“Just for a moment, could you stay by my side?”

Kasallin realized for the first time that she could produce such a shameless voice.

She felt like an evil demon, luring an innocent person into something wicked.

She admits it’s unlike her.

But tonight, she simply couldn’t imagine falling asleep alone in unfamiliar silence and darkness.

Perhaps it was because she had just woken from an eerily vivid dream.

It felt as though all of this was an extension of that dream, and if she closed and opened her eyes, she might find herself back on the cold prison floor—an unreal fantasy that seemed to loom over her.

“What, at your age, are you whining about being too scared to sleep alone?”

Parnes, held by her hand and standing at the threshold, slowly turned his head toward her.

For some reason, his forearm seemed more tensed than usual, the muscles standing out more prominently, though his expression remained utterly calm.

As always, he treated Kasallin like an innocent, naive woman.

As if to say, You’re not the kind of woman who could stir my desires, there was not a trace of disturbance on his face.

Kasallin had never particularly prided herself on her charm or appearance, but neither had she ever considered herself lacking.

Throughout her life, she had always been the one courted by rational suitors and, at the same time, the one to reject them.

Yet now, the stone-hearted man before her stood firm, his iron wall unyielding, showing only a mischievous smile.

“When did I say I couldn’t sleep alone? I just thought, since neither of us seems likely to sleep, we could keep each other company.”

Feeling a bit embarrassed after her bold words were flatly rejected, Kasallin responded with a slightly awkward expression.

Parnes let out a troubled sigh, glancing around the dimly lit room, where only two white candlesticks softly illuminated the bedding.

Then he looked down at Kasallin’s round head.

Her curly black hair slightly draped over her pale ears, a perfect contrast, and her unusually long eyelashes cast delicate shadows beneath her eyes.

Without a word, Parnes walked past her into the room.

He dragged a chair from beside the fireplace, placed it near the bed, and plopped down onto it.

Then he lightly patted the neatly spread bed sheets.

“Come here.”

Kasallin approached cautiously, a small question lingering on her face.

“Why that expression? I’m sacrificing myself to be your companion, as you commanded.”

“I didn’t think you’d actually agree. And ‘command’? That’s absurd.”

“It’s better than you coming to a sleeping person’s room in the middle of the night, sobbing about nightmares.”

“What do you take me for?”

“Alright, don’t get upset. Just come here and lie down. Honestly, you must be the only woman in the world who’d ask an emperor to stand guard.”

As expected, he was only teasing her.

At this rate, even on their wedding night, he’d probably just play childish pranks and they’d end up sleeping separately.

No, with him, that seemed entirely possible.

Since their marriage was practically a political arrangement, it wouldn’t be surprising if he declared there was someone else he truly wanted to love.

With a slightly sulky expression, Kasallin climbed onto the bed and pulled the covers over her head.

She couldn’t understand why being around him made her act so immaturely, so childishly.

“Are you sulking?”

“No.”

“I can see you pouting like a duck from here.”

“Who are you calling a duck?”

Kasallin threw off the covers.

The chair where he was supposed to be sitting was empty.

Looking around, she saw Parnes coming out of the inner bathroom with something in hand.

“Your hand.”

“What?”

“Your hand, give it here.”

Known for hating slow responses more than anything, he patiently waited until Kasallin extended her hand.

“Why my hand?”

“You really have a talent for being a nuisance.”

Parnes opened a small jar he’d brought from the bathroom.

He scooped out a bit of thin cream, fragrant with herbs, and gently spread it over the back of Kasallin’s swollen hand.

She hadn’t noticed in her distraction, but her time in prison had clearly taken a toll on her body.

Upon closer inspection, not only her hands but her ankles and lips were cracked and swollen all over.

“Give it here. I’ll do it myself.”

Feeling both guilty and embarrassed to be tended to by none other than the emperor, Kasallin awkwardly started to sit up.

But Parnes pressed her forehead with his fingertip, pushing her back down.

Falling back onto the pillow, Kasallin clutched her forehead with both hands, staring at him in confusion.

“I told you before—get used to it.”

“Get used to it…?”

Having carefully applied the moisturizer to her hands, he now lifted her ankle and placed it on his knee.

Kasallin protested in alarm, insisting she was fine, but he was resolute.

