~Chapter 05~
Nine o’clock in the evening.
Selen had finished preparing everything meticulously.
Just in case, she had packed a small bag.
She put in water and some snacks, since they might travel far; a handkerchief, in case she sweated; a light, since it was dark; and an extra set of underwear, just in case.
But no matter how long she waited, Kirien did not arrive.
Selen grew restless and rose from her seat.
Wasn’t he supposed to come to Eleanor Palace, like a knight from a novel?
But Eleanor Palace was a men-only area—maybe that made it impossible in reality?
Then, should she have gone to Teveron Palace instead?
Where should she go?
The confessional? The purification room? The reception hall?
At that moment, she heard the sudden sound of a door opening, and a cold gust of wind swept in.
Selen turned toward the source of the wind.
And then, the silhouette of a man perched on the window appeared.
Without thinking, Selen called his name.
“Kirien?”
Kirien’s eyes widened in surprise at being called, then he lifted one corner of his mouth in a mischievous smile.
“That’s nice… calling me by name.”
For a moment, Selen’s face flushed bright red.
To recklessly call the name of someone two years older than her, and with a title—it was both embarrassing and mortifying.
“How did you get here? Eleanor Palace is off-limits to women.”
Kirien stepped closer, and Selen instinctively backed away.
But Kirien’s pace was faster.
Before she knew it, Selen was backed against the wall, and he smiled with satisfaction.
Then he spread his arms and enclosed her within them.
“There are places where no one dares to intrude, thinking, ‘Who would try to sneak in here?’”
Kirien gently took Selen’s fingertips in his hand.
“Those places often have surprisingly lax security.”
Selen did not pull her hand away.
Seizing the moment, Kirien pressed his long fingers firmly around her hand.
“So this was one of those places,” he said with a sly smile.
It was a relaxed smile, far from what one would expect from a sneaky intruder.
Selen, on the other hand, could only wear a dazed expression.
“You’re saying the security at Eleanor Palace… is lax?”
“Not just lax—almost nonexistent.”
Kirien held her hand as they walked briskly, then opened the corridor door wide.
“You should strengthen security. Someone else with impure intentions like mine might come along.”
Indeed, the corridor was completely empty.
No guards at the entrance, no one patrolling.
Kirien walked ahead, guiding Selen.
He seemed to know the layout of Eleanor Palace better than she did.
Every passage and terrace he led her to was somewhere she had never been.
“This was the only place where the travel scroll could be used,” he explained as he opened the terrace door, letting the cool night air rush in.
Selen shivered slightly at the temperature difference.
Kirien tilted his head, observing her.
“Why are you dressed so lightly?”
“Well… I thought lighter clothing would be easier to move in… and we might go far…”
Selen fumbled, offering excuses.
She couldn’t just admit that her sisters had told her to wear something easy to take off.
She didn’t want him to realize she had secretly hoped for that.
Still, she couldn’t hide her reddened cheeks.
Seeing her flushed face, Kirien swallowed dryly.
He didn’t need to ask to know the truth—she was acting that way to look good for him.
The strong scent of roses carried by the wind betrayed her intentions.
Kirien took a travel scroll from his pocket and removed his jacket.
Beneath his thin shirt, well-defined muscles were visible.
Selen’s gaze inevitably drifted to his chest.
“Keep it on until we arrive,” he said, draping the jacket over her shoulders.
The refreshing scent enveloped Selen, making her feel as if she were embraced in his arms.
She lifted her head to look at Kirien’s face.
Perhaps it was the moonlight, but he seemed strangely unfamiliar.
The Kirien she had met in the purification room had seemed so proper and polite.
Even now, even then.
It was certainly the same face.
Then why did she feel dizzy and in danger tonight?
“Are you really Duke Kylos?”
Kirien’s eyes widened at the question.
It was the same expression as when Selen had called his name earlier.
“Do I look like someone else?”
“Yes. You seem completely different from when you were receiving healing in the purification room.”
Kirien laughed mischievously, like a playful boy.
