“I am…… His Majesty’s eternal second empress.”

That curse was still eating away at Elia’s soul.

It began when Elia was nineteen, just a year after her sister Cecilia’s death. From the moment she wore the empress’s crown as soon as she turned twenty.

And though nearly another year had passed, nothing had changed except the fact that Elia was still hated by the Emperor.

* * *

After attending any event with the Emperor, Elia would usually fall ill for two days. She had no strength left in body or mind from being too nervous, anxious, or enduring the thorny seat.

“You still have a slight fever. Really, won’t you eat anything? You should have something.”

Hannah spoke kindly at Elia’s bedside. Though her fair cheeks were a mess with tear stains from crying in her sleep again, it was now their tacit agreement to pretend not to notice.

“Shall I have someone wash your face? Such a fair and beautiful face……”

“Hannah.”

Elia parted her dry lips.

“I am not beautiful. Rather…… I’m hideous.”

Last night’s dream had been exceptionally vivid. And it had been a while since she had felt Rockfort’s hostility so close.

“Who would dare say such nonsense?”

Hannah raised her voice but caught herself unconsciously. It was too obvious if she thought about it.

The only person who would dare say such things to Elia was just one person.

Elia recalled her wedding day.

“It was the second time I saw His Majesty.”

Elia’s first meeting with Rockfort was at her sister’s wedding, and the second was on the day she herself became empress.

After returning early from the war, the Emperor mourned Cecilia’s death for a long time. He stayed in the Imperial Palace the entire time, but Elia was only able to meet the Emperor just before the wedding ceremony began.

“I tried to pay my respects to His Majesty.”

That was all. It felt awkward to reunite while wearing a pure white wedding dress with a veil, but it was the proper etiquette.

“But His Majesty looked down at me with ice-cold eyes before I could even say my greeting.”

Until then, Elia had remembered Emperor Rockfort as kind, or at least humane.

“I still remember clearly what His Majesty said that day……”

It was the day she first learned that his voice could be cold enough to freeze her heart.

“He told me not to touch him. And he clearly said…… that I was hideous.”

Hannah bowed her head, blaming herself for bringing up the subject, but Elia’s thoughts weren’t finished.

It was just a scheduled wedding. To keep the promise with the imperial family, Elia, another daughter of Duke Theon, became Empress.

But the Emperor looked at Elia as if he was seeing something terrible.

Though she had only stood at the wedding to fulfill a predetermined promise and her family’s orders, Elia was already a hideous sinner.

The promise between the two families had been made long ago. Cecilia’s death and Elia being the only remaining daughter…… none of that was her fault.

“The Empress has done nothing wrong……”

Hannah couldn’t continue. Elia forced a smile.

“What answer should I have given His Majesty then? Would something have been different?”

Elia surrendered herself to the chains of regret, knowing it was meaningless.

* * *

Elia always knelt alone in a small room in the Empress’s quarters according to her set routine. At first, she had prayed in the palace chapel, but it had been a long time since she changed locations after hearing that Rockfort disliked it.

“Dear God.”

Elia closed her eyes and clasped her hands.

“I……”

But no more words came. Elia opened her eyes and stared into the void. Her tightly clasped hands loosened.

At first, she had prayed so earnestly. For Rockfort to look at her, or at least not hate her.

And…… now she prayed to die in her sleep.

“None of my prayers are ever answered.”

Her father, Duke Theon, always said that one could only be happy with a devout heart. He also taught that prayers would be answered if one prayed with the most sincere heart.

“Father was wrong too.”

Elia no longer came to this room hoping to pray for something and for things to improve. Since the role of empress had long disappeared, only the fact that the empress was praying here for a few hours remained important.

“Well, even the Archbishop’s blessing couldn’t make this marriage proper……”

There was no longer any devout light in her blue eyes. She merely filled this time with sighs.

When there was nothing to do as empress, she felt self-conscious even eating if she didn’t pray. And deep regret always stirred up the past.

—I bear witness to the sacred marriage of His Majesty the Emperor of the Holy Petrion Empire and the daughter of Duke Theon.

Those were the words the Archbishop recited at Elia’s wedding. Of course, by then, Rockfort standing beside Elia was already a man colder than marble.

“I can’t forget. No matter how much I want to forget……”

A cold profile, emotions that didn’t move at all. Eyes that seemed annoyed by even standing side by side.

That was all there was at Elia’s wedding.

—Through this marriage, we vow to be each other’s one and only companion and spouse for life…… never to betray each other, and to stay together as husband and wife in sickness, in sadness, and in old age until death.

Elia recited the marriage vows there. But the Emperor’s firm lips never opened.

Even as the confused Archbishop looked at the Emperor, even as Elia’s insides were burning up, even as everyone present watched.

—……I acknowledge Elia Theon as my empress, and will admit her to the imperial family as Empress.

Rockfort did not swear according to the marriage vows. He merely said he would acknowledge and admit her.

At that time, Elia only thought to herself. Perhaps he didn’t want to make that once-in-a-lifetime vow again since he had already given it to her sister.

—Then, give the bride the first kiss……

At the Archbishop’s words, Rockfort’s lips, frozen like ice, briefly brushed against Elia’s cheek without even lifting her veil. Originally, he should have lifted the veil and kissed her lips, but in that frigid atmosphere, no one dared point out the breach of etiquette.

—Ahem, then I declare this blessed marriage has taken place under the name of God.

Wearing the pure white veil, Elia understood his heart. No, she tried to understand while barely holding back her tears.

But that was just the beginning.

On their first night together after the wedding, as tradition dictated, Rockfort not only didn’t remove Elia’s veil, he didn’t even come near her.

From a distance, the sounds of the banquet and fireworks celebrating the wedding made the new bride even more miserable.

—Don’t be mistaken.

On their wedding night, Elia’s husband pushed her away with a cold, deep voice that seemed to freeze her heart.

—The daughter of House Theon wears the empress’s crown. That’s all there is to it.

His purple eyes, with depths impossible to fathom, already seemed to view Elia as something less than a living person.

—You can never be anything to me.

The Rockfort she had known was gone. The man who had kindly told her to keep her sister company and who knew how to smile gently was nowhere to be found.

—Wear the empress’s crown and keep that position for a long time.

And so ended their first night of marriage.

—Ah……

Only then did Elia realize what she truly was.

The daughter of House Theon who would keep her promise? The second empress?

No, it wasn’t like that at all.

“I was a sinner. From the moment I became empress, always……”

The answer lay in what Rockfort had told her on their wedding night. Even if she received treatment worse than death, she was meant to wear the empress’s crown, maintain that most noble position, and quietly wither away alone.

“What a cruel man.”

In some ways, it was a punishment colder than death. Naturally, the empress’s chambers remained silent thereafter.

In the past, one might occasionally hear Elia sobbing, but as she grew accustomed to her situation, she learned to cry quietly, alone, stifling her sounds.

“Why……”

In truth, she had grown weary of even questioning anymore. Her self-esteem had plummeted to rock bottom, and sometimes Elia felt guilty for merely breathing.

“I wish I could just die.”

Yes, honestly, she wanted to die. That would be easier.

“Sister, why…… why does His Majesty hate me?”

She couldn’t bring herself to ask anyone. Elia repeated the same question to Cecilia in the small room designated as a prayer chamber. But of course, the deceased Cecilia couldn’t answer her.

“His Majesty wasn’t originally a cruel person.”

It would have been better if he were insane or violent, or a born cold-blooded man.

“His Majesty smiled at you like that. He even showed me kindness when we first met.”