Khalid reflected inwardly. While buying dresses and jewels, he had only imagined Aristie wearing them, without giving the slightest thought to the total cost.

He sent an apologetic look to the retreating official and faced the next one. And the one after that.

The individual meetings with officials that began after the monthly meeting lasted longer than expected. By the time they were finally wrapping up, he was quite exhausted.

He heard news about Aristie while massaging his temples with a tired face.

“Your Majesty, Lady Yentrice has been waiting for some time.”

“The lady?”

His drooping head shot up. Aristie’s visit wasn’t scheduled.

She probably came knowing his schedule, timing her arrival for when the monthly meeting would end. The individual meetings were impromptu.

Which means……

“How long has she been waiting?”

“Well, about an hour or so.”

Just as I thought!

“Why wasn’t I informed earlier!”

His voice came out sharp despite knowing it wasn’t the attendant’s fault. The attendant explained with an awkward expression.

“I tried to, but the lady insisted on waiting, saying she couldn’t interrupt Your Majesty’s state affairs……”

Of course. That principled woman.

“Where is she now?”

“I’ve shown her to your office.”

“I understand. I’ll go right away.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than Khalid headed for his office. While his heart pounded with excitement, his senses heightened with tension.

The last time she visited him unexpectedly, Aristie had brought up an unpleasant topic. Come to think of it, she had never voluntarily visited with good news.

‘What frightening thing is she going to say this time……’

Calming his anxious heart, he opened the office door. Aristie, who had been sitting modestly, immediately stood up and paid her respects.

“I greet the sun of the Empire.”

“……Sit down.”

Khalid responded after a beat. The moment he saw Aristie, he could sense it.

Whatever it was, extremely unpleasant words would be exchanged between them.

* * *

“No, I’m fine.”

Though Khalid offered her a seat, Aristie declined and stepped forward. She had already drunk two cups of tea, and this wasn’t a conversation pleasant enough to have sitting down.

“Since this isn’t a pleasant conversation, I’d prefer to speak standing.”

“What happened?”

Aristie slightly turned her head away from his gaze that was examining her expression.

Yes, there was. You would have been shocked and fallen over if you had seen it. But I can’t tell you. I know you wouldn’t believe me anyway.

“What I wanted to say……”

Aristie forced her stuck lips apart to make a sound.

And,

“I would like you to withdraw our planned marriage.”

She uttered the words in a voice that seemed to crawl along the ground.

Ah, I really said it.

Looking back, it was this simple and empty thing……

“What……?”

Khalid’s expression changed instantly. It was the face of someone who had heard something he never imagined, something he should never have heard.

Understandably so. Aristie herself never dreamed she would make such a request with her own mouth. Even now, it didn’t feel real.

“I didn’t mishear, did I? Or is there another meaning……”

“No. It’s exactly as you heard.”

The brief conversation broke off, and silence flowed between them.

After mobilizing all his thoughts to gauge the reason, Khalid finally opened his mouth.

“Is that your wish? Or Prince Icaryuel’s intention?”

“Prince Icaryuel? What do you mean?”

Aristie looked at Khalid with a bewildered face, then shook her head.

“This has nothing to do with him. I simply lack confidence in our marriage.”

Despite steadying herself, her voice kept trembling, which irritated her.

Why am I like this, really? This makes me look like I’m running away in fear. If I’ve made up my mind, I should act with dignity.

Aristie took a small breath and continued with her reasoning.

“Although I was raised under the imperial family’s education, that alone doesn’t qualify me to be Empress. There are plenty of people better than me, and the lady you’re seeing has become a proper Marquis’s daughter, so there’s no need for me to be Your Majesty’s official consort……”

“I……”

Khalid cut her off as if he didn’t need to hear more.

“I have never considered anyone but you for the position of Empress. I revealed my association with Estelle because I wanted to be honest with you, not to hurt you or threaten your position through her.”

But I was hurt. That woman already declared she would usurp my position! She threatened to harm not only me but also my people!

Aristie swallowed these words that were about to burst out and calmly emphasized her intention.

