“That won’t be possible, Your Majesty. His Majesty does not wish to receive visitors.”

It was well past midnight.

When Clodine suddenly appeared, half consumed by agitation, insisting that she had to see Ahazan, Cal stepped firmly in front of her.

Beside him stood five members of the Pantheon Knights, all wearing grave expressions as they guarded the tightly shut door.

“Step aside. I must see His Majesty at once.”

“He will refuse. It’s very late tonight. As soon as morning comes, I’ll inform His Majesty that you came to visit.”

“Was there an imperial decree issued today forbidding my visit?”

Clodine’s question struck directly at the heart of the matter.

Cal fell silent for several beats.

Within that awkward silence, Clodine became certain of one thing.

At the very least, Ahazan had not given such an order today.

When Cal failed to answer, Rekri Alexia, who had been watching nearby, once again failed to recognize when he should remain silent and inserted himself into the conversation.

“Your Majesty, what sort of improper behavior is this, appearing before His Majesty’s chambers at such an hour—”

“A knight who does not regard me as his Empress has no right to raise his voice before me.”

Clodine cut him off mercilessly.

Her command fell like ice.

Gone was the gentle and accommodating woman everyone had grown accustomed to seeing.

Before them stood the Empress in all her dignity and authority.

“I have already tolerated enough treatment that I had no reason to endure. I did so only for the sake of our past.”

Her gaze locked onto Rekri with chilling precision.

“But I no longer possess enough fond memories of you to continue extending that courtesy.”

The severity in her eyes suggested that if he showed her disrespect one more time, she would personally see him punished under the Empire’s strictest laws.

The force radiating from her was overwhelming.

It was difficult to believe such authority could come from a small, slender woman carrying no weapon at all.

Even before her words reached him, Rekri found himself instinctively overwhelmed by her presence.

His mouth shut on its own.

Whether he accepted it or not no longer mattered.

Clodine swept her gaze across everyone blocking her path.

“If any of you have received an imperial order forbidding me from entering tonight, then by all means, drive a sword through my throat and stop me.”

Including Valoran Lord, there were seven armed men standing before her.

Yet not a single one could stop Clodine from entering the Emperor’s chambers.

***

The first thing that greeted Clodine upon entering was the overwhelming stench of alcohol.

Not a single candle burned.

The room was swallowed by darkness.

Combined with the dampness of a sudden downpour outside, the chamber felt suffocating, as though shrouded in a pale mist.

With every step she took, she kicked aside bottles, some shattered, some intact.

There were too many to count.

Before she even found Ahazan, despair had already begun to settle over her.

Then—

Crash.

From somewhere in the darkness, where it was difficult to distinguish anything more than a few feet ahead, came the sound of another bottle breaking.

Without hesitation, Clodine hurried toward it.

Through the gloom, she spotted a large figure sitting on the edge of a desk with his back facing her.

Even seated, the silhouette swayed slightly from side to side.

He was still very drunk.

Alarmed, Clodine rushed toward him.

Whether the bottle had slipped from his hand or been thrown deliberately, shards of glass littered the floor around his feet.

At first glance, he appeared barefoot.

As she drew closer, she realized he truly wasn’t wearing any shoes.

“Stay still! Don’t move!”

She threw herself toward him and wrapped both arms around his waist, trying to push him backward.

The effort was futile.

A man of Ahazan’s size would never budge from a shove like hers.

If he moved, it would have to be by his own choice.

Ahazan looked down at her through half-lidded eyes.

Then, surprisingly obedient, he shifted farther onto the desk.

At last, his feet lifted from the floor.

Only then did Clodine immediately drop to her knees.

Ignoring the alcohol soaking into her clothes, she sat down amidst the mess.

“What happened to this room… And your feet—what is this?”

Lifting her clean skirt, she carefully wiped the bloodied bottoms of his feet.

She had assumed he had been busy all this time because he had remained so difficult to find.

Even if he had merely been avoiding her, she had never imagined he was living like this.

