“You forgive me so quickly?”

But Mia, rising to her feet with Eva’s help, widened her eyes as if she couldn’t believe Eva’s actions.

Eva had expected gratitude—thank you for saving me, bowing her head to the point of servility to express her thanks. But Mia, without a single word of gratitude, merely expressed surprise. Eva found Mia’s behavior both puzzling and somehow familiar.

Where had she seen this before? Had Mia perhaps once come to Florin with her father in search of good flowers?

“You truly are a wonderful person, Eva!”

Mia exclaimed with renewed admiration, maintaining that expression while speaking in an enigmatic voice that made it impossible to tell whether she meant it as a compliment or criticism.

“For now, go back to the east annex where you’ve been staying. Lord Divlik will decide in what capacity you will remain here.”

Though Eva had acted out of understanding for Mia’s feelings, she couldn’t easily smile at Mia as if nothing had happened. Feeling she could no longer face her with a smile, Eva concluded the conversation and turned away, but Mia seemed to have more to say.

“Surely you were a good person even before becoming empress?”

Despite verbally asking for forgiveness, Mia seemed unaware that she had caused Eva trouble, continuing to compare herself with Eva as before. She spoke with a voice that couldn’t bear the envy of Eva’s birth, circumstances, and even her kind nature.

When Eva paused and turned her head, Mia had already approached to stand right in front of her. Mia removed the cloth covering Eva’s eyes and caressed Eva’s finely textured hair, which was braided and hung down on one side.

“You maintained such glossy hair, slept in a good bed, and grew up taking men’s consideration for granted, didn’t you?”

Eva could read in Mia’s voice that she envied Eva to the point of madness. Her hand touching Eva’s hair seemed as if she wanted to cut off Eva’s golden hair entirely if possible. As if Eva’s luscious hair held value like gold.

Though it was merely a woman, not a man, simply touching her hair, Eva felt chills run down her spine.

“I envy you. Without being under Grand Duke Joseph’s body, I couldn’t even dream of the bed you still sleep in now.”

Mia directly expressed her envy and even smiled, but Eva couldn’t smile back. She couldn’t explain it in words. Mia’s appearance, which awakened an inexplicably chilling sensation, seemed both strange and familiar.

“It’s an honor that someone like me has something to teach you.”

Honor. Was it truly an honor? Mia did seem genuinely happy. Happy that she could be of help to Eva.

“But do you really need to learn from me? Eva, you would only need to show a little of this soft skin in front of the man you wish to seduce.”

Mia reached out to Eva and stroked her collarbone, slightly exposed above her dress. When Eva startled and stepped back at Mia’s action, Mia laughed.

“Anyway, I’ll definitely be helpful. The other women might not have known, but His Highness Joseph favored me the most among them. He said I was quite enjoyable to embrace.”

The woman who had once wept after falling victim to Joseph’s schemes, losing her virginity and painfully serving Grand Duke Joseph at night, now proudly boasted of that very experience. The extreme contrast that seemed impossible to come from one person reminded Eva of someone from her memories. This was the familiar feeling—the sense of recognition.

—Hurry, hurry, tell me you love me. I said hurry up and tell me you love me!!

Mia had the exact same face as someone utterly selfish and endlessly twisted—precisely like Fabian.

* * *

When Eva appeared in the dining hall as the evening sun was setting, she wore a dress that exposed her shoulders and upper chest. It was the very dress that Divlik had torn the front of just a day before, ordering design changes to expose her chest and shoulders.

The dress not only revealed her upper chest clearly but seemed as if it might show more with the slightest carelessness, yet Eva wore it without concern. Rather, if such an accident happened through carelessness, it might serve as greater temptation.

“That dress is already completed.”

“Andre knew I had no proper clothes to wear and said he would send them one by one as they were completed. This dress was finished first, so it was delivered just before dinner, and I wore it. Do you like it?”

Divlik, who had already taken his seat and was waiting for the meal, glanced at Eva’s appearance and frowned.

He had thought she might look like nothing more than a lady from a fallen noble family, with no trace of ever having been empress, but rather than appearing cheap, she looked sensual…… Revealing her skin only highlighted the fullness of Eva’s br*asts, enhancing her feminine charm.

