“I’m sure you do. Let me warn you in advance, deceiving me won’t be easy.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Her true feelings, which she had never expressed before, came out.

“What?”

Rockfort asked, somewhat bewildered.

“I said it doesn’t matter. I won’t be telling Your Majesty any lies today.”

Huh, Rockfort let out a small laugh.

“Before that, I have one request.”

There was no fear on Elia’s face. Her flawless blue eyes caught Rockfort’s attention.

“I would like you to listen without saying anything until I finish my story.”

At those words, Rockfort’s eyebrows twitched. It wasn’t a request a 19-year-old lady should make to the Emperor.

“This is a story that cannot be interrupted midway.”

Elia’s face was filled with desperate determination.

Rockfort could instinctively recognize that resolve. It was completely different from the flatterers who tried to deceive him. But he still couldn’t understand what she was thinking.

“Very well. I promise.”

“Thank you. Since Your Majesty is someone who always keeps promises…… I will now speak.”

Although this was Rockfort’s first time meeting Elia, she spoke as if she knew him well. Her fair face was that of a nineteen-year-old lady, but her blue eyes had a calmness unusual for her age, giving off a mysterious aura.

“House Theon has committed a great sin against Your Majesty.”

Elia barely parted her lips. Rockfort narrowed his eyes at her unexpected words.

But her calm lips continued.

“That includes my sister Cecilia, who recently met her death.”

“How dare you insult the deceased……”

Elia stared steadily into Rockfort’s eyes. It seemed like she was reminding him of his earlier promise.

His discomfort showed on his face, but as Elia expected, he closed his mouth.

“While Your Majesty was away on campaign, my sister Cecilia committed adultery and became pregnant. I found out about this four days ago.”

Rockfort’s face wrinkled with shock.

“My sister, afraid of Your Majesty and the world, secretly asked my mother to get her an abortion medicine. I…… went to the Empress’s palace under the pretext of visiting her and delivered that medicine.”

Elia felt as if the stone that had been weighing on her chest her entire life was disappearing. She hadn’t known that simply telling the truth could feel so liberating.

“I misunderstood my mother and thought the medicine was poison meant to kill my sister…… so I secretly switched it with vitamins and delivered it several times.”

Huh, a deflated breath escaped between Rockfort’s lips. Each word was beyond shocking.

“The fall that happened that day was not an accident. As usual, I switched the medicine and gave it to my sister, but she…… seemed to believe that I was interfering with her abortion and trying to steal her position as Empress.”

Ha, Elia exhaled with relief.

“My sister, in despair that she could no longer hide her illicit pregnancy and misunderstanding that I was scheming to take her place…… chose to end her life.”

Seeing Rockfort standing there blankly, unable to say anything, Elia only regretted that until now, even she hadn’t known the truth, and thus couldn’t have told it earlier.

“And saying she would take me, whom she hated most, with her, she forcibly embraced me and jumped.”

For a moment, silence fell.

“After that incident, I lost consciousness and only woke up a few days ago. My parents tried to disguise it as an unfortunate accident…… but it was indeed an incident.”

Having conveyed all the truth, Elia lowered her head. She didn’t want to see his face now. Hadn’t she experienced enough hatred and contempt in her previous life?

“I don’t understand.”

Rockfort spoke.

“Your parents would have said it was an accident caused by your sister’s hallucinations……”

“No, it’s not Cecilia but your actions that I don’t understand. Why are you confessing so readily?”

Elia looked up at Rockfort with puzzled eyes. He too had a puzzled expression.

“I……”

Now Elia knew the answer. It was too simple and straightforward.

“I’d rather die honestly than live by lies.”

Elia’s life had been ruined by the lies around her. But this time would be different.

For the first time, Elia had told the truth, and if she had to pay for her sins with her life, she would gladly do so. This was the answer she had found after experiencing one death and another near-death.

“That is all I have to say.”

Rockfort remained silent for a long time, making no movement. He just kept looking at Elia, who waited for her punishment with her head bowed, with remarkable composure.

After a while, an incredibly heavy voice flowed from his beautiful lips.

“Do you think I will pity and forgive you for saying that? Unfortunately, I am not so soft.”

“I beg you, sentence me to death.”

It felt strange that a lady not even twenty years old could speak of her own death so calmly.

“What if I gave you a chance? If I pretended not to have heard this story and gave you another opportunity to testify……”

“My story is finished.”

