Even while panting, Chohee felt tormented by Karad’s words filling her head completely.

Even while being penetrated by Lars’s c*ck, she had to focus more on the heartache than the pleasure, unable to stop thinking about what Karad had said.

Lars, who had been stealing glances at Chohee’s face, ended the s*x earlier than he normally would have. After ejaculating into Chohee’s p*ssy, he thr*st a few more times and finished by rotating his hips.

After ending the s*x, he held Chohee and looked down at her quietly.

“Elysia. Are you alright?”

Since the door was closed and there were no maids, Lars asked directly. It was a question he could ask because he had more freedom of movement than Claes.

Chohee thought quietly, then closed her eyes. Tears rolled down her cheeks. Sensing they weren’t from pleasure, Lars’s face clouded with sadness. He reached out and wiped away Chohee’s tears with the back of his hand.

“You looked distressed even while moaning. Was there a problem with my performance?”

Chohee shook her head. Then she whispered quietly so the knights outside wouldn’t hear.

“I wondered if… Claes had grown cold toward me.”

Lars’s expression turned serious.

“That’s absolutely not true. His Majesty has been speaking to him, so Brother Claes refrains from talking when he’s with Elysia, but that doesn’t mean he sees Elysia as merely a breeding vessel. Brother still loves you.”

“But…”

Chohee recalled what Karad had told her.

“Karad keeps telling me that Claes will take another woman as Crown Princess Consort. Not only that, but he keeps whispering that Claes has started viewing me as just a c*m receptacle for his s*xual desires, which is why he doesn’t speak.”

Lars immediately furrowed his brow.

“Brother Karad said such things? Even during s*x?”

Chohee nodded with a clouded expression.

“He… seems to hold some kind of grudge against Claes. When I look into Karad’s eyes, it feels like looking at a madman. I even think his green eyes might make everyone reflected in them look like monsters.”

“Elysia…”

“I’m sorry. Karad is a kind brother to you, so I shouldn’t say such things. I went too far.”

Lars closed his mouth and shook his head. Then he reached out and gently stroked Chohee’s black hair.

“No. I’ve also been thinking Brother Karad has been acting strange lately. I’ve felt something was off about how he only travels between the Second Prince’s Palace and the annex after receiving confinement from Brother Claes.”

“…”

“I need to find out what he’s plotting. But before that, there’s one thing I need to make clear.”

Lars cupped Chohee’s cheeks and kissed her forehead.

“No matter what happens, Brother Claes loves you. So do I. So don’t be shaken by anything that comes out of Brother Karad’s mouth.”

“…”

“Elysia?”

Chohee barely managed to nod. But there was something she couldn’t bring herself to tell Lars.

“Then I’ll go shower. I’d like to stay here, but I can’t completely ignore His Majesty the Emperor.”

The fact that the Emperor could die any day was top secret information that hadn’t been shared even with Elysia. Moreover, at state council meetings, the Empress and Duke Serow frequently attempted to change policies as they pleased in place of the ailing Emperor.

Three more maids had been assigned to Chohee’s bedroom, taking turns watching as surveillance whenever Claes came, so Claes couldn’t say anything to Chohee.

‘…But if Karad hadn’t heard it directly from Claes, how would he have known my name, Chohee…?’

The sound of water pouring from the shower could be heard from outside. Using that sound as a melody, Chohee tried humming a song she had liked in reality. But she couldn’t properly remember the lyrics, which made her feel depressed.

‘Chohee. That’s your name, he told me.’

Karad had whispered while ravaging Chohee.

‘I also know you can actually speak. You hid it perfectly, but you told Claes, didn’t you? If Brother Claes hadn’t told me, I would never have known. How cunning.’

Chohee felt emotions surging at those words, but Karad moved his hips cruelly and said,

‘But that’s over now. Brother Claes trusts me now, and he told me he’s sick of you. Just a breeding vessel who whimpers if he doesn’t promise her the Crown Princess Consort position.’

‘…I didn’t whimper…!’

‘Oh yes, you did.’

He lifted the corners of his mouth and thr*st his c*ck forcefully into Chohee’s p*ssy. When Chohee trembled from the pleasure, he poured out cruel words like a snake’s tongue.

‘Just wait and see. At the state council meeting, Claes’s Crown Princess Consort will be decided soon. Claes didn’t say anything, but he must really be welcoming it, right?’

‘Nngh, mmmh.’

‘Instead of a breeding vessel with such lewd m*ans, a chaste and wise Crown Princess Consort will be established. Be happy. She’s a high-ranking noble, unlike you who’s just a c*m receptacle, so she knows the empire better and will do anything for the empire.’

Chohee couldn’t bear it and tears streamed down.

Karad hadn’t said this just once. He whispered to her every time he came. Even when she tried to refuse him, Karad held up the fact that he had heard her name, Chohee, from Claes.

Because of this, Chohee could only cry after he left, her heart aching.

