The Kingdom of Harua is a small country but wealthy due to its many mages and gem mines.

Therefore, it’s an alliance that cannot be ignored.

Ten years ago, many countries on the map sent congratulatory delegations to the grand wedding of the current king and queen.

The previous emperor of the Oneroad Empire, believing the future belonged to Charte, sent a congratulatory delegation led by him, who was then the crown prince.

And here, the young Charte met Yasrin for the first time.

The wedding and festivities continued for ten days, and even after all the congratulatory delegations had returned, he stayed for another month.

Yasrin, four years older than Charte, used experienced methods to help the boy grow into a man.

“As Your Majesty the Empress already knows, when he was a prince, he had the warmest personality in the empire, and many people said he would become a wise ruler. Seeing how cold he’s become, it seems that person still occupies His Majesty’s heart. Oh my!”

Mary pretended to have made a mistake and checked Yun-ah’s reaction.

“I apologize, Your Majesty. His Majesty now has you as his empress, I was being thoughtless.”

“No. It’s fine.”

Hearing his story from someone else made Yun-ah feel as if she were listening to gossip about a drama character.

It was a story that had nothing to do with her, so she remained calm.

Feeling guilty, Mary seemed to be observing her closely, so Yun-ah quickly reassured her with a smile.

Right now, Yun-ah felt relieved to finally hear the story she had been curious about.

When they arrived at the dining room, Mary hesitated as she opened the door.

Inside, Charte was already seated.

Yun-ah dismissed Mary and entered, sitting across from him.

Watching him eat breakfast with an expressionless face, Yun-ah found Mary’s story almost unbelievable.

‘So even a self-centered psychopath like him had pure love once. From what I’ve seen, I thought he only had emotions like anger, arrogance, and coldness. This shows you can’t judge people by appearances alone.’

That Yasrin woman must be quite remarkable.

‘How did she tame him? A passionate love that left only an empty shell after betrayal.’

What feelings did that man live with each day?

Just then, Charte put down his fork and stood up.

“You should stop staring at my face and focus on your meal.”

Only then did Yun-ah come to her senses, her face turning red as she lowered it almost into her plate.

When Charte was about to leave, he turned to Yun-ah and said.

“Don’t cross the line! Remember that, Empress.”

After Charte left, Yun-ah pointed her fist in his direction and stomped her foot.

“Oh, really! I have absolutely no interest in you! I was just looking because I was curious.”

She muttered in a very small voice that only she could hear.

After finishing her unjust breakfast, they departed for the Kingdom of Harua.

From the border region, many citizens came out to welcome them.

Feeling like she was in a real state visit parade, Yun-ah opened the carriage window and enthusiastically waved her hand, enjoying the pleasant feeling.

The kingdom’s castle was smaller than the empire’s but beautifully decorated in a charming way.

The king and queen personally came out to welcome Charte and Yun-ah.

Having arrived late, they had to hurry to prepare for the dinner banquet hosted by the king.

It was an event attended by royal couples, princesses, princes, grand dukes, and nobles from more than ten countries.

When they were about to leave the annex palace to go to the banquet hall,

Charte changed his posture as if offering his arm.

When Yun-ah looked at him in confusion, he said with a cynical expression.

“Though we had a wedding, this is my first trip abroad in three years, so everyone will be very interested. Plus, there will be great interest in you, my longest-serving empress. Today is for the empire.”

Understanding his meaning, she took his arm.

As he predicted, they were the main attraction at the banquet.

The thrill of gossip was enough to stimulate the senses more than positive congratulations for the birth of a prince.

Whenever he spoke, people from various countries perked up, focusing on his words and their actions.

The queen of Harua took Yun-ah to where the visiting queens, princesses, and ladies from other countries were gathered to introduce her.

However, while dining with them, Yun-ah felt strangely excluded.

Princess Seira, in particular, kept interrupting whenever Yun-ah tried to speak and only talked about herself.

For some unknown reason, there was a strange atmosphere of subtle rejection.

Thus, Yun-ah played the exhausting role of pretend spouse and returned to their lodgings completely worn out.

Tired, she unconsciously threw herself onto the bed.

“Very natural. But your place for tonight is over there.”

When Charte pointed to the sofa, Yun-ah got up with a blank face and lay down on the sofa.

Like yesterday, Charte was leaning on the bed, reviewing pending documents.

Just then, Charte heard Yun-ah’s groaning sounds again!

“She seemed fine, but is she still unwell?”

When there was no answer, he got up and approached Yun-ah, who was groaning with her brow furrowed.