This was Ahazan.

The man who had been Crown Prince since birth.

The man who treated caring for himself as seriously as ruling the Empire.

Never once had Clodine seen him neglect himself so recklessly.

His feet were in terrible condition.

Glass had pierced and cut them countless times, staining them with dark, dried blood.

He clearly needed treatment immediately.

Unable to simply watch, Clodine abruptly rose to her feet.

“I need to call a physician right away. Just stay here for a moment and—”

Ahazan, who had been sitting with his head lowered like a dazed man the entire time, suddenly wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

Before she could react, he pulled her toward him.

Clodine lost her balance and tumbled straight into his broad, solid chest.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m not leaving. Ahazan, your feet need treatment immediately—”

“What for?”

“Do you even know what condition they’re in right now?”

“I don’t care.”

His breath reeked so strongly of alcohol that it made her head ache.

Yet strangely, his voice sounded clearer than usual.

“It wouldn’t matter if I died like this.”

Then he murmured softly near her ear.

“I thought I was going to lose my mind from wanting to see you.”

“…….”

“So tonight…”

His arms tightened around her.

“Tonight, I was determined not to see you.”

“…What?”

The moment Clodine narrowed her eyes, unable to fully understand what he meant—

Crash!

Clatter!

“Eek!”

Without warning, Ahazan swept everything off the desk.

Glasses.

Bottles.

Objects scattered across its surface.

Everything crashed to the floor.

Then he lifted Clodine and laid her down in the newly cleared space.

Their positions reversed.

Standing over her once more, Ahazan planted both feet directly onto the shards of broken glass.

Looking down at her, he seized the sash at her waist and pinned it firmly against the desk.

No matter how hard Clodine tried to sit up, his grip left her completely unable to move.

Clodine was frightened by Ahazan’s drunken, impulsive behavior.

At the same time, she was deeply worried by the fact that he was once again standing barefoot on broken glass.

Yet more than anything, the look in his eyes, the expressionless face that seemed unbearably cold and lonely, left her stunned.

All she could do was stare up at him.

For a long time, Ahazan scrutinized every inch of her face and body as though trying to carve the image of her into his memory.

Then, as if the sight itself pained him, he squeezed his eyes shut.

His tightly closed eyelids trembled.

The muscles in his brow drew together sharply.

“I finally managed to hold myself back.”

A slow, heavy sigh escaped him.

“But then you come here like this, completely oblivious…”

His voice lowered dangerously.

“And once you’re standing right in front of me, I don’t know what else I’m supposed to do.”

At last, the savage emotions he had been suppressing bled into his words.

Planting both hands on her shoulders, Ahazan leaned down toward her.

In that moment, each of them was both the other’s sky and the ground beneath their feet.

They stared relentlessly into one another’s eyes, searching through countless thoughts and emotions for the single feeling they desperately wanted to find.

“What happens if you stop holding back?”

Though she didn’t know what Ahazan was enduring or why he was enduring it for her Clodine asked the question without the slightest trace of fear.

“If you stop holding back for my sake…”

Her gaze never wavered.

“What happens then?”

The countless nights Ahazan had ultimately failed to resist and ended up seeking her out flashed through her mind.

The memory alone sent a tremor through her lower abdomen.

A chill raced down her spine.

Like someone standing at the edge of a cliff, she suddenly felt dizzy.

Yet Clodine didn’t believe those things were truly unbearable.

At the very least, she would rather endure such nights forever than watch Ahazan destroy himself like this.

“…Should I tell you?”

Ahazan smiled.

It looked heartbreakingly close to tears.

He was undeniably drunk.

And yet the expression on his face, the tone of his voice, even the hand caressing her cheek, all carried a painful sharpness of mind.

Then, at last A fragment of despair, dredged up from the depths of his grief, fell onto Clodine’s heart and left a lingering ache behind.

“If you knew…you wouldn’t be able to keep saying you love someone like me anymore.”