Count Kent had been by Casiel’s side since he was crown prince.

Casiel, who grew up in an undesirable lineage, was someone who became an adult while being thrown into scenes of slaughter before he even came of age.

‘Afraid?’

Of course he was afraid.

Anyone who had seen Casiel’s appearance on the battlefield even once would be.

Count Kent’s instincts, honed from living as Casiel’s aide for many years, told him: If he carelessly acted friendly with Elia, his personal safety couldn’t be guaranteed.

If he had been a single man with no family ties, he might have listened to altruism rather than instinct.

But Count Kent was someone who had a family to protect.

Having finally achieved the fruit of love with his childhood friend Lilias, the fear of being thrown into a battlefield in the middle of a distant snowy field after falling out of Casiel’s favor made the brave warrior shrink back.

“What did that frightening emperor say? Didn’t he tell you to immediately catch and drag Elia back?”

Of course he did.

Not missing Count Kent’s flinching, Lilias snorted.

“I’m learning today that His Majesty the Emperor has so many aspects I didn’t know about. At this rate, I wonder if he might become restless and come running here himself.”

It was something she said to mock.

But unfortunately, Lilias’s words became reality.

The calamity called the emperor struck the count’s household late that afternoon.

⁕⁕⁕

Her ear tickled.

Elia squirmed, gripping the sheet and curling up her body.

Her whole body ached as if she had been beaten, and a groaning sound naturally leaked out of her lips.

Her eyelids wouldn’t lift due to extreme fatigue.

She wanted to sleep more, but the tickling sensation lingering around her ear wouldn’t go away.

What is it anyway.

When she barely managed to lift her heavy eyelids in rising irritation, the gentle amber glow of candlelight entered her vision.

This was Sister Lily’s house.

It was the guest room that Lilias would give her whenever she occasionally visited the Kent count’s household at Lilias’s invitation.

While quietly looking at the wall covered with cream-colored silk wallpaper, the sensation that had been tickling her ear stopped.

“You’re finally awake.”

Her eyes reflexively turned and captured handsome features.

Elia’s eyes widened like plates.

Casiel, who had been caressing her disheveled hair and brushing it toward her ear, asked in a whisper when their eyes met.

“Does it hurt a lot?”

“……Ah.”

After uttering only a single word that wasn’t really an answer, Elia quickly pulled her body backward. Though she couldn’t retreat far since she was inside the bed.

As she huddled in the corner of the bed as much as possible, Casiel’s face grew increasingly cold.

“How, how did you get here……”

The hand that had been caressing Elia’s hair lost its destination and was withdrawn to its owner.

“How, you ask. I came to find my woman who disappeared without a trace with an unhealed body.”

“Huh? What? What?”

At Elia’s dumbfounded voice, Casiel crossed his arms and tilted his head slightly.

“Many things happened throughout the day.”

“That……”

“I announced at the morning assembly that I would take you as empress.”

“What?!”

Elia’s response was practically a scream. But Casiel was calm.

“Yes. I also expected the same reaction from the ministers as you’re showing now. But for some reason, not a single person objected to my words.”

How could that be?

Elia couldn’t find words to organize this situation in the confusion that crashed over her like waves.

“All the ministers have gone senile…… no, the ministers were affected by the heat……”

“Whether they’ve gone senile or been affected by heat, it worked out well for me……”

Casiel paused and recalled what had happened at the morning assembly.

He had declared, expecting stormy opposition, “I intend to take Financial Administrator Elia Weiss as empress.”

Then the ministers, who had maintained silence for a moment, soon nodded their heads and spoke a word or two each.

—Have you finally made up your mind?

Or.

—Then will you send a marriage proposal to the Weiss family first?

Or.

—If you’re going to hold a national wedding alongside the Foundation Festival, we’ll need to prepare quickly.

And so on.

As if they were relieved to finally handle something they had been repeatedly putting off.

It was a bewildering reaction for Casiel, who had spoken with the intention of suppressing those who would oppose.

“Did you secretly distribute bribes to the ministers behind my back?”

Casiel, who was still amazed thinking about it again, threw out a nonsensical remark to Elia, whose round eyes were rolling this way and that. Even as he spoke, he knew very well how ridiculous his own words were.

If she had the wit to distribute bribes, she wouldn’t have reached this situation in the first place.

“Well anyway, after finishing the morning assembly like that, the head maid came running to me urgently.”

“……”

“She said she was shocked when she went in to clean the bedroom and saw the traces left on the bed.”

“Gasp!”

Elia covered her mouth.

Traces left on the bed. Those traces from the emperor ej*culating into her all night?

“Even for a wedding night, this amount of bleeding isn’t common, so she said it would be good to have you examined by the court physician quickly, asking where you had gone with that body.”

