At midnight, Asha's visit opened with a slight noise.
The identity of the visitor was announced by a fragrance.
'This scent is…'
It was the perfume Asha had given to Carlyle. When the faint scent of grass mixed with his scent, it became a wild forest scent.
Asha slowly turned her head.
"I'm not sure if it's too late. I rushed, but still, I think I need to pay attention since I heard the princess's order."
Carlyle pushed back the hood of his robe and casually brushed his still damp hair aside.
Only his eyes, shining like moons, stood out on his dark face. Like the eyes of a beast encountered in a dark forest.
'If this expression isn't forced, should I be relieved?'
If this place was disliked, he might have been hurt a little.
Asha stood up and approached him slowly, sliding off the robe she was wearing.
With only a thin layer of shimmery fabric covering her body, she was almost naked.
"Truthfully, I have no experience in this, and I don't really know what to do. So, you'll have to lead me."
Carlyle, his breath caught, stared at Asha's white body and swallowed dryly.
The rising and falling neckline seemed to speak of his burning thirst.
"Is this really… going to be enough price to pay for Your Highness?"
"Why? It's perfectly fine…"
Asha's palm lightly tapped Carlyle's chest.
"Aren't you confident?"
In response to the clear provocation, Carlyle firmly grasped Asha's wrist.
"If you speak like this, then I need to take off more."
Carlyle's lips pressed against each of Asha's fingers. His gaze remained fixed on her.
As his lips moved over her fingers, his tongue began to peek out between them, and Asha's lips slowly opened.
And soon, without anyone needing to say who would go first, the lips of the two collided.
* * *
"Sigh…"
As Carlyle looked up at the dark night sky, his eyes were filled with worries.
He had just returned alone after dinner with Asha, her aides, and Sebastian.
"What am I doing now?"
His lips muttered blankly.
He couldn't get his mind straight.
Last night, Carlyle experienced everything that had made him up to that point being dismantled, reconstructed, melted down again, and solidified into something completely different.
There was no way that things could be the same before and after yesterday.
It was the day he fully realized his feelings for Asha and the day he came to have the desire to never let her go.
However, the situation was not very favorable for him.
[Sir Dupret suggested a meal. It seems he's curious about what happened since he couldn't attend the victory banquet.]
Even after sleeping together, she mentioned another man's name in the same tone as before. The woman who had been writhing in his arms just until dawn now had a cold face.
Still, he couldn't say he was upset, and he couldn't say he wouldn't attend. Every second that he could see Asha was now precious to him.
However, there he realized his position.
'Sebastian Dupret, that man… He must have been talking about things he knew I didn't know on purpose.'
Carlyle couldn't say a word. Every time Sebastian talked about Asha's past, he couldn't help but prick up his ears, but he didn't enjoy the situation. So much so that he couldn't eat the delicious food made by Asha's chef.
'You crazy bastard! What the hell are you trying to do by coveting the princess?'
Carlyle clenched his hair and hunched over.
He wanted to rip out of his head the mind that was full of thoughts of Asha. But he had reached the point where he could see Asha even when he closed his eyes, then he impulsively pulled out a dagger from his bosom and tried to cut his forearm.
He thought that if he cut his skin, he would be able to stop thinking about Asha, even if it was just for the pain.
However, the hand that was about to self-harm was suddenly stopped by another hand that reached out from behind.
"Are you crazy?"
"Decker…?"
When he turned around, Decker was looking down at him with a shocked expression.
"What were you trying to do? Were you trying to get a tattoo on your forearm?"
"It's nothing."
"It's not nothing! Are you really crazy?"
Decker shook him and asked him what was going on, telling him not to suffer alone and to talk to him, but Carlyle couldn't say a word until the end.
Decker finally sighed and asked in a soothing voice.
"Is it a matter of your heart? Will you be able to sort it out over time?"
At those words, Carlyle, who had been lost in thought, his eyes began to burn with determination. He slowly shook his head.
"Sort out? What the hell do you mean, sort out? What's there to be afraid of, a man who has nothing anyway?"
"Carlyle...?"
"Thanks, Decker. I've made up my mind. I'm not backing down."
"That, that's good... But what have you been talking about backing down from, and all that?"
