The mont those words fell, his tone had already shifted into unmistakable ambiguity.
A faint warmth crept up Zora’s cheeks. Even if she had lived two lifetis, she naturally understood what ordinary newlyweds would do on a night like this.
"Yes," she nodded calmly after a mont, "if it’s this late, it is indeed ti to rest."
A glitter flashed instantly through Prince Kael’s eyes. He looked at her with clear anticipation, already turning toward the bed with clear intent.
"The lady is right," he said seriously. "A proper rest tonight is indeed very important."
He deliberately emphasized the words "proper rest," the aning behind them impossible to miss.
However, in the very next mont, two soft quilts flew straight at him without warning.
Prince Kael instinctively caught them, montarily stunned.
Zora had already turned over gracefully onto the bed, her movents smooth and decisive. The corner of her lips lifted into a calm, elegant smile as she said in an unhurried tone, "You’ve worked very hard tonight. It’s best that you sleep on the floor and rest well, Your Highness."
The aning could not have been clearer.
Prince Kael stared at the two quilts in his arms, then glanced at the slender figure already curled comfortably on the bed.
The expression on his face froze for a mont before finally lting into helpless laughter mixed with undeniable indulgence.
"So heartless," he murmured, but his eyes carried no trace of anger.
He obediently spread the quilt on the floor and lay down without further protest. Seeing that he truly did as he was told, Zora finally relaxed her breathing slightly.
Even across two lifetis, she still had no experience with such matters. Tonight was already chaotic enough. A quiet night of separation was precisely what she needed.
Yet lying upon the soft, unfamiliar bed, sleep did not co as easily as she expected.
Perhaps it was because she had grown accustod to the hard wooden bed of the small courtyard in the past. Or perhaps it was because, for the first ti, there was another man’s presence quietly breathing in the sa room.
After a while;
"The lady can’t fall asleep... is the candle too bright?" Prince Kael’s low voice drifted up from the floor, carrying a trace of quiet concern.
Zora paused for a mont before answering, her tone steady. "The candle is indeed too bright. I’m not used to it."
Only she herself knew how thin that excuse truly was. With another person in the room, with his breathing clearly within reach, how could she possibly sleep peacefully?
The room fell silent for a breath.
Then a soft sound followed as the fla was gently extinguished. Darkness instantly swallowed the crimson glow, and the world inside the bridal chamber quieted into shadow and moonlight.
"The lady can rest now," Prince Kael said softly.
"Thank you," Zora replied.
Silence returned once more.
Yet no matter how she tried to slow her breathing, sleep stubbornly refused to co. Her senses felt too alert, too awake, as if every thread of air in the room carried a faint awareness of the other presence beneath this sa roof.
Just as her thoughts drifted restlessly, her ears suddenly twitched.
Footsteps.
Extrely light. Carefully controlled. Almost soundless.
But to her sharpened senses, they were unmistakable.
Soone was outside the door.
Before she could even shift her body to rise and investigate, a shadow suddenly lood over her. A firm weight pressed her back against the mattress, swift and soundless. One hand covered her lips before a single startled breath could escape.
Zora’s heart lurched.
Then she heard his breath by her ear, swift and restrained.
"There’s soone listening outside."
At once, she understood.
The tension in her body eased slightly, her earlier alarm turning into sharp clarity. So these people had co to spy. Given Prince Kael’s unusual status and secrecy, this was hardly surprising.
She had always suspected that his true identity was far from simple. Whatever rumors circulated outside, she no longer believed a single word of them.
She lifted her hand and gently pressed against his shoulder, signaling him to move back.
This position was... far too close.
Prince Kael did not imdiately withdraw.
Instead, he looked down at her in the dim glow of moonlight spilling through the window lattice, his breathing faintly uneven. His voice dropped, low and hoarse.
"Darling... you’re so beautiful."
Her heartbeat skipped uncontrollably.
In the soft silver light, her features were hazy yet vivid, like porcelain shaped by moonlight. His face was close enough that she could feel the warmth of his breath brushing faintly against her skin, stirring a restless shiver along her nerves.
Those deep eyes of his shimred quietly, brighter than the stars outside.
For a fleeting mont, the danger outside the door seed to vanish entirely from their awareness.
Inside the silent chamber, only two breaths intertwined.
Her fingers curled unconsciously into the bedsheets.
She could hear her own heartbeat thundering far too loudly in the stillness, disrupting the composure she so carefully maintained in everyday life.
Just outside the wall, whispered voices drifted faintly.
"In my opinion, how could there be any problem with the Prince? Could a man miss such a beauty on the wedding night?"
"Exactly... then why hasn’t there been any movent?"
Their words were muffled but distinct.
Prince Kael’s lips curved slightly.
He lifted a hand and deliberately knocked twice against the edge of the bed with a faint, rhythmic sound, neither too loud nor too soft.
Outside, the two eavesdroppers froze.
A mont later, their tense expressions broke into knowing smiles.
"Seems like sothing’s happening," one of them whispered gleefully.
"Good, we can report back now."
Their footsteps soon retreated into the distance, dissolving into the deeper quiet of the night.
Only then did the pressure on Zora ease.
She exhaled softly. "You can get off now."
But when she lifted her gaze, she t a faintly amused expression.
"Darling," Prince Kael said leisurely, "you’re blushing."
Her face grew warm instantly.
She turned her head away with cool composure. "That’s because you were too close."
Even in the dim light of the bridal chamber, Prince Kael still clearly saw the faint crimson spreading across Zora’s cheeks. That fragile hint of color stood in sharp contrast to her usual cold composure, stirring an inexplicable warmth in his chest.
For a fleeting mont, a strange tenderness rose within him. "Oh?"
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