“…I will cut her down with my own hands.”

“Your Majesty, what I told you then was a lie.”

“…What did you say?”

Lord Mihail Callisto knelt down and pressed his forehead to the ground. Ikanel looked down at his friend who was begging for forgiveness, somewhat dumbfounded.

“I have never once thought that she would bring the House of Callisto to the brink of extinction. Even when Your Majesty asked me that question, I couldn’t even imagine such a situation. Therefore, I couldn’t have answered how I would treat her in such a situation. Nevertheless, the reason I answered that I would… dare to cut her down was.”

Mihail paused to gather his breath and organize his lengthy thoughts.

“Because I thought Your Majesty wished for her and me to separate and that’s why you asked such a question. I am excessively serious and pedantic in all matters, but that doesn’t mean ‘perfection.’ I make mistakes quite frequently, and when I was younger, I would sometimes act on impulse, or when anger welled up, I would go somewhere private to shout or take my frustration out on innocent things. So at that time, I dared to harbor resentment toward Your Highness.”

Since Mihail had begun serving Callisto as his lord, this was perhaps the most honest he had ever been. So Ikanel couldn’t dare interrupt Mihail’s words.

“Your Majesty, may I give you my answer to that question again? About how I would act if she committed a crime severe enough to bring the family to extinction, may I answer again?”

“…Speak.”

“If she committed a crime so grave that she must pay with her life, I would never let her life be taken by another’s hand. I would take her life with my own hands. Painlessly. Peacefully.”

His new answer wasn’t much different from his previous one. So in the end, he would still cut down the Countess? As Ikanel tilted his head in confusion, Mihail continued:

“And then I would take my own life as well.”

“…”

“If it wasn’t a crime severe enough to pay with her life, I would take her and flee far away. I would abandon my title and everything else to live as a commoner. The House of Callisto has many other talented people besides me, but she has only me, and I have only her.”

“…Lord Callisto, do you truly mean what you say?”

“Yes. Because I cannot live without her. Your Majesty, if I may dare ask, as Your Majesty’s old friend, may I offer one word?”

“Speak.”

Ikanel was now moving beyond confusion to bewilderment. The two were certainly friends, but it had always been only Ikanel who used the word “friend.” Mihail had never once tried to step outside the relationship of lord and subject.

When Prince Ikanel had confided his worries, Mihail would silently listen and offer advice in his own way, but he never demanded anything special or tried to overstep boundaries because of his private conversations with the Prince.

Ikanel sometimes worried that his referring to Mihail as a friend might be an entirely one-sided relationship. But since Mihail never showed particular discomfort when Ikanel used the term “friend,” Ikanel had simply come to believe that Mihail didn’t entirely dislike the title.

Now this same Mihail was asking to speak to Ikanel as a “friend.” It was no ordinary matter. Having received Ikanel’s permission, Mihail spoke smoothly, as if he had been thinking about this for a long time:

“If my wife were to commit a crime against the family so grave that it required death as payment, I would cut her down with my own hands and then take my own life. And if she could somehow keep her life, I would take her and flee to live as commoners. That is because I cannot live without her. Without her, I would be living a life no different from death. And now Your Majesty as well.”

Mihail raised his bowed head and gazed at Ikanel with calm eyes.

“You are living a life no different from death. Since that day twenty years ago.”

Ikanel’s eyes widened.

“…What do you mean? Surely you’re not saying that I, that I have not recovered from the death of the Nigritia daughter?”

“If I may dare say, as one who has been by Your Majesty’s side since childhood, that is what I believe.”

If Ikanel had been his usual self, he should have coldly rebuked such disrespect toward the sovereign. But Ikanel could take no action as he saw Mihail’s sharp expression, something he had never expected to see from him. That sharp expression became like a blade, painfully piercing his heart. Ikanel managed to say:

“On what grounds do you say this?”

“Since you collapsed after drinking the poisoned teacup and regained consciousness, Your Majesty has not once laughed out loud. You never again indulged in even light banter, and you didn’t waste even a second except for sleeping time. No, you even tried to reduce your sleep.”

“Isn’t that natural for one who is to be the ruler of a great empire? I thought that laughing out loud or engaging in wordplay was beneath the dignity of one who would ascend to the imperial throne. An emperor must always maintain solemnity. Also, after the purge of the House of Nigritia, I realized something and reduced my resting and sleeping time to focus on imperial studies. I certainly realized many things while purging the former ducal house and tried to change, but that has nothing to do with the death of a mere criminal’s daughter.”

