The Morning After That Night
* * *
“What on earth do you think you’re doing!”
I sprang up from the bed like a coiled spring and snatched up a large pillow. In one swift motion, I charged at Illid and began whacking his body with it.
“There are things you joke about and things you don’t! How could you play a prank like this?!”
“I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry.”
Illid kept apologizing, simply taking every blow I delivered. I hadn’t even hit him that many times, yet the pillow had already burst open, sending white feathers fluttering through the air.
I grabbed his collar with my bare hands and shook him violently. Even that wasn’t enough to ease my fury.
“Did you take my clothes off too?”
“Pardon?”
“If it wasn’t you, then why am I dressed like this?!”
“Good heavens, what do you take me for!”
Illid, who had been silently enduring my assault, finally voiced his grievance. He pointed toward a small pillow and thin blanket on the long sofa.
“I slept on the sofa last night. In my half-asleep state, I heard the Duchess keep murmuring, ‘It’s hot, it’s so hot.’ It seems you undressed yourself.”
“……I did?”
Now that he mentioned it, I did tend to sleep in lighter clothing after drinking heavily. And yesterday had been one of those rare nights when the liquor was exceptionally strong.
“Turn around.”
“Pardon?”
“I said turn around. I’m going to get dressed.”
“Ah, yes, of course.”
Illid spun his body around where he sat at the desk. As if determined to avoid any suspicion, he even buried his face in the tall stack of documents.
I gathered up the dress and petticoat that lay scattered messily around the bed. Though it was a far simpler negligee than what I usually wore, trying to put it on while still half-drunk made my head spin so badly I thought I might die. After I had been struggling and grunting for quite some time, Illid’s voice reached me again.
“Would you like me to help?”
“What? No. Absolutely not.”
His kindness was so courteous I couldn’t tell whether it was genuine manners or if he had ulterior motives. I finally managed to slip the dress on and walked past him.
“You can look now.”
Only after my permission did Illid lift his lowered head. A white feather from the pillow still clung to his damp black hair.
Creak—
I climbed the tall ladder carrying a long one and began hurling books of various thicknesses and sizes from the high bookshelf, scattering them haphazardly onto the marble floor.
“What are you doing?”
Illid asked, dodging the falling books left and right.
“We spent the entire night discussing trade and commercial rights.”
“Pardon?”
I slid down the ladder like a streak of lightning and stood before him. Then, enunciating each syllable as clearly as a tutor, I declared:
“We discussed the Tebron Empire’s trade and commercial rights last night. Do you understand?”
“Ah, yes……”
“What did we do all night?”
“We discussed the empire’s trade and commercial rights!”
Illid repeated my words like a clever parrot.
“Good. Very good.”
I nodded and picked up one of the books that had fallen to the floor, hugging it to my chest.
“I’ll be borrowing this as part of our alibi.”
“Of course. Please do.”
“And……”
Just before leaving his quarters, I paused and glanced back. When I hesitated for a long moment, Illid blinked at me with a curious expression.
“About what happened last night…… we were both quite drunk……. So we can just forget everything, right……?”
It was embarrassing, but I felt I had to make it clear. I planned to leave as soon as I heard his answer, but strangely, Illid remained silent.
“Hmm…… I’d rather not.”
“You’d rather not……?”
“Yes. I wasn’t that drunk, you see.”
“……Pardon?”
“Well then, have a safe journey. Come visit again, Ishtel.”
Wearing the neat smile I liked best, Illid saw me off. I stood frozen in front of the closed door, my face burning red.
‘So he’s going to keep remembering what happened yesterday?’
Why would he say something so unsettling……? In my anxious state, I could only bite down hard on my poor lip.
‘Don’t read too much into it. It would be best if nothing had happened at all.’
With that thought, I turned away. Forcing myself to appear completely unaffected, I fixed my gaze on the stack of books cradled in my arms.
“The books were so fascinating that I completely lost track of time. As expected, when one speaks of trade, one speaks of the South. Make sure to remember that, all of you.”
On my way back to my quarters, I felt as though the eyes of every imperial servant were following me. I deliberately raised my voice so everyone could hear.
When I began struggling under the weight, several servants approached to offer to carry the books for me. Even as I handed them over, I couldn’t shake thoughts of that man from my mind.
The refreshing impression given by his damp hair, the firm shoulders where white feathers had settled. The unexpectedly mischievous glint in those captivating eyes and the curve of his lips.
Memories of the previous night flooded back. The body heat I had felt while we held each other, the touch of his hand against my cheek, the softness of his lips. Every place his body had touched still burned with an oddly intense heat.
