“Going to North Wolf Lake? Leaving me behind?”

Ian frowned. After feeling like his world had collapsed when he lost Jane, it hadn’t been long since he finally found her again…

Her appearance had changed completely. Her vibrant red hair had turned pink, her tall and slender figure became small and petite, and her slightly tanned, healthy skin now looked pale and delicate.

Though she looked entirely different, to Ian’s eyes she was still Jane. The one he had barely managed to get back from fate.

Ian was confident that even if Jane had borrowed the body of a young nobleman, a man, or an old woman, he would have recognized her at a glance and still loved her all the same.

So when he heard from her that she wanted to go to ‘North Wolf Lake’, arguably the most rural domain furthest from the capital, to become a healer, Ian felt extreme anxiety.

He didn’t want to be separated from her no matter what. Of course, he could go with her to North Wolf Lake, but Ian wanted to keep her in the imperial city instead.

Even if it was his own obsession, he couldn’t help it. He didn’t like that she had become a member of the McCain family either.

He had been the only one by her side, but because she borrowed Claire’s body, the McCain family became an unwanted addition. However, because he didn’t want to lose her again, he was forcibly tolerating that foreign element.

‘I want to get rid of it, but…’

But before he could remove the McCain family from her side, she was about to leave for a faraway place first. At times like this, he wondered if his father the Emperor’s methods might be easier…

It was when Ian was young. Originally, the Emperor didn’t show affection to him, and Ian didn’t expect any affection from him either.

In Ian’s view, the Emperor’s behavior was natural. Even if it was his own child, he wouldn’t want to share the affection of the woman he loved.

The Emperor’s obsession with the Empress was extraordinary. But to Ian, who was born of the Emperor’s bloodline and raised under him, it didn’t seem strange at all. After all, he himself had no interest in them either.

Then came that day. Ian had a very unpleasant dream.

Although his vision was hazy as if filled with fog, he knew the figures conversing in his dream were the Empress and the Emperor. He just couldn’t tell if it was the past or the future.

In the dream, the Empress was hurling words at the Emperor that were close to a curse. That her life withering away due to his obsession was horrible, and that she was sick of losing the people around her because of it. So she said she would leave.

To such an Empress, the Emperor shouted that he would never let her go, that she couldn’t go anywhere. For some reason, Ian felt pity for the Emperor.

The day after the dream, while strolling through the corridor, Ian saw the Emperor staying in a room.

He was staring intently at a bird in a cage. It was a gift the Empress had recently received and started raising. It was very small, about the size of a fist, with beautiful, fine feathers.

It was also a creature the Empress had been particularly fond of lately. Every morning she would feed the bird and dote on it, while the Emperor would stare at the Empress doing so. Today, the Emperor was staring at the caged bird alone instead of the Empress.

Normally, Ian would have passed by without paying attention, but for some reason, he felt he should watch him.

The Emperor opened the cage door and grabbed the bird. Surprised by the sudden action, the bird chirped in distress. The Emperor stared intently at the bird caught in his hand.

Seeing this, Ian unconsciously took a step into the room where the Emperor was.

The Emperor glanced at Ian. His eyes were emotionless, as if staring at an inanimate object. Ian’s eyes looking at the Emperor would probably be similar.

“If it were you, how would you handle a bird you cherish?”

It was unexpected. That he would ask Ian a question. Despite Ian being his son, he usually didn’t even speak to him and treated him like a non-existent object. It was unclear what whim this was.

When Ian didn’t readily answer and kept his mouth shut, he spoke first.

“I always ponder. About ways to make the bird I love visible only to me.”

“Are you afraid?”

Are you afraid that bird will leave you behind? Are you angry that the bird might hold someone other than you in its heart? Are you scared that the bird might dislike you?

Since these were emotions Ian knew as well, he asked him. The Emperor looked dazed as if realizing something at Ian’s question, then smirked.

“I see. I am afraid… Afraid that the bird might fly away to find another master. So I wonder if I should keep it in a small cage, or break its wings so it can’t go anywhere. But the bigger problem is that my patience is running out.”

