Chapter 115
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Adi stared at the necktie abandoned on the floor before her eyes traveled upward. Yuls was observing her, his presence heavy and sharp. A strange, suffocating tension made her hands curl into tight knots, but she forced herself to meet his gaze with a look of firm resolve.
“If my actions have caused Your Excellency any offense—”
“They haven’t,” Yuls interrupted.
He shifted his stance slightly. “You have performed your duties perfectly, Guard. You are guilty of no transgression.”
Adi remained silent, her expression mirroring her internal chaos. She was completely at a loss as to how she should react to his reassurance.
“The truth is, I am simply irritated.”
“……”
“Are you not going to inquire about the source of my frustration?”
“Why are you angry, sir?”
“Because I have feelings for you, Guard.”
The moment the confession left his lips, Yuls felt a wave of clarity wash over him. He had always been aware of his attraction to her, but in the past, he had prioritized her practical value over his heart. Now, those calculations seemed trivial. It was simple. He liked her.
“I am stating this clearly because you are obviously blind to it.”
He supposed he couldn’t blame her for being oblivious, considering he had only just admitted it to himself. Yuls reached out, his palm coming to rest against Adi’s cheek. Her skin felt strikingly cool and velvet-soft beneath his touch, making him want to linger there forever. If I could just stay in this moment… He suppressed the urge, pulling back his desires.
“I care for you quite deeply, Guard.”
His hand slid away, leaving a trail of fading warmth.
“Do not mistake my reasons. You are at my side because I want you there, not because of some lingering curse.”
Adi seemed to turn to stone, her features tight with shock. He watched the way her mouth opened slightly, her mind clearly racing to find a response that wouldn’t come. Yuls focused on her lips. A part of him wanted to pull her close, to taste her and whisper his devotion against her skin until she surrendered to him.
He possessed the power to force her hand, but he knew such a path would only earn him her resentment.
“Simply remember what I have said.”
With a sudden movement, Yuls unfastened his own necktie. Adi’s eyes followed the motion downward. As his shirt loosened, she caught a glimpse of his pale collarbones and the firm planes of his chest. Suddenly, her throat felt parched.
“This is not about the curse,” he repeated.
He took the crimson fabric and draped it carefully around Adi’s neck.
“You mean… that you like me.”
“I mean exactly what I told you. Do not go searching for a hidden agenda where there is none.”
His fingers, unexpectedly broad and long, grazed the sensitive skin of her throat. He worked the knot into place, tucking the ends away as he spoke again.
“I like you, Guard.”
He wasn’t practiced in dressing others, and the resulting knot was somewhat lopsided. Despite the imperfection, a surge of satisfaction rose within him. Looking at this messy red tie was infinitely better than seeing her wear the one that carried Claude’s scent.
“I am well aware that you do not return these sentiments.”
He caught her eye. She still looked as though she were trying to solve an impossible riddle. That was acceptable for now. He had issued his ultimatum.
“But now that the truth is out…”
He intended to bridge the gap between them, regardless of her hesitation.
“You should prepare yourself for what comes next.”
As Yuls began to retract his hand, Adi’s fingers suddenly clamped around his wrist. Her hand was too small to encircle him completely, yet the strength in her grip was startling. She was a warrior, after all, and her power was undeniable.
Yuls looked at her in silent questioning. Slowly, Adi released him. The white marks left by her fingertips gradually flushed pink as the blood returned. A faint bruise was already beginning to bloom, but neither of them acknowledged it.
“Adrina?”
“It is nothing, sir.”
Yuls watched her with narrowed, suspicious eyes. As he stared, Adi felt a wave of confusion regarding her own physical reaction. She couldn’t find the words to categorize the sensation.
It was a strange, fluttering itch deep beneath her ribs.
Perhaps it was centered in her solar plexus. She couldn’t be sure.
“Please excuse my lack of manners.”
She felt a desperate urge to claw at her chest until the feeling subsided.
Yuls exited the chamber first. Adi lingered until her next rotation began, eventually making her way to the barracks. She felt lost, drifting through her duties without a compass.
As evening fell, Yuls met with his senior advisors to organize the upcoming legislative sessions. The intricacies of politics were beyond Adi’s expertise. Rumors also began to circulate that reinforcements from the Woodpecker estate would be arriving shortly.
Later, Yuls sat with his hair pulled back, reviewing documents in his nightclothes.
