Viola could not get a sense of how deep the lake was. The darkness beneath her seemed to stretch on forever, and she felt something dragging her further down to the depths below. Long, withering tendrils from plants growing beneath the water wound themselves around her body, like the hands of the devil. Water rushed into her mouth and nose, depriving her of breath. In a last ditch effort to avoid her demise, Viola flailed her arms. At the same time, her body suddenly broke through the surface of the water.
Viola’s chest heaved as she gasped for air. Her throat was stinging. She must have accidentally inhaled too much water, since she coughed for quite some time.
Then, she felt a gentle but firm pressure upon her back. A muscular forearm was holding her waist. The strange presence caused Viola’s mind to snap back to reality. She immediately jolted upright and found that her wrists were being tightly held by someone’s hands. Viola’s whole body stiffened in realization.
It was him. The Commander of the Royal Knights.
“…!”
Upon meeting his onyx eyes, she became frightened out of her mind.
The half-naked knight looked down at her, and from this distance Viola was able to see every nuance of his toned muscles. His smooth, broad chest was pushing down on her body. Below the water, she felt an unmentionable part of his anatomy press against her hips. Even while soft, it was quite considerable in size. Her vision flashed and her mind grew dizzy.
“… You again?” the knight murmured in curiosity.
“Ah…” Viola ran through different excuses in her mind, “the thing is….”
“I’m sure you know that you aren’t allowed to go outside during the training period,” the knight interjected. “To think that you would sneak out in the middle of the night…”
He furrowed his brows.
Viola fretted. ‘What do I do? Won’t he definitely report this incident to his superiors?’
Despite the fact that she had just potentially jeopardized her mission, her thoughts were more focused on the unnerving sensation of his body on top of hers. At the same time, she became conscious of something rising and growing larger against her lower body. Viola’s cheeks reddened in realization. She tried to turn her head away in embarrassment, but the knight immediately caught her chin. Her shoulders instinctually shrank back under his pressure.
“Even worse,” the knight continued, “this is the Lake of God. Only those with special permission are allowed to enter this place.”
“…!”
Did she hear him correctly? Lake of God? No way! This place was the Lake of God?!
Viola was taken aback.
‘What do I do?’ She tried to think of something—anything—to say, but her heart was pounding so loudly that no words came to mind. The man glanced over Viola’s body.
“You’re even wearing a maid’s uniform.”
“Yes… I am.”
Eventually, Viola somehow found the courage to meet his penetrating gaze. She might have violated the rules, but the knight’s current behavior wasn’t exactly in accordance with imperial regulations, either. Above all, wasn’t he inappropriately close to the body of a Crown Princess Candidate?
Though she was a hostage, she was still a royal princess while he ranked below her as the head of the Royal Knights. Speaking to her informally and touching her body were two clearly different things, and one of those was certainly against imperial law.
“I understand I broke the rules,” Viola held her chin high as she faced him. “I will readily receive my punishment as it is due, so please let go of me.”
“Punishment…”
The knight grinned softly, flashing a row of perfectly even teeth. He licked his lips, a strangely alluring sight. She didn’t know if she was starting to become overwhelmed by the strong scent emanating from the flowers surrounding them, but she couldn’t come to her senses. Still, she could not lose face in front of him.
“Yes,” Viola opened her eyes and raised her head up proudly, “so feel free to report all you want to your superiors.”
“Is there a need for me to report this? I’m thinking about what kind of punishment would be appropriate to administer right now.”
“What?”
She couldn’t understand what he was saying.
The knight was looking at Viola’s face when he suddenly tilted his head in confusion. At the same time, Viola felt something trickle down from her forehead to her chin.
“Your face…” he started.
“Heuk!” Viola gasped. “Wai, wait a second!”
Her make-up had been dissolved by the water and was now running down her face. Viola forcefully shoved the knight away from her as she quickly tried to cover her face with her bonnet. She then stood and crept away from him, making her way toward the shore.
“I will receive my punishment when the sun is up,” she called as she hurried off. “Right now, I must take my leave…”
Viola frantically kept her attention focused on the path in front of her. She tightly clenched her dress as she ran and didn’t dare to look back, nervousness written all over her face. For a long time, she just continued running and had not a single clue where she was headed. All around her was forest, and because she had gone to the lake while in a trance-like state, she could not tell if she had already passed by these places before.
Viola’s clear blue eyes were on the verge of tears. She brushed her face and her hand came back stained with yellow make-up that dripped down drop by drop.
In the distance, she suddenly heard hounds barking. Their growls were getting closer, so she whirled her head around and her eyes came to rest on a nearby tree. She was thinking about climbing up to hide amongst its branches when she felt someone’s presence closing in nearby. Viola hurriedly darted behind the tree and tried her best to conceal herself.