“Please, enter, My Lady.”

“Thank you.”

I stepped into the room.

It was an enormous drawing room, but it felt more like a gallery, with artwork and relics displayed on every wall.

The dim interior added a certain charm, but it also made me feel a little uneasy.

As I stepped closer, I could make out Marianne’s silhouette by the window.

“Marianne.”

I called her name, moving forward with slight hesitation.

What was this strange feeling?

Something unnatural seemed to surround me, a foreboding sensation creeping over my feet. Like the chill of a rainy night, a shiver ran across my skin.

Was it because Marianne was wearing a hooded cloak?

Or because she appeared smaller than usual?

“Ugh…”

Suddenly, I heard a groan, and my steps halted abruptly.

Instinctively, I looked toward the sound.

Someone was sitting on the floor, bound, shaking their head at me.

Their expression was desperate, their eyes filled with fear.

“…Marianne?”

My heart sank.

It was unmistakably Marianne.

I quickly turned to face the woman standing by the window.

She was now looking at me with a twisted smile on her face.

“It’s been a while, Louise.”

“…”

“I’ve heard tales of your successful return from the North making rounds in the palace.”

The Empress smiled, her lips curling in a way that felt unnervingly out of character.

I glanced at Marianne, then back at the Empress, and asked,

“Did Your Majesty do this to Marianne?”

Why was the Empress doing this?

I had always felt a coldness from her, but I never expected she would go this far.

Her expression and demeanor felt entirely different from the Empress I knew.

With a faint smile still on her face, the Empress responded.

“I had no choice. I needed to deceive His Majesty.”

“…”

“Even though His Majesty is indifferent to me, I don’t want him to despise me.”

“…”

I stared into the Empress’s eyes, speechless for a moment.

It was clear she wasn’t in her right mind.

Though she usually carried a sickly air, today her eyes were filled with a mix of madness and resignation.

I sighed softly and said, “I thought it strange that the servant guiding me here was a maid from the palace. I wondered if she had changed her job.”

“You recognized her? You have sharp eyes.”

“Why are you doing this?”

I looked at the Empress with a sharp gaze.

She clearly had some objective involving me.

Was she planning to use Marianne as leverage for blackmail?

I couldn’t guess exactly why, but anger was starting to simmer within me.

“Let Marianne go right now. Isn’t it me you need to talk to?”

“You’re right. I won’t release her until I’ve finished my business with you.”

“…”

“…Would you care to sit here for a moment?” the Empress asked, sitting down on a sofa.

I glanced at Marianne, feeling guilty, before heading over to the sofa.

Reluctantly, I sat down across from the Empress.

She picked up a candle and lit the others on the table, making the space around us a bit brighter.

Then, lifting her head, the Empress looked at me with an almost wistful gaze and said,

“Every time I see you, Louise, I’m reminded of how truly beautiful you are. No, words like ‘beautiful’ aren’t enough—you are radiant, otherworldly.”

“…”

It was just the reflection of light on my silver hair, nothing more.

Though I appreciated the compliment, I wasn’t in the mood for it now.

“I can’t tell you how envious I’ve been of you. Whenever you appear, people only look at you.”

“…”

“When you sit high up, you can see everything. And when you’re beside His Majesty, you know exactly where his gaze falls.”

“…?”

I couldn’t begin to guess her intentions.

What was she trying to say by mentioning the Emperor now?

All I wanted was to get Marianne and leave this place.

If all she wanted was a conversation, she could have summoned me to the palace. Why lure me here in secret and kidnap Marianne? The entire situation was unnerving.

“Sadly, His Majesty never looked at me. I was always left watching him from the side.”

The Empress’s voice was tinged with melancholy.

Was she about to confess she had feelings for the Emperor?

It wasn’t something I particularly wanted to hear.

“Still, I thought it would be enough just to stay by His Majesty’s side. Even if he loved someone else, as long as I remained his Empress, I could be content.”

“…”

“But now His Majesty is planning to cast me aside. He finds me so burdensome that he no longer sees any need to keep me around.”

I could see the Empress’s hands clenching into fists.

She was usually someone who concealed her emotions, so hearing her speak so openly was shocking.

“And it’s all… because of you, Louise.”

“What?”

I stared at her in disbelief.

Her eyes, once calm, now blazed with fury and disdain.

“It’s all because of you that His Majesty has abandoned me.”

“…”

I met Olivia’s gaze steadily.

I had never seen the Empress so consumed by anger.

“I’m withering away because of His Majesty… He’s the one who has made me like this, and now he wants to replace me with another woman as Empress.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

As I frowned, the Empress let out a soft laugh.

She was beginning to look like a madwoman.

Was she suggesting that the Emperor was considering me to be the Empress?

Me, who was already married?

The very thought of it was disgusting and made my stomach turn.

“Shall I tell you? What has happened to me. I bet you’ve never seen anything like this before. I only realized it myself when His Majesty told me.”

“Ugh…!”

Suddenly, I heard Marianne cry out in agony.

I immediately stood up from the sofa and rushed to her.

“Marianne!”

Seeing her terrified expression tore at my heart.

I hurriedly removed the gag that was tied around her mouth.

I had no desire to continue speaking with the Empress, who was clearly no longer in her right mind.

No matter if she was the Empress, I couldn’t tolerate her treating an innocent person like this.

“Ugh…!”

Marianne’s eyes suddenly widened as if frozen in time.

Her eyelids slowly drooped, and her head slumped as if she had lost consciousness.

“Marianne!”

I was so shocked that I grabbed her and shook her.

“Wake up, Marianne!”

What was happening?

Suddenly, a chilling sensation crept over me from behind.

The Empress had somehow moved closer.

Still holding Marianne, I glared at the Empress with sharp eyes.

“What is the meaning of all this?” I demanded.

The Empress smiled, her face twisted in a bizarre way.

“This is the power of His Majesty. He gave it to me over two years ago. It’s been eating away at me ever since.”

“…”

“I couldn’t use it. It’s a power that doesn’t suit me. Just having it within me made me feel like I was dying. But now, with so little time left, what do I have to lose?”

“You’ve gone mad!”

I rose to face her.

Marianne, who had been fine moments ago, had suddenly lost consciousness. Could she be dead?

I had never imagined the Empress harbored such a power.

My hands trembled, and my heart raced.

This woman was no ordinary person.

“I’m really curious to see how His Majesty would feel if you disappeared, Louise. I think I can muster the strength to take you down before I die.”

“…!”

The Empress laughed, her expression a mix of pain and amusement.

An ominous, unsettling energy gripped me, tightening around my chest.

It was similar to the power I had once sensed from Alec.

She truly wasn’t just a normal woman.

In a flash, I grabbed the diamond hairpin from my hair and hurled it at the Empress.

Bang!

“Ahhh!”

The sound of the pin exploding was followed by the Empress’s scream.

The Empress had this kind of power?

Was she insane?

It was like a bomb had gone off in my head, everything in chaos.

Without even checking the Empress’s condition, I hurriedly lifted Marianne.

Marianne…

My hairpin…

TL NOTE: More advanced chapter of this story is already up to the site. Visit dusk blossoms for more advanced chapters and stories