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chapter 25
“Move right now! Immediately!”
Lucretia suddenly glanced past Eleonora.
In the distance, among the group of nobles, Count Elle was staring at her. It seemed strange that they were talking from so far away.
‘Count Elle is watching. Better to stay quiet for now.’
“…I’ll go look for it now.”
“Hm. You should’ve come sooner. The tulip field is over there.”
Eleonora pointed in a direction and added that it would only take about five minutes to reach it. Lucretia started walking that way.
“Your Majesty, are you going for a walk?”
“It’s dangerous to go alone. We’ll accompany you.”
Two royal guards followed Lucretia.
After walking for a few minutes toward where Eleonora had pointed, they arrived at a beautifully blooming tulip field.
The colorful tulips dazzled Lucretia’s eyes. She let out a small sigh.
‘Among all these tulips, there’s only one purple tulip…’
She pushed through the tulips, but the purple one didn’t stand out easily. Even finding it might cause problems.
‘Should I pick it as my father ordered? But…’
Her instinct told her that obeying that command could bring her harm.
As Lucretia walked, she suddenly stopped.
‘Hmm?’
At the end of the dazzling tulip field was nothing but empty air. This place was also the edge of a cliff.
‘Ah… I almost—’
She had nearly fallen. If she had walked any further without noticing…
“Here you are, Your Majesty.”
‘Huh?’
A voice she had never heard came from behind. Turning around, Lucretia blinked.
In the middle of the tulip field stood a young lady she didn’t recognize.
“Don’t you recognize me?”
The young lady smiled coldly.
“My name is Evelyn Johannes. I’m the younger sister of Count Johannes.”
Count Johannes.
Lucretia’s mouth opened slightly. The young lady before her was the sister of Count Johannes, who had tried to trap her in the underground palace.
“…Do you have something to say to me?”
“Don’t you think I do?”
Evelyn stepped closer to Lucretia.
“You’ve taken too much from me, Your Majesty. My brother, who was climbing the ranks, is now imprisoned. And…”
Evelyn bit her lip and trailed off. Lucretia remembered Clara’s warning:
“Evelyn Johannes, Count Johannes’ sister, was once a strong candidate for Empress. She might be cautious of the current Empress, even without knowing why!”
“I have nothing left. Everyone laughs at me… every day I wake up miserable.”
With each word, Evelyn moved closer. Her eyes burned with anger.
“If it weren’t for you suddenly showing up…!”
Lucretia suddenly felt a strange familiarity. The closer Evelyn came, the more a scent reached her. It was familiar.
‘Is that… El’nash leaves?’
Why did Evelyn smell so familiar, so strongly?
At that moment, a shout rang out.
“What are you doing? Stop right there!”
The guard glared angrily at Evelyn.
“How dare you try to harm the Empress!”
“I-I didn’t do anything!”
Evelyn stammered in surprise, but the guard didn’t back down.
“Don’t come any closer to Her Majesty!”
The guard stepped toward her as if to protect Lucretia, pointing his drawn sword at Evelyn. Evelyn took a small step back, startled.
“Why are you doing this? I really… haven’t done anything!”
“Step back immediately!”
The guard shouted fiercely. Lucretia realized that while he was warning Evelyn not to come closer, he himself had moved dangerously close to her.
“Or else—”
The guard raised his sword. At that moment, its hilt struck Lucretia near her collarbone.
“Ugh!”
Before she could react to the pain, her body tipped backward.
‘No. Behind me…’
It was the cliff.
Lucretia flailed her hands to grab something, anything, but the guard didn’t help. Her eyes widened. The guard looked down at her with a cruel smile.
“Evelyn Johannes tried to assassinate the Empress!”
At the same time, his loud shout echoed. He pushed Lucretia more firmly. Her body slipped over the edge, falling fast. Fear stiffened her entire body.
Just before losing consciousness, someone caught her in midair.
Hounds barked as they raced through the forest.
Muscular and tireless, they had already hunted dozens of eggs but kept going. Kirion was exhausted from controlling them.
‘Damn snake.’
The problem wasn’t the strength of the summon, Serilda, but the cleanup afterward. Hours after her death, there were still scattered eggs. The hounds were frenzied, clearly noticing them.
It was time to end the hunt. The dogs’ nerves had been heightened for too long; they needed rest. Kirion chased after them.
After running wildly for about ten minutes, the hounds suddenly stopped. They gathered at one spot, licking something frantically. Kirion frowned and approached.
“This is…”
It wasn’t an egg.
Kirion poked it with his sword. It was a piece of meat.
“Foolish dogs.”
Kirion was puzzled. His dogs were highly trained; they shouldn’t chase a simple piece of meat across such a distance. He also noticed a strange smell from the meat.
One hound barked loudly, staring at something, tail stiff. It looked at Kirion as if asking permission to investigate.
“What are you trying to eat now?”
Kirion glared.
“Roxy, did I raise you as a pig instead of a hunting dog?”
The dog Roxy whimpered but ran off. Kirion followed, ready to investigate the meat.
Roxy ran like lightning, barking wildly. Finally, it had found the eggs. Kirion pushed through a few trees and saw the river. And in the river…
He furrowed his brow.
A woman floated downstream. Silver hair scattered on the water, face peaceful with eyes closed. She was the Empress, his politically arranged wife.
‘What the hell is going on?’
Without thinking, Kirion dove into the river. The current was strong. Holding her with one arm, he swam to the shore and laid her on the grass.
Her body was soaked and limp. The strange smell from the meat and her floating near the right spot… it all seemed too deliberate. Someone had clearly set this up.
Kirion let out a sharp, bitter laugh.
He hadn’t dealt with this woman for months and now she caused trouble like this.
“Get up.”
He tapped her wet cheek.
“Did you seriously plan this crude act, even distracting my dogs?”
The cold from her skin was so intense it shocked him. The Empress still didn’t move. Kirion narrowed his eyes. He felt a sense of déjà vu—he had seen her faint like this before.
“Empress.”
He grabbed her chin, speaking in a low growl.
That night, when she had tried to tempt him with perfume, she had suddenly collapsed. If this were another trick, she should have woken up by now. But she didn’t.
Kirion checked her pulse. It was extremely slow. She looked almost like she was dying. He had seen soldiers near death from hypothermia in the northern front; they had looked just like this. No one could fake such a physical reaction.
This is really a mess.
Frowning, Kirion pulled her into his arms. Holding her felt like embracing an ice block. Her shoulders shivered slightly with the reaction to body heat.
Instinctively, he realized:
‘She’s going to die soon.’
