“To him, I must have been so disgusting. Now, now I finally understand.”

There was no need to think further. Elia looked toward the window. But jumping from just the third floor might repeat the same failure.

“It’s alright. I, after all, inherited my mother’s thoroughness.”

A bitter murmur echoed. After confirming her return from death, Elia had switched Cecilia’s medicine and, preparing for any situation, hidden a dagger deep in her vanity drawer.

It was something she had seen by chance at the place where she bought the herbs for the switch, and she hadn’t expected it to be helpful in this way.

“I also have the medicine I took from mother…… but I hate that poison now.”

Elia remembered the terrible pain of her body burning when she drank poison to prove her innocence. Worse, she hadn’t died immediately, so she could even feel Rockfort’s voice and body heat.

“In the end, he too…… knew nothing just the same.”

Somehow, that one fact alone felt regrettable.

But there was no way to turn back now. Cecilia was already dead, and for the sake of her family, Elia would have to deceive him again.

“This time, I’ll refuse.”

It was the first and last time she would decide her own fate. Elia exhaled a resolute “whew” and raised her body.

Or at least, that’s what she thought.

“……Huh?”

Raising her upper body was simple, but she had no feeling in her left leg.

With a hardened face, she yanked the blanket away to find her left leg wrapped in bandages, looking three times thicker than normal, and fixed to the bed with straps.

“My leg……”

Despite trying to exert force, her left leg wouldn’t budge at all, as if it were an injury that needed to be immobilized.

It felt like a stone was attached to her body instead of her own limb. The leg was tied so securely that she couldn’t even reach the knot at the bedpost.

“No.”

Even awkwardly flailing her right leg, which she could still move, only confirmed that she couldn’t escape this bed.

“No. Move…… I said move!”

Her left leg still wouldn’t budge at all. The bed where Elia lay remained as immovable as a rock.

“Please, move…… please.”

She couldn’t believe that even crawling on the floor to die wasn’t permitted to her.

“At least once…… let me choose by my own will……”

She wanted to break all these chains. Even if it meant cutting her own life short, that was the only freedom and will Elia could choose.

“Please, move. I said move! At least let me…… decide my own death…… please……”

Endless tears flowed, whether from sadness or frustration, she couldn’t tell. Never in her life had she struggled so desperately. Elia was literally fighting with all her might to die. But in the end, her left leg wouldn’t move. By her own will, she couldn’t even escape a single bed. That was her fate.

* * *

The Emperor’s personal knights were just as skilled and swift as their reputation claimed. Rockfort had already heard the details about the accident before even reaching the capital.

“Your Majesty, I’ve received word that Lady Elia has awakened at House Theon and has testified about the situation at that time.”

Despite Jayden’s news, Rockfort’s purple eyes remained filled with doubt.

“Her Majesty the Empress temporarily suffered from mental confusion and while chasing hallucinations……”

“Enough. I’ve already received the report by letter.”

Rockfort frowned with displeasure.

“Mental confusion? Seeing hallucinations?”

His scathing voice had already determined those words to be lies. In fact, House Theon had somewhat anticipated this reaction, but the accident was so absurd that there was a limit to what they could invent.

“Why did the lady who threw herself to save the Empress survive alone? Even though they fell together?”

“She first fell onto a large tree in the garden and then to the ground……”

Jayden noticed Rockfort’s expression and closed his mouth. Rockfort hadn’t asked out of genuine curiosity. He already knew the situation, having received all the reports.

“Do you perhaps suspect the lady?”

Cold purple eyes looked at Jayden. Anyone else would have faced his wrath for such a question, but Jayden, who had grown up with Rockfort since childhood and pledged lifelong loyalty, could ask.

“What I suspect is everything except the dead Cecilia.”

Jayden’s expression darkened as he observed Rockfort’s hardened profile.

“You know well how ugly human greed can be. Some people can kill even their own flesh and blood without hesitation for their ambitions. The Imperial Palace…… is especially a place with many such people.”

His low voice ground out the words.

“I hate those kinds of people. More than anyone else…… even if it were my mother.”

Jayden simply bowed his head silently. The power struggles that took place in the Imperial Palace until Rockfort ascended to the throne were truly disgusting and horrific.

At the center of it all was the current Empress Dowager, and thanks to her, her only son Rockfort had ascended to the throne.

