The opal light in his eyes darkened as he turned to look at the woman whose profile he had once abandoned.

It was the reaction he had expected, but facing it directly was far from pleasant.

Daniel furrowed his brows in hurt and began.

“Surely you weren’t unaware that I had sent a marriage proposal to the marquisate.”

“Yes, if it’s about the proposal, I heard about it from the Marchioness. But I still don’t understand.”

“What don’t you understand?”

Lydia turned to him.

“Why are you going to such lengths for me? We only danced briefly at the ball. And it’s been two years since I ran away. I assumed you would naturally forget me.”

Out of sight, out of mind. This was how feelings faded, even between lovers who had shared many memories. This was all the more true of Lydia, who had never returned his feelings. Not only had she failed to love him, she had also trembled with fear at the slightest touch. Nevertheless, he could not let her go. This frightened and baffled him.

As Lydia faltered, Daniel let a crooked smile slip across his face.

“Ah, so you say it was only a brief dance at the ball.”

A tremble of betrayal ran through his gentle voice. He tightened his grip on her hand, which she had placed in his lap, and looked into her quivering green eyes.

“So every action you showed me was a pretense. Not a shred of sincerity, only a way to lower my guard before you ran off.”

“Ah.”

Lydia let out a small sound and bowed her head. Faint memories rose to the surface. After she gave him a handkerchief as a sign of reconciliation, they enjoyed a brief period of peace. They went to the opera together and chatted over tea about everyday things.

When he rested his head on her knee, she hesitated, but then smoothed his hair. She meekly accepted the non-s*xual affection he offered: holding hands, light embraces and kisses on the cheek or forehead.

But those moments were not memories to her. They were days she had desperately wanted to pass.

Now, as she replayed those days in her mind, Lydia carefully apologised.

“I’m sorry if I hurt you then. I swear I never meant to toy with His Majesty. I never took pleasure in deceiving anyone. I only left because I had no other way…”

“Admittedly, even if you had tried to talk it out, I wouldn’t have let you go.”

Daniel spoke unexpectedly frankly. It was something she had been unable to say out loud. But it was not a hopeful sign.

“That’s still true now.”

The word froze Lydia. Her emerald eyes trembled helplessly. Daniel took out some documents from his coat and flung them towards her.

“Read them.”

Lydia glanced at him, then lowered her eyes to the papers. There were two main documents: one listing the benefits she would receive if she married him and the other containing information about a conspiracy currently brewing within House Amaranth.

While Lydia read, Daniel spoke at leisure.

“You can continue your studies even if you marry me. But from your third year, you’ll have to transfer to the Royal Solar Academy. Lanier is too far away and inconvenient. However, it wouldn’t be a bad offer for you; the Royal Academy is far better in terms of academic ranking.”

“…”

“The first document is the gallery blueprints. I’ve already purchased the entire set. Once it’s built, you’ll be in charge of running the gallery. You can hold solo exhibitions there, develop your taste in art, and display pieces that you like. If you want to hold competitions, I’ll fund those too.”

His offer was tempting; he had a precise understanding of what the other person wanted. This was why so many people followed him.

Even as Lydia pondered, his enticement continued.

“The Marquis of Amaranth has already set his sights on my sixth cousin, Frank Amaranth, as a son-in-law. The wedding, the witnesses, the paperwork — everything is being prepared behind the scenes. Soon, they’ll try to kidnap you and take you to the marquisate. I suppose they’ll forge your signature to withdraw the charges.”

“…”

“It’s not too late. Come to me, Arwen. Tell me you’ll come back. I’ll welcome you as empress. Your child will be the next emperor. If you ask me to imprison the Marquis of Amaranth, I’ll have him locked up at once. I’ll deal with everyone involved in plotting a forced abduction for marriage.”

Daniel’s words rustled like sugar as he leaned on the bench, blocking her escape route. Lydia flinched at the sudden shadow that fell over her.

Daniel, who had perched himself beside her, smiled faintly and leaned in slowly.

Sunlight caught his blonde hair, sliding softly over his cheek.

“For you, I’d do anything.”

The words suggested that everything could be resolved easily.

But it was deceitful coming from the man who had killed her brother and forced her into an arranged marriage.

As he approached, Lydia snapped her head away.

The rejected man’s face hardened slightly.

Lydia took a steadying breath and asked him a question.

“And if I refuse?”

No sooner had the question left her lips than Daniel’s smile vanished.

His expression turned icily wounded.

“I told you. I can do anything.”

His calm confession sent a chill through me; his emerald eyes darkened.

When the silence stretched on, Daniel continued in a low voice.

“You said you knew Ophelia Star? She performed well at her debut, but she’s just an opera singer. Spreading a filthy scandal to ruin her wouldn’t bother me at all.”

Lydia glared at him angrily, then spat out in a weary tone.

“Oh, really… you haven’t changed.”

Her light sigh brimmed with disgust.

If coaxing didn’t work, he would resort to force. Was that really the way to treat someone you claimed to love?

Lydia bit her lip and shook her head.

“That isn’t a ‘proposal.’ You didn’t give me a choice. I’m sorry, but I will never love you. I can’t open my heart to someone who says he can do whatever he pleases to me.”

“You don’t know how much I’ve endured for you.”

Faced with her firm refusal, Daniel ground his teeth in protest.