However, Carlyle didn't answer Decker's question and walked away quickly.
Decker, who was left behind, and Asha, who had been watching the two from a distance, could only tilt their heads in puzzlement.
* * *
After that, Carlyle's attitude changed.
He decided not to be timid and hesitant any longer.
"Be careful. I will always pray for your safety."
He kissed the back of Asha's hand, who was leaving for the capital for the first time in a long time, with his lips full of sincerity, and began to gather strength more actively for her counterattack.
Such an attitude was enough to win the favor of Asha's aides, Lionel and Giles.
"Count Pervaz is doing better than I thought. If this continues, it wouldn't be bad to maintain a relationship with him, would it?"
"Sir Raphelt is right. To be honest, I didn't expect him to be such a strong ally."
However, Asha, who listened to their words indifferently, didn't feel so refreshed.
'I'd like to talk to Count Pervaz alone… but I can't seem to find a place.'
There were many eyes watching, and Sebastian's interference was particularly annoying. In fact, there was also the problem of not knowing what to say exactly if she was left alone with Carlyle.
But even Asha, who was emotionally blunt, could clearly feel a certain tingling in her heart whenever her eyes met Carlyle's.
Her heart raced whenever she felt Carlyle's gaze deepen, and she felt breathless whenever she remembered the night she spent with him.
'I have to do something. This can't go on. But what and how…?'
Even while meeting the emperor and nobles in the capital, Asha continued to think about Carlyle. And then, in the midst of her worries, Asha suddenly thought of the sword she had ordered at 'Senar Villeman' a while ago. It was something she had ordered after seeing that Carlyle's sword was crude and blunt.
As soon as she finished her work in the capital, she went to the workshop and looked for the sword she had ordered.
'Will he like it?'
A slight blush appeared on Asha's cheek as she stroked the smoothly drawn blade.
It was similar to the feelings of a young child, clumsy with emotions, giving a secretly hidden candy to the person he has a crush on, but Asha herself didn't realize it at all.
* * *
"Wow! It's a 'Senar Vilman' sword!"
"Oh my gosh, I never thought I'd see this sword with my own eyes!"
Carlyle tilted his head as he watched the Haven Knights gathered around the sword he received as a gift from Asha.
"What's so great about it?"
"'Senar Vilman' is a sword workshop that is ranked among the top five in the world! Don't you know?"
"It's said to be worth a fortune. This sword alone must have cost as much as a mansion, right?"
"The price is one thing, but it's so popular that there's a long waiting list. I heard that even royalty can't order more than one at a time."
"I guess she must have ordered it a long time ago? I wonder if Her Highness was going to use it herself...."
At those words, Carlyle's mouth fell open.
He knew it was a good sword, but he didn't know it was that precious.
He suppressed his pounding heart and smiled nonchalantly as he turned away from the knights. Only when he was in a place where no one was around did he let out a long breath and collapse on the spot.
'That bastard Sebastian was only given a box of tea as a gift, but I was given a precious sword...? Is this… something I can look forward to?'
TL/N: LOL!! THE AU CARLYLE IS SOMETHING ELSE XD
He tried to tell himself not to get too excited, but a smile kept creeping onto his face.
And then, as he was examining the sword again, the inscription carved on the pommel suddenly caught his eye.
"The blessing of Aguiles... to Carlyle...."
He rubbed his eyes, thinking he had read it wrong, but he had definitely read it right.
"My name...?"
Carlyle carefully traced the pommel with his fingertips and read it again several times. It was only after a long time that the reality slowly began to sink in.
"This sword was made especially for me...?"
It was said that Asha had ordered this precious sword for him a long time ago. Anyone who handles swords knows that giving a sword as a gift has a special meaning, and this is a special order sword with his name engraved on it.
Carlyle's heart started to beat wildly.
"Asha...."
A satisfied, yet somewhat dangerous smile spread across his lips.
"You're wrong. You're wrong to treat a mad dog so affectionately."
TL/N: Obsessed Carlyle is smthg esle fr^^
Carlyle was determined to cling to even the slightest bit of Asha's favor. Until it became love, he would be persistent and devoted, without letting Asha notice.
After all, such a warm spring would never come twice in his life.