Crash.
The next afternoon. Through the crack of the tightly closed emperor’s office door, the sound of a glass bottle shattering loudly leaked out.
“Eek!”
Along with Hannah’s short scream.
The source of the sound must have been there, as an unidentifiable small glass bottle lay shattered into pieces in front of Eva’s feet. Divlik, with eyes that could not bear his anger, asked Eva, who was covering her eyes.
“Why? You hate seeing someone die but you also hate giving yourself to me, so are you trying to poison me with this opportunity?”
Divlik’s voice was so loud it seemed to tear as he shouted with all his might, causing Finn, who had been sitting at the auxiliary desk, to stand up and approach Divlik.
“Lord Divlik, perhaps you should calm down a bit……”
“I asked if she came looking for a way to kill me since she can’t escape from me!”
“How could that be possible, Lord Divlik.”
Eva took a moment to steady her startled breath before answering. The broken medicine bottle that left a dark stain on the floor near where Eva’s feet had stopped was something she had brought.
Unlike her claim that she had only learned a little by watching her father, Mia knew every herb by name. So Eva asked Mia to find herbs good for the throat. While they wouldn’t completely cure his throat, they would help reduce the sizzling sound heard whenever he spoke and ease the pain.
“Among the women who arrived yesterday, there was a skilled herbalist. She made it into a tea-like brew and said you should drink it once a day……”
It was purely out of goodwill toward Divlik that she had asked for herbs and brought the medicine. She thought it wouldn’t be good for Divlik’s voice, who’s soon to be emperor, to be disturbing even to street women, but…
Despite Eva’s detailed explanation, even listing the name of the herbs, Divlik’s anger showed no signs of subsiding as he believed Eva couldn’t possibly show him kindness.
“You want me to believe that? You, who hate spending a night with me more than death?!”
Hannah burst into tears with hiccups at Divlik’s rage, and even Eva’s lips trembled slightly.
Finn was equally surprised by his behavior. Divlik wasn’t the type of man to explode in anger like this in the first place, and there was usually a stage where his anger built up gradually, allowing Finn to intervene before he started shouting as if his throat would tear.
“Lord Divlik, your throat will get worse at this rate. Please calm down a little and……”
But now there was no time to intervene. Divlik, who had greeted Eva with a relaxed face, displayed explosive anger that seemed capable of burning everyone present shortly after Eva offered the medicine bottle.
“What should we do? Eva…… there’s blood……”
In the midst of this, a fragment from the broken glass bottle must have bounced up from the floor, as blood was visible from Eva’s right ankle. Hannah didn’t know what to do, insisting it needed immediate treatment, but out of fear, she kept watching Divlik’s reaction and couldn’t readily reach out to Eva.
“Tell me, former empress. For what reason did you bring such a thing!”
“It wasn’t poison, Lord Divlik.”
“If not, did you truly worry about me? Me, who not only took your body but also devoured your empire so you could no longer be empress?”
Could his intensity increase even more from there? Now Divlik’s anger grew fiercer, as if it would consume the hallway beyond the office. Even Eva could barely respond while holding her breath.
“I thought it might help……”
“Ha!”
Divlik laughed mockingly at Eva’s words without even listening to her fully. He was so angry that his voice had a sizzling quality from the heat of his rage, making his words difficult to understand.
“What help? Do I look like I need any help? And you dare, a deposed empress of a fallen country, to worry about the condition of my throat?”
As if he found it unbearably ridiculous, Divlik laughed so hard his body shook.
“How could it not be poison? If not that…… why? Are you trying to win my heart? Have you decided you want to secure the position of empress since you’ll be in my bed anyway? Ah…… Did those words about your son possibly becoming emperor sound that appealing to you? Surely not?”
Eva firmly closed her lips to hide her trembling at Divlik’s terrible contempt.
“Don’t misunderstand, former empress. Do you think someone wants to share affection with you? How presumptuous of you to try to win my heart when you’re only meant for the bed, like those women who entered the castle yesterday. Do I look like your servants who pledge loyalty without knowing anything just because some noble pays attention to them?”
