Celiya’s eyes met Dietrich’s.

The reason Dietrich kept her by his side was because she had special abilities and was terminally ill.

A terminally ill person with about a year left to live.

A terminally ill person to be used freely and discarded.

Right. What did it matter to him that she had special abilities?

With little time left to live, she took the Emperor’s life, driven by the determination to kill even the Emperor who led the kingdom to ruin.

However, Abelon was still going strong.

This huge and terrible empire was not a country that would fall just because of the Emperor’s death.

Celiya couldn’t bear to see that.

That day was when a female knight was carrying her on her back. After the Dylan incident, her father had only assigned female knights as her guards. He thought that if only women were around, they wouldn’t touch Celiya.

When she asked with a sleepy face what was happening, the knight repeated only that they needed to escape quickly from here, keeping her words to a minimum.

As soon as they went out into the corridor, what she saw was her father’s head rolling down to her feet. Until his last moment, her father’s eyes were fixed on her, as if worried about her.

Clanking armor, a sword stained with her father’s blood, and… Abelon.

“His Imperial Majesty has ordered to kill every living human in sight! Kill them all, even newborns!”

The knight who shouted so had Abelon’s emblem – two pairs of white snakes entwining a sword – emblazoned on his chest.

Celiya closed her eyes slowly once and opened them to calmly settle her swirling emotions.

As Dietrich said, she wasn’t sure if the Three Dukes were really her enemies. Perhaps, Dietrich could be her enemy too.

It was only at this moment that Celiya could know exactly what she truly wanted.

She wanted to completely destroy Abelon.

She wanted to see with her own eyes this filthy kingdom fall before her life ended.

She had thought it impossible to bring down this empire with her strength alone, but seeing it still intact even after the Emperor’s assassination, it didn’t seem entirely impossible.

‘Instead, I’ll need to act more thoughtfully and put in more effort.’

“You’re not going to enter His Highness the Crown Prince’s bedchamber, are you?”

What Dietrich said was incorrect. She was nothing in this imperial palace now. Though cleared of the charge of assassinating the Emperor, she had unwillingly become the Crown Prince’s mistress.

Even if she had denied being the Crown Prince’s mistress at the banquet, nothing would have changed. People always listen to those with power.

In this Abelon, she was nothing.

That was her current position.

“Do I have anywhere else to go in this imperial palace?”

Celiya said so as she let go of Dietrich’s hand.

For a moment, she saw Dietrich’s brow furrow.

Ileon was still connected to Celiya by hand. The reason Celiya let go of Dietrich’s hand but not Ileon’s was simple.

Because he was the Third Duke, said to be more emperor-like than the real Emperor.

Probably, Ileon was the most knowledgeable and powerful person in Abelon. That’s why even the Crown Prince couldn’t say anything against his words.

Ileon smiled gently and suggested to Celiya.

“I’m planning to stay in the imperial palace until the Emperor’s coronation. There’s a separate reception room in the palace that only the Three Duke families can use. If it’s alright with you, Lady Celiya, how about staying there?”

Ileon’s words meant that he wanted to keep Celiya under his protection.

This prompt offer was unexpected for Celiya. But if she readily accepted this proposal here, he might lose interest in her.

“I appreciate the offer, but I’m fine.”

Celiya let go of Ileon’s connected hand.

Ileon looked at his hand, now devoid of warmth, with a face tinged with regret.

“Anyway, I’m now the Crown Prince’s mistress.”

With those final words, Celiya turned away from the two men. She felt their persistent gazes on her back, but instead of turning her head, she began walking towards where the Crown Prince would be.

The Crown Prince’s maid had a terrified look on her face. As soon as she saw Celiya, she ran over in one breath and guided Celiya to the Crown Prince’s bedchamber.

“Where have you been? His Highness has been raging and looking for you.”

“……”

Celiya thought that indeed, a man’s words couldn’t be trusted. Didn’t Dietrich say earlier that he was already sleeping in the bedchamber?

As she stepped into the Crown Prince’s room, the strong smell of wine stung her nose.

The room was large and spacious, but wine bottles were strewn carelessly on the floor.

Celiya looked around the room filled with all sorts of expensive furniture, and then spotted Jeremy.

Jeremy was sprawled on a huge bed next to the window, his upper body exposed. He spoke in a chilling voice with his face buried in the pillow.

“Didn’t you hear me say to bring Celiya immediately?”

“I, I’ve brought her now.”

At the maid’s words that she had been brought, Jeremy raised his head. His violet eyes glinted strangely.

At the same time, the door behind Celiya closed with a thud.

The maid had closed the door from the outside.

