Eunhan looked up at Blake in surprise. Blake trudged forward and picked Eunhan up again.

"When I was young, there was someone who showed up and treated me when I was sick. It was a man in black robes."

Blake hadn't had a good night's sleep ever since he was cursed.

One day, he was driven out from Francia Palace. The sentences of the curse mixed in with the pain and nightmares and dug into his tender flesh, so he desperately wished his father was beside him every night.

But Tenstheon never came. Then, when he became accustomed to enduring the pain alone, and gave up to the point that he didn't call his father even in his dreams anymore, a man wearing a black robe appeared. When he appeared, Blake felt a little relieved.

He thought it was a dream. He thought it was a vision he created because of his loneliness.

His curse did not spread further after marrying Ancia. The nightmares have also disappeared. And he didn't see a man dressed in black robe again. That's why he was so sure that it was a dream.

Blake slowly stroked the black cat.

"The man in the black robe had a mysterious black power yet his energy was very pure."

Eunhan flinched.

"And now I feel the same power that I felt in that man from you."

The Crown Prince knew everything. He could not get out of this situation by just pretending to be a cat. Eunhan decided to admit it frankly.

"Meow."

Blake let him go.

Eunhan jumped down from Blake's arms, and then returned to his original form. Then, he went on one knee.

"I greet you, Your Royal Highness, the hope of the Empire. My name is Eunhan."

Blake was not surprised when the cat suddenly turned into a person. On the contrary, he lifted Eunhan's chin and looked closely at his face.

"It was you back then too."

He thought it was an illusion created by exhaustion of pain and loneliness. But it was a real person.

"Under the Emperor's commands, I have been secretly guarding the Crown Prince."

"His Majesty sent you..."

Blake thought he was cursed by a Goddess and abandoned by his father. Although Ancia kept telling him that the Emperor cared about him, he didn't believe her.

But what she said was true. The Emperor had not abandoned him completely.

"Are you from the East?"

When he was young, he couldn't see the man's face properly. Now that he met Eunhan again after a few years, he noticed that he had an exotic appearance with black hair and eyes.

"Yes, I came from the east."

If the Asteric Empire was founded with the help of the Goddess of Light, then Chang was a country that was built with the power of Dragons.

Some of the Chang's Royal Family's members were chosen by Dragons, so they were called the 'chosen ones' and became respected by all.

But the one who chose Eunhan was the Black Dragon. The Black Dragon was an ominous power that covered him in darkness and it was prophesied that he would lead the country to extinction.

The Emperor tried to kill his own son, Eunhan. Everyone pointed their fingers at him, treating him as if he was something ominous. It was Blake's first time hearing about it.

"But your power is so pure."

'Different from me....'

Blake held back those words and looked at Eunhan.

"You said it was a secret mission, so why did you suddenly reveal yourself in the form of a cat?"

"I missed the food of my hometown."

"Food??"

"Yes. Her Highness's food reminded me of my past, and I couldn't hold back."

Blake thought back and remembered that the first time he appeared was on the day when Ancia made a dish using the cauldron.

But the black cat would also appear when Ancia practiced waltz or read books, even though there was no food.

Feeling Blake's sharp gaze on him, Eunhan bowed his head.

"I disobeyed my master's orders for personal reasons. I will tell him all the facts and get punished. I ask for your forgiveness, Your Highness."

"You don't have to. You've protected me for a long time. I don't want you to be punished."

"But..."

"Don't tell anyone. I'm not going to tell anyone about you either."

"Thank you."

With a determined tone, Eunhan bowed his head even lower. Even though he turned into a cat and deceived everyone, Blake said he would keep the secret rather than punish him.

As Eunhan was overwhelmed with emotion, a cold voice penetrated his ear.

"So never appear around Ancia again."

"......."

The freezing cold energy penetrated Eunhan, and he looked up in surprise.

Then, their eyes met.

"I won't forgive you if you play such a trick on my wife again."

"......"

Blake warned coldly.

Ancia was everything to Blake. He wouldn't forgive anyone who hurt or disturb her. Moreover, Blake was anxious. Eunhan had slender, mono-lidded eyes, and the strong yet soft lines of his face harmonized in the Eastern style that Ancia liked.

In Blake's eyes, Eunhan looked like a man who was better in every way compared to him. That was why he didn't want to let Eunhan and Ancia meet each other.

***

"Father, I'm here."

When I entered the office, Collin, the Emperor's aide, sprang to his feet and welcomed me.

"Your Highness, welcome."

"Did you wait for me?"

"Of course, I wait for Her Highness to come everyday."

"It seems like you're waiting to go home, and not for me."

"For me, Your Highness is the Goddess that allows me to go home."

In contrast to his appearance, Collin was humorous and deft.

I didn't know that he had such a side because the original story only focused on their dark side.

"You're the only one who can free me from the endless pile of work."

He said it jokingly, but it was 100% true. The busiest person in the Empire was Tenstheon, and right after him came Collin.

I had rarely seen him leave work on time.

"Don't talk nonsense and go on."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Tenstheon frowned. Finally, with Tenstheon's permission to leave the office, he ran out. Collin said resentfully as he organized the papers, "If Her Highness didn't come, I would have had to stay here all night."

"Collin, do you want to live in the Imperial Palace for the rest of your life?"

Collin trembled when the Emperor said intimidatingly.

"Your Majesty, I will now leave the two of you two it."

Collin hurried out of the room after the courtesy. I could feel the sorrow of a weary office worker when I looked at his back as he was leaving. I felt sorry for him.

That didn't mean that my father was a vicious boss. He thought highly of Collin's abilities and gave him his own title. Furthermore, Collin received a sizable salary. It was just that Tenstheon didn't give him time to spend his money.

"Father, you're overdoing it, aren't you?"

"You're going to nag at me as soon as you get here?"

"It's not nagging."

"It's so cold but your clothes are so thin. I should buy you more coats."

The Emperor glanced at me. I could guess why he was busy. He was also looking for a way to lift Blake's curse.

Blake wasn't feeling well these days, so he was in a hurry.

"No, there's still a lot of clothes I haven't worn yet. Now,try some of this."

I took out the tofu dishes I made today and placed them on the table.

"It looks like snow."

The moment I heard him, I laughed.

"What's wrong?"

"You said the same thing as His Highness Blake."

They were very different in character and appearance, but sometimes it really hit me that they were father and son.

"...Did that child say that?"

Tenstheon had changed a lot in three years. At first, he avoided matters concerning Blake outright, but now he had become a little more frank with his feelings.

"Yes, He said it looks like pudding."

"Pudding...I guess so. What's this?"

"It's tofu. I made it from the beans you gave me before."

"You made these dishes out of beans?"

"Yes. His Highness even peeled the beans himself."

"Blake can do that too?"

He looked at the white tofu, looking deeply moved.

"Yes. If you had come to the Palace, Your Majesty could've seen Blake peel the beans."

"......"

Tenstheon silently put a piece of white tofu in his mouth.

"How is it?"

"It has a unique taste. Wasn't it hard to make?"

"We all made it together. The chef, Terry, worked very hard on it. It was really delicious when it was hot. It would have been really really good if you came to the Palace to have it too..."

"Even though it's cold, It's still delicious."