The High Priest himself checked April’s condition and confirmed that there was nothing wrong, yet Calsion remained uneasy. The imperial physician had also examined her, but the only conclusion he returned with was that she was pregnant. He added that since it was still early, there could be risks.

“She is merely asleep.”

The High Priest stepped forward. Even before the Emperor, he had always stood stiff and unyielding, yet before Calsion he answered with the utmost courtesy.

After the incident caused by Harit, the temple’s power had greatly diminished. Whether they wished it or not, they had no choice but to acknowledge that Calsion would ascend the throne.

Furthermore, when it was revealed that they had attempted to kidnap the Princess, the truth also came to light—that they had abducted imperial citizens without consent, without even seeking the opinions of those with divine power. The authority and prestige the temple had once gained through healing citizens and nobles alike had long since been trampled into the ground.

“If my consort does not awaken by tomorrow, I will hold the temple accountable for that crime.”

“B-but…!”

He had heard that the Princess had been walking the streets in perfect health. It was only after she was attacked that she had lost consciousness. To hold the temple responsible for that was nothing short of absurd.

“Have you something else to say?”

“N-no, Your Highness…”

They could not protest. The moment they spoke, who knew what restrictions Calsion might place upon the temple.

‘If not for Harit!’

The High Priest clenched his teeth, cursing Harit in his heart—the very man he would kill a hundred times over if he were here—yet he held his tongue.

When he had visited Harit in prison to learn more about the situation, Harit had excused himself by saying he had tried to bring April in to strengthen the temple’s power through her divine gift. The High Priest had jabbed his finger at him, shouting whether he was mad, and had stormed out of the cell after yelling until his throat was raw.

‘I should have driven that man out long before this disaster ever happened.’

The memory brought fresh fury, enough to make his body tremble again.

“High Priest.”

The High Priest, lost in thought, snapped to attention at Calsion’s call.

“You summoned me, Your Highness?”

“You are certain there is nothing wrong with her health?”

“Yes. Please see for yourself.”

Divine power flowed from the High Priest toward April. Yet instead of seeping into her body, it only circled around her and returned to him intact. It meant there was nothing to heal. And so the High Priest stood firm.

“As you can see, Your Highness, she is in excellent health. She truly is simply sleeping.”

If only he could cut her open and show the inside, he would—but the suspicion in Calsion’s eyes, unwilling to believe any word he said, made the High Priest feel as if he would sigh himself to death.

“Is that truly so?”

“It is the truth!”

When his frustration made his voice rise, Calsion’s gaze sharpened. His cold eyes, as if to say how dare you raise your voice before me, made the High Priest’s shoulders shrink.

“Very well. I will wait only until today.”

Calsion repeated the same words as before, showing no consideration for the High Priest.

‘Then why ask me in the first place!’

Grinding his teeth once more at Harit, who had created this entire situation, the High Priest loathed himself for having no choice but to bow flat before Calsion’s overwhelming power. He swore that if Harit did not die in prison, he would be the one to kill him.

“Leave.”

As if waving away a nuisance, Calsion gestured for them to go. Swallowing the urge to clench his fist and strike him, the High Priest suppressed his anger and stepped out. The physician followed as well.

When even the attendants waiting outside had all departed, Calsion sat down at April’s side.

“April.”

His soft whisper filled the chamber.

Calsion took her hand. Just as the High Priest had said—that she was merely asleep—her hand was warm and soft.

“They said your wounds are fine now…”

Seeing April lying there like this after trying to protect him, he wondered what he had done. All he could recall were the cruel words he had spoken to her.

What if she had been looking for a chance to escape? He should have said instead that he loved her, that he wanted her to stay by his side.

‘And now, what use is any of it…’

Calsion was afraid.

There had been times when April had fainted after using her divine power, but never had she failed to regain consciousness for this long. And this time, she hadn’t even used her power. She was only injured—so why couldn’t she wake?

He took a lock of her hair into his hand and pressed his lips to it. Since his kiss in the capital square had restored her hair to its original color, he wondered if perhaps doing the same now might bring her back to herself.

Clinging to that kind of mythical hope, he kissed her hair. But April did not stir. Finding his own actions ridiculous, Calsion let out a short laugh and murmured,

“How absurd.”

How had it come to this? The war-madman who once cut down anyone standing in his path had vanished, leaving only a selfish man who couldn’t even control his own feelings. His emotions for April were so deep and heavy that he could no longer bear them alone.

As night settled over the bedchamber, his thoughts grew darker as well. What if something truly happened to April like this? He realized he had no right to desire more. Did it matter if she hadn’t shown him her heart? All he needed was to reveal his own first.

He recalled something he had once heard: the one who loves more is the one who loses. Right now, that was exactly his situation. And if April’s heart was the same as his, then when he confessed, wouldn’t she say she had been waiting for those words?

‘If I think back to what you said in the carriage, then you must have feelings for me too.’

Resolving that he would tell her his true heart once she awoke, Calsion lowered his lips to the back of her hand. As the soft skin touched his lips, a rush of emotions welled up. He turned her hand over and pressed a lingering kiss into her palm, pouring into it the frustration and longing that consumed him.

And then—

“Do you… resent me?”

A frail, cracked voice reached his ears.

Startled, Calsion turned to April, who was awake and looking at him.

“Vi…! You’re conscious? Are you all right?”

“I’ve heard a kiss to the palm means resentment…”

Ignoring his question, April kept speaking her own thoughts.

“Do you resent me?”

“No.”

Calsion’s answer came without hesitation.

“How could I ever resent you?”

“Then isn’t that why you asked? Why I left?”

“…Because I wished you wouldn’t leave me.”

His whisper was low but earnest, and at the sound of it, life returned to April’s eyes.

“Why?”

Her gaze, brimming with expectation, fixed on him. Somehow flustered, Calsion found it hard to speak. When she lay there with eyes closed, he could say anything, but when she looked straight at him with those clear eyes, the words stuck in his throat.

“Why? What is it?”

Now fully awake, April forgot her thirst and pushed herself up, sitting upright. She turned her head to meet his eyes, and when he kept averting his gaze, she reached out and held his face.

“Vi, I—!”

“I’ll be honest.”

April, holding his face, brushed her lips lightly against his. Startled, Calsion’s eyes widened, and she whispered to him,

“I love you.”

“…Vi.”

“So now say it. What about you, Karl?”

At her question, Calsion’s lips trembled. And suddenly, saying the words was no longer difficult.

“I love you too.”

“Then…”

“Don’t leave me. Stay by my side. Why are you trying to go? I can give you everything…”

Calsion’s desperate voice rang through the chamber.

April bit her lips, overwhelmed. How could she ever have thought of living alone, when there was someone who wanted her this much? She cursed her past self for ever considering leaving him.

‘How ridiculous.’

Handsome, capable, and on top of that, extraordinary in every way—how could she have thought of leaving such a perfect man?

‘And this man says he loves me!’

If the man she loved said he loved her back, how could she ever have thought of leaving? Blaming it all on Calsion’s lack of honesty, April glared at him.

“This is all your fault.”

“My fault?”

“You didn’t tell me the truth.”

“But you too…”

When Calsion began to protest, April’s eyes narrowed, the corners rising sharply.