As the light coming through the door gap disappeared, the room became even darker.

Celiya was able to secure some visibility using the moonlight seeping through the open window as a guide.

She could see Jeremy rising from the bed. Seeing him clutching his forehead with a disheveled face, it was clear that he was still not fully sober.

“You’re late. What was it about me calling you my mistress that you disliked so much?”

Jeremy staggered closer to Celiya. Waving his arms in the air, he pulled Celiya’s body towards him and smiled ominously.

“Your waist is so thin. You haven’t let other men touch you, have you?”

“……”

“No matter how much you dislike it, the fact that you’re my mistress won’t change.”

Jeremy grinned with dilated pupils.

The color of his eyes and hair resembled his mother, but his smile was quite similar to how the Emperor smiled.

Jeremy muttered, burying his face near Celiya’s collarbone.

“When I come to my senses, the first thing I’ll do is put shackles on your ankles. So you can’t go to anyone else.”

For a moment, she felt a slight pain in her collarbone. Jeremy had bitten her collarbone, leaving his mark.

Celiya’s eyes sank. She briefly considered whether to use her ability or not. Being terminally ill, she had to use her ability only when absolutely necessary.

“Even without shackles, I won’t go anywhere.”

What Celiya said was true. Even without shackles, Celiya had no intention of leaving this imperial palace. Until she saw this Abelon turn to ashes and perish, she wouldn’t leave even if someone told her to leave the imperial palace.

“What did you talk about with Ileon earlier? Since you dared to leave me behind, there’s no guarantee you won’t do it again.”

Jeremy looked at his mark on Celiya’s neck as if he would devour it.

Celiya found such a Jeremy truly ridiculous. Is it because he lacks confidence in himself that he leaves such gloomy marks on her collarbone?

“We didn’t say much.”

“Then why didn’t you return for two hours!”

Jeremy shouted angrily and grabbed Celiya’s wrist. He pulled her and threw her onto his bed.

“I must embrace you right now. That should make this filthy feeling better.”

Jeremy straddled Celiya’s body and stroked her thigh.

Why were men so desperate to explore her body? Celiya was utterly sick of men.

‘I guess it’s better to use my ability after all.’

Even if he was drunk, it was difficult to withstand a man’s grip strength.

Even if it put some strain on her body, she couldn’t be trampled by this filthy guy. Celiya reached out and roughly grabbed Jeremy’s head, which was bowed to her neck.

“Haa.”

Far from getting angry, Jeremy let out a sigh-like moan.

Thinking that perhaps his judgment was impaired due to the wine, Celiya decided it would be better to use her ability after all.

Just as Celiya was about to use her ability, the curtain of the window fluttered and a dark figure loomed before her eyes.

Following the sleek, shiny military boots upward, familiar eyes were visible through the black hood. They were blood-red eyes.

“!”

It was Dietrich.

Jeremy, unaware that Dietrich had intruded, was focusing all his attention on exploring Celiya.

Dietrich frowned, then raised his hand diagonally and struck Jeremy hard on the back of the neck.

Thud-

With that single gesture, Jeremy’s eyes closed and his body went limp like a corpse.

Dietrich laid Jeremy, who had been pressing down on Celiya’s body, on the hard bed floor. He threw the blanket that had been on the bed carelessly over Jeremy’s body and spoke.

“I knocked him out, so he won’t wake up for half a day.”

Celiya looked up at Dietrich with suspicious eyes.

“Why are you going this far? You’ll only lose if you get caught.”

“……”

Dietrich’s gaze fell from Celiya’s face to her collarbone area.

The collarbone with red teeth marks.

After silently looking at that mark, Dietrich spoke in a low voice.

“Because I’m sorry.”

“……”

“It’s because I’m sorry. There’s no other reason.”

After finishing his words, Dietrich showed her his back.

“Get on my back. I’ll take you to a safe place.”

A safe place? Is there even a safe place in this Abelon?

Though he couldn’t have read Celiya’s thoughts, Dietrich continued.

“There’s a stable on the outskirts of the imperial palace. It’s a stable with only old and sick war horses, and I’m the only one who takes care of those horses.”

“……A stable?”

“Yes, a stable. Stay in my quarters next to the stable until the commotion dies down. By the way, no one else can enter there. The horses I’ve handled are very fierce. But it’ll be fine if you go with me.”

Celiya found it very strange to see Dietrich talking so much for the first time.

Dietrich turned around and personally put his black robe on Celiya.

Since it was tailored to fit his body, when Celiya wore it, the robe was so long it dragged on the floor. Still, it was much better than wearing the white mermaid dress.

“Now, get on my back.”