying things like, “Finally, His Highness the Prince Consort entered Her Ladyship’s bedchamber,” and “They said the marriage to Lady Kristrad was to get rid of the sink and catch ghosts, but it seems that wasn’t the case.”

But then it reached the ears of some nobleman who loved to gossip, and after half a day had passed, even Ord came to know of this fact.

“They slept together, you say.”

King Ord was sitting on the bed as usual. At least today, his complexion looked a bit better.

For a while, he had looked like he was about to die, to the point where officials were one by one giving up hope and starting to prepare for a national funeral in earnest, but surprisingly, he recovered again.

It was very slight, but the fact that he recovered at all was considered miraculous by the royal physicians, who were unanimous in their opinion.

Baso faithfully answered Ord’s muttered words.

“That is what they say, Your Majesty.”

“It’s probably not just a baseless rumor.”

Ord said this as if he had some kind of premonition.

Baso smiled, which was unprecedented.

“It’s a joyous occasion.”

Ord turned to look at him sharply.

“A joyous occasion, you say?”

“Are you not pleased, Your Majesty? The Prince Consort and Lady Kristrad have finally become true husband and wife, have they not?”

“Hmph, true husband and wife. No one has decreed that only those who mix bodies become true spouses, and those who don’t lack authenticity. It’s a narrow-minded view. Thinking that a relationship only becomes genuine when flesh rubs against flesh, it’s nothing but the foolish thinking of beasts. It’s an opinion no different from beasts who have no wishes or desires other than to mate and produce offspring.”

Ord was originally good at making caustic remarks, but today’s reaction was particularly irritable.

Baso erased the smile that was rarely seen from his face and returned to his usual stoic expression. He was mentally preparing himself in case Ord would become feverish or start coughing after his outburst.

However, despite his near-vitriolic words, Ord’s attitude remained calm and composed.

A strange peace seemed to have settled on his face, which was clearly marked by illness. His expression was like that of a wanderer who had finally found a place to rest after walking for ten days straight without a wink of sleep. But that peace was soon shattered.

“Your Majesty, Duchess Himierd requests an audience.”

The moment the servant delivered the message, the relief and peace that had appeared on his sickly face disappeared all at once.

Wrinkles formed on his forehead, which had nothing left but skin, his brows furrowed, and then a smile that seemed almost cruel appeared on his lips like a spasm.

“Let her in. Baso, draw the curtains and help me up. I’ll sit in the chair.”

Baso supported Ord and helped him move to the chair.

His arm resting on Baso’s shoulder had no weight at all. Was it just his arm? His entire body was like a tree branch. It was so light that it seemed it would fly off into the distance if blown hard, roll on the floor, and then just snap in two.

When Ord sat in the chair and brushed off his wrinkled nightclothes once, Himierd entered.

She unconsciously looked at the bed first and was surprised to find it empty, and only then did she see Ord sitting in the chair, basking in the sunlight.

Come to think of it, the room was bright. It had been who knows how long since sunlight had shone in brightly enough to examine the furnishings in every corner.

Himierd, with a slow and respectful manner, performed a court bow and said, looking at Ord:

“Your Majesty, I’m glad to see that you appear much more comfortable today.”

“Is that so, Duchess?”

Ord’s tone of questioning was nothing more and nothing less than mockery, but Himierd paid no attention to it. There were two reasons for this indifference.

The first was the resignation that Ord Hyanmorik’s body and mind would never be as sound as they used to be, and the second was the inner relief that there was improvement in the condition of the king, who was the pillar of Sierou, despite everything.

Himierd was a person who could spend her entire day solely planning and longing to put Eustar on the throne, believing that Ord was already beyond hope, but this stemmed from her loyalty to Sierou and the Hyanmorik royal family, and had nothing to do with her own self-interest.

Therefore, there was no reason not to feel relieved at seeing Ord show such marked improvement.

“What did you want to see me about?”

Ord’s hoarse voice shook Himierd out of her careful silence. She made an “Ah” sound as if waking from sleep and opened the meeting minutes she had brought. Her fingertips trembled slightly. This had never happened before.

“We had a meeting with the officials this morning. First, regarding the tax issue for this summer, it seems there was an epidemic in some areas of the western plains last winter, resulting in many deaths. So we’re considering lowering the midsummer tax to one-tenth of the usual amount, and looking at the recovery situation…”

“Is that all you came to see me for, Duchess Himierd?”

Himierd stared at Ord with bewildered eyes.

“Your Majesty, what do you mean? Do you think there’s another reason I sought an audience with you?”

For a moment, a smile mixed with contempt and mockery appeared on Ord’s lips. His bloodshot eyes were wet but sharp as a blade.

For a moment, it seemed as if the intelligence from the days before his illness had returned, but unlike then, it wasn’t a warm and rational brilliance. It was closer to malice, honed fiercely only to claw and tear others apart.

“There should be. You have ears, so you must have heard the rumors, right? Besides, who has the widest network in this Sierou palace? It’s you, Sui Himierd.”

Rumors? Himierd’s eyebrows finally furrowed. Rumors? She hadn’t heard anything.

As she had just told Ord, there had been a meeting with officials in the morning, and with the weather starting to improve in earnest, there were many things to discuss.

Having spent several hours without moving, raising her voice in persuasion, threats, or arguments, Himierd was still unaware of what words had been spreading around the palace since morning.

“Your Majesty, I do not pay attention to rumors. And even if I did, I was in meetings all morning today. I don’t know what rumors you’re referring to, but if it’s a rumor worth Your Majesty mentioning, it’s clearly not something to be taken lightly.”

An even more cruel-looking smile appeared on Ord’s lips.

“Right, it’s not. Not at all. The Prince Consort and his consort have finally consummated their marriage, and to borrow Baso’s words here, they’ve now become true husband and wife, so how could it be taken lightly? We should have celebratory drinks today. If an heir is born to the Prince Consort like this, not only I, but also you, who are solely concerned with the well-being of Sierou, will be able to rest easy. Isn’t that right, Duchess?”