Theo shouted, pushing away the hands that were trying to push him into the carriage. His face was full of anger as he glared at the steward, snorting in frustration. Swan, half dazed, stared back at him. Theo, his face full of emotion, argued for a moment before his expression fell into despair.

“Is it because I called Swan my wife? If that’s the reason… No, even so, how could you give up so easily?”

“Shut up and get in.”

The steward’s face grew stern. But Theo didn’t give up. Suddenly he looked down at the carriage. He raised his head and looked up at the balcony. It was the balcony of a bedroom near the palace gate, where the carriage had been parked.

‘Atlion…’

They say when you love, you lose without mercy. Swan couldn’t believe it. Atlion didn’t love her, so he couldn’t lose so brutally. But in the end, with those wet eyes, he pushed her away. He separated her from him, cut her out, as if he wanted to throw her away completely.

So the swan cried. She was both sad and angry, and as the anger filled her, the sadness followed. She thought about how everything had turned out and how she was wrestling with a puzzle she couldn’t solve, holding on to a thread that would never unravel.

The Emperor, looking down at her in the same robe as yesterday, seemed to notice Theo screaming as she was held by soldiers.

“Is this how you give up?! Do you even love Swan?!”

Theo, screaming until the veins burst from her neck, was punched in the chest and pushed into the carriage. Stunned, Swan looked up before rushing to Theo’s side. He groaned as he mumbled weakly. Mirabella, who had witnessed the violence, blinked her big eyes in shock before trying to hold back her tears.

Suddenly, Swan felt Atlion’s gaze leave her abruptly. Looking up at him, she tried to get out of the carriage, but the steward murmured in a stern voice.

“We will serve you faithfully until we reach our destination.”

The carriage door closed. Theo muttered under his breath, followed by a cough.

“Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. But…”

“Enough, stop, Theo.”

“But…”

“It’s all over.”

Swan grabbed his arm. Theo looked at her with a face of despair. Swan smiled bitterly and clenched her fist. Atlion had granted her wish to be released, and it was a sincere one. She worried not only for Theo, but for the life she had built, which now seemed to be falling apart.

No matter under what name she stood by Atlion’s side, it was clear that she would never be happy. It would be better to live modestly, even in poverty, than to enter a life of preordained unhappiness. That was the way she really felt. Besides, Atlion didn’t love her.

Would it have been different if he had said he loved her? She didn’t know. Atlion had never told her he loved her. To say such a thing seemed almost ridiculous to her. Every time he spoke of love, the look on his face only made her heart hurt more.

“Let’s go back.”

“Swan.”

“Let’s go back, and then… everything…”

She wanted to go back, look at the life she had left behind, and bury her face in the creaking bed. She thought it would clear her head. When the fever broke and the chills subsided, she would be able to think clearly again. After a nap, she would be able to assess the situation with a calmer perspective.

“You don’t mind at all?”

Theo looked at Swan with angry eyes. Still rubbing his bruised stomach, he grabbed her arm, forcing her to look at him. Swan tried to wriggle her arm out of his grip.

“Yesterday he locked someone in prison and treated them like they were about to be killed. Now he’s sending me out to live and providing servants for the house… I don’t understand why he does it.”

“It’s because he doesn’t love me as much as you think. His Majesty…”

“This man who kidnapped a commoner’s wife, tortured her like this, and now…!”

“I don’t care anymore. Theo, I don’t know anymore. I’m exhausted. I really, really…!”

Her fevered cheeks shook uncontrollably. Swan felt angry at Theo for going on and on about Atlion’s feelings. She wondered if she had ever looked so lost while living with him. Of course, there were moments when she felt dazed.

The unpleasant memories of their life together weighed heavily on her. But it wasn’t unbearable. She had tried to forget Atlion. And it would be the same when she returned. She wanted to live without thinking of him, and she was willing to make the effort to forget him.

“If His Majesty loved me, what would change? What difference would it make? Would my situation change?”

Swan asked him in an unpolished voice. She didn’t mean to be angry, but there she was.

“He promised me the position of Empress, but I know better than anyone how little I belong there.”

“Swan.”

“Better… better to live as a concubine…”

She bit her lip hard. At the mention of a concubine, Theo’s eyebrows furrowed. Mirabella, who had been sitting quietly on Swan’s lap, staring out of the window as the adults argued, now had a stiff expression on her face. The coach stopped. Only then did Swan, overwhelmed by her emotions, finally look out of the window.

“What’s going on?”

Theo leaned out of the carriage with a worried look on his face, trying to listen to the commotion outside. As he reached for the door, Swan grabbed his hand and stopped him. She shook her head violently.

Theo, understanding the signal, took the burden. Not that there was much to gather, since there was nothing to prepare. If necessary, they could leave the carriage behind and escape. A short, desperate cry from the coachman filled the air as he collapsed, and the sound of metal clashing began in earnest.

“Run, run…!”

One of the guards following them opened the carriage door with a crash. However, the guard was immediately pierced by a sharp blade, blood gushing out as he fell to the ground. Fearing that her daughter might be frightened, Swan covered her eyes and swallowed her scream, forcing herself to look forward.

Behind the fallen guard, men of brutal appearance could be seen. Were there dozens? Or perhaps hundreds? The fact that even the most experienced Imperial guards, skilled with swords, were being pushed back suggested that it wasn’t just their skill, but their overwhelming numbers.

Trembling, Swan glared at the man dragging her out.

“Let go of me!”

Theo shouted as he was dragged from the carriage. The man holding him down struck him mercilessly with a large fist.

“Ugh!”

Theo’s cheek turned as blood spurted from his nose. He had been attacked in prison before. There was no way he could withstand this onslaught. As Theo was kicked again, Swan screamed.

“Stop it! Please!”

At Swan’s cry, the men around the coach burst into laughter. It was a laugh more uncomfortable than fearful. Trembling, Swan glared at them.

“Why… why are you doing this?”

Suddenly, a slender figure stepped forward among the towering men. Swan, on her knees, stared at him blankly.

“Well, you’re riding in a carriage with the imperial seal on it…”

“I… I have nothing. Truly, I don’t. My husband…”

“You’re talking nonsense. It’s ridiculous.”

“What…?”

“I have never seen anyone like you in my life. What kind of woman under heaven serves two husbands?”