“Is she faking it? Well, I wouldn’t sleep anyway.”

After deliberating, Charte finally lifted her in his arms and as he laid her on the bed, Yun-ah woke up with tears in her eyes.

She grabbed Charte’s hand.

“I’m alive. Thank…… you.”

Suddenly coming to her senses, Yun-ah saw Charte and quickly sat up.

“Your Majesty!”

“Are you still unwell? Could it be aftereffects from the accident?”

“It’s not that…… I have scary dreams every night.”

Charte nodded and was about to go to the sofa when Yun-ah grabbed his finger.

“Um, while we’re staying here, what if I tell you stories every night?”

“Every night?”

“I think that would be better than sleeping.”

Charte nodded in permission.

“Let go of my hand now.”

Yun-ah quickly released his hand and leaned back against the thick pillow.

Charte sat comfortably on the sofa, waiting for her story.

“You remember the story from last time, right?”

Charte nodded as he drank the alcohol placed in front of him.

“The story is racing toward its conclusion.”

When she mentioned that it was the conclusion to a story he had found quite interesting, a look of disappointment crossed Charte’s face.

“When Eun-hee’s family discovered the murders, Gyo-min and Ae-hyung agreed to run away together.”

“Running away…… is escaping reality always the end for adulterers, regardless of when or where?”

His face hardened coldly, which scared me, but I pretended not to notice and continued the story.

“Gyo-min, who was supposed to meet Ae-hyung at the harbor, contacted Eun-hee one last time but ultimately couldn’t leave and went to her. So Ae-hyung also gave up on leaving and used this opportunity to extort money from Gyo-ming’s family.”

Charte spoke with a face that showed he couldn’t stand it anymore.

“What kind of mentality do they have? How far do you think human wickedness can go, Empress?”

“Pardon?”

Yun-ah was extremely bewildered by this question coming from the champion of evil deeds who lived most freely in the Oneroad Empire.

But she wasn’t foolish enough to answer, “What you’re doing, Your Majesty,” so she just remained silent.

“So what do you think about these kinds of stories?”

Unable to guess his intention behind the question, Yun-ah just watched his reactions carefully.

* * *

“So what do you think about these kinds of stories?”

Unable to guess his intention behind the question, she just watched his reactions carefully.

But he didn’t say anything more.

A long silence followed where not even breathing could be heard.

“What do you mean, Your Majesty?”

“I suddenly wondered if this unbelievable story is the empress’s imagination or experience.”

“Ah, it couldn’t possibly be my experience. Of course it’s just thoughts, imagination.”

Though she answered to survive, she quickly apologized internally to the authors who created the story.

Oh my, I’m sorry, authors.

But your excellent story is currently saving an innocent person.

Please forgive me, considering it’s saving a life.

“Then you’re the bad person, Empress.”

“What?”

“Outwardly a virtuous lady, but inwardly having such immoral thoughts. It’s clear that your mentality is definitely not normal.”

“If that’s what you think, I’m disappointed. That’s a statement that blocks creative freedom that brings people joy. And honestly, isn’t reality an even more cruel mess?”

‘I mean you! You! Making contracts with people’s lives!’ she shouted very timidly in her mind.

“It’s not immoral, it’s a story with an excellent lesson that bad deeds lead to ruin.”

“Packaging it as a lesson sounds plausible. But have you considered that before reaching the lesson, it just stimulates base instincts? No matter how I think about it, your story is too impertinent.”

“You keep saying it’s impertinent, but I base my thinking on reality. There are many surprising and frightening things that happen in real life, we just don’t know about them. And can you guarantee that such things don’t happen, Your Majesty the Emperor?”

Hearing her response, he fell into thought and said nothing.

“I can’t…… guarantee it. As the empress says, what might happen in reality.”

As he spoke, sadness and regret showed on his face, and she guessed he was thinking about Yasrin.

He must be thinking about her constantly since they met here.

It would be better if he stopped thinking about someone who left.

Is ⟨The Seduction of the Marked Wife⟩ making him think more about it and making him more upset?

Feeling heavy-hearted as if she had done something wrong, she carefully said.

“Your Majesty, dawn is breaking. Shall we end tonight’s story here?”

He got up and left the room without answering.

She thought it would be much easier if he got angry.

If he got angry, she could at least apologize, but when he was in pain, she felt uncomfortable thinking there was nothing she could do.

Why should I do anything for someone who constantly threatens to kill me? This is all unnecessary meddling.

But why did he suddenly bring up this topic?