He behaved as though their earlier encounter had never happened, maintaining his usual composed demeanor. As he eventually climbed into his bed and drifted off, Adi felt a pang of isolation. Was she the only one whose world had been turned upside down?
The nagging, restless feeling in her chest wouldn’t leave her. Earlier, when she was alone, she had tried to rub the ache away, but it was futile. She couldn’t even determine the exact location of the discomfort. Was it her heart? Her throat? She mindlessly toyed with the red silk Yuls had tied for her, massaging the back of her neck, but the mystery remained unsolved.
It was bizarre. It wasn’t necessarily painful, but it was unsettling. This elusive emotion felt like it was dancing just out of reach, vanishing the moment she tried to grasp it.
Meanwhile, the man who had sparked this internal fire was slumbering peacefully just a few yards away.
A professional distance remained between them. As an escort, she was stationed away from the immediate bedside.
This particular royal suite was grander than those in Pallesa Palace, a testament to the expansion that occurred when the capital moved to Ionad. The sheer size of the room had taken some adjustment. Standing by the window, Adi watched the rise and fall of Yuls’s chest, then took a slow, deliberate step forward.
The thick rugs swallowed the sound of her boots. She approached the bed silently and stood over him.
He possessed a striking, delicate beauty. She wondered if such words were appropriate for a man of his station, but they felt right. His long tresses and thick, dark lashes looked like something from a master’s canvas. If the legends of the Witches’ legendary beauty were true, it seemed the bloodline had not faded in him.
Adi reached out a hand. Mimicking the way Yuls often touched her, she pressed a single finger against his cheek. The heat of his skin surprised her. That vibrant, human warmth felt foreign against her calloused hand. She pulled back, watching his chest move in a perfect, steady rhythm.
She started to reach out again, but checked herself.
I simply do not comprehend… these things people call feelings.
After a final, lingering look, Adi turned to leave. At that precise moment, Yuls’s eyes drifted open. He felt her presence receding, and a small, knowing smile touched his lips.
He was certain now. His words had struck a chord within Adrina.
The following morning, the Council met to formalize the Crown Prince’s week-long house arrest. Claude was incensed. This was a critical window for him to solidify his power base and court allies. Being sidelined now was a tactical disaster. Yet the throne remained unmoved, forcing Claude to lean heavily on Count Grimaldi’s influence.
With the tide turning in the Count’s favor, the Grimaldi estate became a hive of political activity. The years he had spent away from the capital seemed to have done nothing to diminish his standing or his ability to manipulate the court.
The palace was a whirlwind of motion. A single day of political absence always required a week of frantic damage control.
As Yuls began to assert his influence within Ionad Palace, he was constantly surrounded by petitioners and officials. Adi noticed that Macauliffe had been absent since their last encounter, likely handling business in the city. Since her duty kept her confined to the residence, she was shielded from the outside world’s chaos.
Her life was reduced to the rhythm of Yuls’s schedule. He returned late every night, collapsing into sleep from sheer mental fatigue. She would watch him in the quiet hours, but she never dared to close the distance again.
Even if she had found the courage to speak, he was never awake long enough to listen.
The growing mountain of unspoken words and unresolved tension began to bleed into her training. Adi’s swordsmanship became sharper, her strikes carrying a new, aggressive edge.
“Good grief… If I hadn’t seen that coming, I’d be missing a head right now,” Ivan wheezed.
An assassin’s craft was built on shadows and silence, not the blunt force of a frontal assault against a master knight. Adi unknotted her tie and used it to mop the perspiration from her brow.
“I appreciate the practice,” she said curtly.
“The pleasure is mine, I suppose,” Ivan replied, eyeing her warily.
Adi’s expression was dark. She had been on edge for days, but today her mood seemed particularly poisonous. Both Dimitri and Bert had commented on her prickly attitude, but the cause remained a mystery. Just as Ivan was about to probe for answers, Adi spoke.
“Tell me.”
She looked toward the edge of the grounds. In the shade of the trees, a table had been prepared for an elegant lunch. Three figures sat there, engaged in what looked like a pleasant, intimate conversation.
“The gentleman with Lady Lea Lintu… who is he?”
“Oh, you haven’t met him? That’s Marquis Connolly,” Ivan explained.
Just then, the clouds shifted, allowing the midday sun to beat down with renewed intensity. Adi squinted against the glare, her jaw set. Right. It was the heat. The irritation she felt had everything to do with the sun and absolutely nothing to do with the scene unfolding under the trees. She repeated the lie to herself, over and over.
