“Just… the slave I’ve been training lately….”
Bellonia used a slave the Crown Prince already knew about as an excuse.
He was a prince of the Kingdom of Lempus, which had since become part of the Empire’s territory. She had begged the Emperor for him as a gift.
“That’s a lie.”
It was a fairly convincing excuse, but Auriel wasn’t fooled.
“Did you think I wouldn’t know?”
If she had really used it on that slave, would she have claimed she did it for his sake?
She would have openly admitted from the beginning that she wanted to toy with him.
“Bellonia.”
At his call, Bellonia raised her head. Her eyes trembled with fear.
“You intended to use it on ‘her,’ didn’t you?”
“……!”
There was no need to explain who ‘her’ was.
Reading the emotions in the princess’s eyes, Auriel spoke.
“You thought I’d let it go without knowing, since you failed.”
Bellonia’s shoulders flinched.
“She’s just a maid from another country. She could even be a spy trying to steal our secrets. I only acted because you seemed to be getting close to her, Brother….”
“And?”
Auriel’s eyes narrowed.
“You intended to use this to ruin her?”
The princess couldn’t possibly be unaware of the dangers posed by the compound poison known as the ‘love potion.’
How many slaves from fallen kingdoms had been ruined by it and subsequently disposed of?
“Surely… Surely you haven’t fallen for that woman? You’re not planning to make her the Crown Princess….”
“Never again.”
Auriel cut her off.
“Lay a hand on what belongs to me.”
It was a cold command that drew a clear line.
At the same time, a chilling killing intent pierced the princess’s skin.
His sharp reaction, as though she had touched a forbidden nerve, was something Bellonia had never seen from him before.
With tears welling in her eyes, Bellonia cried out,
“I… I’m a princess…! The Empire’s only….”
“That’s right.”
Auriel nodded.
“That’s why you’re still alive.”
The princess stared at him, her entire body frozen, unable even to breathe.
“There won’t be another chance.”
The Crown Prince rolled the silver vial around in his hand before tossing it into the flames of the quietly burning fireplace.
“Your maids won’t be coming back tomorrow. No one knows what happened today anymore. It’s just you and me.”
Realizing that he had come to her only after learning everything and dealing with the matter, Bellonia lowered her head.
“Don’t covet more than what you’ve been given, Bellonia.”
After delivering his final warning, Auriel turned and left the room.
Without looking back even once, he disappeared into the darkness of the corridor.
“Hh… ngh….”
Only then did the princess sink to the floor and release the breath she had been holding.
In the room, where the lingering sweetness of the compound poison still hung in the air, she remained motionless for a long time.
***
The moment I opened my eyes, I noticed something.
‘Why do I feel so refreshed?’
I had always thought I slept well, but today, in particular, I felt as though I’d had a deep, restful sleep without the slightest trace of fatigue.
Had I slept well past the time I was supposed to get up?
‘It’s about time I got up….’
As I tried to rise, feeling unusually light and refreshed, I finally noticed something.
I wasn’t inside my familiar sleeping bag.
And…
‘Huh…?’
I was being held in someone’s arms.
The man sleeping behind me, his arms wrapped around me, was enormous and warm.
Every time he exhaled, his comforting, cozy mana scent enveloped me.
‘That’s right. Last night, Elhardt and I….’
As the last traces of sleepiness faded, I remembered what had happened the night before.
Perhaps I felt so refreshed because of his high body temperature and pleasant mana scent.
‘But… hasn’t his scent changed a little?’
It had always been cool and clear, like the air in a winter forest, but now there seemed to be a hint of sweetness mixed into it.
A mana scent rarely changed much unless there was a shift in one’s values significant enough to alter the course of one’s life.
‘It can’t be because of me… right?’
No, that wasn’t right. I shouldn’t shirk responsibility.
It was only natural that I had played a significant part in it.
Feeling strangely conflicted, I lifted his arm from around my waist and tried to slip out of his embrace.
