“Damn it.”
Adrian muttered a short curse, let out a sigh, and swept his hair back.
To lose Artie in a single moment—his heart dropped with a thud.
Having pulled himself out of the crowd, Adrian immediately scanned the throng.
“Heukyeong!”
“Yes, my lord.”
A man in a black mask, who had been melded into Adrian’s shadow, revealed himself. Adrian commanded coldly.
“Find Artie and protect her. And once you’ve brought her somewhere safe, contact me.”
“As you command.”
Watching Heukyeong vanish swiftly, Adrian glared at the surging crowd, then moved quickly.
* * *
Chanting “The mountain is a mountain and the water is water” as she was pushed along by the surging crowd, Artie ended up in some isolated alley.
“There really are so many people.”
Having lost Adrian, Artie hesitated, not knowing what to do.
She couldn’t very well wait indefinitely for the crowds to thin out.
“Hoping he’ll come find me……. That would be too shameless of me.”
Even if she tried to return to the plaza she had been in before, the alley she had been pushed into was too unfamiliar.
“Where should I go?”
She couldn’t even tell what district this was. Artie thought seriously.
“Should I just go back to the imperial palace?”
It would be difficult to push through this crowd and find Adrian, but getting to the imperial palace seemed doable.
The imperial palace was large and elegant enough to be visible from anywhere in the capital.
Because of that, the option of not being able to find it did not exist in the first place.
She was worried about what kind of trouble she might run into if she returned to the palace alone without Adrian, but in this situation, it felt like a better choice than staying put.
Artie recalled what Uncle Helmer had told her.
‘When you’re lost, never wander around alone. Stay put until someone comes to find you.’
She had faithfully followed Uncle Helmer’s advice until now, but Artie decided this time was an exception.
‘Something about this place is scary!’
She couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was frightening, but a quiet back alley during a festival where people were thronging about seemed certain to invite some kind of incident.
“I knew the capital was large, but…….”
Beyond the well-maintained main districts, the winding alleyways were enough to make even a native lose their way.
“Wouldn’t it be fine to just head toward where there are lots of lights?”
Artie deliberated in her own way and arrived at a reasonable conclusion. Crowded, brightly lit places were reassuring, after all.
She decided to figure out whether to look for Adrian after that.
Meanwhile, Heukyeong, who had been swiftly weaving through the shadows and spotted Artie, tilted his head in confusion at the sight of her walking with great confidence.
‘No, why is she going that way?’
Artie, who had been darting through the intricately winding alleys, returned to the same spot again.
“How strange.”
Artie set off once more. This time as well, she circled round and round through the twisted, tangled alleyways and returned to the starting point.
‘Is there some deep meaning to this?’
Was this a stroll? Exercise?
Heukyeong watched Artie’s behavior seriously, then tilted his head.
He simply could not bring himself to think that a noble person was wandering about because she had no sense of direction.
If she had simply stood still, he would have assumed she was lost, but Artie walked with excessive confidence.
He wanted to guide her somewhere safe, but Artie ignored his signals and kept entering strange paths, which was baffling from Heukyeong’s perspective.
While Heukyeong was agonizing over what to do about Artie, a large-built man grabbed Artie’s shoulder.
“Hey, miss. Where are you rushing off to so late?”
“What?”
Artie’s face turned uncharacteristically stern. It was because a man who was clearly older than her had called her “miss.”
‘Does this person have bad eyesight?’
While Artie was flustered, the man who had grabbed her shoulder pulled her toward him.
Another man who appeared from somewhere did the same.
Before she knew it, four men had surrounded Artie so she could not escape.
“Hey there, miss. Won’t you come have a good time with us?”
“Being alone at this hour is dangerous. Come with us.”
“We’ll take responsibility and show you a very good time.”
At first she wondered what this was, but Artie quickly caught on.
She had heard there were thugs who targeted women alone like this, but this was her first time experiencing it.
“I’m already married.”
Artie proudly smacked away the hand of the man gripping her shoulder and stepped back.
