Chapter 16

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 16

Chapter Title: The Lily Palace's Precious Nuisance (8)

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Floyd stared intently at his own palm. It was a hand scarred and callused here and there from gripping swords and tearing apart magical beasts. Even normally, this hand ran hotter than most people's, and it would heat up and flush red whenever his emotions stirred even slightly.

Floyd gazed down at his palm for a while before turning to look at Roxiana. She was slowly maneuvering her fork to place a small piece of chopped lettuce into her mouth.

Floyd watched her chew on a lettuce piece the size of a single finger for what felt like an eternity before he spoke.

"Princess."

Roxiana swallowed what was in her mouth.

"Yes."

"May I hold your arm for a moment?"

Clearly caught off guard by the request, Roxiana's eyes widened slightly before she lowered her gaze and replied.

"You're my master, Your Highness. You don't need to ask my permission."

Floyd furrowed his brow faintly, then abruptly stood and walked to her side. "Pardon me," he said as he grasped her arm.

Her arm was so slender it seemed it might snap if he wasn't careful. Holding it gently for fear of breaking it, he observed her expression.

Roxiana kept her eyes cast downward, showing no reaction whatsoever. Finally, Floyd asked.

"How is it?"

Roxiana lifted her head and looked at Floyd. She had no idea what he meant.

He'd suddenly asked to hold her arm, and now this question—what was it supposed to signify?

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you feel anything? Like it's especially hot or...?"

Roxiana blinked slowly as she tried to parse the question, then asked cautiously.

"Are you hoping for a maidenly reaction to your touch, Your Highness?"

Only then did Floyd realize the implication of her counterquestion. He jumped back, releasing her arm, his face flushing bright red.

"What are you talking about? Have you lost your mind?"

Roxiana, in turn, couldn't understand what he was going on about. Wasn't that what his question about feeling anything from the sudden contact had meant?

She was the one who had offered to play the fox spirit in his bed, after all. Even if he demanded her nighttime services now, she had no reason to refuse.

So why was this man's face turning so red? As if he'd never been with a woman before.

"I meant literally—physically speaking, not in that sense. Just... isn't it really hot? Ah, never mind. Forget it. Your expression says it's not."

His flustered excuses were oddly fascinating.

The Red Tiger who exterminated magical beasts.

She had assumed someone with such a title possessed an unshakeable spirit, impervious to any turmoil. Indeed, when he'd smashed that box and looked down at her, he'd seemed as fierce as lightning splitting the heavens.

Seeing him now—so rattled, fumbling for words—it was astonishing.

Roxiana had been taught that royals must never show their emotions openly; they had to suppress them calmly. Whether sad or joyful, they must always appear elegant and aloof before others.

The lord of Torkan was still young, yet revered by all as a ruler. And yet, he differed starkly from the monarchs she knew.

He laughed heartily, raged openly, flustered easily, and grumbled freely—displaying his feelings without restraint. What amazed her was that he never came across as vulgar for it.

Floyd plopped back down in his seat and said.

"Let's continue eating."

"I'm full."

Floyd scowled at the food on her plate, which hadn't diminished at all since earlier.

"The portion is small."

"I don't move around as much as the knights do."

Floyd picked up an orange from her plate and began peeling it. He stripped away the thick rind, removed even the white strings clinging to the flesh, cut off a segment, and offered it to Roxiana.

When she didn't take it, he asked.

"Shall I feed it to you like last time?"

The faint memory from that day resurfaced. She hadn't realized it then amid the chaos, but looking back, it was mortifyingly embarrassing.

Roxiana blushed and accepted the orange slice. She examined the cleanly prepared piece for a moment before putting it in her mouth.

Floyd watched her chew it slowly, then said.

"You went to the garden today, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"How was the garden? Did you like it?"

"It was beautiful. The pond, the flower beds, the sky."

"I heard Dennis and Jewelry were bothering you."

"So those are their names."

"They're Hexston's kids—the captain of the Golden Lion Knight Order. Real rascals who treat the grand ducal palace like their own backyard."

"I see."

