A chill ran down her spine at his attitude.

“You must not be shaken by such a trivial matter, Empress.”

A cold hand touched Amaryllis’s cheek. The hand that slid gently gripped her chin. A chilling coldness that wouldn’t be strange if it choked her right there enveloped Amaryllis.

“Even if Belle were to come back to life.”

“Your Majesty…”

“Don’t you have something you gained by committing the most hideous act?”

The most hideous act. At those words that pierced straight through her heart, Amaryllis suddenly burst into a hollow laugh.

It was uncertain how long he would torment her.

“Yes… yes.”

Amaryllis, who muttered dejectedly, staggered to her feet. Her red eyes were bloodshot.

“I killed Your Majesty’s child who wouldn’t even be acknowledged. That child who would have lived bearing Astaire’s name as Astaire’s child, I… I don’t intend to deny it.”

It’s not that she didn’t feel guilty about it. She knew she had done something unforgivable as a human and as a mother. Moreover, how cruelly did Solice of Ingrid die as a consequence of what she had done?

But she didn’t regret it. Because she didn’t regret it, if Amaryllis were to go back to that time, she would willingly repeat the same act over and over again.

“You said you forgave me. Then, I, I… Until when do I have to receive this punishment?”

“Did you only kill the child?”

At his calm question, Amaryllis’s face contorted completely. There was a pain that stabbed her heart.

If only he would shout and get angry. He clearly shows through his actions that Amaryllis isn’t even worth that much. Amaryllis painfully tore at her hair.

“I didn’t know Madame Marguerite would end up like that…!”

“Just because you don’t know doesn’t mean you’re not guilty.”

“Then, what about Your Majesty’s sin?”

She came to beg for forgiveness and confess her wrongdoings, but it turned into an argument. All the words she had prepared while staying up all night became useless.

But there was something in Cassian’s attitude that strangely tested Amaryllis’s patience.

It was Cassian who ultimately coldly discarded Madame Marguerite after she had served her purpose. This was a truth that no one could defend.

Of course, it’s natural for humans to love their own children. Nevertheless, it was incomprehensible that he would act like this after losing the child of someone he had abandoned.

“The price for my sin is not something I have to pay to you, Empress.”

Cassian’s words were utterly resolute. His gaze looking down at the trembling Amaryllis was extremely cold.

“But what about the price for your sin?”

“……”

“Clearly, there’s something you must pay me, remember? At least two things.”

Because it was an undeniable truth, Amaryllis couldn’t say anything in response. Cassian continued in his still gentle voice.

“I clearly gave you a chance, and this is the path you chose, Empress.”

His gaze looking down at her flashed blue. His fingertips moved again, gently caressing Amaryllis’s cheek.

The warmth without even a hint of affection only gave her chills.

“Endure stubbornly, Empress. That’s how you’ll be able to pay for your sins.”

Even a demon risen from hell wouldn’t be this heartless. Amaryllis unknowingly squeezed her eyes shut.

* * *

The Blumir ducal residence in the capital city, Gabrienne.

Liam, who was about to head to the Imperial Palace early, had to stop in his tracks. A familiar figure stood at the end of the corridor.

The golden hair, as bright as the rising morning sun, was disheveled. Those alluringly violet eyes captured Liam. They curved gently, softly.

It was a presence that seemed capable of completely enchanting the person before her.

Liam unknowingly swallowed. Even the sound of his Adam’s apple moving seemed to echo loudly.

“How…”

“Hello.”

Just as he was about to ask ‘did you come’, he heard the voice he had longed for.

At the voice he had never forgotten even in his dreams, Liam momentarily froze in place, staring at her. He completely forgot what he was about to say.

The golden afterimage moved. The mesmerizing golden illusion approached Liam, who had forgotten even to breathe.

Click, click.

The sound of heels hitting the stone floor of the empty corridor.

The quietly echoing sound reminded him of Valentine’s last moment.

The innocent gaze that looked at him without knowing anything. The pure love that shone in that moment as she approached him, the devotion that burned until the end.

He had ultimately shattered that dazzling lighthouse and thrown it into the night sea.