“I can only act calm when necessary. Just like someone else.”
Selen averted her gaze, her earlobes red.
She wasn’t so oblivious as to miss that “someone else” referred to herself.
“And if you’re going to call me, call me by my name, just like before.”
Selen’s eyes widened, staring at Kirien.
He smiled faintly and offered his hand again.
“Shall we go?”
Selen stared at his hand, curious.
She had always wondered—what it would feel like to touch a real man’s body, not a cold bronze statue or an old painting; the thrill and burning desire her sisters had described.
Forbidden love, excitement, and the world she had always been curious about.
Hesitant, she took Kirien’s hand.
And with that, she felt herself stepping closer to a world she had always wanted to explore but never could.
It wasn’t Selen’s first time using a travel scroll.
Yet that night, she felt unusually dizzy, as if suspended in midair.
As the ground beneath her seemed to drop and she felt faint, the descent suddenly stopped.
Selen opened her tightly shut eyes.
What met her gaze was unbelievable.
A dark blue carpet glistening under the moonlight.
The smell of salt and moisture carried by the wind.
Excitedly, she asked,
“Is this… the sea?”
“The sea?”
Kirien tilted his head, questioning her.
“Is it your first time seeing it?”
His low voice scattered with the wind.
Completely different from the resonant echoes inside the temple, where even the faintest whisper carried.
“Yes. It’s my first time.”
The night breeze played through her hair, brushing it softly.
Selen watched the strands floating in the air, fascinated.
A flood of emotions surged within her—fear, unfamiliar trembling, and excitement.
“It’s really the sea!”
Selen ran toward the beach.
But as soon as her feet touched the sand, she wobbled.
She hadn’t realized the sand wasn’t firm—it was soft and yielding.
Yet she didn’t fall completely.
Kirien, who had followed, caught her by the waist.
“Are you alright? Be careful, it’s dark underfoot.”
Selen’s hands ended up resting on Kirien’s chest.
—A man’s chest truly is different from a woman’s.
Stiff yet soft, firm yet yielding—she had never touched one like this before.
“Could you walk a bit toward the castle?”
Fortunately, Kirien didn’t seem to notice her fingers twitching slightly.
She pointed toward a castle perched on a cliff.
“Is that… Duke Kylos’s castle?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Selen couldn’t help but exclaim in awe.
She had heard the castle was by the sea, but never imagined it would be on a cliff.
Unlike the cluster of shops and houses along the beach, standing alone on a cliff made it look majestic.
Almost magical.
“Right now, all the travel scroll coordinates inside the castle are blocked.”
Kirien explained why they needed to walk along the beach and added a brief apology.
But Selen preferred walking.
The sensation of the sand sinking under her feet, scattering when lifted, was mesmerizing.
“My feet sink so deeply… now I understand why my father always held my hand when we went to the beach.”
Selen was usually quiet, not talkative.
But being out at night for the first time, she felt unusually excited.
No scolding priests, no petty noble confessions.
She could show her mischievous side without anyone criticizing her.
And with no one on the beach, it felt like the sea belonged entirely to her.
Kirien walked behind her along the night beach.
Answering politely to even her trivial chatter.
“You mean Count Leclair?”
“Yes. My father was always busy, so we only saw family during vacation season.”
Selen’s father, Count Leclair, was the nation’s chancellor, stationed at the royal palace year-round.
Her two older brothers managed their estate.
“Our estate has a large lake, so we would vacation there every year.”
Selen had never shared so much personal or family information with anyone before.
Her words flowed a bit disjointedly, in a stream of consciousness.
She anxiously checked Kirien’s reactions.
Was he bored? Was she talking too much?
Yet he smiled faintly.
Seeing this, Selen felt reassured and continued her story.
“One year, we went to the sea, but I suddenly ran a high fever and couldn’t go. My brothers collected shells, went sea fishing, and even sailed…”
“Yes, you must have been very jealous.”
“Yes, so I begged to go too. My father promised he would take me the next year, but that autumn, people came to the temple…”
