6.

Late at night, Rockfort frowned as he drank wine.

“Small, but sharp.”

Though barely visible on the outside, the soft flesh inside his mouth where Elia had bitten him earlier throbbed.

Considering the tangy taste of blood, he must have been wounded somewhere.

“So fearless.”

Wounding the emperor’s body, especially causing him to bleed, was a capital offense punishable by death.

Yet Rockfort’s eyes gleamed not with anger but with interest as he muttered to himself.

“She seems clever but is excessively innocent, and when I let my guard down, she does something this impertinent…… I can’t figure her out at all.”

Rockfort was destined to reign above all others. An emperor is a being who naturally expects absolute obedience from others.

But that fact also made his world colorless.

“Even the empress dowager, who seemed so cold when I was young, can’t glare at me anymore.”

The same was true of the former emperor, who had been imposing and high-ranking. It was the result of Rockfort establishing his position and building his power during his seven years as emperor.

Ordering the empress dowager’s virtual exile and stripping power from the former emperor were all Rockfort’s decisions.

“She dares to bite me?”

Rockfort let out a small laugh as he traced his wound with his finger. If he had intended to punish her, Elia would already be dead.

He was now thinking of that woman who glared at him, bit him, and rejected him—something even his own parents wouldn’t dare to do.

“Will I ever meet another woman like that, no…… another person like that in my life?”

His wrist holding the wine glass swayed leisurely in the air. A strange smile played on his attractive lips.

“When her leg fully heals, she might even kick me.”

The current Elia seemed more than capable of doing so.

“In one year……”

During that time, their relationship could change in countless ways.

Rockfort felt her hands lose strength when she had pushed him away during their kiss.

It wasn’t an illusion. The sensation of Elia’s lips parting slightly and accepting him, despite her clumsiness and inability to breathe properly, could never be an illusion.

“You will want me.”

Rockfort murmured the same words again. Though he didn’t realize it himself, it was evidence that he already desired Elia beyond what was possible for him.

“I feel particularly thirsty today.”

No matter how sweet the wine he drank was, his lips searched for some other moisture.

He thought there would be no greater change in his life, so it surprised him to find such burning desire within himself.

“Was marriage always this complicated?”

When he made Cecilia his empress, he had no special thoughts about it. It was the former emperor’s decision, but it was also a good political choice, and the calm, shy woman seemed decent enough.

“If that incident hadn’t happened…… she would have simply become a decent empress.”

It didn’t necessarily have to be Cecilia. He wanted an empress of suitable birth, moderately beautiful, and moderately obedient.

All he wanted from his empress was to cause no major problems and smoothly bear his heirs.

Isn’t that what an empress is supposed to be?

“Marriage shouldn’t require emotions.”

Rockfort’s lifelong common sense was being shaken.

Elia neither obeyed him nor expressed any intention to bear his heirs.

Even he wondered why he had no thoughts of overturning this marriage when it failed to meet even the minimum conditions.

“Do I still…… possess such things?”

To become a strong emperor, he first stripped his parents of power and suppressed others with force. On the battlefield, he led from the front and beheaded enemies.

Even during last year’s ceremonial wedding, he felt no excitement or expectation.

“So useless, wasteful, and meaningless.”

An emperor’s life was that bland. Especially for a competent and strong emperor.

Until just recently, he couldn’t imagine himself doing anything to win a woman’s heart.

“Emotions.”

He couldn’t deceive himself. He wanted Elia somehow, wanted that thing called her heart.

He wanted to see those clear, intensely blue eyes desire him completely, wanted to kiss those fair cheeks and plump lips, wanted to embrace her.

“It’s surprisingly frightening.”

Huh, Rockfort exhaled a long breath. Though he could take Elia immediately or force her to submit, he couldn’t immediately possess that thing called her heart.

What he wanted was the Elia who appeared before his eyes now, moving clearly with her own will toward him. As she said, a woman like a plant that endures a long winter could never quench this thirst, no matter how much he held her.

“Above all, what I don’t understand is……”

It was quite amusing to see Rockfort cautiously holding up a mirror to check his face, afraid someone might see.

