Words refused to form. Her mind went blank, her vision blurred, and a rush of emotion surged through her.

“What…”

“…..”

“How could you?”

“…”

“How dare you say such a thing!”

Anita’s voice, trembling at first, rose in a burst of outrage. Cedric looked down at her coldly, then took a slow step closer.

“Do not speak of Félicité like that! My daughter should never have to hear such words from her own father!”

On any other day, Anita would have recoiled in fear.

But not this time.

Instead, she lifted her head and her eyes burned with anger.

“Anita.”

All because of a child! The very thought made Cedric’s temper flare. That same child had already tried his patience and now seemed to be the reason behind his wife’s defiance.

He suddenly reached out and clamped his hand down on her delicate shoulder. He pushed her down onto the couch and stood close in front of her, looming over her.

“Anita Hardyde. The noble princess of Callithea.”

The air became suffocating.

Hemmed in by his presence, Anita fell silent and looked up at him. But there was no fear in her blue eyes, only defiance.

“What is it? Do you think your child is noble just because she was born to a princess?”

Cedric was determined to break her pride first. She needed to be reminded of her place.

His hand rose to her face, his fingers brushing against her flushed cheek.

“Well, I suppose you’re not entirely wrong. The child carries my blood, after all. She may be noble…”

His words turned razor-sharp.

“…but she’s still useless. Just like you.”

He dragged his fingertips lightly across her skin, not hard enough to hurt, but her body still rippled with the unpleasantness of his touch.

“Yes, she takes after you, something precious, yet utterly worthless.”

How many more times would he call their child useless?

Anita could hold back no longer and slapped his hand away sharply.

But Cedric was unfazed. He simply moved his hand again, this time brushing his fingers along the side of her face. He trailed his touch to her ear and, with maddening gentleness, tucked a strand of hair behind it. The gesture made Anita’s skin crawl.

“Does it offend you to hear it? But it’s the truth, isn’t it? What did I tell you before? I told you to bear me a prince. Yet you gave birth to a princess, who cannot be heir. And now you dare to hold your head up high, as if you’ve achieved something to be proud of.”

When had she ever been proud?

In truth, Anita had lived quietly. Confined to her bed for much of her recovery, she hadn’t even had the chance to act arrogantly. More than anyone, she knew that she had no right to flaunt her position as empress.

And yet, the man before her spoke as though she had been strutting about, intoxicated by her title.

“Anita, you mustn’t misunderstand.”

“..…”

“I gave you the Empress’s seat for reasons that had nothing to do with your giving birth to a princess.”

“..…”

“In fact, I was deeply disappointed. She wasn’t the prince I’d hoped for. Perhaps one day she’ll be useful for a political marriage – yes, much like you were. You once served the country by being chosen by the late Emperor, too, though not until the very end.”

His words had long since crossed the line.

Anita flinched at each cruel remark, but she no longer reacted strongly. It wasn’t because they didn’t hurt, they did but because the constant stream of nonsense hardly seemed worth responding to anymore.

Still, this time she couldn’t let it pass.

After listening in silence with an unreadable expression, Anita suddenly spoke.

“Thank you.”

Cedric’s brow furrowed and he looked confused. He couldn’t hide his surprise.

“For what?”

A faint smile curved her lips.

“For sending Félicité away. Thanks to that, Your Majesty’s words, the ones I can barely stand to hear didn’t reach my daughter’s ears.”

Her voice, cold at first, began to tremble before she could stop it. She had wanted to stand up to his cruelty towards their child and be strong, but her shaking voice and hands betrayed her.

Reaching out, Anita pushed Cedric away. To her surprise, he yielded easily, stepping back.

Taking the small space that opened up between them, she lowered her head in a measured bow.

“I don’t wish to disturb Your Majesty’s temper any further.”

“…..”

“And I cannot stay in this place without Your Majesty’s mercy.”

“..…”

“I’ll take my leave. Please feel free to rest here for as long as you wish, Your Majesty.”

Anita knew full well that her retreat was an act of escape. Yet she could no longer bear to be in the same space as Cedric.

She wanted to see her child.

Without another glance in his direction, she turned and began to walk away.

Tak.

Of course, Cedric would never let her go so easily. Just before she could step beyond his reach, he seized her arm. His grip was firm and unyielding; she was caught before she could resist.

“The Duke of Colbert’s daughter wasn’t wrong.”

