However, it was unexpected that they found him so quickly. He had intended to provide a small stimulus, but he hadn’t expected the Emperor to summon him directly.

And to react so immediately, almost like a seizure.

‘This might unexpectedly be good for Her Majesty the Empress.’

When the attendant announced Cain’s visit, Dade’s response came immediately. Cain’s eyes grew serious as he entered the reception room.

Dade looked at Cain with an expressionless, emotionless face, as if he had already regained his composure. Cain bowed his head in greeting to the Emperor.

“I heard you were looking for me.”

“You don’t seem particularly surprised for someone who was summoned so suddenly.”

“……”

“Should I take that to mean you know the reason?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Cain answered with a slight smile. Dade felt the urge to punch that grinning face but suppressed it with superhuman self-control before speaking.

“You’ve been visiting the palace frequently lately. I don’t recall inviting you.”

“I came to see Her Majesty the Empress.”

“You admit quite frankly that you met with the Empress at such a late hour.”

Cain erased his grinning expression and spoke with a rather heavy face.

“Either way, it’s none of your concern, is it, Your Majesty?”

Dade froze his face coldly and stood up. Tension flowed through the reception room due to the strange psychological warfare between the two men. Dade, who had risen from his seat, stopped when he reached Cain’s feet.

He, who was at least a span taller than the quite robust Cain, looked down at him as if it were natural. Then he raised his hand and fiddled with the crystal brooch attached near Cain’s chest.

“Are you saying that because I’m an indifferent husband, I shouldn’t interfere?”

Dade glared at him fiercely for a moment and then pulled the brooch forcefully. The brooch, which came off helplessly under his grip, eventually fell to the floor, and Dade stepped on it. The crystal brooch, crushed under his weight, broke with a crack.

“How about that? Even though the brooch meant nothing to you, Count, it doesn’t feel very pleasant when someone else takes it away at will, does it?”

Watching this behavior, Cain dared to glare at Dade. Looking at his gaze as if it were ridiculous, Dade spoke again.

“You’d better behave properly. If you continue to act up, it won’t just be a brooch that gets crushed next time.”

Dade growled a warning.

“The brooch didn’t suit me anyway. If it suited someone else better, I would have gladly given it away. Rather than having it shattered without light like this. Your Majesty.”

Despite the warning, Cain responded impudently, and Dade glared at him more fiercely.

A silence so heavy fell that even the sound of swallowing was audible. Dade bent down to pick up the broken brooch pieces and placed them in Cain’s hand. Then he wrapped his hand around Cain’s and applied pressure.

Under Dade’s grip, sharp brooch fragments dug into Cain’s palm. After applying pressure until the tendons in his hand stood out, Dade finally released his grip when drops of blood began to flow from Cain’s hand.

After glancing at the streak of blood seeping from Cain’s hand, Dade spoke through gritted teeth, his words seeping through his teeth, filled with anger.

“Remember. Whether it’s shattered to pieces or withered from the roots, it’s mine, not yours. This is as far as I’ll tolerate your presumption. Crawl up again. I’ll behead you in front of the Empress.”

Cain, who had been looking at Dade without flinching even as blood seeped from his hand, finally lowered his eyes when the Emperor mentioned the Empress.

The reaction was more intense than expected, which was both fortunate and frustrating, but if he provoked him any further, it seemed Ilena might also be harmed.

“I’ll keep that in mind. Your Majesty.”

Only then did Dade turn away silently. Cain watched his back for a moment before leaving the reception room.

After Cain left, Dade finally threw the glass next to him. Startled by the sound of breaking glass, attendants rushed in but soon retreated upon seeing Dade’s sharp gaze.

Seeing his familiar face reminded him of Nian smiling brightly at the ball. A face she had never shown to him.

He took a deep breath as anger surged, enough to make his chest rise.

‘Damn it.’

Even if he had abandoned and neglected her in a corner, from the moment Nian became Empress, she was his. Something that was entirely his, so obvious that he had never claimed ownership.

No, that’s what he thought. Until that damned man asked incredulously, as if it wasn’t his concern.

Frustratingly. He realized that not a single strand of her hair had ever been his.

Thus, he stood in front of the herb cottage with a flushed face. The clattering sounds from inside suggested she was there. After a moment’s hesitation, he grabbed the doorknob and pushed, and the door opened. The familiar, no, scent of herbs he had longed for wafted out.

Nian was spreading fresh herb leaves on the workbench as usual. She intended to dry them. When she heard someone approaching, she turned around with a slightly tense face.

Somehow, she felt she knew who it was without looking. The door opened, and she sensed his familiar scent.

