At Roshan’s question, Yerena relaxed her hands. Afraid of losing his wife’s warmth, Roshan tightened his grip.

Seeing her husband like this, Yerena chuckled and gently scratched his cheek with her fingertips. Her playful touch was full of affection and trust.

“I am curious. But with your temperament, you would have already told me if you wanted to.”

“……”

“I trust you more than anyone else in this world. So I’ll wait. Until you tell me first.”

Ah. What should he say? Roshan could do nothing but close his mouth at his wife’s words.

Seeing her husband at a loss for words, Yerena looked puzzled. Then, freeing her hand from his grip, she now wrapped her arms around her husband’s neck and raised her upper body.

Their soft lips met. A scent sweeter than anything in the world tickled Roshan. As if enchanted, he gently embraced his wife’s back.

The midday heat was intense. The room quickly warmed, and the air settled heavily. With a flushed face, Yerena smiled prettily with her eyes and brought her lips to Roshan’s forehead, then quickly pulled away.

“If your mind is troubled, take a nap. I’ll sing you a lullaby.”

A lullaby sung by his wife. It was something Roshan had taught her. A song about a child who climbed up to catch a star and fell to his death…

The star was his wife. The boy climbing the ladder was himself, Roshan thought as he rose from his seat. Then he gently, carefully lifted his feather-light wife as if afraid she might break.

Soon, a lullaby rang out clearly in the bedroom of the Empire’s most exalted couple. The slow melody seemed to bring peace. But the one listening to the lullaby only trembled his hands with anxiety he couldn’t fully hide, his face buried in his wife’s embrace.

* * *

The Ludeta territory, located at the southern end of the Iren Peninsula in the Vistius Empire, was situated at the very tip of the peninsula that stretched downward. Because of this, House Ludeta often led the charge in repelling enemies from the southern sea of the Empire.

“Move faster! Are the enemies coming?”

“Yes! Follow the lord!”

Frederick, who had returned to his territory about three years ago, faithfully protected the Empire’s sea as the head of his house. His subjects and the people of his territory showed respect and praise for his figure as he wielded spear and sword without regard for his safety, whether on the coastal walls or aboard ships.

“How excellent our lord is. Saying he’s one of the Empire’s finest knights doesn’t do him justice. And his face is so handsome. I’ve never seen a man more handsome than our lord in the territory.”

“You’re right. I hear the women in the territory, regardless of status, are clamoring to see our lord. But……”

“What’s wrong?”

“……Why doesn’t he marry?”

However, there was one thing Frederick’s subordinates worried about, the territory had no mistress. Though the lord was still young, most noble men his age already had several children. But their lord, excellent in many ways, didn’t even glance at women, let alone have children.

“Could it be because he stayed in the capital for so long? He must have seen too many beauties. That’s why the women here don’t catch his eye.”

“If that were the case, he wouldn’t reject all the marriage proposals coming from the capital.”

“Old William’s face grows thinner by the day. That must be why.”

As Frederick showed no interest in women whatsoever, bizarre rumors even circulated in the territory that the lord preferred men. As the situation progressed this far, his vassals presented suitable women, from their own daughters to distant relatives, before the lord, insisting he must marry. But the lord, who had a difficult temperament from birth, let their words go in one ear and out the other, escaping to the deck where battles were taking place.

“You vermin! I’ll kill all of you someday.”

“Urk!”

Pirates, whose numbers had already decreased since Emperor Roshan Vistius’s ascension, were quick to flee when they encountered Frederick. The lord of Ludeta, who showed no mercy, took their lives without hesitation.

“P-please spare me……”

“You should have said that before I arrived. I clearly said before. If you came voluntarily to confess your crimes, I would end it with forced labor.”

Today was no different. Avoiding his vassals’ nagging, Frederick had come to a coastal village and was swinging his spear, destroying a pirate stronghold. Each time his spear and blonde hair flashed in the sunlight, the pirate group fell helplessly like leaves caught in the wind.

“Your Grace. The cleanup is complete. We will hang those we’ve captured as an example as soon as we arrive.”

“Good. Well done.”

“I’ll withdraw now. Please rest!”

After the bloody battle ended, a subordinate who had finished the situation reported. The bow of the ship turned back toward land.

