“…Me or you?”

Although the sound of bones breaking could be heard from somewhere, the exact origin could not be accurately identified.

We stared blankly at each other before quickly checking our own physical conditions.

“I’m fine.”

“Me too.”

He whispered that he was lucky and grinned.

We embraced each other again, but this time, we completely relaxed the strength in our arms.
There was no more time to delay.

I stepped back from him and slowly opened my mouth.

“Prince Tesla is planning to use Bonice to threaten me.”

“Threat? What kind of threat?”

“Prepare to step down from the position of Empress.”

“…What?”

His neat eyebrows twitched several times.

“I… am a fake.”

My voice felt like it was piercing through me.

Until a moment ago, his face was calm, but cracks were gradually forming, and his expression was breaking apart.

It seemed like the betrayal was changing him.

And with the words he muttered, my heart felt like it was being pounded from all sides.

“Are you saying you are the substitute Empress?”

Lionel’s voice was quieter than usual.

People say that when a person goes through an extremely shocking experience, they become oddly calm, and that was exactly how he looked.

With eyes that couldn’t be described with words, he stared at me.

“Yes, I am the person sent in his place.”

How much contemplation and fear had I endured before uttering these words…

Whenever he looked at me with loving eyes,

whenever he called my name with a joyful voice, sharing our love,

whenever he swallowed back the words hanging on the tip of his tongue,

saying them again, one after another, felt like falling into an abyss.

I shook my head as it was.

I silently gazed at his gleaming shoe tips, holding my breath.

What was he thinking right now?

He must be making a face soaked with betrayal.

A silence for a while was expected.

Maybe I wouldn’t hear Lionel’s tender voice anymore.

The silence of Lionel was longer than expected.

I wanted to lift my head and look into his blue eyes, but I endured.

But tears of remorse couldn’t be held back and were falling on the marble floor.

“It feels different to hear it directly.”

He quietly muttered, and I involuntarily raised my head.

“What?”

“I had suspected. Wasn’t that what the rabbit was talking about before?”

“…Yes.”

“So, is the core that your existence is a lie? Or is it that you have been false to me?”

After a long silence, he asked.

His voice carried a sense of bitterness.

My heart ached once again.

“My existence is false, but I have never lied to Your Majesty.”

“Really?”

I foolishly stuttered in response to Lionel’s inquiry.

“…Come to think of it, only once.”

“When.”

“The first night… when the priests came in.”

“Oh, that time.”

Lionel sighed briefly and closed his mouth again.

It seemed like an intentional silence.

Or maybe he was in the process of thinking about what to ask me.
“After that, was it really not an act? Well, there’s no need to go far. What about what we shared last night… What was it?”

“…”

He seemed to know everything, deliberately asking as if feeling my heart.

“Hey, Substitute Empress. You should respond immediately to the Emperor.”

Lionel casually brought up ‘Substitute Empress,’ urging me.

“Love… It was love. You know that.”

Responding to the topic of being the Substitute Empress, I replied to him with sincerity in my voice.

“Yeah, it would be strange if it wasn’t love. It doesn’t make sense.”

He sighed and muttered, “I couldn’t help it either.”

“Well, I… couldn’t help it either.”

“What, last night’s sleeping together?”

“Oh, no! I mean… about coming here.”

“Look, Substitute Empress. Do you know that? Over 90% of those who apologize to me for their wrongs and seek forgiveness start with that excuse. They say they had no choice, that it was unfair.”

“You may not believe it, but it’s true.”

My voice sounded a bit uneven, likely due to the unfairness I felt.

“That excuse always comes up as an aside.”

After a momentary silence, I cautiously countered, “It’s the truth. I was checking the inventory in the bath supplies room until the morning of the day I left for the Rafion Imperial Family!”

Anyway, when the deceived subject raised the topic, my voice seemed to get too loud. Thinking about it, I stopped, and he twirled his hand.

“Go on.”

“It was Prince Tesla’s coercion, and there was no choice. Even if I had refused, I would have eventually been forcibly brought here.”

I couldn’t bring myself to talk about the magic potion.

Knowing about the burn scar on my right cheek… I really didn’t want that to happen.

“Well, if you’re the Substitute Empress, that means there was originally a designated Empress, do you know who that was?”

“Yes…”

“Who. Originally, my wife.”

When Lionel referred to someone else as ‘my wife’ instead of me, it felt like the blood drained from my forehead.

“It was Princess Lyselia.”

I answered, feeling uneasy.

“I expected that…”

He nodded as if he had anticipated it.

“If you were forced to marry because of Prince Tesla’s coercion.”

Excuse me, Your Majesty?

Uh… Substitute Empress?

He was dealing with this matter more casually than when the lunch menu was wrong.

“One of the two.”

He asked with a serious look after a pause.

“Either you have been perfectly acting until now, or you have completely messed up the Substitute Empress’s mission from the beginning. Which one is it?”

“You already know.”

Summoning courage, I looked straight into his eyes.

“Honestly, yes. But as someone who has been deceived all this time, don’t I deserve to hear it directly from the person involved for comfort?”

He deliberately twisted his expression to be harsh and shook my shoulders slightly with both hands.

“Originally, it failed very perfectly. The Substitute Empress’s mission…”

I replied with tears in my eyes.
“If I weren’t so handsome, would you have completed the mission? Tell me.”

“Maybe I would have completed it…”

“Ha, criticizing appearance so much on the subject of the Substitute Empress?”

“Your Majesty, you don’t care too much.”

“What are you talking about? How picky am I?”

Lionel said, snorting like he was picking on me.

We both sighed and looked into each other’s eyes.

Feeling guilt, I turned my gaze away again, apologized once more, and he shrugged his shoulders, saying,

“Pure love, it seems. Substitute Empress, it wasn’t that pure, huh?”

His conclusion about me being the ‘Substitute Empress’ was ridiculously simple.

But the more he said that, the heavier my heart became.

“Aren’t you… angry?”

I asked cautiously, looking at his expression.

“Yeah. It’s surprising that I’m not angry either.”

“Lionel…”

“It must have been so confusing. In the library, you know. You were going to say something with a face that seemed like you were about to die, but I wasn’t bothered then, and I’m not bothered now.”

So, he added that he felt even more sorry for himself.

The speed at which he forgave this tremendous lie was faster than an arrow, leaving me in a state of helplessness.

“I’m really sorry…”

“That time when you were going to confess to me. I remember your eyes, expression, everything.”

He held my face with both hands, making me look into his eyes again. Then he closed his eyes and gently kissed me.

It was a kiss with a lot of meaning.

It had comfort, trust, and… love.

“That’s enough. You were going to tell me the truth. It was my decision to hear it later.”

“But I…”

He interrupted me and slowly shook his head.

“You did nothing wrong. The one who did wrong is that guy outside.”

Lionel stared sharply at the lounge door and said,

“Daring to play pranks on the Rafion Emperor. Moreover, threatening my wife.”

His gaze was so chilly that I could feel the coldness.

Suddenly, a worrying thought came to my mind, and I cautiously spoke up.

“If this truth is revealed to the Emperor instead…”

“It will be a problem. Not only the substitutes but also the priests will rise up.”

Lionel’s expression was becoming darker than when I revealed that I was the ‘Substitute Empress.’

“Tell them to replace the Empress.”