If You Take the Enemy Prince as Your Knight Chapter 134

✦

I lifted my heavy eyelids. The pale light filtering through the window told me it was dawn. It was still early enough to sleep more, but for some reason, I felt like I should open my drowsy eyes.

 

My hazy mind noticed something strange. This isn’t my room. As my eyes wandered, a neatly arranged bookshelf and desk, with a window overlooking a quiet garden, came into view. It was unfamiliar and yet familiar at the same time. I quickly realized where I was. It’s Regen’s room.

 

I had never been particularly wary around to begin with, and now that I felt completely safe, drowsiness immediately threatened to overtake me again. Come to think of it, the fireplace looked as though only ashes remained, yet the bed felt very warm. Why was that…?

 

“…!”

 

My mind suddenly snapped awake. Startled, I lowered my gaze. Below my bare chest, I could see a man’s arm and hand wrapped firmly around my waist. The prominent knuckles and long fingers were far too familiar.

 

Only then did the situation become clear. Who was holding me from behind. What had happened between us last night. Everything came back to me. Feeling his steady breath against the back of my neck, I tried to calm myself with deep breaths as well. But it wasn’t easy. After all, we had slept together. I really had slept with Regen.

 

“Ah…” My heart pounded with joy. Is it really okay for reality to be more wonderful than a dream? This is amazing. What should I do? I love this so much. I spent quite a while celebrating internally. The fact that I remained quietly nestled in his arms was practically a miracle. After my excitement gradually settled, the fatigue from the previous night returned.

 

I wanted to stay wrapped in his embrace and sleep a little longer, but I held myself back. If I don’t get back to my room soon, the maids might notice. Wondering whether there was some way to escape his arms without waking him, I carefully squirmed. The moment I did, I felt his arm around my waist tighten.

 

“Where are you trying to go?”

 

His breath suddenly brushed against my ear, startling me.

 

“Are you awake?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Well, for a knight like him, my movements probably sounded as loud as thunder. Since he was already awake, perhaps that made things easier.

 

“Um, Regen. Could you let go of your arm…”

 

“You can’t leave.” Regen was firm. “I was taught that spending the night with someone and then leaving without a word is not proper manners.”

 

“I was taught that too, but…”

 

Just as I found myself becoming the rude princess in this situation, Regen pointed out something I hadn’t expected.”

 

“Do you regret it?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Last night. Do you wish it had never happened?”

 

“What? Absolutely not.” I denied it in alarm. It would become one of the most precious memories of my life. If anything, I had worried that Regen might regret it. But seeing how tightly his arm remained wrapped around my waist, he didn’t seem inclined toward that. Honestly, that made me happy.

 

Apparently, my sincerity had gotten through. His voice softened again. “Then stay here.”

 

“But the maids will find out…”

 

“Even if we hide it today, they’ll learn eventually.”

 

“…”

 

My heart skipped a beat. What he had just said carried the implication that what happened last night would happen again. My thoughts immediately filled with anticipation. Could it be sometimes? Often? Or maybe… every day? I could feel heat rushing to my face. Thankfully, my back was turned toward him. Is this what having a lover feels like?

 

Even someone as pessimistic as me couldn’t find a reason to be discouraged this time. The man who had spent the night with me was Regenhart Lohengrin. A man who valued chivalry as much as his own life would never consider a casual relationship. If anything, it would be the opposite.

 

Regen was a good man. If I insisted he take responsibility, he probably would. If even things went well, marriage might even be possible…

 

“…”

 

I shook myself back to reality. Wasn’t it a bit excessive to already be thinking about tying someone down and keeping them by my side? For now, I decided to simply enjoy this moment.

 

“Okay.” Pretending to surrender, I wiggled deeper into his embrace.

 

A satisfied chuckle vibrated through his chest, and he pulled the blanket up to my neck.

Get a little more sleep. I’ll have bathwater prepared and wake you later.”