“Lord Divlik, at this rate, blood will come from your throat. Please calm down. Would the deposed empress really attempt an obvious poisoning that wouldn’t work?”
Finn couldn’t understand why Divlik’s judgment had become so clouded. A woman who hadn’t batted an eye at anything Divlik said until now wouldn’t suddenly pretend to see well. From the beginning, there was no way this bottle contained poison. Who would use poison so openly?
Finn was worried about Divlik’s throat condition as he spoke with so much force that veins bulged at his temples, and tried to calm him down somehow, but to no avail.
Divlik rose from his seat with such force that his chair tumbled backward, then brushed past Finn and approached Eva. The pressure emanating from Divlik as he strode forward heavily pressed down the air, causing Eva to momentarily hold her breath as Divlik grabbed her chin.
“Do what you’re supposed to do, former empress. And I want you to scream and cry while tasting the bitterness of defeat as you finally submit to me.”
A burning thirst could be felt from Divlik’s lips as they pounced on Eva’s lips.
Divlik only released Eva’s lips after devouring them for so long that she could barely breathe. As soon as Divlik removed his hand from her face, Eva lost her balance and collapsed to the floor.
Looking down at her, who was breathing heavily, Divlik said,
“That’s right. As if you would bring medicine with the thought of looking good to me now. At best, you were trying to win my favor with such things to gain a few more days. Don’t even hope that the situation might change if you’re given more time. If you don’t want to receive a tray with the head of that child standing next to you as a gift tomorrow, instead of having even that remaining time taken away by such petty tricks.”
Realizing that lingering further would do no good, Hannah gathered her courage and approached Eva.
“Eva, hold onto me and stand up. I’ll attend to you.”
Fortunately, Divlik didn’t stop Hannah’s action. Eva held Hannah’s arm to raise herself, arranged her dress skirt, and then greeted Divlik in a calm voice.
“Lord Divlik, I have committed an offense. There was no intention behind this medicine, so please release your anger.”
Eva turned away, pretending not to notice Divlik’s intense gaze that looked ready to tear her collar apart and pounce on her, not satisfied with just a kiss.
“Eva, your ankle first…… How could he do such a thing……”
Once outside the office, Hannah shed tears again, but Eva smiled weakly.
“It’s my fault.”
“How is it your fault, Eva? You asked one of the women who arrived yesterday to make medicine as soon as the day broke.”
“No. It is indeed my fault.”
Hannah didn’t agree, but Eva repeated the same words. That it was her fault.
* * *
The next day. In the dim light of dawn, Eva opened her eyes lightly as if she had just closed them briefly. In that state, Eva stared blankly at the ceiling covered with vine patterns for a while.
Five years. It had been five years since she became empress, yet this ceiling she faced every day—except when she was imprisoned in the tower by Fabian’s whim or woke up with Fabian in the emperor’s bedroom—still felt unfamiliar to her. Perhaps because she had never once considered this place her own.
Slowly rising from the bed and stepping onto the floor, Eva opened the door and walked out onto the bedroom balcony. As she breathed in the calm, settled dawn air and gazed at the distant green mountains, Eva knelt on the balcony floor where cold dew had settled.
“God, please hear my prayer……”
Eva had never missed a prayer since the day she left her hometown of Florin. Even without formally kneeling and looking up at the sky like this, she never stopped praying to the God who seemed to have abandoned her greedy self long ago.
Knock knock.
Just as Eva was praying with all her heart, someone knocked on her door. Surprised that Divlik might be visiting at this early hour when even the maids weren’t awake, she turned her head, but the door swung open even though Eva hadn’t answered.
“You’re already up.”
It was Finn who entered.
Eva straightened her knees and stood up, moving from the balcony into the bedroom. Finn took large strides toward the balcony.
“Good. You don’t need to dress up, just put on simple clothes and come down to the castle gate. Lord Divlik wishes to receive your farewell before departing.”
- ianthe
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