Upon Vercheria’s words, Groovy also closed the gaping mouth and lowered his head.

“Seriously, it’s so similar that it’s surprising. Does this make any sense?”

Even the thickness of the eyelashes and the unusually red color of the lips were exactly the same.

Groovy said, “Honestly, just looking like this makes me think we might be twins.”

Vercheria was also having similar thoughts.

Groovy smiled mischievously and lowered his head.

“But it’s impossible. Actually, it’s a ridiculous story.”

He scratched his cheek as if to say that he found such thoughts pitiful.

“I was born in the imperial underground prison. I was born there, and until recently, I lived there. It’s not even comparable to a goddess like you.”

Groovy’s words made Vercheria narrow her eyes.

She had heard about the imperial underground prison from Lacrahann.

A secret underground prison that locks up wizards and witches, monitoring them so they can never escape.

It had a notorious reputation for a reason.

It was said that no one gave them food.

Because of that, when hundreds of people were first captured there, terrible things like people eating each other happened because they weren’t given anything to eat.

When Vercheria heard that story, she thought about how she would have been if her mother hadn’t brought her dry bread every day.

“You lived in the imperial underground prison for your whole life?”

“Yes. Then, I came out recently. It’s not like I escaped or anything… I can use mana, so they brought me out to use that.”

“So, after the job is done, will you go back to prison?”

“No. Actually, the emperor…”

Groovy suddenly remembered the memory of trying to capture Vercheria and shrank his shoulders.

If Vercheria had been in that hut, she would have either been bitten by the dogs and covered in blood, or by now, she would have been dragged to the imperial underground prison in a miserable state.

Groovy sighed and bowed his head.

“The emperor told me to capture you, Vercheria. He said he wouldn’t put me in the underground prison if I brought you.”

“Ah.”

Vercheria was listening to his story with her hand covering her mouth, without much change in expression.

“So, I released the dogs to come and find you. I’m sorry.”

Groovy was so embarrassed that he was sweating to the point where the worn-out clothes he had smelled.

The scent that had been given to the dogs came to mind, and his heart felt like it was being pricked.

“If I had made a mistake, the dogs would have bitten you. I wanted to live, so even though I knew what would happen to you, I pretended not to know. I’m sorry.”

He tried not to cry, but tears flowed down.

Groovy didn’t like becoming so miserable, and the fact that he had nowhere to go other than the imperial underground prison made him embarrassed.

His life looked like it was in the gutter compared to someone so perfect like himself, and tears kept welling up.

“Sigh.”
Wiping away tears with the back of his hand and sniffing, the dog that had been following him all along approached and sat close to his calf, pressing its back against him.

He had no idea why this dog kept following him.

“No need to apologize. Of course, it would have been better if it hadn’t happened, but if it hadn’t, I would have ended up in the underground prison.”

“Sigh. I’m sorry, Vercheria.”

Vercheria wanted to reach out and comfort Groovy, but she held back.

She knew she didn’t have the right to do that.

“Maybe I would have done the same.”

Groovy lifted his head while wiping away his runny nose.

“I was locked in a tower alone until recently. It was just a narrow tower with no bed or blanket. It smelled dirty, and there was nothing to block the wind.”

Groovy’s lips slightly parted.

“I lived there, and recently, I escaped and met Lacrahann.”

Both of them looked at Lacrahann simultaneously.

He was still leaning against the tree with his legs crooked and lost in thought.

“If someone asked me to go back to the tower or to do something bad to someone else, I probably wouldn’t hesitate to harm someone else.”

Vercheria smiled weakly.

She knew it was a bad thing to say, but she wasn’t ashamed.

Nobody would know unless they had lived the same way.

Even guessing how hard it must have been was ultimately just hypocrisy.

This was a story that only those who had experienced it would understand.

“I understand. So, don’t feel too sorry.”

At Vercheria’s words, Groovy couldn’t hold back any longer and hugged her tightly, bursting into tears.

Lacrahann, who was leaning against the tree, noticed Groovy hugging Vercheria, frowned deeply.

In the dimly brightening imperial corridor in the early morning, a man walked down the corridor, splitting the air with each step.

He arrived at the luxurious door adorned with silver and knocked smartly.

After a moment.

Creak, as the door opened, the man pushed it without hesitation, and a fragrant scent burst out, revealing a bed adorned with pink lace in his view.

“Anyway.”

The empress, lying on the bed, clicked her tongue and scanned the man from top to bottom.