Chapter 18 - Clandestine Meetings

He was rather attracted to the regal vibe she gave off. Lustian still couldn’t excuse the King of Koronis for sending a fraudulent princess, but he did feel appreciative of the king’s choice. This woman, whoever she was, was breathing life into his otherwise dull existence.

“I guess it’s understandable that you don’t believe me when I say I’m a high ranking noble,” Lustian smiled lightly, “especially since I’m standing here all soaked.”

Viola didn’t retract her suspicion. Lustian observed how her radiant, blue irises glimmered prettily in spite of how sharply she glared at him. He believed she would actually be extremely lovely if she just smiled a bit more. Though he wanted to continue admiring her, the dubious circumstances of their meeting made for less than ideal conversation.

“Then, I’ll come back in the morning,” Lustian bowed to take his leave.

“… Before that,” Viola glanced up at him, wariness still present in her gaze, “please tell me your name.”

“My name?”

“Yes.”

A brief silence passed between them as Lustian pondered what to say. If he gave her his real name, she would instantly know he was the crown prince.

He wanted to find a name that no one else knew. As he scoured his mind for ideas, he remembered the nickname his mother had given him when he was a child. Yes, that name would be perfect for this.

“Lune,” he said.

“…” Viola paused. “Are you saying your name is… Lune?”

She tilted her head to the side. Lustian noted that she seemed to do that every time she was thinking about something. He felt the urge to touch her again.

As if the elements had been waiting for this exact moment, a gust of air rushed by and caused Viola’s rich, brown hair to billow in the wind. Lustian gently grasped a handful of her chestnut-colored locks, which were emanating a curious scent, and pulled her in by the waist. He buried his nose in her hair.

A pleasant aroma spread through his senses.

Lustian murmured, “I would believe it if you said that you washed your hair with the flowers from the Lake of God.”

“… Heuk!” Viola gasped, her cheeks reddening deeply, “Wha, what… are you doing?”

“Shh, be quiet. If we get caught, both of us will probably be in a great deal of trouble.”

Lustian grinned. Viola barely managed to weasel herself from his arms, and he felt the urge to reach out and hold her again. However, Lustian resisted and instead began to head back the way he had come. As he left, he heard her call after him in protest, but he didn’t care. He had enjoyed their chance meeting, and his steps became even lighter. Up ahead, he saw a familiar face come into view. It was the head maid.

She quickly ran to him and bowed, “What… What brings you all the way here, sire…?”

“I think I’ll come visit often in the future,” Lustian replied playfully, “so hide my identity from the princess.”

“What?” the maid looked back at him in surprise.

“Don’t let anyone disturb us on the days I come to visit.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Lustian waved his hand to dismiss the maid and walked towards the entrance to the Royal Villa instead of the river. His rage had disappeared. The heat that had been searing his being just moments ago had all but dissipated, and all that remained in its place was desire.

♛

As soon as she returned to her room, Viola flopped onto a chair. She kept encountering that knight when she least expected it. If it wasn’t her running into him, it was him running into her. These repeated, incidental meetings confused her. She needed someone to mull over these events since they were too strange for her to ponder alone.

Rosha was the only one whom she could speak to in this place, so Viola had no choice but to confess the details of their meetings to her, including how she had managed to sneak out last night.

The attendant gasped, “real… really?”

“It was just a coincidence,” Viola sighed. “I never thought I’d be able to go through the wall.”

“Could… could it be magic?”

“Well, I don’t really know. I just happened to slip through the wall and end up outside the villa.”

“Is this a secret passage?”

“There’s always a secret passage. But the question is, who would have thought it would lead to another encounter with him?”

Because these coincidences continued to occur, she was beginning to think they were staged on purpose. And if they kept meeting, sooner or later the many eyes monitoring the Royal Villa would mistake their interactions. To make things worse, she was the Crown Princess Candidate. If news of the candidate’s clandestine meetings with one of the imperial knights made its way to the crown prince’s ears, it would inevitably lead to considerable problems for them. No matter how high of a status Lune had or the fact that he was Commander of the Royal Knights, he was still subject to imperial law.