IBQC 10

~Chapter 10~

The Memory of the First Kiss

“Quite curious, aren’t you, Jasmine?”

When their eyes met, Jasmine scratched her cheek in embarrassment.

“I’ve… never done it before… Since I don’t even have a fiancé. But Alice, you have someone you’re considering marriage with, and Patricia has a fiancé, so surely you’ve tried it, right?”

The kingdom was a very conservative society for women. For a woman, a kiss was only allowed once she was engaged, and consummation only after marriage.

It was quite different from men, who could live as decadently as they wished with lovers.

Of course, there were cases when women stole kisses in secret.

“I asked something too personal, I’m sorry.”

Jasmine ducked her head.

“Not at all. It’s something friends can talk about.”

“F-friends?”

Jasmine blinked her big eyes.

“Of course. Sharing good food in the afternoon is something friends do. And friends can certainly talk about their first kiss.”

Alice turned to Patricia and Dubois for agreement.

Though she didn’t say it outright, Patricia and Dubois, who had yet to experience their first kiss, also seemed curious and nodded.

“A kiss is…”

But what came to Alice’s mind was not Chase, with whom she had kissed countless times in her past life, but Karan, with whom she had shared her first kiss only the night before.

“I’m so curious.”

When Alice paused as though hesitating, Jasmine grew impatient.

Alice smiled faintly as she recalled her kiss with Karan.

Their breaths mingled before their lips even touched. Karan’s lips lightly caught her lower lip, then released.

When Alice opened her eyes, Karan whispered,

“Don’t close them.”

And then their lips met again. At that moment, were Karan’s lashes trembling?

Alice was relieved that it wasn’t her who was shaking—until Karan urgently pressed his lips against hers.

His lips clamped tightly, and his tongue slipped inside. Karan explored every corner of Alice.

He never took his eyes off her. His blazing gaze was overwhelming, and Alice eventually closed her eyes.

Then his kiss grew rougher. He behaved like a predator. He devoured her. Swallowed her whole.

With his tongue, Karan poured heat into her. His frantic tongue play made Alice’s body steadily grow hot.

To think a kiss alone could melt her—had Karan not held her waist, she might have collapsed on the spot.

Breathless, Alice struck his shoulder. Only then did his lips part, leaving her gasping, her breath spilling out in short, dizzy spurts.

And then the next kiss, unlike before, was tender.

Like a mother soothing a child’s wound, his gentle kiss left Alice’s mind hazy.

So, to Alice, a kiss was the process of being tamed by a hot, wild beast.

“Your Highness, I’ve brought the information you asked for.”

Though it was late for reports, Karan greeted Hartvin with an unruffled face.

Truthfully, his master had no concept of day or night. Whatever he wanted to do, he did immediately, and whatever he wished to know, he demanded at once.

Since Karan didn’t care for the divisions of night and day, Hartvin also lived a life where night was day and day was also day.

Any ordinary man would have quit such harsh working conditions, but Hartvin gave his all, serving Karan as more than a master.

‘Well, the pay is generous, too.’

Not that he had no complaints.

“Couldn’t you give me a little more time in the future?”

“I gave you two whole days.”

The voice that came out was sharp.

Just two days ago, he’d been grinning like a madman, but starting that very afternoon, his mood had turned gloomy.

“Do you really think it’s possible to dig up personal, confidential secrets about a foreign prince in just two days?”

Clack. Karan set down the pen he’d been twirling in his fingers.

Hartvin flinched instinctively. The glare Karan gave him was sharper than a pen nib.

“So you’re saying you failed?”

“Of course not. Who do you think I am? I’m your loyal vassal, your two hands, Hartvin. I found out.”

At his joke, Karan’s eyes softened slightly, and he gestured with a flick of his hand.

Hartvin straightened to deliver his report.

“As you suspected, Lady Alice Wharton has broken things off with Prince Chase. What should we do about the business dealings you’ve been conducting under an alias with Prince Chase’s side?”

So Alice had let him go. Which meant Karan had no reason to support Chase anymore.

“Cancel them at once.”

Clink—the ice in his glass slipped as it melted.

Karan stopped swirling his wrist and stared into his glass.

The dark amber liquid had grown watery.

It looked just like Alice’s hair color.

Blonde with a hint of orange.

Karan drew a deep breath. It was as if the scent he’d breathed in two days ago still lingered at his nose.

