Mercedes continued speaking, but Carlos couldn’t open his mouth.

“Were you trying to kill me just now?”

She asked with certainty.

The aura emanating from the blade barely touching her neck felt cold.

Carlos was frozen.

He didn’t look like he could answer.

Mercedes quietly stared at him.

When she had completely figured it out, she…….

felt devastated.

“You, to me…….”

‘Ah. In the end.’

It seemed faith was not given to her in life. Love, happiness, such warm and cozy things seemed not to exist.

She had barely uttered the love lingering on the tip of her tongue, but what she got in return was betrayal. Mercedes smiled.

How pathetic. She was.

Who had ever cherished her in life? Who had ever treated her well without purpose?

Even that ‘nanny’ had tried to kill her.

Why had she trusted this man?

Why on earth had she fallen for the sweetness she tasted for the first time?

Although she repeated to herself like brainwashing that she couldn’t trust him, she had actually trusted him. That truth was only now sinking in.

“Haha.”

Mercedes laughed even harder, beyond a smile. She knew she was stupid, but to think she was this stupid! It was astounding.

“Hahaha.”

She let go of his hand and covered her eyes with her wrist as she laughed loudly. Seeing her reaction, Carlos finally seemed to come to his senses and slowly threw the dagger behind him.

Then carefully, he called out to her.

“……Mel.”

Mercedes laughed for a long time, then answered in a tired voice.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“……Mercedes.”

What could Carlos say? Like a doll that could only say her name, he called her again. He couldn’t see her eyes, so he couldn’t tell how she was feeling.

Carlos thought it would be nice if Mercedes would remove her wrist and vent her hatred and anger toward him.

And Mercedes thought.

Why even at this moment, does his voice calling her name sound so sweet? Why does her heart ache when he stutters?

‘My heart aches?’

Ah.

I really have fallen in love with him.

The confession she had uttered in the fullness of the night was more sincere than she had thought. Feeling the futility, the truth hit her more vividly and it hurt.

And she was so, so tired.

Carlos, watching her like that, had no idea what to do.

He had always known all the answers. He had lived his life knowing what to do with confidence about everything.

He was so helpless in front of this small woman.

“Ah, Your Majesty. It seems my life will continue to head towards death like this.”

Mercedes lowered her wrist.

Her eyes were wet. As if not caring, she fumbled on the bed and slipped out from under him to sit up.

Then she swung her head around, searching for something.

“Mercedes, why……. What are you…….”

“Where did the dagger go?”

“Why do you ask?”

“It was a life meant to die anyway. You gave me back my life, so it doesn’t matter if you take it away again. It’s not something I should feel wronged about.”

Mercedes’ tears dried up quickly.

“Ridiculously, my heart aches though.”

There was no sign of life in her as she spoke calmly. Even more so than when he brought her from the shame to the room. She looked even more haggard than when she wanted to die and refused to eat anything. It wasn’t because of the blue color of dawn.

Her pale face and eyes that looked tired of everything were too clear to see.

Carlos wanted to stab the dagger into his own chest.

That’s how much her face hurt him.

The piercing in his chest. That…… seemed like it would hurt less.

“Kill me, Your Majesty. I don’t know why, but it doesn’t matter.”

Without her tears, she was like a completely withered, old tree. A broken tree with no chance of regeneration.

Every time she moved her lips, Carlos felt like his heart, his head, his whole body was being ripped apart in pain.

“……I. Mercedes, I……. I can’t…….”

Carlos, who had been silently watching her, finally uttered words other than her name.

“Damn it. I can’t…… I can’t do that.”

“……Why? What’s one person like me?”

Mercedes even smiled faintly now. She didn’t look like someone who had lost her mind.

She looked like someone who had truly calmly accepted the shadow of death cast over her life.

Seeing her like this, Carlos was overcome with an urge.

The urge to wipe her already dried tears once more, kiss her cheek, hold her in his arms and apologize for his wrongs.

You should be happy. You shouldn’t be in pain. I was wrong. He wanted to say that to her.

But he couldn’t. Because Carlos was a sinner.

He had too much on his shoulders. He had to live. As an emperor, for the people, for the wide world, he had to live. There was too much he had to accomplish.

What could he say to her?

“Mercedes.”

Carlos’ dry lips moved again, calling her name.

It might have been better to kill her now.

Mercedes got up from her spot. She picked up the dagger Carlos had thrown away and staggered over to him, standing right in front of him.

