Listening to the voices, he could roughly guess what was happening outside.

‘Valier must have come.’

He knew that Valier, who had never been refused a visit, would be flustered, but he didn’t care.

Henri pretended not to hear and continued his meal.

“The Empress? Why mention the Empress out of the blue? How dare a mere guard ignore me?”

Snap!

‘What was that noise?’

With a sinking feeling, Henri peeked through the crack in the door and saw Valier’s hand raised again.

“Stop!!”

When he opened the door and went out, one side of the guard’s cheek was already slightly red.

“What are you doing?”

“This person is ignoring me, isn’t he?”

“Ignoring?”

“He blocked my way.”

“Didn’t you hear that it was by my order?”

“Yes. I heard. But he also dared to ignore me, mentioning the Empress.”

Of course, there might be some inferiority complex as a person.

But Valier had never openly expressed her feelings towards the Empress before.

Moreover, slapping a servant was entirely unlike her.

She was so soft and gentle that Henri sometimes had to deal with her maids’ insolence.

But still, having feelings for his lover, he didn’t want to insult Valier in front of the soldiers and maids.

“Why did you mention the Empress?”

“I merely said that even if Her Majesty the Empress came, the royal command could not be broken.”

“You could have just sent her away. You mentioned the Empress to mock my lover, didn’t you?”

At Henri’s forced logic, a triumphant smile appeared on Valier’s face.

“No, no! I just wanted to convey the royal command…….”

“That’s enough. No need for excuses. Anyone who insults my lover insults me.”

The guard was dragged off to the prison.
‘Has your anger subsided by now?’

Henri took a quick glance at Velia, noticing that her complexion had undoubtedly brightened.

“The guard will receive appropriate punishment.”

“Appropriate punishment? What kind of punishment?”

Although she was expected to thank him first, Velia was more curious about the details of the soldier’s punishment.

Judging by her expression, she wanted to make sure the man who mocked her paid a full price.

“He will be tonguecut and expelled from the palace.”

For a moment, color returned to Velia’s face, but she quickly settled into a deflated expression.

“Ah, isn’t the punishment a bit excessive?”

Of course, it was excessive. Henri had no intention of doing such a thing to a soldier who had spoken the truth.

He only planned to transfer him to a place where he wouldn’t catch Velia’s eye.

No matter how much he loved her, Henri was fundamentally not the kind of emperor who would cross the line.

“No. Insulting you is the same as insulting me. It is not too heavy a punishment.”

“Thank you. But Your Majesty, don’t you think that even the guards ignore me because I don’t have a title?”

‘A title?’

Henri had tried to bestow the title of countess on Velia before.

He was annoyed by people calling her the illegitimate child of a noble, the king’s concubine, and the like.

But at that time, Velia had refused the title.

‘I don’t need a title. As long as Your Majesty loves me, nothing else matters.’

And now she wants a title all of a sudden?

“Do you know what people call me? They call me an illegitimate child and the royal exclusive prostitute.”

Of course, the fact that such words were circulating about Velia, the king’s official concubine, was true.

Although the blame was scattered because Ermedillin was such a wicked woman, the official concubine of the emperor basically plays the role of receiving the arrows of criticism aimed at the royal family.

But the original Velia didn’t care about other people’s opinions.

She had been happy enough to find someone who loved her completely, even though she was treated like a nonexistent person at home.

Feeling a slight sense of loss at his lover’s changed attitude, Henri looked into Velia’s grayblue eyes.

Instead of love, there was sadness and inferiority in the eyes that had always been filled with love.

‘I must have been thinking too selfishly all this time.’

Velia was no longer the girl who had lived in a secluded territory, receiving contempt.

The lover of the emperor living in the most glorious imperial palace of the great empire.

‘Yes. It’s selfish to ask you not to change.’

“Alright. I understand. I’ll grant it. The countess title that I tried to bestow before…….”

“What about the territory?”

“Huh?”

“Isn’t there a territory that comes with a title?”

Trying to remain calm, Henri found himself at a loss for words this time.

It was radical enough to grant the title of countess to a noble’s illegitimate child, but a territory?

The countess title was only to change Velia’s designation; he never intended to grant her any form of real power.

It wasn’t that he begrudged sharing power, but that Velia was eventually going to become empress, a person who would share power with him.

“A territory? What do you mean? Why do you need a territory? Do you know how hard it is to manage a territory?”

“It will be hard, of course. Naturally, there will be many things to worry about.”

“Furthermore, you’ve never learned about running a territory…….”

“I can learn from now on. My brain is not that bad. If you provide a good teacher, I will study hard.”
Velia’s eyes, slightly lifted at the chin, were now filled with confidence.

‘Is this better than scheming something behind?’

“Yes. I understand your intention. Bestowing a surplus position and granting a domain are different in importance. I will discuss with my representatives and make a decision.”

“Really? Thank you!”

Seeing Velia’s bright smile that revealed even her gums, jumping around the room, Henri felt as if he had met his lover again after a long time.

This girlish appearance had not changed from the past.

Henri quietly raised his hand and brushed Velia’s pink cheek.

“…….”

Again.

That ominous look again.

Even though he had only gently stroked her cheek, Velia reacted as if she had seen something horrifying.

Velia, who quickly caught on to her reaction, managed to smile with the corners of her eyes, but Henri could not forget that look from a moment ago.

A look that could never come between lovers who had been face to face for 4 years.

‘Could it be. Has her heart changed?’