Tonight the moon was particularly bright.

Kasallin washed her body with water so cold it felt like her head would split, changed into a thin chemise dress, then went out to the balcony.

The night air was cold.

It felt as if sharp ice picks were flying and piercing her entire body.

If she didn’t push herself into such distant pain like this, it seemed she wouldn’t be able to maintain her sanity for even a single second.

“His Majesty the King has arrived.”

The sound of the door being flung open without waiting for permission to enter echoed through the room.

He was always like that.

Not knowing people’s hearts at all, always putting his own emotions first and barging in without notice.

“Please leave. I want to be alone for a while.”

“Never mind that, just follow one thing from today.”

Shallen cleanly ignored Kasallin’s words and continued speaking arbitrarily.

“Don’t treat Rose like a younger sister anymore. Do you understand?”

“…I asked you to leave because I have something to think about alone.”

“That person is my one and only legitimate wife and the queen who will soon bear the crown prince. She’s not someone you can just stand around watching broken teacups being cleaned up and lecture as you please.”

“Her Majesty the Queen ordered me not to touch the teacup and to stay still. I merely followed Her Majesty the Queen’s instructions.”

“Of course you would have. Rose has such a tender heart and she’s afraid of you, her older sister.”

“Her Majesty the Queen is afraid of me?”

“Yes. How much authority must you have established as an older sister while staying at your family home that the queen would be so terrified she couldn’t even make a peep?”

Not knowing who was really trembling in fear right now.

Kasallin clenched her fist that was gripping the railing.

“Even in the midst of all this, the queen desperately protected you. Do you know what she said to me before I came here? Please don’t scold my sister. My sister did nothing wrong. That’s what she said. So I won’t reproach you any further.”

Shallen took a step closer and grabbed Kasallin’s hand.

It felt like her hair was standing on end.

“I’ve decided to generously embrace even that side of you.”

“Don’t touch my body carelessly. It’s unpleasant.”

Kasallin snapped sharply and twisted her hand free.

Shallen looked down at his own hand left in the air for a moment, then put it into his pocket.

“A mistress telling the king not to touch her. Anyone who saw this would faint.”

“A person touching another person’s body without permission is violence itself. Regardless of status.”

“Well, thank you for letting me know. I learn something new from clever Miss Kasallin today as well.”

I’ll withdraw for today, so cool your head.

Shallen turned around leisurely and left.

It was obvious what thoughts were arising in his head as he gradually moved away down the corridor.

‘No matter how much you rebel and try to climb up, you’re already a possession that has fallen into my hands.’

Shallen probably never dreamed of it.

That he hadn’t seduced Parnes, but that Parnes had proposed to him.

But couldn’t he, even just once.

Even if just for a brief moment, put aside other emotions and say just one word: “I was sorry.”

At first, she only wanted to hear his sincere apology.

She wished for nothing else besides that.

“I thought you were crying.”

At that moment, startled by the voice suddenly heard from behind, Kasallin was genuinely surprised and sank down.

The identity of the black shadow that climbed up from below the balcony railing with a heave-ho sound was none other than Baron Aster.

His red hair, as long as that of most women, fluttered like flames behind the round moon.

When their eyes met, his cunning snake-like eyes folded gently.

“Hello, beautiful lady. It’s a wonderful night.”

“Lord Aster, why are you in such a place!”

“Shh.”

Aster brought his index finger to his lips.

“Quietly. Lower your voice. If I get caught doing this, I’ll be in big trouble.”

“You seem to know it’s behavior that will get you in big trouble. Go back before I report you to the guards immediately. Or I have the option of dropping you with my own hands.”

“Don’t do that, the moon has risen prettily, so why don’t we chat and have a glass of wine?”

He pulled out a bottle of wine that looked quite expensive from his bosom and shook it playfully.

“It’s something precious that the Black Butterfly Trading Company secretly imported from the Hismaria continent.”

“If it’s from the Black Butterfly Trading Company, it must be smuggled goods. Thank you, but I’ll decline. I don’t accept kindness from people whose intentions I can’t fathom.”

When Kasallin flatly refused, Aster, who had somehow comfortably settled on the railing, burst into hearty laughter.

“This is why everyone goes ‘Miss Kasallin, Miss Kasallin.’ You’re like a diamond in a glass case.”

“…A diamond in a glass case?”

“It was what people in high society secretly called you once. Meaning a treasure that shines brilliantly but that no one can touch.”

“However, being in a glass case also means being a spectacle for everyone. It’s an unpleasant nickname.”

Aster quietly curled up the corners of his thin lips.

“I knew Miss Kasallin would return to the Kan Kingdom.”

“Because you incited it.”

“No. Even if I hadn’t gone out of my way to find you and incite you, Miss Kasallin would have returned eventually. You must have been afraid. That Emperor Parnes would someday change like Shallen… because of suspicion. Am I right?”

