Why…… Why use such a tactic? Didn’t his warning about preparing for when his patience ran out mean he would simply burst through the bedroom door? He said he would become a beast, so why use such a cowardly method instead of the simplest approach?

“Hannah……”

After Divlik turned his back and left, Hannah was the first to burst into tears.

—I might as well start with this child who stands closest to you.

She was shocked by his words that if Eva continued to refuse Divlik and servants were killed, Hannah would be first.

“Don’t cry, Hannah. Nothing will happen to you.”

“But…… Then Lady Eva……”

“It’s all right. It’s okay.”

Eva weakly bit her lip as she looked at the distant spot where Divlik had disappeared.

“Anyway…… This was bound to happen eventually.”

Eva knew she couldn’t hold out like this forever. She just thought that before pushing her into a corner that seemed to offer choices but was more choiceless than ever, he would either force her body open or kill her.

“It seems embroidering the coronation cloak wasn’t enough.”

Eva looked down at the cloak in her hands with an empty expression.

If he had planned to become a beast and kick down her bedroom door, he wouldn’t have ordered such a task while angry. His words must have meant he would abandon human decency. That he would take what he wanted by any means necessary.

In the end, whether he intended to let her live or not, what Divlik wanted to see in me at my lowest wasn’t someone who had everything taken away by others and was sitting miserably outside.

It was the sight of me utterly shattered, unable to hide my shame because I had chosen it myself in some way.

* * *

Though Finn had hidden his surprise well when Divlik threatened to kill the servants, once they had walked a few steps and people disappeared from around them, he moved close to Divlik and asked,

“Lord Divlik, do you really intend to kill the servants?”

“You were the one who said an emperor like me could do whatever I wanted.”

“But……”

Divlik wasn’t someone who killed innocent people. Even during war, apart from nobles who needed to be held directly accountable, he would spare families who might become threats later if left alive. So it was incomprehensible that he would declare he would kill people just to hold one former empress.

“What? You don’t like me being this cruel?”

“No, that’s not it.”

Though he didn’t understand, Finn could have cut the throats of all the servants here in a day if Divlik wanted. His loyalty to Divlik stood above distinguishing between good and evil. He was just more worried about whether Divlik would be alright after doing such a thing.

After Finn’s resolute answer, Divlik let out a laugh that seemed both pleased and somewhat wistful, then spoke.

“Don’t worry, Finn. You’ve seen how the former empress steps up to help people. She won’t sacrifice the servants’ lives to protect her own body.”

“So that’s it?”

Realizing this was all calculated, Finn felt relieved, but still couldn’t fully smile.

“She’s a woman who takes the name of empress to heart. Tell her to die protecting that name.”

Because Divlik’s face that followed was the most painfully contorted Finn had ever seen.

* * *

There was no more way to avoid it.

Rather, now that the date and method were set, the thoughts that had been cluttering Eva’s mind began to organize. After Divlik’s final statement, Eva constantly sat and embroidered the cloak without rest.

If she was going to spend the night with Divlik anyway, it was meaningless to drag out time and leave Hannah and the other servants trembling in fear. Eva tried to complete the embroidery as early as possible.

“Ah…!”

But it wasn’t as easy as she hoped. On the third day of embroidering, Eva, who had been sitting in a chair by the window in her darkened bedroom every day, relying on moonlight to embroider, stopped as the needle pricked her finger. Her swollen left finger, pricked countless times by the needle, revealed Eva’s urgency.

“What should I do……”

Eva looked up at the moon with her hands resting briefly on her knees. Even though the situation had cleared her mind of distracting thoughts, Eva’s heart wasn’t completely at ease.

“What should I do, Leon? What should I do?”

Being held by someone—for something she had resisted even at the cost of her life—wasn’t actually as big a deal to Eva as she had thought. Whether it was simply satisfying lust or proving conquest, it would pass if she just closed her eyes once. But…… she kept thinking of Leon……

“Leon……”

The nail marks on Leon’s palms from trying his best to hold back lest his instincts hurt Eva. Leon’s blue eyes revealing his desire for Eva that he couldn’t hide. Leon’s long trembling fingers carefully touching her cheek with her permission, and the warmth felt from Leon’s soft skin.

As the nights alone grew longer after Fabian disappeared, she kept thinking of these things.

—Do you know? You always have this scent of water. A warm, clean fragrance that only a chaste maiden would have.

As if she had returned to that day when she had no experience, everything made her hesitate.

“Eva……”

At the voice that suddenly came after she sighed deeply, Eva jumped up in surprise. Turning her head toward the voice, Eva felt as if she had encountered a ghost.

“You’re safe.”

Deep green eyes glittering in the faint moonlight. It was Fabian.

“I missed you, Eva.”

It was an impossible situation. According to Divlik, Fabian should have been at Elan Castle. However, the person emerging from the darkness now was indeed Fabian. It wasn’t a ghost or a hallucination.

