“Don’t bluff. Even you can’t tell His Majesty about this. Or are you saying you’d rather bring down the entire family with you than ruin just yourself?”

Whether this bluff would work was purely a gamble. Of course, since Elia had nothing, she had to bet her life.

“If I meet with an unfortunate accident, someone will send a letter revealing the truth to His Majesty. I wrote down…… all the facts myself.”

“Who would believe the words of a deranged nineteen-year-old?”

She didn’t intend to defeat Daniel right away. It was enough to slowly drag him down below her.

“If that’s what you think, why don’t you kill me?”

Elia looked at Daniel with a cold face. Her life had been too harsh to consider such an uncle as family.

“Isn’t it a good bet? I’ll stake my life, what will you stake, uncle?”

Seeing Daniel’s burning eyes, it seemed he might slap Elia’s face at any moment.

With a crash, unable to contain his anger, he picked up the side table in front of Elia and threw it.

But in the end, he couldn’t bring himself to slap her. He had lost this bet.

“Do you think becoming empress will change anything? Without House Theon, there is no empress. You’ll have no choice but to cover up the past too!”

“I will. The sinners have already been punished, so there’s nothing more to discuss.”

Contempt froze in Daniel’s eyes.

“You call your parents and sister sinners? What a vicious girl.”

“Is that something you should be saying, uncle?”

Daniel ground his teeth at his impudent niece. He moved closer to Elia and exhaled a threatening, rough breath.

“Fine, go ahead and become empress.”

He could wait longer.

“I’ve come this far too easily. Things obtained too easily aren’t fun.”

While Daniel secretly sharpened his knife aimed at his brother, Beriat had grown too old and tired. But now his daughter stood in Daniel’s way instead.

“The former Emperor had three empresses during his lifetime. Think carefully about what happened to the previous two…… Becoming empress is not the end.”

“……It’s just the beginning.”

As the calm voice rang out, Daniel looked at Elia with anger in his eyes. Though her firmly set lips were small and delicate, their stubbornness resembled his brother’s, making him feel even more repulsed.

“Thank you for the congratulations on my engagement. I hope Kayla finds a good match someday too.”

Ha, Daniel laughed in disbelief.

“I never knew my brother was raising such a monster.”

It was absurd that his brother had called him a monster when he had such a daughter.

“Monsters only see monsters in others.”

A gaze identical to Beriat’s fixed on Daniel’s face. His mouth twisted completely.

“Fine. You act as if you have nothing to lose. I hoped your parents wouldn’t suffer another misfortune…… but if that’s how you want it, so be it.”

“Uncle, you’ll need to lie more skillfully when you stand before His Majesty. He has very sharp intuition.”

“What a disgusting girl.”

Bang, after kicking the side table already thrown to the floor, Daniel left the room.

Shortly after, Hannah and Dain, who had been anxiously pacing outside the door, rushed in to check if Elia was safe.

“I’m fine.”

“But why was the duke so angry……”

Elia took Hannah’s hand.

“What we’re thinking is correct.”

Everyone kept their mouths tightly shut.

“Don’t say it out loud. That kind of thing won’t help us fight back.”

“Miss……”

Seeing Hannah with tears in her eyes and Dain with clenched fists, Elia felt sorry for having tried to die so easily.

“Tomorrow night, His Majesty will come. That’s the most important thing right now.”

She needed to leave this ducal residence as soon as possible.

Even if it meant going to Rockfort’s side.

* * *

Rockfort’s eyes were troubled as he gazed at the sunset.

Tomorrow night he could hold the betrothal ceremony, but he wasn’t sure if Elia would accept it willingly.

“I never thought I’d have this kind of worry in my life.”

Rockfort let out a hollow laugh at this unfamiliar concern. Until now, he had always thought that choosing an empress was his prerogative, but Elia’s attitude defied common sense.

“However, the Emperor needs no one’s permission.”

Fortunately, his common sense remained firm. As long as Rockfort held the throne, no one could command him, nor did he need anyone’s permission.

“What exactly makes her defy me like this?”

Rockfort slightly furrowed his handsome brow.

At first he was intrigued, then bewildered. The scene of her turning away was still vivid in his mind—when she should have been shedding tears of joy at being preserved with her family and elevated to empress.

“What safety is she talking about?”

