After resolving the situation in the grand conference room, Charte hurried to the empress’s palace, using the excuse that he was worried about the collapsed empress, even postponing his work.

As soon as they met again, they embraced each other with hearts that felt like they might burst.

They stayed like that for a long time without saying anything, feeling each other’s warmth and sharing each other’s breath.

“I missed you. I longed for you.”

“I missed you so much too. When you weren’t there, I returned to my original place, but I wasn’t happy at all.”

“It was the same for me. The past few days were hell. Life without you has no meaning.”

“What should we do now?”

“I’ve learned that no matter how much we resolve and try, there are things that human power cannot do. That is, I cannot live without you. Yun-ah, this is an imperial command. Do not leave my side. Ever.”

She sincerely wanted to follow the imperial command but couldn’t bring herself to answer.

Charte probably knew it was impossible when he said it.

“That’s the imperial command I most desperately want to follow. But I’ll just remember your feelings, your heart. You too, please just remember that I wanted to obey the imperial command.”

Though he didn’t say it aloud, Charte’s eyes answered that he would.

As she recognized reality, it felt like hot blood was draining from her body, leaving only a cold shell.

Though she fell into despair, she forced herself to smile.

That was the only way she could endure.

Instead of discussing their story, which became more painful the more they thought about it, Charte explained why all this had happened.

“Really? Leila seems like an amazing person. Not liking the world she lived in and trying to go to a world she liked—I never thought of that. Leila would probably fit better in the world I lived in. If she had lived there, I think she would have become an incredibly successful, wonderful person.”

“Is that so? I’m curious about your world.”

“It’s a world where you can dream of doing what you want, and if you desire it, you can achieve as much as your abilities allow. Ah! Maybe that’s why we switched?”

Naturally receiving Charte’s questioning gaze, she expressed her thoughts.

“Leila desperately wanted a life she created herself, not one dictated by her family, and I had just gotten a job and started living like a proper person, but I desperately wanted to live because I didn’t want to die unfairly in an accident. Maybe our desperate hearts met at the same time?”

Charte nodded affirmatively and said,

“That could be. Then was it people, not magic, that caused the miracle?”

“It might not have been for Leila, but for me, it was truly a miracle. Charte, because I met you.”

“Then I should be grateful to Lady Leila too. For sending me the miracle that is you.”

Even in the moments we were together, we missed each other, and our yearning souls felt like they were burning up.

“What kind of person is Leila?”

“As befits the daughter of Duke Whyman, she’s confident and straightforward in everything.”

“Then Leila would suit the role of empress better than me.”

“No, no one suits the role of empress better than you. Because the empress is my companion.”

Holding Charte’s hand, she reluctantly brought up the words she had been putting off because she really didn’t want to say them.

“Still, don’t stay alone. I want you to stop being lonely now.”

Charte smiled bitterly with a self-deprecating expression.

“If you leave, I’ll be alone again. As I said earlier, I’ll divorce Lady Leila. I’ll be recorded in imperial history as an emperor who divorced twice. Then the ministers won’t force me to marry again. Who would they recommend to someone who has divorced even the daughter of Duke Whyman? They have consciences.”

Charte generally accepted what happened to him with equanimity.

As emperor, he considered many factors, but he didn’t scrutinize his own life as much as when making decisions for the empire.

Perhaps that’s why he was taking the dishonorable path of divorcing twice, she thought.

Although Charte spoke calmly, her heart wasn’t the same, and her face became pitiful, looking like she might cry at any moment.

“You don’t need to look at me so pitifully. Thanks to meeting you, my life already has a happy ending. Like the protagonists in the stories Yun-ah told me. There’s just a slight difference between stories and reality.”

After Charte gently kissed her forehead and their eyes met, she steeled her heart and spat out painful words like wounds.

“When I go back, even if I can’t forget you, I’ll date and get married. So you shouldn’t stay alone either. I don’t think I could bear it if I thought you were alone.”

Charte only smiled a lonely smile without saying anything.

* * *

“What did you just say?”

Duke Neiyard looked at Yasrin with an incredulous face.

“You want me to steal something from His Majesty the Emperor’s room?”

“There should be a marriage contract. The one I obtained from the empress’s room was ridiculously taken from me. I didn’t expect such an uncouth act.”

Yasrin burned with anger as she remembered the contract that had become a rag when they fought, pulling each other’s hair.

She really didn’t want to let that woman go unpunished.

She wanted not just divorce but harsh revenge that would crush her life.

“First you claimed souls were switched, and now you’re talking about a contract marriage?”

“They definitely have a contract marriage. They’re not a real couple; they’re just pretending to be one.”

“Are you saying the emperor is pretending to be a couple with the empress? Why would he do such a troublesome thing? He could just kill her.”

“Well……”

When she tried to speak, Yasrin couldn’t think of the reason either.