Five years. For a full five years, she had faced those green eyes, rippling with desire and fear, every day.

Yet, despite this, the strangely unfamiliar feeling she had from not seeing this person for just a short while—was it because she hated him, wanted to forget him, wanted to turn away from him? Seeing Fabian appear in an unexpected place in an unexpected way, Eva was so surprised that she sat up but couldn’t make a sound.

Meanwhile, Fabian slowly approached Eva. As she retreated hesitantly, Eva stumbled against the bed and fell onto it. Fabian placed his hand on Eva’s cheek, naturally laid her down on the bed, and tried to kiss her as if he had done so just yesterday.

“What are you doing!”

Eva pushed Fabian away with all her might and climbed onto the bed to avoid him. Fabian rolled onto the floor briefly, then got up, put his knee on the bed, and glared fiercely at Eva.

“What are you doing? Why, don’t you want to kiss me anymore? Don’t tell me you’ve been sleeping with that man?”

Of course, she knew Fabian wasn’t the type to worry about how Eva had been living all this time just because he had appeared. But to so predictably ask first about whether she had slept with Divlik.

It wasn’t even worth answering.

When Eva avoided answering, Fabian pounced on top of her and tried to remove her nightgown. Despite his pretty face, feminine appearance, and skinny build, along with his lack of interest in physical activities, Eva couldn’t stop his hands with force.

“Stop it! What are you doing!”

Ignoring whatever Eva said, Fabian roughly pushed her hands away and mercilessly grabbed both sides of her nightgown straps, pulling them down. As Eva’s full br*asts were revealed in the moonlight, he examined them from various angles, kneading them with his delicate, woman-like hands—hands that made her feel like insects were crawling on her skin every time they touched, despite countless nights together.

Still not satisfied, Fabian lifted Eva’s nightgown skirt, finally removed her underwear, and spread her legs with all his might as if to tear her crotch. Though there was nothing to see now, Fabian, with his green eyes sparkling, spread open her dry p*ssy with his fingers and carefully examined inside, with no resistance. He pressed with his fingers to check for any signs of abrasion, even smelled it, and after completing his self-serving inspection, smiled at Eva with a childlike face he only showed when he was in an extremely good mood.

“You’ve been safe and well. I’m relieved, Eva.”

Eva had so many thoughts rushing through her mind at once that she didn’t even know what expression to make.

Safe? Do I look safe to you? Like this?

“How…… did you get here……”

Eva forced her mouth to open, though the words barely came out, and asked Fabian, who was kneeling properly on the bed. Even if he had managed to evade people’s eyes and enter Hael, it seemed impossible that he could enter the empress’s bedroom in the inner castle, of all places.

Fabian answered with a triumphant face, as if expecting praise,

“You probably didn’t know, but there’s a secret passage to the empress’s bedroom. I came through there.”

It wasn’t important to Eva how Fabian had sneaked into this room. She couldn’t understand why Fabian, who had abandoned her long ago as if her well-being didn’t matter at all, appeared only now with such a happy face, smiling as if he had been worried about her.

Understanding? What understanding? When had Fabian’s behavior ever been understandable?

Eva had been locked in the tower for nearly half a year by Fabian’s order, but she never knew or heard the reason. Fabian, always like this, was a year younger than Eva yet so self-centered that even someone eleven years younger wouldn’t act that way. Even his emotions changed every second without any consistent standard, jumping here and there.

“My brother said it would be better to leave you here, so I followed his advice. But I found I couldn’t live without you. So I risked my life to come get you, Eva.”

If there was one predictable answer from Fabian’s mouth, it was “because my brother told me to.”

This incompetent emperor had never once disobeyed his brother. It had been that way since before Eva entered this castle. He even followed his brother’s decision to leave Eva behind. This man had truly placed all decisions about himself in his brother’s hands.

Who was the real emperor? Why had Joseph abdicated and given the throne to his younger brother? Was Fabian content with just bearing the name of emperor, even if it was just an empty title? These questions always remained in Eva’s mind.

“Let’s get out of here, Eva. I’ve prepared a carriage for us. If we hurry now, we can reach the Western Grand Duchy before sunrise. You’ll be safe there.”

Eva felt anger surge within her as Fabian pulled her hand, trying to get her off the bed.

Escape? From here now? What would happen to those left behind if I disappeared?

“I will not go.”

“What?”

“Didn’t you flee to save your life, leaving all these people behind? Do you know how many lives were endangered because of that? Go and protect your own life until the end. I will protect my people here no matter what I have to do.”

Eva revealed her hostility toward Fabian exactly as she felt it, because of his appearance that showed not even a speck of seriousness despite losing the empire, and remained unchanged despite the situation.

Your foolishness has endangered the lives of people in the castle. If you had intended to take me, you should have taken me from the beginning.

Meeting Fabian’s gaze head-on lasted only a moment. At his murmured question, spoken as if to himself, Eva froze.

“What do you mean by ‘no matter what’……”