But…
“Ser….”
Muttering my name as though he were dreaming, Elhardt tightened his arms around me again, using the very arm I had just managed to free.
Then he buried his face in the nape of my neck.
His lips and the bridge of his nose brushed against my sensitive skin, and his languid breath spread over me.
‘Ugh….’
My back stiffened, sending a shiver down my spine.
‘Th-that tickles.’
I twisted and squirmed, letting out little groans, but suddenly froze.
…Something had touched me.
‘No way….’
I sucked in a sharp breath and hurled myself off the bed, escaping as though I were breaking free from a magical beast’s grasp.
‘That wasn’t… right?’
He wasn’t the Demon King of Incubi. There was no way an ordinary human could do that.
‘Was I imagining it…?’
Yes. That had to be it.
I crept back toward the bed.
I had to check before Elhardt woke up.
This was my only chance to make sure I hadn’t caused any unnecessary misunderstandings.
But…
“Ser… did you sleep well?”
Elhardt blinked sleepily and greeted me.
Well, considering how much I’d been flailing around, it would have been strange if he hadn’t woken up.
“Mm-hmm. Thanks to you.”
I hesitantly approached the bed.
“I’ll straighten the blankets for you.”
Elhardt might have woken up, but I couldn’t just give up now.
Desperately wanting to believe that what I’d felt had been something else, I grabbed the edge of the blanket covering him and gave it a good shake.
Then, while the blanket was fluttering, I quickly glanced underneath.
“……?”
…There was nothing there except Elhardt.
What I’d felt earlier really had been part of his body.
“Is something wrong? Are you still feeling unwell?”
When I lowered the blanket and stood frozen in a daze, Elhardt sat up and examined my face closely.
“Your face is red. I should check if you have a fever….”
“No, I! I mean… I’m fine now. There’s nothing wrong with me.”
Without thinking, I dodged the hand he reached toward my forehead.
Right now, it was like the instinctive wariness one felt toward someone holding a sword.
“I’ll wash up first. I think I sweated quite a bit last night.”
Leaving him sitting there, frozen, I hurried toward the bathroom as though fleeing.
‘Is it really that shocking? Some people are like this, and others are like that.’
Even when I tried to convince myself of that, the shock refused to fade.
‘Still, there are limits to what something is meant for.’
When I thought about what that enormous thing might be used for, I couldn’t simply laugh it off.
‘Wait, why am I freaking out when I’m not actually going to do anything with him?’
That was true, but…
Elhardt wanted to marry me.
He hadn’t said it outright, but after our conversation last night, I couldn’t possibly fail to realize it.
He would feel desire when he looked at me or touched me, and since he couldn’t show it, he would have to take care of it himself.
‘And if that’s the case….’
The scene that formed in my mind was utterly lewd.
‘Damn it! Why am I imagining that?!’
That was absolutely not the sort of thing I should be imagining while washing up on a refreshing morning.
‘This won’t do. I need to get to work.’
Keeping myself busy was the best way to avoid such ridiculous thoughts.
I quickly finished washing, changed into my maid’s uniform, and began my day by fetching food from the Central Palace.
I declined Elhardt’s suggestion that we eat together.
If I sat across from him and ate right now, I was sure I’d start imagining all sorts of absurd things again.
Fortunately, I had a pile of items I’d managed to acquire from the Crown Prince’s Palace.
My goal was to get everything arranged by the end of the day.
‘…There’s no way this will fit in Elhardt’s room.’
After seeing the Crown Prince’s Palace, I had an even clearer sense of just how cramped and uncomfortable Elhardt’s bedroom was.
‘Isn’t there a larger room in the detached palace?’
Now that Elhardt had a maid, I could use that as an excuse to sweet-talk the head chamberlain. It might not be impossible to move him to a better room.
Maybe I should give it a try.
I was looking around the rooms one by one when I reached the basement.
“Captain.”
A voice that should never have been heard came from directly above my head.
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