Her gait looked like she had no strength left in her body at all.

“You’re trying to kill me, aren’t you? Should I…… die?”

She asked as if entrusting her life to him.

Carlos grabbed her hand with one hand. Afraid she would wield the dagger and pierce his neck immediately.

With his other hand, he frantically wiped his face.

‘I have to do it. I have a lot on my shoulders.’

To Carlos, Mercedes’ calm voice sounded like the voice of salvation that would resolve everything.

Kill her now. She says she’ll die for you. Then you can achieve your goal.

The key to solving your curse that you’ve been searching for through countless wars and hardships is right in front of your eyes.

And at the same time, that voice also assaulted him with pain.

‘I…… absolutely can’t kill you right now.’

Would it be possible on another night, when his feelings have cooled?

That’s what I was thinking.

If I hadn’t been caught now, I would have tried harder.

To not cherish you anymore. So there would be no hesitation when I wielded the dagger.

He couldn’t spit out his inner thoughts.

Meanwhile, Mercedes tried to raise the dagger. But she couldn’t overcome Carlos’ strength, so the dagger remained in place.

“I…… have no strength. You have to push it for me.”

Mercedes’ hand that Carlos was holding was precariously close to the blade. She tried to exert force once more to lift the dagger, and the blade dug into her palm.

Blood flowed from the wound. The blood that flowed down the blade dripped onto his thigh with a plop.

Carlos, who had smelled the scent of blood until he was sick of it, quickly realized the identity of the liquid and looked up in surprise.

Then he removed the dagger from her hand and examined the wound on her palm. The blood stains looked very painful.

He became more concerned and anxious than when she kicked her own leg. Carlos urged hastily.

“The wound is deep. Doesn’t it hurt? Quickly, call the palace physician−.”

“……Carlos.”

Mercedes chuckled softly and replied.

“I’m going to die, what does a wound matter?”

Her words…… were not wrong.

Carlos froze on the spot.

Mercedes looked at Carlos’ broad chest.

The body that always seemed to protect her.

Countless scars were etched in it. It wasn’t the first time she had seen his naked body, but it was the first time she had looked closely.

Were they traces of struggling for life?

Was the reason he had to kill her now also in those scars?

She didn’t need to know.

Still, recently. She thought living might be fun in its own way.

She learned about the warm things in the world and found it fun that she could do something.

She even felt pleasure in being able to bring about her father’s downfall.

But what meaning did that have?

It was the meaning of life given by a man who only thought of killing her.

She was tired.

Of this life that didn’t reward her no matter how hard she tried.

Of this life that seemed to only head towards death anyway. She was tired.

She didn’t understand the face of that man contorted in pain either. But now was the time to draw a conclusion rather than understand emotions.

Her conclusion was one. To easily crumble the will to live that she had barely mustered up and disappear from this world.

“Carlos. Is it that hard to stab me? Then, shall I jump from the top of the palace?”

“No…… No. Mercedes.”

Carlos knew he was a sinner, knew he had no right to stop her like this, but he hugged her slender body and whispered.

“Don’t do that. Please.”

He’d rather die himself.

This lovely woman already had too much on her shoulders. He had multiplied her pain. Stupid, so stupid.

Mercedes didn’t exert any strength and just let herself be held in his arms.

She didn’t want to think about anything.

“Mercedes……. Mel. Don’t, don’t do that…….”

Unable to even say sorry or give an explanation, he kept calling her name.

She listened to Carlos’ earnest voice for a while, then felt it gradually fade away.

Perhaps due to excessive stress, sleep poured over her as if she had fainted.

All strength left Mercedes’ body and she collapsed. It happened in an instant. Carlos barely caught her and quietly examined her face.

The face he missed even in dreams, but also the face he couldn’t face. He laid her down and shook the bell-pull.

The sun was rising.

Rhonda and Patricia rushed over as if it was natural.

“The empress is unwell. Stay close and take care of her. If she tries to do something strange…… no, if she tries to die, you two stop her. Dress her and tend to her body.”

“She’s trying to…… die?”

Rhonda asked, bewildered. Carlos looked at Rhonda with a dark face.

“Take good care of her.”

“……Yes. Your Majesty.”

It was clear this was a matter not to be asked about.

Watching the emperor’s back as he left the bedroom wearing a robe, Rhonda and Patricia bit their lips anxiously.

And so, at dawn, the time of the two who should have become lovers crumbled.