Then he had not been in prison all this time?

“Stand and explain how you’ve been living these past weeks, Valoran.”

Clodine ordered, her expression caught somewhere between confusion and disbelief.

Valoran rose at once and began calmly.

“After the funeral, I was confined briefly. However, His Majesty later tested my swordsmanship. Perhaps he found me serviceable, for he granted me the opportunity to become Your Majesty’s knight. I willingly entered the joint preparatory training. I have been residing at the Ranmore Training Grounds. Yesterday, I completed all training and oaths, returned to the capital, and received a special knightly title from His Majesty. I now serve as a personal guard under the Empress’s household.”

Clodine’s lips parted in stunned silence before she quickly composed herself.

While Valoran studied her face in confusion, unaware of the storm inside her, Clodine was inwardly aghast at Ahazan’s deception.

‘That slippery serpent…!’

Forgetting entirely why she had originally been on her way to see Ahazan, she brushed past Valoran with new purpose.

“I have urgent matters to attend to. We shall speak properly later, Valoran.”

“Yes? Ah—yes. Travel safely, Your Majesty.”

Leaving the bewildered knight behind, Clodine moved so swiftly her skirts nearly stirred a wind of their own.

Before long, the Emperor’s study came into view.

Ahazan stood at its entrance, speaking with Marquis Silvanian Langham, Charlotte’s father.

“Your Majesty the Empress. Have you been well?”

The Marquis, sharp-featured and severe, possessed an air so cold it seemed blood would not flow even if pierced. His greeting hovered ambiguously between courtesy and calculation.

The moment Clodine saw Ahazan, the emotion that had surged within her was immediately sealed away. She greeted the Marquis with composed elegance.

“It has been some time, Marquis Langham.”

“You appear far healthier now, Your Majesty. This old man has worried greatly. I am relieved.”

“Thank you for your concern. As it happens, I am dining with Charlotte this evening. What a fortunate coincidence.”

“Ha ha. My unworthy daughter holds Your Majesty in the highest esteem. It is my honor that you look kindly upon her.”

Their exchange remained perfectly formal, neither revealing true intent.

Ahazan stepped in smoothly.

“In any case, I will delegate full authority on that matter to Yuri. There is no need to report directly to me henceforth.”

“With a brother so gifted in politics, Your Majesty’s burdens must be lighter.”

“Or perhaps lighter in places I’d rather they weren’t.”

Ahazan replied dryly, though his expression betrayed nothing of carelessness.

With a smile subtle enough to chill the spine, he rubbed the back of his neck.

“I’ve handled too much since morning. May I rest briefly in my wife’s arms now, Marquis?”

He draped an arm around Clodine’s shoulders. She responded with a gentle smile, playing the role of a harmonious wife.

Unaware that her patience was thinning by the second, Ahazan concluded his farewell leisurely.

Only after an extended exchange did the two finally enter the study alone.

The door had barely closed when Clodine planted her hands on her hips.

“Is there something you’d like to tell me?”

Her voice was thick with displeasure.

Ahazan, reaching for a scroll on the side table, let out a low chuckle.

“What is this? You sound like a housewife scolding her husband.”

His gaze swept leisurely from her head to her feet.

“Adorable.”

Clodine bit her lip sharply.

“I met someone on my way here. Care to guess who?”

“Hmm. Who might Her Majesty have encountered?”

“What are you doing?!”

Before she could properly compose herself, Ahazan hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her into a long cushioned chair. She barely had time to resist before she found herself seated.

She attempted to rise, but he smoothly laid his head across her lap, resting against her thigh as though it were the most natural place in the world.

Ignoring her indignation, he pressed a brief kiss to her abdomen and unrolled the scroll in his hand, reading with maddening leisure.

“I’m not in the mood for games.”

Her warning was stern.

“When have you ever been?”

“I met Lord Valoran at the eastern training grounds. You told me you released him yesterday, yet he wasn’t in prison at all. Why did you lie?”

Her voice carried hurt beneath its sharpness.

