6.

‘At this rate… I’ll have to call in the Rodalan Guild.’

The Rodalan Guild—the secret patron of Sordan. They were not yet an openly operating guild. But having read the novel, Estelle knew its guild master better than anyone.

‘After faking my death and escaping, I hoped I’d never meet that man… but I can’t delay any longer.’

It was time to resort to her last option.

***

“What exactly is the meaning of this, empress?”

The moment Kaian entered the bedchamber, he frowned—having found an unwelcome presence.

A sweet fragrance said to entice the senses filled the room, and Empress Christine sat on the bed in a precarious nightgown.

“I am fulfilling my duty. A strong heir is the foundation of stable imperial authority, is it not?”

Christine approached Kaian with coy gestures. With every step, her gown slipped further, the front opening slightly.

“Yes. That too is an important duty of the Empress.”

At his agreement, a triumphant smile spread across her face.

“Yes, Your Majesty. It has already been four years since I came of age. I must fulfill my role.”

She then traced his cheek with a sensual hand, and just as her lingering fingers moved to undo the Emperor’s buttons—

“However, you are different, are you not?”

Kaian cut her off firmly.

“Have you forgotten that you are merely an Empress in name? A position granted solely for your protection.”

“Your Majesty—”

“Was it not you who asked first? You requested that I take you as Empress to honor Countess Joan—the lady-in-waiting who remained loyal to my mother until the end. You asked only for a title that would keep you safe.”

“That is…”

Countess Joan had been Serena’s most trusted attendant and friend. Yet in the end, she was executed alongside the late Imperial Consort under the accusation of conspiring in regicide.

Her daughter was Christine.

As soon as Kaian became Emperor, Christine secretly sought him out and invoked her mother’s final loyalty, asking to be made Empress.

Kaian agreed at once. No matter how strong the pressure from the ducal house was, he could never bring himself to crown Estelle Empress while remembering his mother. Anyone other than Estelle would have sufficed.

“By defying the Duke of Astria and raising a count’s daughter to Empress, I believe I have already repaid that loyalty.”

Kaian passed her and sat down on the couch.

His unyielding attitude left Christine flushed with humiliation.

Humiliated by his cold refusal, Christine clenched her teeth.

No, he definitely shouldn’t have been able to resist this… then why again?! What is the problem?

Even if she came from a count’s house on the verge of ruin, she had still been born a noble lady—and now she was the Empress of the Empire.

Yet in the four years since, the Emperor had never once held her. In her growing anxiety, she had cast aside every shred of pride.

…Could he possibly be incapable…?

Even after resorting to every possible means—draping herself in seductive scents and revealing clothing like a courtesan—he did not yield.

He visited that woman Estelle every month under the excuse of duty! So why won’t he even touch me?!

Five years had passed since Christine became Empress. At first, she believed he was merely waiting until she came of age at eighteen.

That woman was only something temporary until I became an adult!

She had admired the prince since childhood, so she thought she could wait that long.

But it had already been nearly four years since Estelle disappeared and Christine came of age.

Kaian still did not touch her.

The imperial faction openly anticipated the Empress’s pregnancy, while the ducal faction looked ready to push a new consort upon him at any moment.

Under such pressure, her impatience only grew by the day.

He held the consort, yet refuses to touch me… Could it be he kept Estelle in his heart?

No. That can’t be. He keeps even me—the daughter of his loyal retainer—at arm’s length. That woman was the enemy he hated enough to tear apart. He must have only pretended to fulfill his duty because of the Duke’s pressure.

Christine dismissed her own suspicion as absurd.

“If you have said all you wished, you may leave, Empress.”

“At least allow me to offer you some tea to ease your fatigue—”

“Empress. Would you prefer that I leave instead?”

His cold crimson eyes fixed on her—a clear order to depart.

“…Have a peaceful night, Your Majesty.”

Sensing further persistence would only worsen matters, Christine withdrew. Failing once again tonight, she left the Emperor’s chamber with heavy steps.

Click.

The door closed, and silence settled over the room where Kaian remained alone. He opened the window to air out the clinging fragrance filling the chamber.

An ordinary person might have been overwhelmed by the seductive fragrance, but it was far from enough to break the will of a Swordmaster. Still, it left him in a foul mood.

“Ha…”

After the air cleared somewhat, Kaian ran a hand through his hair and released a stiff sigh.

He was already exhausted from state affairs, and preparations for the Founding Festival only added to the burden.

Yet even at night he could not sleep. As the festival approached, the memory of Estelle falling four years ago grew ever more vivid.

Kaian poured undiluted liquor into a glass and drained it in a single swallow.

“Your Majesty, it is Cedric.”

A polite knock sounded from beyond the door.

“Enter.”

“We have a report—traces you were searching for have been found in Aren.”

“Aren?”

His loyal captain of the guard, Cedric, had brought the news he had been waiting for.

Not long after ascending the throne, Kaian had discovered a small locked safe in the Florance Palace. In his faint childhood memories, it was something his mother used to store important items.

He did not know what was inside, but it was now the only trace of her that remained—so he had been secretly investigating how to open it.

Yet neither magic nor physical force could move it.

Across the entire Empire, no one knew how to release the lock. The only clue was the strange symbol engraved on its surface.

Even the imperial library yielded nothing—but after years of investigation, a trace of that symbol had finally been found in Aren.

“Aren, you say.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I will go myself.”

Aren was merely a small port town at the southernmost edge of the continent, a place of little influence.

But to Kaian, it was a familiar name.

“One day, I want to leave the ducal estate and travel the whole continent—from Norden in the north to Aren in the south!”

Once again, it was Estelle. How long had it been since he resolved to erase her from his mind? Yet her ghost seized his memories once more.

“No. I will go myself. To Aren.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I will make the preparations.”

After delivering his report, Cedric left the emperor’s chamber, leaving Kaian alone once more in tormenting thoughts.

“Estelle… Astria.”

Behind the name of the innocent first love he had cherished in his youth followed the family he hated most.

The heat rising from deep within—was it the alcohol, or anger?
Or both?
He could no longer tell.

Estelle. Back then, when you came to the Florance Palace day after day with that deceptively bright smile… none of it was sincere, was it?

She was an enemy he ought to despise. Even raising a toast to the death of that vile hypocrite would not have been excessive.

Yet… what was it about a first love?
Impertinently, it still disturbed the emperor’s peace of mind.

D*mn it.

When Christine took the hand Kaian had extended at the edge of the cliff, a cold smile had appeared on Estelle’s lips.

It was not the expression of someone wounded by despair or betrayal.

—It was an unbearably arrogant expression, as if saying, “Of course you would.”

In truth, the hand Kaian had first reached out was meant for Estelle. He had never imagined that Empress Christine—whom he hadn’t even realized was clinging beside them—would grab his arm first.

Startled by the interruption, Kaian hurried to reach for Estelle again, but at that very moment the tree root supporting her snapped, and she fell into the gorge below.

She had the chance to take his hand.

It was Estelle who refused it.

Even as she fell, there was not the slightest trace of fear on her face. Rather, she looked calm—almost as if she had been waiting for that moment.

Estelle… did you hate me so much you would rather fall than take my hand?

Her final image remained vivid.

The chilling sensation of her hand slipping past his in midair.
Her radiant silver hair scattering pitifully in the merciless wind.
Her deep blue eyes, colder than the darkest abyss.

All of it was carved into Kaian’s mind, tightening around his throat with every breath he took.