The Grand Duchess's Indirect Kiss
The carriage stop in the heart of the Imperial Capital was already packed from early morning, so crowded there was barely room to stand. When the carriage door opened and the vivid air from outside the palace rushed deep into my lungs, I unconsciously drew in a deep breath.
The morning clamor of the capital that I had only heard through shadows now struck my ears in real time. The savory aroma of freshly baked rye bread, the sweet scent of fruit syrup, the rumble of carriage wheels rolling over rough cobblestones, and the loud cries of merchants. Everything was overwhelmingly vivid.
“Your Highness, please step down.”
Adelina, who had gotten off first, reached out to me. Dressed neatly in her white uniform jacket, she looked so noble under the midday sun that it almost hurt to look at her. The dignity of the Grand Duchess of the North—known as the Empire’s shield—did not fade even in the middle of the capital’s bustling market street. If anything, it carried a cool weight that instantly silenced the surrounding noise.
I nodded with a dumb expression and took her hand. Her palm, hardened with calluses yet pleasantly warm, wrapped around mine.
“The streets of the capital are complicated, so I might lose Your Highness. I absolutely must not let go.”
She slid her slender fingers one by one between mine. Then she gently tugged our clasped hands, pulling my body close against her side. We were so near that her white-uniformed shoulder brushed lightly against mine with every step. The faint, cool scent of northern snow completely erased the murky air of the capital.
“Yeah! I’ll hold Adel’s hand tight! I won’t let go!”
“Mmm. Then let’s go.”
With a satisfied smile, she began walking. She gradually slowed her pace to match my slower steps.
Clowns in colorful primary-colored costumes were performing magic tricks, tossing juggling balls into the air and breathing fire. On one side, magic toys embedded with mana stones floated through the sky on their own, creating rainbow soap bubbles that drew cheers from children.
The outside world I had only ever touched indirectly through letters, secondhand reports, and the eyes of shadows was now right in front of me. It was completely different from cold text or illusions in the dark. There was the warm temperature of living sunlight and the sound of people’s genuine laughter.
“Whoa……”
An exclamation slipped out before I could stop it. My eyes darted busily, following the blue soap bubbles drifting through the air at the clown’s fingertips.
“Adel, look at that! The blue bubbles are flying up into the sky!”
I tugged lightly at the end of Adelina’s sleeve and pointed at the blue soap bubbles the clown had made. For that moment, all the cold calculations in my head and the servile pretense I used to survive the imperial palace completely evaporated.
The world I had only ever seen through dark alleys and letters on paper was breathing so vibrantly under such dazzling sunlight. My eyes, facing the real world for the first time in my life, sparkled endlessly with the pure wonder and joy of a child.
Adelina gazed quietly at my profile. Her soft eyes drank in my bright, innocent face. When I suddenly turned my head and our eyes met, she smoothly nodded with her usual indifferent, plain expression as if nothing had happened.
“Yes, Your Highness. It really is beautiful.”
We walked for quite a while until we reached a stall where a sweet, savory smell tickled our noses. It was filled with glistening fruit skewers coated in a thin layer of transparent sugar syrup over bright red fresh fruit, and sweet cream bread bursting with pure white milk cream.
I stopped without realizing it and stared. Drool dribbled down my chin.
Adel took out a handkerchief from her pocket and skillfully wiped my mouth. Was it even dirty? If it were me, I’d probably hate that.
“One fruit skewer and one cream bread.”
“Ah, yes! Just a moment please! Here you are! Enjoy!”
The moment I took the full paper bag the smiling merchant handed over, a sweet, oily aroma spread everywhere. I couldn’t hold back and immediately took a big bite of the white, fluffy cream bread. The soft, rich sweetness of the milk cream exploding in my mouth made a smile spread across my face without me even trying.
“Mmm! Sho good!”
While I happily chewed the cream bread with both cheeks puffed out like a squirrel, Adelina standing beside me stopped walking and simply watched me. I sneaked a glance by rolling my eyes, and she was quietly staring at me eating with a softly lowered gaze.
Why does she keep looking at me like that?
After finishing the cream bread, I put the fruit skewer in my mouth. Even then, she kept watching. Maybe she wants some?