‘I must be crazy. There’s no doubt I’ve gone mad.’
My face flushed hot once more. I hugged the very last book tightly to my chest. A single white feather had somehow landed on its cover as well.
* * *
“Because of all of you, I’m completely ruined. Utterly ruined! How are you going to take responsibility for this, hmm?”
In a small room in the western palace of the imperial grounds, Hellion was pouring out his resentful complaints to the women seated around the table.
Baroness Turen kept tilting her head in confusion, while Rose and Shuri sat with tense expressions, their legs trembling beneath the table.
In contrast, Molly—who was simply overjoyed to see Hellion again—kept comforting him and offering him cookies filled with jam. Hellion turned his head away with a sulky expression, refusing to eat.
“Why? Is it because there’s no milk? Shall I run to the dining hall and fetch a bottle?”
“Stop treating me like a child, Molly.”
Hellion shot her a sharp glare. But Molly simply gazed at him with adoring eyes, as if even that was adorable.
“Hey, you.”
Shuri flinched when Hellion suddenly pointed at her.
“And Lady Roseri.”
Though he addressed her with far more courtesy than he had Shuri, Rose still jumped in surprise.
“Can someone explain to me what happened? I asked you to give me conversation topics suitable for Ishtel, so how could you bring up something that would completely ruin the mood?”
“How was I supposed to know it would turn out like that?! I only told you the hottest gossip in the imperial palace these days, just as Your Highness the Archduke requested!”
Rose whined, her eyebrows drooping in an exaggerated frown as if deeply wronged.
“My preparations were perfect. That maid is currently the most talked-about person in the palace! And thanks to the Duchess visiting her, she even received praise from His Majesty. It was the perfect conversation topic!”
“That’s right! You even said it was interesting after hearing it—you said it was perfect! Why are you only blaming us?!”
Shuri chimed in, backing up Rose.
Hellion let out an irritated sigh and unconsciously reached for a cookie beside him. Even as the sweetness filled his mouth, his hardened expression showed no sign of softening.
“See? I told you he’s still a baby.”
The nanny, who had been watching, broke into a wide smile.
During the previous first meeting of Ishtel’s innermost circle, Baroness Turen had given a detailed explanation of Hellion’s shortcomings.
His blunt and cold personality might seem charming to others, but not to Ishtel.
Ever since the Crown Prince’s death, Ishtel had been handling not only the Crown Princess’s duties but also the political responsibilities that should have fallen to the Crown Prince. She was a woman with neither the time nor the leisure to peer into the deep heart of a cold man.
That was why Baroness Turen had told Hellion to be a little gentler. To which Hellion had replied,
“How exactly do I do that?”
leaving the baroness utterly speechless.
‘Ah, so despite his appearance, he really doesn’t know much about women.’
In the end, Baroness Turen had patiently explained everything step by step, tailored to Hellion’s level.
“Make eye contact when you speak.”
“Find interesting conversation topics.”
“Ask questions throughout the conversation to draw out a reaction.”
“Smile gently.”
The theory was flawless. What had gone wrong in practice, however, remained a mystery.
“In any case, the Ishtel innermost circle meeting is officially dissolved. None of you are any help at all!”
Hellion stood up, brushing the crumbs from his mouth after finishing the cookie. But just as he turned to leave—
“Hold it right there.”
A voice as cold and deadly as ice rang throughout the room.
“You may have convened this meeting on a whim, Your Highness, but you cannot dissolve it so easily. Sit back down.”
It was Baroness Turen, who had remained silent until now.
“You have wounded my pride, Your Highness. For the past twenty years, I have been called the flower of high society, maintaining a one-hundred-percent success rate in romance counseling. And you say I am of no help?”
The baroness’s beautiful green eyes blazed like a burning meadow. Not only Hellion, but Rose, Shuri, and even Molly held their breath.
“What do you think will happen if I go to Archduke Illid instead?”
The baroness asked Hellion in a half-threatening tone.
“He is already an outstanding man in every respect. If he were to receive my coaching as well, wouldn’t that be quite something? Do you truly believe you would stand a chance against him, Archduke Hellion?”
“No! Absolutely not!”
Hellion cried out in panic and hurriedly returned to his seat.
Even without that, Illid had already scored a great many points with Ishtel. If the gap widened any further…… he might never be able to catch up.
“Then what should I do, Baroness?”
Hellion looked at her with desperate eyes and voice. Today, he looked less like a red wolf and more like a dejected large dog. The sight was so endearing that the baroness’s heart softened just a little.
“Now that I think about it, the Sky Lantern Festival is coming up soon, isn’t it?”