Food and wine were prepared on a table softly illuminated by candlelight.

Rosé, however, didn’t touch the food, instead quietly watching the bustling movements behind the curtains.

Steam rose from the bath prepared in a space connected to the bedroom.

Maxim, attended by his servants, removed his clothes piece by piece.

Even as a silhouette, his body—honed through war and training—revealed the powerful physique of a fearsome warrior.

Rosé, feeling her mouth dry as she watched, quickly turned her gaze to the fireplace, embarrassed.

The sound of water gently sloshing indicated that Maxim had entered the bath.

“Phew…”

Rosé exhaled weakly, pressing her temples and rubbing her stiff neck.

Her head throbbed as though heavy hammers were pounding into it.

‘I thought I’d be fine.’

On her way back to the castle, she was caught in a sudden downpour, which drenched her in cold rain.

Though Jansen had given her a robe, it was soaked through, and the accumulated tension and fatigue finally took their toll.

It had been bearable, but now that she was in the same space as Maxim, her symptoms seemed to worsen.

‘Why am I so cold?’

Even with the firewood crackling warmly on one wall, her body trembled as if she were holding ice.

‘Maybe some alcohol will help.’

She’d heard somewhere that alcohol could warm the body when it’s cold.

Rosé quickly poured a glass of strong liquor and downed it in one gulp.

“Ugh.”

It felt like her throat was burning all the way down to her stomach.

‘Maybe I overdid it.’

Regret started to creep in as the alcohol settled.

‘I should’ve just agreed when Maxim told me to rest. I’m not feeling well today.’

She recalled the words she had spoken so carelessly earlier.

“I want to spend the night with you.”

The memory of clinging to him with uncharacteristic flirtation made her face flush again.

She quickly poured another drink and swallowed it. It went down more straightforward than the first.

Of course, she hadn’t meant it when she said she wanted to spend the night together.

With so many people around and given the situation, she had seen an opportunity and instinctively seized it.

It wasn’t often that such a perfect moment arose to act the part of a natural and affectionate couple.

Before her return, Rosé had learned from bitter experience.

A wife unloved by her husband was pitifully ignored by the servants and lower-ranked individuals.

On the other hand, a wife loved by the head of the household commanded authority just from that love alone.

Her mother, Countess Audrey Etoile, had been like that.

Thanks to her doting husband, Count Jared Etoile, her mother wielded influence without lifting a finger or raising her voice.

Her mother’s greatest weapon was clutching her chest and collapsing in front of Jared whenever she wanted something.

Once the situation unfolded as she desired, Countess Audrey’s ailments would miraculously disappear.

Heh.

The image of her mother effortlessly controlling the mighty Count Jared Etoile made Rosé chuckle.

Even after many years of marriage, earning a husband’s love and establishing authority as the household mistress was no easy feat.

With Count Jared Etoile’s status and reputation, people naturally assumed he would have hidden one or two young and beautiful mistresses.

Yet, for Jared Etoile, there had never been another woman in any life beyond Audrey.

‘If I had been treated by Kasiax that way, would things have turned out differently?’

The thought suddenly crossed her mind.

Kasiax detested it whenever Rosé brought up political matters.

Even when it came to administrative affairs within the castle—things the Empress had every right to be concerned about—he often frowned.

“Rosé, you do no need to think about such complicated matters.”

“But, Your Majesty, I’m worried too. As Empress, I want to do what I can…”

“I’ve already heard enough of that in the council chamber to make my ears bleed.”

“But the atmosphere in the castle is so unsettled right now, and I think…”

“Just shut up! I came to rest, and you’re exhausting me already. I’ll come back another time.”

“Your Majesty! Your Majesty!”

To Kasiax, Rosé should have been a peacock of a wife—a pretty decoration perched on the Empress’s throne, dressed up to greet him whenever he visited. Nothing else mattered as long as she didn’t fall short of that role.

But Rosé hadn’t become that kind of Empress. Instead, she had turned into a tiresome woman who spoke of nothing but unpleasant things. Eventually, she became a hollow shell of an Empress, wholly banished from his heart.

A useless figure who had failed to win the Emperor’s affection and was constantly ridiculed by the imperial court.

A bird trapped in a gilded cage, gradually losing her voice and spirit.

That was the pitiful image of Rosé within the Solstern Imperial Court.

That was why Rosé found herself in this awkward situation, trying to display affection for Maxim as a loving couple.

All she wanted at that moment was to throw herself onto the bed, wrap herself in a blanket, and rest her aching body.

Instead, she had become the anxious wife waiting for her husband, who had returned from the battlefield, to finish his bath.

“What are you up to?”

Rosé had been pouring another glass of wine, still stewing over her thoughts about Kasiax, when Maxim’s voice broke the silence.

He was speaking to her.

“What are you talking about?” Rosé asked coolly.

“You said something strange earlier.”

Rosé pressed her fingers to the side of her brow and stood up.

‘So much for all that effort. You’re so dense!’

She was annoyed that he had made unnecessary comments in front of the attendants.

If he realized she had been putting on an act, it would only make her look even more foolish.

Swish, swish.

Rosé, trailing the hem of her nightgown, walked to where the bath was and pulled the curtain aside.

Maxim’s back came into view as he lounged leisurely, his arms resting on the tub’s edges.

The attendants bathing him turned to her in surprise.

“Ahem.”

Rosé cleared her throat and stepped closer to the tub.

“You can leave now. I’ll take care of it.”

The attendants hesitated but left quickly at Maxim’s signal.

Rosé picked up the bath brush they had left behind and approached him.

The strong liquor she had consumed gave her strange, reckless courage. She felt ready for anything now.

She lowered her gaze and slowly began scrubbing his broad shoulders with the brush.

“The act was pretty convincing. Even I almost believed it,” Maxim said with a sneer.

Rosé answered dryly.

“I’m more surprised that you’re surprised by something so obvious.”

His shoulders, tightly packed with muscle, rose slightly as if he had laughed.

“So the Count and Countess of Etoile were quite close, it seems.”

“That’s right. It’s the only example I grew up with.”

Rosé deliberately scrubbed harder, enough to redden his skin.

“You weren’t waiting for me, were you?”

Her scrubbing slowed at his question.

To be honest, she had been curious about him.

When would he return? The scene of him leaving with only a promise to return quickly replayed in her mind over and over.

Sometimes, she would stare blankly at the drawbridge below the castle.

She had tried to rationalize her nervous waiting by telling herself it was all because Maxim Lankert’s survival was crucial to their plans.

“If you died, it would have ruined the plan.”

“So you did wait for me, worrying that I might come back as a corpse.”

He scoffed as if her answer had been precisely what he expected.

Rosé felt irritated by how he mocked her.

“Yes! I waited for you until my eyes nearly fell out. Are you satisfied?”

She threw the brush aside and splashed hot water over his shoulders.

“And earlier, I was just following the plan. I didn’t want to mess it up and cause any misunderstandings!”

“Good. I don’t like half-hearted efforts, either. Let’s take this seriously from now on.”

Rosé mulled over the meaning of his words—taking it seriously from now on.

Maxim seemed to have taken her words with a different meaning.

“I mean!”

Rosé, flustered, raised her voice before quickly continuing in a calmer tone.

“I meant that for the mistress of the house to gain any influence, the couple must look like they have a good relationship. So don’t jump to weird conclusions.”

Maxim tilted his head back, gazing up at Rosé. They were close enough to feel each other’s breath.

“What weird conclusions?”