Walter burst out laughing again when he realized which part of his body she was checking.
“What are you so blatantly checking out?”
“No, I…”
He hugged Edith, who was stuttering in embarrassment, from behind and walked to a nearby bench.
Unlike Edith, he already knew that there was no one else around. It wouldn’t be a problem for the Crown Prince and Crown Princess to have a little fun in a place where no one was watching.
With each step he took, Edith swallowed the saliva that had built up in her mouth. The temperature of his close contact felt unusual.
“Walter, this is a public place. Why are you… more than usual?”
Edith sat on the bench, unable to continue speaking. Walter wrapped his arms around her waist and muttered in a low voice.
“Then why are you trying to kiss me in a place steeped in legend?”
“…”
Edith couldn’t answer his questions. Part of the reason was that there was some truth to the fact that she had resorted to trickery.
Although she didn’t tell Walter because she was afraid he might entertain inappropriate thoughts before she even took the first class, Edith actually knew about the legend of the Western Garden Lake.
Because of the legend, many lovers engaged in passionate intimacy here.
Having long dreamt of entering the Academy, Edith also gained knowledge of useless information.
However, Edith kept this to herself because if she told Walter, he would become more obsessed with a ‘more passionate love’ that she might not be able to handle. But her attempt to hide it ended in vain.
“Open your mouth, Edith.”
Walter’s low, resonant voice slid sensually through Edith’s ears. Before she knew it, she was sitting on his thighs.
Feeling his heat intensely, Edith held onto his broad shoulders tightly. In fact, the person concerned seemed to enjoy her reaction.
“Surely you’re not going to leave me like this and go to class alone.”
“…”
“We’ve got plenty of time until it subsides, so let’s just kiss.”
Walter, pronouncing each letter seductively, lazily stroked the back of her neck.
With every part of their bodies touching, it felt as if her entire body would melt like a piece of butter on a heated frying pan.
Perhaps because she had become accustomed to him, her body did not move. She might have recoiled in a situation that could have been embarrassing in the past.
Instead, deep inside her heart, an impulse whispered. How many times had she imagined a rough kiss with her first love in this place?
The Academy. And the only man I have ever loved.
Why hesitate when everything I had ever wanted was right in front of me?
“… Shall we?”
At that moment, Edith’s expression changed subtly. Instead of appearing nervous as if someone was about to attack her, she looked like she wanted to join in on a dangerous game.
⋙“Well then… Undress.”⋘
Walter went crazy when he remembered the last time she had made this kind of expression. It started as a joke, but if they were to end up here in this place, he would feel disgusted with himself.
“Edith, wait—.”
However, he couldn’t continue his sentence.
Edith pressed her lips against his without leaving any space. Then, as he always did to her, she tasted his lower lip carefully.
There was no hesitation in her actions as she carefully delved into the gap between his lips, taking advantage of the unexpected development that left him taken aback.
Feeling his body holding her tight, her actions became more bold.
As she caressed Walter’s earlobe, which had heated up, he let out a low and hot breath.
『 …Well, he did worse things to me.』
Edith kept kissing him and caressing the inside of his shirt collar. When her fingertips touched his bare skin, Walter tensed once again.
Soon, he tilted his head back, breaking the kiss. A long silver lining broke past his chin and neck.
T/N: A long silver lining may be metaphorical, representing a significant or intimate connection between the characters broken.
Edith wanted to play around a little more, but seeing his slightly dilated eyes, she decided to stop.
If she continued to provoke him like this in the open air, she felt that he would immediately take a carriage back to the palace without finishing class.
『 How did I end up like this?』
Even though I was looking forward to the medical class so much…
Edith also chuckled briefly and buried her face in his shoulder, which went up and down rapidly.
After a while, Walter muttered through ragged breaths.
“I don’t know who the beast is between the two of us.”
Edith thought it was sneakily amusing to hear a man twice her size grumble weakly.
“I’m sorry for being a beast, Your Highness.”
“Huh…”
Struggling to lift her languid body, she tidied up her disheveled clothes and then planted a brief kiss on his handsome forehead.
“My hair is too disheveled to accompany you, Walter. See you later at the palace.”
His face was red, and his hair matted with sweat. Edith didn’t want anyone else to see this side of Walter.
The current Walter was more lustful than Fortrion’s stableman who stirred her desires several times a day.
