‘Stubborn woman.’

A cold woman who wouldn’t allow even a thread of her heart after killing his lover and becoming Empress. If she had cried and shown anger, could he have been more generous to her?

Dade eventually undressed her and embraced her as she was. The burning heat from her feverish body was transmitted directly to his cool one.

Nian opened her eyes.

In the unlit room, only the dawn moonlight dimly illuminated the bedroom. As she vaguely opened her eyes in that moonlight, she saw Dade’s face. Unlike the cold expression she always saw, his face was extremely peaceful, and she immediately closed her eyes again. Dade, who had been watching her, lightly kissed her forehead. The cool sensation of his lips was felt more distinctly against her lingering fever.

‘Am I dreaming?’

Nian smiled slightly at his affectionate appearance, thinking so.

A languid and cozy feeling. Whenever she opened her eyes, the Dade she always hated was before her.

The person who always showed only his back in dreams now meets my gaze with azure eyes time and again.

At his gentle demeanor, tears threatened to well up, and he responded with a sighing kiss as if he couldn’t help it.

‘This is definitely a dream.’

With that thought at the edge of her hazy consciousness, Nian fell asleep again.

When Nian awoke from her long dream, it was morning as fresh sunlight rose. Her clothes were scattered messily under the bed, and fortunately, her body felt much lighter as the night’s fever had subsided.

‘What happened?’

The memory of him coldly and cruelly pressing down on her came to mind, but she couldn’t remember anything after that. Given that she was greeting the morning alone, it seemed he had left.

“Azel.”

Nian called for Azel. She intended to wash.

“Azel?”

Thinking Azel hadn’t heard, she called louder, but there was still no response. Puzzled, Nian opened the door and found that not a single maid who usually stood guard outside her room in 24-hour shifts was visible.

‘?’

Suddenly she remembered that before he entered her room yesterday, he had ordered everyone in the East Palace to leave. Nian sighed and left the palace. She needed to find Azel.

Azel was beaming, having thoroughly misunderstood. Not knowing that Nian had returned from the ball while she was enjoying herself, Azel had almost screamed when she heard that His Majesty had come to the East Palace.

She was even proud, feeling that her efforts to adorn the Empress had paid off.

She had also heard that he seemed very angry when he entered the East Palace, but what did that matter? As they say, affection sprouts from frequent encounters between men and women.

When she heard that Nian was looking for her, Azel promptly left her post. It seemed His Majesty the Emperor had returned to his quarters.

Dade returned to the Main Palace from the East Palace only after Nian’s fever had completely subsided. The anger that had risen to the top of his head had calmly subsided while watching her sleep, exhausted from the fever.

He couldn’t remember how he had felt when he had pursued her, rejecting all the servants who tried to treat his injured hand.

When he opened her door, having driven away all the East Palace maids who were startled by the Emperor’s appearance, he finally faced her in the Empress’s room, filled with the familiar scent of herbs. Ah.

What expression had he worn when looking at her? It must have been quite ridiculous.

Questions mixed and bubbled up, and unresolved doubts made him even angrier.

His boiling anger subsided after she lost consciousness. Looking at her sleeping defenseless, Dade couldn’t sleep all night. He just embraced her and occasionally stroked her when she opened her eyes and looked at him.

What thoughts had led him to comfort her, who had deceived and betrayed him? Perhaps he had wished that time would stop right there.

Because when she woke up, no, when this beautiful night passed, they would return to a relationship where they hurt each other with sharp tongues.

Ah. If only it could stop like this.

‘My treatment of you as Ilena ended yesterday. The same goes for you, I suppose.’

Though a part of his heart ached, Dade pretended not to notice and made that resolution.

* * *

“Pardon? You mean the Count of House Payon?”

“Yes. He is an old friend of mine, so he’ll understand if you tell him I’m looking for him. Bring him to the herb garden.”

“But……”

“Hurry.”

Nian commanded firmly. Due to the previous night’s disturbance, all eyes in the imperial palace were focused on the East Palace. She had something to ask Cain, but if she called him to the East Palace, everyone would know, so she decided to summon him to the herb garden.

