While Clodine wandered through an indistinct dream, Ahazan quietly looked down at her unconscious form on the bed.

Deep darkness filled the chamber, broken only by blue moonlight that bathed them both.

It was the first peaceful expression he had seen on her face since she had come here. For a fleeting moment, it melted his frozen heart.

Ahazan had placed a chair beside the bed and was seated there, still holding her hand. That small link binding them together looked strangely fragile.

He felt like a boatman anchoring his vessel at the edge of a violent sea.

Clodine was the wave, fierce and restless, ready to swallow him whole.

Even if the boat overturned, he did not wish to leave the sea.

For a boatman, land without waves was nothing but a grave.

“…Ahazan.”

Half-asleep, Clodine murmured his name.

He stiffened.

He had never imagined such a gentle voice would fall from her lips, nor that it would speak his name.

It felt like a dream.

“Yes, Clodine.”

He answered softly, remembering a distant time when they had exchanged each other’s names with warmth.

He wished time would stop there forever.

With her hatred hidden behind closed eyelids, he could finally breathe.

‘It’s foolish, but I fell for you at first sight.’

He would never forget the day she said that.

It had been the day of his coronation.

Immediately afterward, he had to depart for war. The empire had been heavy with dread.

He stood as the new master of a crown soon to be stained with blood, receiving congratulations that felt hollow.

His father, who had ruined the empire through debauchery and ignited war before dying irresponsibly.

Inheriting that crown had been more humiliating than he had expected.

For the first time in his life, Ahazan had felt shame so great he could not lift his head.

Overcome by anger, he had entered his chamber and hurled the crown to the floor—

Unaware that Clodine was already there.

She had been waiting in the grand chair at the center of the room, hoping to congratulate him with Anna’s help.

The crown rolled to her feet.

She picked it up carefully.

Without a chance to apologize for intruding, she must have felt deeply troubled, having witnessed something she should not have seen.

‘What are you doing there?’

He had spoken sharply, embarrassed at being seen in such a state.

Clodine held the crown in her hands for a long moment, thinking.

Then she lifted her gaze.

That steady look he had always loved.

With that gaze, she stepped closer.

‘Sit here for a moment.’

He had already felt like collapsing anywhere.

He obeyed and sat.

Clodine placed the crown back upon his head.

The heavy weight pressed into his hair, but this time, it did not feel entirely unbearable.

It was strange.

She bowed and pressed her lips lightly against the crown.

It was not something he would normally welcome, her lips touching that sullied symbol, but it happened too swiftly to stop.

‘It’s foolish, but I fell for you at first sight. What did I know at that age? And after that, I fell for you every time I saw you. Loving you became the most natural thing in the world, Ahazan.’

Her red lips spoke softly.

He could not think.

She had always been braver than she appeared, often expressing her affection openly, but never so plainly.

‘I don’t love you just because you’ll be my husband. You’re truly a good person. You’ll make a fine emperor. Do you remember? When we were twelve?’

He narrowed his eyes, searching his memory.

She smiled faintly.

‘We went on that picnic and got lost. The servants never came. By sunset we were starving. We had only one piece of candy, and it was in your pocket. I couldn’t even ask for it.’

Ahazan gave a quiet ‘ah,’ remembering.

‘And I still remember what you said when you unwrapped it and put it in my mouth.’

In any situation, a ruler must fill his people’s mouths first.

If that had moved her, it was embarrassing.

It had only been an excuse.

He had been starving.

But she had been hungrier.

Had it been anyone else, he would never have done it.

Clodine, unaware of his thoughts, continued gently and drew his head against her chest.

‘I’ve always been proud of you. I was so happy to be at your coronation. From now on and forever, you are my emperor, Ahazan.’

The warmth of her embrace.

The soft scent that surrounded him.

He wanted to close his eyes and breathe it in.

There were so many things he wished to say.

Why he loved her.

What she meant to him.

He could have spoken all night.

But soon he would lead soldiers to a dangerous battlefield.

What if he died?

Leaving her here.

If that happened, he wanted her to forget him and find happiness.

When he had refused to hold their wedding before departing, she had been hurt. The ministers had despaired.

An empire without an heir.

It was not something an emperor should ignore.

But he did not want to use her for that.

He would not leave her to raise a child alone in a merciless palace if he never returned.

