“……Nngh.”
The moment I opened my eyes, a vicious pain swept through my entire head, as if someone had spent the whole night beating it in.
“Ah, ugh……”
My mouth was parched, and my stomach was churning.
Clutching my skull with both hands as if it were about to split apart, I struggled to push myself upright with a creak, and in one corner of my blurred vision I saw an extremely familiar red uniform.
It was Amber, sitting crookedly at the head of my bed with her arms tightly folded and her legs crossed.
“Are you awake, Your Highness?”
“……Sir White? Ugh, my head. What time is it?”
“Lunchtime has passed. The social gathering begins after sunset, so there is still some time.”
As I writhed in pain and groaned, the attendants waiting outside the door hurried into the room as if on cue.
“Your Highness, we have cool ice water and the noodle dish called ramen that you had last time.”
“Ugh, thank you……”
On the tray was the meat noodle dish the imperial chef had made from my explanation last time—also known as romance-fantasy-style ramen—steaming as it glistened with red oil.
Without a second thought, I downed the ice water in one go.
Feeling my burning esophagus cool down, I finally caught my breath, then picked up a fork and began shoveling in the ramen.
The only flaw was the lack of chopsticks.
“Kuuuh……!”
The numbing aroma of spicy chili and the rich meat broth flowed warmly down my alcohol-soaked stomach lining.
Only after I buried my nose in the bowl and sucked down every last strand of noodle did I feel as if my stopped-up airway had finally opened wide.
“Haa…… Now I feel like I can live.”
I wiped the sweat from my forehead and the bridge of my nose with a towel and let out a long breath.
Only after my vision cleared and my brain cells began functioning normally did the insane memories of what had happened in the main hall last night begin to surface one by one.
Count Gross, the imperial stablemaster and one of the emperor’s closest aides, the forty-proof liquor Arhi he had provided, and how I had somehow ended up in a drinking battle with the man.
‘……Crazy. Did I really get into a drinking battle with that count and win?’
Even I found it absurd.
Seeing the shock appear on my face, Amber clicked her tongue with a sharp gaze that was half concern and half reproach.
“Are you in your right mind, Your Highness? No matter if it was a battle of pride with men’s honor on the line, you drank liquor over forty proof on an empty stomach, one glass after another, without even a sip of water? Even Her Highness Victoria would not do something like that.”
“Haha…… Before I knew it, this strange stubbornness came over me. But is it certain that I won?”
“You did win. The problem is that you did something stupid enough to risk your life.”
“Well, where I come from, there’s a saying. If you’re an idiot whether you lose or win, become the idiot who won. Since I became the idiot who won, I won.”
“Oh, honestly…… Hahaha, at times like this, you really are young, Your Highness.”
“But still, I looked cool, didn’t I?”
Amber looked at me for a moment as if she pitied me, then raised the corner of her mouth and gave me a thumbs-up.
“You did look cool. I will admit that.”
“I knew it.”
“Well, the noble ladies were horrified by the sight…… but the nobles who take pride in the empire’s old traditions were pleased, saying Prince Ian had acted like a man.”
“That’s a relief.”
Feeling a little better, I checked just in case to see whether I had caused any trouble.
“By the way, before or after I passed out, did I make any serious drunken scene or say anything foolish? I have some gaps in my memory.”
“To begin with, I think having a drinking battle with Count Gross in the middle of the imperial palace’s main hall was itself a mistake, but since you did that while sober, you probably remember it.”
“I remember that.”
Amber shrugged and continued.
“Other than that, there were no particularly big mistakes. Until His Highness the Second Prince had people carry you to bed, you simply stood there like a statue, gripping a glass in your hand. You didn’t so much as twitch even when touched.”
“Whew, that really is a tremendous relief. If I had spouted nonsense while drunk, my head might have flown.”
“It is too early to be relieved, Prince Ian. The imperial social gathering continues nonstop for an entire week. Today is only the second day, and you have already worn yourself down like this on the very first day. Will you be able to enjoy the remaining time?”
