“Ivan.”

As Ivan left his room to attend the state council meeting, he encountered Katrina, who had come looking for him. At the same time, a sigh escaped through Ivan’s teeth.

It was the first time he had properly faced Katrina since the trial yesterday.

He had been avoiding Katrina, who wanted to talk, by saying he was busy with state affairs and would visit her at the Empress Dowager’s palace as soon as his work was done.

In reality, it wasn’t because he was busy, but because he felt uncomfortable facing his mother, who would pitifully cry and cling to him about the issues related to yesterday’s trial.

But now that Katrina had come to find him directly, he could no longer avoid her.

Ivan quickly composed his expression and responded to her, acting as the usual affectionate son.

“What brings you here so early in the morning, Mother? I was planning to visit you as soon as today’s meeting ended.”

“…Please spare me a moment. It won’t take long. Just a moment is all I need.”

As Ivan had expected, Katrina seemed determined not to leave until she had a conversation.

He could pass her by using the excuse of being busy with state affairs, but he didn’t want to damage his image as a filial son.

Ivan signaled to his aide standing beside him to wait a moment, then entered the reception room with Katrina.

Katrina immediately got to the point.

“Ivan, yesterday’s trial was a false accusation. I did not kill that woman.”

Ivan sighed, his expression weary of the expected conversation.

“Then how do you explain the evidence brought by Duke Delmark?”

“He must have fabricated it to frame me. Anyway, it wasn’t me. I never intended to kill that woman—”

“If Duke Delmark had planned to fabricate false evidence and request a retrial, he would have done so long ago. Are you saying he suddenly created fake evidence now? Doesn’t that make no sense?”

Faced with Ivan’s irrefutable argument, Katrina tightly closed her mouth. She looked as if she might cry at any moment.

Ivan despised that expression of hers, which made him feel like an unfilial son.

Swallowing a sigh, he asked in a deliberately softened voice.

“If it wasn’t you, Mother, then who killed the late Empress?”

“That’s…”

“If you really had nothing to do with that incident, why did you frame the late Empress as the culprit who tried to assassinate Blair?”

“Because everyone would suspect me first!”

Katrina cried out as if in a fit, feeling wronged.

That day, Esmeralda had died by hanging herself on the spot.

Whether she was murdered or committed suicide, the scene of the incident was destroyed by fire, making it impossible to know the truth.

In that situation, who would be suspected first?

The chances were high that they would suspect Katrina, who had been eyeing the position of Empress and was in political opposition to Esmeralda.

‘Even in death, that woman couldn’t die gracefully, causing me trouble.’

So Katrina made the first move. The dead couldn’t refute false accusations anyway.

“You’re thinking the same thing now, aren’t you?”

Katrina’s eyes were painfully distorted as she looked at Ivan and asked.

“It was all for you, Ivan. I was worried about how you would survive in this treacherous palace if I died such an unjust death, losing your mother.”

“…”

“I chose a way to save both you and me.”

Ivan rubbed his face wearily as he watched Katrina rationalize her choices.

He was sick and tired of her justifying everything by saying it was for his sake.

Although the truth was unknown, in the end, hadn’t Katrina’s choice undermined the authority of the imperial family?

Ivan, who had been looking at Katrina with indifferent eyes, opened his mouth.

“…We will consider Countess Magrid as the true culprit of that incident and punish her. Her motive of acting alone out of loyalty to you should be convincing enough.”

At Ivan’s decision, Katrina’s eyes wavered aimlessly.

“She has nothing to do with this incident!”

“Please, Mother!”

Ivan irritably cut off Katrina’s words.

“Who would believe that now? At this point.”

“If you don’t accept Duke Delmark’s claims…”

“No. What’s important is not the truth, but how people perceive it.”

“…”

“Now that clear evidence has come out, we had no choice but to overturn the trial results, and now I have only one thing to do.”

“…”

“Protect the face and authority of the imperial family.”

“…”

“This is the method I’ve chosen to save both you and me.”

Just as Katrina was blankly moving her lips in response to her son’s cold reaction, a knock was heard along with the aide’s voice.

“Your Majesty. I apologize, but it’s time for you to attend the meeting.”

Ivan looked at Katrina, who was blankly shedding tears, then sighed and left the reception room.

As the door closed, Katrina collapsed right there. A sound that seemed like both laughter and crying escaped through her teeth.

Countess Magrid was her subordinate.