If he had wanted to force himself on a defenceless woman, he could have done so long ago. He could have taken her out of sight and made her bear his child. It would have been embarrassingly easy.

But he hadn’t. He wanted far more than her body.

He wanted to see her laughing by his side. He wanted to make her happy. He wanted to start a family with her — not as a mere mistress, but as a noble, lawful empress.

That was why, even though he had found her a long time ago, he hadn’t brought her back with him.

The wounds she had sustained needed time to heal.

He waited until she was ready to open her heart.

Although he could have found out where she lived at any time, he chose not to.

Instead, he improved security in Lanier’s city so that she would be safe everywhere. He installed lampposts along the university road and in the shopping district, increased the number of night patrols and expanded their coverage.

He also resisted the urge to eliminate every man who showed her any interest.

Too many deaths around her would have sparked unpleasant rumors.

So he limited his retaliation to those who showed blatantly impure intent.

There were the students who had conspired to spike her drinks with sleeping pills at the academy festival in order to r*pe her; the professor who demanded bribes and s*xual favours, and then humiliated her in class when she refused; and the café worker who stalked and threatened her after she rejected his advances. Every time he heard of someone laying a hand on her, he wanted to tear them all apart.

Did she realize what danger she had been in? Did she think that a pretty woman could easily live as a commoner?

If she hadn’t been able to study what she wanted, make friends, and live happily, he would have taken her long ago.

If misery was her fate anyway, he thought it better that she wither by his side.

But all that patience had been for nothing. He’d waited and waited, but she still pushed him away.

Any hope that she might change had now disappeared.

He was consumed by rage at the uncontrollable situation.

Knowledge of her fear of him was the only thing keeping Daniel from losing his last shred of sanity.

The old nurse, whom he had not seen for a long time, looked at him with pity and tried to reason with him once more.

“If Your Majesty refuses to let go, Lady Arwen will only continue to suffer. She’ll either wither away with a man she doesn’t love, or spend the rest of her life running until she has nothing left. If she doesn’t want this, why can’t you set her free?”

“While she was fleeing south, she lived in constant terror. The knights you sent to protect her said that she muttered in her sleep that she would be killed if caught. Those are not the words a wife should utter about her husband.”

“Lady Arwen already fears you. You may see your actions as mere lapses in judgement, but forgiveness isn’t so easily granted by the one who bore the pain. As long as those scars remain, she will never be able to give you the love you desire.”

Rachel had told him many such things:

She had told him how much the late Empress Nevira had suffered in the palace, how deeply she had hated him yet still felt guilty, and why his mother had ultimately taken her own life.

These were things that could never have been said had Emperor Lexus still been alive.

Daniel clenched his fists, torn. Was forcing her really the only way?

But if he did, what then? Could something so broken ever be mended?

Noticing his unrest, Lydia spoke softly.

“Your Majesty often speaks as though you are being generous to me. But that’s not how I want to live. I don’t want to only enjoy the freedom that my husband allows me, nor do I want to be threatened when I disobey him. Above all, I don’t want to live like this.”

“…”

“I couldn’t love a child born from something I never wanted.”

It was a simple, sincere truth.

A crack formed on Daniel’s composed face.

Lydia lowered her eyes apologetically, then resolutely lifted her head again.

“Of course I wouldn’t harm an innocent child. But I know I’d resent it all the same. The child would feel that rejection, and I’d end up drowning in guilt for causing that pain. It’s better not to begin at all.”

She hadn’t wanted to go that far.

She knew these words would reopen his wounds.

But when it came to marriage, she couldn’t avoid the subject of children.

Her tone was gentle yet firm, and her plea was utterly sincere.

“What’s the point of a marriage without love or trust? You’d be forcing yourself on a woman who rejects you, raising a child who’ll resent his mother, and living in constant fear that she’ll leave again. Wouldn’t that make for a miserable marriage, even for you? So please, stop now.”

“And if I still insist on having you?”

Daniel’s lips curled in displeasure, but Lydia did not flinch. Her voice was cold and steady.

“It won’t be easy. I led the movement that exposed Professor Sybil Knox’s corruption. I turned on my own parents and denounced them to the public. If Your Majesty refuses to drop this matter, I will do whatever it takes to protect myself.”

Lydia was nothing like the late Empress Nevira. She had no family, no home, and no honor left to protect. She had nothing to lose, and nothing would stop her from fighting like a madwoman.

✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦ ✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦ ✦❘

At that very moment, Sihon was meeting Cardinal Eloise in the chapel.

Her gaze was anything but kind and with good reason. She knew more than almost anyone else about what had transpired between Sihon and Lydia.

Two years earlier, they had entrusted her with blood samples and disclosed certain details. At the time, there had been suspicions that the legitimate daughter and the illegitimate child had been switched within House Amaranth.

The Marchioness had abused her own daughter, mistaking her for her husband’s illegitimate child. Whatever the cause, the wounds left by that cruelty had never healed; they remained etched deep within her, a scar that time refused to fade.

“So we plan to marry soon and sever ties with the marquisate.”

“But since the marquise will likely demand proof of kinship, could you keep the blood samples for us?”

Back then, Eloise had blessed their union.

The young bride-to-be’s shy smile had looked so happy.

Knowing that she would no longer be beaten by that monstrous woman was a huge relief.

Although Eloise had felt uneasy about not being able to see a future for them together, she hadn’t given it much thought. After all, not even a prophet could foresee everything.