Shortly afterwards, Tae-moo and Yeon-ha arrived at the banquet hall of the Yuseong Hotel.

Although the entire private ballroom had been reserved, the vast space was occupied by only two men who were engaged in conversation.

{Miss Ji.}

The man seated beside Nashal was someone Yeon-ha had never seen before.

The businessman-like man conversed naturally with Tae-moo.

“Ji Yeon-ha.”

She felt like she was in the wrong place.

She lowered her gaze awkwardly towards the plate in front of her. She looked up again when she heard someone speaking clumsy Korean.

Nashal smiled, his thick brows curving upwards.

{Are you uncomfortable here?}

{Ah, no. It’s just… I don’t understand why I was invited by Your Highness…}

{Aha, so that’s what’s confusing you? Didn’t Mr. Seong tell you?}

{No…}

Yeon-ha glanced cautiously at Tae-moo, who was sipping something.

He seemed completely engrossed in the businessman’s passionate discussion about work and showed no interest in the conversation on this side of the table.

{I was the one who asked for it. I requested that Miss Ji come.}

‘Then why…?’

Nashal lightly swirled the wine in his glass.

{I like this different side of you too, Miss Ji.}

The interest Nashal showed toward her made Yeon-ha uncomfortable.

Nashal’s desire was painfully direct.

More than anything, she worried about how she was supposed to reject his favor.

{Drink.}

Yeon-ha stared at the wine glass in front of her.

For some reason, she felt that she shouldn’t get drunk, so she only had one glass before putting it down. Yet Nashal immediately refilled it.

Not wanting to ruin the atmosphere, Yeon-ha continued drinking until her face turned red.

{Please excuse me for a moment.}

She felt as though she couldn’t drink any more.

As the alcohol slowly took effect, she excused herself and stepped out onto the balcony.

Leaning lightly against the railing and letting the cold wind cool her flushed skin, she heard the balcony door open behind her.

When she turned around, Nashal was already standing there.

{Korea is a wonderful country. The weather is generally mild, and its elegant traditions are still alive.}

Although she had never felt particularly attached to the place where she grew up, she was still patriotic.

Hearing him praise Korea did not make her uncomfortable; in fact, the corners of Yeon-ha’s lips lifted slightly.

Seeing her reaction, Nashal stroked his beard and smiled.

{But my country is just as beautiful—far beyond comparison with Korea.}

{While learning Arabic, I often wondered what it was like there.}

{Then why not come with me?}

{…Pardon?}

{I’ll be direct. Would you become my wife? Of course, you’d be my tenth wife, but you’d live more lavishly than anyone else in the world.}

Mohammed bin Nashal was a man overflowing with confidence.

{Nashal.}

The words of rejection Yeon-ha had been about to say disappeared soundlessly from her lips.

At some point, Tae-moo had approached without her noticing.

His arm wrapped around Yeon-ha’s shoulders.

{I couldn’t just ignore that.}

Tae-moo pulled her firmly against his side.

{She’s dating me.}

The lie Tae-moo told for her sake made Yeon-ha’s heart pound uncontrollably.

{Looks like I’m too late. What a shame, but I can’t steal my friend’s lover. Tch. I’ll head back inside and continue drinking instead. Take your time and enjoy yourselves before coming in.}

The moment Nashal disappeared back inside, Tae-moo gripped the shoulder he had wrapped around and turned Yeon-ha toward him.

Without using much force at all, he pressed her lightly against the balcony railing before leaning down toward her.

“What do you think I’m about to do?”

Eyes filled with desire for her.

“…Kiss me.”

She did not want to pretend she could not see the longing burning so clearly within those dark eyes.

No—she couldn’t pretend.

“If the eyes pretending not to see what they’ve already seen bother you, I’ll remove them from your sight.”

Like the people who worked beneath her, her life had been lonely and exhausting.

As a child, she had desperately wished for someone to save her. But after becoming an adult, she had long since abandoned those foolish hopes.

Or so she believed, until she met his eyes again.

A low sound suddenly escaped him, almost like a quiet whistle.

He was laughing.

The deep vibration of his amusement brushed softly against the loose strands of hair near her forehead.

“So you weren’t oblivious after all.”

Abandoning the awkward honorifics entirely, Tae-moo brushed his hand gently down her cheek.

“Now that I look at you like this, I can tell what you’re thinking.”

She wanted to stay in his gaze.

Even if only for a moment, she wanted to exist within his seemingly empty eyes.

Yeon-ha stared blankly into his weary, exhausted gaze.

Then, the sleeves that restricted her movements were slowly rolled back.

After pushing the fabric upwards, Tae-moo reached towards her face.

His hands belonged to a man unlike anyone she had ever known.

The touch of other men had always frightened her, yet even as his fingers drew close enough to nearly brush her eyes, she felt no fear.

Suddenly, her vision cleared.

As though they were nothing more than an annoyance, Tae-moo removed her glasses once again.

Caught within his large hand, the glasses looked strangely like her: small, awkward, and fragile.

“I should reward you for meeting my expectations, shouldn’t I?”

Although he sounded as though he was asking for her consent, she knew that she didn’t really have the power to refuse.

His beautifully shaped lips slowly lowered towards hers.

The bittersweet scent clinging to his skin brushed against the tip of Yeon-ha’s nose and refused to fade. Not even the wind behind them could carry it off.

It was intoxicating.

Dazed, Yeon-ha gave a slow nod.

The sharp curve of his lips and his unblinking gaze almost made it look as though he were offering her one last mercy.

He moved slowly enough that she could have pulled away at any moment.

But Yeon-ha had longed for this moment for far too long.

So she closed her eyes.

