It was Dade who had embraced her in that moment of falling. He had foolishly fallen with her, completely enveloping her with his body as they hit the lake’s surface.

Even after falling into the lake, he didn’t release his arms from around her. Though they were rescued by knights shortly after, he was already unconscious when they reached shore. His face was pale and bloodless, with a thin line of blood at the corner of his mouth.

He had always been so indifferent. He had hurt her at every turn and pushed her to the point where she could barely breathe. He seemed like someone who wouldn’t bat an eye even if she died. Why? Why did he do this?

He’s truly a person impossible to understand.

What expression had she worn looking at him? She couldn’t remember clearly. She seemed to have pounded on his chest endlessly, ignoring the knights trying to restrain her.

Please, open your eyes, she had begged. You can hate me forever, just don’t leave like this.

After crying out like that, she too had fainted.

‘Please, please. Your Majesty.’

As Nian rushed out of the tent, muttering like a prayer in a trembling voice, the guards at the entrance were startled and caught hold of her.

“Empress, you need to rest……”

“His, His Majesty? What about him……”

* * *

“Your Majesty!”

Dade smiled wryly at the urgent voice coming from outside the tent. Somehow, he could picture her clearly without seeing her. She would probably rush in with a pale face full of tears.

His prediction proved exactly right once again.

Nian, with a face as white as paper, shook off all the soldiers trying to stop her and ran into his tent.

Dade raised his heavy body, which felt like water-soaked cotton, and sat up against the makeshift bed. Having rushed in, she couldn’t bring herself to approach him and stood at the entrance, simply staring at him endlessly.

Dade finally spoke first, sighing.

“What are you doing?”

“Your Majesty……”

“I’m listening. Speak.”

“May I come closer?”

He laughed, finding it absurd. It seemed he was still someone she needed permission to approach.

Well, perhaps that’s what he wanted.

“Yes.”

With his permission, Nian approached hesitantly. Covered in tears, she knelt at the foot of the bed and bowed her head. Her hair fell like a curtain, hiding her face as she bowed deeply. Once again, he barely managed to stop himself from reaching out to her.

She sobbed for a long time before opening her mouth.

“How…… how could you do that.”

“What.”

“How……”

He couldn’t answer because even he didn’t know why he had done it. He had almost died. Though the knights who jumped in after him quickly pulled him out, he had tasted blood in his mouth after hitting the lake with his full body while protecting her, unable to defend himself.

It was probably due to internal injuries. Fortunately the lake was deep; if it had been shallow, he would have died. Since it was an action he took without thinking, he too felt somewhat conflicted.

Though he was willful, he wasn’t without awareness of his position as Emperor. For an Emperor, survival was, in a way, a duty. His life carried responsibilities beyond just his own existence.

So what on earth had possessed him to throw all that aside and leap off a cliff after her?

Even he couldn’t understand it, but what was more absurd was that he didn’t regret that insane act at all. He would repeat the same action if given another chance.

When he still didn’t answer, she raised her head and asked in a voice thick with tears.

“Are you…… all right?”

“As you can see.”

In truth, he wasn’t feeling particularly well. He felt nauseated and his head was throbbing as if he had a concussion. But seeing her crying with guilt and remorse, he couldn’t tell her the truth and simply said he was fine.

Nian continued to sob. Finally, Dade reached out his hand to her.

“……?”

When Nian looked at him with surprised rabbit eyes, he smiled slightly.

“I suppose I should comfort you.”

“……”

“I can’t let the Empress cry all day.”

“Your Majesty.”

“Come here.”

Nian stared at him in bewilderment before finally getting up. She hesitated a bit as she approached, and when she was close enough to touch his hand, he carefully pulled her wrist.

She fell into his arms, and he carefully embraced her, stroking her back. When he, who she had expected to be angry, instead comforted her gently, Nian sobbed even harder. After a long while, exhausted from crying, she finally stopped.

He had said he would comfort her, but even after she stopped crying, he held her in his arms for a very long time. Fortunately, this time she didn’t push him away.

* * *

The Emperor’s injury, thankfully a minor internal one, soon healed. Although their schedule was considerably delayed, their party finally reached the Kingdom of Rund after many twists and turns.

Nian dismounted from her horse on barely steady legs. After riding for so long, the inside of her thighs felt raw.

Having arrived quite late, they couldn’t meet Camilla, who had recently given birth, that day, but the King of Rund welcomed them warmly.

He guided the tired travelers to their rooms. The problem was that, since Nian and Dade were husband and wife, they were naturally shown to a single room.

Though the room was large and spacious, being under the same ceiling made Nian extremely uncomfortable. As if by agreement, they each sat in the most distant positions in the room.

Dade sat on the bed, Nian on the sofa. After sitting in silence for a while, Dade finally got up first to take a shower.

After showering, as he was drying his hair, he approached Nian, who was still sitting motionless like a statue on the sofa. When Nian flinched in surprise, he opened his mouth with what sounded like a sigh.

“Go wash up. You need to rest, don’t you?”

“You rest, Your Majesty.”

“Don’t be difficult. Or should I personally carry you in?”

At Dade’s firm words, Nian reluctantly stood up and headed to the bathroom. Just being in the same room with him made her legs tremble with tension.

She immersed herself in the bathtub that had already been filled. Despite her earlier resistance, she felt languid in the slightly hot bathwater.

Though she was tired enough to fall asleep immediately, Nian stayed in the tub for a long time, hoping he would fall asleep first.

After a long while, when Nian finally emerged from the bathroom, she was horrified to discover what Azel had packed for her to wear to bed.

‘This is insane, Azel. What am I going to do with you?’

That white lacy garment wasn’t a nightgown but a slip. Staring at the provocative scrap of fabric that revealed her skin underneath, Nian squeezed her eyes shut. She had been wondering why her lady-in-waiting had given her casual clothes instead of nightgowns during their journey here. It seemed all the nightgowns Azel had packed were like this.

She rummaged through her things looking for casual clothes she could sleep in, but all that remained were dresses with large jewels or stones; everything else had been taken for washing by the Rund staff. After much deliberation, Nian finally picked up the slip that was the least revealing.

‘Azel. Just wait until we get back.’

Nian ground her teeth.

Feeling that she absolutely couldn’t sleep in just the tight white slip, Nian put on her damp robe over it and approached the bedroom.

She could hear Dade’s breathing from the bed. Judging by his even breaths, he seemed to be asleep. Nian tiptoed carefully toward the sofa.

It was a modest two-person sofa, but curled up, she could sleep on it well enough. Normally, sharing a room with him and sleeping on an uncomfortable sofa would have kept her awake, but exhausted from the long journey, Nian eventually fell asleep.

Dade looked with perplexity at Nian curled up asleep on the sofa.

‘At times like this, insomnia is helpful.’

He had been watching to see what she would do as she crept like a thief toward the bedroom, but she apparently thought he was asleep. Looking at Nian sleeping peacefully on the small sofa that would have been cramped even to sit on, he was newly struck by how delicate and fragile her frame was.

He reached out and stroked her still-damp hair. Then he gently lifted her into his arms. She must have been deeply asleep, for she didn’t wake even as he laid her on the bed.

As he placed her on the bed, her robe parted, revealing her collarbone.

‘One way or another, I’m doomed.’

Dade let out a small sigh. Like a guilty man, he stole a glance at Nian and smiled wryly at the slip visible through her robe.

Azel, was it? It was clearly the handiwork of the maid who had been fluttering around Nian.

‘I wondered why she was sleeping in a damp robe. Tsk.’