Come to think of it, her body felt warm, almost hot. She finally noticed the man pressed against her. Having moved a step closer to prevent her fall, he still hadn’t removed his hand from her waist.

Yerena felt her face grow even hotter. Just as she was about to part her stuck lips to ask him to step back, the man preempted her.

“You must feel spring much closer now.”

With the man’s gentle words, a warm breeze brushed Yerena’s ear. It was a spring breeze that could be described as fluttering.

Yerena turned her head, wondering where the wind was coming from, then stopped as she noticed the intensifying scent. The refreshing scent of green life and flower fragrances scattered throughout. It was the full aroma of spring. The man watched Yerena’s slightly parting lips and spoke.

“We’ve almost reached the bottom. Only eight steps remain.”

“Really?”

Surprised at the news that they had almost descended the entire staircase, Yerena asked in astonishment. These were stairs she hadn’t been able to fully descend despite four days of training with the man.

“Yes. Do I look like someone who would lie to you?”

“No. Absolutely not!”

At the man’s joking tone, Yerena shook her head with an excited expression. It was a very trivial achievement that might make others snicker, but she felt proud of having descended stairs she thought she’d never manage.

“Now try going down by yourself.”

The man who had been close to her stepped back and spoke. Yerena hesitated with a frightened expression as he moved away. But soon she carefully took a step. Unlike earlier when she said she couldn’t do it, her foot, extended deeply, touched the stair just below. And finally, no more stairs remained in front of her.

“Well done.”

The man, who had been following right behind as Yerena took one step after another, clapped lightly and spoke. She responded with a dazed expression, whispering softly.

“Thank you. It’s all thanks to your good teaching.”

Her heart continued to race even after descending all the stairs. And Yerena realized that though they must have spent several hours descending the stairs today, for some reason that long time felt short.

“Would you like to go outside?”

The man asked. Yerena shook her head. She was tired. The man who had helped her for hours must be tired too. And anyway, they would come down together again tomorrow. There was no rush.

“Let’s go back for today. Climbing back up will take a long time too. You need to rest as well.”

“You needn’t worry about such things.”

“I’m tired. I’ll need your help going up too.”

Yerena turned her body toward the stairs. Her eyes still couldn’t see them, but she wasn’t afraid of them anymore. When she first climbed them, she thought the endless stairs meant she could never leave this tower of her own will. As Yerena took a step with a gentle smile, the man immediately followed.

“Since you’ve practiced coming down for quite a while, how about going up more comfortably?”

Just as Kian was speaking to Yerena, there was a rattling sound of someone grabbing a doorknob from behind, followed by the creaking of a wooden door opening.

Sunlight poured through the open door, creating long shadows inside the tower. Sensitive to sounds, Yerena stopped her attempt to climb the stairs and naturally turned around. Then a now-familiar voice called to her.

“Lady Yerena?”

“Jane! When did you arrive?”

Yerena opened her mouth with a bright smile of delight. Jane, facing the princess glowing in the backlight, was about to express her joy when she noticed the man hidden in the shadows and froze.

“Jane?”

Looking for Jane who had suddenly gone silent, Yerena moved forward and stumbled on the uneven protruding stone floor. The man tried to catch her, but she regained her balance on her own. Then she let out an awkward laugh.

“Lady Yerena. Be careful.”

Jane, who had quickly moved forward upon seeing Yerena almost fall, spoke in a worried voice. Both Jane reaching out to support Yerena’s shoulders and Yerena naturally allowing the touch seemed natural. And for a moment, Jane felt a chilling sensation descend on the back of her neck.

“Jane. Weren’t you supposed to return in two days?”

Unaware that Jane had stopped breathing, Yerena asked. Jane, who had raised her head and met the man’s eyes, quickly responded to his nod.

“The family matters were resolved quickly…… But why did you come all the way down here, Lady Yerena?”

“Ah…… I was practicing climbing up and down the stairs. Sir Kian has been helping me a lot these past few days.”

Yerena answered shyly to Jane’s question. Jane bit her lip involuntarily as she observed the princess’s slightly flushed face, then met the man’s eyes again and bowed her head.

“I was just about to go back up when I happened to meet Jane.”

Unaware of the tension between Jane and the man, Yerena was more affectionate than usual toward Jane, whom she hadn’t seen for days. And each time Yerena’s focus shifted from him to the mere maid, the man’s face, which had been gently relaxed, grew cold.

“I-I’ll escort you up.”

