Late at night. Dade finally called the persistently refusing Nian to the Main Palace study. Since storming in hadn’t worked, he thought to try coaxing and persuading her this time.

In fact, Nian had already prepared to go to bed with Melina and had declined once. However, when the servant who came to deliver Dade’s order sobbed, “Please, Your Majesty,” she finally couldn’t refuse and left the East Palace.

It was understandable that the servant was afraid to return empty-handed, as the atmosphere in the Main Palace had been precarious, like walking on thin ice, due to the Emperor’s recent irritability.

The Main Palace was brightly lit despite the late hour, as if mirroring its owner—the Emperor’s sleepless nights. Nian opened the door to the study with an expression that seemed to say “he can’t be helped,” imagining Dade who would be full of resentment.

Dade was sitting on the sofa, looking at Nian just as crookedly as she had imagined. Now as before, it seemed like he was the only one whose heart ached, which irritated Dade.

“It’s been a while, Empress.”

“That can’t be, Your Majesty. We met in the East Palace the day before yesterday.”

Dade pouted and stood up to approach Nian, who was sitting on the opposite sofa.

“Ah, lately one day feels like a year to me.”

Nian chuckled at Dade’s complaint. Already sitting next to her with a thud, Dade extended his arm.

After hesitating briefly, Nian fell into his arms. Only then did he unfurrow his brow and wrap his arm around her shoulder.

“What do you think is most important in a marriage?”

“Love, Your Majesty.”

“What else?”

“Hmm. Trust?”

As if it was the answer he wanted, he released Nian from his arms and met her eyes. His eyes looked quite serious, so Nian also hid her smile.

“Yes, that’s right, Ilena. And above all, I don’t trust someone who keeps secrets.”

“……”

Nian lowered her eyes awkwardly. When her silence dragged on, Dade let out a sigh and spoke.

“Shall we have a drink after a long time?”

It was a method Nian had once used. Although Nian couldn’t hide her bewilderment and waved her hands in refusal, Dade insisted on calling a servant and bringing in alcohol.

Despite Nian watching with anxious eyes, Dade immediately poured the white wine the servant had brought into wine glasses.

“Here, drink up quickly.”

“I’ll pass, Your Majesty.”

As Nian refused again, he looked at her as if she was unkind, and seemingly impatient, downed his own glass.

“Why are you acting like this?”

“What do you mean?”

“Are you asking because you don’t know?”

Due to Nian’s evasiveness, Dade finally seemed to flare up and asked in an agitated voice.

“……”

“Do I perhaps snore?”

“?”

“If not that, do I grind my teeth, or thrash about? I’m asking if I have any kind of terrible sleeping habits.”

Nian bit her lip, trying to hold back the laughter that kept bursting forth. She couldn’t laugh because he was too serious. As he began to look quite angry, Nian finally approached him gently and burrowed into his arms.

“Of course not, Your Majesty. There’s no one whose sleeping and waking states differ as clearly as Your Majesty’s.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means you’re like a gentle lamb when you sleep.”

“And when awake?”

At his question, Nian answered with the elegant smile that made Dade fall for her every time he saw it.

“You’re like a cat that can’t be patient for even a moment and throws tantrums.”

“I’d wait ten years if I knew the reason.”

“Ten years isn’t necessary, just wait about ten days.”

“Ha! You seem to have taken my words lightly when I said one day feels like a year.”

Dade’s lips hardened. Somehow, it was Nian, not Dade, who ended up coaxing and comforting.

“Do you hate sleeping alone that much?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Dade glared at Nian, who was asking coquettishly while pretending not to know.

“Sometimes I wonder if you truly have a wicked taste.”

Nian smiled broadly. Melting once again at that smile, Dade whispered that it was because he loved her. She was truly a strange woman, now as before.

With small changes, she could turn his heart into a desolate autumn with scattered leaves, or into a cold winter with falling snow, and then with a single momentary smile, make it a beautiful spring with lush greenery.

And, without fail, a hot summer would follow.

“Are you really not going to tell me?”

Dade picked up her wine glass from the table and asked meaningfully, but Nian avoided his gaze and pretended not to hear instead of answering. Dade’s eyebrow twitched.

“Well, if that’s how it is. I have no choice.”

