Chapter 28
Confusion
That morning, Robert felt a depth of emotion he had never experienced before.
He gently brushed aside a lock of silver hair that had fallen across her cheek.
Just the touch of his fingertips on her skin sent a fresh surge of joy through his entire body.
How long had it been since he’d met someone who could make his heart race and fill his whole being with such vitality?
Several years?
No—he had never often surrendered himself to such experiences in the first place.
He indulged in enough nightlife to make his grandmother, the Queen, grumble at him, but even then he had always been careful. When he spent the night with someone, he never forgot to protect himself, and he tried to avoid letting things progress into situations he didn’t intend.
In that sense, there had been almost no one with whom he had shared such intimacy free of any restraints.
To be able to hold a woman so rare, so precious, so graceful—more so than anyone he had known before—filled Robert with immense satisfaction.
It was still early morning, and she didn’t seem likely to wake even if he shook her a little.
He had kept her with him until such a late hour, but she had said she was connected to the Palustin ducal house.
She was probably staying in this hotel. If the mistress of the household didn’t return all night, her attendants would surely be worried.
And if he were going to send her back, it was better to do so in the early morning—fewer eyes, fewer risks.
If she were a subject of his own kingdom, Robert could have protected her with his own body as many times as necessary.
But matters were different with an imperial noble.
Having spent the night with the Crown Prince—the host of the ball—Sena’s social position could drastically change.
To prevent anything troublesome from happening, he needed to return her quietly to her world first, report to the Queen, and then properly go retrieve Sena afterward.
That was the best course of action—so Robert believed.
But before doing that, before sending her away…
He prayed to the spirits who guarded the royal family: Just a little longer. Let us savor this time for only the two of us.
Perhaps the spirits heard him, for Sena slept peacefully, unaware of the hand resting against her cheek.
When she woke, the traces of their intense night were even on the clothes scattered across the floor.
Not wanting her to regret the sight later, Robert softly gathered both their garments from the floor and folded them neatly on a chair in the corner.
As he stepped off the bed, he noticed the blanket had slipped away. Beneath it lay her bare form, beautiful enough to stir his desire again—but he pushed that thought aside.
More than waking her for his own convenience, he wanted to cherish her peaceful sleeping face.
As he went to pull the blanket over her properly, he noticed the red stain on the sheets.
For a moment he wondered if she had been injured, but it didn’t take long for him to realize whose blood it was. He checked himself quickly—no stab wounds or cuts anywhere.
…Had she truly spent her first night with him?
For a modest woman it was supposedly essential, but in this modern era—enhanced by magi-engineering—it was considered extremely rare.
He had grown weary of his grandmother and sisters constantly nagging him to “find someone soon.”
Finally, that torment was over—or so it felt, like a revelation from the heavens.
He knew almost nothing about her.
But if the lineage she claimed was real, if she could purchase such an expensive ticket and wear such a magnificent gown, she was undoubtedly among the wealthy.
She had graduated from a prestigious imperial academy, and although her field of study was somewhat unusual, she had the passion to pursue a doctoral program.
…Her fingers were roughened like those of a craftsman—something he didn’t particularly like—but perhaps that too was a sign of her devotion to her historical studies.
And as last night had proven, they were remarkably compatible in bed.
If she had no obligations after this, he was tempted to bring her straight to the palace as his chosen bride.
I want her as my wife—no matter what.
On her ring finger gleamed the ring he had given her—a proof of his love. Seeing it filled him with even deeper contentment.
He remembered that the refrigerator in the kitchen held food that simply needed heating—a simple breakfast and coffee.
She would surely be hungry when she woke.
Since the opening ceremony, he had monopolized Sena entirely. Neither of them had eaten anything resembling a meal.
His stomach ached faintly—hers must be the same.
Quietly, so as not to wake her, he left the bedroom, closed the door softly, and headed to the kitchen.
After preparing two cups of freshly brewed coffee and warming the light meal, he placed everything on a tray and returned to the bedroom—
—but she was gone.
Only the warmth left in the bed proved that someone had been there.
“Sena?”
Maybe she had gone to the toilet, he thought. But there was no sound from the bathroom.
He set the tray on the bedside table and noticed that her dress had disappeared from the chair.
For several minutes, Robert searched the entire suite—and even the courtyard—but she was nowhere to be found.
Confused and furious beyond words, he returned to the bedroom and finally understood.
“She ran…? Why?”
Had some famous magician cast an illusion on him to deceive him? The room held nothing that testified to her presence—nothing except the ruby ring she’d exchanged with him, which still lay in his trouser pocket.
He grabbed his trousers from the chair and fished out the ring.
She did exist—so why did she flee?
The incomprehensible reality dragged Robert toward despair.
No. Wait, he told himself.
Royalty possessed the blessing of the fire spirit.
When danger threatened someone under contract, the spirit would appear—summoned or not—to protect them.
But it hadn’t appeared now.
The threat wasn’t to his life—but something else entirely.
Whatever it had been, if she had intended to harm or deceive him, the spirit would have intervened. It always had; every past incident of danger had triggered its appearance.
Based on that alone, he could assume Sena had been the exact opposite of a threat. They had shared their bodies, and perhaps even their hearts.
Why she had vanished… Robert had absolutely no idea.
