A Dangerous Favor
The voice came from behind her as she walked along the corridor, clutching a bundle of medicinal herbs to her chest.
Damn it. It’s that bastard again.
Canna swallowed a curse and turned her head.
“Priest Astan.”
The man looked to be in his mid-to-late twenties. Dressed in pure white clerical robes, he approached with a sleazy grin plastered across his face.
“Oh dear, you’re carrying something so heavy.”
“It’s not heavy at all.”
“Nonsense. I cannot possibly allow Lady Tatiana’s delicate hands to bear such a burden. Here, give it to me at once.”
The bundle of herbs wasn’t particularly heavy, yet this priest seemed convinced that Canna lacked even the strength to carry it.
“I’m fine, Priest.”
“Now, now. There you go again.”
Priest Astan stepped closer and seized her wrist. For a split second, Canna nearly kicked him, but she held herself back with superhuman restraint.
“To think you would reject even such a small kindness every single time. Lady Tatiana, you truly possess a talent for driving men mad with frustration.”
“……”
If she followed her heart, she would have kicked him somewhere far more painful, but she couldn’t. He was a priest dispatched by the Great Temple, after all.
Damn it all. This is all because of the Black Fog.
In the past three years, the world had changed dramatically.
The Black Fog had spread explosively. In response, the Great Temple had dispatched one priest to every major city across the nations to combat it.
Each of them possessed exceptional holy power, making them quite effective at controlling the Black Fog. Thanks to that, they were all treated with the respect reserved for state guests.
It was a far cry from the Great Temple’s previous approach.
Of course it is. The head of the Great Temple has changed.
Three years ago, the Great Temple had undergone a bloody reformation that shook the entire continent.
After a succession drenched in death and slaughter, the Temple’s policies had shifted.
In any case, assaulting a priest dispatched by the Great Temple could easily result in charges of blasphemy and a one-way trip to the stake.
“Let go of me.”
Canna violently shook off the priest’s arm.
Ignoring Astan’s lingering, lecherous gaze, she walked away as quickly as she could.
Are all the priests from the Great Temple out of their minds?
She let out a sigh as she continued down the corridor, only for someone to suddenly yank her arm. The bundle of herbs tumbled to the floor with a dull thud.
“Shh.”
The resistance drained from Canna’s struggling limbs.
“It’s me, Tatiana.”
Canna glanced over her shoulder.
Alexei had wrapped his arms around her from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder.
This was a corridor, for heaven’s sake.
It was a secluded spot with no one around for now, but anyone could pass by at any moment.
Feeling anxious, Canna tapped his arm repeatedly.
“Your Highness, let go. What if someone sees us?”
“Then will you come to my room?”
“Later. When I have time.”
Even if she had time, she had no intention of going.
Still, to get out of this situation, Canna gave a vague answer. Alexei, however, saw straight through her.
“You’re lying. You won’t come, will you?”
“Your Highness.”
At that moment, Alexei grabbed her chin and pulled her close. The moment their lips met, Canna nearly surrendered and accepted him.
Sharing body heat with him was never truly unpleasant. In fact, it was more than tolerable—it felt quite good.
“Sorry. I couldn’t hold back.”
Alexei murmured in a low voice, spinning her body around and pressing her against the wall. Then he kissed her again.
Canna looked at the man who was kissing her with such desperate hunger, then glanced sideways.
Since this was a corridor, at least one of them needed to keep watch, didn’t they?
“Focus.”
As if sensing her distraction, he muttered against her lips. His ragged breath scattered across her skin.
“This isn’t exactly an environment that helps me focus, Your Highness.”
“Then come to my room.”
“I said I would.”
“Really? Can you promise?”
Canna smiled faintly and pushed against his shoulder. Alexei obediently stepped back.
“No. I can’t make that promise.”
“See?”
Alexei sighed and pulled her tightly into his arms by the waist.
“You really are…”
“What about me?”
“…a truly wicked woman.”
For a moment, a strange sense of déjà vu washed over her.
When had she heard something similar? Where?
It felt like someone had said almost the exact same thing to her before…
She pondered it briefly, but the memory refused to surface, so she soon let it go.
How did things end up like this?
Canna let out a long sigh.
The past three years had been filled with countless events.
As for how she and Alexei had ended up in this relationship…
Three years ago.
After curing Lorenzo’s illness, Canna officially received the position of royal physician.
“I’ll only feel at ease if I manage her personally. I wish to appoint her as my exclusive physician.”
Alexei, who had been uneasy about Canna’s presence, had requested the queen to make her his personal doctor.
“Very well. Let it be so.”
The queen had readily agreed.
Alexei had taken direct control over Canna. Though he called it management, it was little more than surveillance.
He had viewed her as a ticking time bomb.
A woman stolen from the Addis family—one who could cause enormous damage to Yalden the moment she detonated.
However, when the Addis family made no attempts to track her down and truly seemed to believe she was dead, he gradually began to relax.
“It seems you’ve fooled everyone perfectly.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“I wonder. Is it really a compliment?”