“Do you remember the oath on the night of my accession?”

“How could I forget?”

On the night after the coronation ceremony, Rockfort sat on the empty throne in the audience chamber and swore under the moonlight.

“At that time, I swore on my life. Now that I have become emperor, I would never again allow such deception and dirty power struggles to occur during my reign.”

“I remember it clearly.”

“I also swore that I would never forgive such people and would eliminate them.”

Cecilia was already dead. But according to his oath, Rockfort had a duty to discover the truth.

“Would it not be better to issue an order now to seize and search the Theon ducal residence? Evidence might disappear before Your Majesty arrives.”

“It’s already too late. When they came up with that ridiculous excuse about mental confusion, all evidence would have been removed. Rather, they would have fabricated evidence or witnesses.”

Rockfort had watched his mother’s power struggles since childhood. No matter how meticulous the Duchess might be, she couldn’t match the Empress Dowager from those days.

“I see. As expected, Your Majesty is wise.”

“The Empress…… Cecilia is already dead. If I were truly wise, I wouldn’t have left for the campaign leaving the Empress alone.”

A long sigh echoed. Rockfort tried to recall Cecilia’s face, which he had only seen at their wedding, but he couldn’t remember it clearly. He only had the impression that she was gentle, beautiful, and virtuous.

“How could that gentle woman who had just become Empress…… have survived in the Imperial Palace without me?”

“It’s not Your Majesty’s fault. Before your departure, you ordered strict security for the Empress’s palace and forbade social gatherings to protect her.”

“That’s true.”

It was a futile response.

“I never imagined that the Empress’s family would do such a thing.”

“Your Majesty, nothing is certain yet.”

Rockfort shook his head.

“Think about what you just said. The Empress was so strictly guarded that no one could have approached her during that time. No one except family would have had the opportunity.”

If the Empress Dowager knew this fact, how would she mock him? She would probably tell Rockfort, “You still have much to learn.”

“At the scene of the accident, she was alone with her younger sister, and only that sister survived. What else am I supposed to think?”

Right now, Rockfort’s heart was filled with guilt. If only he had postponed the marriage with Cecilia, this wouldn’t have happened. No matter how urgent the former emperor’s wishes were, he had been too arrogant.

“Jayden. I can’t even clearly recall the Empress’s face now.”

Thinking about that fact added to his remorse for Cecilia who died so meaninglessly.

“The Empress must have trusted and waited for me as her husband…… In the end, we never met again.”

“Your Majesty, the campaign was to protect this continent. Thanks to Your Majesty’s great victory in this war, many people’s lives have become peaceful.”

No matter how much Jayden consoled him, regret could not be erased.

“Your Majesty is a great emperor.”

Pfft, Rockfort let out a bitter laugh.

“No matter how much of an emperor I am, isn’t it pathetic that I can do nothing for someone who’s already dead?”

Even if there was no romantic love between them, they had held a wedding ceremony and made vows as husband and wife in the name of God, so they were clearly a married couple. Yet Rockfort had done nothing for her as a husband.

“Order a more thorough investigation. Tell them to search until not even a speck of dust remains unexamined.”

“Yes.”

Regrettably, all he could do now was resolve Cecilia’s grievance and thoroughly punish whoever killed her.

“When we return to the Imperial Palace, I will go straight to the Theon ducal residence.”

His purple eyes gleamed coldly. His strong jawline visibly tensed.

“I should pay a sick call to the lady who threw herself to save my Empress. Shouldn’t I?”

Jayden nodded at the voice that emanated killing intent.

“With such a severe injury, there would be no greater honor than Your Majesty’s visit.”

“Indeed. If she has committed no sin, my visit should be joyful. How old is that younger sister?”

“I believe she recently turned 19.”

Rockfort pondered deeply, but he had no memory of Cecilia’s younger sister.

“Strange. If she’s the only younger sister, why didn’t she pay her respects to me at the wedding?”

“I don’t know. Shall I check?”

“Investigate everything from her name to her reputation.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Rockfort’s movement as he mounted his horse was swift. Looking from the hilltop, the capital was already visible in the distance.

“No, never mind.”

They would reach the Imperial Palace tonight.

“It would be faster if I see for myself. We can’t delay any longer.”

“It’s night, will you continue riding?”

Rockfort nodded immediately.