Just thinking of her heated his body.

He drained the cold drink in one go, then stood and moved to the window.

Opening it, he heard the drunken shouting of men outside.

“Damn Tetris dogs staying here? Pah! No wonder the liquor tastes rotten.”

“Shh, quiet. Didn’t you hear? Last time some idiots picked a fight here, they were found half-dead in the woods.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

The men lowered their voices, whispering.

He caught snippets—Tetris, revenge.

Karan clicked his tongue and shut the window.

“Hartvin, I told you—leave no traces.”

Those loudmouths feared retaliation, but they needn’t worry.

After all, what they said was true, and Karan hadn’t punished them for insulting Tetris.

It was because they had refused Alice’s command to apologize.

In this world, no one was exempt from listening to Alice.

Anyone who dared ignore her words—Karan would punish them, as far as his power reached.

That was why he had even conducted business under false names in Bedroka.

The companies he had invested in were thriving. One of them, in fact, was one Chase was eager to secure a contract with.

But now those contracts would be torn up.

‘When he hears of my withdrawal, he’ll lose his mind.’

Once Karan pulled out, others would follow suit.

That was how renowned Karan was as an investment genius.

‘Of course—because I only ever invested in Alice’s ventures.’

It wasn’t that he had a great eye for business.

He had simply poured blind devotion into whatever Alice did—and they had all turned to gold.

Alice was extraordinary.

The only person who could make his heart race.

And the only one who could make him ache.

‘I never imagined she’d become Chase’s lover before I could even make a move. At just fifteen, no less.’

The year Karan had taken the warrior’s trial in Tetris, Alice had publicly declared her relationship with Chase.

That day, his pure feelings had shattered. But Karan had picked up the pieces one by one, crawling.

He kept those feelings hidden, nurtured them in the dark where Alice could not see.

And so his love for her had grown unsettlingly shadowed.

Not that she knew.

“Why won’t you come?”

Karan muttered, staring out the window.

Now that he felt connected to her, even waiting two days seemed unbearably long.

“If I end up doing something reckless, how will you handle it?”

For a moment, his eyes glimmered with menace.

If Alice didn’t come, he might climb through her window himself.

If he did that, the proper, refined Alice would surely be disappointed in him.

“I guess I can’t hide the savage blood after all.”

He mustn’t let it show in front of Alice.

She believed otherwise, but the people of Tetris were savages.

Until only a few years ago, they had thought nothing of killing their own brothers to seize the throne.

Strength was everything to them. Violence to flaunt strength was natural.

To the noblemen of Bedroka, who worshipped the pen, Tetris people were beasts.

And indeed, their bodies were exceptional—hawk-like eyesight, owl-bright vision at night, sharper hearing, stronger muscles.

They didn’t eat people, but they certainly had the power to tear one apart.

Until the night he spent with Alice, Karan had hated that Tetris blood in him.

But now that he knew her true heart, he was grateful for it.

‘She must have needed a place to run, away from Chase. Any country allied with Bedroka would have been too burdensome, so Tetris was perfect for her.’

Still, her choices left him with questions.

How had she managed to find him? The details of the process, for instance.

But Karan had given up reasoning.

Even if he found something strange, he had no intention of letting go of her now that he had her.

“So please, just come.”

And then, as if on cue, the door opened.

Alice appeared—the very one he had been waiting for.

“How have you been, Your Highness? Were you perhaps waiting for me?”

“Not at all. More importantly, are you well? I was quite worried when you left so suddenly that day.”

Karan took Alice’s robe and draped it over a chair.

“I’m… fine.”

Alice pressed her flushed cheeks with the back of her hand.

Pretending not to notice, Karan gestured to a seat.

As Alice sat down, he started to sit as well, then seemed to recall something. He straightened, then brought out a teacup.

“I prepared some tea.”

Karan poured with practiced ease.

“Did you also enjoy tea in Tetris?”

“No. Tea is for those with leisure. As you know, Tetris was not such a place.”

Everyone there had to work constantly just to survive.

And above all, the days were short.

Especially in winter, so short that people joked, ‘by the time you finish breakfast, it’s evening.’

Naturally, there was no time or mental space for tea.

“Yet you seem quite skilled.”

“They said I should learn.”

“Who did?”

Karan’s hand paused. The stream of water from the kettle wavered for a moment.