“Lies.”

Divlik slowly raised his hand toward Eva’s face but clenched his fist in midair without touching her. He returned to himself the very words he had spoken to Eva so many times.

Lies.

The claim that he had become curious was a lie.

—But why didn’t you kill her immediately when you saw her?

Because it wasn’t that kind of anger…… it wasn’t the kind of hatred that could be satisfied by simply killing her.

The reason Divlik hadn’t killed Eva immediately upon seeing her was this: after digging himself out from under the pile of soil that had buried his entire body, whether sleeping, eating, briefly laughing in conversation with someone, or facing a beautiful landscape, Divlik couldn’t escape his hatred for Eva for even a moment.

His resentment and lamentation for Eva burned his chest black every night. Even in sleep, he would often wake from the pain of something pressing on his chest, and he would recall Eva turning her back on him callously and boarding the carriage. So, each time, he would grind his teeth and vow. He would make Eva kneel and feel every bit of pain he had felt.

And yet.

—I wish for death.

Eva, who should have been smiling with happiness when they first met, who should have cried as her happiness was taken away by my appearance…

—Are you saying you would keep your vow of fidelity to your lord, even at the risk of death?

She asked for death under the pretext of maintaining fidelity to the emperor.

Why? Weren’t you the woman who went so far as to kill me to become empress? Why would such a woman say she would die for Fabian, who abandoned her and can no longer be emperor?

What had seemed so clear suddenly became completely unclear.

Whenever Eva showed the kind and wise face of the Eva I had known…… whenever I faced that face that had once been the object of my every gaze, whether my eyes were open or closed…… my resolve to tear her apart and see her endless regret would waver.

Say it was a dream, that Eva never abandoned me…… even if it was true that she left, tell me some desperate lie to survive, I’ll believe it. Say it was a momentary mistake, blinded by the position of empress, that you regret that choice—beg and cry.

Instead, I repeatedly felt the urge to beg Eva myself.

—We were lovers. Until she drove me to death because she wanted to become empress, we were lovers like no others in the world.

Because we were more than lovers like no others in the world. Because for Divlik, Eva was the reason for all life, the beginning and the end. Even this journey of revenge, all of it.

—I love you, Leon. I love you.

So…… did I pity her? The woman who killed me fearing I might threaten her position as empress? Did I hope for Eva’s regret for something that couldn’t be overlooked? Why? Because I thought we could return to the past where we held each other in our arms?

“You mustn’t die like this, Eva.”

Divlik raised his hand and stroked near Eva’s neck wound. With that action, the scar on his own neck hurt, though it shouldn’t have stung or pained him.

“If you die, it should be by my hand, Eva.”

His grip on Eva’s neck tightened as his own neck hurt more.

—I, who shouldn’t even be alive…… asked God for forgiveness.

No, Eva. You should ask forgiveness from me, not God. To try to die in front of me because you can no longer ask God for forgiveness, did you think I would let you go like that?

“I cannot let you go. I cannot let you go anywhere.”

Is the revenge over? Not at all. I haven’t even revealed to you who I am. I must see it, must hear it. Your screams, your lamentations, your despair when you learn who the new emperor is who has made you no longer empress.

* * *

As Divlik opened the door to Eva’s bedroom where she slept and stepped out, Mia, who had been leaning against the corridor wall near the door, approached.

“Leaving already? I thought you would take longer, so I was considering coming back later.”

“What are you doing here in the middle of the night?”

“I came to check on Miss Eva’s neck. I was worried that if the bleeding started again, it would be serious. But when I saw you go in, I thought it would take time, so I was hesitating whether to come back later.”

Mia found it strange that Divlik had entered a woman’s bedroom in the middle of the night and then left without doing anything else.

“As if I would embrace a woman who just tried to die.”

“Where I used to live, men would embrace even dying women if they wanted to.”

With those words about dying women, Mia fidgeted with her left wrist. The few clear scars there suggested that she herself had been that dying woman.

When Divlik, who had no particular interest in Mia’s story, closed his mouth and tried to brush past her, Mia stopped him.

“What about me, Lord Divlik?”

Divlik stopped walking and turned his eyes to look at Mia. Under the moonlight filtering through the dark corridor window, Mia’s purple eyes, the same as Eva’s, sparkled.

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve been told I look a lot like Miss Eva. Though to say we look alike, I could hardly even follow her shadow. Still, at least in the bedroom, I should be sufficient as her substitute.”

Mia continued, draping her light blonde hair over one shoulder, the same color as Eva’s.

“You must have a man’s desires, Lord Divlik, and Miss Eva is rather difficult to embrace freely, isn’t she?”