Cedric muttered, pulling her roughly towards him. He knew well enough that everything he’d said earlier about their child had been cruel, wrong, even. But whatever faint stirrings of guilt he felt vanished the moment he saw his wife refuse to submit to him.

“She said something interesting today. That the fault lies with your maids. That they don’t serve you properly. They fail to point out what you should and shouldn’t do as the Empress.”

Only malice remained now. He deliberately invoked the name of the woman who had wounded Anita’s pride earlier that day: Katrine Colbert.

“What are you talking about?”

Anita struggled to free her arm, but his grip held fast. After several futile attempts, she stopped fighting and asked quietly, her voice tight with unease.

It was clear whom he meant. The maid that Katrine had spoken of was Renee, there was no mistaking it.

“First—”

“Ugh!”

“What kind of empress behaves like this in front of her emperor? You lack dignity and decorum as both a wife and the sovereign’s consort.”

Still gripping her arm, Cedric pulled Anita roughly into his embrace. Her slender frame and fragile arms offered little resistance, the possibility of hurting her didn’t even cross his mind.

“Let me go! I said—let me go!”

“Again.”

Anita struggled in his grip, twisting desperately to free herself. She couldn’t stand the closeness, nor the suffocating heat of his breath against her skin. But her resistance only frayed his already unstable temper, fueling the twisted anger that had taken root within him.

“I hear that you’re raising the princess yourself?”

Anita froze.

A mother caring for her own child shouldn’t have been a problem. Yet the way he said it, as though it were an accusation, made her blood run cold. She looked up at him with trembling eyes.

“Don’t pretend you don’t know, I saw it with my own eyes. And I’ve even found the proof.”

Before she realized it, Cedric’s gaze had lowered to the loosened fabric at Anita’s chest. His fingers idly toyed with the knot at her back.

He had seen.

Anita’s heart dropped like a stone. When he had burst into the room earlier, she had been preparing to nurse Félicité. She had thought she had managed to conceal it, and that he hadn’t noticed. But it was clear now that he had.

“Tell me, what kind of empress nurses her own child? How vulgar.”

Vulgar.

Yes, it was true that she had broken a long-standing custom. But was it really so shameful as to warrant such a word? After all, she herself had been nursed by her mother as a child. In Callithea, noblewomen of the highest rank would occasionally feed their own infants; it wasn’t considered as scandalous there as it was in Laxion.

“Why keep a wet nurse, then? Her purpose is to care for the princess and feed her. Yet the Empress herself stoops to do it, how disgraceful.”

“Because the child’s father refuses to do his part.”

On any other matter, she would have remained silent and endured his rebuke. But when it came to Félicité, she could not.

“If the father refuses to show affection, then the mother must. Someone has to love her, truly love her and care for her as she deserves.”

In response to her defiance, he tightened his grip on her waist. Her body was pulled towards his, crushing the breath from her lungs as his face came dangerously close. Anita struggled again, twisting to break free.

“You’re out of your mind.”

It had been a long time since Anita had defied Cedric so fiercely.

Muttering his true feelings under his breath, Cedric seized upon this new weakness of hers without hesitation.

“From tomorrow, the princess will no longer stay here. I’ll grant her a separate residence and assign maids to her care. Naturally, you will not see her without my permission.”

“What? By what right?”

“..…”

“I am Félicité’s mother! I am the one who gave birth to her! What right do you have? You’ve done nothing! What gives you the right to take her from me?”

As he had expected, Anita’s reaction was instant. Cedric smirked, mocking his foolish wife for revealing her weakness so easily, and shook her roughly.

“Have you already forgotten what you just said? I am the princess’s father and her sovereign as well.”

“..…”

“That means it’s my decision how she will be raised, doesn’t it?”

It wasn’t untrue. Even in a marriage where power was nominally shared between emperor and empress, authority over their children rested with the emperor first and foremost.

And now, if Cedric truly intended to act on his words, Anita had no means of stopping him.

“Your Majesty, please—don’t do this. Please, don’t take Félicité away from me.”

“..…”

“She’s only a month old, she still needs her mother’s arms. Who could possibly care for her better than I can? Please, Your Majesty, I’m begging you.”

In that short time, Anita had already devoted herself entirely to her daughter.

Overwhelmed by the fear of losing her child, she begged him, her hands trembling, her pride vanishing as easily as breath.