After Cledius’s departure for war, Ilarid immersed herself in work and reading. She was so lost in thought that it seemed premature wrinkles would form between her brows.

“The imperial ball will be held soon, so I should prepare in advance. And the charity event too. I hope many new sponsors will participate this time.”

“……Your Majesty the Empress. You have a headache now, don’t you?”

Lynette hit the nail on the head. Though she tried to hide it, it seems she couldn’t completely conceal the faint frown etched between her brows.

“I’ll bring you some medicine. Even if it’s just for one hour, please lie down properly and rest. How many hours has it been already?”

She looked ready to forcibly drag Ilarid to bed if she didn’t listen. Ilarid obediently nodded.

Lynette hoped that lying quietly in the dark room might allow her to get even a short nap. She handed the headache medicine to Ilarid, who was sitting on the bed.

“Just one hour. You must wake me up mercilessly after an hour.”

“The Empress’s wake-up time is at the discretion of the head maid of the Empress’s Palace.”

Lynette said firmly as she arranged Ilarid’s blanket. Her actions of directly lowering the lighting and drawing the curtains were filled with both affection and concern.

Not long after Ilarid lay down, soft, regular breathing could be heard. Glancing back, Ilarid had already fallen into a deep sleep.

She must have had another sleepless night yesterday. Enduring day after day like this, would she not collapse?

The sky had already become hazy. White light reflecting the cloudy sky slipped through the gaps in the not-quite-closed curtains. Fearing it might disturb the Empress’s sweet slumber, Lynette adjusted the curtains where light was leaking through.

Ilarid’s sleeping face looked peaceful. The slight frown between her brows when working had melted away.

Lynette quietly left the room, muffling her footsteps. After cautioning everyone in the Empress’s Palace to act quietly for the next few hours, she slumped down in front of the palace doors.

When she first came here, how excited and nervous she had been. To be able to live in the imperial palace with Ilarid, whom she had been close to like a friend and sister.

Perhaps the influence of the Melpiram noble house had played a part in allowing Lynette to become a maid to the Crown Princess.

The moment she saw Ilarid, who had become the Crown Princess, and the nanny who had entered the palace together was still vivid. She thought they would all be able to stay together until Ilarid ascended to the position of Empress.

But the future that seemed so brilliant shattered overnight. The grand and splendid stone palaces seen from the carriage now felt stifling and frightening.

After that day, Lynette vowed never to be intimidated or afraid again. She always kept it close to her heart, thinking of Ilarid who was enduring all these situations with composure.

She didn’t want to be nitpicked by people in the palace, nor did she want to walk around dejectedly. But who could she trust? She wanted to be a reliable support for the isolated Ilarid, but Lynette had no power.

In Ilarid’s arduous palace life, she hoped that at least Emperor Cledius would be on her side. She thought it would be enough if there was someone by her side to be a pillar of support in difficult times.

Cledius’s first impression was quite good. People called him the sun of the empire with a cold and mysterious charm, and Lynette agreed with their words.

He looked scary because he didn’t show even a hint of emotion, but she thought it would be fine if he was just good to Ilarid.

But he caused Ilarid’s precious people to die. It was a tragedy that unfolded like a well-woven fabric in just a few days.

**

Not a single person from the Melpiram noble house survived.

The only survivors were Lynette and the nanny who had come to the imperial palace with Ilarid. From the family members to the gardeners, cooks, and other employees, none could escape death.

Ilarid wanted to grab the Emperor’s trouser leg and ask. Why did he have to frame even the innocent as traitors and do such things?

There was no hope of graves for the dead. She only knew they were buried somewhere. Mourning and prayers were forbidden. The only way to express sorrow was to wear dark-colored clothes.

It was even worse for the Countess and Limless, who were framed as the main culprits.

‘The Countess Melpiram and Limless Rowen Melpiram, who led the rebellion, are to be dismembered, even their corpses.’

Slaughter in silence. They couldn’t be at peace even in death. It was said that the dismembered bodies were scattered throughout the empire. When Ilarid learned of this, she didn’t wake up for two days.

Lynette and the nanny stayed up all night nursing Ilarid and praying for her safety. For the first time in her life, Lynette sought God.

‘If you really exist up there, please let Ilarid wake up.’

And she cursed Cledius.

‘If you exist, please don’t let him be. Innocent people have died by his hand. Please answer my prayer.’

Whether the prayer reached heaven, Ilarid woke up. But perhaps God only knew how to give love, as nothing happened to Cledius.

Two years ago, even the nanny who had come to the palace with them from the mansion passed away. Though it was due to old age, the accumulated mental shock was probably the biggest reason.

At the funeral attended by only two people, Ilarid cried a lot. Like bursting out all the sadness she had been holding back at once, a cry that expelled everything inside. The scar on Ilarid’s neck trembled with her sobs.

The long, dark diagonal scar was evidence that Ilarid had saved the nanny and Lynette.

Whenever Lynette looked directly at that scar, her throat would stiffen. And she would recall the nanny’s last words. The nanny who worried about Ilarid until her last breath.

‘This old woman was able to live a little longer thanks to Her Majesty the Empress… Now, live for Her Majesty the Empress.’

