Debora failed once again to bake an appetizing honey pie.

The bitter taste of the burnt pie was nonetheless delightful.

What bothered me was Debora herself, who couldn’t hide her expression, upset that she had served me something unsatisfactory.

I gave her a task she could excel at instead.

“Have all the iron bars in the castle removed.”

Debora beamed with satisfaction as she carried out this long-desired task.

The castle repairs were also completed.

It could have been left as it was. The castle caretaker Jed personally pushed for the renovations, saying there would be various inconveniences when summer came and the rains fell.

And then, as if they’d been waiting—

“What is all this?”

Work began pouring in.

“These are state documents from the main palace. His Majesty the Emperor sends word that he hopes you will perform your duties diligently, given your extended absence.”

After the servant delivered the documents, Debora and I stared helplessly at the tower of papers before us.

“Your Majesty, securing an aide should be our most urgent priority.”

Debora’s trembling voice conveyed her dismay at the influx of work.

“An aide? Why would I need one when I have you?”

Her face turned pale at my words, and I laughed.

I need to keep giving her uses and responsibilities so she’ll stay by my side.

“That’s not within my purview. I’m… the highest position a woman can reach in the Empire is only as Your Majesty’s attendant.”

“I heard you graduated from prestigious Helsi.”

“That’s…! I just followed my older siblings…”

“If I say so, then that’s how it is, Debora.”

If someone contradicts me, I simply need to make it impossible for them to object.

Debora doesn’t realize how useful she is.

She’s efficiently directing the renovation of this crumbling castle, yet she claims she can’t do this.

“W-wait! What are you doing? You’ll mix up all the documents!”

“……”

“I’ll sort the urgent matters first. Then I’ll organize the rest by region and importance before moving them to the study. Would that be acceptable?”

“…Do we need an aide?”

※※※

I was swept up in the new whirlwind that blew through the East Palace, which had previously seen only the idle passage of time.

While resting my easily fatigued body on the sofa and contemplating the changing situation—

“……Your Majesty, may I come in?”

A welcome voice called from outside the door. It was Angell.

“Come in.”

What could be more delightful than his visit?

I welcomed him with a cheerful voice, and soon my priest entered the room.

“Why do you ask? You’re always welcome.”

Though I greeted him with a smile, Angell hesitated at the doorway with an uncertain expression.

“Are you afraid to sleep alone? By the grave?”

When I teased him, Angell stopped his deliberation and approached my bedside with a hardened expression.

“……I thought you might have trouble sleeping.”

He’s making excuses for me.

Angell glanced discreetly toward the side table.

He must still remember the glass fragments he found here before.

He worries about me.

That makes me so happy that I’m prepared to swallow any bitter medicine.

His concern somehow tickles me inside, making me clear my throat awkwardly and avert my gaze.

“Are you going to tuck me in?”

“……Sleep deprivation tends to make people irritable.”

“So you thought I might become more gentle if I got a good night’s sleep.”

Angell didn’t deny it.

“You’ll get better over time.”

“What will?”

“Your current situation.”

“How does my current situation look to you?”

Though I asked what he saw, I’m not unaware of what he wants from me.

He probably wishes for me to return to that time when I was a benevolent national leader, perfect for everyone.

The image of the perfect Empress reigning as everyone’s role model.

I’m willing to grant their wishes.

Creating the grave was my own way of starting that process.

Making a nice resting place won’t bring the dead back to life, but at least it might distance me from the evil spirit they worry about.

“You told me yourself. I’m not a heretical evil spirit.”

“……Yes, but.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

Angell’s green eyes trembled slightly.

And in them, I recalled the shackles I had placed on him. He is a priest. A messenger of the Holy Spirit who has sworn eternal chastity to God.

The more I fulfill the expectations of him, Debora, and those around me, the closer I’ll come to being the perfect Empress, and for me to keep my position and for him to keep his, we would have to grow apart.

“I have something I want to ask.”

As nightmares from the past beckoned me forward, I struggled to keep my heavy eyelids open and looked at Angell.

