“The one who worried about you the most was me.”

Ahazan frowned slightly, as if something displeased him.

“Aren’t you sorry to me?”

Watching him insist on asking that question in the end, Clodine let out a small sigh, as if he were truly impossible.

“When I said ‘everyone,’ of course that includes you.”

Having finally drawn a direct apology from her, Ahazan smiled mischievously and returned to sipping his tea in calm satisfaction.

After a brief silence, he spoke again.

“I’ll apologize too for being on edge all day.”

Clodine lowered her gaze, staring at the tips of his shoes, her expression tangled with regret, lingering disappointment, and a strange sense of relief.

She was grateful for the apology but it seemed he had no intention of telling her why he had been so tense.

And just like that, their conversation from earlier that day was brushed aside once more.

Just as always without resolution.

That fact left her restless, unsettled… yet at the same time, she couldn’t help but feel a faint sense of relief. There were still many things they had to accomplish together here.

It was a complicated feeling.

“Still… at least the outing wasn’t entirely pointless.”

Clodine decided to focus on what needed to be done and lifted her head again.

When she met his gaze, it felt as though he had never looked away from her even once.

The slight lift of his brow seemed to ask what she meant.

“I mean the people here. It seems they’ve already begun to accept that the war is over.”

At Elena’s house the previous evening, what began as a simple visit had turned into an unexpected gathering.

Elena’s mother, Madam Allensha, was the matriarch of a family that had once been responsible for food production in the royal court of Tylutan. Her culinary skill was truly exceptional.

The potato bread and chicken soup she prepared suited even Clodine’s particular and delicate taste so much so that, for the first time in a long while, Clodine had eaten to her fill.

In a gentle, steady tone, Clodine recounted everything that had happened at the Allensha household.

Ahazan listened quietly, a faint smile resting on his lips, indulging her rare chatter without interruption.

“But by the time we finished eating, people had already started gathering there. The house filled up completely… I couldn’t leave without hearing them out.”

She was subtly explaining why she had returned so late the night before.

Her expression grew more serious as she continued.

“They thought they would be executed when they were brought here… so they seemed confused that they were still alive. Some of them looked anxious as if they were still waiting for their fate to be decided.”

In truth, execution would have been the expected outcome.

After suppressing a rebellion, it was customary to impose punishment if only as a warning against future uprisings.

But Clodine glanced at Ahazan, her eyes quietly asking:

‘You don’t intend to kill them… do you?’

Perhaps amused by her unspoken question, Ahazan let out a low chuckle.

“I told you already. I came to meet them so that we can all live together.”

Relief softened Clodine’s expression as she nodded.

Her gaze drifted toward the window, recalling something she had seen the day before.

Outside, small, fluffy clouds floated across the blue sky.

“There are quite a lot of children.”

From those still unborn to those already standing on the threshold of adulthood the families brought here as prisoners were far more varied than she had expected.

At the Allensha household, she had seen countless parents, consumed with worry for their children’s futures.

“No matter what you propose… they’ll try to build a safer, more peaceful future for their families and neighbors.”

Because the desire to protect the people one loves was something no one could ever deny.

Clodine thought this as she met Ahazan’s gaze once more.

‘To protect the one you love…’

There had once been a time when she felt she could do anything if it meant taking Ahazan’s place on the battlefield.

She couldn’t wield a sword or draw a bow.

So perhaps it hadn’t been a desire to fight in his place but rather… to die in his stead.

‘What is love, really?’

If one were to dismiss it as something trivial, it was nothing more than a fleeting thought.

Something unseen, untouchable, something that could neither be heard nor smelled.

A ghost-like thing.

“What are you thinking about so deeply?”

Noticing her lost in thought, Ahazan set his teacup down by the window and approached her.

He lifted her face in his hand.

As their bodies drew close enough for her small chin to brush against him, it almost looked as though she had leaned into him of her own accord.

“I was thinking… I envy them.”