Before she could register the soft pressure against her lips, he deepened the kiss. The heat swept over her completely, overwhelming and relentless beneath his firm grip.

Yeon-ha’s lips parted helplessly.

The unfamiliar intensity was too much for her to bear. A trembling breath escaped her as warmth slipped from the corners of her mouth and trailed downwards.

Whenever she tried to turn away or close her lips, he moved with her, capturing her in a persistent, consuming kiss that left her utterly breathless.

“Mmph—”

“Hah…”

The inside of her eyelids burned fiercely.

When she slowly opened them again, her vision was blurred, as if she were wearing her glasses once more.

At some point, tears had gathered in her eyes and slipped silently down her cheeks.

Then she saw it — his fierce gaze.

Unlike her, Tae-moo had kept his eyes open the entire time they had been kissing; his expression was frighteningly cold and rigid.

If not for the lingering heat in her mouth, she might have thought his interest in her had vanished.

The crushing pressure holding her in place finally eased.

The body leaning over her slowly straightened up again.

“What next?”

A thin silver strand stretched between their parted lips before snapping apart.

“So how do you want me to continue?”

His eyes made it clear to her that whatever came next would make a mere kiss seem insignificant.

Looking perfectly composed, he lifted a hand to his damp lips.

The slow movement of his hand against his lips carried an unmistakable meaning: he was inviting her to respond with her mouth.

“Do you want me to fill you up?”

Yeon-ha sucked in a sharp breath at the words that warmed the shell of her ear.

The eyes watching her every reaction curved faintly.

As Tae-moo’s smile deepened into something dangerously suggestive, Yeon-ha squeezed her eyes shut, unable to keep looking at him.

‘So this is what he’s like when seducing someone.’

The fresh-faced young man she remembered had grown into a mature man, now trying to possess her entirely.

Seeing the difference between this Tae-moo and the one she remembered made her heart race all over again.

For the first time, she felt ready to open up to Seong Tae-moo.

“Answer me.”

The corners of his lips, stained red by her lipstick, slowly lowered.

His voice sounded rough, as though his patience had finally begun to crack, and Yeon-ha parted her lips.

“…Pu— ah…”

However, she was far too embarrassed to say the words aloud.

Keen to convey her desire for him, though, Yeon-ha carefully wrapped her arms around Tae-moo’s body.

Despite using both arms, she could barely hold him.

Her trembling arms encircled his solid waist, silently begging him to do whatever he wanted with her.

She was afraid that if she hesitated any longer, he might change his mind and push her away.

Yet Tae-moo said nothing as he looked down at her.

The only sound was the frantic pounding of her heart in her ears.

With each passing moment, the suffocating silence tightened her heart a little more, and her lips slowly pressed together in growing unease.

“…I should go.”

The moment she loosened her grip on him, she was suddenly overcome with a sensation of weightlessness.

Before she could process what was happening, Tae-moo lifted her effortlessly into the air with one of his strong arms.

Holding her securely, he placed her on top of the balcony railing.

Startled by the narrow edge beneath her feet, Yeon-ha’s heart began to pound violently.

Far below them lay the outdoor swimming pool.

Laughter and cheerful voices drifted upwards, but Yeon-ha was so frightened that she thought she might stop breathing altogether.

“I won’t let you fall.”

Hearing his voice telling her to trust him caused the crushing fear in her chest to gradually subside.

For the first time, she found herself looking down at him instead of up at him.

His expression was as solid and immovable as forged steel.

“Lean on me more.”

As though warning her not to look down, he held her gaze captive.

Yeon-ha was helplessly drawn into his eyes and slowly wrapped her arms around Tae-moo’s neck.

Only when she felt his face pressing against her rapidly beating chest did she notice the strange looseness at the front of her dress.

When she lowered her gaze, she saw a dizzying sight.

The unmistakable heat of his desire had pulled the front of her dress apart.

Before she could stop him, Tae-moo’s lips brushed against her br*ast.

The shameless intimacy of the moment, coupled with the overwhelming rush of sensation, caused her body to sway dangerously.

Immediately, the arm around her waist tightened further still.

“Ah… ah…”

Helpless gasps continued to spill from her lips.

Unable to withstand the relentless waves of pleasure, she bit down hard on her lower lip.

Her gaze fell upon the balcony door, concealed by the curtains.

The thought that someone might walk in at any moment prevented her from relaxing.

The more anxious she became, the tighter she clung to Tae-moo, desperately trying to hide her trembling body beneath his.

“Mm… ngh…”

The peak rising within his mouth was bitten back between her teeth.

“P-President…”

Shaking beneath the pleasure crashing through her body, Yeon-ha frantically shook her head.

No more.

Not here.

“Ah… wait…”

She pulled one arm away from around Tae-moo’s head and hurriedly covered her exposed chest.

“Don’t interrupt me.”

His voice, roughened by age, cut through the air with a frightening sharpness.

The hand pushing aside the one covering her br*ast moved with clear impatience.

Looking at him now, consumed entirely by desire, Yeon-ha felt that nothing and no one could stop him.

Unable to pull him away from her swollen br*ast, where he remained pressed against it, she began to panic.

At the very least, she needed to regain her senses.

Yet the intensity of his touch only deepened, dragging her thoughts further and further away.

Knock, knock.

Her chest jolted violently.

Startled, Yeon-ha lifted her trembling gaze towards the balcony door.

Beyond the thin curtain, she could make out the faint silhouette of someone standing there.

“President.”

It was Manager Kang.

“The Deputy Prime Minister wishes to see you.”

When she heard those words, all the color drained from Yeon-ha’s face.

The man looking for Tae-moo was her father.