Nine in the evening.
Selene had finished all her preparations.
She’d even packed a small bag just in case.
Water and snacks in case they went far, a handkerchief in case she sweated, a flashlight since it would be dark, and even an extra set of underwear just to be safe.
But no matter how long she waited, Kirien didn’t come.
Selene rose from her seat anxiously.
Wasn’t he supposed to come to Eleanor Palace like the knight in the novel?
Perhaps it was unrealistic since Eleanor Palace was forbidden to men?
Should she have gone to Theberon Palace instead?
Where should she go?
The confessional? The Purification Room? The reception room?
That’s when it happened.
Suddenly, she heard a door opening and a cold breeze rushed in.
Selene turned her head toward the direction of the wind.
There, she saw the silhouette of a man perched on the window.
She called his name without thinking.
“Kirien?”
Kirien’s eyes widened in surprise at being called thus, before his lips curved into a mischievous smile.
“I like that. You calling me by name.”
Selene’s face instantly flushed bright red.
She’d made the mistake of casually addressing someone two years her senior and with a title.
She felt embarrassed and awkward.
“How did you get here? Eleanor Palace is off-limits to men.”
Kirien stepped closer as Selene retreated hesitantly.
But Kirien was faster.
Seeing Selene backed against the wall, he smiled with satisfaction.
Then he extended both arms, caging her in.
“There are places where no one dares to intrude, assuming ‘surely no one would sneak in there.’”
Kirien gently took hold of Selene’s fingertips.
“Such places tend to have surprisingly lax security.”
Selene didn’t pull her hand away.
Seizing the moment, Kirien firmly entwined her hand with his long fingers.
“This turned out to be such a place.”
Kirien smiled while looking at their joined hands.
His smile was too relaxed to be that of an intruder.
Meanwhile, Selene maintained a dazed expression throughout.
“Eleanor Palace’s security… is lax?”
“Not just lax, practically nonexistent.”
Kirien strode forward, still holding Selene’s hand.
He threw open the door to the corridor.
“You should strengthen the security. There might be others with improper thoughts like mine.”
True to his words, the corridor was empty.
No guards at the entrance, no one patrolling.
Kirien led the way, walking one step ahead of Selene.
He seemed to know Eleanor Palace’s layout better than Selene herself did.
All the passages and terraces he guided her through were places Selene had never been.
“This is the only place where teleport scrolls can be used.”
When Kirien opened the terrace door, the cold night air rushed in.
Selene shivered slightly at the temperature difference.
Kirien tilted his head, observing her.
“Why are you dressed so thinly?”
“Well… I thought lighter clothes would be easier to move in… since we might go far…”
Selene stumbled through her excuse.
She couldn’t exactly say that her sisters had told her to wear clothes that would be easy to remove.
And she didn’t want to reveal that she had secretly hoped for such things.
But she couldn’t hide her reddened face.
Kirien swallowed hard at the sight of her flushed cheeks.
He didn’t need to ask to understand.
That she had done this to look good for him.
The strong rose scent in the breeze was proof enough.
Kirien took out a teleport scroll from his inner pocket, then removed his jacket.
Well-defined muscles showed through his thin shirt.
Selene’s eyes naturally drifted to his chest.
“Wear this until we arrive.”
As his jacket settled on her shoulders, a refreshing scent enveloped Selene.
Surrounded by Kirien’s distinctive fragrance, she felt as if she were in his embrace.
Selene looked up at Kirien’s face.
Was it because of the moonlight?
He suddenly seemed unfamiliar.
The man she’d met in the Purification Room had been so proper and polite.
Though his face was the same then and now.
Why did he seem so dizzyingly dangerous tonight?
“Are you really Duke Kylos?”
Kirien’s eyes widened at Selene’s question.
The same expression he’d shown when she’d called him ‘Kirien’ earlier.
“Do I seem like someone else?”
“Yes. You seem like a completely different person from when you were receiving healing in the Purification Room.”
Kirien answered with a playful smile, like a mischievous boy.
“I can only pretend to be well-behaved when necessary. Like someone else I know.”
Selene averted her gaze, her earlobes turning red.
She wasn’t so oblivious as to miss that ‘someone else’ referred to her.
“And if you’re going to call me something, please use my name like before.”
This time it was Selene who looked at Kirien with wide eyes.
Kirien smiled and extended his hand once more.
“Shall we go then?”
Selene stared at his hand intently.