Edith lightly stroked his cheek and then walked toward the medical building where the class was being held.
Walter, still unable to move, leaned on the bench for a while before washing his face.
“Is she really trying to kill her husband? Seriously.”
The only problem was that his face didn’t cool down despite the constant laughing.
──────────✿◦•
Edith came to class impeccably dressed as if she had never been involved in a dangerous game.
As expected, medical classes satisfied her academic desires and intellectual curiosity.
When she saw the male students, who were attending the same class, suspiciously lowering their gazes, Edith wondered if Walter had given some kind of order, but the class was fun, so she didn’t care.
After finishing a long class, she could barely concentrate and it was all thanks to the blurry memory of the kiss between her and Walter.
As she was getting ready to go home, the professor in charge of the class approached her with proper etiquette.
“I am pleased that Your Highness has shown interest in medicine.”
Edith was well aware of the meaning behind those words.
In Agnas, liberal arts, and martial arts were considered important, so medicine was relatively neglected.
As a result, the concept of public health was barely applied to ordinary citizens, mainly restricted to the palace, noble estates, and parts of the capital.
Her years of working at the clinic, caring for numerous patients contributed to her desire not to become a personal doctor for a noble family but to work as a medical bureaucrat.
And now, Edith had the power to bring about the change she dreamt of.
From the days when she had to busily manage her life alone in a small cabin, through Homan Clinic, Fortrion, and the capital, to now.
It was the result of not giving up and steadfastly protecting the love and dream that first sprouted in her heart.
“I will work hard to learn so that I can bring about positive change.”
As she spoke with a smile, the professor nodded with a kind smile.
“Well then, I’ll see you in the next class. The imperial carriage from the palace has already arrived.”
Edith naturally followed the professor’s gaze. Beyond the window, amid the Academy tinged with the sunset glow, a carriage with the imperial emblem was parked.
She gave a light farewell and walked out of the building with light steps. Walter, who had noticed her, descended from the carriage with Adrian in his arms.
“Walter, weren’t you resting at the Imperial Palace?”
“Resting? You think my stamina is paper-thin. After playing with our Little One for a while, I was still so energetic that I even did twenty laps around the training ground.”
From his tone, she could hear the determination that he would not let this night go by even though he had suffered earlier.
Edith barely suppressed her laughter and got into the carriage. Soon the carriage departed smoothly for the Imperial Palace.
“Our Little One seems to fall asleep as soon as he gets on the carriage. Could it be that he likes the swaying?”
Walter nuzzled Adrian’s soft cheek as if he were kneading bread dough, and the baby eventually woke up.
“Mama!”
“Yes, Adrian. Were you having fun?”
Edith warmly embraced Adrian, whose eyes sparkled every time he saw her. The combination of the child’s body temperature and the sunset outside the window made her feel like the fatigue of the day was already easing.
As the carriage passed the entrance to the Imperial Palace, Walter, running his fingers through his lush blonde hair, spoke.
“We have a place to stop by briefly before dinner. You’ll like it when you see it.”
The place he took Edith and Adrian to was the central staircase of the Crown Prince’s Palace.
Unable to hang a picture of the deceased previous Crown Prince who died at the hands of the current Emperor, a new portrait was hung on a wall that had been temporarily left empty.
Within the elaborate frame with intricate carvings, Walter, Edith, and Adrian were depicted with gentle smiles.
Walter gazed at the faces in the painting, particularly the face of his wife who was next to him, then lifted Adrian above his head.
“Adrian, who’s that over there?”
“Mama! Papa!”
As the child wiggled his body while looking at the portrait, the servants nearby also smiled happily.
Edith smiled, feeling like she was going to cry when she saw the harmonious and happy family.
“It’s completed faster than I thought. It’s so beautiful.”
A cozy home and loved ones. A child who smiles brightly when she returns from studying what she wants.
Everything she wanted was right beside her.
During the time she spent with them throughout the day, Edith realized that people often referred to this as happiness.
And finally, she realized. It was for this moment that she had persevered and never given up, even in moments when it seemed there was no hope.
『 … It was worth the wait.』
She smiled and leaned on Walter’s shoulder. With one arm, Walter easily held Adrian, and he wrapped his other arm around her shoulders.
The three of them looked up at the family portrait, their faces brighter than the painting itself.
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