Clarissa glared at them viciously and shouted,

“I am the Empress of this Empire! How dare you lay a hand on me!”

The Emperor replied wearily,

“And who do you suppose gave you that title? If you don’t want to enrage me further, you will surrender either your crown or the mirror shard—one or the other.”

From the dais below, Rufus called out in a frightened voice,

“F-Father! How could you say that to Mother…!”

At his trembling cry, Tercal Arpend shouted back in irritation,

“You fool! Is this the time to worry about yourself? Stay out of this!”

In the silence that followed, Isabella’s serene voice rang out again.

“Indeed, our ancestors committed an unforgivable sin on this continent. But there was a prophecy—one that foretold that, centuries later, someone would come to wash away our sins and grant us eternal freedom. It was that hope alone that allowed the Arkein to go on living, burdened by their guilt.”

Clasping her trembling hands together, Isabella declared,

“Yes, we must live. As long as we are alive, we can hold onto hope—hope that things might change for the better. But if we die, nothing remains. That is why I could not stand by and watch my people perish.”

Her deep blue eyes turned, full of sorrow, toward Clarissa.

“Even if it means betraying a dear friend.”

Realizing those words were meant for her, Empress Clarissa’s lips quivered as she spoke.

“Lies… All lies…!”

Her eyes darted around wildly and, in that frantic moment, she caught sight of Helena.

Yet Helena showed not the slightest hint of surprise at Isabella’s sudden appearance or the mention of Sandra’s name alongside Clarissa’s.

In that moment, Helena wasn’t looking at Isabella or Benjamin. The only person she watched, with a burning gaze, was Clarissa.

The instant their eyes met, Clarissa understood.

‘You knew.’

How? From where, and since when had she known?

But looking back, those things hardly mattered.

What mattered was only one thing.

‘She deceived me. And did it flawlessly.’

More than a decade had passed since Sandra’s death.

All that time, Clarissa believed she’d had perfect control over Helena. She was certain she could see through Helena completely—whether she was near or far.

But Helena had won.

Heavy footsteps sounded as Tercal Arpend strode toward the Empress. The knights at her side seized her arms.

Clarissa shrieked,

“Unhand me! How dare you—!”

The Emperor’s voice rang out, grim and unwavering.

“Be still, Empress. Don’t make me take both your secrets and your crown right here, right now.”

He reached into the hidden pocket inside her bodice and drew out the shard of mirror.

Turning it over, the ancient script revealed Isabella’s name.

Fixing the speechless Empress with a piercing stare, the Emperor spoke.

“It’s clear enough to see now who’s been lying.”

A heavy silence fell.

Then Benjamin Ishpern took the box adorned with jewels and gold from Aaron and carried it up to the dais.

Until that moment, Helena had stood in silence, surrounded by the Empress’s maids. Now, she brushed them aside, stepped forward, and called Benjamin’s name as she approached him.

“Benjamin.”

Relief washed over Benjamin’s face the moment he saw she was unharmed.

Helena took the box from him. Their hands brushed and she felt her grip tighten as if she wanted nothing more than to take his hand and never let go.

‘Not yet.’

She gave a small shake of her head, just enough for Benjamin to notice, and accepted the box, turning away.

Helena carried it to the Emperor and Empress, placing it on the low table before them.

The Emperor raised an eyebrow as he looked at her.

“Countess Winston? Or no, I heard you were married now.”

Helena nodded, her voice calm and steady.

“Yes, Your Majesty. By the Empress’s command, I was married to the Count of Ishpern, lord of Burwood.”

Tercal’s expression turned displeased.

“So the Empress was involved in that as well?”

Helena replied clearly,

“Your Majesty, the Empress has done many things to conceal the truth that she is Arkein. In order to find the ‘key’ to the location of the Arkein’s underground refuge, she orchestrated my marriage to Count Ishpern. And long before that—just as she did with Lady Isabella—she took the life of my mother, Sandra, who tried to protect the Arkein.”

Before the Emperor and Empress, Helena opened the box.

“Inside are the proofs of all Her Majesty’s misdeeds.”

Clarissa stared at the box, her eyes reeling.

There lay the handkerchief she’d used when giving the peanut-laced cookies to Rosanne, vials of poison she’d hidden in teacups, secret letters exchanged with assassins, a faded lock of brown hair, Helena’s letter, Sandra’s bloodstained dress…

Everything, revealed beneath the ballroom’s dazzling chandeliers.

From behind Helena, Aaron added,

“If you pull the wild rose-shaped ornament on the farthest mirror in Her Majesty’s private study, you’ll find even more. There were so many we only brought a handful.”

There was no escape now.

Empress Clarissa closed her eyes and lifted her head.

