Chapter 9
He placed the plate back in front of Patricia.
‘Ah. He must’ve thought I didn’t eat because I suspected it was poisoned.’
Well, Patrick had said he never trusted the food at the Tane palace and that even if he ate it, he couldn’t taste anything. It wasn’t uncommon for maids who did the tasting to suddenly collapse.
Lately, Patrick said he only ate after checking the food with an argentum stick. Of course, Patricia had never been invited to a Tane palace banquet, so she had no such experience.
Since the emperor himself had tasted it, she couldn’t just leave it untouched. Patricia cut a small piece of the foie gras. Because of her mother’s strict diet, she had rarely eaten meat. Not being accustomed to it, she didn’t know its deep flavors and didn’t particularly like it.
As a courtesy, she placed a piece of the dark meat in her mouth. She was surprised by the clean flavor of the meat juice and its melt-in-your-mouth tenderness. A smile unknowingly spread across her lips.
The emperor, swirling a pewter goblet with his wrist, watched her intently. When he saw that faint smile appear, he brought the goblet to his lips and swallowed the smile forming on his own.
Patricia wanted to finish the meal quickly and retreat to a space of her own. She just wanted to get through this dinner, through this night, and have dawn come quickly. Anxiously, she glanced at the clock on the console in the drawing room.
She slowly ate a bit of the scallop dish grilled with truffle butter, and some salmon salad.
The dishes were rich and luxurious enough to cling to the tongue. For the first time in her life, no one was nagging about calories, but her mind was busy reviewing her plan.
She drank some water and carefully set down her used cutlery.
Taking this as a signal that the meal had ended, the emperor rang a bell. After clearing the table, the butler placed down tea and a dessert plate.
As darkness layered over the red sky outside, Patricia looked at the dessert placed in front of her. Her bright blue eyes widened in surprise, unable to look away from the plate.
It was a chocolate cake topped with a cherry glazed in cocoa cream, sprinkled with chocolate and gold dust.
‘It’s not the time to be distracted by cake… but no, I need strength.’
She tried to hide her reaction and took a bite with her dessert fork.
It melted in her mouth, so sweet it gave her chills. It was the first cake she’d ever tasted in her life.
Even if the large, cold-faced emperor across from her were to draw a sword and press it to her neck, it was a taste she wouldn’t be able to give up.
As the cake’s center crumbled, a cherry rolled onto the plate. She scooped it up with her fork. Rolling the smooth cherry on her tongue, she bit into it.
Her eyes closed naturally, and Patricia reopened them in bliss, savoring the exquisite taste in her mouth, only to see the emperor staring at her over the rim of his pewter goblet.
The emperor leaned slightly back in his chair, one elbow resting on the armrest, rubbing his lips with his middle and index fingers as he looked at her.
His dark green eyes, sunken with intensity, seemed to pierce straight through her.
The moment her gaze met those mysterious jade-colored eyes, it felt like her soul was being drawn in.
Uncomfortable with the sharpness of his stare on her skin, Patricia bit the corner of her lip and lowered her eyes. Her long, pale neck trembled slightly, as if she had just swallowed something sweet and poisonous.
“Princess.”
Patricia lifted her head.
“We’re about to begin a prisoner interrogation. But before that, there’s something I want to confirm.”
“Yes.”
“We’ve met before, haven’t we?”
A cool early summer breeze blew through.
The flames of the ornate five-branched gold candelabrum on the table wavered in the wind, then steadied and burned quietly.
Patricia took a deep breath, trying to calm her trembling heart. She straightened her back, sat upright, and looked at the emperor naturally. She answered in a composed voice.
“No, Your Majesty. Yesterday was the first time I met you.”
“Is that so? Then why does it feel like I’ve seen you before?”
The emperor stood from his seat, leaned over the table with one hand, and brought his face close to hers.
“Mind if I check?”
‘…No way. Is he remembering the academy graduation banquet?’
Patricia, tense, bit the inside of her lip.
The emperor slowly reached out and touched her cheek with his large hand. At the sudden heat of his palm, Patricia leaned her body back.
“Your Majesty, please show some propriety.”
Sigh.
The emperor withdrew his hand and ran it down his face as he returned to his seat.
The princess, wearing his shirt, sat with a clear and pure expression.
He had been drunk on strong liquor that night, but it was an unforgettable experience. He had thought it a hallucination, but the figure sitting before him now was undoubtedly real.
Yet she was a reality he couldn’t predict. On the battlefield, soldiers had fallen to the blade she wielded.
He picked up his pewter goblet and emptied it in one go. He felt parched—and angry. He wanted to seize something, and that something was…
He drank again. The harsh liquor burned down his throat, and before the aroma could fade, he drank more. He tried to drown the boiling desire that had begun to surge through the cracks.
Whether Tane would send a second wave or a negotiation envoy, he didn’t know. But until then, the princess was his prisoner. …Hoo. Yes, Harzen—don’t rush.
The emperor clasped his hands and placed them on the table. Watching the princess’s profile as she looked out the window, he quietly spoke her name in his mind.
Patricia.
A slender face that suited the name.
“Princess. You led three companies here, correct?”
“Yes.”
This isn’t some minor principality or a disputed territory of nomadic raiders. And she brought only three companies? Could her statement be trusted? He couldn’t believe it.
They had clearly met on the terrace, yet she firmly denied it. With those slim arms, she had cut down at least ten soldiers. And she had dared to aim at his throat…
“Who ordered this reckless battle? Emperor Kazan?”
‘All of this was orchestrated by Pamilla.’
“His Majesty has been bedridden for the past three months due to illness.”
“Yet I received a letter from the Tane Emperor about a month ago.”