‘I love you, Ahazan.’

Her voice fell like a blessing over his head.

The coronation that had felt filthy moments before transformed into something sacred.

He tightened his arms around her slender waist.

He did not know where such warmth came from in this small woman.

He wanted to remember every moment clearly and, one day, when he returned victorious from war, hold her just like this and tell her everything.

I love you, Clodine.
I’ve loved you for a very long time.

What expression would she make if she heard those words? What would she say in return?

Back then, he had not known.

He had not known that Clodine might find his love repulsive. That she might look at him with eyes full of resentment and hatred and push him away.

Ahazan gazed at her sleeping face with the hollow expression of someone who had just awakened from a sweet dream. The moonlight had vanished; the darkness in the room had deepened.

I should never have let you marry him.

No matter how much she loved that man, he should have held on to her until the very end. He should have insisted that their promise of marriage had come first. He should not have so readily wished her happiness.

“I will never let you go again.”

Ahazan lifted the hand he was holding. He pressed his lips to the soft skin stretched over slender bones and murmured, as if making a vow to himself.

“You will never leave me again.”

***

Clodine opened her eyes in Ahazan’s bedroom, without Ahazan.

The servants from the detached palace moved as if this were her own chamber, naturally preparing her washbasin and breakfast.

She remembered losing consciousness from anemia in the midst of her struggle with Ahazan the night before.

Anemia had been her oldest affliction. Born with a frail body, her breathing easily destabilized; when she overexerted herself, she inevitably collapsed.

‘Of all nights…’

She sighed heavily and then glanced down at herself.

Her ornate gown from last night had been replaced with a white nightdress.

“Who changed my clothes?”

Her face turned pale as she asked the servants.

Merian Bennett, who had been carefully checking the breakfast table, stopped and approached her, bowing.

“By His Majesty’s command, I personally washed and changed you, Lady Ramier.”

Relief flickered briefly, it had not been Ahazan.

Yet her brow furrowed.

“Lady Ramier?”

Her sharp voice cut toward Merian. Merian had been the only one in this palace who still called her ‘Your Majesty.’

Merian answered calmly.

“It was so announced at yesterday’s banquet. I thought it appropriate to correct the title.”

Clodine understood what she meant. Still, the sudden change reminded her that Merian, too, belonged to the empire down to her bones. It stung.

“After breakfast, I am to escort you to His Majesty’s office.”

Refusal would be useless. She knew that now.

Clodine rose without responding and walked to the table. She emptied a crystal glass of water in one breath, her thoughts drifting back to the dream.

Why that dream…

It was absurd. It had been so long since they had become people who did nothing but wound each other. Yet she had dreamed of a distant past.

Her thoughts tangled.

She wanted to disentangle herself from Ahazan immediately. It felt as if something beyond her control was about to happen.

“Breakfast is enough. I will change.”

She intended to go to him.

Being dragged helplessly before subordinates had been humiliating enough the night before. If she must go, she would walk there on her own, properly dressed.

Clodine allowed Merian and the servants to dress her. Yesterday, she had been too furious about her maids to speak to Ahazan properly. Perhaps today, perhaps today they could have a real conversation.

She could not deny the dream had softened her, if only slightly.

Yes. He was not a man incapable of dialogue.

Nor was he without consideration.

Clodine Ramier had not loved Ahazan for so many years without reason.

He had been worthy of love.

Impossible not to love.

Even if a person seemed to change completely, one could not alter their essence.

Clodine chose to believe that.

With reluctant steps, she made her way to Ahazan’s office.

His aide, Cal Regerson, stood before the door and bowed when he saw her.

“Good morning, my lady.”

In the past, she would have ignored him. But today she had resolved to be more generous.

“Good morning, Sir Regerson.”

She could not bring herself to smile, but she acknowledged him before turning to the door.

“May I see him now?”

Cal understood at once.

“He has been waiting.”

The door opened immediately.

Beyond the reception space, near the large window, Ahazan sat at an imposing desk in comfortable attire.

Clodine paused just inside the room, watching as he lifted his eyes toward her. Morning sunlight illuminated him, and he smiled, a smile as bright as the light itself.

“No one is to follow.”

She spoke before stepping inside. The door closed softly behind her.

Her footsteps echoed against the marble floor as she approached.

Soon, she stood directly before his desk, facing Ahazan.