Lenisha did not make a move.

Lexsus scratched his lips with his finger.

The look in Lexsus’s eyes as he removed the mask was dry and parched.

Every time Lexsus took a step, anxiety oozed out.

Henry held his breath and followed Lexsus’s movements.

In the stifling silence, no one opened their mouth.

The servants simply closed their eyes and turned their heads.

They were aware that the man in front of them could take their lives with even a small mistake.

“Lenisha is not moving.”

After sending Lenisha away, Lexsus had been watching the mansion.

He surely thought that Lenisha would make a move to do something.

But while Casius had been out occasionally, Lenisha was not revealing herself outside the mansion.

As if she really acknowledged her guilt and accepted it.

The edict announcing Lenisha’s dethronement would be posted across the country tomorrow.

The royal scribes had polished and repolished the words to issue the dethronement decree.

Even if she had become a person who should not be in the palace, they did not want to insult Lenisha who had experienced such an absurd incident.

It took a long time, but Lexsus was distracted elsewhere and didn’t care.

Lexsus was paying attention to Lenisha’s actions.

“Why isn’t she doing anything?”

Lexsus bit his nails.

‘Really, does she intend to admit and leave like this, Lenisha?’

There’s no way she could. Lenisha would never tolerate such a miserable appearance…

“Ah.”

Is it because of that man?

The slave knight, the man whose gaze towards Lenisha was resentful.

Lexsus slowly brushed his hair back.

Casius’s gaze towards Lenisha was not something a knight should send to an empress.

It was warm and filled with a strange emotion.

Lexsus’s purple eyes glowed ominously.

Various emotions were swirling inside.

“Shall I bring some alcohol?”

Henry asked cautiously. Lexsus shook his head.

“No need.”

Lexsus glared at the books on the table with sharp eyes.

That night, Lenisha was the only one who would touch those books.

Only Lenisha knew that Lexsus had a habit of throwing the book he was reading under the bed.

Lexsus stared at Lenisha’s last trace for a long time.

This was unnecessary.

Whatever Lenisha does, Lexsus had his own work, and it was a matter of living as if he didn’t know, as before.

But he was not letting go of her, as if something sticky was clinging to his heart.

Even holding the canary did not lift his spirits as much as before.

‘Could it be… Did I expect something?’

Lexsus let out a hollow laugh.

Hoping that Lenisha would struggle and come back to him,

Had he wanted her to realize how good a choice Lexsus had been compared to the most contemptible one?

Lexsus mocked himself.

‘How stupid!’

As if Lenisha’s pride would allow it!

Lexsus leaned on the bed’s headrest and stood still.

His gaze caught Henry. The old chamberlain was faintly smiling.

“Henry…”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“How long have you served me?”

“I have served Your Majesty since your accession, so it must have been about 8 years.”

“8 years.”

Lexsus mulled over the number.

8 years seemed like enough time to know Henry well.

Henry was a good chamberlain.

He always grasped Lexsus’s intentions before Lexsus himself and had often mediated between him and Lenisha.

Although Lexsus knew that Henry often clung to Lenisha like a bat, he let it slide.

He always achieved good results because of it.

“…You were close to Lenisha, weren’t you?”

Henry nodded his head.

“She was the Empress, so yes.”

“Henry, I know that you had a strong affection for Lenisha. Lenisha did not enter the palace with me at the same time, did she?”

“…”

Lexsus smirked and approached Henry.

His hand, patting Henry’s shoulder, was filled with an unreadable emotion.

Lexsus thrust his face close to Henry.

His grip on the chamberlain’s shoulder tightened as he searched Henry’s eyes.

Henry did not flinch in the slightest.
“You’ve worked hard all this time… by my side.”

It was Lexus, who would never say such a thing.

No one relaxed at such sweet words.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Henry was no exception.

“You are a loyal servant. A loyal servant who will work for me.”

“It’s only natural. I have sworn allegiance to Your Majesty. I have no one else to serve.”

“Alright, Henry. So there’s something you can do for me.”

Lexus let out a red laugh.

It was a face making something up again.

(This is a time divider.)

It was in the middle of the night that Henry came to Casius’s mansion with his baggage.

His tangled hair was not like him, who had always been neat.

The servants who greeted Henry had astonished faces.

Now, all the servants working in the mansion were those who had worked in the Empress’s palace.

There was no choice, as Casius’s household consisted only of knights and Tesha.

So they all had to know Henry.

Linday came forward with an awkward face.

“What brings you here? Head servant.”

“May I come in?”

Henry asked in a polite voice.

“You come at this late hour, and now…!”

“It’s the Empress’s command.”