Therefore, when Roshan summoned him to the Blue Palace, the duke made a resolution. Whatever he heard today, he would speak his own thoughts as well. The duke decided to put one foot in Roshan’s faction to prepare for the future.

“Duke, it’s been a while since you’ve been here.”

“Yes, Your Highness. It’s the first time since you stepped down from your position as crown prince.”

Roshan received Duke Day’s greeting arrogantly, standing with his hands behind his back in the reception room. The duke almost forgot his resolution due to his wounded pride from the red eyes looking down at him, but he soon composed himself and sat where Roshan gestured.

After the duke sat down, Roshan offered him a cigar. Though puzzled by this uncharacteristic kindness, the duke accepted it. Roshan lit his own cigar and then the duke’s. Smoke rose between the two men.

“Your Highness. For what reason did you summon this old servant……”

“Duke.”

Just as the duke, who had exhaled through the cigar, was about to speak first, Roshan, who had been staring at him, lowered his cigar-holding hand below his face and cut off his words.

The duke closed his mouth, his Adam’s apple bobbing nervously as Roshan’s red eyes fixed on him. Roshan took another drag of his cigar and placed it on the ashtray. Then he looked at the emblem of House Day pinned to the left side of the duke’s chest. A tower standing before a golden crown. It was an emblem that well represented Duke Day both historically and in the current situation.

Roshan stood up. He went to the table behind him and picked up something from it.

Soon, a bundle of old documents fell next to the ashtray. Roshan pointed to it with a jerk of his chin and spoke,

“Give up on my brother. And return to your territory before those wrinkles increase.”

* * *

Yerena recognized Jane immediately. Although she could only see a figure made of golden light, it seemed that their time together couldn’t be ignored, as she could gauge who it was just by size and movement.

“Jane!”

Calling Jane’s name loudly, Yerena rose from her seat and walked to the doorway. Having not gone outside at all since hearing the man’s inner feelings, in an attempt to avoid him, Yerena felt doubly stifled and was tearfully glad to see Jane.

“It’s been so long.”

Yerena hugged Jane tightly. Jane hesitated but hugged Yerena back and patted her on the back. However, Jane’s expression, which Yerena couldn’t see, was very, very dark.

“Why are you so late? You were gone so long I thought you’d come back tomorrow.”

“There was a carriage accident on the way. My luggage was ruined, and it wasn’t easy to find a new carriage, so I walked and that’s why I’m late.”

“A carriage accident? Are you hurt anywhere? Are you okay?”

Yerena held Jane’s wrist and tried to examine her thoroughly. Then, realizing she couldn’t see, she said with a slightly sad expression,

“Tell me if you’re hurt anywhere. You must.”

“I’m fine. The carriage…… the accident happened when the horse collapsed before the carriage properly departed.”

“You still seem very shocked…… Your voice doesn’t sound good. And your hands are cold.”

Jane bit her lip hard as she looked at Yerena, who held her hand tightly and worried about her. She felt like crying. Pretending to take off her hat, she wiped away her tears with her free hand and imitated a bright voice,

“Stop worrying. Besides, it’s late. It’s time for you to sleep.”

“Already?”

“Yes. It’s almost midnight. Have a warm cup of tea and then go to bed.”

Jane sat Yerena on the couch and went to the shelf to brew tea. Yerena said she wasn’t sleepy and asked Jane to bring her portion too so they could chat a bit. Jane agreed and lit a small brazier to boil water.

Steam rose from the brass kettle, and soon the sound of boiling water was loud. Only then did Jane drop a single tear.

“Here you are. Be careful. It’s hot.”

The tea with yellow flower petals was good for calming. Jane thought that this tea, which she made for Yerena every night, would soon come to an end as she sat across from her.

The glass bottle rattling in her bosom felt cold even though it wasn’t touching her bare skin. Jane firmly held the bottle to stop it from moving and had a late conversation with Yerena.

“I was wide awake earlier because I was so happy to see you…… But suddenly I’m very sleepy.”

“That’s because you’ve been chattering for a while. Come on, time for bed.”

“Alright, Jane.”

After guiding the unsuspecting Yerena to the bedroom, Jane only moved away after confirming that she had covered herself with the blanket and closed her eyes. As she pushed aside the cloth that served as a temporary door and left the bedroom, the space she had shared with Yerena for months was clearly visible even in the darkness.

