Evelina gulped down her coffee while thinking about the empress’s end.

She couldn’t be happier that even the bitter taste felt sweet.

‘Now His Majesty will be entirely mine. Then the world will cry at my feet.’

Evelina couldn’t hide the emotions welling up just from imagining it.

After laughing like a madwoman for a while, she straightened up as if nothing had happened when she saw Marianne.

“As soon as I become empress, I’ll make you my personal maid.”

Evelina’s eyes curved smoothly as she examined Marianne.

Marianne replied with a joyful smile on her lips.

“Really? Thank you.”

Marianne bowed her head a few times and then went outside.

She fell into thought as she watched Marianne’s retreating figure.

‘Now that girl has served her purpose, I should dispose of her.’

Keeping someone who’s no longer useful alive might cause unnecessary trouble later.

Evelina finished her calculations and entered the bathtub.

Evelina stepped into the steaming water and closed her eyes as she pulled the chain.

When Evelina emerged from the bath and put on a robe, a Wintertel knight approached her.

“You called?”

“I hear the Riepiere auction is tomorrow.”

“Yes, that’s right, but…”

“Quietly sell off that girl, Marianne.”

The knight, who had often received such orders, disappeared outside without asking anything more.

Watching him, Evelina curled up one corner of her mouth.

‘How much was the medicine cost for that girl? She should at least pay for the medicine before she goes.’

*

While the empress’s palace was in an uproar over Marianne’s disappearance, the advisor’s office remained cheerful.

Evelina thought it wouldn’t be long before she became empress.

Several days passed after that.

Over the course of a few days, Evelina became consumed with anxiety.

“Why isn’t His Majesty looking for me?”

It had already been several days since Casius last sought out Evelina.

At first, she thought there must be a reason why the emperor wasn’t looking for her.

But as one day passed and then several days with no sign of Casius, Evelina became restless.

‘Wouldn’t it be common sense to seek out a lover you haven’t seen for 7 years day and night?’

Even though she tried to seduce him, he didn’t spend the night with her, making excuses about finding stability.

Now he had cut off contact entirely.

‘Surely the empress didn’t say something?’

At any other time, she would have summoned that Marianne to find out the empress’s movements, but now she couldn’t even do that.

‘I should have gotten rid of her after becoming empress. It’s so frustrating without her…’

But there was no point in regretting it now.

Above all, the important thing now was that she couldn’t even know why the emperor wasn’t looking for her.

As Evelina was unable to sort out her complicated feelings, a servant placed a letter on the table and left.

Evelina stopped at one spot while checking the letter.

‘Why is Father writing another letter?’

After quickly reading the contents, Evelina let out a long sigh.

‘Hurry up and produce an imperial heir…’

How could she produce an heir when she couldn’t even see the emperor’s face?

Still, there was some useful information in the letter.

A notice came down that he won’t be attending this government affairs meeting either.]

She had been too negligent of the news going around the palace while she set aside her advisor duties on the emperor’s orders to rest.

Evelina got up after a long time.

If the emperor wasn’t seeking her out because he was unwell, there couldn’t be a better opportunity than this.

When someone is sick, their heart becomes just as fragile.

If a lover he hasn’t seen for 7 years takes advantage of that gap…

The awkwardness caused by the long absence would melt away, and the emperor would have no choice but to fall for her.

The day to flatten that empress’s haughty nose was not far off.

She was determined to see with her own eyes how that pretentiously elegant face would contort.

It was clear that God was on her side.

So Evelina arrived at Wolfdor Palace with hopeful steps.

But Tikan blocked her path.

It was the first time Tikan had blocked her way since she revealed herself as Rachel.

“What are you doing now?”

In the past, Evelina would have turned back right away, but now that she had become Rachel, she had no intention of backing down easily.

“Sir Tikan?”

But Tikan’s gaze remained cold.

It was completely different from when he had cried out calling her his sister not long ago.

Evelina hesitated at his ominous demeanor.

‘Why is this guy suddenly acting like this?’

“I’ve come to see His Majesty.”

“…”

“Surely you haven’t forgotten who I am already.”