‘But to seek the help of the wine god.’

Swallowing the latter part of his words, Dade took Nian’s glass and held wine in his mouth. Then he lifted the chin of his lover, who was still stubbornly keeping her mouth shut with her head lowered in his arms.

His lips, filled with wine, overlapped with hers.

“!”

* * *

Nian was gathering dried herbs in the small workshop that Dade had made for her in a corner of the Main Palace instead of the cottage. In truth, coming to the Main Palace had been quite awkward since that day, but there was nothing better than the scent of herbs to soothe her troubled mind.

Nian tried to keep busy with her hands, deliberately ignoring Dade’s face that kept coming to mind, but finally closed her eyes tightly.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t shake off the memory of his hurt eyes from that day.

‘I hate it!’

Nian urgently pushed him away as she realized the wine coming through his soft lips. She had been so startled that she pushed him with considerable force, and unknowingly swallowed the wine that had flowed into her mouth.

Because of this, Nian’s face darkened, and Dade stared at her with a coldly hardened face. The wine glass in his hand fell and shattered as Nian pushed him forcefully.

The sharp sound of breaking glass echoed through the Main Palace study, but Dade didn’t even blink as he looked at the pale Nian. A heavy silence that felt like eons passed, and after a long while, Dade opened his mouth.

His voice was so cold that Nian trembled slightly with each word he uttered.

‘Ha, fine. If what you want is for me to wait quietly with indifference no matter how you treat me, I’ll do that.’

‘Your Majesty, that’s not it.’

Nian tried to salvage the situation belatedly, unable to hide her bewilderment, but Dade had already gone cold. He stood up.

His chest heaved up and down as he tried to contain his rising anger while turning away from Nian and walking to his desk. He added as he sat at his desk.

‘You may go now. I won’t bother you anymore.’

Nian silently looked at his blue eyes burning with anger, and finally left the Main Palace.

As the memory of that day kept coming back, Nian finally stopped gathering herbs and sat down.

Her mouth felt incredibly bitter, as if she could still taste the wine that had passed between his lips. His blue eyes, which had hurriedly risen when she pushed him away, were clouded with a mix of emotions, but clearly showed signs of being hurt.

‘Maybe I should have…… just told him.’

Nian felt heavy-hearted, thinking that her hesitation out of concern had backfired. She decided that tonight, after putting Melina to bed, she would go and apologize to him. After all, she knew well that both apologies and love confessions are best made promptly.

“Mama mama!”

While Nian was lost in thought, Melina’s voice could be heard from outside.

Judging by her excited voice, she must have found something interesting again. Ilena immediately shook off her thoughts and stood up. If she didn’t go out to meet her, Melina would likely trip over herself while running, as always.

Sure enough, Melina, who was running with thumping steps, almost fell as she tried to cross the threshold of the Main Palace workshop. Nian quickly caught her.

“You’re not being careful, Melina.”

Nian scolded her, having expected it and picked her up.

“Hehe, what were you doing, Mama?”

“That’s what I want to ask. What have you been doing?”

When Nian asked, looking at the hem of her dress covered in dirt, Melina seemed to suddenly remember and rummaged through her pocket. Then she held something out to Nian.

“?”

What Melina held in her hand was an unknown wildflower. It was quite crushed with white petals sparsely missing, but it looked unusually beautiful for a wildflower.

“What is this?”

“Papa said, give to Mama.”

Nian chuckled at those words. As if that gruff man would. It seemed their daughter had noticed the cold war between her parents these past few days. Finding her effort endearing, Nian stroked Melina’s hair.

“Did your father really give you this?”

“……”

When Nian gave her a doubtful look, Melina finally hesitated before confessing the truth.

“Actually, Papa gave me a different flower.”

“?”

“Well…… on the way, a butterfly. So, um.”

Though Melina’s stammering explanation might have been frustrating, Nian calmly listened to her daughter’s words until the end.

“Chasing it…… I, dropped it, didn’t know and step…… So.”

Nian looked at Melina with slight surprise. Becoming more dejected at her mother’s expression, Melina continued in a shrinking voice.

“It’s a secret from Papa. Instead, I picked one that looked as similar as possible. The color is…… different though.”

“……”

“Are you angry, Mama?”