‘I’ll soon be saying goodbye to this place too.’

Jane looked around the interior with a complicated expression and took slow steps. The couch by the window, the teacups she hadn’t cleared away, the game board she had enjoyed with Yerena—all caught her eye.

But Jane had no choice. For her, doing her worst farewell in front of Yerena soon was the best she could do. Jane wiped her reddened eyes at the door she had already reached, thinking of Yerena who would be hurt because of her in the near future.

Clunk.

Opening the door and coming out, Jane was startled to see a man standing right beside the door and covered her mouth. With his face barely illuminated by a single torch, he wore the same expressionless face as always.

“Your Highness……”

Roshan gestured with his eyes for Jane to move aside. Jane bowed her head and stepped aside. Then the man went inside.

Jane had put a mild sleeping pill in the tea she brought to Yerena on Roshan’s orders. Yerena, who had become sleepy after drinking the tea, fell into a deep sleep as soon as she lay on the bed, so she wouldn’t know even if the man went in now to look at her.

‘I’m sorry, Lady Yerena.’

Jane looked at the closed door, wiped away another tear, and went down the stairs with no strength. Her drooping shoulders cast a long, gloomy shadow on the wall beside the stairs.

* * *

“Aaaah!”

The empress’s piercing scream cut through the duke’s mansion in the capital. However, not a single guard knight or attendant was by her side. Instead, only the corpse of a dead woman and Duke Day with a hardened face stood beside Liliana.

“Fa-Father! Luna…… Luna!”

Liliana burst into tears, looking at her father, unable to even say that her beloved maid had died. Duke Day looked at his daughter, who had become even more childish, thoughtless, and even reckless, then shouted toward the outside,

“Someone come in and clean this up!”

People who hadn’t shown a finger at the empress’s screams rushed in at the duke’s command. They covered Luna’s body with a thick cloth they had prepared in advance and lifted her away. Liliana tried to grab Luna’s hand as she disappeared from her sight, but as soon as the stiff, cold fingers of the corpse touched her, she lowered her hand in horror.

“Why are you acting like this? You’ve seen plenty of similar things before!”

The duke shouted at his daughter. He knew that his daughter had killed innocent lives. But when he properly investigated, the list, excluding animals, filled a whole page densely. Duke Day had been generous to his daughter who resembled his wife, but he cut off his affection for Liliana at the number of people she had killed.

“Are they the same as her? It’s Luna! She grew up with me!”

Liliana, apparently unaware of her father’s mood, sat down and kicked her legs forward while shouting. She looked just like a five-year-old child throwing a tantrum.

At this sight, the duke gritted his teeth. Then without hesitation, he swung his hand toward his daughter.

Slap.

“Ah!”

“Your childish behavior ends now!”

Duke Day shouted after slapping Liliana’s cheek. Having struck others countless times but never been hit herself, Liliana looked dazed, forgetting even to speak.

“How dare you! Though I’m your child, I am the empress of this empire! The empress! Yet you hit me like an animal?”

After opening and closing her mouth silently like a fish out of water, she finally shouted. The duke flinched at his daughter’s eyes, which looked as though they might roll back at any moment. But he soon raised his hand again and struck her other cheek.

Smack. With even more force than before. Liliana nearly fell backward but barely supported herself with both hands on the floor.

“You still don’t understand your mistake? Attempted poisoning within the imperial palace. Don’t you truly understand that bringing poison into this place is a capital offense!”

“She’s just a prisoner!”

“……”

“How is it any different from all the others who have died?”

Liliana said with an aggrieved voice, her cheeks reddened. The duke clenched his fist tightly. All the others who have died…. He knew his daughter sometimes mistreated animals and was occasionally excessive with servants. But the number…… He truly hadn’t known the number was so great.

At most, he thought she was cruel only two or three times when she couldn’t control her temper. When she stayed at the ducal mansion, she usually remained docile for months if given a bird to hold.

Besides, look at that face. The duke had been internally denying that his daughter, who had a face like a flower resembling his wife, could have such traits.

“You foolish thing.”

The duke barely contained his disgust toward his daughter and instead showed anger. Not showing contempt toward one’s child—this was the result of maximizing his denial.

“I heard the Crown Prince warned you before. Didn’t he tell you not to touch the Sedas princess?”

“……”