The woman who resembled Valentine stood on her tiptoes. Her lovely eyes wrinkled. Embracing Liam’s nape and bringing her red lips close to his ear—

“Brother.”

She whispered.

Liam blinked stupidly for a moment.

What did that breathtakingly affectionate word mean? Ah, it’s what a young sister uses to call her older male sibling…

‘Brother, brother, brother…’

The form of that relationship echoed in Liam’s ears to the point of madness. As the belated realization hit him, Liam was struck with fear.

Because the person who would call Liam like that no longer existed in this world. Terribly, because he had eliminated her by his own hands.

“Brother, our brother. My brother.”

The flowing voice continued over the pale, frozen Liam. The hand that slid from his nape affectionately, as if they were intimate, touched the cravat that had been choking Liam’s neck.

The skillfully moving hand undid the knot of the cravat. The neatly worn shirt became disheveled, and the soft fabric fluttered white in the air.

As the white afterimage fluttered before his eyes, Liam, coming to his senses, grabbed the hand touching his nape…

“This kind of joke is not welcome.”

When he carefully removed the somewhat cold hand, he heard a giggling laugh.

“A joke, you say.”

“Don’t mock the dead, Mademoiselle Laure.”

“Mademoiselle Laure, Laure. Ah, Belle Laure.”

The woman muttered as if singing. By now, the woman was looking Liam in the eye. That all too familiar violet gaze.

“……”

“Our brother, what should I do, how should I act for you to believe that I am me?”

The woman’s eyes wrinkled. Her right hand gently floated in the air along with it. It was Valentine’s old habit.

A moment when he couldn’t help but reminisce about the departed. At the surprisingly similar appearance, Liam unknowingly swallowed. A chill ran down his spine.

“Should I talk about mother and father? Do you remember what father said when he sat you on his knee?”

“Mademoiselle.”

“I’m sorry that I only have a name to give you, who came to us and became our joy when we were troubled and struggling. You can curse it as old-fashioned nepotism, but everything of Blumir belongs to Valentine.”

It was a clear memory in Liam’s mind too. Words that his adoptive father, the previous Duke of Blumir, often said.

He had never felt resentful. He had never felt slighted, nor had he ever thought it was old-fashioned nepotism.

That Blumir belonged to Valentine was as natural as breathing.

“Liam. Forgive my shamelessness, but no matter what happens, you must protect Valentine.”

Liam’s expression twisted at the fragment of the past that crossed his mind.

“I don’t know where you heard these stories…”

“When our parents passed away. That time.”

The woman ignored Liam’s words and muttered. The previous Duke and Duchess of Blumir suddenly passed away one day. Their carriage overturned while heading to the capital city of Gabrienne.

Valentine, who was the only legitimate heir to Blumir at the time, was relatively young. Though she successfully inherited the title of Duke, the world wasn’t kind. Liam, who was indebted to the Duke and Duchess, had a duty to protect Valentine from those who coveted the Duke’s fortune.

That’s why the siblings, though not related by blood, were close. Valentine followed Liam like a parent who had protected her during her most dangerous time.

But did Liam love Valentine like a parent?

“Brother was my life’s salvation.”

The delicate eyes meeting his curved enchantingly. And so he thought,

How wonderful it would be if those words had come from Valentine.

“Now, brother can no longer save my shattered soul.”

The following words were etched with deep shadows.

“Because brother tore me apart. Me.”

Throb.

His heart vibrated at what the similar face and similar voice conveyed. It felt like his chest was being torn into a thousand pieces.

When Liam gave no answer, the woman moved like an actor on stage. The sound of her high heels striking the stone floor particularly clearly struck his ears.

“Brother, you said the people of Sehera had to survive by eating the corpses of those who starved to death.”

Liam’s eyes widened at these words.

These were the words Liam had clearly impressed upon Valentine in their final moment. Words seeking justification and legitimacy to ease his guilt.

That… that at least was something only Valentine and Liam would know, no one else.

“Didn’t you clearly say that the people would want to throw stones at me and spit on me?”

The woman curved her beautiful eyes again. Her hand floating through the air touched Liam’s arm and caressed his black hair. Liam’s heart thudded, vibrating violently.