Despite his gaze being more painful than any words, Elia remained expressionless. Her heart was becoming increasingly numb to the pain.

“I will depose you. Spend the rest of your life in a convent, repenting.”

Repenting. At those words, Elia unconsciously let out a bitter laugh. Rockfort frowned.

“I’m sparing you punishment out of consideration for Cecilia, yet how can you be so insolent?”

“What crime are you not punishing me for?”

When Elia, who had never defied him before, asked back, Rockfort wore an incredulous expression.

“How dare you.”

He wouldn’t know. That Elia’s heart had been torn and shredded so much that she was no longer afraid or hurt by new wounds.

“Whatever crime it is, if I am guilty…… Yes. Please punish me for it.”

This is how it should have been from the beginning. Elia suddenly realized that she had endured pain that held no meaning.

Especially to the man before her, it meant nothing at all.

“Are you in your right mind?”

“Yes. I will accept punishment if Your Majesty personally teaches me how I am an evil woman, what crime I have committed.”

At least if she knew what crime she had committed, she wouldn’t feel wronged.

With luck, he might cleanly kill Elia right here. That would be better.

“Brazen until the end.”

Elia quietly knelt before Rockfort.

“Please, punish me for my crime.”

Hah, Rockfort let out a scornful laugh.

“Do you think this will make me feel pity? Is this a tactic the duchess taught you today? You mother and daughter are just the same.”

Despite the harsh criticism, Elia didn’t budge.

“Fine.”

Rockfort glared at Elia with dark eyes.

“If you want to die so badly, I’ll punish you for your crime.”

“Yes, gladly.”

Elia’s calm response provoked Rockfort’s anger.

“Even for poor Cecilia’s sake, I tried to endure until the end. But you, Elia, have crossed the line.”

“I won’t regret it, so please, just once, look at me instead of my sister.”

Suddenly, for the first time, Elia’s true feelings burst out. Her pleading voice trembled, but Rockfort maintained his cold expression without blinking an eye.

“No, all you deserve is punishment for your filthy crime.”

Death wasn’t frightening. It would be more peaceful than living like this.

But even suicide was a crime for an empress. That’s what had forced Elia to live until now.

“Fine, let’s see this through to the end. Jayden!”

At the emperor’s irritated voice, his close knight soon came and knelt.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Bring that item I entrusted to you.”

For a moment, Jayden hesitated.

“I said bring it.”

“……Yes.”

The emperor’s command was absolute. Elia remained kneeling before him, briefly waiting for the moment of fate.

Fortunately, the wait wasn’t long. Shortly after, Jayden returned, handed something to the emperor, and left.

“You know what this is, don’t you?”

Elia raised her head. In his hand was a small medicine bottle. The very same bottle that the duchess had Elia deliver to Cecilia.

“Yes.”

When she readily admitted knowing it, a light of incomprehension flashed in Rockfort’s purple eyes.

“Are you admitting your crime?”

He held the small bottle out in front of Elia.

“Cecilia died after drinking this. Did you think it wouldn’t be discovered while I was away at war? The imperial palace has eyes and ears in its walls and floors. With thorough investigation, the truth always comes to light.”

It was almost laughable that all this tragedy began from such a small bottle.

“You must know what this is? Don’t pretend you don’t.”

“Yes, it’s the medicine bottle I delivered to Sister Cecilia.”

“Are you admitting to poisoning her?”

“No, that’s a misunderstanding. It was…… folk medicine to help my sister’s body become more receptive to pregnancy. A combination of herbs for better blood circulation, completely harmless.”

“Ridiculous.”

Rockfort already hated Elia. So there was no way he would readily believe her words.

But this was the truth her mother had told her. Even if she died at the hands of the enraged Rockfort, now that she knew the truth, she would not back down this time.

“How far will you disrespect me?”

“Disrespect? That’s what Your Majesty has always done to me.”

Elia looked straight into his eyes. And slowly stood up.

“Your Majesty. Our marriage was unfortunate and should never have happened. And even if this misunderstanding is cleared up…… we can’t turn back our relationship anymore.”

“Nonsense. Don’t think to call what bound us together by the former emperor’s will a marriage.”

Rockfort denied their marriage as if it were the most natural thing.