Huh, with another hollow laugh, his brow furrowed even more.

“Truly insolent and unreasonable.”

The more he dwelled on it, the more vexing Elia’s behavior became. Though he had no intention of holding her accountable for the sins of Cecilia and the former duke and duchess, her actions alone were beyond treason.

Considering his usual temperament, he would have severely punished or even executed her.

“Has she lost her mind due to successive misfortunes?”

After visiting Elia, Rockfort had summoned the imperial physician to ask if she had injured her head. Strangely, he was told her head and mind were fine, but lately he wasn’t so sure.

—Why…… should I run away?

In that moment, Elia’s gaze had been more dignified than anyone’s. It even felt as if she were looking down on Rockfort, the Emperor himself.

“How impertinent.”

Just thinking about it now, he could list numerous offenses.

—I hate it, even if I die.

Every detail of Elia’s expression, tone, voice, and gaze came vividly to mind.

“How dare she refuse marriage to me? To me, the Emperor?”

Hmph, he bit his lip. He had spent most of his life as crown prince and had been Emperor for seven years.

No matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t imagine why she would refuse him.

“Does she truly wish to die?”

The young and handsome Emperor was an arrogant being. Naturally, no other reason came to mind.

“Who does she think she is?”

He didn’t even realize that a whole day had passed while he recalled every word, expression, and glance of Elia in minute detail.

* * *

No matter how much Daniel racked his brain, he could find no way to stop the Emperor’s visit. He had thoroughly searched Elia’s servants’ quarters and their rooms, but couldn’t find any evidence or clues.

“Damn…… that cunning girl.”

He couldn’t determine whether her threat was a mere bluff or real.

“A bet? Huh.”

While Elia had only her life to lose, Daniel was different. Having finally attained the duke’s position he had so coveted, he was reluctant to cross a dangerous bridge. It was the only weakness of someone who possessed much.

“Peterson! What about the servant from the Imperial Palace?”

Since morning, servants and the imperial physician had been sent from the palace to deliver items and examine Elia, greatly irritating Daniel.

“They’re still here, explaining about the betrothal ceremony and delivering necessary items. They say they’ll stay until His Majesty arrives and then join him.”

Tsk, Daniel clicked his tongue in displeasure. No wonder Elia was acting so boldly, trusting in the Emperor.

“What should……”

When Peterson cautiously asked, Daniel glared at him before he could finish.

“What can we do! That girl seems to have thoroughly bewitched His Majesty, so we have no choice but to leave her be for now. Keep Kayla in her room in case she says something wrong.”

“Yes.”

As Elia had said, this was just the beginning. Even the former Emperor had put so much effort into courting his first empress that minstrels competed to compose songs about it, but that ardent love lasted barely a year.

“Kayla is still young. That means her opportunities are endless.”

The former Emperor had ignited the desires of all nobles in the Empire. Anyone could become empress. Whether it was the second or third, what mattered was being the last empress.

“There’s no need to waste my beautiful daughter while his blood is still hot.”

Love was like spring, passing quickly. He too had experienced youth. He understood the heart of the twenty-four-year-old Emperor in his prime.

“If she wants to be a consumable of her own accord, I won’t stop her.”

Daniel finished his cunning calculation.

“Where there’s a second, there’s always a third. It’s enough if our Kayla becomes the last empress.”

With Cassandra, the third empress who was now the empress dowager, there was enough possibility and reason to wait.

* * *

As the day waned, darkness gradually descended. The scent of spring flowers and a clear breeze wafted through the open window. It was a night when even the occasional sound of insects chirping seemed pure and clear.

“Miss, are you alright? How is your leg?”

“Yes. Everything’s fine.”

With help from the imperial physician and servant who had visited in the morning, Elia was able to sit in a chair made especially for her. Her heart fluttered just from being able to bend her knees and leave the bed.

“I’m just sitting upright, but the world looks completely different.”

The chair made for her had wheels, making it easy for Hannah to push and move her. Thanks to that, she could now feel the soft moonlight and the scent of plants by the window.

“It feels like I’m discovering spring for the first time in my life.”

She never knew that a season that had simply passed by before could stir her heart so deeply.

It was a spring night she would never have known if she had died with Cecilia then.

“It’s almost time for His Majesty to arrive.”