Clodine hooked her finger lightly into the silk sash around his waist as she spoke.

“To have someone you want to protect not out of responsibility or guilt, but because you love them.”

‘That person was you, for me.’

“Sometimes… that alone becomes a reason to keep living.”

‘Just like you once were for me.’

Clodine quietly separated her thoughts letting the heavier ones sink deep within her, and shaping only the lighter fragments into words.

Ahazan gently caressed her cheek, as if handling the most precious jewel in the world, and spoke in a soft, sweet voice.

“Then just love me like that.”

He spoke so carelessly unaware of how frightening those words truly were.

They pierced into Clodine’s chest, leaving behind a sharp, stinging wound.

And yet, instead of wincing in pain, she merely curved her lips into the faintest smile one filled with countless unspoken meanings.

This time, Ahazan brushed his thumb slowly over her lips, tracing that uncertain curve, and said.

“If you say you’ll try again… then this time, I’ll do my best to become a man worthy of your love.”

Even without trying to become anything for her, he had already been, to Clodine, a love so overwhelming it bordered on unbearable.

“I don’t want that. I will never fall in love with you again.”

Because I already know how painful and devastating that is why would I ever choose it again?

With a smile as beautiful as it was cruel just as his love had always been to her Clodine placed her knee against the bed and rose.

The white blanket draped over her shoulders slipped down naturally, revealing glimpses of her pale skin.

“I’ll have everything… except love. Whatever it may be.”

Just as Ahazan had done the day before, Clodine recalled, one by one, the gestures that had always captivated him movements that inevitably stirred something deep within him.

A voice low and languid, carrying a faint sweetness.

Fingertips, flushed pink like the inner petals of a flower, tracing delicate patterns against his skin.

And finally a bold, sweet kiss, proving that she was not someone who would simply wait for him to make the first move.

Even if her final answer displeased him in the end, Ahazan surrendered to her temptation without protest.

***

Merian Bennett let out a quiet breath of relief upon confirming that, contrary to her worries through the night, nothing untoward had occurred between the Emperor and Empress.

Even without witnessing it firsthand, the state of the Empress’s chamber marked by unmistakable traces of their intimacy required considerable effort to tidy.

With a lighter heart, Merian allowed herself a small smile.

After leaving the rest of the cleaning to the other attendants, she stepped out of the Empress’s chambers.

And then she saw him.

Standing in the corridor with his back against the chamber door was Valoran Lord, Clodine’s knight.

Had she been walking any faster, she might have run straight into him.

The smile vanished from her face at once, and she cleared her throat lightly to make her presence known.

Valoran slowly turned toward her.

“May I have a moment of your time?”

His dark brown eyes so deep that their warmth only showed when touched by sunlight regarded her with a certain severity.

Masking her confusion, Merian nodded. She had no real reason to refuse, and she assumed whatever he wished to discuss would concern the Empress’s safety.

“This is not an appropriate place for conversation. Let us go somewhere quieter.”

Without waiting for her response, Valoran turned and began walking down the corridor.

His demeanor was so cold that it felt as though a chill wind had passed by, even though there was no reason for it.

Though she found his attitude somewhat rude, Merian chose not to question him and followed silently.

The further they went, the more secluded and dim the surroundings became.

“I think this is far enough, Sir Lord.”

Letting a hint of her irritation show at last, Merian spoke in a curt tone.

Valoran stopped abruptly.

But even after a long pause, he did not turn around.

He simply stood there, his back still facing her.

Having reached the limit of her patience, Merian stepped past him and turned sharply to face him.

“What is the meaning of this? You were the one who asked to speak with me, were you not?”

But the moment she saw his face she faltered.

Gone was the stern expression from before.

Instead, his features were clouded, conflicted.

For a moment, she felt as though she had made a mistake.

Sure enough, after a long hesitation, his brows deeply furrowed, Valoran finally spoke.

“…Then what are you doing here, consort?”