Dietrich pulled his lips away, sensing someone else’s presence from afar.
He wiped his index finger across Celia Brillion’s saliva-slick lips. After a moment of contemplation, he gently embraced her.
Supporting her with one hand on her bony back and the other under her slender legs, he began walking—not toward the stables, but deeper into the palace.
Celia Brillion did not ask Dietrich where they were going or what he intended to do with her.
Instead, she tightly wrapped her arms around Dietrich’s neck.
Dietrich paused briefly, then resumed moving his long legs forward.
A cold wind blew, tousling Celia Brillion’s shimmering silver hair.
From the intense and deep kiss she shared with him, Celia Brillion realized one thing.
Throughout their kiss, she felt vitality returning to her body.
It was as if a gentle touch was soothing her damaged insides, healing every corner of her being.
She was terminally ill—no medicine should have worked on her.
‘Could it be some kind of panacea? Dietrich definitely has a healing-type ability.’
Celia Brillion glanced sideways at Dietrich.
At arm’s length, his face still looked dry, but his eyes seemed softer than before.
As Dietrich walked, he noticed Celia Brillion’s silence and quietly asked,
“Why aren’t you asking anything?”
Celia Brillion replied,
“Because there’s no need to ask.”
Judging by the fact that he didn’t reject such intimate acts—something lovers might do—she meant more to him than mere usefulness.
At last, she felt certain he wouldn’t casually harm her.
Even if it was because he needed her ability, his protection still felt excessive.
‘And yet he doesn’t even fully understand my ability.’
“If you need it, I’ll give it to you. My ability, I mean.”
Celia Brillion said, closing her eyes in Dietrich’s arms.
“My ability can paralyze all of a person’s senses. I emit the scent of hyacinth, stopping all five senses and movements of anyone within range. But this ability costs me my lifespan.”
For an instant, ripples passed through Dietrich’s pupils, but Celia Brillion, with her eyes closed, did not see them.
“That’s why I’m terminally ill.”
Celia Brillion revealed her ability because Dietrich had helped her several times before.
Yet she deliberately omitted the crucial fact that her true identity and her ability only worked on males.
And though she realized Dietrich also possessed an ability, she chose not to mention it aloud.
Dietrich’s low voice brushed against Celia Brillion’s ear.
“You’ve been hiding this all along. Why tell me now?”
“Why didn’t you refuse my lips?”
Dietrich remained silent, then answered after a pause.
“You looked fragile.”
He never explained exactly what about her seemed fragile.
Soon, as knights came into view near the Crown Prince’s palace, Dietrich carefully set Celia Brillion down on the ground.
“If the Crown Prince asks where you’ve been, say you lost your memory and remember nothing.”
Celia Brillion nodded in response to Dietrich’s words.
Seeing her quietly nod, Dietrich narrowed his eyes slightly and spoke.
“Give me your robe.”
When Celia Brillion removed her robe, her white mermaid dress and the brand on her collarbone were revealed.
Dietrich’s brow instantly furrowed at the sight.
With somewhat rough motions, he rolled up the robe and informed Celia Brillion of what she should do next.
“Pretend to look around confused, as if you know nothing. The knights will ask where you were last night. Then say you were hit on the head and remember nothing.”
“Will the knights believe me?”
“If they don’t, then use my name.”
Dietrich paused, then added,
“Ileon Gredrick is currently staying in the palace, so something might happen soon. Take care of yourself until then.”
Perhaps it was in return for Celia Brillion revealing her ability.
Dietrich began to slowly disclose things he had previously kept hidden.
‘It’s just because our relationship is based on necessity.’
That’s what Celia Brillion told herself, deliberately trying not to harbor any hope toward him.
“Celia.”
Dietrich, now with his back turned, softly called her name.
“… See you later.”
With those words, Dietrich in his black armor walked far away.
[This is the timeline separator]At that moment, in Jeremy’s palace.
“How is it possible that no one has seen where my concubine went? Are you all conspiring to deceive me?”
Jeremy glared at the knights standing by the door, eyes wide with rage.
The knights, who had served Jeremy for a long time, were deeply flustered.
Compared to the previous emperor, Jeremy wasn’t particularly incompetent.
He occasionally lost his temper, but he was intelligent and skilled in rhetoric, easily winning others’ favor.
Yet unlike before, Jeremy now showed signs of emotional instability and anxiety.
Deep within the knights’ hearts, doubts began to creep up.
Despite being of royal blood, was this man truly fit to rule?
‘It would be better if one of the Three Dukes became emperor.’
They didn’t even need to go that far.
Even Dietrich, the Royal Guard Captain who had recently been granted a dukedom, would suffice.
If he truly launched a rebellion, almost no one within the palace could stop him.
But voicing such thoughts openly, while the royal family still lived, would mean losing their heads.
“Get out. I don’t want to see your faces.”
Jeremy waved his hand dismissively, issuing an expulsion order.
At that moment, hurried footsteps echoed from a distance.
“Your Highness, we found her!”
Hearing the knight’s shout, Jeremy’s face lit up with relief.
“Bring her to me immediately.”
