The f*replay had already been sufficient. Dade thrust his hips at once and entered her. Though he didn’t want to hurt her, he had no patience. As he moved quickly, Nian moaned as if she couldn’t breathe.

When he reached deep inside her, her waist instinctively pulled back, but Dade pulled her pelvis toward him as if to say there was no escape.

“Ahh. Hnng.”

“Haa…… Ilena.”

Though Dade called her name, Nian could only moan in response because of his thrusts from below. After lightly kissing her flushed cheek, he whispered in Samurin, which she could never understand.

「I love you. Ilena.」

“Ahng. S-stop. Hnng”

「If only I could tell you this, and if you would tell me you feel the same, how wonderful that would be.」

Dade suddenly thought he would like to die right now. Thinking about being left alone in a life without her after this beautiful night passed, he felt that wouldn’t be so bad.

Nian felt as if everything was turning white before her eyes again. As another climax approached, Dade slowed his pace as always and kissed her shoulder.

Nian’s body trembled finely. When her trembling subsided, Dade withdrew and turned her over to lie face down.

Though she blushed at the embarrassing position, she soon forgot about it due to his deep penetration from behind.

He fixed her pelvis and moved his hips widely. Then he reached out to grasp her br*asts. He held the firm, er*ect peak between his middle and thumb, and tickled it with his index finger, causing her insides to tighten even more. Dade’s movements became more intense.

“Ahh. Please. Hnng. Ahh. Y-Your M-Majesty. Hah”

Dade firmly held Nian’s waist as she kept pulling away and thrust even deeper. He kissed her back, coaxing and soothing her as she struggled with his movements.

Her elastic b*ttocks and his lower abdomen collided incessantly, and his manhood, moving in and out between them, glistened with her slick fluids.

When he grabbed Nian’s arm and pulled her while she was lying face down, her flexible waist curved and her upper body rose. Nian turned her head to kiss him.

Dade put his hand between her legs and found her sticky cl*toris to rub it. Nian’s thighs trembled finely, and she let out muffled moans against his lips.

The two clung to each other without leaving space even for a sheet of paper between them, as if they were one body, and moved desperately to feel each other completely.

Only when their bodies were completely drenched in sweat did Dade finally release his climax inside her. When Nian felt his hot essence filling her inside, her strength gave out and she collapsed.

Dade’s firm body pressed down on her from behind. After a wave of pleasure had swept through the bedroom, only the rough breathing of the two lovers filled the space.

“What did you say?”

“What?”

Lying entwined with his n*ked body in a languid mood, Nian suddenly asked Dade as if she had just remembered.

“Earlier……

“Earlier when?”

He teased her, pretending not to know.

“When you were doing, that with me.”

“Doing what?”

“Never mind!”

Nian blushed. Dade hugged her tightly again and took out a box from the bedside table and handed it to her.

“What is this?”

“Open it”

Nian carefully opened the box. This is……

“It’s the imperial family’s ring.”

“No. It’s the Emperor’s ring.”

Dade answered calmly.

“Yes.”

Nian’s expression hardened.

The Emperor receives two rings from the imperial family. One when he becomes Crown Prince, and one when he becomes Emperor. The ring received when becoming Crown Prince is later given to the woman he loves.

Therefore, it was usually given to the Empress.

The late Emperor’s Crown Prince ring was still on the Empress Dowager’s fourth finger. The imperial family ring found in Rachel’s burned house was Dade’s Crown Prince ring.

And the ring received upon ascending to Emperor……

“This is not something I can accept.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

At Dade’s resolute tone, Nian softened her expression and spoke as if admonishing him.

“Your Majesty. If I’m caught with a ring passed down through generations of Emperors, it’s execution regardless of the reason. Are you trying to kill me?”

Nian smiled gently as she soothed him. Seeing it was hopeless, Dade took out the ring and put it on her himself. Since it was his, it was too big even for her thumb.

