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His voice was brimming with confidence.
He spoke as if he could produce a man who met all those demanding conditions right before my eyes this very instant.
Yulan certainly possessed remarkable abilities.
However, finding a commoner with enough audacity not to tremble before ‘Duke Martir’—who was no ordinary noble—would not be easy, even for him.
Consequently, I looked at Yulan with a somewhat skeptical gaze.
Sensing this instantly, he gave a smirk and spoke.
“If you're that suspicious, why don't you come with me right now and see for yourself?”
“……See what?”
“The candidates to be your lover.”
It was an answer that made me frown instinctively.
It wasn't so much that I felt offended, but rather that I couldn't understand it.
It wasn't as if he said he would look for them gradually; I couldn't believe he had already organized so many people in his head that he could refer to them as ‘candidates.’
I couldn't tell immediately whether this was mere bluffing or a confidence-filled truth.
At least, not here.
“Can you come back quickly?”
“At least before the cute guests upstairs notice.”
“……Fine, then.”
The ‘cute guests’ Yulan mentioned surely referred to Sona and Sena.
As long as I didn't have to worry about the secret leaking, a brief adventure was worth enjoying.
Even if they didn't fit the conditions perfectly, if there was enough time to prepare, the probability of the plan succeeding would increase exponentially.
Yulan likely knew this, which is why he suggested moving, even if it meant taking a slight risk.
Hiding my trembling heart, I confidently reached out my hand.
Yulan's eyes widened slightly before curving into a narrow smile.
“Imperial Princess, may I escort you?”
“I shall grant you special permission, Prince.”
Holding my fingertips and lightly kissing the back of my hand, he pulled me up from my seat.
The place he led me to was a narrow space beyond the hangers lined up outside the sofa.
As I lifted the soft carpet with my toes, a secret door hidden beneath was revealed.
“I wondered how you reached the dress shop so quickly, but……”
“Magic tricks are often quite trivial once you know them.”
“But your guild is quite far from here. If you went on foot, the timing would be tight.”
“I think it would be faster to explain if you saw it with your own eyes, Imperial Princess.”
After swinging open the secret door, Yulan scanned me up and down for a moment.
“Imperial Princess, excuse me for a second.”
“Huh? Suddenly what—!”
Before I could finish my sentence, Yulan's hands moved first.
Before I could even scream, I was swept up into his arms.
The only thing touching the soles of my feet, which had been on the floor, was air.
Having momentarily lost my balance, I instinctively clung deeper into his embrace.
“Wh-why so suddenly……!”
“Ah. I cannot possibly let your precious shoes touch a filthy ladder.”
“Since when did you start caring about things like that?”
“Hmm, from now?”
It was a lie that anyone could see through.
The reason was surely something else entirely, but it was clear he had no intention of letting me walk through the secret passage on my own feet.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have adjusted his grip several times to hold me in a complete embrace.
With every step Yulan took, my cheek was rubbed haphazardly against his coarse clothing.
Thump, thump, thump.
The slow beating of his heart resonated through my entire body via my ear.
And what of the faint scent of cedarwood tickling the tip of my nose?
That scent, which had covered my entire body during the night I spent with him, made my head spin.
The moment I recalled his voice, which had been far more raspy than usual, the nape of my neck burned hot.
My face must be as red as a well-ripened apple right now.
Not wanting him to see me like this, I buried my face deeper into his chest.
Fortunately, Yulan seemed to interpret my reaction entirely differently.
“As expected, this place is far too unpleasant for an Imperial Princess raised in luxury, isn't it?”
Every time he spoke, the slight heave of his chest made my face grow hotter.
Thus, unable to answer, I had no choice but to hug his neck more tightly.
I felt that if he saw my face now, it would lead to an unwanted misunderstanding.
“……When will we arrive?”
“Soon. Bear with it a little longer, Imperial Princess. If the smell is unbearable, just bury your nose here, in my neck.”
“Are you telling me to flirt with you?”
“You liked it too, Imperial Princess. No need to pretend otherwise now.”
“Liked what……!”
The rebuttal that tried to burst out from my feeling of injustice was blocked by Yulan's embrace.
I struggled to pull my head away, but I couldn't overcome the force pressing my face firmly against the nape of his neck.
With every breath I took, his scent filled my lungs.
Only after time had passed in a state where I couldn't tell if the floor of the underground passage was damp, dusty, or smelled musty, was I finally able to stand on my own feet.
As I staggered, unable to keep my balance, he firmly wrapped his arm around my waist and whispered in my ear.
“It's been quite a while, hasn't it? Aren't you glad to be back?”
“No, not at all.”
At my firm answer, Yulan let out a chuckle.
“We spent some pretty good times here; aren't you being too cold?”
He asked the question while subtly spreading his hand over my flat stomach.
But I still had no intention of changing my answer.
And for good reason.
“The place where I spent a good time wasn't here. Do you take me for a fool?”
“……Hmm. In what way is it not?”
It was absurd that he insisted on pointing it out again when I could have just agreed.
Indeed, this place was decorated almost identically to the guild building where I first met Yulan.
The pattern of the wallpaper, the grain of the floor, and even the small scratch on the window were the same.
‘He probably worried about the case where those people… the ones being threatened, escaped. He likely intended to abandon the place and move to the next building if discovered.’
I realized once again that Yulan was a very dangerous man.
He must be operating several, perhaps dozens, of second houses…….
Thinking about this, I suddenly wondered if it was the right thing to tell him about the flaw I had found.
The moment I shifted my eyes to avoid the answer.
“Imperial Princess, right now, you have followed me here willingly to ask for my help. I hope you remember that clearly.”
“……Ha.”
That was right.
The person in desperate need of help was me, not him.
In fact, I was in a position where I should be searching for every single minor flaw and offering them to him.
After forcing back a sigh, I pointed toward the ceiling.
More accurately, at the chandelier hanging there.
“The gem embedded in the second tier of the chandelier. That's aquamarine.”
“Aha?”
“The chandelier in the place where I first met you……”
“……Had an emerald embedded in it.”
Instead of answering in words, he nodded.
I remembered shaking my head when I first saw it, thinking it was a terrible taste.
Embedding a difficult-to-manage emerald right next to candlelight was something I couldn't view positively, no matter how hard I tried.
In short, it was nothing more than a display of excessive wealth, which is why it remained deeply etched in my memory.
“I guess this place isn't one you care about that much? Otherwise, it would be hard to commit such a bold embezzlement.”
“Well……. Let's just say that's the case.”
Yulan's speech slowed, and his green eyes sank darkly.
Not wanting to provoke him unnecessarily, I quickly changed the subject.
“You handle this matter on your own……. Now, where on earth are these candidates for my lover?”
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