“Yes. You remember.”

Nian smiled brightly with a feeling of delight.

Cain. He was her childhood playmate and like an older brother. She hadn’t seen him since entering the palace, so it had been almost eight years.

“I heard you were in the Kingdom of Samurin, but it seems you’ve returned.”

“Yes. It’s been so long that I almost didn’t recognize you. Have you been well?”

“Yes, thanks to you, Brother.”

Cain couldn’t take his eyes off Nian, whom he was seeing after a long time. Though he had been abroad, he wasn’t unaware of news about Nian, so his eyes held an inexplicable sympathy.

“Then shall we see how much your dancing has improved?”

He knelt on one knee before her with an exaggerated gesture.

“Your Majesty, would you grant me the honorable opportunity to dance with you?”

Nian couldn’t hold back and burst out laughing as she took his hand. Suddenly, she remembered learning to dance from him when she was young.

She had stepped on his feet so many times.

“You can look forward to it, Brother.”

For the first time in a very long time, a smile bloomed on Nian’s face.

Meanwhile, Dade almost dropped the glass he was holding when he saw the familiar woman entering the ballroom.

“Ilena?”

Her name flowed from his lips unknowingly at the unexpected development. Before the question of why she was here could even form in his mind, he froze as if struck hard on the back of his head by the words the servant delivered.

“Her Majesty the Empress arrives.”

Empress? Who?

In an instant, realizing that the Empress he had vaguely seen at the wedding had black hair, he collapsed into his seat as his legs gave way.

‘Damn it.’

Curses rose to the tip of his tongue. The thought that he had repeatedly seized and taken the Empress he so despised was infuriating.

‘You must have enjoyed it greatly.’

Despite his boiling anger, looking at her who had appeared as if to show off, dressed in a well-fitting beige dress rather than the modest appearance of Ilena he had known, he eventually squeezed his eyes shut.

‘Your Majesty…… did you forget who I am?’

The plaintive question he had heard from her once came to mind, and somehow his heart felt cold. She was a woman he had always kept buried deep in his heart along with the death of his former lover.

A woman he had abandoned and forgotten, never once taking out those memories. Thanks to that, she had become such an empty and unfeeling woman. Though this was clearly what he had wanted, why was he so angry at himself?

He bit his lip. Noble young ladies endlessly hovered around Dade with news of this ball, but his attention was entirely focused on Nian.

She had met his gaze once with those still emotionless black eyes, sat beside him without any reaction, and never looked at him again after that. Even that didn’t last long as she soon rose from her seat.

Looking at her back as she stood up, Dade exhaled the breath he had been holding due to tension.

It was then. A strange man appeared from somewhere and suddenly greeted her as she was heading toward the terrace. Dade’s face hardened even more.

Nian smiled brightly at the man, and at that sight, he felt his mind go blank. Her smiling face, which he was seeing for the first time, was infuriatingly beautiful, and if he could, he wanted to drag her away and lock her up right then.

That was his intention. He wanted to be the only one to see that bright smile she had never shown him, those occasionally blushing lovely cheeks. He wanted to hide her away so that neither that damned man nor anyone else could see her.

Unaware of his feelings, she eventually took the strange man’s hand.

They moved their bodies to the soft music and even occasionally whispered to each other, looking quite well-matched, causing Dade’s hand holding his glass to tighten involuntarily. He gripped it so hard that his finger joints turned white.

Before the gentle musical piece was even half over, with a sharp sound of breaking glass, people around the Emperor began to murmur. Nian also turned instinctively toward the sound in wonder.

“Your Majesty! Are you alright?”

People instantly gathered around Dade. Nian unconsciously started to approach but stopped herself.

“Aren’t you going to check on him?”

Cain asked carefully.

“No. It’s probably nothing. I need to rest now. I’m not feeling well. I’ll contact you separately next time, Brother.”

Cain looked at her regretfully but then stepped back.

“Yes, Your Majesty. I was glad to see you, even briefly.”

Nian smiled slightly.

Dade did not release his tightly clenched hand even though glass fragments were digging into his palm. The servants around him approached in panic and cried out, but he heard nothing.

‘It’s probably nothing.’