She glanced toward the alley in case she needed to run.
She must not be dragged away like this. She didn’t know the details of what would happen, but it was certain to be dangerous.
“Now, now. We’re not strange people.”
“That’s right, young lady.”
“Get out of my way.”
She didn’t think she could win, but she was glancing around to see if someone might come if she screamed—
“Who said you could touch her?”
A hand shot out from behind and wrapped around Artie’s shoulder. A clean yet masculine scent wafted strongly.
It was a completely different feeling from before, and Artie blinked her eyes.
Adrian, who had pulled Artie into his embrace, glared at the men with his crimson eyes.
“A-Adrian?”
She tried calling his name quietly, thinking she shouldn’t call him Your Highness, and Adrian smiled as he pulled Artie firmly toward him.
“Well done.”
Whether the flicker of emotion that briefly showed in his crimson eyes was worry or not, she couldn’t tell, but Artie wanted to believe it was worry.
Looking down at Artie, Adrian felt relief wash over him alone.
He was grateful that she hadn’t gone far and he had been able to find her quickly.
While Adrian blocked Artie’s view, Heukyeong took the men who had grabbed Artie and disappeared.
Artie’s eyes went wide as she looked around.
“Huh? Those men…….”
“They ran the moment they saw me.”
Adrian answered with a smile.
Artie couldn’t believe that those rough-looking men had retreated so easily, but with no other evidence, she let it go.
Just then, Adrian suggested.
“I hear the fireworks are about to start.”
“Really?”
“That direction has the best view, so let’s go that way.”
In truth, the best view was from the imperial palace, but Adrian deliberately did not mention that.
“Won’t there be a lot of people?”
At Artie’s worried words, Adrian paused for a moment.
“There won’t be.”
He had already mobilized Heukyeong to clear everyone away.
It was the result of Adrian’s deliberations to avoid repeating the same mistake.
“But just in case, shall we hold hands?”
At the suggestion made to satisfy his own desires, Artie innocently nodded.
Adrian grasped her soft, slender hand and smiled in satisfaction.
At the hilltop park, which was on relatively higher ground than the plaza, Adrian watched the fireworks together with Artie.
Bang―! Pop, pop, bang!
“Whoa―!”
The spectacle of colorful fireworks bursting all at once was something rarely seen.
The thrill of a firework shooting up with a long trail and bursting grandly and splendidly all at once, blooming into beautiful flowers, was a pleasant thing even for those watching.
Adrian glanced to the side. Paying no attention whatsoever to the fireworks he had suggested they watch together, he stole glances at Artie, who was earnestly admiring them.
Seeing her so delighted made him think he could set off fireworks all year round.
‘The budget would be considerable, but I’ll manage somehow.’
Thinking carelessly, already drawing up plans to drain the national treasury, Adrian smiled in satisfaction.
“Adrian, look at that!”
“Yeah, I’m looking.”
“Wow, it’s really beautiful!”
Artie smiled brightly as she watched the splendid fireworks embroidering the sky.
Watching that smile, Adrian smiled along with her.
“Artie.”
“Yes?”
Artie, who had been absorbed in the fireworks, turned her head at Adrian’s call.
It was the moment she felt Adrian’s face was close.
Artie’s and Adrian’s gazes collided in the air.
Picture Of The Chapter :
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mnBTScU1ke7TFHYjBFwEk3dUhlFgcE8E/view?usp=drivesdk
The fireworks embroidering the sky brilliantly no longer mattered in their world at that moment.
As if drawn together, neither knowing who moved first, their lips met.
A brief kiss, and another firework bursting.
“……!”
When she suddenly came to her senses, Artie startled and pulled away.
Her flushed cheeks were so red and she was so cute that Adrian wanted to devour her whole, from head to toe, but he barely managed to exercise patience and hold back.
Watching Adrian clear his throat, Artie curled inward to calm her pounding heart.
Adrian, too, bit his lip hard—uncharacteristically—because of the violently pounding sound of his heart.
Another firework burst.
It felt as though both their hearts might burst as well.
