In reality, there was nothing going on between her and Ermedillin.

Would she have politely greeted him but smiled at Pellio, her defense attorney, if that was the case?

Regardless of Valliere’s disapproval, Anri had treated Ermedillin no differently than usual.

Growing annoyed by these ridiculous accusations, Anri started to get angry.

“I’ve never met the Empress except for discussing this trial.”

Anri clenched her jaw and declared her innocence.

“Then why are you avoiding me? If you’re not cozying up to that woman, why are you avoiding me?”

Stunned by the vulgar remarks from Valliere, Anri felt momentarily dizzy.

She felt in realtime that her feelings for him were cooling off.

The last human part of herself, after she had given up being human to ascend to the throne.

Her precious, beloved first love had become a completely different person in just a few months.

In Anri’s opinion, neither she nor Valliere had ever doubted each other’s feelings.

Although Anri had recently started to doubt and fear that Valliere’s feelings had shifted away from her, she never imagined they could go to someone else.

But now Valliere was not only doubting her feelings but also fabricating nonexistent relationships.

“There’s nothing like what you’re thinking. I did avoid you because I had something on my mind, but I was never with the Empress. Why would you think that?”

Anri asked desperately, as if making a last stand.

However, all that came back from Valliere was an icy reply.

“I’m just an official, but she is your wife.”

Snap!

Indeed, the slap from a knight once hailed as the empire’s finest was harsh.

A drop of blood began to fall from Pellio’s twisted lips.

Crash! Bang! Boom!
Duke Batistian was still not satisfied after beating his son, Pellio, and was now destroying anything in sight by throwing it.

Pellio and the servants who worked in the ducal house stood quietly, accustomed to such scenes, waiting for the storm to pass quickly.

“Huff, huff, huff…….”

After a while, the Duke, finally regaining his composure, stopped his rampage.

Normally, Duke Batistian was an incredibly considerate and fair man. However, he would occasionally lose his temper and become violently aggressive.

Of course, this was a secret known only to the family and those who had worked for the Duke for many years.

“Did you think I sent you to give that woman an opportunity to escape?”

The sharp question from his father felt like a blade piercing through Pellio’s heart.

“No.”

“Shouldn’t it be easier to handle things now that our ducal house is on the verge of ruin? Instead, you helped recover that woman’s reputation?”

“That’s not what….”

Snap!

The Duke raised his hand once more.

The cheek, already struck earlier, was now swollen and bruised.

“Find evidence right now that she has cursed my wife! If you can’t do that, bring some other evidence!”

“Yes. I will search more diligently.”

Pellio, not wanting to provoke his father further, knelt before the Duke and bowed his head.

“Huu…….”

The stillirate Duke took several deep breaths, roughly rubbing his son’s head.

Then, sitting facetoface with his son, he gently caressed Pellio’s face with the same hand that had slapped him earlier.

“Yes. What kind of son are you? How did your mother die? I trust you will do right.”

The Duke stood up, patted Pellio’s shoulder, and left the room.

Even after his father had left, Pellio couldn’t stand up immediately.

Drip, drip. Tears fell to the floor from his face, still bowed as if touching the ground.

‘I’m trash! I’m not even human. How could I be attracted to a woman like that?’

As he thought of his mother’s horrific death and the days of agony his father went through afterwards, Pellio wept with his forehead touching the ground.

Why would his heart, unshaken by any beautiful woman in the empire, waver before her?

She was the enemy who killed his mother, who caused untold suffering to others.

If he had just known her as the witch, his mother’s killer, things would have been simpler.

He shouldn’t have accepted the assignment in the first place.

If he had lived in ignorance, he wouldn’t have been swayed by her human aspects.

Even if all her actions were an act, restoring the balance of his already tilted heart was not easy.

‘What? Seize the chance to end it all?’

Pellio chuckled at the foolishness of his initial resolve.

Now, knowing he could never return to his former self, he felt ensnared in an inescapable web.

He couldn’t fulfill his father’s wishes to bring down Ermedillin, nor could he freely love the enemy who killed his mother.

Pellio, still seated on the ground and anguished, suddenly thought of Ermedillin declaring her innocence in the courtroom in the name of the gods.

‘She’ll die soon, either punished by the gods or assassinated by Duke Franshuar.’

Pellio consoled himself, thinking he should hold on until then.

Pellio, slowly standing up, had silver irises that glistened brilliantly like dawn stars, moistened with tears.
But his gaze was so cold it could freeze ice on the spot.

Thud.

Perhaps because he was bending over, the brooch he had tucked deep inside his coat fell to the ground.

The brooch he had received from Ermedillin.

For a moment, he considered smashing it then and there, but he already knew he couldn’t.

With conflicting emotions, he looked down at the brooch, then picked it up with trembling hands.

He had never worn it openly, always keeping it tucked deep inside his coat.

Just for a moment.

Even if not for him, there were countless others who wished for her death.

This feeling he couldn’t show to anyone, it would suffice to keep it stored deep within his soul, just for a moment.