“Reese.

I don’t know how much I regret when I see you.

Why did I marry you when nothing was properly arranged?

Why did I bring you into this beast’s den and make you endure difficult things in my place?

But perhaps, even if I faced the same moment again by turning back time, I might still have chosen to be with you a little sooner.

After all, humans are inherently selfish beings who only think about themselves.

I have lived surrounded by things I must protect throughout my life.

I had to protect myself, uphold my father’s beliefs, follow my mother’s wishes, and protect the imperial subjects.

In a world filled only with things I must protect, you will never know how touched I am by the fact that someone is trying to protect me.

I have lived for a long time thinking that protecting myself and others is my destiny, and I never thought there would be a moment when I could enjoy the joy of being protected.

You gave me that joy.

You tried to prevent a war by killing a spy from another country, and you prevented a fire incident that could have endangered the imperial family. And Ishar…

You made sure Ishar didn’t make the wrong choices.

As an excuse for the plans I couldn’t just watch, especially for the plans related to the spy, I’ll say that you didn’t want to dirty your hands with blood because of me.

Even if I have killed a few more people than I have so far, it’s nothing, but not for you.

You were still vividly remembering how sad you were when your cherished dog died. How could I ask you to do such a thing?

You couldn’t live your whole life with a burden on your heart. That’s why I did that.

But thank you. Thanks to you, I could avoid a crisis.

There’s no man in the world as happy as me.

You said it once.

‘I want to be a wise empress even if it’s a tiny minority.’

A tiny minority, Reese.

Among all the empresses in history, no woman has schemed and boldly executed plans for the emperor as sincerely as you have.

You are…”

“You are unique, Reese.”

⭐⭐⭐

It felt like a feeling that penetrated the crown of my head.

Everything stopped at once, as if struck by lightning.

I felt like I was floating in the vast, empty world, and also felt that I was overreacting to insignificant words. But…

Reese suddenly realized.

Hersis knew everything she had done so far!

With eyes full of astonishment, Reese asked.

“H-How… How did you know that?”

In this situation, it was a natural question.

Hersis opened his mouth to answer the question.

“No, don’t say it!”

Reese, suddenly frightened, hurriedly stopped him.
Perhaps, beyond knowing everything he did, he was afraid that he knew that this world was inside a book, and that he was not originally destined to be connected with it. He was afraid that all the things that accidentally earned his favor might have been intentional, and he was afraid of the conclusion that he might come to know that.

“Reese.”

Hersis gently lifted Reese’s chin with a soft touch. The smile that was faintly coloring his eyes seemed to say that there was no need to think about such things.

“What’s important now is that I want you to let me do something for you.”

He said in a gentle voice.

“About half a season will be enough. I’ll organize everything in there, so just leave for a while.”

“…….”

Since the shock hadn’t subsided yet, Reese didn’t vehemently refuse as she did a while ago.

Perhaps Hersis thought he should move quickly at this point. He got up from his seat and reached out to Reese.

“Now, get ready and let’s go out. We won’t be far from here, so we’ll arrive before midnight.”

Reese just looked at the hand extended to her. For quite a long time, as if examining the hand.

Then, her gaze slowly crawled up his wrist, arm, and shoulder like a caterpillar, finally struggling to reach Hersis’s golden eyes.

At that moment, her eyes were filled with a deep resignation.

It was a resignation that came from the realization that there was nothing more to hide.

“Isn’t it fascinating?”

“…….”

“The male protagonist of the book I saw a long time ago also said something like this in a similar situation as you do now. He said, ‘I’ll organize everything neatly within half a season, so please leave the palace for a while.’ But instead of organizing, he…”

After taking a moment to catch her breath, Reese continued.

“He died.”

It was a word she didn’t want to bring out until the end.

But Reese knew very well that there are many more moments when you have to do things you don’t want to do than moments when you don’t.

Reese tensed her neck. If she was going to say it, she wanted to pronounce it clearly and vividly in his ears.

“He died very lonely and miserable. He was ridiculed by everyone even after his death.”

“…….”

“That’s unfair, isn’t it? After surviving so hard, changing even my appearance, I should be happy now. But why… Why did he die so absurdly…”

“Don’t die.”

Hersis interrupted Reese.

His calm voice contrasted sharply with Reese’s agitated voice.

“Do not die. Never.”

His voice was confident. Trustworthy.