At first, she didn’t believe his words.

But as things unfolded one by one exactly as Karad whispered, Chohee had no choice but to believe him.

‘According to what the maids were saying, Claes’s official Crown Princess Consort candidate was decided at the state council meeting. Karad’s words are coming true one by one…’

Lars and Claes hadn’t told her that the Empress and Duke Serow were pushing to select a Crown Princess Consort at state council meetings using the false oracle, worried it would concern Chohee.

So Chohee only heard the truth through the maids who weren’t favorable toward her and through Karad. And even then, it was truth twisted with bad intentions.

‘It’s agonizing…’

Then she lost sleep thinking that Claes coming silently to violate her and leave was evidence of his heart leaving her. It became painful. While their bodies intertwined, those moments were ecstatic, but when the s*x ended, she wanted to cry and ask him as he left wordlessly.

‘Am I… nothing more than a simple mistress to you, Claes?’

With maids present preventing any words or actions for her sake, Chohee suffered. Though the thought occasionally surfaced that this was exactly what the Empress and Duke Serow were aiming for, each time Karad came and went, that thought faded and she felt abandoned by love.

“…Elysia.”

Lars turned off the shower. Then he heard sobbing through the slightly open door. He put on a bathrobe and carefully stepped through the gap.

‘…How much must Brother Karad have tormented her.’

Moreover, he had heard Karad visited the annex daily. He knew Karad had always disliked Elysia, but this was the first time hearing he was slandering both Claes and Lars.

‘As Brother Claes said, Brother Karad is aiming for the Crown Prince position. That’s why he attacked Elysia first. Brother’s weakness is Elysia, so if she says even one word blaming Brother Claes, he’ll lose his composure.’

Lars felt he couldn’t leave things this way.

The Emperor lingered between this world and the next for days on end, yet stubbornly remained alive. Lars recalled the promise he had made with Claes before. If the Emperor was still alive after two months, they would help Elysia escape to Heritail Kingdom.

‘Isn’t now that time? If Elysia continues to be tormented by Brother Karad, her feelings toward us might change. Better to have her hide somewhere else for a while, then bring her back after His Majesty the Emperor passes away.’

Lars sat in front of the crying Chohee and reached out. When his gentle touch reached her hair, Chohee lifted her tear-stained face and eventually nestled into Lars’s embrace.

‘This warm, soft body… And this kind heart that tried to endure even while suffering… I can’t leave Elysia like this. If I do, she’ll slowly wither and die.’

Lars had seen the previous generation’s Elysia suffer from depression. His mother, who had already faced discrimination and contempt for being a breeding vessel. When she fell ill on top of that, everyone wished for her death since she had completed her role by bearing children.

So Lars bit his lip. He wouldn’t let anything happen that would make this generation’s Elysia suffer. Once the Emperor died and Claes safely ascended to the throne, they could bring Elysia back.

‘I’ll go to Saraum Village and give her a magic scroll so she can flee to Heritail Kingdom. And with some money so she can live in Heritail Kingdom… The clever Elysia will adapt well and stay safe until we come to get her.’

There was just one problem.

But to Lars, it wasn’t a big problem. Even if the Emperor became furious with him, as long as Elysia was alive, she would surely return to their arms.

“Elysia. I have something to tell you.”

“What is it, Lars?”

Leaning against Lars’s chest, her tears had stopped at the sound of his pounding heartbeat. Chohee lifted her head to look at the kind man before her.

Though she loved Claes even more, Lars had become Chohee’s pillar with his gentleness. Their relationship, like proof of his consideration, showed how well he understood the style Chohee liked and treated her accordingly.

“Could you live outside the empire for a while?”

“…Outside the empire?”

Flustered, Chohee’s mouth opened slightly. Since being brought by the princes, the only place she could go had always been the Imperial Palace, but Lars was suggesting a new place.

“Yes. Outside the empire.”

Lars whispered affectionately and held Chohee’s head tightly. Her small head simply nestled completely in his arms, quietly looking up at him.

“To avoid Brother Karad’s absurd words and the maids’ idle chatter, this annex won’t do. Moreover, even if the nobles know about your visits to the library, they must outwardly accept the oracle, so their treatment of you as a breeding vessel won’t change no matter how hard you try. At least, not until Brother Claes ascends to the throne.”

With a sad face, Chohee watched him. But Lars’s words had the power to make her listen. And somewhere other than the empire.

Chohee’s eyes began to flutter with excitement, giving Lars even more strength to continue. Lars kissed her forehead and continued speaking.

“So to resolve this difficulty, you must disappear from the Imperial Palace. Right now you’re staying in this world for an unusually long time, but everyone knows that after a certain period, you return to your world.”

Lars smiled gently and met her gaze.

On their touching foreheads lingered the lukewarm consideration of his gentle care.

“So we’ll use that prejudice to escape from the Imperial Palace.”