In a sudden move in response to a small provocation, Ines let out a small scream and wrapped her legs around his waist. It didn’t require much effort for Carson to walk to the bed.

The two collapsed onto the bed as if they were originally one.

“Every time you say you want me a little…”

Carson mumbled as he kissed Ines’s body again.

“Every time you give me a look like you want me a little…”

Even though everyone knew that the Emperor visited the maid’s room every night, Ines always sent him away busy in the morning. However, for some reason, she didn’t want to do that today.

Carson’s weight pressing on Ines and the hot clash of words and breath felt as if today were the only day it mattered, like there was no tomorrow.

“I just go crazy.”

The sound of a giant man’s footsteps like a heartbeat left an imprint on the chest it touched.

Ines accepted all the pleasures he offered without reservation, thinking that she might be the one going crazy with his words and glances.
Surrounding the two, the whole world felt like it could be set aside as mere walls, and at this moment, it would be fine even if they went mad under the blanket.

“Ines.”

The firm yet gentle texture, Carson’s distinct scent, and her name uttered by him.

“My lover.”

Unrealistic things swelled in her mind. It felt like darkness was being pushed away by a huge light.

“My wife.”

As if a thrown stone had created a deep ripple in her chest, it spread out. An incomprehensible river shook finely and shone more brilliantly.

Ines eventually couldn’t endure it and pulled her body taut like a bow. Perhaps she was already insane.

Afterward, the rising sun invaded the room longer than allowed, and the night between the two continued until Noah came and fervently begged.

After Carson mentioned it, three days passed. On a day when the early summer moist wind blew, Ines entered the Queen’s Palace.

The garden she entered was overflowing with unopened spring flowers.

On branches that had grown with spring strength, leaves were vividly green, and yellow flowers were in full bloom along the path she walked.

In front of the Queen’s Palace, water jets sprayed as if welcoming the new owner. In the wind, an unknown flowering tree shook delicately.

The pink petals, wet with dew, sparkled brightly, and wildflowers bloomed in every nook and cranny of the garden without a gap.

Many things had changed to leave no trace of the former queen, but flowers couldn’t bloom overnight. Fortunately, Ines liked the former queen’s garden.

She stopped for a moment and looked around.

She felt a heavy feeling on her chest at the thought that she had come this far following her god. When Ines reached the main gate of her mansion, she saw palace servants lined up on both sides.

Even though only court ladies and eunuchs came out, there were easily over forty. Those who served the former queen were said to have all disappeared, so the servants standing here were probably still not accustomed to the Queen’s Palace.

“Have you arrived, Your Majesty?”

And the one who greeted her first was none other than the owner of this palace. Though his tone seemed somewhat sarcastic, Ines couldn’t help but chuckle, but she couldn’t laugh freely to maintain his dignity.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

She still called herself the queen, but Ines let him do as he pleased.

Noah, who was standing next to him, stepped forward to Ines and opened a small box. In it were her mother’s keepsakes that Ines had left in Carson’s room.

“Items you left behind when you fell into my room.”

Carson whispered softly into Ines’s ear.
Upon seeing the object, memories of the first night naturally came to Ines’s mind, and her face brightened. The sensation of the emperor swallowing a dry throat while looking at it was something only she could feel.

She tried to ask for it again, but Carson mentioned that he would fix it a bit and return it, a forgotten red gem.

“As a congratulations on Her Majesty’s entrance to the Queen’s Palace.”

“Ah…”

“This is a memento from Her Majesty’s mother-in-law.”

Noah, who knew nothing about what had happened between the two, continued with his explanation. Ines pretended not to know, blushing slightly and just nodding her head.

Noah’s explanation continued in detail, from the reason why the former emperor gave this headpiece as a gift to the lineage of the jewel, fixing only the connection part while maintaining its original value.

Ines just looked at Carson’s face with his words as background.

When Noah finished speaking, Carson, seemingly for no reason, looked around and said, “My mother never came in here in the end.”

There was an unmeasurable longing in his calm voice.

He personally swept aside a strand of Ines’s hair and placed the decoration on her head. Somehow, his touch felt infinitely distant.

“Beautiful.”

Ines blushed even more at Carson’s words. Why couldn’t she seem to develop immunity to his words and face?

She felt the expression of gratitude was too light, so she couldn’t readily respond.

Carson stepped forward, grabbing her chin, and with a swift motion, he took her lower lip caught between her teeth. Surprised, she glanced around, and the courtiers standing by looked stiff as if they were wax dolls, staring straight ahead. Carson might be used to such situations as someone from the imperial family, but Ines was not.