But from the moment Amaryllis coveted what belonged to Liam, an irreparable crack formed in their solid relationship.

Still, she couldn’t help feeling hurt. There weren’t many things Amaryllis could have in this life. So at least Liam, if nothing else, should have remained wholly hers.

“What do you… what do you know to talk like that?”

“I don’t know all the circumstances between you two. I don’t want to know either. But at least I can tell that you did something shameful.”

A bitter smile appeared on Liam’s lips.

“Just like how you killed Valentine’s child, and today, killed the imperial ornamental birds.”

“…Ha.”

Amaryllis let out an incredulous sigh.

“Shameful… acts… Shameful acts, you say…”

She chewed over those words of condemnation. Slowly, repeatedly.

Liam had always understood Amaryllis and pitied her. Sometimes he would speak harsh words, but they were always advice born from genuine concern.

But now these blatant accusations merely clawed roughly at Amaryllis’s heart.

For Amaryllis, those ‘shameful acts’ ultimately came down to one thing.

Bastian, Bastian, Bastian.

The day she learned she had conceived that lovely child. Liam was the first to hear the news. Amaryllis had confided in him to discuss her situation, but Liam raged for a different reason.

It wasn’t simply the reaction of a brother angry at his sister’s betrayal. Nor was it concern for the unmarried Amaryllis.

That’s when she realized who it was that Liam often spoke of, who he held in his heart.

So now, with her insides twisted, Amaryllis’s tongue grew sharp too. She knew all too well what words would hurt and pain Liam the most.

“That demon’s child should never have been born.”

“Demon’s child? Don’t you think that’s going too far?”

“Liam, stop pretending to care about Madame Marguerite.”

Amaryllis ignored Liam’s words. Her bright red eyes flashed eerily.

“Yes. I, with my own hands, gave Madame Marguerite the drug to kill her fetus. And you, Liam, you just watched me. You could have stopped me, but you didn’t.”

A deflating sound escaped from Amaryllis’s lips.

“Deep down, didn’t you want it dead too? Because it was another man’s child?”

“…This is absurd. What ridiculous speculation.”

“I put aphrodisiacs in His Majesty’s wine cup when he visited Sienne and hid in the room. That night, I don’t know how many times I heard the nickname of the person you loved so much. I felt like I would go mad with longing.”

That’s how Amaryllis obtained Bastian, her everything. Amaryllis looked down at her fingertips. It felt as if blood was etched into her perfectly manicured nails.

“What I’ve done, the things I’ve committed are always shameful. If that’s the case…”

She paused, taking a deep breath. Liam’s eyes looking down at her were painfully cold. As if he was looking at someone else entirely.

“Are what you and His Majesty did honorable? Do you think it was a cheap price to pay? Just because it only involved one woman?”

Her blood-curdling cry continued.

“At least I always acknowledge what I’ve done! That I committed it, that it can’t be undone, and that I don’t regret it! That even if I could go back in time several times, I would make the same choice! Even if it’s an unforgivable sin!”

Her attitude showed no sense of the weight of her sins. Her hand, which had sharply cut through the air, struck Liam’s chest.

“But what about you?”

“Hah…”

Liam pressed his head and let out a small sigh. Amaryllis’s muttering continued.

“You always… told me. That you felt sorry for me struggling so hard. That you pitied me for only being able to look on helplessly. That you deeply empathized because you knew what that pain was like. So then.”

Amaryllis’s shoulders heaved as she caught her breath. Her red eyes flickered.

“Don’t you think Madame Marguerite wanted happiness too?”

She knew better than anyone that Valentine had dreamed of happiness and peace. And in the end, it was Liam and herself who shattered the lighthouse on the night sea that Valentine had endlessly used as her guidepost.

“Do you think she didn’t want happiness as much as I dreamed of it with His Majesty!”

“When did I ever say Tina didn’t want that?”

“Despite knowing that! What did you do to Madame Marguerite?”

At his dangerously subdued gaze, Amaryllis felt a strange thrill.

“No matter how much you pretend to care about Madame Marguerite, there’s only one truth. You offered her to His Majesty and ultimately killed her. Then you took her place!”

