‘Kasallin. She’s pregnant? Kasallin is carrying Parnes’s child?’

Shallen muttered like a madman, repeating the same thought as if his mind was stuck in one place.

Gradually, he began to realize how foolish his actions had been.

“Look at these limbs! Can’t you see the bandages wrapped around them?”

If only he had paid a little more attention to Kasallin back when the carriage accident happened.

“Let’s break off the engagement. How can I make someone who can no longer bear a child my queen?”

If only he had held onto a bit more hope before fixating on the word “miscarriage” and rashly deciding to end the engagement.

If only he had shown her body to a reputable doctor who had studied alchemy, even just once, instead of trusting some quack.

Or at the very least, if he had believed in her one more time and comforted her warmly.

‘The child in her womb right now could have been my own flesh and blood.’

Haha.

Shallen tilted his head back toward the ceiling adorned with grand religious paintings, letting out a deranged laugh.

Kasallin looked at Shallen impassively, then, as if she had no lingering attachments, walked with Parnes into the inner corridor.

The words she had said when he declared their engagement over echoed in his mind like a reverberation.

“Take the necklace, take everything. Jewels mean nothing to me. All I wanted was for you to stay by my side. That was the only thing I ever wanted…”

Rose hadn’t been feeling well lately.

Unable to attend the ball last night, she woke up late, completely unaware of what had happened.

The clock’s hands moved as slowly as clouds drifting by.

The sound of birds flapping their wings and the soft, warm touch of the blankets soothed her heart.

Lying in such peace, she felt as if she were the mistress of this palace.

Rose closed her eyes and indulged in sweet fantasies.

She pictured herself in a luxurious room overlooking a vibrant tulip garden, dressed in an empress’s gown.

Even the rulers of neighboring kingdoms would bow to her, and she would be loved by all.

“Your Majesty, Empress Rose.”

Rose murmured to herself, chuckling softly, before slowly returning to her usual lonely, expressionless face.

A few days ago, when she saw her sister Kasallin officially become empress, Rose felt a fresh kind of shock.

Kasallin’s perpetually composed demeanor was exactly what Rose had always yearned for.

Rose had thought the Kan Kingdom was the entire world.

She vaguely believed that becoming the queen of Kan would put everyone at her feet.

But she realized that before the empress of the Renel Empire, a mere kingdom’s queen was insignificant, and she felt utterly small.

‘If I had been the one to form a bond with Emperor Parnes, how would things have turned out?’

Before she knew it, Rose was imagining herself as Parnes’s wife.

She knew it was a wicked and improper thought.

But Kasallin’s place beside Parnes, wielding the greatest power, looked so tantalizingly sweet.

“Your Majesty, the Queen. Are you coughing? Shall I bring water for washing?”

When Rose didn’t rise after a long while, an impatient maid poked her head through the door.

“Didn’t I tell you not to disturb me until I call?”

“I’m sorry. I was worried something might have happened… I’ll leave now.”

“You’ve already woken me up, so what’s the point of leaving? Hurry up and bring the water and my clothes.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Rose, her face still stern, was attended to and then went down to the dining hall for breakfast.

Come to think of it, she wondered if the ball last night had ended well and if His Majesty Shallen was still asleep.

When she asked the maid following her, the maid replied, “Yes?” with an oddly exaggerated reaction.

Looking around, Rose noticed the passing maids stealing glances at her, whispering among themselves.

What were those insolent stares?

Already irritated from her recent physical aches, her temper flared again.

“The Queen of Kan is asking you a question. Did the ball last night end well?”

“Well, that’s…”

The maid, her face pale and hesitating, finally pulled something from her pocket.

It was a gossip sheet published that morning.

As Rose snatched it and read, her bored eyes gradually widened, then shook as if they might pop out.

“What is all this…? How is Sister Kasallin pregnant? And what’s this about insulting the empress?”

“For insulting Her Majesty the Empress, Isabella Rudo and her followers have been arrested. It’s been revealed that His Majesty King Shallen was also involved in the scheme… The Renel Empire has declared they’ll withdraw the alliance.”

“Why are you only telling me this now!”

“Well, you’re pregnant, and I was worried that shocking news might harm Your Majesty’s health.”

No wonder the looks she’d received while passing through the corridor had seemed strange.

Realizing this was no time to leisurely have breakfast, Rose hurriedly went to Shallen’s room.

The bed was neatly made, without a single wrinkle.

“Your Majesty Shallen?”

As she called his name and looked around, Rose spotted a figure sitting by the window, bathed in dazzling sunlight.

For a moment, she almost didn’t recognize him.

Though his appearance was unmistakably Shallen, his vacant gaze, staring into the void, was almost like that of a dead man.

It seemed as though he couldn’t even hear Rose’s voice.

‘Could he be in shock after hearing that Sister Kasallin is pregnant?’

Judging by his unchanged ball attire, he must have been like this all night.