Ahazan exhaled through his nose and folded the scroll with a decisive snap, as though her distraction made work impossible.

He blinked slowly and spoke at last.

“Do you really think a prison only means iron bars? You’ve never been to the Ranmore Training Grounds where the trainee knights are confined, have you, Clodine? That place makes a beast’s pen look merciful. Finishing training there is no different from being released from the harshest prison.”

“Are you playing with words right now?”

“If it’s only words, you should be grateful. I’m barely restraining myself from doing this with my body instead.”

“Y–you really…!”

Clodine stumbled over her words at last. Ahazan, thoroughly amused, let out a low laugh. He lifted a finger and tapped lightly at the crease between her brows.

“What exactly is the problem? In the end, this was something you were going to ask of me anyway.”

“…What?”

The mischief in his voice softened, revealing something far gentler beneath.

“You kept delaying the recruitment of knights because you wanted that man by your side, didn’t you? You were just waiting for the right time to bring it up.”

He was right.

Clodine thought of the recommendation letters piling quietly on the corner of her desk and answered, her tone unconsciously easing.

“That’s because… you seemed to hate Lord Valoran.”

“I do. I truly hate the thought of him glued to your side. Just imagining it gives me chills.”

She frowned again.

“Why harbor such feelings toward him? You barely know him.”

“I know enough. He’s a man with two perfectly functioning eyes. And a strong body to match.”

As he said that, Ahazan placed her right palm flat against his chest.

Warm. Solid. Beneath her skin, she felt the powerful muscle and the fierce, steady beat of his heart.

So this was what he meant by a ‘strong-bodied man.’

He was demonstrating.

Clodine realized his intention and tried to pull her hand away, but he held it firmly. His other hand rose and brushed her cheek, far more subtly than his usual casual touches. There was an unmistakable intent in it.

His hand slid slowly downward, grazing her neck.

Only then did she become acutely aware that he was touching her bare skin.

Her senses sharpened all at once, as though one scene had ended and another had begun. The air felt different. Thicker.

She lowered her head stiffly and looked down at Ahazan, who lay with his head on her lap. His golden eyes, so bright they seemed almost translucent, glowed as if they had absorbed every ray of sunlight in the room. In that moment, he felt less like a man and more like something forged from light itself.

“And I also know, that my wife is so beautiful and captivating she robs men of their senses every moment.”

Her voice came out flat, as though her mind had been seized by something beyond her control.

“Then perhaps my beauty vanished yesterday. Since you suddenly decided to keep Lord Valoran by my side.”

A body that has tasted pleasure, like a starving beast scenting prey, is drawn instinctively to its source. It is not reason but instinct.

Clodine was stepping into that realm now.

Compared to Ahazan, whose thoughts were already steeped in raw instinct, she was late to the realization. But once their hearts aligned, who had arrived first no longer mattered.

Ahazan pushed himself upright until their faces were inches apart. The golden light in his eyes now burned like open flame.

“No. Even if the world ends, that would never happen.”

He studied her face as though she were something unbearably precious. Slowly, he lowered his head and pressed his lips against the pale curve of her neck.

Cold air rushed into her lungs as her chest rose involuntarily.

He welcomed the tremor in her body and whispered against her skin, his voice low and heated.

“It’s simply that no emotion can push your safety into second place.”

“…Ahazan.”

The thin strap of her dress slipped under the strength of his grip, revealing the delicate line of her collarbone like prey bared before a predator’s gaze.

“Even if jealousy turns me into a beast, protecting you comes first.”

It meant that if Valoran was the most suitable to guard her, Ahazan would swallow his jealousy and keep him there.

He lifted his face to hers again and captured her lips in a slow, deliberate kiss.

“Well? Isn’t my effort commendable?”

Her reason had long since unraveled under the relentless tide of his touch.

Their darkened gazes tangled once more, thick with unspoken hunger.

And then he delivered the final line, the one that sealed the moment.

“Praise me, Clodine. Not with words.”