Frost abruptly stopped in his tracks as he headed towards the Imperial Palace and turned his gaze towards the glass greenhouse.

His eyes were drawn to the sight of Empress Dowager Sophia approaching the noble ladies who were waiting together in front of the greenhouse.

“Greetings to Your Majesty the Empress Dowager.”

The noble ladies held the hem of their dresses and bowed their waists to greet the Empress Dowager.

Frost narrowed his eyes and stared in the direction of the noble ladies.

He saw the mistresses and young ladies of high-ranking noble families whom he was acquainted with, but Yuriella was not there.

[Your Highness the Grand Duchess. Her Majesty the Empress Dowager requests a brief audience with you.]

Aaron Pioni had clearly said the Empress Dowager had summoned her and led her away…?

Frost’s blue eyes darkened, filled with a chilling light.

“Frost. It’s been a while!”

A high and clear voice struck Frost’s ears as he was lost in thought.

When he turned his head, the Empress Dowager was waving at him with a beautiful smile as if painted. A fleeting hostility veiled like a mist passed through her amethyst eyes.

Frost erased his expression, approached the Empress Dowager, and lightly bowed his head in greeting.

“Greetings to Your Majesty the Empress Dowager.”

The Empress Dowager extended her hand, a beaming smile hanging on the corners of her lips.

“Frost. Are you going to treat your aunt whom you haven’t seen in a long time like a stranger?”

“Have you been in good health all this time, Your Majesty?”

Frost only pretended to put his lips to Sophia’s hand before straightening his back.

“I heard you were on the brink of death after being struck by the blade of a traitor. Seeing you so robust like this makes me so happy.”

“You yourself seem to be aging in reverse, Your Majesty. I mistook you for a young lady you had invited. A stranger would misunderstand and think you’re using black magic to maintain your beauty.”

Empress Dowager Sophia let out a high, clear laugh without batting an eyelash.

“I’m just an old hag past her prime. How could I compare to your wife who is as pretty as a flower in full bloom? Those who attended your wedding showered her with praise. They said they thought a fairy had popped out of the forest.”

The Empress Dowager glanced behind Frost and slightly tilted her head.

“Where is your wife?”

The maid who had been sent to fetch the Grand Duchess had returned empty-handed without meeting the Grand Ducal couple. As if he would leave his wife unattended in the Imperial Palace, no different from enemy territory?

“I hid her away fearing she might get stolen because she’s so pretty. The capital is full of shameless people who covet what belongs to others.”

Ice shards pierced through the soft baritone voice.

The Empress Dowager’s deep violet eyes darkened gloomily.

‘That doesn’t look like the gaze of someone who hid her, but rather of someone whose possession was stolen.’

When the Empress Dowager heard from a maid that her precious son had changed into a dozen different formal attires for the ball, the Grand Duke’s bride immediately came to mind.

It’s because of that child.

Her son, who treated his own godly beauty like trash, was meticulously adorning himself like a peacock from the morning.

He had also abruptly convened a meeting of high-ranking nobles that was more likely to cause losses than gains.

Was he really trying to covet the woman of his rival?

The Empress Dowager erased her deep sigh with a fake smile and whispered smoothly like silk.

“It’s the prime of your life. But they say even a ten-day red flower doesn’t last forever. Enjoy to your heart’s content while you can.”

“Yes. You should also enjoy a lot while you can, Your Majesty. Good days pass by like an arrow.”

As the tense confrontation continued, the noble ladies slipped away from their spots while furtively glancing at each other.

“Indeed. Take good care of your precious wife. It’s not just shameless thieves you have to watch out for. I heard an inexplicable coma disease is also going around the capital these days. I pray you both stay safe.”

“Don’t worry too much. I know who is spreading the coma disease.”

The Empress Dowager’s face, like a lifelike doll, stiffened rigidly.

“…Spreading the coma disease. You’re saying it’s not just a contagious illness?”

“Yes. We haven’t figured out the criminal motive yet, but once we catch and punish them, even those wicked ones will confess their crimes in tears.”

No longer in the mood to force even a fake smile, Sophia’s violet eyes grew cold.

“You are very capable. How do you know from far away in the north what even the imperial investigators don’t yet?”

“It’s not because I’m capable. It’s because a sinister and wicked group is blinding the eyes of those close to the emperor, so they can’t see the criminals right in front of them.”