“Difficult?”

“Because she’s…… bedridden.”

Mia seemed to think that all of Eva’s suffering, screaming, and suicide attempt were due to her night with Divlik. If that were true, it would certainly be difficult. What a woman, unable to bear the shame of being in the conqueror’s arms, causing a commotion by wanting to die and becoming bedridden.

“So I thought if you embraced me instead, it might be better……”

“Do I look like I need a substitute?”

Divlik sneered at Mia’s words. At Divlik’s cold response, Mia bowed her head deeply in apology, as if she might kneel and prostrate herself at any moment.

“I have committed an offense. Please forgive me, Lord Divlik.”

“There’s nothing difficult about it.”

Eva’s condition wasn’t because of her night with Divlik, but even if it were, there would be nothing difficult about Divlik’s bedding Eva. If she tried to die because of it, he would simply save her and embrace her again.

“I am the emperor of this empire, am I not? Don’t say unnecessary things and just focus on healing Eva’s eyes.”

Because that’s why I became emperor.

* * *

Morning sunlight sparkled on the dew-covered leaves, welcoming the cart entering the mountain path. It was a cart loaded with apple boxes that Charlotte had hitched a ride on. Once they crossed this mountain, they would soon see the towering Frentz Castle and Hael in the distance.

How happy she’ll be when she learns that Lord Leon is alive. Miss, please wait just a little longer.

Charlotte sat on the bumpy cart with a happy heart, rubbing her b*ttocks that felt like they were developing calluses, and adjusted her position.

“Miss. Let’s take a short rest.”

But there, before climbing the properly winding mountain path, the farmer pulling the cart stopped.

“Here? We’re almost at Hael.”

“You seem to have urgent business with the miss, so we’ve been pushing hard for two days. The children need to rest a bit too.”

Though she desperately wanted to deliver the good news as quickly as possible, there was nothing she could do. While the farmer released the horses to drink water at a nearby stream, Charlotte also approached the stream.

“Ah! I look terrible!”

Kneeling down to refresh herself, Charlotte was startled when she saw her reflection in the water. If she went to the castle like this, she would undoubtedly be mistaken for a beggar who had stolen expensive clothes and would be chased away without even getting a chance to explain why she had come. Charlotte carefully washed her face in the clear water.

“Come to think of it, what business do you have in Hael, miss? Are you going to see the coronation?”

“I didn’t know there was a coronation. There’s someone there I need to deliver an important message to.”

“Someone to deliver an important message to?”

Charlotte looked at the densely wooded mountain path and sighed briefly.

“Yes. There’s someone who’s suffering without knowing anything, but who will smile when I deliver this message.”

On her way here to tell Eva that Leon was alive, Charlotte still hadn’t heard any particular news about Eva. While she was relieved that Eva was still alive, she worried about how the Blue Wolf, who was said to torment women, and their leader were treating Eva.

If she’s suffering more than she did in Emperor Fabian’s arms…… I shouldn’t have left her. Anyway, getting into the castle will be a challenge. They won’t let me in just because I say I’m looking for Eva. I wonder if my excuse that I was originally Eva’s lady’s maid and that the war ended while I was briefly visiting my hometown will work.

“Hello, pretty miss.”

While she was pondering, a strange man whose appearance she hadn’t noticed approached Charlotte and casually put his arm around her shoulders.

“What are you doing!”

“Hey~! Stay still if you don’t want your neck to fly off.”

When she looked toward the farmer with startled eyes, there was another man in shabby clothes holding a knife to the farmer’s neck. Just as Charlotte was thinking of the word “bandits,” a group wielding axes and hammers emerged from the mountains.

“P-please spare me. I’ll give you all the apples.”

“What would we do with these apples? Hand over your money!”

“I’m on my way to sell the apples, so I don’t have any money. Please spare me.”

While the men searched the cargo, not believing the farmer’s words, the man who had put his arm around Charlotte’s shoulders slightly lifted the hem of her dress.

“Eek!”

“I’m more interested in this than money.”

“Please spare me!”

“Who’s killing you? What use would it be to kill such a pretty miss?”

The man revealed severely rotten teeth as he smiled lecherously.

Charlotte was ready to bite her tongue and die rather than suffer such a terrible fate, but then she wondered who would deliver this news to Eva if she died, so she couldn’t do anything.

At that moment, the faint sound of horses galloping came from beyond the mountain and began to grow closer.

“Hiyah!”

Charlotte prayed that someone would appear to help them, and miraculously, a man with black hair appeared through the trees, his black eyes, matching his hair color, shining brightly.