The contract only mentioned the marriage agreement, not the reason for it.

“I don’t know the details, but I’m certain their marriage is maintained by contract.”

Neiyard’s expression showed he didn’t believe a word Yasrin was saying.

The imperial couple appeared to have a good relationship to anyone who saw them, and rumors were rampant in the palace.

Because they got along well, he had needed to get rid of Leila for Elisha’s sake, but now suddenly hearing about a contract marriage made it difficult to believe.

In his haste, he had believed the nonsense about switched souls because he hadn’t been careful, but he didn’t want to jump into another risky venture and fail.

Neiyard maintained his suspicion.

“Why are you only telling me about this now?”

“Because I wanted to protect Charte. I hate that woman, not Charte.”

While that reason wasn’t entirely unbelievable, Neiyard’s suspicion of Yasrin had grown too much for him to give an immediate answer.

“Are you not believing me now? What reason would I have to lie to you like this! If you don’t believe me, I’ll do it alone.”

“But no one has ever sneaked into the emperor’s room. Even if there is a contract, the probability of getting into the room is slim.”

“Conversely, because no one has sneaked in, Charte doesn’t need to hide his things. If we just succeed in entering, we can find it easily. And I know Charte’s room better than anyone.”

Neiyard was troubled, but he had no special alternative.

The claim about switched souls had failed, and if things continued this way, the noble faction would clearly live without being able to even breathe.

He didn’t want to live as a noble in name only.

“Alright. Tell me the details. However, I cannot send my people. You’ll have to find someone yourself, Princess. Then I’ll help them get in.”

“Understood.”

If there was a chance to get a hold on the emperor’s throat, he had to do it, no matter how difficult.

There was no other choice.

* * *

While she was in the middle of telling Charte about The Brilliant World of Gods, a servant outside urgently announced Rad’s visit.

They stopped their conversation and called Rad in.

“What brings you here at such a late hour?”

“I apologize, Your Majesty the Emperor, Your Majesty the Empress. News came that Baron Jent has been found, so I hurried here.”

“Baron Jent has been found?”

“Yes. I instructed them to capture him quietly and bring him to the palace.”

“You’ve worked hard. Tell Prime Minister Whyman, Duke Pahorder, and Minister Pahorder to enter the palace early.”

After Rad finished his greetings and left, they finally felt relieved.

“Charte, now we have a card to counterattack, right?”

“That’s right. I won’t let them get away with daring to attempt to assassinate the empress.”

“Ah, I heard one of the missing ladies-in-waiting from the empress’s palace has been found?”

“I received a report that she will arrive within two days. She was caught trying to escape across the border.”

“That’s really fortunate. When other ladies-in-waiting are dead or missing, finding even one is something.”

“You only come to my side to suffer and then leave. This shouldn’t happen in your world. Because I can’t protect you there.”

She wanted to hug Charte as he spoke like that, but because of the divorce conversation she had heard earlier, she became particularly cautious about physical contact.

“I’m not someone with a position others would covet there. I’m like the many imperial citizens living outside the palace that you don’t know about. Don’t worry. I’ll become a strong person who can live vigorously even without protection.”

Deep gazes filled with intense regret turned toward each other.

The person in front of her was clearly her man, but thanks to the strangely twisted situation where my body wasn’t my own, he became a regrettable existence like a picture of rice cake, a flower that couldn’t be picked, or money that couldn’t be used.

It didn’t seem right to have a deep relationship with Charte using this body when it wasn’t permanently leased and the original owner, who would soon return, had said she would divorce him.

Of course, Charte also respected her opinion.

So they decided to refrain from actions that could easily make them lose their reason.

As a result, the intense memories she had wanted to leave with Charte vanished like bubbles.

At this point, she pondered deeply again about whether the soul or the body was more important, but that was a consideration she could only make when both belonged to her.

Because she wasn’t the owner, no matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t reach the conclusion she wanted.

Although it wasn’t the situation she had wanted, she was already overflowing with happiness just from the fact that she could be with Charte.

She had no intention of spending the little time left with emotions of sadness or regret.

Since this was time she would never experience again in her life, she resolved to spend it as happily as possible, doing her best.

“Charte, you said you wanted to eat the chicken from ‘You Who Came from the Moon,’ right? I’ll make it for you.”

“I want to experience everything in the world with you, Yun-ah. I want to throw away being emperor and everything else and spend all my time with you.”

As they conversed endlessly while looking at each other, they eventually fell asleep.

She opened her eyes feeling Charte moving carefully.

“Are you getting up already?”

Charte kissed her forehead instead of greeting and said,

“Sleep a bit more. While you sleep, I’ll quickly finish my work and come back. In the afternoon, let’s make that dish called chicken together.”

“What? Your Majesty the Emperor is going to cook?”

“I want to do it together. I want to do the things that can be done in your world too.”