Despite Evelina’s firm words, Tikan did not budge an inch from the door.

“I know very well. But no one can see His Majesty right now.”

“That doesn’t seem to be for you to decide, Sir Tikan.”

Just as the two were about to continue arguing.

Casius’s voice flowed from inside.

“Let her in.”

Casius’s voice was much hoarser than usual.

‘Is he really that sick?’

Well, that must be why he didn’t even attend government affairs.

Entering with a beaming smile, she froze at the sight inside.

The shards scattered across the floor, broken picture frames, the remnants of cut flower petals…

In short, the interior of the emperor’s palace was nothing short of a battlefield.

Evelina’s gaze slowly moved to Casius at the end of it all.

With even the curtains completely closed, not allowing a single ray of sunlight, the space was filled only with darkness.

Sitting on the floor with one leg stretched out, Casius looked even more haggard, perhaps because he was trapped in the deep shadows.

With his head bowed deeply, not even the faintest breath could be felt from him.

Motionless, he looked dead enough.

A sword was held in one hand, and blood was seeping from the other.

Evelina’s body trembled at the sight of it all.

She backed away as if to flee.

“I-I’ll come back…”

At the end of her backward steps, she bumped into Tikan’s solid body with a thud.

Before she could turn her head in startled surprise, Casius slowly raised his head.

The eerily slow movement exuded the aura of a fierce predator.

Though it shouldn’t be possible from so far away, a thick smell of blood seemed to emanate from his demeanor.

And in one of his hands was a wooden doll.

Evelina instinctively sensed it.

‘Something has gone terribly wrong…!’

The gaze that met hers immediately held Evelina in place, unable to move.

The blue gaze, devoid of even a hint of emotion, shone alone with its unique madness in the dark shadows.

Casius, still gripping the sword, suddenly burst into laughter.

Yet apart from that, his eyes were filled with deep sorrow akin to a scream.

The moment Casius stopped laughing again, a deep silence fell over the space.

In the space where a stillness that felt like breath would stop descended.

Casius finally opened his mouth.

“You.”

“…”

“You say you’re Rachel.”

His parched, cracked voice cut through the pitch-black air.

Evelina couldn’t say a word.

Anyone who saw his crazed appearance now would be the same.

There was weight in each slow step as he approached.

Casius roughly grabbed Evelina’s shoulders as she stood motionless.

His hands gripping her shoulders were filled with enough force to crush.

“Why. Say you’re Rachel again.”

Evelina’s shoulders trembled in his hands.

The scent of blood wafted strongly from Casius’s hands, suffused with anger.

“You say you’re Rachel.”

Casius met Evelina’s eyes and glared at her as if to kill her.

‘To think that everything… was just this woman’s deception…!’

All hope shattered.

Just like a mirage of a single night.

“Say it now. That you’re Rachel.”

His voice, crying out as if wailing, was tinged with a deep chill.

In an instant, everything he couldn’t bear to confirm over the past time was revealed as reality.

Evelina finally succumbed to Casius’s force and fell to her knees.

Dark red blood stained Evelina’s knees as they hit the ground.

Cracks formed over Casius’s blue eyes as he looked down at her.

“If you were going to deceive, you should have done it properly.”

An eerie energy permeated his voice as he muttered in a low whisper.

“Remove her.”

Casius’s eyes were cold as he looked at her like trash.

His gaze, containing a colder season than even the frigid north, held not a trace of warmth.

Only then coming to her senses, Evelina cried out like a roaring beast.

“Y-Your Majesty!”

But before she could reach Casius, Evelina was blocked by Tikan.

Evelina struggled, unable to move an inch.

“Your Majesty, I was wrong!”

Evelina could instinctively tell.

That she would die if things continued like this.

It was only natural, having dared to pretend to be the lover the emperor had searched for 7 years.

“Please, please spare me just this once.”

Casius’s gaze as he looked down at her wailing was now not just cold, but dry.

His eyes, parched like dried branches, regarded her as less than trash.

Evelina now set aside all shame and begged with her forehead pressed to the ground.

“I’ll do anything if you just spare my life.”

Watching her quietly, Casius murmured softly.

“I will spare your life.”