Eustar looked at Laila silently with a gentle expression. Because of that gaze, Laila had to feel an inexplicable sense of guilt again. Of course, Eustar wouldn’t be able to know her feelings.

He said.

“I came because there’s something I want to discuss.”

“Discuss?”

Laila asked back with a slightly furrowed brow, sounding puzzled.

“With me?”

Eustar nodded.

“I’m asking just in case… Laila, do you want a wedding ceremony?”

A deeper crease formed between Laila’s brows. For a moment, she pulled her head back as if she had heard an incomprehensible foreign language, then hunched her shoulders and stared at Eustar.

“I don’t understand what you mean.”

“What I mean is… Well, this is just my thought, but please hear me out. I don’t think we need to have a lavish wedding ceremony in front of others. Because.”

Eustar took a breath and continued in a calmer voice.

“Laila, you’re feeling burdened by everything even at this moment. So on top of that… I don’t want to force you to do something that’s not really necessary. I thought there’s no need to make you do such a thing.”

Laila, just as Eustar had done earlier, looked at him silently for a moment.

“Is that really your thought, Eustar? Or did His Majesty order you to do so?”

Eustar relaxed his eyebrows and smiled briefly.

“Do you think my elder brother would be the type to boldly omit my wedding ceremony?”

Of course, he seems more than capable of that. Laila thought. But she didn’t voice those words.

Eustar gave her a meaningful look, as if trying to scrutinize every word she had hidden in her heart.

“If, Laila. If you want, we’ll have a wedding ceremony. We could even have a grand one.”

“I don’t want such a thing.”

Laila’s answer was immediate. It felt like the words had jumped out of her mouth before her mind could even process them.

A wedding ceremony? She couldn’t even imagine it, nor did she want to.

Even if she wore a veil as white as snow, would it hide her hair? When she raised her head to swear before God, what expression would the bishop make upon seeing her eyes?

Eustar asked.

“I thought so. But Laila, then what do you want?”

“Why are you asking such a thing?”

“Because I want to know what I should do to make you happy.”

It was an astonishing statement. Laila was at a loss for words and just stared at Eustar. Eustar’s long hair that had fallen beside his cheek moved slightly forward. That small movement made it clear that he had lowered his head.

You shouldn’t make such an expression. Laila thought. Eustar’s expression… it was hard to describe, but it looked sad.

But why would he feel sadness? There was no reason for Eustar to feel sad because he didn’t know how to make Laila happy. It wasn’t even an understandable sadness.

“Eustar, I don’t mind not being happy. But I don’t want to be unhappy either. I just…”

Laila’s words trailed off faintly.

“Do you want to live peacefully without anything happening?”

At Eustar’s question, Laila’s expression subtly hardened.

“Maybe.”

When Laila answered cautiously, Eustar said.

“That time has already passed, Laila. As you’ve seen with your own eyes.”

This time, Laila looked straight at him with an expression of utter disbelief. She wanted to argue that it wasn’t so, that perhaps things could still be reversed. But words wouldn’t come easily.

He’s right. She heard a whisper in her head. He’s right… You have nowhere to go back to now. The time when you could hide in your little cave and brew herb soup will never return.

Her vision trembled as if an earthquake had struck. Laila momentarily tried to turn her head to hide her tears, but it was futile.

Eustar, letting out a short sigh, gently grasped her arm.

“I’m sorry for saying this, Laila. But I… I don’t want to see you suffering meaninglessly anymore. I told you, didn’t I? Even if we get married, if you want, it can remain a superficial relationship. Nothing will change. I didn’t bring you here to use you like this. I wanted to ask for your help.”

His voice gradually lowered and eventually broke off. Laila, who had roughly wiped her eyes, looked at him with even redder eyes.

“I didn’t know things would turn out like this.”

Laila’s eyes blinked slowly.

“Did you really not know, Eustar?”

Silence fell. Laila thought how nice it would be if she could understand his heart just by looking at him. If she could look into some part of him, like seeing the core of ghosts…

“Can you really say you had no idea at all?”

But she couldn’t. So asking was the best Laila could do. Whether he lied or told the truth, it wouldn’t change what had happened to her anyway. Even so, she wanted to know. She wanted to hear it from his own mouth.

“I really didn’t know.”

Laila slumped her shoulders as if all strength had left her, then sighed.

“Will Lady Himierd be alright?”