Was it thanks to that last wish of the nanny? Ilarid endured and didn’t die. With all expressions erased, dreaming only of revenge.

In the dark bedroom, Ilarid’s eyelids trembled as she slept. Having fallen asleep after enduring to the end, it was expected there would be no room for nightmares to enter.

But the relentless nightmares didn’t even leave a moment of rest undisturbed.

**

It was an unusually cloudy day. The terrifying word ‘treason’ struck the Melpiram mansion like lightning.

Cledius’s order came down to arrest those who dared to try to harm the Emperor of the empire and plot rebellion. All evidence, testimonies, and circumstances pointed to the Melpiram noble house as if it had been planned.

If they had uncovered it when the first spark of suspicion flew, if they had run around in all directions to reveal the innocence of the house then, perhaps the tragedy of the entire family being annihilated could have been prevented.

As if reading Ilarid’s thoughts in advance, Cledius immediately confined Ilarid to the Empress’s Palace and prevented her from leaving.

“Your Majesty the Emperor, please, at least let me meet them for the last time.”

Even though Ilarid’s heart-wrenching cries continued for days from inside the Empress’s Palace, the Emperor didn’t budge. The Empress just stared into space, having cut off all food.

How much time had passed? A servant’s words made Ilarid move.

“Your Majesty the Empress. His Majesty the Emperor… has dragged out the head maid and the nanny.”

A spark flew in her hazy, unfocused eyes. Not knowing that her skirt was tangled, Ilarid frantically ran to where Cledius was said to be.

This is surely a dream. Even knowing this, her breath caught naturally.

There, the Emperor’s back could be seen holding a sword. Ilarid ran with all her might and blocked in front of Lynette and the nanny.

“Your Majesty the Empress!”

“Move aside.”

A ruthless voice without even a grain of warmth remaining. That cold voice she remembers clearly even after years have passed. The Ilarid in the dream shook her head and barely opened her mouth.

“……These people are innocent.”

“They worked for the family of traitors. There’s no reason to let them live.”

“They came to the palace with me since I was the Crown Princess. They never planned or even thought of such a thing.”

“That’s right. They are the Empress’s people, so of course they would side with you. But can you be certain they didn’t communicate with the Melpiram house?”

“Please put aside your suspicions and……”

“Put aside my suspicions… what do you want me to do? Should I show mercy for the Empress’s sake?”

Cledius was mocking Ilarid’s barely connected words. He smiled sneeringly while holding people’s lives in front of him.

Even if she knelt and begged here, the Emperor would lightly step over Ilarid. And then he would cut down Lynette and the nanny.

She couldn’t let that happen. Ilarid pulled out the hidden dagger and pointed it at her neck.

“Your Majesty the Empress!”

Lynette’s urgent cry and the nanny’s sobbing rose to the sky. The expression of Cledius, who had been holding his sword and smirking, hardened in an instant.

The knife went in deeper than expected. The sharp blade drew a red line on Ilarid’s neck and slowly dug into her skin.

The Empress who was always calm and elegant. Since her days as Crown Princess, Ilarid’s beautiful figure had been famous. The image that Cledius had always taken for granted shattered and fell with drops of blood.

“Empress……”

“Don’t come any closer!”

It was a sincere threat. Her eyes, which must have shed and wiped away tears several times, were red, but no more tears came out, only a cracked voice emerged.

“If you harm them even a little, I will die right here.”

It was a clear voice that was hard to believe came from someone who hadn’t eaten for days. Unwavering eyes pierced down with a fierce aura.

Cledius took a step closer to take away the dagger. Ilarid faced him with sharp eyes.

The blade of the knife went deeper into her neck. The blood that ran down the blade began to flow down Ilarid’s hand to the ground.

How many drops of blood had fallen? Cledius raised the white flag first.

“……I will leave their treatment to the Empress.”

When Cledius turned around holding his sword, all emotions ended. Only then did Ilarid remove the dagger pressing against her neck.

She didn’t remember the next events clearly. Everything wavered hazily as if heat waves were rising all around. Her vision darkened and she thought she heard Lynette and the nanny’s voices from behind.

Blood seeped into the spots where Ilarid had collapsed. When she woke up again, the doctor gave a diagnosis of pregnancy.

It was the happiest of news, but in the devastating atmosphere, no one dared to offer congratulations.

A child who couldn’t even receive a proper blessing, let alone good wishes. She always felt sorry for not being able to say a single welcoming word to the child who had come for the first time.

How did Cledius react when he heard the news of the pregnancy?

As the faint memory was about to surface, Ilarid forcibly woke herself from sleep. Even if she remembered, she never wanted to recall it.

The room she opened her eyes to was dark. It seemed it would be dark beyond the tightly drawn curtains too. Despite her earnest request to be woken up, Lynette must have left Ilarid sleeping after seeing her peaceful face.

The end of the nightmare was always self-blame.

Ilarid placed her hand over her closed eyes. Another darkness weighed down on the darkness, pressing her down.

It’s all because of me. The child’s death, the family’s purge, everything. If I had refused to be Crown Princess until the end, if I hadn’t entered the palace, this tragedy wouldn’t have happened.

The back of her hand over her eyelids became damp. The tears she thought were blocked burst out. Her crying was always silent.