Kasallin glared at him with strength in her eyes.

However, she didn’t particularly want to step forward and correct the parts he was misunderstanding.

“You made the right choice. Rather than being abandoned twice, isn’t it better to remain in a state of having been abandoned once already?”

“The words you said to me in the Lenel Empire. Do you remember? That Shallen and Rose had been deceiving and betraying me for a long time.”

“Yes. I did say that.”

“How did you know that fact?”

“I am an attendant. I exist like Her Majesty the Queen’s shadow. Her Majesty the Queen’s thoughts, words she lets slip unconsciously, even intimate conversations she has with His Majesty the King. Before I knew it, I had learned quite a lot.”

“Then indeed those two people…”

Unable to speak the words with her own mouth, Kasallin just moved her lips endlessly.

Aster, who she expected would sneer with his characteristic smile as always, this time looked at Kasallin with serious eyes for some reason.

“Whether what Miss Kasallin is thinking in her head right now is really the truth, I think Miss Kasallin herself knows best.”

“…I see.”

Kasallin slowly blinked her eyes while tightly grasping the sapphire ring that was a mess of dried blood and dirt.

From the moment she heard the word betrayal from Aster, she had somewhat expected that perhaps a secret more enormous and terrible than she had imagined might be waiting for her.

But unconsciously, she seemed to have wanted to believe in Shallen and Rose until the very last moment.

She knew they were humans with no hope of rehabilitation, but still, as people who had once formed a connection and as half-blood sisters, she thought they would have at least minimal conscience.

‘But to think they had been secretly meeting for a long time without my knowledge…’

It seemed no words could express this feeling.

The days when she hid her personal feelings as much as possible and did her best as a maid for Rose.

The moments when she detested Shallen terribly but still desperately tried to respect him as the king of a nation.

Knowing that all of those things were utterly pointless acts,

The fact that they had made one perfectly normal person into a fool and were satisfyingly enjoying themselves behind her back made her heart feel empty beyond simple sadness and anger.

‘How often did they meet? Since when, and how?’

Whenever Shallen occasionally came to visit her at her family home to see her, did they secretly exchange glances and enjoy the precarious atmosphere?

In front of her, they treated each other merely as her sister’s lover and her lover’s younger sister, but in places where she wasn’t present, did they whisper secret sweet nothings?

Behind the garden, under the walls, secretly kissing between secluded shrubs, did they feel both guilty about committing acts they shouldn’t commit while also finding it thrilling?

No. If they had been humans capable of feeling guilt, the situation wouldn’t have escalated this far.

Shallen and Rose simply moved according to their instincts at each moment like vulgar beasts without any common sense or reason.

“Ah…”

Suddenly her head spun and her vision shook greatly.

Kasallin exhaled a faint breath and staggered.

Aster, who seemed like he wouldn’t blink an eye even if someone collapsed right in front of him, was surprisingly quite flustered and grabbed Kasallin’s shoulder.

“Uh, what. Hey, Miss Kasallin. Are you alright?”

The day she first brought Rose to introduce her to Shallen.

The sight of Rose blushing and being very shy yet awkward when she first saw him was still vivid before her eyes.

At that time, she thought it was because she was still young and it was her first time meeting royalty directly.

“When I get married, I’ll become your brother-in-law. So get along well.”

“I understand, sister. By the way, His Highness Shallen seems like a really wonderful person. He has such a good personality too.”

She had thought there would be nothing more to wish for if those two people got along affectionately like siblings in the future.

She had never even tried to be suspicious.

That those two people had already secretly harbored special feelings for each other while she was there.

That they had continued secret meetings without her knowledge – she had truly never even imagined such a thing.

“I’ve been curious for a while, but why doesn’t Miss Kasallin cry?”

Aster asked, unable to take his eyes off Kasallin’s face, as if genuinely puzzled.

“Usually women pour out tears like waterfalls when they have even slightly sad experiences. I can’t find such a thing in you.”

“Why do you think I don’t cry?”

Kasallin looked up at him and asked back.

When their eyes met, Baron Aster hesitantly removed the hand that was still embracing her shoulder.

Then he kept fidgeting with his own hand as if he had been burned by hot fire.

Kasallin continued speaking.

“A certain man I know said that people don’t necessarily have to shed tears to be crying.”

“…”

“If that person is right, I would have cried thousands of times by now.”

Aster looked at Kasallin with unfamiliar eyes, like someone who had discovered a very rare creature.

Kasallin straightened her trembling legs and stood up.

“I won’t bother to thank you for subtly letting me know about Shallen and Rose’s relationship. I know it’s because of shallow sympathy.”

“Where are you going at this hour?”

Kasallin paused briefly, then replied as if drawing a line.

“It’s none of your business.”