The empress sat properly, eating her meal and occasionally glancing at me before averting her gaze as if not looking.

It was a movement no different from usual.

However, compared to before, the liveliness had disappeared and a faded energy made her appear ashen.

Though it was a curious change, Casius considered it rather a good thing.

After all, a silent empress was much more comfortable for him than one fluttering like a butterfly with a vivacious yellow glow.

Especially on days like today when he had something to say.

Casius, who finished his meal barely eating, wiped his mouth and raised his head.

The warm sunlight coming through the window shone on his head, exuding his characteristic decadent atmosphere.

Vivian lowered her head for a moment, but when the silence continued, she finally raised her gaze to look at him.

The perfect build without an ounce of fat, the slightly loosened suit, the silver hair emitting a unique light, the unwavering attitude…

All of it made him appear perfect today as well.

Unlike usual when he never spoke first, today he opened his mouth first for once.

“I have something I’m curious about, Empress.”

Just the fact that he said he was curious about something made my heart beat rapidly.

“Please speak.”

As I put on a bright smile at the corners of my mouth, Casius finally spoke his main point.

However.

“Have you heard of the magic mirror?”

Why suddenly the magic mirror?

‘How did Casius find out about the magic mirror?’

If he knew about its existence, did he also know about the object’s purpose?

Numerous questions swirled, but outwardly I looked at Casius with a calm smile.

“No. Why do you ask about that suddenly?”

Casius nodded as if to say, I see.

Fortunately, his expression showed no particular suspicion.

“I thought perhaps the empress might know.”

His gaze fell directly on me as I stood there dumbfounded, at a loss for words.

“It’s an object I absolutely need.”

Was it because he was sitting in the shadowed side? His gray-blue eyes rippled like gentle waves.

Various emotions intertwined and tangled within those eyes.

Though I didn’t know how Casius had come to know about the magic mirror, one thing was certain.

He must have found out everything about the magic mirror.

Though he was trying to suppress it, there was a strange light in Casius’s eyes.

They were filled with that unique watery look that appeared when he thought of me.

‘If you find the magic mirror, you’ll try to find me.’

If the fact that I’m alive is revealed… he will reject me again.

You’ll be intent on pulling me down from the empress’s position, and the one section of your heart that had barely opened will close again. If that happens, you and I, no, we… will die.

Just imagining it made my breath catch.

Casius’s next words were even more shocking.

“I heard that object is in Snowfel.”

‘The magic mirror is in Diarob’s hands?’

Ah, he was making a fuss about finding out Rachel’s life or death, so he brought it into the mansion.

I just thought he’d ask Leonharti to put some belongings in the magic mirror, I didn’t expect he’d actually bring it in…

Casius’s voice layered over my complicated thoughts once again.

“So I was hoping you could bring me that object, the magic mirror.”

I must stay calm. Pretend I know nothing.

It’s not like I can bring it anyway.

“What is this magic mirror thing?”

Casius spread out a paper with the magic mirror drawn on it on the table.

The paper was clearly one of those my father had laid out at the Rosemary mansion during the hunting festival.

‘So he found out through father.’

No matter how he came to know, such details weren’t important in reality.

What mattered was that Casius had learned of the magic mirror’s existence.

After that, he went on talking about its appearance and materials, excluding its use, but I couldn’t hear anything.

Having finished his explanation, he met my eyes.

“What is it used for?”

Though I already knew its purpose, I asked pretending not to know.

Casius rolled his eyes for a moment as if he’d heard a difficult question, then looked at me straight again.

“There’s just something I want to find… I think it will help.”

Well, he wouldn’t want to reveal to a woman who says she loves him that he’s trying to find his ex-girlfriend.

You who still don’t accept my death, you who firmly believe I’m alive, are truly trying to find me.

Nevertheless, why tell me, who’s so uncomfortable, to get the magic mirror?

“But why are you telling me this?”

Is it because it’s easier with me than telling Diarob?

We’ve formed a kind of alliance, and I’m probably the only one in Snowfel that Casius can communicate with to some extent.

