Chapter 4

A maid named Sophia entered carrying a towel.

Apparently, she had been the winner of the little argument from earlier.

Without even glancing at Shuri, Sophia placed the towel on a small wooden stool beside the bathtub.

At the same time, she kept stealing glances at Asad’s naked body.

A bead of sweat fell from Asad’s black hair onto his face.

When he lazily swept his hair back with his long fingers, moisture gathered on his hand as well.

Even those beads of sweat looked as though honey were flowing from his skin.

Perhaps feeling thirsty, Asad suddenly stuck out his red tongue and licked his lips.

Sophia’s gaze traveled down along Asad’s sharp jawline.

His nape had such a decadent allure that she instinctively wanted to bury her lips against it.

His broad shoulders led to firm arms that branched out like tree trunks, capturing her attention.

For all she knew, there were more than a few noble ladies who fell asleep while imagining themselves sitting face-to-face on the Grand Duke’s lap, wrapped in his arms.

A petal or two of jasmine clung to the path from his chest down to his abdomen.

His clearly defined abs were proof of how diligently he trained day after day.

And farther down, around his slender waist submerged beneath the hot water—

Ah.

At that moment, steam suddenly billowed upward.

Asad had moved.

The only things concealing his mesmerizing body were the hot steam and a few scattered flower petals.

By then, Sophia’s face had turned as red as though she had been drinking alcohol.

From Shuri’s perspective, it seemed as though the maids deliberately scattered fewer and fewer flower petals every day.

‘Damn that Grand Duke! Who decided that enjoying a bath every evening should be his hobby?’

It was the moment Shuri temporarily forgot his duties as an adjutant.

As Sophia was about to leave after setting down the towel, Asad called out to her with his eyes closed.

“Hey.”

“Yes? Y-Yes, Your Grace.”

Sophia, who had been staring at her master’s wet body, felt her heart rate increase.

“I’m thirsty.”

“Yes. I’ll prepare the wine you always drink.”

Sophia hurried away to fetch the wine, her voice noticeably breathless.

Only then did Shuri finally open his mouth to deliver his report.

“Your Grace, Mia Lisicha has been imprisoned in the Eastern Tower for now.”

“The Eastern Tower…”

“Yes. The place where that prisoner is being held.”

“Good. She’ll probably be frightened after spending a few days there. We’ll interrogate her afterward.”

Asad answered absentmindedly, resting his left arm over his eyes.

After finishing his report, Shuri suddenly felt that it was a shame to see his master’s youth and beauty wasted.

To have a body like that and retire to his bedroom alone every night.

It was practically a sin.

“Why not lock her up in your bedroom instead of the tower? She was quite pretty.”

Asad glanced sideways at Shuri from beneath the arm covering his eyes.

Then he lowered his arm again to cover his eyes and spoke with apparent displeasure.

“Shuri, you’ve been in the capital for too long. Are you starting to resemble the Crown Prince as well?”

After thinking for a moment as though the matter were genuinely troublesome, he added,

“She isn’t even my type.”

“I was joking, Your Grace. Just joking. Haha.”

Maid Sophia returned carrying a tray with a bottle and glass of wine.

Even as she poured the wine into the glass and handed it to her master, she continued sneaking glances at him.

Shuri clicked his tongue.

Everyone was an idiot.

His master, Sophia, and even himself for standing there watching the whole situation.

It had already been three days since Mia had been imprisoned in the tower.

Once when the sun rose and once when it set, the jailer came twice a day, filled the two wooden bowls placed in front of the iron bars with watery soup and water, and then left.

That day was no different.

As soon as the sun rose, the rough sound of clothes brushing against the stairs could be heard.

“Damn it. Having to climb the tower twice a day because of prisoners who do nothing but consume food…”

The foul-smelling leather boots stopped in front of the iron bars of Mia’s cell.

Mia tightly gripped the bars with both hands and examined the wrinkled-faced jailer.

He wore a coarse outer garment as rough as a sack of potatoes, along with boots whose toes were worn almost completely smooth.

Judging by his appearance, he was clearly short on money.

‘Maybe… I could bribe him?’

Mia looked down at the silver ring on her finger.

It was a simple ring without any decorations, but even so, it was a luxury item.

“Excuse me, sir.”

At her words, the jailer frowned.

‘Did he not like being called “sir”?’

Mia’s hair stood on end for a moment, but she couldn’t stop now.

“Would you like this?”

Mia waved the finger wearing the ring in front of the jailer’s eyes.

His pupils moved back and forth, following her hand.

“If you forget to lock this just once, I can give it to you.”

The jailer’s lips, hidden beneath a covering of graying beard, twitched as though he were about to give her a positive answer.

‘I did it!’

Mia was certain she had succeeded.

“Damn it.”

What actually burst from his mouth was a thick curse.

He spat onto the stone floor directly in front of Mia.

Droplets of saliva even splashed onto her face.

“Don’t try cheap tricks on me, you filthy prisoner. There isn’t a single person in this estate who would betray our Grand Duke for something like that.”

Though his answer was firm, perhaps Mia’s proposal had caught him so off guard that he left much more hurriedly than usual.

Feeling awkward, Mia slowly lowered the hand she had been waving.

