“Try again?”
“Yes.”
The pink flower garden lady took slow steps toward him, then came to an abrupt stop right at the boundary.
Gray narrowed his eyes as he studied her.
“Miss, do you see anything on the ground?”
“Achoo!”
Without warning, the pink-flowered lady covered her face with her hand and sneezed.
Gray had to work hard to conceal his flabbergasted expression.
Meanwhile, she crossed the line without a care in the world and asked him,
“What did you just say?”
“…Nothing.”
‘Just who on earth is this pink-flowered lady to be able to cross that line?’
This place was the Emperor’s private garden. None were permitted to stay except the Emperor himself, and no one crossed its borders without his explicit permission.
Ethan, the Commander of the Imperial Guard standing behind him like a wall, was among those granted such permission.
Yet Gray had never granted permission to this pink-flowered lady whom he had met for the very first time today.
“Miss, just once more. This time, it’s not an order, but a request.”
The sole reason he was devoting this much time to her… was this.
He had to know the reason.
That someone could enter his private space, which he had believed to be unshakeable and absolute, was not merely annoying—it was a real danger.
Next time, the intruder might not be an innocent young woman, but an assassin.
And the imperial family’s curse of dying before twenty-five might just be fulfilled this time through assassination.
“Hmm… Then, Your Majesty, would you grant me a request as well?”
The pink-flowered lady appeared to ponder for a moment, then spoke with sudden confidence.
A deep smile spread across Gray’s face, in sharp contrast to his cold gaze, revealing hints of dimples.
“A request from the Emperor? Do you realize the weight of those words?”
“Yes.”
Her reply was nonchalant.
‘Didn’t she say she was from a distant branch of some count’s family?’
Her utterly natural demeanor made him question her true station.
“As long as the request isn’t to marry you, I agree.”
“It definitely isn’t that.”
“Then, I accept.”
“All right! Then off I go!”
The pink-flowered lady shed the bored look she had worn moments ago and skipped toward the lilac bushes with a bright expression.
Inside his mind, Gray issued a silent decree to the Emperor’s garden:
‘Never admit this woman.’
“Try again?”
“Yes.”
He might not know how this pink-flowered lady had gotten in, but the order forbidding entry to a specific individual was absolute and indisputable.
The pink-flowered lady approached with light footsteps.
Just one more step, and she would cross the line.
Gray stared at her white shoes without blinking.
Then… she crossed the line.
From behind him came the sound of Ethan gripping his sword tightly.
Ethan knew the secret of this garden as well, so the sight of this girl approaching with her innocent face had undoubtedly rattled him.
The pink-flowered lady asked as she drew near with a bright smile,
“Why do you keep making me walk back and forth?”
A radiant smile spread across Gray’s face.
If it was an unsolvable mystery, it had to be solved.
“Miss, do you have some time to spare?”
Ethan’s shoulders trembled as he watched the Emperor from behind.
The Emperor… was furious.
Gray’s brow furrowed as he read the report.
“Is this true?”
The pink-flowered lady with the enigmatic eyes… was genuinely a diplomat.
It seemed unbelievable that a woman whose face virtually screamed ‘I’m lying’ could be a real diplomat.
After making her go back and forth repeatedly, he had no choice but to admit that the Emperor’s garden was not rejecting her.
Even so, he couldn’t understand why.
‘Why?’
‘What makes that pink-flowered lady so special?’
There was only one being who could enter the Emperor’s garden without his permission.
The Empress.
Yet since he had no intention of marrying, that being would never appear until the day he died.
Therefore, there was no way that girl could be the sole exception.
Secretary Orion, who stood beside the desk holding a stack of reports, asked,
“Your Majesty, does this young lady seem that suspicious? Shall we assign an operative from The Rooster to her?”
The Rooster… a secret unit reporting directly to the Emperor.
They moved solely on his orders, handling espionage, infiltration, intelligence gathering, and even assassination.
Gray picked up the hourglass resting on his desk.
The golden sand flowed downward like water.
Time was slipping away at an alarming pace.
He had no desire to waste it on pointless matters, yet the image of the pink-flowered lady’s mysterious eyes kept floating up in his mind, only to sink and rise again.
Unless he found an answer, it would not stop.
For that reason… he had no choice but to investigate the pink-flowered lady.
“Yes.”
To coordinate the schedule, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ryan came to the room.
“Your—no, Miss Lia, all you need to do is familiarize yourself with the atmosphere of this Empire and see how it might benefit our kingdom. This is considered an informal method of intelligence gathering for diplomats.”
“So you mean I just wander around here and there and act amazed by everything, right?”
“Precisely.”
Ryan nodded with a pleased smile.
“All right.”
If it was merely strolling around and having fun, that was no trouble at all. Besides, she would have the chance to explore the imperial capital.
Her heart soon fluttered with excitement.
At that moment, Annie slammed the teacup down onto the table with a sharp clatter.
Startled, Ryan looked up to meet Annie’s fierce glare.
“Did I say something wrong?”
Ryan shrank back slightly as sparks flew from his younger sister’s dark red eyes. Despite her youth, she was downright terrifying at times.
“Brother, is that truly the best idea? Letting Lia wander about freely? Who will take responsibility for her safety? How do you even know how far she’ll go?”
Only then did Ryan realize his mistake, hastily turning his gaze toward Dalia.
“Miss Lia, you must remain strictly inside the palace!”
“Annie!”
Dalia narrowed her eyes in a sharp scowl at Annie, but Annie ignored her, calmly pouring the tea.
“Here you are, both of you.”
Dalia pouted her lips slightly and took a sip of the fruit tea.
In truth, what mattered to her far more than informal diplomatic intelligence was figuring out how to meet the Emperor.
“So, when will I be able to see His Majesty?”
“Pardon?”
The crimson flare in Ryan’s eyes faded slightly, unlike Annie’s.
“I came to the Empire, so shouldn’t I pay my respects?”
“So many diplomats from every kingdom have arrived that our turn has been delayed for a bit.”
“Ah.”
Her plans to meet the Emperor frequently and expedite his marriage had hit a snag right from the start.
On the very day she arrived, the Emperor had run her ragged with endless walking until she was thoroughly exhausted, only to vanish on the pretext of a meeting.
He had told her he would fulfill her request next time, but the problem was that ‘next time.’
Meeting the Emperor was no easy task.
Thus, all she had gained from all that effort was sore muscles.
“And when our turn comes to pay respects to the Emperor, I will not allow you to attend.”
“Why?!”
Dalia’s head snapped up immediately as she racked her brain for a way to face the Emperor.
“I agree with my brother’s opinion as well. You must conceal your identity as much as possible, so it is best that you not appear before people.”
Even Annie, standing beside her, took his side.
“But I came here with a purpose…”
Dalia murmured ruefully, prompting Ryan to lean in with curiosity and ask hurriedly,
“What purpose did you come to the Empire for, exactly?”
Even Annie silently directed a piercing stare toward the princess.
Neither of them had any inkling of the purpose driving the princess to sneak into the Empire under an assumed identity.
They had assumed she merely wanted to escape her confinement in the royal palace and enjoy seeing the outside world.
Yet the answer that came was completely unlike anything they anticipated:
“World peace.”
