After entrusting Violet to the nanny at the Peshar Imperial Palace, Evelyn walked through the garden. A knight and maid followed behind her as she walked. When she went to the bathroom, only the maid followed, but the surveillance was intense.

She never expected the Empress Dowager to personally visit her through that surveillance. In the Emperor’s reception room, Evelyn looked up at the Empress Dowager sitting in the seat of honor.

The Empress Dowager had a maid brew tea, and soon black tea was placed in front of Evelyn. The Empress Dowager had come during a time when Jenkins was busy with state affairs. The high-quality black tea had a very pleasant aroma.

However, wasn’t this the same Empress Dowager who had threatened her with poisoning? It couldn’t be safe.

“…Jenkins declared that he would free the Astian sl*ves. I think that was Evelyn’s wish, wasn’t it?”

“Jenkins said he would do it for Violet’s sake.”

“Hmm? Is that so?”

“…Yes.”

The Empress Dowager glanced at the black tea that Evelyn wasn’t drinking. She smiled coldly and touched the black tea placed in front of herself.

“Come back to the harem, Evelyn.”

“…Jenkins won’t let me go. I can’t go there on my own.”

“Then drink that black tea.”

“…”

When Evelyn still didn’t touch it, the Empress Dowager drank the black tea in front of her and said:

“If you want Violet to be safe.”

“!”

When Evelyn frowned and looked at the Empress Dowager, she shrugged her shoulders.

“My authority doesn’t exist only in the harem. I’m the Emperor’s mother. Do you think there’s anyone in the Emperor’s palace who would defy me?”

“…”

Evelyn looked at the teacup indifferently. Poisoning. However, she felt relieved thinking that even if she died, Jenkins would protect Violet.

Warm spring. She remembered the day she had left Jenkins. It seemed to be the same season as now… For some reason, the weather seemed particularly nice today.

Thinking about what she had done, she could understand why Jenkins couldn’t trust her. If Hector hadn’t taken her out of the Cold Palace, she would have died at a young age. Evelyn picked up the teacup with her hand. She slowly brought it to her lips when the reception room door burst open violently.

An angry Jenkins rushed in and snatched the cup from Evelyn’s hand. Then he threw it on the floor. The sound of the teacup breaking echoed as he glared at the Empress Dowager.

“Mother…”

The Empress Dowager looked at her son with panicked eyes, seemingly ready to k*ll her. The Dowager’s maid trembled. Knights surrounded the Empress Dowager and her maid.

“…T*rture the maid to find out what was put in the black tea.”

“Yes.”

“And I will strip Mother of her Dowager’s authority and treat her like a criminal. Don’t let her take a single step out of the Dowager’s palace. All the maids too.”

Max bowed his head and dragged the Empress Dowager away like an arrest. As she was being dragged away, the Empress Dowager shouted:

“Jenkins! Evelyn brings you no benefit! You should k*ll that girl and make another woman Empress!”

After the shouting Empress Dowager left, the reception room was quiet. In the quiet atmosphere, Jenkins looked down at Evelyn.

“…Were you trying to die?”

“It wasn’t my intention. Jen…”

However, Evelyn couldn’t say more. Jenkins was choking her neck.

“If you want to die, I’ll let you die.”

His hand tightly squeezed her neck. Even while gasping for breath, Evelyn didn’t try to remove his hand. When she closed her eyes without any resistance, the strength in his hand gradually weakened. When his hand loosened, Evelyn coughed violently.

Jenkins grabbed Evelyn by the collar and lifted her up. Their noses came close enough that she could smell his scent. Jenkins spoke to her with a face that looked ready to cry:

“Now that running away doesn’t work, you’re trying to die? Do you want to leave my side that badly?”

“…It’s a misunderstanding. Jenkins, I…”

“If there was poison, you shouldn’t have drunk it. Were you trying to die alone, leaving me and Violet behind?”

Seeing Jenkins’ devastated expression, Evelyn realized she had been terribly wrong. If she had died, Jenkins would have been very sad. More than he was now…

Evelyn said with a flustered face:

“…Sorry. I’m sorry.”

She might have been running away from beginning to end. Even when she first met Jenkins, she had spent only one night and headed to Astia. She had always made the most comfortable choice for herself. She hadn’t considered his feelings when he requested asylum.

She had prioritized her own feelings over Jenkins’ feelings. Thinking that he would live well without her anyway.

Evelyn gripped Jenkins’ clothes tightly.

“I was wrong. Don’t abandon me, Jenkins…”

She was afraid that Jenkins would abandon her over this incident. She hugged his waist, asking him to hold her tight. Fortunately, Jenkins also embraced her. He whispered softly in Evelyn’s ear:

“You always try to abandon me. You don’t care about me at all.”

“…No. That’s not it.”

Was it true? Evelyn was confused. She had just drifted along with the surrounding circumstances. Leaving Jenkins was also part of her decision, so perhaps his words were right.

“Evelyn. I wish you would trust me. I… would be in trouble without you. I might die tomorrow.”

Evelyn’s eyes wavered. She had never thought about Jenkins dying.

“No. Jen…kins.”

“Why? You were trying to die today too, leaving me behind.”

“I won’t… die. I’ll try.”

Evelyn’s chin was lifted by Jenkins’ hand. Evelyn was crying before she knew it, and Jenkins’ index finger wiped away her tears. His cool blue eyes were filled with sadness.

