Tol, who had stayed at the training grounds to train after she’d left like that, received a sudden call from his commander instructing him to pack his few belongings and head to the palace. 

“What the…”

The place he’d been escorted to was the door to Sherri’s private rooms. Tol wasn’t sure what was going on here. He was just as confused now as when he’d gathered his things from the barracks. And he was even more puzzled when he was instructed to stay put in front of Sherri’s door. “From now on you can stay in the room next to the princess for a while.”

For the past while, Tol would leave Sherri in her room in the evening and return to his accommodation because it wasn’t too far from the training grounds and the marquis’ palace, as was fitting for his position as her security guard. Now, however, his position had changed to simply being her escort? As a member of the marquis’ (knight) order, he didn’t understand.

Before he’d heard that Hans, a former escort knight, often stayed by her side until night. But Tol had never once done that. Especially since he didn’t have the courage to stay by her side the entire night. He didn’t trust himself anymore.

What if I dream about her, and my reality becomes confusing or something….

Tol wiped his hand across his face, and tried to quell the unimaginable, dishonorable speculations that were running through his mind.

There had been that time when the princess held his hand and asked him to stay by her side, saying she was bored and that she could not sleep. Even worse, she had cleared out dressing room space to make accommodations for escort knights. However, he had stayed the course, and refused her more firmly, saying that being next to a woman of marriageable age at night could cause a misunderstanding.

She’d said, “You’re really… going to be like this?” He thought of the disappointed expression on her face each time he refused an impropriety, a sad look. 

Even just remembering her face, his heart sank helplessly again. Would it really be so bad to follow her lead? Just once? 

No, no! Stay strong.

Tol controlled his warring emotions and smoothed his facial expression again. His decision to keep some distance between them was right. He could do this. He could control himself, as he had to countless times since becoming her guard.

However, in the end, he couldn’t believe he’d been planted in front of her door at this late hour… Tol’s big hands anxiously grabbed the bundle containing his clothes.

He had been standing silently at the door for a long time now, and so finally he plucked up his courage and knocked on the door. It was the same knock he used each morning when he came to her door. This was the first time he’d knocked on her door at night, however, and he licked his dry lips while he waited. The sound had echoed down the hallway at this quiet hour, making him more anxious. 

“Oh, Tol! You came! Come in.”

“Hello…”

Sherri opened the door and pulled him in as soon as she heard the knock. Tol was still holding the bundle of his belongings as he was helplessly dragged into her room. It was then that he belatedly noticed Sherri’s attire. He didn’t even notice that the bundle, which he had been holding preciously all along, had fallen at his feet.

“Tol? What’s wrong with you, Tol? Are you alright?”

“Princess… your clothes… what’s…”

At his words, Sherri, who bent her head down to look at her nightdress for a moment, couldn’t help the mischievous smile on her face. Of course, it was so slight that he wouldn’t even notice it.

In fact, her clothes weren’t all that erotic. She’d just put on a one-piece pajama dress that showed her cleavage more than normal. In terms of design alone, the nightdress was only a bit beyond what she would expose when out socializing. 

However, because the material was silk and her bre*sts were large, the problem was that her chest pulled tautly at the fabric, the sexy fabric silhouetting her breasts.

However, Tol had never experienced a situation quite like this before, and his tanned face had drained of all its colour. 

Sherri had to suppress her laughter at his stunned expression. Instead, she just batted her eyes up at him, with an innocent look as if she knew nothing of what he was feeling.

“Why, Tol? Should I not dress like this?”

“Obviously… in f-f-front of a man…”

As Sherri approached him one slow, deliberate, step at a time, her eyes twinkling mischievously, Tol took a step back, alarm moving over his handsome features. 

His retreat inspired a strange feeling in her. An almost predatory spirit came over her as she continued to close the distance between them. 

Did he not realize that his innocent retreat only tempted her more? She could see that he was fighting his baser instincts. Fighting his true feelings.

Even as she watched Tol step back once more, his wide eyes fixed on her face as his back hit the far wall with a dull thump, she kept moving toward him. 

There was nowhere left for him to run now.