It confirmed once again that Elia’s suffering for the past year had no meaning at all.

“It’s too late, but please give me a chance to prove my innocence.”

Now she wanted to end this old grudge.

She didn’t even hope for him to reflect on the past and apologize. She just wanted to stop being punished for something she hadn’t done.

“Again, with your cunning words to……”

“No, not just words.”

Elia snatched the medicine bottle from Rockfort’s hand. Rockfort narrowed his eyes.

“That’s poison. My investigation cannot be wrong.”

“No. I did not poison Sister Cecilia.”

She should have said this from the beginning.

“I never once thought of harming my sister.”

She had wasted too much time before uttering these words. For some, a year might be short, but for Elia, it had been an eternity of suffering.

“I have never harmed anyone, nor did I desire this position.”

Who would want such a miserable life? Who would want to exchange their soul for an empress’s crown?

“I don’t believe you.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Looking back, it was all one-sided hatred and misunderstanding. The emperor wouldn’t even exchange words with Elia, so she never had a chance to explain.

“Now, I’ll prove my innocence.”

Without hesitation, Elia drank the medicine from the bottle. The clear liquid in the small bottle disappeared, leaving droplets on Elia’s lips.

It happened in an instant. Even the emperor was too shocked to react immediately.

“See? My mother said it. This isn’t something that harms any……”

“Stop!”

For the first time, Elia saw Rockfort’s surprised face.

“That…… didn’t I already tell you I confirmed it……!”

Rockfort’s eyes wavered with something like regret.

Yes, Elia had been right after all. Though late, the thought that she could finally prove her innocence brought a faint smile to Elia’s lips.

“Your Majesty, I……”

“Stop, stop……! Jayden! The imperial physician, quickly!”

Finally, Rockfort looked at Elia.

His gaze was now entirely focused on Elia alone.

“Why……!”

A sorrowful voice approached Elia as she vomited blood from pale lips.

Rockfort directly embraced her body as it collapsed to the floor with her limbs growing cold and convulsing, and he cradled her cheek.

“You’re…… looking…… at me……”

At last, Elia could be held in her husband’s arms.

But with deadly poison already spreading throughout her body, Elia couldn’t feel Rockfort’s warmth that she had longed for so much.

“This is deadly poison! You should have just admitted it! Why!”

Even as Rockfort shouted, black blood continued to flow from Elia’s beautiful lips. Though her vision was blurry, she could clearly see Rockfort’s purple-tinged black eyes.

“For…… the first…… time……”

The eyes that had always despised her were different now.

“You’ve…… embraced…… me……”

Slowly, Elia’s senses and vision were shutting down.

Though she had desperately wished for it, she couldn’t feel what Rockfort’s embrace was like or how warm it was.

“Elia.”

Rockfort’s voice, like a sigh, ultimately didn’t reach Elia.

Fortunately, the pain didn’t last long. Everything ended in an instant. It must have been the same for Sister Cecilia.

Above all, having swallowed feelings more bitter than this poison all this time, she was no longer afraid of anything.

“Could it be…… Could it be that you didn’t know either?”

Rockfort’s face was filled with bewilderment. Had the punishment he had inflicted on Elia all this time been unjust, despite his firm conviction?

“Elia. Elia……?”

But Elia had already breathed her last.

“We…… I…… what have I……”

Elia, who died vomiting dark red blood, couldn’t even close her blue eyes.

Rockfort was now holding her tightly. And as soon as he realized this fact, he too collapsed to his knees on the floor.

“What have I…… what…… what have I done to you.”

Rockfort repeated the same words as if in a daze.

“Your Majesty! Your Majesty, the imperial physician has arrived.”

Jayden belatedly brought the imperial physician, but couldn’t continue speaking at the miserable sight.

The imperial physician who rushed in late checked the empress’s pulse, and Jayden supported him.

Rockfort’s eyes were empty and hollow.

“Your Majesty……”

Someone had to report the reality.

“Her Majesty the Empress has passed away.”

Elia was only twenty years old. She remained innocent until the end, but due to Rockfort’s distrust, she finally drank the poison of truth and died.

The cruelest part of this tragedy was the regret that came too late as he finally embraced Elia.

But everything was already too late.