Eva tried to greet Divlik normally, pretending to be fine, but she couldn’t manage it.

“Ahng.”

The drug’s effect was so strong that even the slight vibration from the motion of getting out of bed made her legs give way, and she collapsed to the floor.

“Setting aside how unpleasant and disagreeable this is, it wouldn’t be right to ignore a lady in this condition.”

Divlik approached silently, took Eva’s hand, and pulled her to her feet. Yet he didn’t seem to like Eva’s half-glazed eyes, which were due to the aphrodisiac rather than himself, so he turned her body and embraced her waist from behind.

“Shall I help you?”

The deep voice settling heavily by her ear and Divlik’s solid body enveloping her made Eva completely lose her reason. As Eva let out a deep moan, unable to say whether she liked it or not, Divlik’s hand skillfully lifted her nightgown and entered inside.

“Hnng…… ahng.”

When Divlik’s hand naturally invaded her remaining undergarments and touched near her twitching hole, Eva trembled with an involuntary moan. After briefly playing between her moistened flesh, Divlik’s thick, long fingers entered Eva’s insides, rummaging through her hole as if there was nothing more to wait for.

“Haang.”

Eva was surprised by the moan that escaped her lips, but uncontrollable moans burst forth each time Divlik’s fingers, first one and then two, stimulated her insides as they moved up and down. When a sensation that had been wandering all over her body, tickling here and there, desperately gathered at one point with the help of Divlik’s fingertips, Eva nearly fell forward as her legs gave way, swallowing the breath she couldn’t release.

“I didn’t expect you to enjoy it this much, but you certainly felt it properly.”

Divlik supported Eva’s waist to prevent her from falling and laughed softly by her ear. Needless to say, Eva’s shame pierced the sky as her senses finally returned.

This was no different from actually sleeping together. Eva wished Divlik would enter her right there, through the place his hands had just touched, but Divlik stepped back after confirming that strength had returned to Eva’s legs.

“I expect you to show this kind of reaction in my bed with a clear mind.”

At the sound of the door closing behind her, Eva collapsed to the floor and cried silently, unable to do anything else. She couldn’t bear how pathetic her body felt, responding so eagerly to his touch.

* * *

But the real problem arose the next day. Realizing things had gone wrong, Eva needed to find something else to satisfy Divlik, so she looked for the cloak as soon as she opened her eyes.

“The cloak…… I must finish the cloak quickly……”

She felt she needed to properly complete at least one of the tasks he had given her to make up for last night. If she skipped breakfast and worked on it all day, she might be able to finish it before evening.

“The cloth I was embroidering…… where did it go?”

But the nearly completed cloth was nowhere to be seen. As she lifted the basket to see if it had fallen nearby, she detected the faint scent of lime that always came from Fabian.

Why hadn’t she thought of it? That Fabian might visit this place again.

She thought he might have fled back to Hael after running away from Divlik in fear, but it seemed Fabian was still in Hael.

She couldn’t pinpoint exactly when Fabian had visited her room, but it didn’t seem too long ago. As a man who sometimes watched her sleep in the morning, he might have done so this time too. Then he would have discovered the embroidery with the wolf pattern.

He wasn’t so stupid that he wouldn’t recognize the purpose of the embroidery from its size. And he must have known about Divlik’s coronation date, which had spread throughout Yarden Empire and the entire continent.

But why now, why today of all days?

“Why now……”

Even as her body remained hot, a chill ran down her spine at the thought that Hannah’s head might be displayed at the city gate tomorrow morning.

What excuse should she make, what should she beg for? How could she revive Divlik’s patience that had already run out once?

“Eva. It’s Hannah. I’m coming in.”

She had been clutching the carpet and struggling for so long that she hadn’t noticed the day had dawned. As time passed, Hannah entered early with morning greetings and a bathtub, unable to meet Eva’s eyes. Her eyes were so swollen that she had clearly been crying all night. Eva couldn’t pretend to smile in front of Hannah like this. But she also couldn’t just sit there helplessly, saying there was nothing she could do.

“Good morning, Hannah.”

“Eva…… huh-huh.”

When Eva greeted her first, Hannah cried like a child, saying she should have died instead, and that Eva had suffered because she couldn’t die. Eva comforted Hannah and made the best effort at grooming that she had never done before.

She put on the cleanest light blue dress suitable for spring, styled her hair with accessories, and didn’t forget the diamond necklace and earrings. She wore elbow-length gloves matching her dress, high heels that clicked with each step, and sprayed heavy rose perfume mixed with musk.

Despite yesterday’s events, she wanted to appear as an attractive woman with whom he could still negotiate over her body.

