Though I feared that the story had to be interesting every moment and that I might die instantly if it became even slightly boring, I also thought he wouldn’t kill me so easily.

We were comrades, allies who had weathered difficult times together! Thinking this way made me feel like we had a close relationship.

I thought I could ask about his well-being, express gratitude to him as my lifesaver, and have a conversation as equals rather than as superior and subordinate.

I even looked forward to tonight, feeling that it might be different from usual.

* * *

“It’s been a while, Your Majesty the Emperor.”

“It has been a while. Empress.”

He went to his designated seat with the same face as usual and sat down with the same arrogant pose as always.

His demeanor was so unchanged that my earlier thoughts faltered.

“Have you been well?”

As usual, he poured himself a glass of alcohol, drank it, put the glass down, and looked at me.

“Empress.”

My heart beat rapidly at the sweet sound of his voice, which was like a whisper.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Start the story quickly. It took too long to get to the first meeting. I’m tired of waiting.”

“Ah. Yes.”

I reproached myself for foolishly expecting human warmth, like intimacy or camaraderie, from a psychopath.

“You’ve waited a long time. I’ll start the story of Joo-hyun, Ha-im, and Sang-yoon.”

He looked at me with his characteristically arrogant gaze, shooting lasers that said ‘Speak up. Hurry up.’

“Joo-hyun, who works as the president of a clothing company, is on a smooth path to success, growing his company with outstanding abilities. On top of that, he’s popular enough to transform even his arrogance into charm, facing no obstacles. While living this unhindered life, he faces a turning point when he agrees to Sang-yoon’s request.”

“Arrogance can be charming?”

“Yes! The completion of everything is the face. Joo-hyun has a perfect face.”

I answered confidently, recalling the face of the male actor who played Joo-hyun.

His voice tone lowered slightly.

“Continue.”

“Ha-im learned swordsmanship directly to become an excellent actor and occasionally works as a knight while disguised as a man to make a living. Currently, she’s a nameless actor with almost no income, so she’s very poor.”

“So Ha-im is both an actor and a knight.”

“Yes, the coolest knight. I’ll continue. Joo-hyun goes to a theater rehearsal space at Sang-yoon’s request to find someone. But he mistakenly takes Ha-im, who was rehearsing, for the person Sang-yoon was looking for and brings her out.”

Dawn was already breaking.

“That’s all for tonight, Your Majesty.”

“I see.”

“Ah! But, Your Majesty.”

He looked at me.

“I’ve fallen behind by eight weeks, or seven weeks if we count today. How should we handle this? At this rate, I’ll continue to owe you my life.”

He looked at me with a face that seemed to say I was worrying about nothing and casually replied.

“Don’t worry. I’ll come every night.”

“What?”

“I’ll come at night.”

“What?”

He didn’t answer my surprised questions, just said what he wanted to say annoyingly, and then left the room.

“What! What is he saying? Every night? Every night!”

Her legs gave out and she collapsed.

This was a disaster worse than a natural calamity and a cruel curse.

Curses spilled out like speaking in tongues, and all morning she muttered like a madwoman with flowers in her hair.

“Is he crazy? How can we spend eight days together in one room? Doesn’t the emperor sleep? Ah, he did say he had insomnia. But what about me? I need to sleep! I’m not even paid for overtime. And now that my house arrest is lifted, I have lots of work during the day.”

That was true.

As soon as her house arrest was lifted, the backlog of empress duties came flooding in.

The Welfare Department also requested to collaborate on a new event.

She was so busy that she had no time to think, and now every night!

Is this a scheme to kill her with overwork instead of beheading? She still couldn’t believe what he had said.

“Y-Your Majesty the Empress!”

“Ah! Mary. When did you come in?”

“Just now. What are you thinking about so deeply?”

“Thinking about His Majesty.”

“What?”

“Because he said he’s coming again tonight.”

“Your good relationship is truly beautiful.”

“Us?”

“He must have been longing to see you. His Majesty the Emperor must love Your Majesty the Empress very much. I can’t even imagine how much he missed you.”

Looking at Mary chattering excitedly, a thought suddenly struck her.

Ah! So this is what a show-window couple truly is.

Though difficult, our pretense has succeeded.

To others, we look like a loving couple! This is what a perfect contract looks like.

He wasn’t coming because he loved her, but to collect on her life debt, but she thought it wasn’t so bad since her life was being preserved.

And with the empress’s power significantly weakened by the false accusations, his support would surely help her recover quickly.