Just as Jeremy sprang up from the bed and started walking toward the door,
“Ugh!”
Jeremy collapsed to the floor, letting out a groan.
“Y-Your Highness, are you alright?”
The startled knights rushed to support him, but Jeremy shoved their arms away and screamed.
“My face—it hurts as if it’s being stabbed with a knife!”
Confused by the incomprehensible words, the knights only stared at each other.
There wasn’t even a trace of injury on Jeremy’s face. He hadn’t been cut, not even scratched.
Yet Jeremy appeared to be suffering excruciating pain.
His head spun, and it felt as if someone was carving out his facial features with a blade.
“AAAAAAAH!”
The sharp scream left the knights frozen in panic. He looked genuinely pained, despite having no visible wounds.
Only when they saw his pale, bloodless lips and unfocused eyes did the knights finally realize the severity of the situation.
“We’ll immediately summon the palace physician!”
One knight rushed out of the room in a hurry.
Jeremy slumped to the floor, writhing in agony.
Then suddenly, the skin on Jeremy’s face began melting like liquid.
“What…?”
The knights gasped in shock.
The epidermis of Jeremy’s face peeled off and flowed down like water onto the floor.
Jeremy, consumed by pain, failed to notice it.
Meanwhile, the knights who saw Jeremy’s face couldn’t help but let out a horrified gasp.
For beneath the peeled skin, Jeremy’s eyes, nose, and mouth were grotesquely twisted.
Where his eyes should have been was his forehead; where his nose should have been was an eye. His nose was skewed to one side, and his mouth, which should have been on his chin, was located on his cheek—making him look scarcely different from a monster.
Gasping for breath, Jeremy looked up at the knights staring at him in horror.
Unaware of his own appearance, he frowned at their reaction.
“Do I, in my pain, look that amusing to you?”
The knights remained speechless, tongues tied.
“Your Highness, we have brought Celia Brillion.”
At that moment, the knight who had gone out returned, bringing Celia Brillion.
Simultaneously, Jeremy felt the stabbing pain in his face vanish like melting snow.
Jeremy rose from the floor and approached Celia Brillion.
“Why are you so late? Do you know how long I’ve waited for you?”
The knights, unable to bear the sight of Jeremy’s hideous appearance, quickly averted their eyes.
In contrast, Celia Brillion calmly stared at Jeremy before her.
“Who helped you escape from my chamber?”
“I don’t understand what Your Highness means. I remember nothing from last night.”
“Did that bastard tell you to say that? Dietrich, that damned dog?”
Jeremy, his skin completely peeled and grotesque, stretched out his arm toward Celia Brillion.
“I remember nothing. Ever since I was hit on the head by someone.”
Celia Brillion repeated exactly what Dietrich had instructed.
“Don’t play dumb! So you spent the entire night rolling around with that vulgar man?”
Seeing that Jeremy was beyond reasoning, Celia Brillion wore a fearful expression.
“I should make you a special cage. That way, you won’t fly away from my side.”
The sight of the hideous Jeremy clinging to the beautiful Celia Brillion sent chills down even the bravest knights’ spines.
Celia Brillion stepped back, avoiding Jeremy’s attempt to embrace her.
Jeremy’s eyes filled with bloodshot veins at her rejection.
“You are my concubine—how dare you refuse me now? How long do you think your beauty will last?”
Celia Brillion stared straight into Jeremy’s eyes.
“I never wanted the position of concubine.”
“You should bow your head to me simply for having raised someone of such low birth to the concubine’s seat. You clearly don’t know your place.”
Jeremy took one step closer for every step Celia Brillion retreated.
“Do you truly believe that man, Dietrich, will protect you? Don’t forget—he couldn’t even protect my father, the Emperor.”
Jeremy laughed darkly. The knights stood frozen like statues, lips tightly sealed.
Celia Brillion’s calm voice followed.
“Your Highness, perhaps you should first take a look in the mirror.”
When scheming men desperately battle for her favor in the male harem
This one’s also on my reread list! The rivalry, scheming between the men in the imperial harem are just as intense and thrilling as in classic palace drama novels, where concubines fight to the death. Give it a read, girls! I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Synopsis:
“I am not worthy of her… but I still want to be by her side, even if only as a loyal dog…”
Those were the painful whispers of Yue Guanyi – the proud Crown Prince of the Great Qi, who was torn between deep love and a guilty conscience. Despite holding the supreme power of the Imperial Guard, he still could not forget the dark past when he was sold into a brothel.
Fate played a cruel twist when Qiu Shuzhi – a young female official who had just passed the imperial examinations with top honors – stepped into his life. She did not know that she was the one who had saved him from a tragic fate many years ago. And now, her heart was the target of pursuit for both Yue Guanyi and the powerful Empress Dowager Qin Qing.
While Yue Guanyi only dared to silently care for and protect the one he loved from afar, the Empress Dowager Qin Qing openly expressed his feelings and did not hesitate to take advantage of his power to approach Qiu Shuzhi. The covert struggle between the two most powerful forces in the imperial court began…
Trigger warning: All men in this novel are yandere style.
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