She quickly lowered her head upon facing him, and he cupped her cheek with a slightly trembling hand and lifted her face.

“What’s wrong?”

“These tears have nothing to do with Your Majesty. Please continue on your way.”

“Then this is all the more my destination. Since I was on my way to you.”

What exactly was this feeling? He had seen countless women cry. He had even made many of them cry himself.

Yet why did this woman’s tears, unlike any others, feel so heartbreaking? He firmly embraced her as she shook her head, trying to escape his grasp.

“I asked what’s wrong.”

“……”

Finally, as he looked down at her quietly shedding tears in resignation, his face suddenly hardened. Surely not.

“Did the Empress scold you?”

“……”

“Tell me. Is it because of the note…… I sent?”

Nian couldn’t help but laugh.

Indeed, there are many ways to hurt someone. To think that there was still something left to be hurt by such a person, I must be incredibly foolish.

His face hardened further at her seemingly mocking laughter.

“If that’s the case, what will you do?”

“What?”

“Are you planning to punish me?”

“If you want.”

Nian bit her lip tightly.

‘How much crueler can you be to me? I can’t even gauge it anymore.’

It felt like swallowing a chunk of ice whole. If his true feelings, which he had never shown to her, were this piercingly cold, so painful that the tip of her nose went numb, then it would have been better not to have known at all.

Nian looked up at him with empty eyes, and Dade raised his hand to wipe away her tears. Then he sighed as if there was nothing he could do.

“Even if I ask for the reason, you won’t answer, so I won’t ask anymore. Instead……”

“……”

“Don’t reject comfort, at least.”

He carefully embraced her. Despite his final request, Nian struggled fiercely.

‘I hate you. I hate you so much.’

Dade silently held her tighter. Finally, Nian stopped her futile tears in his arms.

* * *

Contrary to Nian’s wishes, Dade persistently visited the cabin. Of course, Nian still ignored him and only busied herself at her workbench.

He stared intently at her indifferent back.

‘She’s returned to being a cold doll again.’

She had returned to her empty and cold face as if that day’s tears had never happened. If anything, he was the one who felt more anxious.

The inexplicable feeling that suddenly came over him made him incredibly unsettled. As if the tea leaves had fully steeped, she approached with an expressionless face and set down a teacup.

“I’ll be leaving first today, so please drink and go.”

“Why?”

“I have business outside the palace that I need to attend to.”

“Ah…… Do I need to interrogate you to get a full answer about what business it is and where outside the palace you’re going? Just tell me everything from the start.”

Dade responded somewhat irritably to Nian’s statement that she would leave first. Nian hesitated for a moment, then finally sighed and answered.

“I’m going to inspect imported goods that have arrived at the port for the upcoming palace ball. If the quality is poor, I’ll have to send them back.”

“Is it an errand for the Empress? My mother praised the Empress endlessly for her passion for work, but I see that was just a rumor. To think she would assign such an important task to you.”

His terribly indifferent words once again left a stinging scratch on her heart. As he said, it was an important matter. Once the importing merchant departed, there would be no way to return the goods, so a careful decision was necessary.

Especially on a day like today when dealing with expensive goods in large quantities, it wasn’t something a maid could handle alone. It required the discernment to identify good products and the decisiveness to reject them if necessary.

Usually, even if the Empress didn’t go herself, another noble lady close to the Empress would go, but Nian had no such connections as she always remained on the periphery even at the small social gatherings she attended.

That’s why she went herself. Nian had never lied to him. Despite telling things as they were, he never noticed her, and this time was no different.

Dade took a step closer to her, who again didn’t respond to his sarcasm.

“Shall I go with you?”

“?”

“It’s been a while since I’ve been outside the palace.”

At Dade’s words, Nian’s expression hardened as if she were in a predicament. Before she could find words of refusal, Dade left the cabin first and urged her.

“I’ll prepare the horses.”

“How arbitrary.”

“If you haven’t forgotten who I am, you’d know. I’m someone who can do as I please.”

