Elysia immediately denied. It was surprising even to herself that she answered without any hesitation, considering she had been silently suffering and agonizing alone.

Ileion thought that going through the thorny path was a guarantee of his affection for her. Therefore, checking that would be terrifying for him, and even if their understandings about this situation were different, the mere fact that Ileion wouldn’t help her would increase the possibility of her not surviving, making her more reluctant to bring it up.
However, perhaps due to the hastily obtained wig, Ileion’s black hair, which had been disturbed by the poor-quality dark wig, didn’t have the probing look.

As if not wanting to be separated from Elysia even for a moment, it was Ileion’s habit to lean his body diagonally to the side, press one of her legs with his firm thigh, and provide a pillow with his arm.

It had only been three days since he returned to Hadransa. Were Illeon’s body warmth that used to embrace her every time she slept in his bedroom missing?

Despite being a room she had used for a long time, it now felt like it had become entirely his territory.

Now might be the time to speak.

In the arms of a man who seemed to envelop her at any moment, Elysia slowly breathed in and opened her mouth.

“It seems that what you like is not me but Rona.”

The words that spilled out of her mouth pulled at her emotions.

“I’m not Rona. I couldn’t act like a woman you like.”

“I see.”

The voice gradually diminished, sounding as if the energy had drained out.

“I even thought it would have been better if I had lost my memory.”

“You like Rona and don’t like me now, is that it?”

Elysia, feeling tears might fall, nodded gently, sniffing her nose.

“You like Rona, and it seems you don’t like me now. Is that it?”

“I kept telling you to act like Rona.”

Seeing small teardrops forming at the corners of her eyes, Ileion tightly embraced her.

“I didn’t mean it that way. I’m sorry for making you misunderstand.”

“Is it a misunderstanding?”

“I was a bit carried away. I thought it would be good for you to be in my house with the permission of the duke and duchess.”

Under Ileion’s comforting touch, the tears slowly dried.

“I just mentioned it like a distant memory. I didn’t know you would be so hurt.”

“I can’t smile.”

Elysia tightly grasped Ileion’s clothes with her hands.

“I’ve never smiled like that in my entire life.”

Rona, who had forgotten everything, was bright. She would have laughed loudly and smiled brightly without any worries.

“I want to smile like Rona. I want to tell you that I miss you, but…”

Her eyes reddened.

“Elysia.”

As if about to shed tears, his cool fingertips gently touched the warm spot.

“Do you like the blind me, who likes you, or the seeing me who doesn’t like you?”

“What?”

“Do you like the me from when I was a duke and dislike the me pretending to be a priest now?”

“No. No way. It’s not like that.”

“When you lost your memory, you were still you.”

Ileion said seriously.

“I also had moments when I wondered if you only pitied and adored the man who was blind.”

Elysia was taken aback.

“That’s absurd.”

“It’s not like that. Otherwise, there’s no reason for you to refuse my proposal. Besides, when the rumor spread that I had gone blind, you came straight to me.”

“That’s…”

“If it’s not what you’re saying, what’s the difference in the words you’re saying?”

As Elysia closed her mouth, he lightly kissed her forehead.
“The woman I love is you, Elysia.”

“…Ileon.”

“After everything is resolved, I’ll make sure you live happily, smiling every day. I’ll make you happy.”

Ileon’s words seeped into her forehead, cheeks, and throughout her body.

“I’ll definitely do that for you. Trust me.”

The stormy turmoil in her heart, with just a few words from him, calmed down.

Instead, what filled the void were hope and anticipation.

And as Ileon said, there was a premonition that everything would turn out well.

“I believe you.”

Only then did Ileon let out a soft laugh in her ear.

The inside of the Sujeong Palace was dark.

The scent that alleviated pain vibrated in the elaborately decorated prince’s bedroom.

“Ugh.”

However, seeing Saville moaning in pain, Empress Seraphina couldn’t help but feel sorry and didn’t know what to do.
“The crown prince’s dignity is no joke. How could such a thing happen?”

Saviel, who had gone to Hadumsha, was found unconscious by the training priest and was brought back to the palace on a litter.

“You’re wandering around without any guards?”

In response to Empress Seraphina’s reprimand, Saviel barely replied, “Isn’t Hadumsha the same as the palace?”

There was a reason for Saviel’s impulsive journey to Hadumsha.

He knew that Duke Yuter had formally rejected the imperial marriage proposal.

‘Is he thinking about marrying someone else?’

Is it that bastard Ileon?

Elysia is my woman.

Inside, a raging fire ignited.

Elysia ended up working at the Grand Temple while wandering with lost memories because he had attacked and kidnapped her on her way to Glerosa. However, in Saviel’s mind, it had been distorted for a long time as if Ileon and Elysia, who had met eyes, had concocted a plot to deceive him.

“Elysia has returned to Hadumsha. It’s unbelievable.”

Hadumsha was essentially a facility within the palace, attached to the north gate.

It was a coincidence that Saviel heard the gossip of the priests going back and forth to manage the small temple within the palace.

“Fortunately, Lady Elysia has returned.”

“But I don’t think His Excellency, the chief priest, will allow her to come back.”

“There’s no one who can be trusted as the next chief priest as much as Lady Elysia. Doesn’t it make sense? He probably thought things weren’t going smoothly.”

His mind went blank at those words.

A woman who had rejected the imperial proposal was in the sacred temple.

If the original claim that she was considering another marriage was false, wasn’t it absurd to underestimate him and deceive him?

Angry, Saviel headed to Hadumsha without hesitation.

He couldn’t believe it, but Elysia was really there.

“Mother, sob. What should I do?”

Saviel felt unbearable pain every time he thought of Elysia.

Some indescribable, sticky, and persistent desire within him was difficult for even himself to endure.

“Elysia. Elysia belongs to me.”

The long-suppressed implication gnawed at Saviel’s mind.

Mixed with the provocative change in the original story regarding Karina’s pregnancy, Saviel’s obsession with Elysia’s fundamental existence became entangled, and he was half-mad.

Combining these emotions into one was an obsession.

“Please help, Empress. I must have that woman.”