Daylight found its way through the gap between the curtains and scattered across Sidis’s face. The dazzling sunshine opened his eyes to a close-up of Lyse’s soft brown bangs draped over her pale brow, just above the long lashes of her closed eyes. He sweetly smiled at the sight of her; she looked even more innocent in her sleep. Qatora must’ve thought the same of him back then. He lifted a lock of hair hanging over her cheek, but this roused her. She opened her blue eyes, which reflected Sidis’s face as she blinked. She blushed a bright pink, and her mouth opened and closed with nary a word.
“Again, Lord Sidis?!” she protested in a hushed tone. If she shouted, her voice would reverberate through the halls and attract attention.
Sidis knew why she was angry—he’d fallen asleep beside her on her bed yet again. Lyse allowed him to stay with her until she fell asleep, but only in cat form. She demanded Sidis go back to his own room afterward, yet there he was.
“I said you could stay only until—” Lyse cut her scolding short when she sat up in bed and the blanket shifted...revealing Sidis’s upper body. Her eyes glazed over as she called out his name.
“I anticipated that you’d be angry if you saw me in the nude,” he said.
“Since when did you store clothes of your own in my room?” she asked, eyeing the nightclothes he was wearing.
“I had help from Atoli.”
“You’ve enlisted a double agent!”
Lyse was about to lose her cool, but Sidis arose from her bed before she could. Recently, he’d been transforming into a cat so he could spend the night by her side. But when he awoke, he’d be back in human form wearing whatever he had been while feline. He knew that Lyse would be cross if he slept beside her naked, so he’d thought that wearing clothes would fix the whole problem.
Lyse lowered her hands from her face and heaved a sigh. “Wearing clothes does not make this acceptable, Lord Sidis,” she said sternly.
“Why not?”
She turned away, revealing her blushing profile. “Well, because we’re not married yet...”
“I see no problem in staying by your side. I yearn to fall asleep each night chatting with you until all hours, then wake up with your face right next to mine,” he said.
Sidis took Lyse’s hand, but when she refused to look back at him, he reached out and touched his fingertips to her lips. That got the response he was hoping for—Lyse turned around in surprise, not anger. Sidis understood. He knew that Lyse was kind and quick to show it. She’d never say no as long as she wasn’t being asked the unreasonable... And so Lyse ended up forgiving Sidis today as well.
“Put on something proper, will you? And get out of here already. I’d die of embarrassment if someone walked in on us,” she implored him, standing up to push him toward the door.
Sidis couldn’t help smiling at his adorably pouting fiancée.
Sidis finished up his work by noon. Then after lunch, he transformed into a dog to go join Lyse, who was tasked with hosting another matchmaking event today as well. On his way there, he happened upon several foreign visitors and their imperial companions out enjoying the gardens together. Trailing behind the group were the guests’ attendants along with palace guards and servants—but Sidis recognized their faces. The guards and servants were actually imperial knights in disguise, no doubt planted by Alcede to test out his new plan. The duke was most proactive.
Sidis hurried along to the venue, Spring Hall. Supposedly today’s event was a tea party in order to give the participants a chance to chat intimately. It was a good way to capitalize on the sword training from last time, after which a few couples had gotten rather close.
As Sidis approached Spring Hall, a patrolling guard cheerfully greeted him. “Hey there, doggy. Out guarding your owner again?”
With a big smile on his face, the friendly guard stroked Sidis along his back. The man was very fond of dogs, as demonstrated by how happily he’d petted Egbert a few days ago as well. He’d had no way of knowing the big, fluffy, white dog was the emperor he served, yet Sidis had felt a little sorry for his cousin for a random guard to get so clingy and cuddly with him. The guard apparently kept a dog at home as well, so if he ever learned that he’d snuggled the emperor himself, hopefully his own dog would be there to help him recover from the shock.
Sidis got past the patrol and made his way to Spring Hall. The two guards posted by the entrance had been apprised of the situation and let him through. He spotted Lyse as soon as he entered the hall. She had a pair of giant lagomorph monsters with her that had been under her control for a few days now, but even without them, Sidis wouldn’t have had trouble picking her out from a crowd. In his eyes, she shone brilliantly.
Today, half of Lyse’s soft brown hair was tied up and ornamented by the floral hairpin Sidis had given her. It complemented her fair, delicate face. Her neck—so slender that it belied her prowess with a sword—was adorned with a dazzling diamond necklace, also a gift from Sidis. Though she would normally refuse to wear anything that revealed so much as her collarbone, the palace stylist had convinced her to don a deep scarlet organdy dress. With her gown aflutter, it almost looked like she was standing in a bed of red roses.
I knew she would love this dress. Qatora used to always wear those flowers in her hair and Lyse said that she loved her uniform coat—both of which are the same shade. Deep scarlet is truly her color. And because it’s Lyse, not even the blackest monsters could detract from her radiance. In fact, she shines even brighter against the inky backdrop. She’s the light of my life, my beloved fiancée...
Sidis had been thrilled since the day of their engagement to call Lyse his fiancée. He would’ve loved nothing more than to announce to the world that she was his betrothed, but alas, they’d already held their engagement party.
Sidis made his way over to Lyse and whispered, “Is everything fine?”
She smiled when she saw him. “So far, so good. I certainly hope Alcede’s plan goes well,” she responded in an equally soft voice. Her eyes darted to a corner of the hall where Seren was eagerly hitting on a female knight on duty.
So that’s his type?
It was now a little clearer to Sidis why Seren was so keen on Lyse and other court ladies—they were all gallant warriors. Though imperial noblewomen were all trained with the sword, they did so for self-defense, whereas ladies-in-waiting and knights trained to protect the lives of the emperor and everyone else in the palace. There was a difference in the airs about them.