He smiled at me when I hurriedly covered my mouth and raised his hand. Then the royal knights stepped back silently. Was it because of that? Lovers walking around the lake were surprised to see him and me dressed up, but fortunately they didn’t seem to have noticed who we were.

I smelled the scent of silver flowers blown by the breeze. The petals of the flowers dancing in the wind fluttered down on his hair. When I reached out to take them out of his hair, he slowly looked back at me and asked, “How about this place? Do you like it? ”

“Yes, Your Majesty… Well, the scenery is beautiful. ”

“Right. I’m glad to hear that. I think my argument with Sir Penril all day long paid off.”

I looked at him who was turning up his mouth a bit. The more I thought about it, the more strange I felt. I was curious about why he slipped out of the palace to come here at this late hour, why he let the royal knights move back. Normally, he would not have acted like this. As for the scenic place, there were a lot of places like it inside the palace. Then, why did he act like this?

As if he noticed that I was curious about his motivations, he titled his head and looked at me.

“Are you wondering why I came here when I could go to beautiful places in the palace?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Well, Wherever you come to the palace, it makes you think of me as only the emperor. So, I wanted to get out of that restriction. I wanted you to look at me as I am without it.”

“… Your Majesty.” I looked up at him with my trembling eyes. His navy blue eyes looking at me were also trembling.

The moment I thought I felt something shimmering like the sea in his eyes, it disappeared.

Even before I felt sorry about it, something soft touched my lips.

What is it? What did he do…?

When I blinked blankly without even responding, I belatedly realized that he stole a kiss from me.

When I was about to pull myself from him in surprise, our eyes met.

I stiffened. I couldn’t take my eyes off his eyes, which turned dark blue. I felt like I was bewitched by something or sucked into something.

Suddenly, the scenery around me caught my eye. Shining sunlight and blue lake, and the scenery with a strange but free atmosphere.

I wanted to be freed from the bondage of my past and the restrictions set by the pro-emperor faction.

‘It’s all because of that scenery over there. It’s because I got carried away with the beautiful moonlight.’

So I wrapped my arms around his neck, telling myself I should be honest with my feelings.

I closed my eyes.

“Then I’ll come in now.”

I let out a sigh of relief naturally. I felt good when I was in the open space, but I felt so embarrassed and awkward when I was left alone with him in a closed space. Perhaps it was because he did not let go of my hand while in the wagon.

I was about to raise my body after carefully pulling the hand he was holding away, but he said, stopping me gently, “You.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Are you feeling better now?”

My heart gradually warmed when I saw him looking at me with a worried expression. When I nodded by smiling gently, a smile came to his lips.

“I’m glad you got better.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty. I’m deeply touched by your warm consideration.”

“Have a good night!”

“You, too, Your Majesty.”

As soon as I tried to pull my hand, bowing to him, he raised his right hand and kissed the hand of mine he was holding.

My heart began to pound gradually when I felt attracted to his tempting posture. I felt goosebumps when I felt his warm breathing on the back of my hand.

“Have good dreams, Aristia.”

When he whispered in my ears, I hurried out of the wagon without even responding.

I went back to my room absent-mindedly. My dreamy mood continued until I washed myself, changed my clothes, prepared to sleep, and was finally left alone in bed because what happened in the wagon and in the lake kept hovering in my mind.

Is it because of the magic attraction of the blue moon?

I recalled his desperate kiss. His eyes I saw when I opened my eyes, as well as the mixed feelings in his navy blue eyes, kept lingering in my eyes.

I couldn’t forget his warmth when he held my hand, his gentle touch when he swept my hair, and his soft kiss that touched the back of my hand. My heart was pounding so I couldn’t sleep.

I tossed and turned in bed, then removed the bedsheet. As I couldn’t sleep anyway, I thought I had better work.

When I opened the side door and approached the desk, I noticed a gorgeous envelope with gold pearls scattered on a blue background. At that moment, I recalled him cutting me off with a firm voice.

‘I wondered what he said in the letter.’

I picked up the envelope nervously. Then, after taking a quick look at his name in white ink, I took a deep breath and opened the letter.

I helplessly sat down on the floor.

Oh my God! How can the emperor give up on having a successor that shares his blood? Does this make any sense?

‘No way!’

I bit my lip. It was an offer that I could not and should not accept. This should not happen under any circumstances.

But my heart kept pounding. I shouldn’t do this, but I couldn’t calm down my excitement. Although I knew his offer was far from feasible, with enormous repercussions, I was very happy. I was moved to tears after discovering how much he cared for me when he, known for his rational thinking and behavior, could make such a dangerous offer. I felt like I would like to hide behind him, ignoring the stern reality facing me.

My heart was full of a strange feeling beyond my description. How can I express this feeling? Pleasure? Satisfaction? Happiness? Gratification? No, what I’m feeling now was not the kind of one that can’t be expressed in simple words.

Only then did I realize that I was really loved by him. Although I knew it for a long time, it was the first time that his love touched my heart like this. Even though I knew that the more I swayed, the more he and I would be hurt, I couldn’t really think about anything because of the myriad of feelings that filled my heart.

‘No…’ I let out a big breath.

I took a deep breath, so I could empty my excitement.

The next time I see him, I have to say I can’t accept it. I’m going to tell him that his offer is simply impossible. But shouldn’t I be happy only tonight? Can’t I be just happy that I am loved by him?

Suddenly, tears trickled down on my cheek unconsciously.

‘When these tears dry, let me go back to normal life tomorrow. I promise, Aristia. ‘

I raised my blurry eyes and looked out the window. The blue moonlight filling the black night sky was reflected in my blurred vision.