“You’re making me repeat myself. Regardless of those things, this is simply how I feel. I don’t want a marriage without certainty.”

“Why not!”

Khalid suddenly shouted in an agitated voice. Aristie jumped, her shoulders trembling.

The sight of Khalid looking at her felt strangely unfamiliar. He had always been gentle and had never raised his voice at her like this.

Nor had he ever been so overcome with emotion.

“Your Majesty, please calm—”

Aristie’s soothing voice was violently consumed by Khalid’s.

“No certainty? No, you were always full of certainty. Trapped in your own certainty, you never shared your feelings no matter how many times, how many years I approached you! Until I finally gave up, always showing only a soulless face as the Empress-to-be……”

Caught in the whirlwind of erupting emotions, Khalid covered his eyes with his palm.

Like he was trying to somehow gather his uncontainable feelings.

“……”

Aristie watched Khalid, frozen like a statue.

Approached? When?

Feelings?

That was just because I’m your destined partner.

You didn’t choose me. You would have treated anyone well who became your partner because you’re too kind.

The person you chose isn’t me……

“I was always sincere!”

Khalid painfully spat out words toward the pale Aristie.

“Every word I’ve ever said to you! Every action! Without exception, they were all sincere!”

“Your Majesty……”

“I’m the one who hoped you would hold me back even at the moment I gave up on you. Even after giving up! I was convinced that you were the only one who could be my Empress!”

Khalid lowered his hand, recalling the time when he struggled to kill his love.

Then his hidden eyes were revealed again. Seeing them, Aristie felt her heart drop.

Khalid’s golden eyes, exploding with emotion for the first time in her life, were burning so hot they seemed about to melt and flow.

“I thought I would sell the Empire to win your heart, yet you want to cancel our marriage entirely. How can you be so different from me!”

“No, Your Majesty. The meaning of those words—”

“I know! It’s because you don’t feel anything for me as a man! But I never knew you would hate it this much…… to this extent.”

His golden eyes thoroughly stirred with pain. Facing them, fragments of the past flashed through Aristie’s memory like a kaleidoscope.

Every single word Khalid had thrown at her—bravely, awkwardly, or pretending it was just casual talk.

— You’re really pretty. You know that? They say we’ll get married when we grow up!

— I’m still too young to understand love, but I think marrying you would be nice. It gives me a warm feeling inside.

Yes, he had clearly welcomed their engagement. But wasn’t that from their childhood when he knew nothing?

……No. Come to think of it, that wasn’t all.

After growing up and learning to speak more maturely, he had said many more things.

— I like you, but it seems you don’t feel the same…… How can we ever come to share the same feelings?

— I have something I want to confess after we get married. Actually, I want to say it right now, but I should hold back somehow, right? Haha.

— Lately, the position of crown prince feels unbearably heavy…… Won’t you give me a little of your heart to help me endure? Aristie.

— Please respond to my feelings just once. Then I will surely return victorious.

— I’ve returned, Aristie…… Back to your side again.

Those things…… Those countless confessions……

Did each one really have meaning?

‘When did things go wrong……’

She had lived a life confined to a mold. She had to grow up under her father’s strict guidance after losing her mother early.

Solely to qualify as empress. It became her only life goal.

The Duke, frustrated with his stuttering son, obsessed endlessly over his daughter. Under the rigid values created by this, Khalid’s confessions sounded like mere formalities.

She understood intellectually but couldn’t feel them echo in her heart. So her responses were inevitably formal too.

But was that her fault?

She thought the Emperor would devote himself to any lady chosen as the crown princess, but was she supposed to think it was special because it was her?

“……Your Majesty.”

Aristie felt there was some misunderstanding between herself and Khalid. She felt she needed to be honest in this moment.

She wanted to be honest.

She wanted to say that after striving to become Empress for so long, she was giving up the position because of Estelle. That she was leaving his side because she couldn’t bear Estelle’s evil deeds and vileness. That she was trying to escape because she couldn’t stand to see him caught in that woman’s demonic grasp!

But……