When Azel hesitated reluctantly, Nian urged her once more and left the palace.

A little later, Nian turned around at Azel’s presence while busy in the cottage.

“A herb garden, what a fitting hobby for Your Majesty.”

Cain entered with a smile.

“Please sit. I apologize for calling you to such a humble place. Azel, you may go now.”

Azel looked anxious, but when Nian gave her a stern look once more, she reluctantly left the cottage. Only after Azel had gone did Nian serve him fragrant herb tea and broach the subject.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t properly greet you at the last ball, Brother.”

“No. I was just happy to see Your Majesty again. But what brings you to call me?”

“Well……”

In truth, Nian had been contemplating this for quite some time. After learning about Dade’s former lover, she wanted to find out more properly.

The problem was the method. It wasn’t something she could ask her own family, and since she had no close noble acquaintances, she had only been worrying. Cain was perfect for this.

After hearing the difficult story Nian shared, Cain was surprised, then gave a bitter smile and said,

“You must have…… suffered greatly all this time.”

“I ask this of you in secret. And whatever the result, you must tell me honestly.”

Cain patted Nian’s shoulder as she smiled with effort. Nian thanked Cain for readily accepting, and for quite a while afterward, he looked at her with sympathetic eyes before leaving the cottage.

Left alone in the cottage, Nian became lost in thought. So many things had happened in just a few days. The weeks since he first visited the cottage passed like a panorama.

What if I had truly been ‘Ilena,’ a maid of the East Palace who managed the herb garden, not ‘Nian’ bound by a political marriage?

Would I have…… fallen in love with him?

Could I have simply been thrilled by his attention as he approached me purely as a man?

‘No matter which me I became, he would never have loved me.’

Nian whom he hates and Ilena whom he merely desires to possess. Which of the two would I want to be?

Was it the lingering effect of last night’s fever? Suddenly her eyes grew hot, and tears unexpectedly fell.

Whose fault is it? Who should I blame for all of this?

As more unanswerable questions arose the more she thought, Nian shook her head and stood up.

As she opened the cottage door, she eventually squeezed her eyes shut at the unexpected visitor.

Outside the door stood Dade.

The two stared at each other for a long time.

After keeping a terrible silence between them, it was Nian who spoke first.

“If herb tea is still all you want, I’ll have someone deliver it to the Main Palace starting tomorrow. So please don’t come here anymore.”

“What if herb tea isn’t what I want?”

“……”

In truth, he hadn’t intended to seek out Nian from the beginning. He just wanted to walk in his troubled mood, and as he walked, Nian came to mind. Once she appeared in his thoughts, she made him unable to resist again, ultimately bringing him here.

He looked a bit longer at her, who had closed her mouth as soon as he demanded something other than herb tea, then sighed and placed his hand on her forehead.

“It seems your fever has gone down.”

“……”

“I don’t intend to pretend to be an affectionate husband to you now. I still feel like my blood is boiling backwards at the thought that you deceived me.”

“……”

Dade lowered his hand and brushed her lower lip with his thumb. At his action, Nian raised her downcast eyes to look at him.

He smirked. She was still a beautiful and hateful person. You.

“I will never treat you as Ilena again. To me, you are now just the Empress.”

After uttering words that could be either a notification or a resolution, he wrapped his hand, which had been caressing her lips, around the back of her neck.

“Let’s call this a farewell kiss.”

Dade then slowly lowered his head to Nian. Soon their familiar scents mixed as their lips met. After gently sucking on her plump lower lip, he pushed his tongue into her mouth. After a brief kiss, he whispered softly.

“Goodbye, Ilena.”

Then he kissed her again. With a distant feeling as if tears might come, ‘Ilena’ closed her eyes.

‘Ah, yes, I admit it. If I had just been Ilena, the maid of the East Palace. Yes, if that’s all I had been. Yes, I might have fallen in love with you. But the fact that I’m not just Ilena…… both you and I know all too well.’

Finally, overflowing emotions turned into tears. She at last responded to his farewell.

‘Yes. Goodbye now, Ilena.’