When she asked, an amused smile appeared on Eustar’s face.

“Are you worried about her?”

Laila furrowed her brows as if to say, isn’t it obvious?

“After all, it happened because of me.”

Eustar nodded. But it seemed more like he was trying to comfort her rather than agreeing with her words.

“Himierd will be fine. Don’t worry.”

Laila found some comfort in his answer, but she wasn’t completely reassured. However, if she didn’t believe his words, there was nothing… truly nothing she could hold onto in her current situation.

When Laila finally nodded, Eustar smiled gently and placed a light kiss on the back of her hand as a sign of affection.

“Let’s have dinner together tonight. Alright?”

“I will.”

It had been a very long time since daylight streamed into King Ord’s bedroom.

When his condition was poor and he had to lie down all day, he couldn’t tolerate even the slightest bit of light. Because of this, the few officials and servants who could enter his bedroom could roughly gauge King Ord’s condition by whether the curtains were open or closed.

Ord Hyanmorik was staring blankly towards the window as if he was seeing sunlight for the first time in his life.

He was still in his nightclothes, but he was sitting up in bed and not gasping for breath. Considering that he had been almost unable to move recently, this was a remarkably improved state.

“Baso.”

At Ord’s call, the head servant bowed slightly.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“What month is it now?”

“It’s October, Your Majesty.”

“October, is it.”

His voice was lonely. He was not yet forty years old, but he felt like a tired and regretful old man. He couldn’t stop that thought, that emotion. Living day by day, enduring with a sick body, was like a struggle.

Knowing one’s fate in advance is a cruel thing. At least for Ord, it was. It was neither a blessing nor anything else…

Sometimes he raged and grieved at the powerlessness of only being able to take one step at a time, looking at an end that could not possibly be changed. But after raging and wailing, he had to move forward willingly again.

Because that was his promise.

A shallow cough mixed in at the end of Ord’s long sigh. The head servant was waiting to see if he would ask for water, but when no order came, he lowered his gaze for a moment.

“Your Majesty, may I dare to ask a question?”

Ord’s eyes, hollow as if only the bones remained, turned to Baso.

“Speak.”

Baso hesitated for a moment, then straightened his posture and looked at Ord.

“Do you really intend to make that witch the crown prince’s consort?”

For a moment, a mocking smile appeared on Ord’s lips, which were twisted like the shed skin of a dried-up snake. It was as if he had anticipated that Baso would ask this question.

“Yes. Why? Do you want to object as well?”

Baso shook his head.

“How could I? I am prepared to follow whatever Your Majesty does, no matter what it may be. However… I am merely curious, if I may be so bold, about the reason for Your Majesty’s decision.”

Ord turned his head again and looked at the sunlight outside the window. The autumn sunlight. Come to think of it, the trees visible from the bedroom were tinged with red and yellow. Some of them trembled at the tips of their branches, dropping dry leaves.

Ord’s expression softened unbelievably for a moment as he watched this, but the emotion soon disappeared. It sank instantly, like into a swamp, becoming invisible.

“Eustar has come of age, so I simply found him a match. I may be in this state and unable to welcome a queen, but Eustar is different from me. He is healthy and has no problems. It’s not strange for him to take a consort, is it?”

“Your words are correct. However, allow me one more word. Your Majesty, you will surely recover. You will regain your former robust self and stand firm as the cornerstone, the pillar of Sieyerou. Only then will the people of the kingdom be able to feel at ease.”

Ord snorted. This time it wasn’t just an expression of mockery. Baso looked at him intently without even flinching. In his eyes, which had aged naturally unlike Ord’s, a light of sympathy and concern appeared.

“The people’s peace of mind, you say. Well, Baso. I think differently. As long as I sit on the throne, no one will be able to feel at ease.”

A faint shadow fell over Baso’s face. Ord lowered his gaze and clenched and unclenched his right hand, which had been resting on the sheet.

As if trying to confirm that his fingers were still attached, or as if desperately checking if his hand could still move at his will.

Ord said.

“Yes, they cannot feel at ease… As long as I occupy the throne, no one should feel at ease.”

The skin under his dead black eyes twitched. It was a movement that seemed as if something might crawl out from under the wrinkled and dried skin that looked like that of a centenarian.

At that moment, a knock was heard on the large door leading to the living room. A young servant standing at attention said.

“Your Majesty, the crown prince requests an audience.”