“That……”

“So I told Count Kent to go find you and bring you back.”

Casiel’s voice dropped a tone. As she instinctively tensed and gripped the sheet wrapped around her body, the emperor continued speaking while staring intently at Elia with the eyes of a hunter observing prey.

“But Count Kent didn’t bring you back as I ordered, and sent someone separately instead. He said your condition looked very poor, so he would let you rest at his nearby residence first before bringing you.”

“Did, did he…… But why is Your Majesty……”

“Oh my. Didn’t I say? I came to fetch my woman.”

“Hic!”

The tension that had risen to its peak couldn’t be suppressed further and burst out in the form of hiccups.

As if he had expected Elia’s reaction, he calmly turned his eyes to the table.

“Contrary to my expectation that the empress investiture would be the main issue, the list of state guests to invite for the Foundation Festival was today’s topic of discussion at the morning assembly. So I brought the list with me, thinking I’d take time to consider it. What do you think?”

“What thoughts could I……”

“If we’re going to hold a national wedding together during the Foundation Festival, I’m thinking we should make the scale of invited state guests quite large.”

Elia’s mouth fell open.

Had the young emperor gone senile instead of the ministers?

A national wedding. Between whom and whom?

“It’s generally customary for imperial family marriages to have long engagement periods, but I think holding it quickly during the Foundation Festival would be fine too. What do you think?”

“…… I, I hate it.”

When she barely managed to exhale her blocked breath and complete a single sentence, the tip of Casiel’s eyebrow rose.

“You hate having the wedding during the Foundation Festival? Then shall we hold it between New Year’s Festival and Foundation Festival? Or it would be fine to prepare properly and hold it during New Year’s Festival.”

“No! It’s not about when to hold it, I just……!”

“Just?”

“I, I won’t get married…… gasp!”

Elia, startled by the shadow that suddenly loomed over her, held her breath again.

Since he was naturally large in stature, even Casiel’s slightest movement was threatening. As he leaned toward her, blocking the candlelight, Elia had to grip the sheet tightly as if it were a lifeline.

“You hate marrying me?”

“…… Yes.”

Even while trembling, when she gave an answer in a voice as thin as a mosquito’s buzz, Casiel’s eyes narrowed.

“There seems to be a problem with my hearing. You hate marrying me—that can’t be right, can it?”

“I apologize. There’s nothing wrong with Your Majesty’s hearing……”

“Then are you saying you’ll marry another ma…… no, another person to the very end?”

“No! That’s not it, ah!”

She raised her head to protest, but suddenly her vision spun and Elia let out a single scream.

Casiel lifted Elia up along with the sheet and slung her over his shoulder.

“Your Majesty!”

The gaze she met at close range while hanging on Casiel’s shoulder was as cold as a winter snowstorm.

“It seems you want to toy with me? I’m amazed that there are still people left in the empire who don’t know that I’m not a particularly patient person.”

Elia knew well that he wasn’t the patient type.

During his crown prince days, Casiel was a warrior who led numerous conquest wars to victory.

The factor in his victories was simple. Overwhelming power and ruthlessness that didn’t give even a moment to breathe.

The emperor’s tales of valor, sweeping away troublesome lands without leaving a single blade of grass, excited all the people of the empire.

Though he was now holed up in the imperial palace focusing on domestic affairs, how could Elia not know of Casiel’s ruthlessness?

“That’s not it. How could I dare toy with Your Majesty…… I, I don’t mean that……”

“If you’re going to make pathetic excuses, it would be better to keep that mouth shut.”

The sound of grinding teeth was ominous, so Elia really did shut her mouth.

Saying she hated marrying him wasn’t an excuse but a refusal. However, Elia didn’t have the courage to dare explain the definition of words to the emperor.

At the sight of Casiel striding across the count’s residence carrying Elia like luggage, the count’s employees were horrified and bowed their heads.

“Your Majesty!”

Lilias, who had heard of the situation, came running out urgently.

“Your Majesty. Lady Weiss still isn’t well and needs to rest a bit more, so how…… how could you……”

Lilias, who couldn’t bring herself to ask why he was carrying Elia in that state, trailed off.

Casiel glanced coldly once at Lilias, who was looking at the squirming Elia with eyes dying of pity, and nodded.

“Countess Kent.”

Lilias swallowed and bowed deeply.

“I’ll commend the courage you showed in daring to block my path.”

Sweat instantly formed in Lilias’s hands gripping her dress hem as Casiel’s next words pierced her ears.

“I hope that sentiment remains unchanged even when you become the empress’s head lady-in-waiting later.”

Lilias forgot her manners and jerked her head up.