‘The past few days went well, but…’

What was bound to happen has finally come.

In reality, Casius not asking about the magic mirror until now was already showing a lot of patience.

The dreams I had for the past few days were all nightmares without exception.

Casius chokes me every day asking about the whereabouts of the magic mirror.

It always ended with the sight of an enraged Casius, as usual.

Yet in reality, I had to avoid it by pretending not to know while looking at you.

The entire process came as intense pressure, suffocating me more with each passing day.

However, it was not something that could be postponed any longer.

Though I didn’t intend to act, a trembling voice leaked from my stinging throat.

“I was about to tell you anyway.”

Casius’s gaze pierced through my body sharply.

The veins protruding above his neck carried his desperation, making my heart pound like surging waves.

“I searched through all of Snowfell’s records, but there was no such item.”

Seeing Casius’s desperate eyes, my words quickened.

“Your Majesty must have misunderstood.”

His unwavering gaze held a cold light.

Those inorganic eyes, whose depths I couldn’t fathom, pierced through me.

However, in a moment, one corner of his mouth curled up crookedly.

“Misunderstood, you say?”

His voice, breaking each syllable, dripped with anger.

At the end of his gaze, which had been merely cold, a fierce energy now burst forth.

“Yes. Such an item…”

Casius lightly cut off the end of my sentence.

“My, it seems all of the Empress’s words were lies.”

The neck of the extremely thin glass spun precariously in his large hand, as if about to break.

The red wine inside rippled like a sea of blood, swaying within.

After quietly observing this, Casius put down the glass again and looked straight at the Empress.

“Lies… what do you mean?”

The Empress’s voice, now pale, trembled miserably.

As if trying to look good to him, the tiara fully embedded on her head and the dress adorned as if going on a date with a young lady slowly entered his view.

It’s always like this.

Those tiaras that change every time she comes, even the dresses, were now laughably ridiculous.

It wasn’t that he didn’t believe the Empress who had insisted on forming an alliance.

The problem was that the more he saw that appearance, the more certain he became of what he didn’t want to believe, making him feel sick.

The Empress was acting as if she really liked him.

But why this time.

Veins stood out on the hand that clenched into a fist.

Soon, a sarcastic tone leaked from his mouth.

“You said you loved me. But the Empress’s actions now don’t seem that way at all.”

Casius’s eyes curved gently.

However, the temperature contained in that appearance was chilly enough to freeze the space and more.

Vivian’s heart sank as much as the temperature dropped.

“What do you mean by that?”

The atmosphere of the luncheon instantly became heavy.

Casius’s voice, laden with weight, was added on top of it.

“I think the Empress knows well what I mean.”

“I am not telling you lies!”

Casius gazed at the Empress, who was vehemently protesting, as if crushing her down.

“I’m sure you’re not.”

In reality, as the Empress says, she might truly know nothing about the magic mirror.

If the thorough Duke Diarob had hidden it tightly to match his temperament, even the Empress might not have been able to find it.

However, Casius was certain that she would have figured it out if it were her.

It was merely an uncertain inference based on intuition, but the Vivian he had seen over time was such a woman.

That’s why he spent the past few days in anticipation, staying up all night.

Even in his dreams, Rachel came to him.

Every time he found her in all those places, he yearned and craved desperately.

Like a madman, he tried to hold onto even her afterimage, howling like a dog.

Of course, as always with dream illusions, the ending was consistent.

Rachel scatters faintly and disappears into thin air like smoke.

Overlaying her onto that empty space, he whispered softly.

“Please just be alive.”

“I’ll come to you.”

At times, he was afraid to search for the magic mirror, fearing a wrong result.

However, such fears were always extinguished in the face of burning thirst.

Every day, the desperation piled up like a stone tower.

As the tower grew in height, his heart only grew more urgent.

But what? He seemed to have misunderstood?

Wasn’t she the woman who was desperate to gain his love right away?

