Chapter 5: The Truth Revealed (4)

“Your Majesty. The head maid of the Empress’s palace requests an audience.”

“Let her in.”

Terian, who had been half-ignoring the knock on the door, immediately shifted his gaze toward it at the mention of the Empress’s maid.

A moment later, Charelle entered the Emperor’s office, looking visibly tense. She had been coming to the Emperor’s palace more frequently than anyone lately—her face was now familiar.

“What is it?”

Had something happened in the Empress’s palace?

Though Terian had personally granted her permission to request an audience at any time, this particular visit felt ominous.

“Her Majesty the Empress is unwell, but she refuses to allow the imperial physician to be summoned.”

Charelle bowed low and relayed her message.

Sadly, this was a report Terian had heard more than once before.

She was sick, yet once again refused a doctor.

Even here, in a place free from Tromperie’s influence.

An emotion he couldn’t name surged up—anger, perhaps. His hand clenched instinctively, crumpling the papers he had been holding beyond repair.

Moreover, there was another issue.

Terian cast a cold gaze at the head maid and reprimanded her sternly.

“You’ve placed your master’s orders second and come here instead.”

It was unquestionably a problem that Larie was refusing a physician despite being ill. Terian had already resolved to send the imperial physician immediately.

But it was equally problematic that the head maid of the Empress’s palace did not prioritize Larie’s direct orders above all else. That was something Terian had explicitly cautioned against when organizing the palace.

However, Charelle spoke up with an unexpectedly composed tone, as though she’d anticipated this.

“That too is my fault, Your Majesty. But I have come to take responsibility—because I first disturbed Her Majesty’s peace of mind.”

“What do you mean?”

“……Her Majesty seemed lonely in the palace, so I had been providing her with what they call newspapers. I failed to check the contents properly before handing one over.”

Charelle motioned to the attendant standing nearby, who then brought something forward. After reviewing it, the attendant handed the item to Terian—it was a newspaper.

It was one of the new forms of media currently spreading quickly among the commoners, particularly in regions where trains had been introduced. The palace was keeping a close watch on its influence.

The article at the top concerned the Rassium Empire’s upcoming delegation.

“……This is……”

“After reading that article, Her Majesty seemed… troubled in spirit……”

“……”

It was now clear that Charelle hadn’t simply ignored her mistress’s orders.

If anything, she had committed the bold offense of coming to rebuke the Emperor himself.

Some royals would command their attendants like this—using them to voice indirect opinions or criticisms they could not speak aloud themselves.

But somehow, Terian felt that this didn’t seem like something Larie would do.

Was she the kind of person who would wield her servants in such a manner?

The thought brought with it a surprising sense of unease.

Reflecting on their time at the Ducal residence, Terian recalled several moments of frustration—instances of Tromperie schemes that had infuriated him more than once. Many of them involved bribed household staff or behind-the-scenes manipulation.

Every time, Terian had directed his blame at Larie. In the end, she had been left to live without even a single personal maid.

But was all of that truly her doing?

Strangely, Terian could no longer be certain. Back then, he had naturally assumed it was all her will, as it stemmed from the Tromperie family.

Then came a weighty realization that settled heavily over him.

Why did he know so little about her?

“Shall I review the contents of the paper, Your Majesty?”

“No.”

The chief attendant quietly asked after a long silence, but Terian, his thoughts tangled, continued reading the article.

Then his gaze halted at one passage.

The Rassium Empire’s political marriage. The dowry of coal.

What sort of misunderstanding might she have had after reading that?

“……”

Without thinking, Terian suddenly rose from his seat.

“Your Majesty?”

A wave of anxiety washed over him—like the biting winter winds of northern Laxtreen scraping against the back of his neck.

If she had read all this and truly believed it reflected his intentions—

“Prepare the Empress’s palace.”

Even through his gloves, his fingertips felt icy. Unable to stand the numb sting, Terian bolted from his office at once.

Behind him, both the chief lady-in-waiting and his aide followed with tense expressions, but he paid them no mind.

He had debated whether or not to tell her that he planned to use the Rassium delegation to his advantage. But every time he saw her—three times a day—somehow, the words wouldn’t leave his lips.

It was just a temporary tactic. Why had it been so difficult to speak of?

He simply hadn’t wanted to tell her. He’d already denied the rumors about Rassium, and surely she knew that.

‘Ah.’

And then Terian quietly realized why he hadn’t been able to say it.

Perhaps the moment she heard the plan… she might have said, then go ahead, and pushed him away herself.

That small mouth—

I didn’t want to hear her say again that she wanted to leave this place.

I knew that every minute, every second with me was agony for her, and yet I couldn’t let her go.

That was why I’d wanted to handle everything quietly.

To simply place the Empress’s crown upon her head as if nothing had ever happened.

With each step, the tingling sensation in Terian’s veins only deepened. The anxious storm in his chest threatened to shred his heart to pieces.

He all but flew to the Empress’s quarters.

And the moment he arrived—

“Where is the Empress?”

“Y-Your Majesty…!”

“Where is she!”

