Chapter 11
The next day, I waited for Adrian outside the palace gates after court.
Instead of him, I first ran into an old acquaintance.
Caleb Wynn.
The newly appointed third-place scholar stopped several steps away, then bowed deeply.
“Greetings, Princess.”
I inclined my head. “You may rise.”
He did, but his eyes lingered on me for a moment too long, as if he had gathered courage only to lose it again.
“Has Your Highness been well recently?”
I answered lightly, “Very well.”
Relief crossed his face.
“That’s good.”
He hesitated, then added, “I was sent to Chatham Province on official business and could not return in time to congratulate Your Highness on your marriage. Another day, I will personally send a wedding gift.”
“There is no need.”
“There is,” he said immediately, surprising even himself with the force of it.
His voice turned low and sincere.
“Your Highness once showed me a kindness I can never repay.”
That was when Adrian’s voice came from behind me.
“Then this prince will thank Lord Wynn on behalf of his princess.”
I turned. He was already beside me, one arm sliding around my waist with effortless familiarity.
He leaned slightly into me and said near my ear, “If we don’t leave now, the first batch of duck will be gone.”
I nodded and offered Caleb a brief farewell.
Once inside the carriage, Adrian closed the window and pulled me into his lap.
I assumed, with weary resignation, that he intended to continue where he had left off on the previous ride, so I blurted out, “The duck.”
His fingers played with mine.
“Is my wife close with Lord Wynn?”
“Not especially,” I answered.
That part, at least, was true.
Years ago, Caleb had been working odd jobs in a bookshop. I happened to see a policy essay he had written and realized at once how talented he was. When I learned he lacked the money to sit for the examinations, I gave him a jade pendant to sell for travel expenses.
That had been a simple act.
A moment of impulse.
What I did not tell Adrian was that when Caleb later learned of my father’s plan to marry me to Simon Prescott, he had written to say that if I wished, he would come to the Hart estate and formally propose. We could enter a temporary marriage of mutual rescue, then separate honorably after a year.
At the time, I had almost agreed.
I had fought for every possible path.
But that was before the royal decree.
And there was no reason in the world to say any of that now.
Adrian made a soft sound that could have meant anything.
“My wife is kindhearted.”
Then he shut his eyes and held me in silence while the carriage rolled on.
I had almost drifted into a doze when he suddenly spoke again.
“At the flower banquet,” he asked, “what favor were you originally planning to ask Mother for?”
My whole body went cold.
I did not answer.
The carriage changed direction.
Instead of Golden Pavilion, we rode straight back to the prince’s residence.
The moment it stopped, I turned to climb down by myself—then caught sight of Adrian’s face.
Still calm.
Still handsome.
Still unreadable.
And unmistakably displeased.
I immediately changed tactics.
Stretching both arms toward him, I looked up with my best innocent expression.
“Carry me.”
One dark brow rose.
“Are you sure?” he asked. “If I pick you up today, don’t expect to come down again anytime soon.”
I had no idea then how literal he intended that to be.
I nodded anyway.
Very firmly.
That turned out to be one of the more reckless decisions of my life.
From the moment he lifted me into his arms that afternoon until the sun went down, not a single servant entered the main chamber except to silently leave behind a box and flee. Everyone else was dismissed.
By the time moonlight climbed across the window lattice, I was limp with exhaustion, draped across his shoulder and begging for mercy.
“Your Highness…”
“Oh?” he murmured against my lips. “Still calling me that?”
Then he bit my lower lip just hard enough to make me gasp.
“Use the wrong name again and I won’t stop tonight.”
My mind was a complete haze.
I had no idea what answer he wanted, so I tried one carefully.
“Adrian?”
He did not respond.
He only continued his punishment until the bed curtains shook and the bells above us rang wildly.
Then, in the middle of my confusion, understanding finally struck.
I clutched his arm and whispered against his throat, “Husband… please…”
He stilled.
I nearly cried with relief.
So that was it.
I pressed closer, gathering what little strength I had left, and repeated it softly.
“Husband. Have mercy.”
The hand over my eyes came down the next second.
And after that, mercy did not come at all.
He was like a wave in a storm, swallowing me whole.
By the time everything ended, tears would not stop slipping from the corners of my eyes no matter how he soothed me.
When he reached for the bed bells to summon servants to change the sheets, I caught his wrist.
“I don’t want to sleep here,” I whispered.
He looked at me knowingly. “Why not?”
I glared at him.
Because he knew exactly why.
He laughed under his breath, bent close to my ear, and murmured, “Only little boys wet the bed. So why is my princess acting like a child?”
I hit him weakly in the chest.
He laughed again, finally relenting. Then he carried me to the bath, washed me himself, and later took me to the side hall instead, where he tucked me into a clean bed and drew me into his arms.
Lying against his chest, I looked up at him and asked quietly, “Are you still angry?”
His eyes softened instantly.
“About Caleb Wynn?”
I nodded.
He brushed a kiss against my forehead.
“Seeking an imperial favor, accepting marriage to me, considering Caleb Wynn—at that time, any one of those was a reasonable path for you. I’m proud that my wife is clever enough to survive.”
He smiled then. A rare, softer version of the smile he used when he became my fool again.
“I only wanted you to coax me a little.”
My heart gave a ridiculous, helpless flutter.
I leaned up and kissed him.
“Better now?”
He blinked. “Somewhat.”
Then his mouth curved.
“Though I did not lie yesterday in the palace either.”
“What?”
He kissed my forehead again and said with quiet certainty, “At the flower banquet, I truly did fall in love with my wife at first sight.”