“You’re to be my empress. Like it or not, to me, you’re a precious person, irreplaceable by anything in the world. So get used to being treated preciously.”

“But aren’t you the emperor, Your Majesty?”

“And?”

“What?”

“To everyone else, I’m the emperor, but to you, I’m just a husband. What’s wrong with me doing this?”

Get used to being treated preciously by a husband.

To Kasallin, his words felt as foreign as a language from a distant land.

She could never have imagined such words during her long courtship and engagement with Shallen Riche.

Kasallin turned to face him.

“Your Majesty.”

“What.”

“Thank you. For everything.”

His hand, closing the moisturizer jar, slowed.

His face was half-hidden in the darkness, making it impossible to read his expression.

In the past, his guarded nature might have seemed distant and intimidating, but not anymore.

She didn’t need to pry into his heart to know he was a warm, human person.

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. I haven’t done anything worth your thanks.”

“You don’t have to be so shy about it. Anyway, I’ll try to sleep now before I cause you any more sleep deprivation. Thank you for indulging my stubbornness.”

“You’re saying things like that? The sun must be rising in the west tomorrow.”

Thanks to his lighthearted joke and the soothing scent of the moisturizer, she felt much calmer, as if she might finally tame that elusive friend called sleep.

Kasallin smiled softly and buried her face in the pillow.

She heard him rise from the chair.

After closing her eyes for a while, half-drifting into a hazy unconsciousness.

She felt Parnes’s cold lips touch her cheek, though he hadn’t left the room yet.

But she couldn’t be certain it wasn’t a dream.

“Just stay like this. Happy, without a single worry, within the enclosure I’ve built for you.”

His lips moved slowly down her skin, finally reaching the hollow of her neck.

Suppressing a burning desire, he let out a restrained breath, kissing her tenderly several times.

Parnes sat in the darkness for a long while.

Even as the clock ticked past midnight toward dawn, he silently watched Kasallin’s sleeping form with gleaming eyes.

The steady sound of her breathing, far from calming his tense nerves, only sparked a greater flame within him.

“You don’t even know.”

If she had the slightest idea how much her fragile ankles, looking like they might snap, stirred conflicting emotions in his mind.

“Just for a moment, could you stay by my side?”

With that innocent face, she wouldn’t have carelessly let such words slip.

Parnes rubbed his brow irritably and finally left the room.

As he stepped into the corridor, the bluish sky had receded, and the first signs of sunrise appeared beyond the sea’s horizon.

Staying up all night.

Even he thought he wasn’t in his right mind.

“Why are you out here instead of sleeping, Your Majesty?”

Ludwig approached and spoke.

“Even that tough man feels nervous, it seems. Moving to the Rennel Empire must be a bit daunting.”

“Of course. The culture, royal customs, and even small etiquettes will all be different from what he knows. Plus, the Rennel Empire is full of strangers, so he must have many worries about adapting. But he’ll overcome it well.”

Ludwig smiled kindly as he continued.

Parnes countered, as if he didn’t understand.

“Overcome? Overcome what?”

“Pardon?”

“She’s already been hurt countless times. I won’t let her struggle, effort, or worry anymore. If anyone dares act hostile toward her, I’ll cut their throats without mercy.”

“Your Majesty.”

“That way, no one will dare disrespect her or foolishly covet the empress’s position.”

Ludwig hesitated, unsure how to respond.

“Your Majesty, that’s…”

Isn’t that beyond mere overprotection?

Ludwig swallowed the words rising in his throat, like indigestible food.

To think of preemptively rooting out anyone who might harm Lady Kasallin.

Truly, it was as if he were seeing the late emperor in his youth, and Ludwig felt a chill run down his spine.

It wasn’t a phrase he liked, but blood doesn’t lie.

“Oh, and.”

Parnes suddenly changed the subject, as if recalling something.

“Yes, Your Majesty. Your command?”

“Willard Aster—quietly get in touch with him.”

“Aster… you mean the man we parted ways with at the inn? May I ask what business you have with him?”

“Well, it’s less about business and more about seeing if we can collaborate.”

Parnes quietly gazed at the waves crashing over the rocks with white foam.

“His eyes seemed to want that too.”

Shallen Riche and Rose Riche.

True revenge against them was only just beginning.