‘Loyalty to that cruel Grand Duke? Why?’

She spent a long time thinking about it, but she couldn’t understand.

It was the prisoner in the neighboring cell who brought her back to reality with his hoarse voice.

“I hate to impose, but I ask you again today.”

He pushed his empty bowl toward the iron bars of Mia’s cell.

Mia poured half of her own portion into his bowl.

The pitiful soup, which contained barely any solid ingredients, was devoured by him greedily.

Even after eating it, he always said he was hungry.

It happened every mealtime.

“It seems that the wicked Grand Duke ordered the jailer to reduce my rations.”

Mia was hungry too.

But there was something she feared more than hunger.

Not knowing when she would be dragged to the interrogation room.

Whenever she heard footsteps climbing the stairs outside of mealtime, her heart pounded like crazy.

At times like that, she unconsciously grabbed both her ankles, checking that they were still perfectly fine.

Suddenly losing her appetite, Mia threw her spoon onto the floor.

Clang!

The sound echoed through the tower.

Mia buried her face in both hands.

“It’s not fair.”

Her emotions surged as though all the soup she had just swallowed had turned into tears.

“Sir, pushing Grand Duke Uliel really was an accident.”

A weak voice came from beyond the wall.

“I believe you, but the problem is that the Grand Duke won’t. Since you were the one who sent the threatening letter, it looks as though you followed through on your threat.”

The threatening letter.

That was the problem.

Mia had no idea why the original Mia had done such a thing before Ha-yoon possessed her body.

After all, the original Mia had practically been obsessed with Asad.

‘Why on earth would you foolishly threaten him to leave the capital? If only I could clear myself of the charge of making threats, things wouldn’t be this bad…’

Mia lowered her head, clutching both sides of her hair.

That was when she heard unfamiliar footsteps climbing the stairs.

Mia’s heart began pounding violently.

Brown curly hair suddenly appeared above the stair railing.

Through the iron bars, Mia saw a boy who looked quite young.

Perhaps around ten years old.

Only after seeing the boy’s face could Mia finally release the breath she had been holding.

‘Thank goodness. He isn’t here to take me to the interrogation room.’

On the other hand, the moment the boy’s eyes met Mia’s, he nervously tucked his chin down against his neck.

The wary boy looked around.

He was clearly searching for something.

At that moment, a good idea occurred to Mia.

“Are you looking for this?”

Mia tapped the bucket sitting in front of the iron bars.

It was something the jailer had apparently forgotten after hurriedly leaving earlier, perhaps because he had been flustered.

The boy timidly approached the bars.

As he reached for the wooden bucket, Mia spoke to him.

“Looks like the jailer forgot his wooden bucket. What a good boy, running errands for him.”

“He’s not a man. He’s my grandfather. Don’t talk to me, you shriveled-up witch!”

Despite his angelic-looking curly hair, the boy’s answer was much sharper than expected.

For a moment, Mia wanted to twist the nose of this insolent little brat, but she barely managed to restrain herself.

Instead, she firmly grabbed the wooden bucket through the bars.

The boy, who had been about to snatch the bucket and run, looked utterly bewildered.

“You got one thing right and one thing wrong.”

Curiosity and fear simultaneously appeared on the boy’s face.

“You’re not shriveled up…”

Mia whispered quietly.

“But I am a witch.”

“Don’t lie! My grandfather said you’re a shriveled-up old hag who could never possibly match our Grand Duke. He said no matter how much you pine after him, you don’t stand a chance!”

‘What on earth has this old man been telling this child?’

A fine crease appeared between Mia’s brows.

The little boy continued fiercely.

“Let go of that! I have to finish my errand and hurry back to the plaza to sell flowers.”

“You sell flowers?”

The little boy barely came up to Mia’s waist, yet he was already working.

For some reason, Mia’s heart ached.

She hadn’t even stopped to think about her own situation as a prisoner.

“Yeah. And don’t get your hopes up. I have no intention of giving you even a single flower for free.”

‘This little brat…’

But getting angry here would ruin everything.

Mia swallowed down her rising irritation.

“Why do you sell flowers?”

“Because it’s my mom’s birthday in three days. I’m going to earn enough money to buy her a pretty ring for her birthday.”

Mia looked over the boy’s clothes.

Like the jailer, he wore rough fabric.

His shoes had worn-out soles, and he was wearing them with the heels folded down.

Even if his feet had grown, his family clearly couldn’t afford to buy him new shoes.

They probably weren’t so poor that they had to go hungry immediately, but they certainly weren’t well-off either.

Contrary to what the little boy thought, a ring would undoubtedly be an expensive luxury they couldn’t easily afford.

Besides, according to what Mia remembered from the original novel, this wasn’t a good time to sell flowers.

“How long has it been since the Spring Festival?”

“Are you stupid?”

The boy snickered and mocked Mia.

‘Seriously. I’m trying to help you.’

Mia calmed herself down once again.

“When you’re trapped inside a tower, you lose all sense of the date. So tell me.”

“Hmm. It’s been five days.”

Mia lowered her head for a moment and counted.

“Kid, I don’t think selling flowers is going to work.”

She spoke sympathetically.

“It’s going to rain heavily starting this afternoon. For three days straight.”