“Why aren’t you asleep?”

“I heard the sound of guests arriving.”

Rote fidgeted where she stood in front of the door, bare feet peeking out beneath the lace-trimmed hem of her nightclothes.

“Mother, you’re going to greet them, aren’t you?”

Selaia had no way of knowing just how well her daughter understood the situation. By the time the carriages arrived late into the night, however, Rote’s fate had already been sealed.

“Yes, Rote. I’ll take you to Vera.”

With a gentle smile, Selaia held out her hand. Rote glanced at it briefly before slowly placing her own small, warm hand into her mother’s. Hand in hand, Selaia began to walk.

“My lady.”

Just then, Vera appeared, roused by the commotion and already seeking her out.

“Vera, please look after Rote.”

“Yes, don’t worry.”

Selaia entrusted her daughter to Vera’s care. With Elaine at her side, Selaia stepped towards the main entrance. Someone was already waiting there.

“…”

Haider didn’t even glance at Selaia or Elaine. He simply opened the great door. Elaine shot him a hostile look, but it was useless.

“This place is as squalid as ever.”

It was impossible to stop such a guest from arriving.

“…We greet His Imperial Majesty.”

Selaia, Elaine, and Haider all bowed low with due formality.

The emperor of the realm, Hendrick, accepted their salutations with a bored expression. Casting them little more than a glance, he strode inside the keep, his steps carrying him naturally toward the drawing room.

As Selaia moved to follow, a servant suddenly stepped before her, thrusting a gift box into her hands.

“His Majesty bestows this upon you.”

A low voice, hidden beneath a hooded robe, whispered. Before Selaia could take the proffered box, Elaine swiftly seized it.

“I will look after this.”

The robed man seemed about to protest, but Hendrick’s impatient summons cut him short.

“Why are you dawdling instead of following?”

Hearing the Emperor’s displeased tone, Selaia hurried towards the drawing room, not looking back. The robed man seemed troubled by the turn of events, but he did not question her further. While Hendrick remained within these walls, Selaia was the only person who could approach him.

“It’s been… what, four months? Since I spent the winter at the villa?”

Hendrick slumped heavily into an armchair and crossed his legs. She couldn’t remember if it had been a year since she arrived in Cheringen or slightly less, but he had been visiting at irregular intervals ever since.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Selaia answered with formal composure. As always, the room held only the two of them.

“The villa seems to grow duller with each visit. Perhaps I’ll have to find another place.”

Hendrick muttered irritably and made a languid gesture with his hand.

Selaia quickly understood and placed a wineglass in his hand. He accepted it, watching her closely as she poured the wine.

“Have you heard the news that Johanna is pregnant?”

Swirling the deep red wine slowly in his glass, Hendrick asked, as if to test her reaction.

Johanna Fiel Bertan—the youngest daughter of Duke Fiel, Hendrick’s second wife, and now empress.

“I read of it in the papers. Congratulations, Your Majesty.”

Selaia answered evenly, her expression unchanging, the wine bottle steady in her grasp.

“I thought she was barren, but she’s finally pregnant. Can you imagine how many years I endured just because she’s the daughter of Duke Fiel, one of my most important vassals?”

Hendrick muttered sourly as he took a sip. The tension in his brow eased slightly.

“To mark the birth of the empire’s rightful heir at long last, I gave Duke Fiel a gift.”

At the word gift, Selaia lifted her eyes to him, uncertain. Her innocent look earned only a sharp click of his tongue and a mocking smile.

“The Brett family.”

“The Brett family…?”

Selaia searched her memory. They were the house recently stripped of their title and lands, held responsible for the attack on the envoys of Teian.

“The duke wanted the land that Brett owned in the Rhineland. Apparently, the grapes grown there are perfect for making wine.”

‘All this… over a patch of land? You attacked Teian’s envoys and spilled blood for that?’

If Teian chose to respond with military force, the Empire would be left defenseless. They had, of course, gambled on the fact that Teian would not do so.

Selaia lightly bit the inside of her lip to hide it. Otherwise, she might have sighed aloud.

Her silence, intended to steady her composure, was clearly not the reaction Hendrick had hoped for. His eyes narrowed, and he suddenly seized her wrist with his claw-like grip. Selaia stifled the cry that threatened to escape her lips.

“Be honest with me. As the woman raising an heir who carries no true blood—can you really say you welcome the empress’s pregnancy?”

His eyes gleamed with a vile persistence as he searched her face. Selaia met his gaze head-on, her reply steady and without hesitation.

“Yes, Your Majesty. The solidifying of the imperial succession is, as a subject of the empire, something I must of course celebrate.”

“Lies.”

Hendrick scoffed at her words and released her wrist, not bothering to pretend he believed her. Selaia quickly pulled her throbbing arm away.

“How is the child?”

From his mouth, the child could only mean Rote. At the mention of her daughter’s well-being, the mask on Selaia’s face shifted—only to steady again a heartbeat later.

“She is well. Just an ordinary child. A little slow with her speech and not the best with numbers.”

Selaia lied. She had little chance to compare with other children, but she knew: Rote was sharper than most her age.

“Slow in her speech? Pathetic. She clearly hasn’t inherited my sharp intellect. Her mother, Casteen, was pretty enough, but she was a fool.”

That was why, even with my support, she never asserted her rights; she just smiled weakly, earning only scorn from my mother. Hendrick sneered as he said it, a bitter laugh on his lips.

The man who had once cried over a lost lover no longer existed. In fact, he had become a tyrant, holding all the power and growing only more arrogant and indifferent.

Casting a sidelong glance at Selaia, who betrayed no emotion, Hendrick set his glass down on the table with a sharp click.

“Well? It can’t be easy raising a child in this barren land. If it’s too hard, I could provide a house in the capital. All you need do is ask.”

“…”

“You could always appoint a steward to oversee the estate.”

Though he spoke casually, he leaned forward expectantly as he awaited her answer.

“No, Your Majesty. I prefer it here. I have grown accustomed to it.”

Her refusal was calm, but not cold. Even so, Hendrick’s face quickly twisted with irritation.

“Accustomed? To this wretched existence? The stench of the beggars has seeped into your very bones!’

He let out a harsh laugh, then, losing his temper, he shot to his feet.

“That’s why you never belonged at my side! Your pitiful family is no different. The fact that I ever got involved with people like you is beyond embarrassing!”

His wild, unpredictable temper flared up once again.

Startled, Selaia flinched, but Hendrick paid her no mind. He snatched the wine bottle from her and lifted it straight to his lips, drinking deeply.

“Damn it… Nothing pleases me…”

Wine dribbled past his mouth, which he wiped away roughly with the back of his hand, muttering as he did so. His gaze had grown hazy and blurred with drink.

“The only place I could ever rest my weary head was Casteen’s arms.”

Selaia remained silent. Hendrick clamped his hands down on her shoulders.

“You—and that brat you saved—ruined everything! Do you hear me?”

“Ugh!”

Her frame was much slighter than his, and she swayed dangerously even with that slight shake. Selaia clung to her remaining balance, her vision spinning.

When she finally lifted her head, her eyes locked with a pair of eyes watching her from a narrow crack in the door.

“…!”

Their startled gazes met in the empty space between them.

Without thinking, Selaia shook her head when their eyes met. She had a feeling he was about to rush in and forcibly remove Hendrick from her.

‘That can’t be…’

Laska had no reason to do such a thing. Yet the thought arose within her all the same, inexplicably and unbidden.