If she were punished, the incident would be concluded for now, but that was just a way to gloss over the current situation. People would take it as a fact that Katrina was the true culprit who killed Esmeralda.

Ivan couldn’t have made this choice without knowing it would turn out this way.

In other words, Ivan had cut her off.

To remain as a virtuous emperor who punishes even his sinful mother impartially.

To maintain his own dignity.

‘Back then… Should I not have listened to that advice?’

As Katrina let out a hollow laugh, she recalled the advice she had heard from Gerard immediately after the incident ten years ago.

‘Even if it’s called an unfortunate accident, people will naturally suspect Your Majesty the Empress. Because you have the motive.’
‘Then what should I do…’

‘So Your Majesty should manipulate the incident first. Fortunately, the Imperial Princess is also a victim of that incident, and luckily, she has lost her memory of that time, so Your Majesty’s claim will gain credibility.’

‘But…’

‘The person is already dead anyway. Shouldn’t the living survive?’

For a moment, she wondered if things would have been different if she had ignored his advice and tried to reveal the truth of the incident back then.

But it was too late for such regrets now.

* * *

In the late afternoon, as the sunlight began to intensify, Blair, who had been asleep, opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was not the canopy bed of the Duke’s mansion, but the ceiling of an old, shabby house.

Only then did she fully wake up, and the memories from before she fell asleep came back to her.

‘In your current state, you can’t ride a horse, and if we take a carriage, we’ll soon be caught by the knights pursuing us. In fact, it’s just a matter of time, even if we ride horses.’

‘…I suppose so.’

‘So we’ll use that point to our advantage.’

‘How?’

‘Right now, they’re blocking all the routes out of the island, but in two days at most, they’ll think we’ve left the island and expand their search area beyond it. And the number of Delmark’s knights currently stationed on the island is limited.’

‘So when the search area widens… gaps will appear.’

‘Yes. We’ll escape from the island through those gaps.’

For that plan, they needed a place to hide until then.

After finalizing the plan, Mikhail had brought Blair to a civilian house a little away from the center of the island.

It was the home of an old woman who had once received help from Mikhail by chance.

He chose this hiding place based on the judgment that they wouldn’t think the escaped Blair would be staying near the center of the island.

Mikhail had told her to rest comfortably until then, as it would be a long journey once they left the island, and Blair, who hadn’t slept properly all night, fell asleep as soon as she lay on the bed.

And now she had woken up at this time.

Blair blankly stared at the lazy afternoon sunlight seeping through the window by the bedside.

‘It’s peaceful…’

The old and shabby room, the old bed that creaked slightly with every movement. And even the cozy blanket made from leftover cloth, permeated with the scent of sunlight.

It wasn’t the best environment, but it felt cozier than staying at the Duke’s mansion.

This was the first time since her pregnancy that she had been able to lie in bed and idle around so comfortably. At the Duke’s mansion, she had been constantly anxious about when Herdin might suddenly return.

She felt suffocated and afraid of him, always staying by her side and obsessing over her and the child in her womb when nothing was happening.

But what scared her more was…

The fact that despite feeling those emotions, she was gradually becoming accustomed to his embrace and warmth.

But he wasn’t here.

The fact that there was no longer any warmth to embrace her felt strangely empty, but it was just as relieving. Only after escaping from him did her mind feel at ease.

As Blair was blankly staring at the lazy scenery, about to doze off again, that’s when it happened.

‘…Something smells delicious.’

A savory food aroma wafted up from the lower floor. As if forgotten hunger had returned, her stomach growled.

Blair left the room and went down to the first floor. Meal preparations were in full swing on the first floor.

Mikhail, who was helping the old woman carry food, noticed Blair coming down and greeted her with a smile.

“Did you sleep well?”

“…Yes. If I had known you were preparing a meal, I would have come down earlier to help.”

The old woman only knew Mikhail as the polite young man who had helped her before, and didn’t know about the relationship between the two. They had decided to keep it hidden in case Delmark’s people questioned her.

For this reason, Blair was using formal speech with Mikhail.

At that moment, the old woman, who had overheard their conversation while bringing out food, waved her hand dismissively.

“What preparation for a pregnant mother! The baby’s father can do enough for the mother’s share too. The mother just needs to eat well.”

The old woman said this while looking at Mikhail. It seemed she had misunderstood him as the baby’s father.

As the two were flustered by the unexpected misunderstanding, unable to either confirm or deny it…

Knock knock.

Suddenly, the sound of someone knocking on the house door rang out.