“I’ll be fine. Somehow or other…… Whoops.”
I answered confidently and pretended to step out of bed and stand up.
But the moment the soles of my feet touched the carpet, all the strength went out of my legs and I wobbled like a paper doll.
If Amber had not hurriedly grabbed my shoulder and supported me, I would have planted my nose straight into the floor.
“……It seems it is still too much for you. Stop acting like a triumphant general and sleep a little longer. I will come wake you again around four in the afternoon.”
“Haha, thank you, Sir White. I’m shamelessly in your debt……”
At Amber’s firm words, I obediently crawled back into the soft bed and buried my head in the pillow.
As the taut tension in me loosened and terrible fatigue rushed in, in less than a minute I headed once more to dreamland, where the scent of alcohol lingered.
#
Soft, even breaths—
Listening to Ian’s steady breathing as he fell asleep in an instant, Amber stood by the bed and quietly looked down at his face.
‘I really feel this every time I see him, but why is he so handsome?’
The languid afternoon sunlight crossing the window softly illuminated his neat features.
The inscrutable expression he usually wore was nowhere to be seen; only the utterly defenseless, youthful face of an extremely handsome young man remained.
‘When he’s awake, he looks fairly mature, but when he falls asleep, he’s a total baby.’
A slow, sticky curve crept onto Amber’s lips.
The toast that the heavily drunk Ian had shouted last night in front of all those high-ranking nobles, in a voice thick with a tangled tongue, vividly rang in her ears.
‘Haa, to…… the dependable female knight who always helps me so well…… Sir Amber White……!’
“My, my. I never imagined you would include my name among the things precious to you, Your Highness. Is this flirting? You did it first, you know.”
A corner of her heart, dried out from a life spent gripping a sword, began to tickle, and the feelings of joy and fullness she had secretly felt crept back up again.
Resting her chin on her hand, Amber greedily studied Ian’s beautiful nose bridge and red lips.
‘Seriously…… this is driving me insane. If only I were four years younger, I would have just gobbled him up in one bite…… I’m not bad, am I? Hm? A high-ranking knight of the empire is a first-rate bride anywhere she goes. My age…… my age, hmm, yes, even so, thirty-two is…… not forty yet, right? Still, is it a bit……’
As Amber swallowed a regretful lament, resenting her own age, her eyes suddenly flashed with a strange light.
‘No, wait. In fact, if I think about it carefully, a twelve-year gap isn’t a flaw at all among imperial nobles, is it? A twelve-year difference means we’re exactly one zodiac cycle apart, and that’s an age gap they say you don’t even need to check compatibility for. Yes, if gobbling him up pricks my conscience a little…… then just very lightly, I could taste only his lips……?’
Her fingers, swept up in a strange sense of immorality that numbed her reason, were creeping as if bewitched toward Ian’s cheek.
Flinch—
In Amber’s mind, the cold, merciless face of her liege, First Princess Victoria, flashed past like an illusion.
“……”
Victoria was already burning with an immense possessiveness toward Ian Sterling that was close to madness.
If Amber dared to lay a hand on the prey of her liege, the First Sword of the Empire, she might truly find herself with her back broken while still alive.
Well, Victoria would hardly kill Amber, one of her most loyal retainers, over that, but she would be cursed out viciously.
Amber did not live with her senses abandoned to that extent.
Putting Princess Victoria aside, there was also Princess Chloe.
Though she normally lived with a benevolent smile, once a line was crossed, she became even more terrifying than her elder sister Victoria.
Amber did not want to make enemies of both princesses at once.
“……Hoo. Hold back, Amber White. If I want to live a long life, I have to hold back. I got promoted because I held back, and I became a knight because I held back……! Marriage—I can do that later.”
Amber forcefully pressed down the desire boiling up within her and let out a deep sigh that seemed to make the earth sink.
After carefully and neatly pulling Ian’s blanket up to his neck one last time, she quietly left the room, her steps dripping with lingering regret.
Even until the moment the door closed, her gaze could hardly tear itself away from Ian on the bed.