“Adel… do you want some?”
I’d already taken a bite, but that should be fine, right?
She looked at the skewer in my hand, then slightly lowered her head. With a slender finger, she lightly brushed back the dazzling silver hair that had fallen over her shoulder. Her white, smooth nape and sculptural side profile were clearly revealed under the sunlight.
She took one more step toward me. Bending down with an elegant motion like a butterfly folding its wings, she carefully bit one of the red fruits from the skewer I was holding with her lips.
A crisp crunch rang out as the thin sugar coating broke. The fruit’s red juice moistened her pale, thin lips.
The line of her jaw as she chewed the fruit with an indifferent, plain expression and her long eyelashes blinking slowly were so beautiful it felt unreal.
I unconsciously swallowed dryly and stared blankly at her lips.
“It’s quite sweet. Delicious.”
Adelina murmured in a low, satisfied voice as she straightened up. I barely regained my senses and turned my gaze back to my own fruit skewer. The moment I opened my mouth to eat—
Adelina whispered softly into my ear.
“……!!”
Boom! It felt like a massive explosion went off inside my head. My face burned so fiercely it felt like all the blood in my body had rushed to my face and neck at once. My heart pounded as if it would shatter my ribs and burst out.
What the hell is this woman saying?!
I froze with the skewer still in my hand. I was supposed to be an innocent, brainless idiot prince who knew nothing… I had no idea how to react to that word.
Adelina was watching my ears, which had turned bright red and were breathing heavily as if they might explode any second, with an intrigued look in her eyes.
I shook the hand holding the skewer wildly and mumbled in a completely crushed voice. My face was so hot I felt like I might cry.
“K-kiss…?”
“Yes, Your Highness. Do you know what a kiss is?”
Adelina asked, looking down at me with a deliberately innocent, calm face. That arrogant and shameless attitude ignited my stubbornness. I deliberately shouted like a child proudly showing off common sense.
“It’s when people who like each other touch lips!”
“Yes, you know it exactly.”
Adelina smiled softly. She squeezed our interlocked fingers once more and added in a calm voice, as if stating the most natural truth in the world.
“So it’s fine. After all, we’re going to get married soon, aren’t we? It means we like each other.”
When I just stood there stuttering and unable to say anything, Adelina’s expression changed subtly. The corners of her eyes, which were always confident and cool, slowly drooped. Then she looked up at me with a slightly sullen face. It was a strangely fragile expression that was hard to believe belonged to the Empire’s shield.
“Don’t tell me… Your Highness dislikes me?”
“N-no! Noel doesn’t dislike Adel! Noel likes Adel! Likes you so much!”
The moment my shout echoed through the noisy market street—
“……Adel?”
Adelina’s eyes flickered strangely. The corners of her eyes that had been drooping pathetically just moments ago slowly curved upward into a smooth arc. The fragile expression vanished without a trace, replaced by an arrogantly deep satisfaction.
She gradually applied heavy pressure to the fingers she had intertwined with mine. It was a fierce bond that left not even a single gap between our palms, as if our hot skin and rough pulses were completely entangled.
A tingling heat spread from my fingertips up my spine and through my upper body. Then she slowly lowered her head. Her dazzling silver strands, backlit by the midday sun, poured over my shoulder and blocked the sunlight. In an instant, Adelina’s shadow swallowed me whole.
Her cold breath brushed vividly down my nape. Her red, moist lips grazed the shell of my ear so closely it was almost touching.
The voice that dug deep into my eardrums was strangely low and thick. Adelina slowly raised her head and looked straight at me. The moment our gazes tangled again, the density of obsession settled in her deep obsidian eyes was so heavy it stole my breath.
The cold monarch’s eyes that held the fierce blizzards of the North were burning hot at this moment, as if they would completely devour only me.
To hide my heart that felt like it would burst, I could only clutch the paper bag of cream bread in my arms until it was about to tear. Watching my face freeze blankly, unable to utter a single word in response, Adelina let out a low laugh as if she couldn’t hold it back any longer.
It was a terribly beautiful and cruel fox’s smile that only I could see.