Elia cut him off. Her slowly blinking eyes cast shadows from her long eyelashes. Her pure lips moved without hesitation, as if she had no attachment to this life.

“According to you, the Empress…… no, Cecilia, despite making marriage vows with me, did something filthy and tarnished her own honor. The Duchess dared to send abortion medicine to hide that woman’s infidelity, and if that wasn’t enough, the Duke and Duchess conspired to disguise her death as an accident and tried to deceive me?”

“Yes. That’s correct.”

Elia slowly nodded.

“Then, what about you? What is your crime?”

The lips that had moved without hesitation until now paused briefly. Then she looked up at Rockfort.

This time, her expression wasn’t calm and detached. It was a look of disbelief at his words.

“I…… I am also guilty. Although I didn’t know what the medicine was…… I delivered it to the Empress’s palace according to my mother’s wishes and contributed to House Theon’s deception of the imperial family.”

Unfamiliar with the question, Elia’s voice grew smaller. In her previous life, Rockfort had never asked her what her crime was. There was only the punishment of silence.

“Was it you who committed the filthy adultery and carried a bastard child?”

“No, it wasn’t.”

“Were you trying to hide that fact and deceive me?”

“Still…… I am a daughter of this family, and in some ways……”

Rockfort shook his head. To Elia, that moment felt incredibly long.

“If you were truly guilty, Cecilia would have successfully completed her abortion, and I would still be deceived by House Theon. Am I wrong?”

Elia stared blankly at Rockfort as if she had lost her words.

“What crime do you actually have?”

She absolutely, absolutely had no intention of showing tears before him.

But that wasn’t something she could control. Elia unknowingly felt hot tears flowing down her cheeks.

“When this mansion and the Empress’s palace are all trying to deceive me, only you have told the truth. That it wasn’t an accident but an incident.”

These were tears of regret. If only, if only she had revealed this painful truth earlier and become free.

“Why are you the only one telling me things as they are?”

“……Because it is right.”

Elia calmly exhaled. Her chest truly felt relieved.

It was the first time in her life she had felt this way. A faint smile settled on her tear-moistened lips.

“I don’t know much about justice or loyalty. I just…… hate and fear continuing this harsh life by deceiving someone with lies.”

Rockfort had seen countless crocodile tears before his ascension to the throne.

“Why are you crying?”

“Because my heart feels relieved now.”

The Empress Dowager was so skilled at fake tears that she could momentarily deceive even Rockfort, who knew all the inside stories.

And what about those who swore by faith and chivalry? They didn’t hesitate to use even God’s name for their own desires.

“You are different.”

Rockfort’s life had been full of people trying to deceive and flatter him. That’s why he could be certain. The woman before him, calmly holding back tears with a smile, had no falsehood.

“Even your request to be sentenced to death…… sounded sincere to me.”

At those words, Elia smiled slightly. Rockfort couldn’t possibly understand her feelings.

“Does that mean you believe my story?”

What use was such a thing now?

But Elia wanted to hear it at least once. The words that Rockfort believed her, just once.

Yes. Because even in the final moment of her first life, when she was dying in his arms, she hadn’t heard those words.

“Yes.”

Elia raised her wet eyes to look at him.

“I believe you.”

Ah…… how desperately she had wished for this moment.

Elia’s life-staking wish was surprisingly easy and close at hand.

The answer was simply to tell the truth as it should be told.

“Thank you, Your Majesty. Thanks to you…… I think I can face death with a willing heart.”

Choked with indescribable emotion, Elia’s cheeks were soaked with tears.

Rockfort found himself unable to look away from that sight. Even the tears flowing down her elegant face, like a lily holding morning dew, looked clear and beautiful.

To Rockfort, this also appeared sincere. Because that was truly how Elia felt.

“I have never seen someone like you in my life.”

The way he addressed Elia had changed, but neither of them noticed that small detail.

“I will wait for Your Majesty’s judgment with a repentant heart. May…… you be healthy throughout your reign and God’s protection be with you.”

That was truly a wish from the bottom of her heart. Although he had been the husband who despised her so much in her previous life, now that she knew he had his reasons, she had no lingering attachment or resentment.

“Yes, I understand.”

Having confessed all the truth, severe punishment for the guilty family was as good as decided.

Elia quietly closed her eyes. Then she heard Rockfort’s footsteps moving away, followed by the door closing.

It was probably their last meeting.