On the returning ship, Frederick found himself absentmindedly staring at the sea. Then, as the sunlight sparkled on the water’s surface, he involuntarily recalled someone.

“D*mn it.”

Frederick bit his lip and spat out harsh words. As soon as his blood cooled, he was thinking of ‘that woman.’ He found himself disgusting.

‘She’s my lord’s woman and one of the people I should serve. Yet still……”

Looking at the sea rippling with golden light, he naturally thought of Empress Yerena, the companion of his lord. When not focused on something, Frederick unconsciously pictured her. And this fact nearly drove him mad.

‘For the past two years, I’ve been obsessed with a captive woman? We’ll see. Whether it’s real or not.’

After losing his memory, he hadn’t seen Yerena for a while. Then he saw her for the first time at the empress’s investiture ceremony.

‘She’s just a beautiful woman, that’s all.’

Surprised by her beautiful appearance only briefly, Frederick watched her with an expressionless face, arms crossed. She was a woman who could be described as dazzling, but he thought that was all.

However, that evening, the woman who had now fully become his lord’s companion appeared in his dreams, and then tormented him the next day, and the day after. Frederick, disgusted by his impropriety, even tried taking sleeping pills, but to no avail. He pictured the woman even while awake, and at some point, his eyes began following the empress.

‘I wish to return to my territory. Please grant me permission.’

‘Frederick. Unlike your sister, you saved your life.’

‘……’

‘I permit it. Leave tomorrow.’

Realizing where his gaze was directed, Frederick immediately asked his lord for permission to go down to his territory. The emperor granted his subordinate’s request with chilling words.

But even after going down to his territory, Frederick couldn’t forget the empress. So he focused on work with superhuman concentration. He finished backlogged work in just a few months and even personally moved to eradicate pirates.

‘I should get married too, shouldn’t I?’

‘Of course, Your Grace!’

For some time after coming down to his territory, he considered marriage. But no one caught his eye.

‘Her blonde hair is similar.’

More time passed. Frederick realized that at some point, he had begun examining pieces of unfamiliar women’s appearances. And after that, he completely stopped looking for a wife.

“……Thankfully, the memories are gone.”

Frederick spat out the words he had muttered countless times over the past few years once again. And at the same moment, land came into view. He stood up as he looked at the high walls along the beach.

“Your Grace!”

Just as Frederick was disembarking from the ship, a subordinate who had gone to another village on a different ship spotted something with a serious face, then rushed over upon seeing him.

“What is it?”

“Please look at this. Another one like this has appeared among the pirates.”

The subordinate led Frederick. Soon, a dead pirate’s corpse entered his field of vision.

The pirate looked ordinary at first glance. Unwashed clothes, sun-tanned skin underneath, and a body hardened by working at the sea—all similar to countless pirates he had seen before.

But Frederick’s face grew serious as he looked at the pirate’s hands and one bare foot. Between the dead pirate’s fingers and toes were bluish webs. And on the slightly exposed nape of his neck were three or four scales.

‘Mixed races became extinct long ago. But why……’

The dead pirate had characteristics of sirens, or more precisely, of a hybrid between sirens and humans—creatures said to have been exterminated by human persecution long ago.

‘The appearance of mixed races who disappeared beyond the three seas…… Does that make sense? The southern sea of the Empire is endless.’

Mixed races had disappeared from the continent long ago. Thus, sirens and their children with humans were now merely stories and legends.

“……What should we do?”

The subordinate asked cautiously, watching Frederick’s reaction. Frederick gave the same order as before.

“Take it to the scholar. Tell him to preserve it well in the ice cave. I will report to the capital myself.”

“Yes.”

“Keep silent about this for now. The people will be disturbed.”

At Frederick’s instruction, a long cloth was draped over the pirate’s corpse. He watched his subordinates load the body onto a cart before walking away.

“Old William sent word that he’s waiting. He says there’s a guest……”

“Which guest?”

“Viscount Nympha and his daughter have visited.”

“……Here we go again.”

From his subordinate’s hesitation, Frederick could tell that another suitable woman had been brought to the castle. He frowned and was about to lose his temper but managed to restrain himself and turned around.

Knowing Frederick’s temperament, his subordinate followed without further comment. Soon, Frederick and several subordinates arrived at the back of the harbor. This place, where merchants came and went noisily, was the most vibrant area in the territory.