She’d always been curious.
What a real man’s body and muscles felt like, not just hard bronze statues and old paintings.
What was this ecstatic feeling and burning desire her sisters spoke of, strong enough to make one lose reason.
Love and excitement, forbidden to Selene.
What kind of world was it?
She’d always wanted to know.
After hesitating, Selene took Kirien’s hand.
In that moment, she felt one step closer to the world she’d always wondered about but could never visit.
*** *** *** *** ***
It wasn’t Selene’s first time using a teleport scroll.
But that day, her ears felt clogged, and she had the sensation of lingering in midair for a long time.
When she felt the ground suddenly drop beneath her and a slight dizziness set in, the descent stopped.
Selene opened her tightly shut eyes.
What she saw was unbelievable.
A dark blue carpet shimmering under the moonlight.
The salty scent and moist breeze blowing from it.
Selene asked in an excited voice.
“Is this the sea?”
This?
Kirien tilted his head and asked back.
“Is this your first time seeing it?”
Kirien’s low voice was carried away by the wind.
It was a completely different resonance from the temple, where even the smallest voice echoed vividly.
“Yes, it’s my first time.”
The night breeze softly swept through Selene’s hair.
She looked at her hair fluttering in the air as if it were something fascinating.
A flood of emotions surged all at once.
Fear, unfamiliar trembling, and excitement.
“It’s really the sea!”
Selene ran toward the beach.
But the moment her feet touched the sand, she stumbled.
She hadn’t realized that the sand wasn’t firm but soft and yielding.
However, she didn’t fall completely.
Kirien, who had followed her, was already holding her by the waist.
“Are you okay? Be careful, it’s dark underfoot.”
And Selene’s hands were on Kirien’s chest.
―Men with huge chests are absolutely the best , no exceptions.
Daphne’s voice echoed in her mind, snapping Selene back to her senses.
“Ah! I’m sorry!”
Even as she averted her gaze in embarrassment, her heart pounded uncontrollably.
A man’s chest really is different from a woman’s.
Hard yet soft, firm yet yielding, it was her first time touching one.
“Can you walk a bit further to the Duke’s castle?”
Fortunately, Kirien didn’t seem to notice Selene’s fingers twitching slightly.
Selene pointed to the castle perched on the sheer coastal cliff and asked.
“Is that the Duke’s castle?”
“Yes, it is.”
Wow.
Selene let out an involuntary exclamation.
She had heard that Duke Kylos’s castle was by the sea, but she hadn’t expected it to be on a cliff.
Unlike the clustered shops and houses along the beach, the castle stood alone on the cliff, which made it even more striking.
Its lofty presence was like a magical castle.
“Right now, all the teleport scroll coordinates inside the castle are blocked.”
Kirien explained why they had to walk along the beach and added a brief apology.
But Selene preferred walking.
The sensation of the sand sinking under her feet and scattering as she lifted them was utterly fascinating.
“My feet really sink into the sand. I guess that’s why my father said he’d hold my hand if we ever went to the beach.”
Selene wasn’t a talkative person.
She wasn’t the type to share much about herself.
But since this was her first time going out at night, she was a bit more excited than usual.
There were no priests watching her, no nobles confessing trivial sins.
No one to scold her for acting a little mischievous.
And with no one else on the beach, it felt as if the sea belonged entirely to her.
Kirien followed behind Selene, walking along the night beach.
He responded diligently to her small chatter.
“Are you talking about Count LeClair?”
“Yes. My father is always busy. We only get to see him for extended periods during vacation season.”
Selene’s father, Count LeClair, was the chancellor of the kingdom and spent most of the year in the royal palace.
The LeClair estate was managed by Selene’s two older brothers.
“Our estate has a large lake, so we used to go there for vacations every year.”
It was the first time Selene had shared so much about her family or herself with someone else.
So her story flowed somewhat haphazardly, following the stream of her consciousness.
Selene glanced at Kirien, worried.
Was he bored? Was she being too chatty?
But Kirien was smiling faintly.
Reassured by his reaction, Selene continued her story.
“We once planned a vacation to the sea, but I suddenly came down with a fever and couldn’t go. My brothers said they caught clams, went fishing, and even rode a boat.”
“You must have been very envious.”
“Yes. So I threw a tantrum, saying I wanted to go to the sea too. My father promised to take me the following year, but that fall, people from the temple came to visit…”
Leave a Reply