“I will convey well to him your loyal heart that worries for and cherishes His Majesty.”

“Yes. Please do tell him that I will uproot and exterminate all the worms gnawing at the empire.”

Having said his piece, Frost sharply turned his feet and walked away from the Empress Dowager.

Murderous energy swirled in Sophia della Ponti’s eyes.

‘How could he be the spitting image of his mother, Princess Adelia? With a life as short as his mother’s, no doubt.’

Frost’s face grew anxious as he left Swan Palace. His feet were already running before he knew it. Damn it!

It was obvious where Aaron Pioni, that bastard dog of the emperor, had led his wife.

Frost began searching for his wife’s energy, spreading out his senses wide.

*

“Solas. Look at me.”

That crazy bastard. How dare he call my name so casually?

Rage swelled up. Heat rushed from the nape of my neck to the crown of my head, making me rigid.

But there was no reason to readily respond to his call.

Because right now, I was standing here as Frost Ielheim’s spouse, Grand Duchess Yuriella Ielheim.

I slowly turned around, holding the hem of my dress and bowing deeply at the waist.

“I present myself before the Sun of the Empire.”

As I raised my head, I saw a face smiling mischievously with beautifully curved eyes looking down at me.

“Isn’t it strange? Your appearance has completely changed. Yet my heart races just the same as when I used to see you before. I don’t feel the slightest bit of discomfort. Though I wish your hair had stayed the same as before. It was so beautiful, like a burning sunset.”

Justin reached out and fiddled with the ends of my hair.

I whipped my head back and took a big step away from him. Damn him. How dare he?

“The sun has been high in the sky for a long time, but you still seem to be in a daze, Your Majesty. You can’t even recognize who I am.”

Justin looked down at his hand with a regretful face and mumbled gloomily.

“I know. You must hate me. It’s only natural for you to resent me. Because I… killed you.”

“Your Majesty. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you at first sight too. I never imagined that you, your soul, would go all the way to the North. Still, I should have recognized you. I had vowed I would recognize you even if you were reincarnated as a rabbit or a snake.”

“I will take my leave now. My husband is waiting for me.”

I didn’t want to hear any more of the mad dog’s barking, so I sharply turned my body and walked towards the stairs. But I couldn’t even take two steps before Justin grabbed my arm.

“You can get angry, you can curse at me and call me crazy. But please, don’t turn your back to me. How I’ve lived all this time. How I endured the time without you, coughing up blood…”

With each word he spat out, his lips, chewed until they were red with blood, were ghastly. As were his jewel-like blue eyes that glinted eerily.

The kid was already in a bad state before, but it seems to have gotten much worse. Just try to say it’s my fault.

“It’s because of you. Because you weren’t by my side, I really… couldn’t even breathe.”

Of course he says it’s my fault. Isn’t this a case of the pot calling the kettle black?

Your Majesty, go make a blood bond with that blockhead Dolman. The one who framed me as a traitor, beheaded me, and ultimately made it so I couldn’t breathe was you, the emperor!

But I didn’t throw a fist of rage at the emperor’s face or commit the error of kicking the precious part of the emperor whom I wasn’t even married to.

Instead, I put on a very elegant smile befitting a noblewoman, just as Cassandra had specially trained me.

Because right now, I was Yuriella Ielheim. The clever spouse of the clever Grand Duke Ielheim.

I couldn’t get arrested for assaulting the emperor or ending the imperial lineage and become a hindrance to the Grand Duke’s great cause.

Justin paused his breath for a moment, then placed his right hand over his left chest and let out a low sigh.

“You’re so pretty. Even a fake smile you put on, just because it’s you making it while alive, it’s really, pretty, Solas.”

I felt nauseous. The oatmeal bits from the soup I had for breakfast seemed to squirm in my stomach.

“I will restore your identity. I will also clear you of the false charge of treason.”

He sure talks easily about giving medicine after the illness. What good does that do after I’m already dead?

“That is not at all a welcome course of action for me, the mistress of the North. Solas Moretti is a sinner who committed an unforgivable crime against the North. The sin of dyeing northern lands with the blood of innocent people will never disappear.”

Justin clung to my arms desperately as if grasping a lifeline. And he spoke in a trembling voice as if pleading.

“You’re not the sinner. Absolutely, it’s not your fault.”

