My fist shot straight forward and landed squarely on the man’s jaw.
Caught off guard with no time to defend himself, he lost his balance and fell to the ground.
My excitement lasted only a moment. When I heard a loud thud, I came to my senses.
Damn it. I’d caused trouble again!
But just as three days ago, I had a perfectly legitimate reason for what I’d done.
I mean, some strange man had just leaped onto the balcony where I was standing! A lady was in danger, and you expected her to just stand there and take it?
‘He’s not dead, is he? That would be a problem.’
Surely he wouldn’t die from falling from just the second floor, but things would be different if he’d been unlucky enough to break his neck.
I took off my cumbersome shoes, climbed over the railing, and landed on the ground where the man had fallen.
As I approached him, I saw his chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm.
‘Thank goodness, he’s still breathing.’
I pressed various parts of his body to check for injuries. Fortunately, nothing appeared to be broken or badly damaged. The grass beneath him must have cushioned his fall.
‘His jaw will probably bruise from my punch, though.’
“Ugh…”
The man regained consciousness, struggling to lift his eyelids as he turned his head toward me.
“Who—”
“Who are you?”
“What…?”
“Who are you, and why were you trying to sneak into the palace over a balcony like a thief?”
I demanded answers before he even had a chance to figure out what was going on.
“And who are you?”
Now fully conscious, the man shot back at me with an incredulous expression.
But I had no intention of telling him anything about myself before I got an answer.
“I asked you first.”
I pressed my knee threateningly against his solar plexus. If he didn’t give me a proper answer, I intended to put my weight into it and press down harder.
“I-I live here!”
Realizing what I was planning to do, the man panicked and hurriedly offered an explanation.
“You live here?”
“Y-yes! I’m a count of the palace!”
“If you’re a count who lives in the palace, why were you trying to climb in over the balcony?”
Surely a noble who lived in the imperial palace wouldn’t need to sneak inside like this.
‘Who do you think you’re fooling?’
As I put more weight on my knee, the man wriggled around like a slug sprinkled with salt.
“Because I snuck out without the emperor knowing!”
“You snuck out?”
“His Majesty doesn’t like it when I leave the imperial palace. So I sneaked out before the ball started, and now I’m coming back.”
“Why doesn’t His Majesty like you going out?”
“T-that’s a private matter. Anyway, it has nothing to do with what’s happening right now.”
“Hmm.”
I narrowed my eyes and examined him carefully.
His clothes were made of quite luxurious fabric and followed the latest fashion.
They fit him perfectly, and the design suited him well, so they didn’t look stolen or borrowed.
A faint scent of perfume mixed with alcohol drifted from him, suggesting he’d already had a drink somewhere.
On top of that, he wasn’t carrying any weapons.
‘He’s far too sloppy to be an intruder.’
It seemed likely that he was telling the truth about sneaking back in because he didn’t want anyone to find out he’d left the imperial palace.
“Fine. I’ll believe you.”
“That’s very kind of you. I’d be even more grateful if you’d get off me.”
Once I climbed off him, the man coughed and pushed himself upright.
I crossed my arms and watched him get to his feet and brush the grass off his clothes before speaking.
“Are you going to climb back up to the balcony?”
“Unless another lady decides to punch me, yes.”
Hahaha. Very funny.
“Then could I ask you for one favor? When you climb up, please toss my shoes down to me.”
“Your shoes?”
At the man’s bewildered look, as though he couldn’t understand what on earth I was talking about, I lifted the hem of my dress.
He glanced at my feet, covered only in silk stockings, and finally seemed to understand.
“You jumped down? From the second floor?”
The man looked back and forth between me and the balcony in disbelief.
“It’s not particularly difficult for a lady in good physical condition.”
“I don’t think your physical condition is the issue here…”
“So, are you going to give me my shoes or not? I can’t climb up walls like you while wearing a dress.”
“I can give them to you, but… what do I get in return?”
At his shameless question, I scoffed.
“I won’t tell anyone I met you, Count.”
“…Would that actually benefit me?”
“Of course. That way, no rumors will spread about how you sneaked out and back into the palace, only to get punched in the jaw by a woman. I’m protecting your reputation.”
“Hmm…”
Rubbing his jaw as he considered my words, he nodded as though he had to admit I had a point.
Then he climbed the wall and returned to the balcony with the agility of a flying squirrel. Judging by how effortlessly he moved, this probably wasn’t the first or second time he’d done something like this.
After climbing over the railing, he picked up my shoes.
All he had to do was toss them down. But he stood there, staring at them and taking his time.
“What are you doing?”
When I impatiently urged him on, the man glanced at me and then placed the shoes back on the balcony.
“Now that I think about it, the benefits are too small compared to all the trouble I’ve gone through. You broke my jaw, after all, so let’s call it even.”
With that, he disappeared into the building at a brisk pace.
“Hey! Stop joking around! Hey!”
But there was no response.
“What? Did he really leave?”
You little bastard!
***
As he strolled through the corridors of the Grand Palace with a light step, Jereon suddenly realized that he was in a good mood.
Just a few hours ago, his day had been as boring as any other.
But an unexpected encounter followed by a little commotion had completely overturned his expectations.
The moment he’d encountered the young woman on the balcony, Jereon had expected her to scream or become frightened.
If she was going to react at all, it would’ve been better for him if she’d simply frozen in fear. He could’ve gone inside without having to explain himself.
But the woman was different. Instead of being frightened, she’d shouted, ‘Who the hell are you?’ and attacked him without the slightest hesitation.
‘Not even a slap. She went straight for a punch…’
And a proper punch at that.
If her fist had landed a little higher, he wouldn’t have had the luxury of reflecting on the encounter like this.
Moreover, even after her attack had sent someone tumbling to the ground, she hadn’t shown the slightest sign of agitation. She hadn’t run away or expressed any concern.
Instead, she’d boldly restrained him once he’d regained consciousness and demanded to know who he was, glaring at him with golden eyes that seemed capable of seeing right through anything.
‘If anything, she’s the suspicious one here.’
Noblewomen learned swordsmanship as part of their education.
However, most of them merely practiced simple movements while wielding rapiers. Few ever actually used a sword in a real fight. Hand-to-hand combat was even rarer.
But this woman was experienced. He could tell just from the way she’d skillfully driven her knee into his solar plexus and pinned him down.
He’d briefly suspected she might be a mercenary pretending to be a noblewoman, but her skin was flawless, without a single scar, and the jewelry she wore appeared to be of excellent quality.
Even the jeweled pin in her elegantly arranged black hair made it obvious that she wasn’t some lady from an insignificant family.
And yet she’d had the nerve to jump from the second floor.
‘She was an interesting woman.’
Though the jaw she’d punched was still aching.
It occurred to him that since he hadn’t tossed her shoes down, she’d have to enter the palace wearing nothing but silk stockings.
He wondered whether she’d gone in through an ordinary door or found some other way.
Since she was capable of jumping from the second floor, perhaps she’d climbed back in over a balcony just as he had.
‘Should I have asked her name?’
Lost in such idle thoughts, he rounded a corner, only for someone to suddenly rush straight toward him.
Fortunately, he stepped back quickly enough to avoid a collision.
“It’s dangerous to run like that in the corridors.”
But instead of apologizing, the man who’d rushed over shouted at him.
“What are you doing here right now? Your Imperial Highness, the Prince!”
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