“Did you hate it so much that you had to run away? Kissing me.”

The day had been too full, with so many things happening.

My body, unable to withstand the fatigue, desperately called for sleep, and I feared that if I closed my eyes without hearing his answer, nightmares would surely come to torment me.

Angell stared at me with an expressionless face as I drifted toward sleep, then closed his eyes tightly.

“……I apologize for my rudeness. I believe it will be difficult for me to continue staying here.”

Angell spoke as if he might repeat the same act someday, suggesting it would be better to keep his distance.

I barely heard him. I twisted my head slightly to meet the eyes of the man methodically stating his prepared words.

My angel was already thinking of escape.

“It wasn’t rude.”

In fact, it made me happy. Thanks to that, I’m starting to enjoy this life more and more.

I closed my eyes with a smile on my lips.

“Don’t go anywhere. Stay by my side.”

If you’re here when I open my eyes,

I think any nightmare would become bearable.

I hope you won’t run away.

If you do try to escape, I might want to break those wings and keep you by my side.

※※※

“……The Empress is returning?”

Minerva, having dinner with Antheo, set down her cutlery with a complicated expression.

Antheo observed her carefully, then put down his napkin with a tired expression and ended the meal early.

“But she promised to entrust the heir-bearing duty to you. So don’t worry. An Empress’s standing depends on whether she produces an heir.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Though she answered promptly, her tone was so flat that it revealed something was seriously wrong.

“I should be grateful to Her Majesty the Empress.”

Though her voice was gentle, there was clearly a barb in her words.

Antheo stared at his lovely companion Minerva Atrens with a frighteningly cold expression.

“Don’t be petulant.”

“……”

“If the Empress continued to refuse to return, the Duke of Veronique would withdraw his southern troops. Warmwell would also question why we’re rejecting an Empress supported by the high priest. I think we’ve found quite a reasonable compromise.”

Antheo recalled the problems that had been plaguing him and tried to calm his fatigue with a dry hand-wash as he continued.

“……What angers me is that the same threats the Empress made in the past are still happening to me.”

BANG—

The Emperor, expressing his anger by striking the table, flashed his red eyes fiercely as he stared at the wine glass brimming with red liquid.

“D*mn it, I need a way to break that woman’s spirit, but I still don’t have a proper plan ready.”

His gaze turned to Minerva Atrens sitting across from him.

Minerva, who had been staring blankly at the red juice flowing between the half-cut lamb steak, shifted her gaze to the man shouting at her.

“……I’m working on it. Both I and my family are trying to be of help to Your Majesty…”

“Minerva.”

Antheo rose from his seat and walked toward Minerva. Then, grabbing the face of the woman praised as the most beautiful in the Empire, he opened his mouth in warning.

“For your sake, I would have summoned a witch even for a small wound.”

“……”

“But what are you doing now? Just idly frolicking with other ladies. I know what you want. ……But shouldn’t you show me something in return for all the effort I’m pouring into you?”

The Emperor, seemingly driven to distraction by the rush of events, gripped Minerva’s face harder as he spoke forcefully, unable to control his rising anger.

“It would be better to reduce your tea times.”

If you don’t want the same troublesome events to happen again.

Antheo left those words and irritably released Minerva’s face before storming out of the dining room.

“……”

Left alone in the place where the lavish feast remained, Minerva picked up her cutlery again and resumed cutting the lamb.

“Diana Veronique.”

If only she were gone, everything would be perfect.

Thinking what a persistent woman she was, Minerva severed the meat’s tendon with her sharp knife.

Levin headed to Laferna Hall early in the morning to check on Minerva’s condition.

Still awkward about visiting a lady’s room, he entered the bedroom cautiously.

“You’ve come.”

Minerva, who had been lying in bed waiting for him, greeted him happily, but then lowered her eyelashes with a bitter expression.

“……Is something wrong?”

Levin set down the antidote and water bottle he had brought, and while moistening and wringing out a clean linen from the basin handed to him by the maid, he couldn’t take his eyes off Minerva. Finding the young man’s concern cute, Minerva let out a small laugh before turning to look out the window.