He stared at the bird caught in his hand once again.

“Every time that bird takes in other things with its eyes, I get so angry I can’t stand it.”

“So will you keep it in the cage?”

“I guess so. Since I haven’t found a better way. I might look pathetic, but you’ll be the same. If you ever find something you truly want to possess.”

To Ian, the Emperor’s words sounded like a curse. Because you inherited my terrible blood, you too will fall under this curse. Ian felt rebellious. And yet, he pitied him.

“I won’t do that.”

This time, the Emperor looked at him with surprise. It seemed very unexpected that the son he had felt was of the same kind as him would make a different choice.

“You won’t make the same choice as me… Then what would you do?”

“I would provide a large space that the bird can control so it doesn’t feel trapped, and make it live thinking it’s free. Because I don’t want the bird to fall into sad emotions and turn away from me.”

The Emperor chuckled at Ian’s words.

“Fall into sad emotions and turn away from me…”

Ian wanted to add more. That if you try to possess it forcibly, you might have the bird’s body but you’ll never gain its heart.

But Ian didn’t say that much. It wasn’t because he was afraid of him.

It seemed the Emperor already knew that he hadn’t gained the Empress’s heart, or rather, that he had even lost the heart he once had. He didn’t feel the need to remind him of that with his own words.

“You’re wrong. If you give the bird a large space, it might feel free at first, but once it sees the real world outside the window, it will consider even that space too small and try to escape. It will leave you. So you’ll end up regretting it.”

His tone was as if he was placing a curse. As if he wished for it to happen that way. As if he wanted to say that you were wrong and I was right.

“At least a bird with broken wings will stay in my arms. Even if its heart is no longer there, the bird’s physical form is in my hands.”

“You will regret it.”

“We’ll see about that. Whether it’s me who regrets it, or you.”

Squish.

The Emperor applied force to his hand, pressing down on the bird. In his large hand, the small bird couldn’t even flutter its body and quickly stopped moving. The bird fell limply from the Emperor’s hand.

“The bird tried to escape and died hitting the window.”

“…”

Ian didn’t say anything, but he understood what he meant. The bird died trying to escape by hitting the window. This was the message that would be conveyed to the Empress. Ian was the witness. The one who saw the bird die trying to escape by hitting the window.

Ian nodded, and the Emperor left the place with a satisfied smile.

Ian understood. Why the Emperor killed the bird. He couldn’t even stand the Empress’s affectionate gaze resting on that bird.

But Ian already knew. What kind of destruction such a choice by the Emperor would bring.

That’s why Ian, who was afraid, couldn’t act like him.

Just as he had seen in his dream, he feared that he would become the Emperor, Jane would become the Empress, and Jane would hurl terrible words at him.

Afraid that she might not want him, that she might choose someone else. Rather than being anxious about being hated by her.

He’d rather comfortably imprison her in his hands like the Emperor, but the only reason he can’t is because he doesn’t want to be hated by Jane.

A different choice from the Emperor, what would be the ending given to him? Would there really be a happy ending waiting at the end?

Sometimes, though rarely, Jane asks him what kind of people the Emperor and Empress are. Every time, he’s been telling her bit by bit.

Just trivial anecdotes, like the garden the Emperor made for the Empress. He couldn’t really explain to her what kind of people the Emperor and Empress were.

The Emperor’s abnormal obsession with the Empress, and the Empress who finds him insufferable yet can’t leave him because she can’t shake off her pity for him.

He was afraid that if he comfortably opened up about the relationship between those two, Jane might try to find similarities between him and the Emperor. What if she discovered an obsession just like the Emperor’s and ran away?

No. Jane might already know about that side of him. And she might not mind as long as he doesn’t cross the line. No, she might even tell him that he and the Emperor are different beings.

Even so, he couldn’t bring himself to open his mouth just in case.

But what use were these worries? If she goes far away…

Ian was determined to do whatever it took to prevent her from going to the domain.