‘I’ll contact you separately next time.’

His eyes grew fiercer as her voice vaguely reached his ears and filled his mind.

‘If provocation is your specialty, it’s a remarkable talent, Ilena.’

Only when the servants who had rushed over were almost in tears did he finally release his hand.

He had lost quite a bit of blood from the deeply embedded glass fragments. However, as if he felt no pain, his eyes only continued to stare at Nian’s retreating back as she left the ballroom.

* * *

Nian returned to the East Palace, clutching her head due to a throbbing headache. She thought about calling Azel but decided to return alone, seeing how happy she looked enjoying the rare ball.

‘Haa…… That’s enough now.’

As the tension drained away, she felt as if all strength had left her body. Nian sat at her dressing table and removed the ornaments from her hair one by one.

Her previously burdened neck felt lighter as her jet-black hair cascaded down. After skillfully removing all her makeup, Nian was preparing to rest when a familiar voice came from outside.

“Everyone leave the palace.”

Dade. He had come.

“You’re more twisted than I thought, Ilena.”

Dade slammed the door shut after opening it. He glared at her as if he wanted to kill her in this room he had entered for the first time, and only after a long while did he speak.

As the reality of her identity sank in, Dade’s anger surged. Nian looked at him with a bloodless face.

“I……”

“If you’re thinking of spouting nonsense about how this wasn’t intentional, it’s better to shut up.”

Her face hardened at his rough tone.

“So, do you perhaps want an apology?”

“Shut your mouth.”

“Shifting all the blame to me, how like you.”

She rebuked him. It was he who had failed to recognize his wife. It was he who had developed feelings on his own, and it was also Dade himself who had always seized her when she refused.

For a moment, he gave a sardonic smile, then pushed Nian against the wall and trapped her with his arms. Despite his expression, his eyes were cold enough to freeze at a touch.

“How rude. You seem to have forgotten, but you are no longer the Ilena who can be generously forgiven by me.”

“……”

“Quite fortunately.”

Nian stared at Dade with empty, emotionless eyes. After silently meeting her gaze, Dade smiled coldly and whispered in her ear.

“This time, I won’t stop even if you cry.”

‘I’m sure you won’t. The gentleness to stop for tears was for Ilena, not for me. For you, the real ‘me’ is just an object of hatred who took away your former lover.’

Dade approached and finally kissed Nian’s lips. She relaxed her body and offered no resistance.

A cold kiss.

‘No, compared to our relationship, this is actually quite affectionate.’

Dade roughly grabbed Nian and pushed her onto the bed. Swaying like a doll and precariously laid on the bed, she looked up at him with dry eyes. He quickly climbed on top of her.

‘Is this what I wanted?’

This relationship, utterly natural as Empress and his wife. Being taken by him without any emotion—was this what I had wished for during these past five years?

Belated regret washed over her, but it was now useless. Tears suddenly welled up, and unable to bear his icy face right in front of her, Nian closed her eyes.

Tears that had been pooling in her eyes flowed down her closed eyelids.

And Nian, who had not been feeling well from the start, lost consciousness.

Dade slightly pulled down Nian’s dress. As her long, slender neckline and the collarbone that had risen incessantly to drive him crazy were revealed, he lowered his lips to taste them without hesitation.

The faint herbal scent he had smelled on Ilena wafted sweetly, and his body, contrary to his mind, heated up uncontrollably, making his breathing rough. He decided to ignore those black eyes that hurt every time he looked at them.

He intended to take her like that. Hoping that this inexplicably painful feeling would also be cleared away with it.

She yielded her body without any resistance, then suddenly went limp. Dade paused.

“Ilena?”

He placed his hand on her forehead. She showed no movement.

‘Damn it. She’s burning up.’

Dade muttered a harsh curse under his breath and gazed at her, who had lost consciousness. The fiercely burning anger subsided instantly at the sight of her fragile appearance, as if she might break at a touch.

The intense desire he had felt for Ilena had not faded even after learning she was Nian.

So he had intended to satisfy his greed fully. Then this thirst that drove him mad would be quenched. This desperate longing for what he couldn’t have would fade. He would be able to forget her again as if she had never existed from the beginning.