Jane, unable to bear it any longer, led Yerena away. Yerena obediently followed Jane’s lead but turned back to call the man.

“Sir.”

It was just a brief call implying they should go together. But when the princess’s dead eyes curved and her red lips parted slightly beneath them, the black-haired man relaxed his expression as if nothing had happened and followed her.

Just like a dog following its master.

* * *

The Central Palace had grown even more splendid to welcome spring. The gold tassels on the red curtains hanging without exception on every window had grown longer, and sparkling jewels were even attached below them. Not only that, but the statues and decorations in the Central Palace gardens, interior, and even the small attached buildings had all been replaced with items that were both most suitable for spring and flaunted luxury and extravagance.

“Your Highness. This way, please.”

Roshan stood out in the Central Palace, where gold glittered to the right, jewels above, and crimson carpets below. Wrapped in dark fabric, he certainly didn’t look cheap, but his unadorned appearance contrasted with the lavish Central Palace. However, his innate dignity overwhelmed the space filled with all sorts of luxuries, causing the palace attendants to bow their heads in fear while still stealing glances at him from behind.

“Your Highness. Please wait a moment.”

Shortly after, Roshan reached his destination. The attendant who had guided him continuously bowed and scurried to the massive door not far away. However, another attendant at the door shook his head with a troubled expression.

“Y-Your Highness. Well……”

Returning to Roshan, the attendant bowed repeatedly with a pale face covered in cold sweat. Roshan looked irritably at the man who couldn’t even speak properly in his confusion, then opened his mouth.

“If His Majesty is busy, I’ll wait here.”

“Yes, yes. I’m sorry.”

Though the attendant looked relieved at Roshan’s words, he still didn’t know what to do about making him wait. Roshan completely disregarded the attendant who was acting like an animal about to be slaughtered.

It was a common occurrence anyway. His half-brother deliberately making him wait. Moreover, the emperor had even removed the couches that used to be here, claiming they ruined the aesthetics of the space, apparently because he couldn’t stand the sight of Roshan sitting while waiting. As a result, elderly ministers who were summoned by the emperor often stood complaining of knee pain.

However, standing wasn’t particularly difficult for Roshan. That’s why he had never shown any reaction to the emperor’s pettiness until now. At least until now. But for some reason, he felt a bit irritated today.

He looked at the clock hanging above the massive door. It would be 2 o’clock in an hour and 10 minutes. More than the fact that he hadn’t had lunch, he felt urgent at the possibility that the emperor might keep him standing even past 2 o’clock.

‘……I could just leave.’

Watching the minute hand that had moved one mark, he reached a conclusion. Anyway, his half-brother inside the door, who had inherited their father’s crown, was annoying but not a frightening presence. Though it was troublesome to anticipate his rage at disobeying orders, that was all. He wouldn’t even throw his tantrum in front of Roshan anyway, so it didn’t matter.

With a more relaxed mind, Roshan was just recalling the spring sunlight-like hair of someone he had been slowly drawing alone whenever he had time, when suddenly there was a crashing sound of something breaking from inside, followed by the emperor’s irritable voice faintly reaching his ears.

“So! What’s the conclusion? When will I be able to take that Sedas wench to bed!”

Roshan slowly moved closer to the door.

“I, the emperor, can’t have my way with one woman. It’s all your fault! What are any of you doing properly!”

The raging emperor’s voice grew louder as he drew closer. The attendant standing in front of the door looked nervously at Roshan. When Roshan approached, the attendant was startled and exchanged worried glances with the attendant who had followed him, both fearing Roshan might ask them to open the door.

However, contrary to their concerns, Roshan simply stood close to the door, just listening to what was being said inside. Inside, the emperor continued to throw objects while venting his anger at someone, possibly a cleric or attendant.

“The empire’s clerics and priestesses still can’t handle one curse…… What was the point of ordering that Sedas wench to be brought here! At this rate, spiders will spin webs between that woman’s legs!”

The Sedas wench…… It was clear who that referred to. Roshan tightened his lips each time the emperor referred to Yerena with vulgar terms and uttered words close to insults.

“Hup!”

The attendant who had been keeping his head down raised it to check the silent crown prince’s expression and involuntarily took a deep breath. The intimidating face and red eyes that were frightening just to look at. Something invisible seemed to be dripping from his slightly shadowed face.

The terrified attendant staggered backward and bumped into the door not far behind him. Roshan looked at him and then placed his hand on the door and spoke.

“With the new year having begun, there must be much public and private business…… Yet the emperor is concerning himself with useless matters.”

* * *