【 Traces Left Behind 】

After that, Caesar and Luna came together every day, throwing themselves into the act with a passion that might have been mistaken for a calling. The relationship had continued under the purpose of making a child, but as time passed, the heat between them deepened into something that went well beyond simple obligation.

It made no difference whether it was day, night, or the small hours before dawn.

At some point, the longing they felt for each other had grown to where neither needed to be the one to reach out first. They simply found their way to each other naturally.

Their compatibility was, to that extent, astonishingly well matched.

Only now did Luna feel she could dimly understand why people so often lost themselves to such things. It was like discovering a world she had never known existed.

As she recalled the shameless, sweet night they had shared just the evening before, Luna’s face flushed red all over again, hot as a tomato.

‘We have to keep at it diligently if we want to make a child sooner rather than later.’

‘Ah… it feels so good. Hh…’

‘Should I do more here?’

‘Yes, more. There, more… ahk!!’

‘Here? Your womb has come down. The inside is clenching, begging for my seed.’

‘Th, that’s not… hah, mm, aaah!’

Had she perhaps grown attached to him in body?

Among the lessons she had attended in Adelia’s place, the education for noble young ladies had included a section on the physical relations between men and women. The illustrations in that book had been roughly similar in shape, but in terms of size they fell laughably short of Caesar’s.

His was not something that could simply be compared to a standard measure. It was overwhelming in scale. Rather than something belonging to a man, it was closer in proportion to what one might find on the horses in the Grand Ducal manor’s stables.

Given that something so large was stirring her insides, it was hardly excessive to be driven to the very edge of unconsciousness.

Luna had no experience with anyone other than Caesar, so she had no real frame of reference, but she was feeling in the very depths of her body just how unreasonably vigorous he was.

The man who ordinarily maintained a cool, detached manner transformed the moment they came together, like a volcano erupting with fire held long inside. He seemed like the very embodiment of shameless temptation, and the contrast made her heart tremble all the more.

Even after it was over, Caesar was tender with her, pressing a light kiss to her forehead or pulling the blanket up to cover her. Picturing it again made her heart pound and race before she could stop it, and Luna pressed her hand over her chest in an attempt to calm it down.

Why did he have to be so gentle like that? It left a person needlessly unsettled.

Lately, without meaning to, Luna had found herself aware of when Caesar came home. On days like today when he had gone out, even if he was only a little later than usual, her eyes kept drifting toward the window.

Click.

When she opened the window, the sheer curtains drifted softly on the cool breeze.

Even the time spent waiting for him stirred something in her chest in a way she could not explain.

Luna leaned her head out slightly through the open window.

“He’s later than usual today.”

She murmured quietly to herself and let her gaze travel into the distance.

Just then, a familiar carriage appeared slowly in the distance, drawing gradually closer. The corners of her mouth loosened into a smile.

He said he was going to the imperial palace. Something must have run long.

Luna, a quiet smile still on her lips, hurriedly shut the window with a thud before anyone could see her.

Somehow it felt like something she could not be caught doing.

She made a deliberate effort to smooth her expression and compose herself, acting as though nothing had happened.

Feeling unsettled, Luna stood still for a moment, then pulled a book from the shelf in the corner and forced herself to read through it.

* * *

Several hours earlier.

The atmosphere in the imperial palace courtroom was severe.

The subject of the trial was Count Kalian, the youngest Minister of the Treasury in the history of the empire.

A man who, despite his youth, had risen to the center of power in a single stroke through exceptional ability and resourcefulness.

When his name surfaced as the figure behind Baron Eldor, Caesar could not help but doubt his own ears for a moment.

But the more closely he traced his movements, the more new facts came to light, one after another, like a vast iceberg surfacing from beneath the water.

Drug trafficking, hoarding and price manipulation, human trafficking.

Kalian had joined hands with a criminal organization and had not hesitated to do whatever turned a profit. With the funds he had scraped together that way, he bought power, and used that power to cut off in advance any suspicion or attack that might be directed his way.

And if that reach had ultimately extended to Caesar’s own money, the price for it could never be a light one.

What was unfolding before his eyes was the consequence of Kalian having laid a hand on Caesar.

“I am being wronged.”

“The testimonies of all witnesses are consistent. Beyond that, we have secured secret transaction records documenting the covert correspondence and the flow of funds. If you admit your guilt even now, you will avoid the worst outcome.”