“What brings you here?”

Nian asked Dade, whose face was slightly reddened as if angry. Dade entered without hesitation and sat down in a chair. She considered asking more but silently brewed herbal tea and placed it in front of him.

“Do you have something to say?”

Dade glared at the steaming herbal tea and then smiled cruelly before speaking.

“I just met with Count Cain.”

Nian’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Brother Cain?”

Dade raised one eyebrow at her reaction.

“Ha, I didn’t know you had a brother.”

“There’s much more about me that you don’t know, isn’t there, Your Majesty?”

At Nian’s words, he finally growled, revealing his anger.

“Don’t you mock me too. I’ve already heard enough mockery from that so-called brother of yours. It seems both of you have lost your fear.”

“Why did you seek him out?”

“Well. Why do you think?”

“……”

When Nian didn’t answer, Dade stood up and stepped closer to her. Despite his movement, Nian just lowered her eyes and kept her mouth shut.

“You package a man with no blood relation quite well with the word ‘brother’.”

“He’s someone I grew up with since childhood, like a companion.”

“That’s not very pleasant to hear.”

What exactly was the problem?

At his sharp tone, Nian asked indifferently.

“Are you upset because he provides comfort when I should be living in lonely misery without Your Majesty?”

“What?”

“Don’t worry unnecessarily. I won’t do anything to tarnish the imperial family while I’m in the position of Empress.”

She was telling him not to concern himself. The anger that had been boiling instantly cooled to an icy chill. A coldness emanated from his heart, which had frozen in an instant. Dade looked at Nian fiercely and spoke.

“Well, I don’t know if you’ve already tarnished it since I haven’t seen, but judging by what’s reached my ears, rumors about the Empress and a count having an affair every night will soon spread throughout the imperial court, don’t you think?”

“……”

He reached out and wrapped his hand around her slender neck. Then he began to caress it with his thumb. Nian swallowed hard in tension at the sight, like a predator strangling its prey.

Noticing her fearful demeanor, he smirked.

“That alone seems sufficient reason for me to kill him…… What do you think?”

“Your Majesty.”

Nian called him with a startled voice. There was no hint of jest in his cruel words. She trembled slightly.

“If I kill him, how would you feel? Would you perhaps understand a little of how I’ve felt all this time?”

Nian finally collapsed under the overwhelming tension.

“Your…… Your Majesty.”

Dade sat down beside Nian who had collapsed. Then he reached out to stroke her trembling hair.

“So don’t provoke me any further. I don’t want to see unnecessary bloodshed either.”

“Yes…… Your Majesty.”

At her trembling response, he hesitated a little before calling her in a low voice.

“Ilena.”

“Yes.”

“Who do you belong to?”

“……”

“Answer me. I asked who you belong to.”

She answered with a voice clearly showing her exhaustion.

“Your Majesty. I am not an object.”

“I’ll ask again. Whose woman are you?”

“……”

Nian closed her mouth with a troubled expression. She bit her lower lip hard and hesitated for a while before finally speaking.

“As the Empress, naturally I am Your Majesty the Emperor’s woman, am I not?”

Dade answered in a somewhat softened voice.

“Yes. Even if I abandon you and don’t seek you out, that doesn’t change. Remember that.”

“Yes……”

Nian sighed and closed her eyes at his intense possessiveness. Dade lifted her lowered chin and kissed her without hesitation.

Though surprised by the sudden kiss, Nian remained still as if resigned. After the long kiss, Dade scattered gentle kisses around her neck. It was quite meticulous, like he’s marking his territory.

‘What a terrible person.’

Even after Dade left, Nian had to remain sitting for a while, soothing her trembling legs.

‘How childish.’

That was Dade’s thought as he left the cottage. Like a child throwing a tantrum after having an uninteresting toy taken away.

Dade’s face reddened with slight embarrassment. Even while thinking it childish, he felt relief at Nian’s answer that she was his woman.

What was this feeling? The question he had been asking for a long time resurfaced.

‘What exactly are you?’

‘It’s desire.’

Another part of him answered his question.

Desire. It certainly made sense. Despite his deep-seated hatred, she was a woman he kept reaching for. When he buried his face in her slender neck, her scent mixed with herbs was intoxicating, and her black eyes and hair drove him mad.

The occasional image of her white nakedness made even someone as skilled as him lose his self-control.

‘I must be crazy.’

Yet he didn’t take her. That night at the inn, he had lost his reason and rushed at her, but when she burst into tears, he couldn’t touch her anymore. Since then, desire had risen every time they met, but he pretended not to notice and endured.