“No, just…”

Outside the window, the palace flowers were now in full bloom. Minerva gazed at them for a moment before carefully parting her lips.

“Another unfortunate incident has occurred… because of me.”

“How is that your fault?”

Levin flared up, torturing the already dry linen. How could such a terrible thing happen to this woman again so soon after they had left? Jealousy is truly a filthy thing, Levin thought, shuddering as he tried to dissuade her from blaming herself.

“If I hadn’t come here, nothing would have happened.”

Her sea-colored eyes, which had been looking at the splendid and beautiful palace grounds, filled with melancholy.

Normally at this time of year, the beautiful open palace grounds should have been overflowing with people.

But when the Empress lost her mind and began acting erratically, the gates were firmly closed to suppress unpleasant rumors, and Minerva remained an unfamiliar presence in the imperial family, unknown to those outside.

Levin, noticing what Minerva regretted, frowned as he gazed at the equally desolate palace grounds.

“That wasn’t something you could choose, my lady.”

The reason the imperial family had been able to obtain permission for the concubine system in the first place was because of the Empress’s illness.

It was the Empress who, claiming poor health and inability to conceive an heir, failed to perform her duties and dragged in an innocent person.

Watching Levin burn with indignation, Minerva let out a small laugh.

“Thank you. For caring about me.”

Levin’s ears turned bright red at her gratitude.

The boy quickly turned his head to hide it and began tormenting the innocent linen in the basin again, but Minerva had already noticed his flushed ears and suppressed her laughter.

But her smile faded quickly, and Minerva spoke again with a bitter expression.

“……Still, I can’t shake the feeling that everything is because of me. If I had been a little more perfect. If I had been good enough to win everyone’s approval, if I could have contributed even a little to the stability of the imperial family.”

Since she had become the Empress’s substitute, she should have attended official functions in her place, but with the gates closed, even those opportunities had disappeared.

Moreover, despite having been the Empress’s substitute for nearly half a year and spending countless nights with the Emperor, Minerva had not conceived an imperial heir.

Seeming to refer to this point, Minerva rubbed her flat stomach with her thin hand and teared up.

How could he help this pitiful woman?

Levin felt pathetic that he could only watch this fragile beauty.

She must have endured countless humiliations from the Empress, and perhaps that anxiety and worry was interfering with her menstrual cycle.

Looking at the increasingly gaunt Minerva with a worried expression, Levin thought of a good idea and spoke eagerly.

“……High Priest Clarvin might be able to help with your concerns.”

If Angell could observe this pitiful woman up close, wouldn’t his thoughts change a little?

If he could breathe life into her withered body, wouldn’t she be able to healthily conceive the baby she desires?

Moreover, Levin thought it would be better if Angell bestowed his mercy on this woman who truly needed help, away from the evil spirit.

“High Priest Clarvin.”

Hearing the high priest’s name again, Minerva began to grow curious. She had not yet met the owner of this name that the maids occasionally mentioned with blushing faces.

“……If he’s willing to help me.”

As the young priest suggested, if she received help from the priest known to have Warmwell’s deep trust—

She might be able to achieve what she wanted more quickly. Minerva swallowed her smile behind her melancholy face.

※※※

/”Remember that the only reason we’ve shown such leniency in your punishment is because of the loyalty to the imperial family built by your predecessors.”/

Edgar Londman was dismissed.

Though he had been the Emperor’s aide, he failed in his duty by defending the Empress during her trial.

“You’ve dug your own grave, Londman. Why did you make that choice?”

The friends who gathered to console him about his dismissal repeatedly asked about the reason for his dismissal and why the palace gates had been closed. Instead of answering their questions directly, he drank from his cup and asked himself.

Why had he defended the Empress that day?

Even without witnessing it directly, Edgar had felt great disappointment in the Empress for breaking her promise to him that day, and had been deeply saddened by her making another wrong choice.