Seeing herself make such political calculations, she felt proud that she had perfectly adapted to the position of empress of the Empire.

“Your Majesty the Empress is truly amazing.”

“Me?”

“You’re changing His Majesty the Emperor back to his former self. When I think of all the people who died or were imprisoned before…”

Mary trembled all over, unable to finish her sentence, looking frightened.

“How did you change someone rumored to be so terrifying that he couldn’t sleep without smelling blood every day?”

She hadn’t changed him; he just appeared changed.

Though he wasn’t spilling blood all at once, she was barely maintaining her life by giving it drop by drop, like donating blood.

In a way, it was a life where everything was fake.

Talking about this made her suddenly feel exhausted, so she dismissed Mary and lay down on the bed.

Though extremely tired, her complicated thoughts prevented her from falling asleep easily, so she recalled the previous night.

More specifically, she needed to sort out her feelings toward Charte.

At first, he was someone she was too scared to even look in the eye properly—no, he didn’t even feel like the same species, only terrifying.

She thought of him merely as a demonic existence who held and shook her life in his hands.

But somehow, he had become someone who could even sway her mood.

Fear had somehow transformed into familiarity and excitement.

To be honest, this feeling was new to her, and she didn’t know what it was.

Could this emotion truly be camaraderie?

She thought of her male friends whom she had treated like brothers, but she had never felt this way about them.

She wondered if it was because she hadn’t experienced life-and-death situations with them, but no matter how much she thought about it, the feeling was different.

Then what was this emotion?

She pondered for a long time but couldn’t easily find an answer.

She stopped thinking because of the anxiety that the answer might be the emotion she least wanted to consider.

That was simply unacceptable.

Perhaps this unsettled feeling was…

Yes, it was definitely Stockholm Syndrome.

Coming to this strange world and being psychologically unstable, she had clearly become attached to him, who held her lifeline.

To shake off the bubbling doubts of ‘Is that really it?’ she got up from the bed.

It was time to move anyway, as she had a meeting with the Welfare Department.

After fixing her makeup and hair and changing her dress, she saw only the image of a beautiful and happy empress, far removed from such worries.

Right now, she wanted to focus solely on being the empress and concentrate on the empress’s duties.

Heading to the Welfare Department after a long time, she felt glad and her steps were light.

The moment she cheerfully entered the conference room, she froze in place, shocked.

They had prepared a surprise party to celebrate her return.

The conference room was decorated lavishly, and there were foods for a tea party.

Plus, handwritten letters and gifts.

She was so moved by this unexpected kindness after so long that her throat tightened, making it difficult to express her gratitude.

After enjoying refreshments with the Welfare Department staff, she entered the prepared meeting.

The Welfare Department’s new proposal was for the empress to accompany them to the annual charity event for the underprivileged.

The Deputy Minister of Welfare carefully broached the subject.

“Originally, the late empress always attended this event.”

The implied meaning behind those words was probably that while empresses traditionally attended this event, Yasrin had not.

This seemed like an issue that could have caused controversy about the empress’s character, but all of it had been covered up because of Emperor Charte, and she had been recognized as empress.

She couldn’t imagine how he had been such a pushover only for Yasrin.

She wondered if he had gone mad after betrayal because he had been so purely in love.

On the other hand, recalling that he had loved another woman made her heart ache and her mood sour.

But she didn’t show it and continued with the meeting.

“What kind of event is it?”

“It involves traveling around the border areas for a week, directly meeting the underprivileged and volunteering. If Your Majesty the Empress goes, many noble ladies and young ladies will follow. It’s tradition, after all.”

“Sounds good. More participants means more donations. And we welcome the participation of local nobles along the way. They’ll come with donations.”

The faces of the Welfare Department staff attending the meeting brightened at her practical approach to handling matters.

“Can we really involve the local nobles?”

“Of course. There are plenty of wealthy people in the provinces, not just in the capital. We’re going to help, so if there’s a way to help more, we should do it.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty the Empress.”

“When is the event?”

“In three days.”

“What?”

“Actually, all the event preparations are already complete. We’ll immediately send messengers to the local nobles to inform them of Your Majesty the Empress’s participation and encourage their involvement.”

“Ah. I see.”

She hadn’t received separate reports because she had been under house arrest.

Though surprised, she also felt relieved in a way.

Meeting him every night was actually burdensome in many ways.

And above all, she needed time alone, away from him, to sort things out.