8.

Dade was dumbfounded when he heard the report on his way back.

The Empress had been deposed? Who? Ilena? The reason was even more absurd.

‘Empress Nian is deposed for committing adultery with a count.’

It was obvious without looking that the count was Cain. Despite all his warnings, it seemed his mother had misunderstood.

Though he couldn’t understand how his mother had handled such a significant matter as deposing the Empress while he was away, he hurried his steps, thinking he would set things right as soon as he returned.

However, after reading the case file placed on the desk in the Main Palace study, Dade finally burst into bitter laughter.

Countless testimonies and entry records.

At the part where it said the Empress had admitted it with her own mouth, he nearly tore the paper apart.

As Dade glared at the case file, he spotted a familiar name and shouted toward the outside. A servant came running, startled by his shout.

“How did the Empress Dowager learn about what I ordered you to do before I did?”

“W-well, Your Majesty, the investigation department questioned not only those serving the Empress but also Your Majesty’s servants.”

“I believe I told you to investigate discreetly.”

“Forgive me, Your Majesty.”

“So this written here is the result of your investigation?”

“Yes…… Your Majesty. The Empress met with Count Cain once or twice a month. Usually, she either summoned him to the East Palace or they met at the herb garden on the outskirts of the palace that the Empress secretly maintained.”

Dade recalled Cain standing shamelessly in the cottage that was supposed to be his and Nian’s private space.

“……”

“They even met at the Empress’s family home. In the Empress’s bedroom, not the reception room.”

And he also remembered Nian saying she would visit her family home after their argument.

Ha, did she go there for comfort? And in the same room where she had lain with him?

Dade clenched his fist until his knuckles turned white. He wasn’t even angry. Though he felt terribly betrayed, his mind grew increasingly calm and collected.

Until recently, she had been in his arms. Although things had been awkward lately because of the incident at the lake, he had intended to be the first to make amends. That’s why he had asked her to greet him with a smile when he returned.

He had come back without rest on his journey, longing for her, only to be greeted by a burned herb garden. The fragrant herb garden that had truly allowed him to know her was now blackened, with only ashes scattering in the wind.

‘Cruel woman.’

To leave him so lonely and yet burn away even the fragrance that would remind him of her. Contrary to his wishes, it was he, not she, who was consumed by loneliness without the other.

As he recalled Nian, who had been too lovely to be an act, Dade felt his blood run cold.

After maintaining silence for a moment, Dade spoke.

“Bring them here. Right now. Both Count Cain and the Empress, no, the former Empress. Report directly to me as soon as you find the former Empress. If word gets out again, I’ll cut out your tongue.”

The servant left the room, trembling at the Emperor’s order, which was as cold as if he had chewed winter frost.

For days afterward, Dade read and reread the case file until his eyes hurt. Yet he simply couldn’t believe that all this was real, like a dream without reality.

During the days his subordinates searched for her, he decided to verify things himself. Surely hearing it directly would be different from reading it.

The first place he visited was the West Palace. The Empress Dowager greeted him with a somewhat tense appearance.

“It seems the Empress Dowager sees me only as her son.”

“W-what do you mean by that?”

The Empress Dowager unknowingly stammered at her son’s icy demeanor, which she had never seen before. She had expected some anger, but not to this extent, so she was extremely flustered.

“Didn’t you do just that?”

“Your Majesty.”

“Ten days. Just ten days. Was it so difficult to wait for my return?”

“……”

“Or did you find me so worthless?”

“Y-Your Majesty! How could you say such things?”

Dade looked at her with eyes so cold that even his fingertips could freeze her.

Quiet anger.

Somehow, it sent chills down her spine. Looking at the slightly trembling Empress Dowager, he continued.

“I should never leave the palace from now on. If you act so arbitrarily every time I’m away, that would be problematic, wouldn’t it?”

“……”

As the Empress Dowager’s face turned pale, Dade smiled coldly.

“Empress Dowager, I hope you won’t forget my position. Just as the moon cannot become the sun despite hanging in the same sky.”

“……”

“Please answer me.”

“Y-yes, Your Majesty. I will keep that in mind.”