Under that pressure that was not quite pressure, Count Kalian repeated the same words with a composed expression.

“This has nothing to do with me. Someone must have fabricated it.”

Caesar sat in the gallery and watched in silence as Kalian brazenly denied his guilt to the very end.

Crown Prince Adrian, seated beside him, watched the scene with the air of someone observing a highly entertaining spectacle, then parted his lips with a faint smile.

“How does it feel, watching a board you set yourself play out?”

“Not bad. At the very least, it isn’t dull.”

“That man’s end is already decided. The evidence you provided has been verified.”

Kalian’s title would naturally be stripped for all the illegal acts he had committed, and all his assets would be confiscated into the state treasury.

The one who stood to benefit most from that process was ultimately the Emperor.

When tracing the flow of funds, it was not uncommon for rotten roots to surface in exactly this manner.

Those who had built their power on a foundation of crime. And it was precisely the work of digging out and dragging that filthy truth into the open that Caesar had been doing.

This should quiet the Emperor’s suspicions for a time, at least. Caesar continued the thought without expression.

Before long, Kalian’s gaze from the defendant’s seat cut sharply toward Caesar.

The look in his eyes was unsettling, as though he intended to burn the man before him to ash. Caesar’s own gaze, by contrast, remained perfectly still.

There was no shortage of vermin who committed crimes and then shamelessly cried injustice. There was no reason to spare even a scrap of attention for someone like that.

At last, Kalian, who had kept repeating the same claims of innocence, opened his mouth in a low voice. This time the words were slightly different.

“I will say it once more. I know nothing of this. And the one who has framed me will pay for it without fail.”

Kalian’s gaze remained fixed on Caesar.

Caesar did not look away. He let the corner of his mouth curl up coldly.

It was a scoff that escaped him without thinking, at the absurdity of a man who had brought ruin on himself now grinding his teeth and snarling at others.

Adrian, who had been watching and seemed to read Caesar’s thoughts, let out a derisive laugh.

“Why is it that men who’ve done wrong always have so much to feel aggrieved about. Truly a wretched sight.”

The long trial drew to a close, and Caesar was quietly rising from his seat when Adrian spoke in an unhurried tone.

“How about a drink in my room? I’ll personally see to it that a celebratory glass is brought for the man who reeled in such a big catch.”

There was a playful smile at the corners of his mouth.

Caesar glanced over at him for a moment, then answered evenly.

“I apologize, but there is someone waiting for me.”

“Ah, I keep forgetting you’re no longer alone. And at the best of times, too. My mistake. Go on, then.”

Adrian, seeming to recall the scene from the banquet not long ago, smiled with a knowing look and gave Caesar a light push on the back.

Caesar offered the Crown Prince a brief bow of his head, then without further delay boarded the waiting carriage and set off.

He knew her habit well. When he was late coming home, she would open the window and peer outside, looking around for him.

The day was already drawing toward dusk, so he needed to hurry.

When he thought about it calmly, he was not entirely sure why he needed to hurry. But strangely, his feet did not slow.

Perhaps it was the fact that someone was waiting for him in the manor that had always been so quiet. He had thought it would be a nuisance, but now that he was living it, it turned out to be not so bad after all.

“Move out.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Caesar did not think on it any further and simply let his instincts carry his steps forward.

* * *

Luna’s eyelids opened slowly.

She blinked, still heavy with sleep, and from behind her came a heartbeat that was both unfamiliar and familiar at once.

After Caesar had returned the night before, they had spent another night lost in pleasure, and the two of them were still tangled together in the same bed.

Had they ever fallen asleep like this before? Luna was using his arm as a pillow.

The moment she realized it, the drowsy haze clouding her mind cleared all at once.

A night that had been as heated as any other.

Caesar always returned to his own room after they were finished. So why, of all nights, had he stayed here tonight, leaving his arm for her to rest on as he slept.

Her face burned suddenly and a wave of flustered embarrassment washed over her.

Jolted past waking into full alertness, Luna quietly began to sit up, careful not to rouse him. She intended to wash the state her body was in.

But Caesar, whom she had believed to be asleep, caught her by the waist, and her body was pulled swiftly into his arms in an instant.

“Where are you going?”

A voice languid with sleep, and the warmth of his breath reaching her ear.