Not long after that, news of High Priest Altair’s sudden death arrived through messenger birds. For Lars, who had been sending people to investigate the area around him, this was bewildering news.

Although High Priest Altair was practically Duke Serow’s lackey, he was still a high priest. Because of this, his murder needed to be thoroughly investigated to uncover the truth.

‘Brother Karad seems suspicious.’

Claes had also left his position, and Lars had heard that he had called away the guards from his own palace, leaving Lars completely on edge.

‘Moreover, High Priest Altair was the oracle receiver who received the contradictory divine message. I absolutely cannot let this slide. Somehow I need to prove that the oracle was false so Elysia can escape being treated like a breeding vessel.’

He had to handle government affairs in Claes’s place and investigate the incident too. He would be busy even with two bodies. Because of this, Lars often fell asleep during conversations with Elysia even when they were spending time together.

Of course, Elysia seemed to understand him and was always reading a book whenever he came, so they hadn’t properly had s*x for several weeks.

But Lars could tell that Chohee was feeling anxious.

He didn’t know exactly what the cause was, but since the time he’d been with her had far exceeded a week, he vaguely thought the reason might be that she was staying solely in the Imperial Palace without returning to her world.

“Well, I’ll be going now, Elysia.”

Chohee smiled brightly and waved her hand. However, once the door closed, Chohee clenched her hands with an anxious expression.

‘What should I do? A week? It’s already been several weeks…!’

What if she was so deep in sleep that she couldn’t wake up at all? What if she was too tired to properly hear her phone alarm? What if the company imposed a fine on her for being late?

Chohee grew more anxious with each passing day.

Although Lars treated her well, this was clearly a dream world. It was a world that shouldn’t become reality for her.

‘I need to go back somehow…’

Looking back at the footprints she had left so far, all she had done was live as a breeding vessel for the three princes. Since she had also refused the suggestion to receive education to become empress, Chohee was pushed to her limits.

“You cannot! If you go in…!”

“Move aside! I am Second Prince Karad. There’s nowhere in the Imperial Palace I cannot go!”

“Please restrain yourself! You seem drunk, so I’ll call someone to escort you…”

“Shut up!”

When commotion erupted outside, Chohee put aside her worries for the moment and opened the door to come out.

The only person with both the authority and audacity to cause trouble in front of Lars’s bedroom was Karad. She felt she needed to hear what nonsense he was spouting so she could either report it to Claes when he came or not.

“The precious one has emerged.”

Karad reeked of alcohol and swayed in front of her. Knights clung to both his arms, but even drunk, they couldn’t completely subdue him, showing his extraordinary strength.

“……”

Chohee kept her mouth shut and looked at him. Realizing that her gaze was scanning him from head to toe, Karad wore a sneer.

“It has to be you. My desires can only be satisfied by you.”

“……”

“Since you descended into this world as a breeding vessel anyway, you should just shut up and spread your legs… Do you want to ascend to the empress position and monopolize power that badly? Since you have both Lars and Brother Claes in your grasp, don’t you care about how others look at you?”

Hahaha, he burst into laughter and continued.

“Really, it’s not even funny. I don’t care what position you held in the other world. But here it’s different. Do you know how many noble daughters desperately long to become empress?”

Chohee felt she didn’t need to listen to any more of the drunkard’s rambling. When their cold gazes met, Karad sobered up momentarily, but thinking ‘whatever happens, happens,’ he reached out toward her.

But that ended with the knights blocking him. Chohee turned her back to go back into the room.

But then Karad shouted.

“If you become empress, this empire will fall to ruin!”

“…Your words are too harsh. Please return to your palace!”

A knight who couldn’t bear to listen anymore blocked his way, but Karad’s rambling continued endlessly.

“Who would welcome an empress who knows nothing? For Brother Claes, you’ll become his only blemish. So don’t have pointless thoughts and just faithfully play your role as a breeding vessel. Just like the newly descended oracle shows, you can only serve as a mistress!”

Ignoring Karad’s barking, Chohee went into her room. She closed the door but slowly covered her ears with her hands at Karad’s voice echoing loudly from outside.

‘I know that too.’

That the nobles, excluding Claes and Lars, didn’t welcome her suddenly becoming the next generation’s empress.

That before the oracle came down, Elysia was nothing more than a simple breeding vessel.

‘But this is a dream world. Strangely, I can’t change everything as I please, but it’s a world that reflects my preferences.’

However, among them all, Karad particularly disliked her.

But hearing that he also felt l*st for her, she could tell this was a world designed according to her tastes…

‘Why won’t I wake up from this dream…!’

Chohee crouched down in that spot, covering her ears and trembling. Karad’s voice could still be heard faintly, but it was gradually growing distant. The knights were probably clinging to him more to escort him out of the Third Prince’s palace.

How many tens of minutes passed like that?

A warm ceremonial jacket was gently draped over Chohee’s shoulders. When Chohee, who had been crying without realizing it, turned her head, she saw Lars kneeling on one knee and warmly embracing her.

“……”

Chohee tried to say something. But she felt there was no point in talking about Karad’s incident now. What was important to her now was waking up from the dream. Then when she dreamed again, a world would unfold where she simply had s*x with two handsome men in the dream world.

And yet.

“Elysia. I heard in a report that you heard very hurtful words.”

Lars was terribly gentle. Gentle enough that Chohee’s heart wavered at those words and she continued to shed tears.

“I thought you would be heartbroken because of Brother Karad, so I rushed here in the middle of government affairs… I wish I could have come sooner.”

Then Chohee burst into wailing tears and turned to embrace him. Lars stroked her sobbing back and whispered, “Shh, it’s okay. I’m beside you now, Elysia.”

It was truly a sweet melody. Then, unable to control the tears flowing from anxiety about not waking from the dream and fear of living as a simple breeding vessel that Karad had shouted about.

One corner of her chest ached severely.

‘What if even Claes comes to believe the contradictory oracle? Kind Lars is completely on my side, but if even he turns his back on me, then I…’

“It’s okay. There are no fools in the Imperial Palace who would take seriously what Brother Karad shouted while drunk and out of his mind. Even if there were, I’ve locked them all up in the underground dungeon.”

Lars mentioned how he had locked up the noble daughters and sons. In the case of noble daughters, they had caused incidents following Claes around, and in the case of noble sons, most were children their families had given up on, so the noble houses couldn’t complain.

Only after hearing that explanation did Chohee’s tears gradually subside. But the fundamental cause of her anxiety – ‘not being able to wake from the dream’ – stimulated the uneasiness in her heart.

‘What will happen to me if I can’t wake up from this dream?’

Chohee was laid down on the bed in Lars’s embrace. Then she met the gaze looking down at her tenderly as he sat beside her. His bluish eyes resembled Claes’s, making Chohee suddenly think of a clear summer sea.

“Elysia. I understand that you’re anxious.”

Lars slowly stroked her beautiful black hair and kissed her forehead.

“But I won’t let anything harm you. Even if it’s Brother Karad, I’ll remove anything for your sake.”

“……”

Tears rolled down from Chohee’s eyes again. Lars was truly sincere toward her. What great fortune would it be to become such a Lars’s wife?

“Don’t worry and rest well, Elysia.”