The Empress Dowager trembled greatly in fear. He had always been a docile son who had never treated her this way before.

Though naturally cold like him, he had been relatively affectionate with her and would pretend to reluctantly grant her requests even when he didn’t want to.

But the man sitting before her now with clenched fists was not her son but purely the Emperor. And a very angry one who had his possessions arbitrarily taken away.

Even after the Empress Dowager’s answer, Dade continued to stare at her with a coldly frozen face before speaking.

“How could you do this? Though the Emp— no, the former Empress admitted it, you know her character too.”

The Empress Dowager forced out her voice, which was choked with emotion.

“As you’ll see from the case file, the evidence was too clear, and since the former Empress herself admitted it, I couldn’t drag things out, considering the imperial family’s dignity.”

Dade smiled wryly.

“How plausible.”

“Your Majesty.”

“You must have known that the relationship between the former Empress and me was no longer what it used to be.”

The Empress Dowager closed her eyes tightly. His intimidating tone made it increasingly difficult to breathe.

“The former Empress came to me crying and begging.”

“……”

“She said she had someone else she loved.”

Crack. At her words, Dade seemed to hear something crack.

He looked down, thinking it might be the teacup he was gripping tightly, but it was made of porcelain, not glass, so though he had applied pressure, it hadn’t broken.

Then what had cracked?

Though Dade’s eyes clearly showed signs of hurt, the Empress Dowager was already in such a panic that she didn’t notice his change and continued.

“So I considered giving her a harsher punishment, but knowing Your Majesty’s coldness toward her all this time, I felt guilty and didn’t.”

“……”

“As a woman, it must have been hard to endure without giving her heart elsewhere.”

“……”

“I hope Your Majesty will no longer worry about this and just forget it.”

At the Empress Dowager’s words, Dade finally gave a bitter smile.

The next place he visited was the East Palace. Azel, who had lost her mistress, cried endlessly. With her face completely red, she had apparently been crying for days, as her swollen eyes continued to shed tears.

“Tell me the truth. What happened?”

“……”

“Answer me. If you only cry this time too, you’d better be prepared.”

Finally, Azel answered with a voice full of tears. Her words, which even carried a salty scent, finally shattered whatever had been cracked.

“Sob, all this time…… Her Majesty has been living a life not worth living, Your Majesty.”

“Ha.”

“In Your Majesty’s shadow…… hidden, she couldn’t even breathe properly.”

“……”

“Do you know what humiliation the Empress endured from other nobles, no, even from servants all this time? You may hate her because you don’t know…… but please let her go now.”

“How dare you.”

“She committed a sin, but if she hadn’t, she would have withered and died.”

“……”

“You may punish me for daring to speak like this. But please, don’t torment Her Majesty anymore. Your Majesty. I beg you.”

Despite Azel’s extremely disrespectful and resentful words, Dade couldn’t move, let alone punish her. Cruelly, everything she said was true.

He returned and stayed in the Main Palace for a long time. The Empress Dowager told him to forget and live on, and Azel begged him to let her go.

For a moment, he considered doing so. But Dade ultimately decided not to. She was already someone he couldn’t forget, a love he couldn’t let go.

Perhaps someone seeing him like this might preach with the clichéd line from novels that if he loved her, he should let her go for her sake. But from the perspective of the one left behind, that was too irresponsible.

Wasn’t it too cruel to ask someone to wish for the happiness of the person who had thoroughly deceived them?

Perhaps his love, which couldn’t grow straight due to the obstacle of hatred, had become distorted into an abnormal obsession.

He no longer cared who she loved. What mattered was that he loved her.

* * *

Having returned to her family home, Nian deliberately ignored Duke Roben’s gaze. She felt she knew without looking.

He would be looking at her with eyes of contempt.

Nian didn’t bother trying to explain to him. Even if she did, he would never understand anyway.

‘Yes, you will never understand. Having lived a pitiful life without ever loving anyone, including me, how could you understand such a noble emotion?’

Nian’s face hardened coldly.

As Nian was finally packing her belongings, the Duke spoke with a cold smile.

“Serves you right. Where do you think you’re coming after being kicked out for your filthy adultery?”