Dade left the cabin.

* * *

The port, quite far from the palace, was quite lively with people and merchants even in the dark night.

“This is of fairly good quality. Very well. Please send it to the palace tomorrow.”

The dark-skinned merchant bowed deeply at Nian’s words. Dade, watching from a distance, yawned as if bored.

After examining the goods for a long time, Nian finally made her decision just when Dade was seriously considering whether he should forcibly drag her away. She approached him, and he chided her.

“You took unnecessarily long.”

“That’s why I told you not to come.”

Nian rolled her eyes at the grumbling Dade and answered, walking toward the horse and putting on the robe she had been carrying. Although it was early summer, the sea breeze became quite chilly as night fell.

Having reached the horse, she let out a small sigh. Thanks to his stubbornness, they had come alone without attendants, and on a single horse rather than a carriage, which had been endlessly uncomfortable.

The thought of traveling that path again made her sigh involuntarily.

“We should stay here tonight and return tomorrow.”

Nian almost asked if he was crazy in response to Dade’s words.

Stay overnight? Where? With whom? Why?

“I will return, so Your Majesty can come back tomorrow.”

At Nian’s resolute words, Dade smiled slyly as if he had expected this and replied.

“What a predicament. My horse doesn’t allow anyone but its master on its back.”

At his words, Nian, who was thoroughly irritated, glared at Dade for a moment. Then she began walking with irritable steps as if indignant.

Damn it. Of course you would. Do as you please.

‘I’ll walk back even if my feet blister, so stay for a day or for the rest of your life, do as you please.’

Nian, who had barely swallowed the harsh words that had risen to the tip of her tongue, was furious to the top of her head. She naturally despised people who did whatever they wanted. She didn’t want to do as he wished, even if her feet blistered from walking.

Watching Nian’s back as she walked away quickly, Dade shook his head with a sigh as if he had no choice. She seemed to have not even a speck of fear toward the Emperor, never acquiescing to his words at once.

Nevertheless, it was always he who persistently held onto her.

This time too, he quickly chased after Nian, who was within the palm of his hand no matter how fast she ran, and grabbed her wrist.

Nian put her weight into resisting, but he easily dragged her along. After patiently enduring her resistance for a while, Dade finally stopped abruptly.

“Why are you doing this?”

“When will you ever become docile?”

“Let me go!”

“Ah. What time do you think it is? Ilena?”

“……”

“Don’t you think it’s too dangerous to return to the palace at this late hour?”

“……”

“Well, this might be more dangerous for you.”

He smiled playfully and dragged her to an inn at the entrance of the port. Passing the counter, he stated firmly.

“One room.”

“……!”

* * *

The simple room was filled entirely with cheap furniture, but it was neatly arranged, perhaps being among the more upscale inns at the port. Dade never let go of Nian’s wrist, who had turned pale with fear, until they entered the room.

As soon as they entered the room, Nian collapsed as if her legs had given out, and only then did he release her wrist before immediately heading to the bathroom.

Until then, Nian had been dazed, but when she heard water running from the bathroom, she jumped up as if she had been doused with ice water. It felt as if her heart had stopped with a thud. She wasn’t naive enough not to know what it meant for a man and woman to spend the night together.

She bit her lip in tension. Although he was her husband, she didn’t want to give herself to him in this way. Because the woman he wanted to hold wasn’t “Nian,” the Empress and wife, but “Ilena” from the herb garden.

How would you feel, Dade, if you discovered that the one you’ve dragged here with your own hands is the Empress you so despise?

Perhaps it would only add to his hatred.

‘Should I run away? Run away…… Where to?’

While she was hesitating, unable to decide what to do, Dade emerged from the bathroom, shaking off water as if he had finished showering. Nian was startled to see his bare upper body and turned around, making him chuckle at her reaction.

“Wash up quickly.”

Dade lay on the bed and spoke in a playful voice. Despite his words, Nian remained rooted to the spot, not moving.

“If you don’t want to, I’ll personally wash you.”