Ikanel was completely unaware that he was rambling to Mihail as if making excuses.

“Your Majesty, you certainly became more perfect as the Crown Prince who would inherit the throne after the purge of the ducal house. But after that, Your Majesty.”

Mihail paused briefly before continuing:

“You acted as if trying to sever all human emotions. After that, Your Majesty appeared more like a moving clockwork doll than a human being. Endlessly performing only the tasks given.”

“…Mihail Callisto.”

Ikanel called Mihail’s name with a deep voice. It was extremely disrespectful language to utter to the Emperor. Moreover, it came from the mouth of Mihail Callisto, about whom there was even a joke that he would be a corpse without his loyalty.

From the moment he asked if he could speak as a friend, Mihail must have been firmly resolved. When the Emperor called his name, Mihail said nothing more, just lowered his eyes that had been directly facing Ikanel and bowed his head. He couldn’t have been unaware that he had spoken disrespectfully to the Emperor. But he had something he needed to convey to the Emperor somehow. After sighing deeply, Ikanel said:

“I was the one who first gave permission to speak as a friend. I’m sorry, continue.”

“Then I, prepared to accept punishment for today’s disrespect in the future, dare to ask.”

Mihail raised his bowed head and spoke with a slightly trembling voice, as if pleading:

“Your Majesty. Why did you try to sever your emotions? Why did you want to become a living clockwork doll?”

“I’ve already said it clearly. For a ruler, being swayed by personal emotions to laugh and cry is fatal. It only undermines authority.”

“Your Majesty chose Prince Elios over Prince Crusis as the son to inherit the throne. Prince Crusis is a genius who might appear once in a century. He is quick to discern matters, knows how to detach emotions appropriately, and is cold-headed. Despite this, may I ask why Your Majesty chose Prince Elios?”

This question was truly dangerous. Regarding Elios, who was all but officially designated as Crown Prince, Mihail had made a statement that could be interpreted as suggesting that the second prince might be more suitable for the throne. However, Ikanel slowly answered Mihail’s question. Incredibly, his voice was trembling slightly.

“Despite all of Crusis’s talents, Elios possesses a decisive talent. The talent to attract people at first sight. The talent to naturally draw out the other person’s goodwill without effort. The talent to make hostile groups stop fighting and run toward a common goal…”

“Prince Elios can attract people and bring quarreling groups into harmony because he is more human than anyone else.”

“…”

“People say that the First Prince’s smile seems to be enchanted. Because when they see the Prince smiling, others cannot help but smile too. The Prince’s greatest weapon is that genuine smile that comes from his heart when he is happy. Yet no one says that Elios’s smile is vulgar or that he lacks the qualities of an emperor. He knows how to express his emotions more charmingly than anyone, and that is why Prince Elios has been able to make so many people his allies. Your Majesty, Prince Elios closely resembles Your Majesty when you were Crown Prince. Your Majesty used to smile just like that.”

Ikanel silently listened to Mihail’s words. His arms, which had been casually resting on the armrests of the imperial throne, involuntarily clenched into fists. Suddenly, a memory he didn’t want to recall flashed through his mind.

“I like your smile. When you smile, my heart warms up, and I end up smiling too. I wish you would smile every moment. I wish you would be happy because of me.”

It was Freia’s voice. Ikanel bit his lip hard.

“If I may dare ask one last thing, did Your Majesty truly stop smiling as before simply because it contradicted the dignity of an emperor?”

Ikanel accepted that he could no longer wear a false mask in front of his old friend. He now seemed to understand his deeper feelings, something he had never told anyone, something he himself hadn’t even known. He descended from the imperial throne and continued the conversation at eye level with Mihail, who was kneeling.

♣ ♣ ♣

Wanting to talk more properly with Mihail, he had abandoned the Emperor’s dignity and crouched before him to speak. Ikanel was lost in thought after sending Mihail to summon Elios. That’s when it happened.

Whoosh— Suddenly, a cold wind blew in. The office was a perfect sealed room with the windows tightly locked. It was a space where no wind should blow.

Crack, crack, there was a sound like ice breaking. Ikanel froze at the bizarre sight. Small pieces of ice sprouted from the floor and, with small creaking sounds, instantly grew larger. It soon took the form of a white woman.

“It’s been a long time, Ikanel.”

Snow greeted the Emperor of Akelan with a coldly chilling voice.