“Evelyn. Remember one thing. I have no intention of abandoning you. I’ll keep you by my side until I die of old age. Understand? So don’t think about leaving my side either.”

“…Yeah. Okay.”

Evelyn nodded blankly. Jenkins chuckled and whispered in her ear:

“I’ll make you the Empress of Peshar. Then even Mother won’t be able to touch you. How about it, can you do it?”

She hadn’t desired such a high position. But she also disliked the idea of another woman sitting in the Empress’s seat, so Evelyn nodded.

“I can do it.”

“Evelyn, there’s something I’ve never said before.”

“?”

“I love you.”

Evelyn’s eyes widened. She threw herself into Jenkins’ arms. Jenkins buried his face in her shoulder. How ironic that his confession was the first.

“…I love you too.”

Evelyn had told Jenkins many times, but he hadn’t believed her. That’s why she hadn’t heard him say he loved her either. Right now, Evelyn was happier than anyone. She couldn’t turn back time, but she wanted to clear up his misunderstanding.

* * *

But thinking about it, she felt a bit resentful.

“You’re saying it’s the first time you’ve said you love me?”

Evelyn was waiting for Jenkins in the Empress’s palace, wearing the Empress’s crown. The crown was so heavy that her neck felt ready to break, but Jenkins didn’t appear.

After the Peshar Empire occupied about half of Astia’s territory, they gave the remaining area to Hector.

Hector refused to become Peshar’s vassal state and declared Astia an empire.

Jenkins quietly overlooked Astia’s independence. He no longer sent troops to occupy that place and also recalled Count Bryan. For this reason, Peshar’s nobles pointed to the newly crowned Empress Evelyn and Princess Violet.

Princess Violet had silver hair and purple eyes, which were characteristics of Astian people. But if they persecuted Astian people, the Princess’s status would decline.

Astian sl*ves were also freed and treated equally with Peshar commoners.

Some people returned to their homeland, but others remained in Peshar to live. A few seemed to still be persecuted as sl*ves by nobles. The empire’s territory was so vast that they couldn’t catch all the hidden wrongdoings.

Letters came from Hector, but Jenkins often just sent them back.

[Jenkins! That’s my letter!]

[No. I can’t trust it unless it’s from an allied nation.]

She forcibly took the letter from Jenkins and read it. It said to come visit Astia once and that he wanted to exchange correspondence. Jenkins opposed it.

[Absolutely not.]

No wonder. This seemed to be why he hadn’t given her the letters. Evelyn had no intention of going anyway.

Thinking about that time, Evelyn chuckled. She raised her hand to remove the Empress’s crown and placed it on the table. Then she roughly took off the heavy layered clothes and got into bed to lie down.

She had been warned that no one should touch it until the Emperor removed it, but Evelyn just ignored that. She didn’t want to suffer by following such rules one by one.

She was so tired from the ceremony that sleep was already coming. Before she knew it, Evelyn had fallen into a deep sleep.

* * *

“Hah… mmh.”

Something gripped her br*asts tightly. Something hard and heavy pushed between her legs. Someone greedily licked her br*asts while she felt a thick foreign sensation inside her v*gina. Was it a dream? Or not a dream? She was confused.

“Who… hng…!”

A hard tip scraped past her vaginal walls. After thrusting several times, her body shook violently. The man licked her br*asts again.

“Jen…kins?”

However, there was no response in the darkness. His hand fumbled for her lips, then fingers entered inside. Thick fingers explored every corner of her mouth and pulled out her tongue. Then he rubbed his tongue against Evelyn’s tongue.

‘Isn’t it Jenkins?’

It felt different from the s*x Jenkins usually had. She tried to feel the man’s face with her hands to confirm, but soon both her hands were caught. He wrapped cloth around her wrists and made her lie face down. He was very strong.

After grabbing her waist and lifting her buttocks, his c*ck entered from behind.

“Hah…!”

Thud, thud – the sound of flesh hitting flesh was heard. Evelyn’s eyes widened. She couldn’t pinpoint exactly why, but it didn’t seem like Jenkins. Then who could it be? There shouldn’t be anyone bold enough to enter the Empress’s palace.

The man was excited but quietly held his breath to avoid being caught. Such caution? It couldn’t be Jenkins, who was the Emperor.

“Who… hng. Who are you…!”

When Evelyn spoke, a thick palm grabbed her head and pressed it down to the floor. It seemed like silent pressure telling her not to know. The man’s tongue licked her neck. If he sucked, it would leave marks, but he seemed careful not to leave any.

His actions were very cautious, but the c*ck stirring inside her v*gina was fierce.

“Hah, hah…! Mmh.”

When he thr*st his c*ck deeper, Evelyn’s heart also raced. Worthless body. She didn’t want to feel anything with someone who wasn’t Jenkins, but every time they had s*x, instinct preceded reason.

The palm gently stroking her back was rough. Seeing the rough-surfaced palm, there was a high possibility he was someone who did rough work.

“Even after doing this… hng. Do you think you’ll be safe…!”

She shouted loudly hoping to hear the bastard’s voice, but the man remained silent. Instead, he thr*st his c*ck faster and ejaculated hot s*men inside her v*gina.

The man sighed and got off from above Evelyn.