Does he have a last shred of conscience? Will he finally confess it’s his own sin?

“The sinner is Frost Ielheim, that bastard. It should have been him who died, not you.”

Will this person stay shameless until the very end?

“That bastard dared to raise his head against me, the master of the empire. He dared to lay eyes on you, who belongs to me, and cherish you. If he wanted to live after that, it’s sheer arrogance.”

“Call a doctor, Your Majesty. You must be very ill.”

I tried to shake off Justin, but the damn guy gripped my arms more tightly until my bones ached.

“Don’t say you didn’t know. That bastard followed you to every battlefield you went to. He rushed to wherever you were, dropping everything else, even places I tried to dissuade him from going because there was no need. You too, whenever he said he would join the battle with you, your two eyes would sparkle with joy. I knew it all.”

This jerk, he must have had pretty good intuition.

How did he know my heart that even I wasn’t aware of?

Come to think of it now, it seems the Grand Duke and I were attracted to each other for a long time.

I recalled how the Grand Duke had always protected me flawlessly from behind whenever there was danger.

Back then, I had just thought how fortunate it was to have such an extraordinary person by my side.

Was it because he liked me, because he couldn’t take his eyes off me, that he was there every time I was in peril?

[On the day of the last battle. When her helmet was shattered by my sword and…, her burning red hair cascaded out… The moment I first saw her face on that day… As if deeply embedded in my soul… I continuously, couldn’t forget her.]

Remembering the Grand Duke’s handsome face as he confessed with utmost sincerity by that nameless river, my heart raced.

[I’m sorry… I still can’t forget her.]

At the time, I had felt a prick in my heart, disappointed that he was wistfully thinking of Solas, not me who was right in front of him.

But thinking back on it now, that heart was so precious and I was so grateful that my heart throbbed to the point of pain.

I missed the Grand Duke so much.

‘Wait. Is this a side effect of Justin della Ponti?’

Seeing this unfortunate bastard, the small beast in my heart that had tucked itself away leaped out.

That small beast was making a fuss, telling me to hurry and run to the Grand Duke, to tightly embrace his firm neck with both arms.

The Grand Duke who awakened me to a rapturous night wasn’t by my side, but the sweet moments of last night that I had forgotten wildly stirred my heart.

The Grand Duke’s blue eyes filled with passion that couldn’t look away from me appeared before my eyes.

The silver hair that tickled my forehead. The fierce pounding of his heart I felt against my chest. The kisses that were sweeter than honey.

[Yuriella… Yuriella…!]

I tried to calm the small beast, wiping my flushed cheeks with the back of my hand.

‘Yuriella Ielheim. Get a grip. What are you thinking right now in front of the Grand Duke’s nemesis?’

When I came to my senses and opened my eyes wide, Justin was grinding his teeth and growling at me.

“Do you like that bastard that much? In front of me, in front of me who is at a loss for what to do after meeting you… Do you have to make that kind of face?”

Justin must have gone mad. With tears brimming in his eyes, he violently shakes my tightly gripped arms.

“Let go of me, Your Majesty.”

Even when I twist my body, he doesn’t budge an inch. Damn it. When I was Solas, he was weaker than me.

Plop. Plop.

Justin’s clear tears fell drop by drop onto my face.

A chill ran through me, and another side effect of Justin della Ponti occurred.

I missed the Grand Duke so much, and his scent wafted over as if real.

The Grand Duke’s voice also sounded as if real.

– Thwack!

A fist flew through the air and smashed into Justin’s handsome jaw.

It hit him so hard that Justin went flying and crashed into my painting hanging on the wall before plopping onto the floor.

“Grand Duke!”

It wasn’t just a phantom conjured by the small beast inside me, but really the Grand Duke!

The Grand Duke glanced at me for a moment, then strode over to Justin who had fallen on the floor.

Uh oh. That look. I’ve seen it before.

He looked just like that when he was about to break the skull of that blockhead Dolman who thought of me as the town fool.

‘No way. Surely he wouldn’t break the skull of the emperor.’

– Thwack!

He really broke it.

The Grand Duke’s boot mercilessly kicked the glorious golden head of His Majesty the Emperor.

An icy chill swirled in his deeply darkened blue eyes.

Grand Duke! That wasn’t a mistake, right? You have some plan, right?