Of course, the face reflected in the mirror was, as he and the entire empire knew, that of a handsome young man.

“Why does she hate me?”

Even his slightly raised eyebrows were masculine, and his mysterious purple-tinged eyes unique to the imperial family were noble.

Not only that. His tall stature and firmly muscled, robust body were a source of pride for him. Especially the fact that, despite being emperor, he would never lose to any knight in combat.

“What a strange woman.”

Even as he muttered this, Rockfort kept thinking about Elia whenever he had time. He would get angry alone, then recall the sensation of her lips, and finally go crazy with curiosity about why she hated him.

Indeed, was Elia the only strange one now?

Rockfort didn’t even have the leisure to ask himself such a question. It was truly rare and unlike him. That’s why it was special.

* * *

Several more busy days passed. Elia finally became able to stand briefly with crutches, while Rockfort was preoccupied with the unusually urgent proceedings of the council.

“Your Majesty, did you rest well last night?”

As usual, Jayden came directly to the emperor’s quarters to start the day.

Rockfort was already dressed in formal attire, sitting in a chair examining correspondence. Whether he’s spending nights on the battlefield or dealing with heavy workloads, his impeccable appearance without the slightest dishevelment drew admiration from those around him.

“Not particularly.”

Rockfort, who had been focusing on the correspondence for a while, gave a short answer. That meant it wasn’t bad.

“Today’s council meeting will likely be long.”

“Is there a problem……”

“I can no longer ignore the empress dowager’s letter that I’ve been ignoring for a while.”

Jayden made a puzzled expression. The relationship between mother and son was extremely bad, and he thought the letter that arrived yesterday had ended with Rockfort ignoring it as usual.

“In yesterday’s letter, Leticia is directly appealing to me.”

That was the nature of the letter in his hand from earlier. Judging by Rockfort’s dark face, it didn’t seem to contain good news.

“She says she’s extremely unhappy staying in the Grand Duchy…… that she can’t bear it anymore, and is begging me as her brother.”

Jayden bowed his head, recalling the princess’s former appearance—dazzlingly beautiful and loving everything in the world.

No one was less suited to the word ‘unhappy’ than Leticia, yet life was so unpredictable.

“Hah…… I thought she might get better after having a child three years ago.”

Rockfort’s sigh was deep. Leticia was his only full-blooded sibling, and they were the only two survivors among the former emperor’s children.

Naturally, the siblings shared a deep bond, and he especially cherished Leticia’s bright and gentle nature, which was nothing like the empress dowager’s.

“Leticia has been thoughtful and gentle since childhood. This is the first time she’s pleaded with me like this since leaving for the Grand Duchy. It seems she’s so distressed…… that she can’t endure it anymore.”

Watching the wedding procession depart in tears, how could Rockfort’s heart have been at ease? But, like most political marriages, he easily assumed she would get used to it.

“I was no different from the empress dowager.”

Now that easy assumption returned as deep regret. He had stood by and essentially endorsed his mother’s methods, which he so despised.

“Your Majesty, the princess’s marriage was arranged directly by the former emperor and the empress dowager. Also…… wasn’t it because of that union that we were able to make the Grand Duchy of Ern a complete ally?”

Seeing Rockfort blaming himself, Jayden carefully offered his words.

It was a political marriage arranged to strengthen ties with the Grand Duchy of Ern, a once-discontented ally near a region with a long history of warfare. It was also the fate and duty bestowed upon noble-born women from birth.

“I wanted to know what the empress dowager was thinking, so I ordered the letter I had told them to burn to be brought back. Fortunately, it hadn’t been processed yet.”

The empress dowager was far from a loving mother. She had been colder than anyone in scolding Leticia when she cried about not wanting to marry.

The fact that such an empress dowager had gone to the Grand Duchy to check on her daughter’s condition meant the situation was serious.

“I’ll need to hear the details directly from her, but even the empress dowager said Leticia has no standing as the grand duchess and seems to have no prospect of improvement.”

Jayden sighed with a heavy heart. Fortunately, Rockfort seemed not to have heard as he was completely focused on the letter.

If the empress dowager, who valued political marriages more than anyone, had judged so, it meant Leticia was in a truly miserable situation.