“Is it not?”
“If you’re capable of deceiving the Addis, then deceiving us should be well within your abilities. I cannot trust you.”
“Then don’t.”
Irritated by his sharp attitude, Canna shot back without yielding an inch.
“I have no intention of currying favor with Your Highness to rise in status or seize power. Therefore, I have no need for your trust or goodwill.”
Their relationship remained icy for a long time.
Then one day, Alexei was poisoned and hovered on the brink of death. Canna poured every ounce of her strength into saving him.
She stayed by his side without sleep, and at one point, she leaned against his bedside and dozed off.
“……”
Had she only slept for about ten minutes?
Canna woke to the feeling of a hand gently brushing her hair aside. It was Alexei.
He was staring intently at her while running his fingers through her hair.
“Your Highness?”
When Canna opened her eyes, Alexei visibly startled and withdrew his hand. His face flushed red like a young boy, embarrassed by his own actions.
But that wasn’t what mattered.
“You’ve regained consciousness. I’m truly relieved that you’ve opened your eyes.”
The important thing was that she had saved him.
After that, Alexei’s wariness toward her decreased noticeably.
On another occasion, she had inserted acupuncture needles into his thigh to treat muscle pain.
Alexei had looked angry as she casually touched his thigh.
“You seem quite familiar with a man’s body. You touch it without the slightest hesitation.”
“Of course. Did you not know? Despite appearances, I have been married before. I know quite a bit about such things.”
For a moment, fire blazed in Alexei’s eyes.
“Never speak of that again.”
He glared at her and issued a threatening warning.
“You must forget that man. You must forget that moment. Your name is Tatiana Evgenia now.”
Looking back now, Alexei had clearly been jealous.
One day, during that tense and irritable relationship, Canna shed tears for the first time in a long while.
I don’t miss him anymore.
Standing on the terrace of her room, she had stared blankly at the night sky and let a single tear fall.
She no longer missed her former lover, Yeon-woo.
His face and voice had grown faint. There had been a time when she thought she loved him, but living such a busy life seemed to have made her forget him completely.
Live well. You must be happy.
It was a tear of farewell.
“Why are you crying?”
Canna spun around. Alexei was staring at her with an angry expression.
“Your Highness, why are you here…?”
“Do you miss that man?”
Was this about Duke Valentino again?
Alexei was the one who kept bringing him up, even though he had ordered her to forget.
“No, it’s not that. It’s just…”
Canna smiled sadly.
“The moon is simply beautiful tonight.”
Alexei stared at her in silence for a moment before stepping closer. Then he did something utterly unbelievable.
He raised his hand and gently wiped away the tears that had wet her cheek.
“Don’t cry. It hurts my heart to see you weep.”
In that moment of weakness, perhaps she had been enchanted by the magic of the moonlight.
Alexei kissed her, and Canna did not pull away.
She had been so unbearably lonely.
The warmth that comforted and embraced her in that instant was simply too comforting.
She hadn’t wanted to push him away.
And after that moment, it seemed she had begun to like him. In truth, Canna had wanted to like someone.
Tired of living in isolation, she had begun to crave holding someone’s hand. She wanted to give affection and receive it in return.
In that fleeting moment, the hand she reached for had been Alexei’s.
She thought it wouldn’t be so bad.
His face, his body, his voice, and even the warmth that enveloped her cheeks were all to her taste.
So she took Alexei’s hand.
Only to regret it the very next day.
The crown prince is off-limits.
Once her mind cleared, Canna was tormented by overwhelming regret. She had been so lonely and emotional that she had been swept away by her feelings!
After that kiss, Alexei changed completely.
She had thought he was simply a prickly crown prince, but it turned out he had been irritable because he was desperately holding back his desire to touch her.
Now that he no longer needed to restrain himself, the crown prince became aggressively forward.
No wonder rumors started spreading.
Canna sighed as she recalled the past.
“Your Highness, in any case, please don’t do this in the corridor.”
“It’s because you keep avoiding me.”
Alexei stared at her with eyes full of discontent.
“I heard you refused a peerage again this time.”
“Yes.”
“Accept the title. Become a noble. Otherwise, you and I will never be able to achieve anything together.”
“……”
“Tatiana, I want the whole world to know that you are my lover. Don’t you want the same?”
Canna kept her mouth shut.
Did she want the world to know?
Absolutely not.
The crown prince of Yalden was a man even Amelia had once considered as a potential husband.
If she became the lover of a man who received the attention of the entire continent, she would undoubtedly draw similar scrutiny. Someone might eventually uncover her true identity.
It would have been better if Alexei weren’t the crown prince.
If that were the case, she wouldn’t have had to hear herself called Lorenzo’s mistress.
A commoner physician and the crown prince.
Because of the insurmountable gap in their statuses, rumors had spread that Canna was his ‘mistress.’ Not his lover.
If you want me that badly, then give up the throne for me.
Canna thought those words only in her heart.
They were words she could never speak aloud.