“I just want to give you the only thing I can give, instead of what I can’t give. If you’re brought to the palace because of this, all the better for me.”

“But……”

Dade removed his necklace, took off the pendant, and put the ring that was too large for her finger on it. Then, overcoming Nian’s resistance, he managed to hang it around her neck.

* * *

Dawn approached. Enveloped in a languid and wistful mood, Dade couldn’t bring himself to fall asleep and just lay with his eyes closed, holding Nian. Nian in his arms stirred slightly before kissing his lips.

Eventually, her hand stroked his hair, and she kissed him again. As she touched him with delicate hands, Nian sobbed softly.

“Farewell, Your Majesty.”

With a voice full of tears, Nian bid him goodbye and slipped out of his embrace. Losing her was the same in dreams as in reality.

He thought he had held her firmly in his hands, but like scattered grains of sand, she had completely slipped away, leaving him empty-handed once more.

‘Farewell, my love.’

Silent tears flowed from Dade’s eyes.

As she left the Main Palace, the sky was already brightening, suggesting dawn was approaching. The dreamlike night had ended like an arrow shot, contrary to both their wishes, and the cruel morning was dawning.

Nian just stared blankly at the love she had released with her own hands. Then she caressed it, kissed it, and finally said goodbye to him.

She left his embrace, which had been unbearably warm, and which she never wanted to leave. When she opened the door of the Main Palace, a rather cold wind brushed her cheeks.

As she lifted her reluctant feet and crossed the desolate dawn, dew broke and wet her feet with every step, every blade of grass she touched. Like lingering attachment, morning dew clung everywhere around the Main Palace, only to dry and disappear when dawn broke.

Despite her unbearably heavy heart, Nian hurried her steps diligently and soon reached the outskirts of the imperial palace. Painfully, she had to pass through the gray ruins she never wanted to see again to leave the palace.

Nian bit her lip and paused briefly, but soon started walking again. Since the moment she decided to let him go, sorrow had always been like this for her.

There was no visible exit, and it was densely positioned at every path, impossible to avoid. With each step she took, the ruins that had once been the herb garden approached. Amidst all the splendidly decorated places, only that spot was black and white like a dream.

That green, fragrant place she had burned with her own hands had become a place like a nightmare from which one could never wake.

Finally, Nian collapsed and sobbed.

She wanted to lift these heavy feet and return to him even now. She also wanted to greet the soon-to-be-dazzlingly-bright morning together.

When she tossed in her sleep, he was always at her fingertips, and he, who never slept late, would soon pull her into his embrace. Then, if desire suddenly arose, they would languidly mix their bodies as if in a dream.

What had once been filled with dazzling green had finally shattered into gray ruins. Just like their precious herb garden. Nian wept, left alone in those ruins.

“Are you perhaps the Empress?”

Crouched down with her head bowed, crying, Nian instinctively looked up at the unfamiliar woman’s voice.

Deep blonde hair, green eyes. It was Rachel.

“……”

Rachel silently looked at Nian with her green eyes. Though she tried not to, resentful feelings inevitably showed in her gaze.

Rachel’s gaze touched Nian’s fine hair. It swept across her smooth forehead, brushed her nose bridge, lingered on her lips, and then went down further to examine her slender neck. And the red marks.

Seeing the woman sobbing at the site of the herb garden, Rachel immediately recognized who she was. They weren’t acquainted with each other. It was a one-sided recognition.

She was the Empress who had walked proudly beside the Emperor at places of past memories. She was also Ilena who had made Dade anxious with her rain-soaked appearance at the imperial palace not long ago, and she was his lover covered in red marks from their lovemaking the night before.

What could she be so sad about to cry like this?

Having stolen all of his love that had shone like a fleeting moment.

Rachel had never hated her until now. Though she later learned that the Empress’s family was behind it all, it wasn’t her fault.

Though she had occupied her place for all these years, that wasn’t her intention either.

So she didn’t hate her.