“Hannah, I’m fine, so please stop crying.”

“Eva…… huh-huh……”

Hannah interpreted Eva’s efforts differently. Like when Eva had distributed her jewels, Hannah thought Eva wanted to stand in her most beautiful form, not knowing when she might die after losing her body.

Eva could have comforted her by saying nothing had happened, but she remained silent. If that fact became known, Divlik would have to kill Hannah to take responsibility for his words. Besides, it was only a matter of time before it would happen, and she didn’t want to give false hope again. If Hannah believed she had another chance, she might once again volunteer to die in Eva’s place.

“That’s enough. I should go to the dining hall before it’s too late.”

Eva lifted her trailing dress and walked hurriedly. Whether it was an unbelievable excuse or whatever else, she had to try everything possible. For Hannah’s sake.

* * *

“I wondered where you were going so early, but here you are.”

Divlik hadn’t slept a single wink either. He never expected Eva to respond so properly to his touch when he had only intended to torment and toy with her. In the end, cooling his heated body without proper s*x, he had to satisfy himself with his hand, something he hadn’t done in a very long time.

Just remembering Eva’s moans as she trembled in his arms made Divlik’s c*ck swell repeatedly. After several releases by his own hand, Divlik could only laugh bitterly as he looked at his finally calmed body.

If it was going to be like this, he should have just taken her.

Walking around the castle didn’t clear his troubled mind. So Divlik left the castle and stood in front of the peach tree until daybreak. The once barren field had been transformed into a peach orchard by diligent farmers during his absence.

“I wondered if peach trees really could grow in Hael, but seeing the blossoms, I can be hopeful.”

“It might not be as good as in the southern regions, but it gets hot here in summer too, doesn’t it?”

Finn, who had rushed here worried about Divlik’s whereabouts, smiled at the peach blossoms that had started to bloom.

“They say the fruit is even sweeter than those from the south because they only bear fruit during one summer season……”

After standing there for a long time looking at those trees, Divlik’s tangled anger had completely disappeared, and he laughed emptily as he recalled Eva’s calm voice telling him about the peach trees here.

He thought perhaps her claim that she would rather die than be taken by someone like him might not be true…… It was amusing to realize he hoped the heat he felt from Eva’s body was a natural response.

“This year the trees need to establish themselves in the soil, so even if they bear fruit, it probably won’t be edible. We’ll have to look forward to next year.”

Seeing Divlik looking more thoughtful than relieved despite achieving his goal, Finn carefully asked,

“Did peach trees grow in your homeland too, Lord Divlik?”

Seeing an indescribable longing in Divlik’s gaze, Finn wondered if there was some tender story connected to these trees and waited, but Divlik didn’t answer. Though he didn’t seem to be appreciating the flowers, Divlik just kept looking at the tree as if there was something else to see.

“This afternoon, the tailor will visit for the final fitting of the clothes you ordered earlier. He made uniform jackets with both the navy and black fabrics you saw before, just in case, so you can try them on and decide.”

“I understand.”

Divlik appeared uninterested even as Finn talked about the coronation.

What’s in that tree?

Curious, Finn also stood beside him and examined the tree for a while, but there was nothing particularly noteworthy except the flowers. Wondering where he had seen such a sorrowful look in Divlik’s eyes before, Finn continued,

“We’ve arranged for the street procession to start from the city gate and circle around Hael city once. For some reason, Dean hasn’t been lazy and has secured dried flowers and high-quality fabrics for decorations. I was thinking perhaps we could have a couple of flower children walking around your carriage, scattering petals.”

“No need to make children suffer unnecessarily. Who would be so happy and celebratory about this coronation?”

“What are you saying, Lord Divlik! I can hear the sounds of people rejoicing over your coronation even from here. Haven’t you gone out to see it before? Those eyes full of expectation for the new emperor.”

Finn wanted to make this coronation one of a kind by doing more and planning grand events. Divlik understood Finn’s feelings but just wanted all these troublesome matters to pass quickly. Once his anger disappeared, only emptiness remained, making everything seem pointless.

“Today, while trying on the clothes, you can also check the cloak. The embroidery for the cloak must be nearly finished by now, right?”

“Judging by the state of her fingertips, it’s probably not far off.”

With his eyes half-closed from a strong gust of wind, Divlik felt he could imagine what these peach blossoms would look like in full bloom without even seeing them.

Yes, in Divlik’s homeland too, there had been these peach trees announcing spring along with the scent of lilac.

—My prayer has been answered.

Recalling Eva’s swollen fingertips, he suddenly wondered what prayer Eva had offered with those hands. What was that prayer that seemed so desperate, that made her look as if she had no more regrets now that it had been answered?