“……”

‘What—what was she even saying?’

Her heart beat so forcefully that it felt as though it had been tied to a heavy weight and was being dragged down through the floor.

‘An execution by fire?’

The turmoil raging in her chest must have been evident in her eyes, because Vanessa smiled even more broadly and narrowed her gaze with unmistakable delight.

“The day after that is His Majesty’s engagement to me. I thought perhaps they planned it that way – to draw a clear line under the sordid affair and start again. What a pity, really.”

Each word spilling from Vanessa’s lips felt so unreal that Selonia found herself turning them over and over in her mind. An execution. An engagement. Could any of it truly be real? While she had been confined here, enduring days that felt like slow, relentless torment, had Alix really become engaged to Vanessa?

As if to drive the point home, Vanessa lifted her left hand as though to cover her mouth. On her ring finger, a large ruby gleamed, catching the light and confirming her words.

Selonia couldn’t decide whether to believe her. But why would Vanessa travel so far just to mock her with lies? If her story was false, the truth would soon become apparent.

She closed her eyes and let out a hollow scoff.

‘Was this place even real anymore?’

She could no longer feel the biting cold of the ice beneath her bare feet. A witch trial. An execution by fire. Alix’s engagement, announced through the lips of another woman. Just a few months ago, she could never have imagined her life becoming associated with such events.

As her thoughts became overwhelming, her expression settled into a cold stillness. Everything felt so unreal that even news of her own fate seemed like someone else’s affair. And, with no proof yet that Vanessa’s words were true, they were all the harder to comprehend.

When Selonia finally looked at her, calm and outwardly unshaken, Vanessa’s face twisted with venom — clearly not the reaction she had hoped for. Although Selonia felt as though she might faint at any moment, she took strange satisfaction in that expression and forced the corners of her mouth upwards.

“…What a shame. I truly thought you would attend, my lady.”

“Hah.”

Vanessa ground her teeth hard enough for her white teeth to show as she stepped even closer.

“Yes, such a shame. Not being able to see it. That lovely body of yours going up in flames—it would’ve been quite the spectacle.”

Hostility burned in her dark brown eyes. Perhaps I should never have left the bedroom. No matter how arrogant Vanessa was, she would not have dared barge into her chambers without permission. Yet, judging by how boldly she had entered that forbidden place, she likely would have come in regardless.

Selonia let out a quiet sigh and replied offhandedly.

“Then I suppose it’s unfortunate that my situation might overshadow your engagement. I’m sorry.”

Vanessa was the kind of woman who loved being the center of attention wherever she went. Having once been hailed as the Crown Prince’s prospective fiancée, she was unable to bear it when the spotlight shifted to Selonia. Needless to say, she would not be happy if her engagement failed to attract attention because of what happened to Selonia.

Selonia had spoken without much thought, but her remark had affected Vanessa far more deeply than expected. Her face flushed red as she clenched her fists and raised her voice.

“A vulgar thing whose only talent is flaunting her body.”

“That talent was enough for His Majesty to love me. Unlike someone else.”

Selonia had heard the insult countless times since becoming involved with the Emperor, and it didn’t faze her at all. She replied out of habit. Vanessa’s face darkened further, her breath coming out in harsh bursts. The innocent smile that had always graced her face vanished without trace, replaced by venomous looks in her dark eyes.

“For someone on the brink of death, you certainly talk too much. I suppose you don’t believe me? To still speak of His Majesty’s love after being cast aside by him… it’s honestly laughable.”

Now completely forgetting all pretense of decorum, Vanessa shouted,

“Do you really believe His Majesty loves you? In the end, the one he chose as Empress is me! You were nothing more than a pretty toy Alix played with for a while before throwing away. You wretched witch.”

As Vanessa’s shrill voice continued to echo, Selonia let out a deep sigh. It had been a long time since she had encountered such raw malice, and it left her feeling weary and irritated. These days, even minor confrontations quickly drained her, leaving her body feeling unbearably heavy. She knew better than anyone that it would be wiser to return to her room and rest than to waste her strength on a pointless exchange.

And yet, she did not feel like walking away.

The desire to provoke Vanessa just a little more stirred within her.

Perhaps it was simply her twisted nature — one that demanded she fight back at least once when attacked.

“Thank you for calling me pretty at every turn. For a moment, I almost wondered if you liked me rather than His Majesty.”

‘I don’t think I look pretty anymore.’