Rose called his name again, taking his hands, which rested neatly on his lap.

It felt like speaking to an ancient statue or an old man slowly losing his memories.

“Your Majesty.”

“…”

“Your Majesty. Why are you like this? Come, let’s go back. Stand up.”

“Go back? Where?”

As Rose tried to pull him up, Shallen fixed her with dilated pupils and spoke.

Until that moment, Rose thought he was merely wounded emotionally and that with her support, he could return to his old self.

More than anything, she didn’t feel his mental shock was entirely bad.

Kasallin carrying Emperor Parnes’s child meant Shallen had lost even his last chance to hold onto her.

Rose wished he’d stop being swayed by Kasallin, who had abandoned her homeland and family for ambition, and walk his own path.

“Where else? Our home, the Kan Kingdom.”

“Kan.”

“Yes. I, Rose, will always be by Your Majesty’s side. Don’t listen to the criticism of ignorant fools. Others won’t understand Your Majesty’s heart. But I do. I understand you.”

In times like these, she needed to comfort him sincerely to strengthen their fading bond.

She wanted to firmly etch in his mind that while Kasallin had coldly betrayed him, his wife, Rose, would never turn her back on him.

Determined to make positive use of the situation, Rose kissed him.

Normally, he would stroke her hair, saying, “My queen always understands my heart.”

But as soon as her lips touched his, Shallen pushed her away and stood up.

It wasn’t a gesture of mild annoyance.

It was nothing more or less than the act of removing an inconvenient obstacle, leaving Rose frozen in shock.

“Your Majesty? Your Majesty, where are you going?”

“I can’t leave like this.”

“What?”

“I need to beg her forgiveness. Yes, I need to apologize. I should have done this long ago. Before she left for the Renel Empire…”

Rose hurriedly followed Shallen, who left the room as if possessed.

His steps finally led to the front of the Empress’s Palace, surrounded by strict guards.

When Shallen tried to enter boldly through the main gate, the guards, unable to hide their disbelief, blocked his way.

In the past, they might have politely asked him to wait.

But now, with the emperor himself declaring the alliance with Kan withdrawn, there was no reason to treat him as a guest.

“Is Your Majesty’s visit pre-arranged with Her Majesty the Empress?”

“I only need a moment. Tell her I’m here.”

“Without a prior appointment, you cannot enter. Please leave.”

“How dare you act so rudely! Do you know who I am? If you tell her my name, she’ll allow it!”

“Her Majesty the Empress has directly ordered that if the King of Kan comes, he is not to be admitted.”

He flinched, as if in disbelief.

At the same time, he looked back and forth between the firmly shut gates of the Empress’s Palace and beyond, bewildered.

Rose, who had followed, saw her husband, unable to respond to a mere guard’s rejection, and instinctively stepped back.

For the first time, she felt she was seeing the true depths of the man called Shallen.

The dignified king, once full of confidence and praised by many, was gone.

All that remained was a pathetic man, ready to grovel or lick boots for a woman, casting aside pride and dignity.

“Your Majesty the Empress. He’s still lingering out there. What should we do?”

Loren Logia glanced out the window, repeatedly pulling and releasing the curtains.

Despite the commotion outside, Kasallin, with a blanket over her lap, leisurely turned the pages of her book.

Should she at least hear what he has to say?

But His Majesty Parnes said that getting emotional would be bad for her health and that she must rest.

Tracing the words on the yellowish paper, Kasallin, lost in wavering thoughts, finally snapped the book shut.

“To the reception room.”

She wasn’t eager, but since this might be the last time she’d face him, she figured it would be fine.

After lingering for a moment, she tidied herself roughly and went to the reception room.

The first thing she noticed was his haggard appearance, with dark circles under his eyes, as if he’d stayed up all night.

The old Kasallin might have foolishly felt pity for him.

But Shallen no longer stirred her heart.

Or rather, it was more accurate to say her heart could no longer be stirred.

As Kasallin entered, he jumped up from his seat, compulsively clenching and unclenching his fists.

In a frail voice, completely devoid of its former vitality, he spoke.

“Thank you for granting me this visit, Kasallin.”

“What’s your purpose?”

She had no desire to exchange lengthy pleasantries.

Shallen looked anxious, as if he had much to say but didn’t know how to say it.

Kasallin asked again.

“I’m asking what your purpose is.”

“I want to apologize, Kasallin. I was truly wrong.”

“Yes, I know you were wrong. And?”

Shallen, meeting Kasallin’s cold gaze—a look he had never seen before—found himself at a loss for words.

The eyes that once sparkled with love when looking at Parnes were now so dark, like the unfathomable depths of the sea, they almost seemed black.

“Surely you didn’t come here thinking you could beg for my forgiveness.”

“No, I…”

“You didn’t think that kneeling and saying ‘I was wrong’ with a dejected face would erase all your past mistakes, did you?”