She smiled faintly. But soon her eyes turned red and tears fell from her smiling face.

“I believe in Atlion. At least I trust that he will protect this child.”

Swan, seeing this, hesitated before parting her lips to speak. Both Theodor and the Empress Dowager believed that Atlion loved her.

If Atlion had once said that he loved her, Swan might have believed it too. She had been a woman who had wished for him and longed for him so much. Even until recently, she had clung to those hopes. Truly, it was absurd. Yes, it was completely absurd.

“His Majesty does not love me. He only feels responsible for me because I bore him a child. I clung to him as soon as I became pregnant and begged him to take responsibility. I was too afraid to raise the child alone. That must be why he married me and said he would elevate me to the position of Empress. But I’m not stupid enough to blindly accept the position of Empress. Someone like me…”

Mirabella’s eyes narrowed. Swan, her gaze lowered, moved her lips slightly, but soon bit them tightly, like a claw. No matter how much she thought about it, Atlion didn’t seem to love her. He had even said so himself. When asked if he loved her, he had only replied that she was his wife. So…

“It would be best if you spoke to Atlion directly about this.”

Mirabella whispered softly after staring at Swan for a long moment. Swan shifted her gaze to Atlion, who had been watching her with half-closed eyes.

Mirabella rose from her seat and adjusted the hem of her dress.

Swan watched her leave, her heart pounding. It was strange to see her son rise and then leave without a word. But Atlion didn’t seem disappointed, instead he rose and turned to look at Swan.

“Are you all right?”

“Did Her Majesty call for you?”

“Sir Raoul came to see me.”

Atlion furrowed his brow in obvious confusion. Swan lowered her eyes for a moment before looking back at him. She wanted to ask why he had taken so much medicine, how he could be so careless, and why he was disintegrating like this. Why was he doing this…?

But as she thought about asking, she felt it was no longer a question, but an accusation. She didn’t want to do that. She didn’t want to cry in front of him.

“I heard you took more than the palace doctor prescribed.”

“….”

“I didn’t think you were such a reckless person.”

Her insides churned with frustration. She bit her lips, swallowed a sigh and finally spoke.

“If you allow me, may I prescribe you something else instead? Something with fewer side effects. And perhaps, instead of medicine, some tea…”

“I’ll arrange a carriage.”

Swan, who had been muttering like a fish out of water, her eyes fixed on the air, looked at him with a hardened expression. Her pale face bore the marks of fever. But despite his discomfort, his face was as determined as ever. He was not a man to soften in sickness. Swan’s frozen eyes searched his face.

“You can make it to Kotley.”

“Your Majesty, I…”

“I will buy an estate nearby and provide servants for you to employ.”

“I don’t need that.”

She replied, catching her breath. She had never once said she needed such things. She clenched her fists.

An estate, servants – none of that mattered to her. What she really needed was…

“It’s for the child.”

“The child…”

“The child is my daughter. Even if you don’t want it, even if you try to erase me in the end…”

The black pupils of his blue eyes flickered slightly. His moist gaze, as if touched by the dew of the night, turned to her. Swan stared at his reddened eyes, flushed from the heat, for a long time.

“I am her father.”

His voice was determined, as if there was no room for retreat. Yet it was desperate and precarious, as if clinging to the edge of a cliff. Swan opened and closed her lips several times before abruptly turning her head away.

He had offered to prepare an estate for her outside the palace, complete with servants she could command. For the child’s sake… It was an offer that should have brought her joy. After all, as his mother had said, Atlion had finally given in to her. But she wasn’t happy.

Even though he had acknowledged her life with Theo and offered to provide a comfortable life for the child, she felt no joy. When Atlion said those words, tears suddenly threatened to flow. But Swan nodded her head.

“Thank you.”

“Leave now. I will prepare a room for you and your husband.”

Swan lifted her head. Atlion was no longer looking at her. She turned his words over in her mind. Husband. He meant Theo. Her eyelids fluttered slightly. Without a word, Swan continued to stare at him before parting her lips.

“I want to look at your wound.”

“…”

“Your thigh. It looked like the cut was infected.”

Atlion did not answer. His pale face, eerily grim, was shrouded in darkness. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking. Swan approached him cautiously, reaching out to lift his cloak.

“Stop… just stop.”

“It’ll only take a moment.”

Swan looked down at the hand gripping hers. She tried to wriggle free, but couldn’t. She lifted her gaze and their eyes met. His moist blue eyes seemed ready to burst at any moment. Swan looked at him too, her eyes full of unshed tears as she parted her lips.

“Please don’t do this again. Not like this, before you’ve even healed…”

“Don’t pretend you’re one of my women.”

“I…”

“Don’t confuse me.”

A rough force pressed down on the hand he was holding. His lips were pressed tightly together, as if to keep something from slipping through his teeth. He stared at her fiercely. After a moment, he let go of her hand. Swan, who had been holding her breath, let it out in a rush, shaking uncontrollably.

She wanted to snap at him but couldn’t think of what to say.

“Leave.”

At his second command to leave, she could no longer stay in the room. Swan’s gaze lingered on the wounds and scars that marred his skin. Anger flared, followed by a flood of tears that she managed to choke back, only for the anger to return. She turned and left the bedroom.

“Hrk… ugh… ngh…”

As she walked down the corridor, the tears finally spilled over. The long, drawn out sobs that escaped her lips echoed off the high vaulted ceilings and spread through the corridor.

***

When he heard that the Emperor was providing a carriage, Theo’s face stiffened. His expression became as rigid as that of someone who had just been sentenced to death. He stroked the sleeping face of the child who had returned to him and turned his gaze to Swan.

The tears she’d tried so hard to wipe away before facing him could not be hidden. Theo’s hand reached for the shimmering traces of moisture. Swan, wrapped in his arms, replayed her encounter with Atlion in her mind until the steward’s announcement that the carriage would be ready at dawn brought a hardened expression to her face.

“I want to say goodbye to His Majesty.”

Unlike Swan, who was pushed into the carriage by the steward with a clouded mind, Theo insisted on seeing Atlion and reluctantly opened his mouth to make his request. The Emperor’s steward looked at him with a troubled expression and shook his head.

“His Majesty has no reason to see Mr Dianton.”

“It’s about Swan and the child.”

“Please be careful what you say about Her Highness the Princess and the Lady. While Mr Dianton will continue to oversee Her Highness’s care, that does not make you her biological father. Keep that in mind.”

“No, I…”

“Please get in the carriage now.”

“No, wait, let it go. Are you just going to give up on Swan? Are you really going to give up like this?”