“It…… suits you well.”

Divlik wanted to make his compliment sound like mere politeness to anyone listening, but he had already faltered at the word “well,” his breath catching.

As he had thought before, tormenting Eva this way was worse than not doing it at all. Eva’s fair skin was that captivating. After being so shaken at the hot springs, he had again done something to shake himself—and finding his mouth dry despite harboring even greater animosity than before was absurd, making Divlik smile bitterly.

“Finn.”

“Yes…… Yes? Yes! Lord Divlik!”

Finn was so flustered that he repeated his response several times to Divlik’s call. He slightly avoided Divlik’s eyes. He seemed embarrassed about being caught staring at Eva in a daze, but Finn’s expressions were particularly transparent in front of Divlik, so it couldn’t be hidden.

“What do you think? Modest clothes are nice, but aren’t clothes like these pleasing to the eye?”

“They are pleasing…… What? No, I mean, if Lord Divlik is pleased, that’s what matters.”

Finn, who had answered as if he might propose marriage if Eva smiled at him right now, shook his head several times and fixed his gaze on his plate. Divlik watched Finn’s reason and instinct battle before looking around.

“At least other men seem to find your appearance seductive.”

The servants standing nearby also seemed to struggle as they forcibly tore their eyes away from Eva.

Eva exuded a strange aura—appearing extremely clean and pure while simultaneously seeming capable of embracing any man. She seemed untouchable yet touchable, unattainable yet attainable. The charm of Eva, where girl and woman coexisted, intensified as her immaculately pure body was revealed.

She was excessively pristine and intensely captivating.

“The only one I wish to seduce is you, Lord Divlik.”

Though Divlik knew Eva was doing this deliberately because he had told her to try to seduce him, his lips parted slightly at her words.

“Did that woman teach you to say such things?”

“I’m not particularly learning anything from Mia.”

“Why not? She’s the girl I kept here for that purpose.”

Divlik took several gulps of wine from his glass to cool the rising heat.

Now was not the time to be shaken by Eva’s unexpected appearance. All preparations for the coronation had been completed today. It was uncertain whether Joseph would allow Divlik to ascend to the throne or plot something else beforehand. Though observing the women Joseph had sent revealed nothing special, this was a time requiring the utmost vigilance, and he needed to consider whether impulsively keeping one of Joseph’s women had been wise.

He also needed to discover why that woman had been so desperate to remain here, even resorting to lies.

“Mia had to seduce men who came seeking her from the beginning, and satisfy men who came determined to find satisfaction. I thought that didn’t match my situation.”

“Isn’t it similar?”

“Similar, you say?”

“Because I too want what a man seeking a woman wants.”

Eva, apparently eager to make a good impression on Divlik, asked with an uncharacteristic slight smile on her lips.

“Does that mean you already desire me?”

Divlik should have smiled back. He should have laughed off Eva’s question, saying hadn’t he told her many times that he wanted to possess her? Even Eva’s question was meant lightly.

A simple question—did he desire her body?

But perhaps because of the shy smile lingering on Eva’s lips, Divlik heard Eva’s question about desire differently. It sounded as if she were asking if he wanted Eva beyond simply taking her body, momentarily leaving him speechless.

Recalling what kind of woman Eva was, and how just moments before he had been glaring at her with murderous intent, Divlik found it absurd that Eva’s question now seemed to ask about his true feelings, and he silently gazed at her for a moment.

My true feelings.

“Yes.”

Divlik swallowed a bitter smile that no one would notice and displayed a composed smile. Attributing such meaning to a meaningless smile—this was why he had dragged out the simple act of taking Eva until now.

“I’ve told you many times. I want you to willingly come to my arms.”

“If you desire me in any way, then I have nothing to learn from Mia. Seduction may be difficult for me, but I’m somewhat confident in other aspects.”

“You seem quite certain.”

“I’ve…… heard that I’m quite enjoyable to embrace, even without much effort on my part.”

“Pfft. Kak, kak-kak.”

At Eva’s direct expression—”enjoyable to embrace”—Finn choked on his water and sputtered.