I could feel Casius’s gaze scrutinizing me closely.

His gaze was kind and polite, but looking carefully, what it contained was deep suspicion.

The moment our eyes met, his lips opened gently.

“Didn’t you say you love me?”

My heart sank.

Casius is… clearly testing me right now.

“If you bring that, I’ll make an effort too.”

“By effort, you mean…”

As the light shining on Casius cleared, his hidden face revealed itself.

Like a predator before its prey, he was dignified and elegant.

Soon, an arrogant smile spread across his lips.

“You said it, Empress. To love me.”

Love and effort.

They’re incompatible words, like fire and oil.

It should be words that give hope, but my heart felt tattered as if torn by sharp fragments.

“Love requires faith in each other.”

The large hand grasping the glass gently swirled it around.

My mind was churning as freely as the wine sloshing inside.

Putting down the glass again and looking directly at me, he added as if driving in a wedge.

“This time, I’d like the empress to show me that faith.”

As if to say think it over carefully, Casius draped a smile over his lips.

With that final look, Casius disappeared outside.

All my thoughts crumbled and scattered like a sand castle.

Prove my faith, he says. With the magic mirror, no less.

Isn’t that something you’d demand of a loyal dog, not proof of love?

*

Casius recalled the empress’s eyes that showed complete ignorance about the magic mirror.

‘Has the empress truly not heard anything about the magic mirror?’

Well, they’re not really a proper father and daughter, so Diarob would keep many things from the empress.

That sly character wouldn’t do otherwise.

Thinking of Diarob’s thorough personality, it might be difficult for the empress to find it.

However, the empress he had observed so far was no pushover either.

That woman had the tenacity to eventually obtain what she wanted.

Sometimes she wouldn’t even hesitate to throw herself into crazy acts.

She would probably do so this time too. A woman who acts as if she’d do anything to gain his love.

He recalled the empress’s purple eyes that had hardened as if in despair.

Well, it wasn’t particularly his concern.

The more desperate the empress’s love game became, the more properly she would carry out this task.

If she was so burning with desire to receive love, what could be easier than using that?

The empress probably doesn’t even know what the magic mirror is for, so she’ll do her best.

Suddenly, the empress’s scars that seemed to have been engraved by Diarob cluttered Casius’s mind.

He carelessly lit a cigar and quickly burned away Vivian’s afterimage through the smoke.

Casius, who had put down the paper as if throwing it irritably, immediately turned his gaze there.

Tikan, who had followed him in, hesitated before opening his mouth.

“Did you perhaps speak to Her Majesty the Empress about the magic mirror?”

Casius nodded slightly.

“Why did you speak to Her Majesty the Empress first instead of ordering Duke Diarob directly…”

The reason for mentioning the magic mirror to the empress first rather than Diarob was simple.

It was the result of calculating that Diarob would never easily hand over that object.

“He already knows the purpose of the magic mirror. Yet he didn’t give up that object.”

If Rachel had died, he would have been the type to do whatever it took to put the magic mirror in his hands.

He would have tried to empower the empress by proving Rachel’s death.

However, he who should know everything did not reveal the magic mirror.

What could be the reason?

“Then could it be…”

Casius declared to Tikan who was looking on in shock.

“Rachel is alive.”

At this point, even if he told Diarob to hand over the magic mirror, the result was as clear as day.

He would feel threatened just by knowing of its existence and wouldn’t willingly give up that object.

Not only that, he might destroy the magic mirror.

In this situation, the only one who could betray Snowfel without anyone knowing was, ridiculously, the empress by his side.

Using the empress was virtually the only method available now.

Also, using that woman would be the most convenient method of all.

That woman said she hates her father and loves him.

She will become a chess piece that moves exactly as much as the size of that heart.

Tikan understood his lord’s intentions and soon nodded.

“But will Her Majesty the Empress move?”

“If she doesn’t move, we’ll have to make her move.”

Casius’s eyes, gazing into empty space, were as sharp as a honed blade.