‘So in the end, I was destined to fall.’

A strange sensation washed over her—grief and devastation, mingled with an odd sense of relief.

At that moment, the Emperor spoke.

“Do you have nothing to say in your defence, Empress?”

Clarissa turned to look at the man who had sat beside her for so many years.

At first, she thought he was looking at her with his usual indifferent gaze.

But unexpectedly, the Emperor’s face was alive with expressions she had never seen before.

First came disbelief.

“All those years… you deceived me, Empress?”

Next came shock.

“How could you?”

And finally — astonishingly — there was hope.

“No, that can’t be. Empress, explain yourself! Tell me it isn’t true!”

The hope that her husband had finally loved her drained the last of Clarissa’s strength.

She nearly laughed.

She’d thought there was nothing between them, yet it seemed there was, after all.

Just not in any way she’d ever wanted.

With a cold, mocking smile, Clarissa crushed that hope beneath her heel.

“It’s already over. I have no intention of begging Your Majesty for mercy. For the sake of the Imperial family’s honor, wouldn’t it be better to conduct my interrogation in private?”

Her icy blue eyes, mask now cast aside, were filled with nothing but contempt.

Meeting her gaze, the Emperor finally understood that it was truly over.

He gave the order.

“Take the Empress away.”

And so, Empress Clarissa was led away.

As the Emperor silently turned to follow after the Empress, Helena spoke up.

“Your Majesty, please promise me one thing.”

The Emperor looked back at her.

“What is it? Do you want me to annul your marriage?”

Helena shook her head.

“No, promise me that you will restore my mother Sandra’s honour. She never eloped with a knight or anything like that. All she ever did was try to enlighten her people.”

The Emperor studied her for a moment, then nodded.

“You’re right. I promise you, I’ll do as you ask.”

With that, he hurried off in pursuit of the fleeing Empress.

Amidst the chaos, a pale royal attendant announced the end of the New Year banquet.

Helena closed her eyes tightly, pressing her joined hands against her chest as a torrent of tangled emotions raced through her heart.

Had she achieved her revenge? She didn’t know.

But it did feel as if she had managed to repay Clarissa, at least in part.

She felt neither joy nor relief. That was to be expected. This wasn’t revenge for herself.

It was something she couldn’t even mourn: a reckoning for her mother, Sandra, who had disappeared in disgrace.

Just then, something flashed before Helena’s closed eyes.

Startled, she opened them wide.

She thought she saw something in front of her, but there was nothing there.

Instead, she saw Benjamin pushing through the crowd, coming toward her.

“Benjamin!”

Helena tried to step down from the dais to meet him. But someone blocked her path.

“Helena!”

It was Rufus.

“Let’s run away together—right now!”

Helena had finally had enough.

She slapped Rufus across the face with a sharp crack and shouted.

“You lunatic!”

Helena slapped Rufus hard, leaving a clear mark on his face.

But before he could recover, Benjamin clamped his rough hand down on his shoulder.

His voice was chilling.

“That’s the third time, you idiot.”

Benjamin squeezed, and a sickening crack sounded from Rufus’s shoulder.

“Arghhh!”

Without hesitation, Benjamin tossed the wailing Rufus aside and turned to Helena.

“You—!”

He looked as though he was about to scold her. However, Helena ran straight over to him, threw her arms around his waist and shouted.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! There’s so much I have to apologize for—I don’t even know where to start, but I’m sorry!”

As he felt Helena burying herself in his embrace, Benjamin wrapped his arms around her fiercely. It was as if everything was finally complete. He was overwhelmed by a sense of fulfilment.

He let out a deep breath.

So much had happened — far more than he could ever know — and there were countless things they needed to say.

But for now, this was enough.

He pressed his lips to her hair and spoke.

“I don’t know if you remember, but you made me a promise.”

“Sniff… What promise?”

She couldn’t hold back the emotion in her voice. Benjamin kissed her forehead and whispered,

“You promised that if you told me the truth and apologised, I would forgive you for anything.”

“Sniffle… W-when did I say that? I… I don’t remember…”

Benjamin let out a soft laugh.

“Then let’s add one more.”

Lifting her chin, he said,

“Look me in the eyes and tell me you love me.”

With tears brimming in her eyes, Helena burst into laughter. After all, this was what she’d wanted most in the world.

Her trembling hands cupped the face of the man she loved, and she gazed into his ruby-red eyes.

“I love you, Benjamin.”

Benjamin captured her lips before she had finished speaking, as if he wanted to consume her kiss and her declaration of love at the same time.

While countless shadows bustled and moved all around them, the two of them alone remained still.

Above their heads, the chandelier’s soft, beautiful light shone down, as if that light existed solely for them.