Selonia swallowed her unspoken words and forced a gentler smile. Since entering the Imperial Palace, her health had steadily deteriorated. She was emaciated, her face was pale and looked unwell at first glance, and her hair was so dry that it split at the ends. Yet the imperial physicians could not diagnose her with a single illness. They merely repeated that she was constitutionally weak and must avoid exertion.

As if there were anything left for her to exert herself over while living in almost total seclusion in the palace.

Suppressing her bitter self-mockery, Selonia forced her smile wider until her eyes curved too. With no retort to offer, Vanessa ground her teeth, then abruptly turned on her heel and stormed away, striking the floor with sharp, angry footsteps.

“Hah…”

Only after Vanessa had disappeared from view did Selonia finally give in. She sank to the floor as though her legs had given way, clutching her chest and gasping for breath. They had exchanged only a handful of words, yet it felt as though every last ounce of strength had been drained from her body.

She managed to push herself upright, but her legs buckled repeatedly. With each step, her shoulder scraped against the wall. Vanessa’s words echoed relentlessly in her ears: ‘engagement’ and ‘execution by fire’. Though she could not bring herself to believe them, they kept coming back to haunt her.

Bracing herself against the wall, Selonia made her way back to the bedroom and collapsed onto the bed without waiting for Alix. Perhaps because she had left the door ajar when she left, the bedding was cold from the seeping in of the cold air from the corridor. She pressed her cheek into the cold pillow, and the exhaustion that had accumulated throughout the day dragged her eyelids shut.

Had she fallen asleep too early?

When she opened her eyes again, dawn had broken but the darkness had not yet fully dispersed. Through her half-lowered lashes, pale, hazy light filtered in, bringing with it a familiar warmth and scent.

‘He came again today. He didn’t abandon me.’

That alone was enough to ease her heart. For now, that was enough. Eager to see Alix for herself, she slowly opened her eyes.

At that very moment, a sharp pain shot through her arm.

The pain snapped her fully awake. Her gaze followed the sensation instinctively, and as her blurred vision slowly came into focus, she beheld a horrifying sight.

Bright red blood flowed through a slender needle embedded in her arm, filling a glass tube. Drawing the blood with cold concentration and without a trace of emotion was her lover, Alix.

“… Your Majesty?”

At her faint, trembling voice, Alix’s hand jerked violently. He hastily pulled the needle free, hid it behind his back, and turned to look at Selonia.

“What… are you doing?”

What did this situation mean?

Her eyes, which were usually as clear as ice and as blue as the sky, clouded over with confusion. How could drawing blood by secretly inserting a needle into someone’s arm while they were asleep possibly make sense? She rubbed her arm instinctively and, when she looked, saw that the puncture mark had disappeared without a trace. If it were not for the lingering pain and the scene she had witnessed with her own eyes, she might have dismissed it as a hallucination.

“It’s nothing. You’ve been looking especially thin lately, so I was only going to ask the imperial physicians to run a few tests.”

Alix spoke with his usual smile, though his face was still stiff with embarrassment. Following his gaze, Selonia noticed the dinner tray beside the bed — the evening meal she had fallen asleep too early to eat and which was still completely untouched.

Why was he looking at that now, of all things?

Selonia lowered her head, deliberately pushing aside the vague unease rising within her. Was that truly all there was to it? Had he drawn her blood simply to request tests from the palace physicians? Even so, did it make sense to draw blood from someone while they slept?

She absently rubbed her arm again — it was smooth and unmarked, as though nothing had happened at all. And yet, amid her confusion, Vanessa’s words from earlier suddenly came to mind.

“Is it true that you’re getting engaged to Lady Bernac?”

“……”

When she lifted her head to speak, Alix’s face contorted into a frightening expression. It was a look he had never shown her before and, without realizing it, Selonia shrank back.

“Was she here?”

A sharp click of his tongue followed.

“Spouting nonsense.”

She had believed—no, she had expected—him to deny it at once. To tell her it was an absurd slander, to whisper as he always had that there was only her. Unable to hide her shock, Selonia asked again,

“…Is it true?”

There was no answer.

In that silence, Selonia took his silence to mean that he was in agreement. Her face drained of color. She had convinced herself that the engagement was a lie, something Vanessa had made up to upset her. But the engagement Vanessa had mentioned was real.

A faint sob escaped her dry, cracked lips. Selonia looked up at Alix, her expression one of desperate disbelief.

There was more she needed to ask.

Because that wasn’t the only thing Vanessa had told her.