 

“Yes…” Even after deciding to enjoy the comfort of his arms, one concern remained in my mind. “What are we going to tell the maids?”

 

“…”

 

“Up until yesterday, we had a very official relationship…”

 

“…Was that really the case?”

 

“Of course. If they find out we suddenly ended up like this, they’ll be shocked. They might think I’m a shameless princess who finally seduced her own knight…”

 

“…”

 

“Well, I guess that’s true. I’ll accept that much disgrace…”

 

“No one will be surprised. Go to sleep.”

 

Regen’s gentle hand stroked various parts of my body soothingly, making me sleepy. In the end, I abandoned my worries about the important issue and closed my heavy eyes. I think I muttered in my sleep.

 

“Regen.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“You’re warm.”

 

I felt his embrace tighten around me.

 

“Regen.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“I like it so much…”

 

There was no answer, no reaction. I simply drifted back to sleep.

 

✦

Whether she meant she liked him or simply felt good was unclear. But it didn’t matter. The beloved princess was in his arms now. For the moment, that was enough.

 

Regen pressed a lingering kiss to the back of Sasha’s fair neck. Despite his efforts the previous night not to leave marks above her collarbone, his possessiveness had nevertheless stained her fair skin with red traces.

 

“Sasha.”

 

As he pulled her closer into his embrace, a dark light flickered in his eyes. She had given him her first kiss. And now her first night as well. In Regen’s understanding of the world, that meant he and the princess now belonged exclusively to one another.

 

As it happened, Sasha had once claimed that if both people were allowed to possess each other equally, then possessiveness itself was not a problem. And Sasha knew exactly what kind of man Regen was. She knew what it meant for the third prince of Lohengrin, a man who cherished honor, to spend a night with a woman. No, she needed to know.

 

“A person with a strong sense of responsibility and duty. A truly noble man.”

 

Lowering his head, he pressed his lips against her shoulder. With a gesture as respectful as worship, the knight desired the princess.

 

15. Offering Blood Upon Blooming Shrine

“It has been sold for a final bid of 750,000 gold!”

 

“…”

 

The sound of a wooden gavel echoed throughout the spacious hall. The girl standing on the stage reacted, slowly lifting her head. She had been dressed with extraordinary care. The ivory-colored dress she wore was layered with lace and elaborately puffed out, adorned with gorgeous flower-shaped corsages in vintage autumn colors. With a jeweled flower crown resting atop her long, flowing hair, she looked like a fairy from the forest. But this fairy had clearly been captured and stripped of her vitality. Her green eyes were lifeless and gloomy.

 

Shumel swept her half-focused gaze around the room. She saw the audience seats surrounding the stage and the wooden bidding paddles held by the assembled nobles. Ah, right. The dowry auction. Only then did she fully realize her situation. The backlash from the covenant Shumel had made to save Ciel had cost her dominion. Unable to retain a personal knight, she had been deemed eliminated from the competition, leading to the situation she now found herself in.

 

Ciel, gravely injured, had still not regained consciousness even after a week. Shumel thought that might actually be for the best. The moment he woke up, the consequences of the broken domination would come crashing down on him. She did not have the courage to face the resentment that might be several times or perhaps dozens of times greater than before. Once sold at auction, Shumel would be removed from the imperial palace. Perhaps it would be better for both of them to part ways like this.

 

So the auction…? What had happened…?

 

As the nobles began leaving in droves, a middle-aged auctioneer pretending to be a gentleman approached her. “Lady Shumel, it’s time for you to accompany the baron.”

 

“Ah…”

 

So she had been purchased by a baron. A small spark of curiosity finally appeared in her dull eyes. I wonder who it is. I hope they’re old. She hoped that fortune similar to Sehera’s would smile upon her and eventually allow her to enter a convent.

 

However, the winning bidder who came to claim Shumel was surprisingly young. There was another unexpected detail as well.

 

“A woman…?”