Chapter 41: The Queen’s Room at Night Is Full of Danger

Because he had caught up on the sleep he missed last night during the day, Caine had plenty of energy for another night of stakeout.

If he hadn’t seen that provocative lipstick mark in the restroom of the private club earlier, Caine would have certainly continued his watch. He had already left the Royal Palace and was still being treated like this. At this point, the enemy was practically flaunting it in his face… ‘Wait, it wasn’t a case of them having already done so without him knowing, was it?’

Initially, Caine thought the enemy intended to use him to influence the Queen and cause a commotion. But now, it seemed quite possible that someone was deliberately targeting him.

Altina, who had gone out with him, and Vita, who had appeared on her own later, were certainly suspicious, but there was still one person even more suspicious than those two. And now, Caine intended to test that most suspicious person.

Around eleven o’clock, after most people in the Royal Palace had retired for the night, Caine left his room and headed toward the one he had visited before.

Having already memorized the layout of the Royal Palace, Caine managed to reach the room successfully without being noticed. While this was partly due to Caine actively avoiding the patrol guards, it was undeniable that there were surprisingly few guards around the Royal Palace—especially around that specific room.

Caine had noticed before that the palace guards were generally stationed around the perimeter, while the core interior areas actually had far fewer guards. If someone had moved into the palace under a different identity from the start, sneaking into the room of a high-ranking official wouldn’t be much of a challenge. Much like Caine at this moment.

Conversely, there were very few guests permitted to stay in the Royal Palace, and all were people whose identities had been meticulously verified to prevent any accidents. After all, a guest invited by the Queen to stay in the palace surely wouldn’t do something as rude as disturbing someone’s rest in the middle of the night or entering their room.

…Caine didn’t want to do this either, but things had reached a point where he could no longer afford to stay on the defensive. It was time for him to take the initiative.

Upon arriving at the room, Caine still had a chance to back out before knocking on the door. However, he didn’t hesitate for long and soon knocked on the door to the Queen’s chambers.

Whether by surprise or coincidence, the door was pushed open from the inside before Caine could knock many times. This proved the person inside hadn’t been startled awake from a deep sleep, but rather hadn’t gone to sleep at all.

When the door opened, Queen Corellia, dressed in a loose nightgown, was holding a golden scepter—the symbol of imperial power—as she stared coldly at Caine for disturbing her rest.

Though both wore translucent sleepwear, unlike Altina’s form-fitting style, Corellia’s gown was long enough to trail on the floor, and the color was a dark charcoal gray rather than white. Since the curtains in the room hadn’t been drawn, Caine could faintly see Corellia’s sexy silhouette under the gown, illuminated by the bright, dim moonlight.

Her full and upright figure, her eerie and gorgeous makeup, the royal scepter, and that frost-cold temperament all complemented one another. At this moment, the cold and elegant Queen was both heart-pounding and terrifying.

“…It’s you. Well, come in for now.”

Contrary to her cold gaze and aura, Corellia didn’t treat Caine like an outsider at all once she realized it was him. Before Caine could even say a word, she allowed him to enter her private chambers.

Displaying no guard against Caine, she turned and walked into the room with her scepter in hand, leaving Caine with an ambiguous and mysterious view of her back.

“…Much obliged. Then, if I may.”

Seeing that the Queen hadn’t questioned why he was there but instead allowed him inside, Caine nodded with a serious expression. He then naturally accepted the invitation—which seemed to hold both danger and opportunity—and walked in.

Since Corellia had already walked ahead into the room, the task of closing the door naturally fell to Caine.

“…Since you specifically came to find me at this hour, you must have something very important to discuss, the other-world version of myself. Shall we begin by the moonlight, or should I turn on the artificial lights?”

After casually leaning her golden scepter against the wall, Corellia turned back to look at Caine and asked if he wanted the lights on.

“…Though the moonlight is beautiful tonight, let’s turn on the lights. To be honest, the current situation is a bit unfriendly to my heart.”

Meeting the Queen’s cold gaze, Caine gave a polite smile. Despite saying his heart was racing, he didn’t appear all that nervous. Of course, this was just him putting on a calm front; his heart really was beating quite fast.

Caine couldn’t be blamed. Any man who didn’t feel his heart rate accelerate while sharing a private room with a queen dressed like this should probably have his tastes examined. The hazy moonlight and the translucent nightgown were far too compatible; it was better to turn on the artificial lights quickly to reduce the Queen’s mysterious charm.

“…I understand. Let’s turn on the lights then.”

Corellia didn’t say much regarding Caine’s proactive show of weakness. Maintaining her usual cold face, she simply activated the warm white magic lights on the ceiling.

Under the artificial light, Caine was able to see the front of the Queen’s nightgown more clearly, and then he immediately regretted it. He had thought that eliminating the moonlight would diminish Corellia’s charm, but by the artificial light, Caine realized that the thin straps on her shoulders weren’t from undergarments—those were the straps holding up the gown itself.

In other words, Corellia was only wearing a slip-style nightgown that exposed her shoulders and the sides of her breasts. She wasn’t wearing anything at all underneath!

This outfit was even worse than Altina’s previous visual trickery. Caine was shocked; he hadn’t expected the Queen to be a nudist. For the record, he didn’t strip completely to sleep; at the very least, he wore standard boxers.

“…Very well. Now you can speak your mind, the other-world version of myself.”

Unlike Caine, who felt awkward and found it difficult to look directly at her, Corellia didn’t seem to think there was anything wrong. She spoke to Caine with a cold voice and an unexpectedly tolerant attitude.

“…No. With all due respect, Corellia, it would be better if you put something else on first. Don’t worry, I’ll step out for a moment.”

She could act normal, but Caine certainly couldn’t. Therefore, he frowned slightly and voiced his concerns with a troubled expression. A man and a woman alone… this outfit was practically an invitation to commit a crime.

“…Why? Is there something to be embarrassed about? Would you really get aroused by your own body?”

“Uh…”

As soon as Caine spoke, Corellia refused him bluntly. And he couldn’t tell if it was his imagination, but her gaze seemed to grow even colder, as if she were dissatisfied with him.

A normal person indeed wouldn’t get aroused by their own body. But the problem was, Caine and she weren’t actually the same person!