"I'll introduce you to Hexston next time. You'll like him."

Roxiana slowly shook her head.

"No need. It would only provoke the knights."

"Why do you think they'd be provoked?"

"Your Highness, my presence is a danger to Torkan. If word reaches Crown Prince Pellur that I'm alive, he'll demand you hand me over, displeased. And if you keep protecting and sheltering me like this, Gania won't stay quiet either. Isn't it natural for knights duty-bound to protect Torkan to resent a mere slave like me occupying the Lily Palace?"

Floyd listened to her flat recitation, then frowned.

"Who told you that?"

"Do I need to hear it from someone? It's obvious if you think about it."

"You're clever, Princess. Quick to assess situations too."

"If I were clever and quick to judge, I wouldn't have trusted Crown Prince Pellur. I'm foolish and dull. That's why I couldn't protect my family."

"Protecting them wasn't your responsibility."

"Does protecting family belong to anyone in particular? We were all foolish, all dull. And among us, I was the most foolish for surviving when others didn't."

"Surviving isn't a sin, Princess."

Roxiana didn't argue with that. Only then did Floyd realize she hadn't changed expression once during their talk.

She spoke more now than before, but her face remained as rigid as a corpse's.

It had been better earlier. At least she'd grimaced and cried. But now, she recounted her sorrows like someone wearing a mask, betraying no emotion.

Floyd felt his chest tighten again and stood up.

"Rest, Princess. Tell me if you need anything."

Leaving the bedroom, Floyd strode down the corridor, lifting his hand. The sensation of her slender arm still lingered in his palm.

-"Are you hoping for a maidenly reaction to your touch, Your Highness?"

Recalling her clear eyes as she'd asked that, his face heated up again.

What does that woman take me for? Does she think I'm some lunatic demanding that from a woman barely clinging to life?

She was baffling in every way. It was the first time he'd ever been at a loss for words or felt choked up around a woman.

As he left the Lily Palace, the vanished heat returned. The air around him began to simmer.

Loud laughter—wahaha—echoed from the training grounds. Someone must have botched a spar. Floyd debated stopping by to watch before heading to his office or going straight there.

"My lord!"

Just then, Kain came running up after spotting him.

"Adrian's at it again, wagering bets with the knights."

Adrian loved bets and gambling, often turning the training grounds into a betting den. They let it slide since everyone focused more with money on the line, but it sometimes escalated into real fights.

"Has a fight broken out?"

"Not quite. But still, wagering in the sacred training grounds feels wrong to me."

Floyd chuckled at Kain's grumbling, then suddenly gripped Kain's wrist tightly as a thought struck him. Kain tilted his head at the abrupt contact, then grimaced.

"My lord, that's too hot."

"Right? It's hot, isn't it?"

"Yes, of course it is. Why the sudden grab? Did I do something wrong? I wasn't tattling about Adrian—I was reporting."

Floyd released Kain, who was protesting as if misunderstood, and resumed walking. He ignored the incredulous look Kain shot at his arm while rubbing it.

But why?

Why didn't this insane heat affect Roxiana? Why had the flames racing through his veins quieted in the Lily Palace?

Come to think of it, the princess survived that inferno too.

It was heat that scorched even the knights' clothes despite their barriers. Yet Roxiana, at the blaze's heart, had only her garments burned—her hair unscathed, her body intact.

"Hey."

Floyd addressed the presence coiled within him.

"What is it about the princess that quiets you when she's near? Is she something to you? Or does she have some special power?"

As always, the mad entity dominating his life gave no reply. Floyd let out a low chuckle, imagining how insane he must look talking to himself in an empty hall.

Well, fine. I've got time.

He'd figure it out slowly. He'd told Roxiana to endure just one year. She probably planned to die after, but Floyd was certain.

She wouldn't want to die in a year. By then, she'd want to live more.

I'll make sure of it.

Why do I even need to go to such lengths to keep the princess alive?

The question flickered briefly, but he dismissed it. Floyd didn't want to see Roxiana die, and he lived doing what he wanted.

That reason was enough.