“……”

If anyone else had brought this up, he wouldn’t have stayed quiet.

But because it was Amaryllis, because it was her… Before she could utter words that should never be spoken, Liam simply kept his mouth shut.

“Never mind about titles that should be reclaimed, anyway you’re the de facto Duke of Blumir now! Inheriting your sister’s title! Barely maintaining the lineage while being called ‘Your Grace’!”

Amaryllis burst into giggles after shouting. With a voice full of mockery, she pointed out his contradiction.

“But because Blumir was hers… I shouldn’t have asked for it? Don’t give me that cat thinking about a mouse nonsense. You’re the one who has no right to be in that position.”

Finally, words that should never have been spoken slipped through her lips.

“Because Madame Marguerite, who died by your hands, must be cursing you from hell.”

Liam blinked once. An equal retort followed.

“His Majesty must be cursing you in this life.”

Ah, ah. Hearing those words that were crueler than anything else, Amaryllis truly screamed.

“Liam!”

“Have I ever mentioned it? That I dream of that child every night.”

Amaryllis looked at Liam’s gaunt cheeks. Was that the reason he was becoming so unsightly thin?

Liam’s lips moved slightly. Seemingly swallowing words he wanted to say.

“You said you acknowledge what you’ve done?”

His questioning voice was calm and steady. Like the night before a storm.

“Lily, you have never thought of it as a sin, just your own wrongdoing.”

If sin is determined by the general perspective of the masses, wrongdoing is a misconduct judged by oneself.

Yes, in that sense, Amaryllis had never once—.

Muttering, Liam turned his body. Taking somewhat rough steps, and thus, forever. He left Amaryllis’s side.

Amaryllis took deep breaths that had been building up. She clenched her fist tightly. The tablecloth wrinkled pitifully in her grip.

Her hand moved. Crash! The teacup flew weakly and shattered against the wall.

Amaryllis bit her nails. The whites of her eyes turned red with greed.

‘Blumir, Blumir…’

A nominal royal family whose bloodline had been cut off.

If someone from the ruling family took that title, they could once again become nominal royalty. Though it was an unkind thing to say to Liam, it was too precious a position for him to keep holding.

If it truly reverted to the imperial family, she wanted to give it to Bastian. Not to someone like Lumière.

As Liam said, perhaps she wanted to take anything that belonged to Madame Marguerite. Having taken Cassian and her child, now she wanted to put even that name under her feet.

“Bastian.”

Amaryllis muttered as if she had lost her mind.

“I can do anything for you. Yes, anything, anything…”

Her voice rippled in the dark room. Following the dimly flickering candle, an undying echo swirled around.

“I’ll give you… everything in the world.”

Amaryllis’s blood-red gaze slowly turned. Through the window, to the Emperor’s palace was visible in the distance.

Right now, Cassian must be with Lumière, with that woman. The three of them might be having an intimate conversation. Or they might be discussing imperial matters without consulting Amaryllis.

Whatever it was, she couldn’t lose anything to Madame Marguerite’s phantom. Not Cassian, not Liam, not Bastian. Not even Blumir.

Everything that Amaryllis had never possessed.

* * *

After that day, Liam didn’t exchange a single word with Amaryllis. Amaryllis was stubborn too. Unless Liam yielded first, she had no intention of budging.

The more stagnant water becomes, the more closed off it tends to be. The noble world was the same. And blood is thicker than water.

Most nobles were on Amaryllis’s side. Not only because Amaryllis was the Empress, but also because, as Gwenael had been saying all along, Liam de le Blumir was only half a noble.

Thanks to this, all sorts of rumors arose about the two growing apart, but Liam remained silent. As if he was waiting for something.

Today felt similar. As he tended to his horse before the hunt, he looked as if he was composing himself.

“Your Majesty?”

Then, that woman’s voice was heard. Amaryllis’s head turned naturally.

That woman beside Lumière was looking up at Cassian. Cassian’s gaze at that moment, as he looked at that woman…

When had it started? Her husband’s gaze toward that woman had changed. It wasn’t the cold and indifferent light like the one usually directed at Amaryllis. It was a warm gaze, like he was looking at something incredibly lovely.