Amid the chaos following the death of the Karsik Emperor, a letter had arrived from the Emperor of Tane. It stated that they would support mercenaries for gold and diamond mining in the Kaosan region.
The emperor had politely replied, stating that Karsik had no interest in gold mining and was focusing on internal reorganization and stability.
Not long after, the bodies of three Tane envoys were found near the border. The emperor’s handwritten reply was missing.
Tane launched an attack without even a formal declaration of war, as if they had been preparing all along.
The deployment orders and Patrick’s appointment as commander, found by Kalip in the prisoner’s armor, bore the seal of the Tane Emperor.
“Besides, the deployment order found in the princess’s possession was written in the emperor’s own hand.”
“It was the empress’s scheme. The emperor’s letter and the deaths of the envoys, those were all her doing.”
“The empress, huh. Does she really hold that much power?”
“Shamefully, yes. The empress may have even hoped Your Majesty would kill Patrick.”
Pamilla had likely already learned through her spies that Patricia had donned armor. She might have even stormed the western tower of the detached palace.
“Why should I believe a word you say?”
“…”
“Whether a negotiation envoy arrives or a second wave comes, we’ll see soon enough. Either way… I’m looking forward to it.”
Patricia burned with anxiety for Patrick. Her throat felt parched.
She bit her lip hard, then stuck out her tongue to wet it.
“Princess, have a glass of Panian.”
The emperor never asked for consent, he simply issued commands. Of course, Patricia didn’t exactly want to drink strong liquor, but she didn’t completely resist the idea of easing her tension either.
“Please.”
At the emperor’s ring, the butler entered. Following the emperor’s instructions, he set down crystal glasses along with a plate of fruit and cheese.
The emperor poured Panian into the crystal glass and handed it to Patricia, then poured himself some in a pewter cup.
“Why did you wear armor and pretend to be Patrick?”
Patricia lifted the glass and drank. The liquor burned down her throat. It eased her tension, if only a little.
“Patrick was born smaller and weaker than me. He’s had a chronic illness since birth. At first, I wore armor on Mother’s request, without the emperor’s knowledge, to take Patrick’s place.”
The emperor stared at her curiously, noting how she called her mother Mother but referred to the emperor formally as His Majesty.
“Had you participated in war before?”
“When I was younger, I only observed. But as I grew older, I commanded campaigns in disputed territories and against raiding tribes.”
“And the Emperor of Tane didn’t know? Is that even possible?”
“…”
Patricia fell silent at the question.
She wondered the same. She had never taken off her armor and revealed herself before the emperor on the battlefield. Her mother always said he didn’t know, but had he really not known?
She recalled the battle against the Kingdom of Marcus—how she had fallen from her horse and rolled across the blood-soaked ground, and how the emperor, glaring at her, had driven his massive warhorse forward and passed right over her.
Did His Majesty trample over me knowing I was Patrick?
If Sir Eden hadn’t been there… I…
Patricia, just until Patrick comes of age—wear the armor in his stead. You’re the only one who can protect him, remember that.
Yes, Mother. I will.
Patricia, if you eat like that, will the armor we had made for Patrick still fit you? Stop eating.
Yes, I won’t eat.
Patricia, train harder with the sword. You must protect Patrick.
Yes.
My dear child, I’m sorry. For not letting you wear dresses like other ladies. For letting your hands grow rough from the sword. But please, help Patrick become emperor.
Yes. I’ll make sure Patrick becomes emperor.
Patricia, take me to Torun. Bury me in the seaside cemetery, in the coastal kingdom.
Yes, Mother. I will.
That was her mother’s dying wish. After her mother’s passing, when Patricia went to the emperor to ask for permission to travel to the Kingdom of Torun, the emperor showed no sign of surprise upon seeing her.
“…Princess?”
Patricia, lost in memories of her mother’s final moments, raised her tear-filled blue eyes. She hadn’t heard the emperor’s question.
“Pardon?”
Seeing the glistening moisture in her eyes, the emperor felt a sharp shard of metal stab into his chest.
“Hmm. Your accomplice… who else knows?”
“Patrick’s knight and deputy commander is aware.”
“Name?”
“Eden. Eden Patterson.”
The emperor asked no further questions. He fell silent, appearing deep in thought.
He raised the pewter cup, took a slow sip, and rubbed the spot his lips had touched with his thumb while staring at Patricia.
It was an openly probing gaze, as if trying to unravel a secret. Feeling the pressure, she lowered her head.
Though his chest ached as if scraped by a shard of iron, his body felt restless and unnaturally warm. Every nerve, every drop of blood, was drawn heavily downward.
Her face was delicate and slender, her neck pale and smooth. Though the top button of the shirt was fastened, it hung loose enough to slip down and expose her glowing collarbones.
Ha… not even an Adam’s apple. And those slim shoulders, how did I ever mistake her for a man?
“Your Majesty, if you have no more questions, I’d like to take my leave.”
Patricia.
“…Princess.”
The emperor remained silent until Patricia raised her head. When she did, he met her gaze.
“You must’ve impersonated Patrick more than just on the battlefield.”
He set down his pewter cup and rose to his feet.
“For example… academy classes, perhaps.”
He approached her with his eyes locked on hers, resting his left hand on the back of her chair and leaning his upper body forward.
“I have something to confirm.”
With his right hand, he gently wrapped her slender neck. The flickering candlelight danced in his deep green eyes.
Fwoosh.
He blew out all five candles at once.
Darkness fell over the table by the window, and faint moonlight slipped in.
He leaned in close to Patricia’s face and tilted his head slightly.
Their lips were nearly touching.
“Princess, you see, I once kissed a mysterious lady in this level of darkness.”