If she had just that one thing, he would give her the love she so desired, he would try so hard, so what was lacking that she would say such things?

‘Could it be that the Empress has figured out the use of the magic mirror?’

No. That can’t be.

That was only possible for someone who could mobilize vast information power like Diarob, or someone who could interpret ancient languages.

Then did the Empress really fail to locate the magic mirror?

There was no more rational inference beyond that.

Either way, it didn’t matter to Casius.

The important thing was only that the Empress couldn’t bring the magic mirror to him.

In a fake play, truth is just a useless hindrance.

“It seems the answer is already out.”

Towards the Empress who was silently biting her lips, Casius added as if driving in a wedge.

“I judge this to be the extent of faith between the Empress and me.”

“Your Majesty, I know finding the magic mirror is important to you, but please don’t misinterpret my feelings.”

“Such things are proven by actions, not words, Empress.”

“……”

“Just as love can’t be dismissed with sugar-coated words.”

Casius, who had neatly folded his napkin and placed it on the table, added sarcastically.

“As things stand now, I think I’ll have to reconsider the alliance relationship with the Empress as well.”

With that, Casius rose from his seat.

“Let’s end the meal here then.”

“……”

“It seems it would be a torment for both of us to keep looking at each other any longer.”

*

Casius walked silently towards the Imperial Palace with an expressionless face.

Tikan followed quickly behind, looking at his lord with a worried face.

“Are you alright?”

Casius sighed deeply as he brushed his hair back.

The hair under the straight sunlight rippled with its unique silver color.

In it sat the Empress with a hurt expression.

“What’s there not to be alright about.”

Casius, who murmured softly, moved forward without slowing his steps.

Reaching the Imperial Palace, he sat down and leaned back on the couch.

The clear sky outside fell into his lazily tilted view.

Looking at the sky turning crimson, Casius fell into long and monotonous thoughts.

The sharp words he shot at the Empress were not simply due to anger towards her.

In fact, it would be inappropriate to say that anger arose when he didn’t even know what the situation was.

The sarcasm was just a means to urge the Empress.

If he truly was in the Empress’s heart, she would surely move according to his will.

But he had no intention of just waiting quietly trusting only the Empress.

With every breath, fear and hope alternated in waves.

Every moment, every instant was precious.

‘Rachel might be anywhere, in any condition…’

The thought of wanting to find her quickly only muddled his head.

All of it not only turned his insides upside down but also paralyzed his reason.

At the end of a day where time had accumulated and accumulated.

Finally, Casius summoned Diarob to the Imperial Palace.

*

Diarob entered the Imperial Palace with a noticeably smiling face.

Since Casius became Emperor, it was the first time he had requested a private audience, so Diarob couldn’t hide his joy.

Just recently, he went on a trip to Keshutain Palace with Vivian, and now has he really turned his heart towards Vivian?

“I greet Your Majesty.”

Although outwardly respectful, it was full of arrogant energy inside.

Watching this, Casius slowly put down his teacup.

Only after the faint clatter – a pleasant fricative sound – echoed through the space did Casius finally open his mouth.

“I heard there’s a magic mirror in Snowfell.”

At the mention of the magic mirror, Diarob’s gray eyes trembled subtly.

Considering he was a person who hid his inner thoughts well, it was a noticeable change.

“Magic mirror. What do you mean?”

Diarob’s expression instantly regained its calm.

The way he asked back as if hearing something completely unknown was truly masterful.

Despite having brazenly brought it into his own house, and even secretly at that.

Seeing Diarob’s change, Casius’s conviction grew even firmer.

Rachel is certainly alive.

That became hope, but at the same time, it brought intense fear.

If he knew Rachel was alive…

He would be desperate to eliminate her.

Casius struggled to suppress the churning in his stomach and put on a calm face.

His relaxed expression, like a predator before its prey, evoked an enormous sense of pressure.

With one leg casually crossed, he soon placed a document on the table.

Confirming this, Diarob’s expression hardened.