/”Lord Edgar Londman, did you personally witness what happened in the west wing that day?”/

That question strangely made Edgar’s decision difficult. Given the circumstances, it seemed natural that the Empress would torment the concubine, but when the Emperor specifically asked if he had “seen” it, Edgar couldn’t bring himself to answer based on circumstantial evidence alone.

Thinking deeper, he recalled the brief journey to Wendelloon he had taken with the Empress.

Remembering the Empress’s firmness as she deliberately stepped into the wounds of her past despite knowing she wouldn’t be welcomed, he began to vaguely understand why he had made that choice.

Additionally, the prospect of Debora Barochel, that pitiful woman who would be plunged into grief if something happened to the Empress, had also strengthened his resolve.

In the end, he had lost his position for such reasons that some might consider trivial.

But he felt relief rather than regret.

The tavern was unusually noisy today. He didn’t know where this tavern he had visited through several places was located, nor what its name was. The rough wooden cup felt unfamiliar in his hands, but the alcohol he drank while pondering his thoughts was sweet.

“I can’t stand this anymore! Better to try something and die than spend a lifetime staring stupidly at the palace gates while eating rotten potatoes!”

In the noisy tavern, Edgar, who had been drinking heavily all day as he had wished, fell into thought as the interior grew more tumultuous.

“We’re the real pigs and dogs for expecting those nobles to just raise their heads!”

He had found a place he wanted to stay.

Not a position naturally obtained through his predecessors, but something he wanted to achieve himself.

He wanted to prove that today’s choice, which had disappointed the Emperor, had not been wrong.

※※※

/’Prove your worth.’/

The nightmare came without fail, and yet I welcomed the nightmare that engulfed me like a black curtain, recalling the priest who had stayed by my side the moment I fell asleep.

“……He’s not here.”

But when morning came—

The priest was not there when I opened my eyes.

Today, yesterday, the day before.

Several days had passed since I made my request, but the priest had not come to see me.

Sitting on the bed, I read through the novels the maids had brought.

Outside the door, documents sent by the Emperor were steadily piling up, as if urging me to return to being his puppet, and I quietly enjoyed reading in my bedroom to avoid the commotion.

“Your Majesty.”

Debora, who had come with breakfast and documents but had returned empty-handed at my command, now entered the room with a tray of dinner and more documents.

“Why bring that in here? You’re ruining my appetite.”

I didn’t even glance at them, focusing only on my book.

Debora’s deep sigh reached my ears.

“I apologize. The eyes watching outside and demanding quick resolution are fierce.”

I laughed at Debora’s excuse and sipped my tea.

“Deploying high priests and priests to assist the government? How ridiculous. Where did that funding come from in the first place?”

I could only laugh when I thought about the persistent requests for approval recently.

I turned the page of the book I was reading.

For the first few days, I had diligently reviewed the documents.

Most contained thinly veiled threats seeking support for the nobility faction—specifically, the Marquis of Atrens’s forces—so I didn’t sign them.

Aside from those, the state affairs were in complete disarray, as if no one had properly attended to them since Diana had left her position.

Moreover, the Emperor had dumped work on the Empress while continuing his romance with the concubine.

Along with state documents, unwanted news also reached me.

How often the Emperor visited Minerva, how they matched each other all night long, and other things I didn’t have—

“Your Majesty.”

I had apparently been gripping my knife with excessive force, as Debora gently placed her hand over mine, and I stared blankly at the tray she had set down.

On it were neatly arranged dinner and documents.

I stared intently at Debora’s gray eyes, which urged me to deal with the documents, then—SPLASH.

I deliberately poured my tea over them.

I didn’t have enough generosity to handle this obediently.

Besides, I honestly didn’t care about the matters contained within, and the content of this book was more interesting.

Just as I was hoping to return to peacefully enjoying my reading—

“Your Majesty. Lord Edgar Londman is here to see you.”

“……”

“He wishes to have an audience with you.”

The voice of a servant announcing a visitor came from outside the door.

Edgar Londman, who had been the Emperor’s aide.