“T-the thing is…”

The nanny holding Rui seemed flustered.

His eyes caught for a moment on the child’s hair—hair so like hers. But then, dread swallowed him whole.

“She was just in the bedchamber a short while ago…”

She wasn’t here.

The instant he heard those words, Terian strode forward at once. He slammed open the bedroom doors, only to be met with cold stillness.

‘She’s not in the room…?’

The scene from that day was happening all over again.

The numb sensation inside him turned to jagged shards, slicing him apart from within.

“Find the Empress!”

The shout tore from Terian’s throat as if it would rip the palace itself open. The attendants in the Empress’s wing dropped into frantic bows and scattered to search for her.

He too could no longer stay still. Like a man possessed, he tore through every corridor of the Empress’s palace.

Then—

A maid pale as ash came running from the corridor that led to the Lake of Blessings.

“Your Majesty! The Empress—she—she went into the woods just now—!”

The moment she pointed, Terian moved without hesitation.

***

It hurts.

Darkness had fallen. The wan light of the new moon grazed the earth like a dying breath.

Pain that had never become familiar—not even after a lifetime—rose like thorns inside Larie’s body.

It hurts. It hurts so much.

So let’s go into the forest.

Her body, moving blindly, came to a halt.

It was because she thought of Rui.

Every New Moon for the past two years, Larie had swallowed blood to endure the pain.

There had been no one else to care for Rui if she collapsed.

But in the forest, at least, she could bear it somehow.

Now there were people to watch over him.

It would only be for a short while.

So let’s just go into the woods.

She glanced around the Empress’s palace as her thoughts spun, then took another step.

She didn’t quite remember how she got there.

But at some point, she was walking the forest path.

The familiar scent of the woods helped clear her head.

It was the same trail she’d wandered not long ago while plotting escape.

But the pain didn’t ease.

Perhaps it was worse now, having lived outside the forest for a time.

Even after circling the woods for what felt like forever,

the pain stabbed her like barbed thorns.

As if she’d dry up and crumble into the forest floor like bark left too long to wither.

Then—

A deep voice rang out from behind her.

“Larie!”

Someone was calling her.

Inside the haze of her frayed mind, she hesitated.

But in the end, she turned around.

That voice had caught too firmly in her chest.

Midnight-black hair,

and beneath it, blue eyes sharp as stars.

Terian.

He was coming toward her.

His hurried steps gradually slowed.

Larie stood still, dazed, and simply watched him approach.

He came close—so close their toes nearly touched.

His chest heaved with rough breaths.

His always neatly groomed hair was disheveled, almost painfully so.

For a long moment he was silent,

then he finally spoke, voice burning from within.

“Where are you going again?”

Larie stared up at him as if under a spell.

Now that they stood so near, they could feel each other’s breath.

Blue eyes, bloodshot and burning, followed her every breath.

Even now, as they stood motionless.

“Where were you planning to disappear to this time?”

“……”

Unable to suppress the storm inside, Terian seized Larie’s shoulders with force.

Her silver hair fluttered like fine threads in the wind at the sudden motion.

“I told you to stay by my side! Why—why won’t you!”

He was furious.

But Larie, numbed by pain, couldn’t fully comprehend it.

All she noticed was the strange, cool sensation where he held her.

And only then did she realize—

She had felt like someone burning alive.

And yet the moment his hands touched her, that searing pain was soothed.

As if cold water had been poured over scorched skin.

His eyes were like a great, endless lake.

She felt like if she dove into them, the fire inside her would finally die out completely.

Yes, that was right.

It had never hurt when she touched him.

Drawn into memory, Larie leaned into his chest, collapsing softly into him.

“……Larie?”

The strength in his hands, still gripping her shoulders, faltered.

The eyes that had been locked with hers widened faintly in surprise.

He looked like a god come down through the darkness.

And as her gaze fell to the curve of his sculpted lips, Larie lost all reason.

If she touched him again—

Maybe it wouldn’t hurt.

She didn’t know who she was speaking to in her mind.

She only reached out, and her fingers brushed his lips.

“Mm.”

He flinched, brows knitting.

His lips, though briefly touched, were burning hot.

And that only made it feel, paradoxically, even cooler.

Then both her hands moved.

She reached up behind his neck and pulled him down to her.

The man who had stood frozen moments ago let himself be drawn in.

As if he’d never try to move away again.

Larie inhaled a breath that tasted like moonlight.

And then—

Their lips touched. Softly. Painfully. Just at the edges.

Somehow, she felt like she might cry, so Larie closed her eyes without strength.

Until the very last moment her vision faded, the pair of piercing blue eyes continued to gaze straight at her.

Like someone falling into their depths, she pressed her trembling body against his.

A wet sound echoed softly as their lips met again and again.

What remained in Larie was instinct alone—rough, unrefined, aching.

Bound as though by thorny vines, Terian had been holding his breath—

Until at last, he snapped back to himself.

He shoved her shoulders with force.

Her light body had no strength left.

She stumbled and fell back, helpless.

“What are you… what did you just…?”