Chapter 92

With a stern face, the emperor, who had been silent for a moment, turned his head away from her and spat out the words as if chewing them.

“Stop asking pointless questions and go back.”

“I’ve been wondering every day, Your Majesty, aren’t you curious? You are my father, after all.”

“Dian!!”

“Please tell the councilors to officially announce my pregnancy. They keep delaying the diagnosis.”

“…….”

“If it’s a boy, will you make this child your successor?”

“…….”

“Can’t you?”

Dian asked in a whisper, facing the emperor's icy expression.

“Why? Is it because I am low-born?”

And she earnestly wished he would tell her not to say such things, that no one had ever dared to call her low-born, and comfort her. After what felt like an eternity of silence, the emperor finally spoke.

“My successor will be the offspring of the empress.”

The cruel words that reached her ears brutally tore at her heart. Dian stared blankly at the emperor and finally nodded.

“……I see.”

Yes, that’s how it was. My low birth status meant you never intended to make me empress, and you never intended to make my child your successor. Dian slowly stood up. She no longer had the strength to face him. As she turned, the tears she had been holding back spilled out. As she walked unsteadily through the world that seemed to shimmer, she suddenly remembered something and asked.

“Your Majesty, why did you give me the Ivory Palace?”

“…….”

“Why did you keep me by your side?”

“…….”

He cruelly refused to answer, but Dian read the answer in his silence. The emperor had merely been using her to vent his unbearable emotions.

‘To His Majesty, my existence was like…… a trash can.’

Strangely, a laugh burst out. Dian, who had returned to the Ivory Palace, took out all the baby items she had prepared in advance. Tiny clothes, shoes smaller than her palm, and an adorable hat…… Dian held them to her chest and laughed while crying. A wave of loss crashed over her. She had walked through a bottomless hell with bare feet all night and slowly lifted her head.

“What I truly hate…… is not that woman.”

Yes, it wasn’t that woman. There was someone else who had thrown her into hell.

“Why do I have to endure this alone? The people who threw me into hell are living just fine.”

Her sky-blue eyes, red and bloodshot from tears, glowed with madness. ＊ ＊ ＊ When the butler bowed and left, saying he would bring the guests, the entire body trembled like a leaf. Adel slowly turned and walked dazedly to the mirror. In the mirror, a woman with disheveled hair sat alone. She started to comb her hair with a brush, but her hands were so shaky that it only tangled more and wouldn’t work. At that moment, someone gently grabbed her hand from behind. Lionel slowly took the brush from Adel’s hand and whispered softly.

“I will do it for you.”

“…….”

She closed her eyes and composed her disheveled expression, entrusting her grooming to him. As her breathing gradually calmed, and she slowly opened her eyes, her expression had returned to its usual calm, as if the moment of mutual warmth had been a mirage. Lionel, suppressing the overwhelming feeling that kept welling up, gently combed her jet-black hair. But what made him even sadder was the expression reflected in the mirror.

“If you do not wish to see the guest, I will send them away.”

“……No.”

“Who is it?”

“……Cain.”

A name etched in Lionel’s mind like a brand.

‘Please, bring anyone, just bring someone.’

The desperate voice, as if it would break at any moment, echoed vividly in his mind, as if it had happened yesterday. Even then, she had pleaded for them to be called, feeling as if she would die, but soon resigned herself to being fine. And now…… she was desperately trying to hide her动摇.

Her life, so splendid yet empty, pierced his heart. How could he share the heavy burden she carried?

“Duke, please go ahead. I will be out shortly.”

Her calm voice, steady as she looked at him, felt like a knife stabbing his heart. ＊ ＊ ＊ Meanwhile, Cain and Ghibellin, after the butler who had led them to the parlor left, saying they would wait a moment, were sitting and anxiously biting their lips. After a long two-month journey to the capital of Echmont, where they finally arrived, hearing that Adel had been deposed from her position as empress was a shock.

‘Are you well, Cain?’

‘…….’

‘Aren’t you going to greet me?’

‘…….’

‘I’m well. I’ll be fine, too.’

Adel’s image, smiling calmly and jokingly greeting them, was vivid in their minds. On the day she left for a distant foreign land where she knew no one, Cain stood alone at the port, clutching his chest in pain until the ship carrying her disappeared below the horizon. The days he spent watching over her, who never showed her weakness to anyone and always pretended to be strong, were blown away by the wind. If he felt this way, how must she have felt? To have come so far, only to be deposed and now taking refuge in a duke’s house. Cain’s face, beautiful enough to be ambiguous in gender, twisted savagely. How much time had passed? When the door creaked open, Cain and Ghibellin reflexively jumped to their feet. But the person who entered was not Adel. A man of extraordinary beauty and composure exuded an equally extraordinary aura. Lionel, moving toward them, quickly scanned the two impressive figures. The one with silver hair loosely tied was so striking in appearance that even Lionel felt a pure admiration, and the other was a towering figure even in Echmont, where the average height was large. When Lionel finally reached them, he spoke first.

“Welcome. I am Lionel Herbert, Duke of this estate.”

Cain also responded with proper etiquette.

“Forgive the late hour of our visit. I am Cain Knox of Gotrop.”

His voice, deep and resonant, was strikingly different from his beautiful appearance. Ghibellin also greeted.

“I am Ghibellin Ruan.”

Cain Knox and Ghibellin Ruan. The people Adel had been looking for that day. Lionel was enveloped in a subtle emotion, as if a sharp blade was pointed at his throat. Their arrival at the Herbert estate meant they were already aware of the situation in Echmont. Naturally, they would try to take her back to their homeland by any means. The determination in the two men’s eyes, burning with anger, was evident. At that moment, Ghibellin spoke in a suppressed voice.

“We heard Her Highness is here. What is the reason for her deposition?”

His body radiated anger, a sharp and aggressive presence that even Lionel, who had spent a long time on the battlefield, found chilling. At that moment, the parlor door, which had been firmly closed, slowly opened, and the three men’s gazes turned to the door. Golden eyes that illuminated the dark night, slightly upturned eyes, and a firmly closed mouth. Her appearance, like a tree standing firm against the storm, was both dignified and poignant. Cain’s sharp gaze softened. If footsteps left marks on the path of dreams, even the stone path would crumble and leave no trace, as the song said. Since the day she disappeared below the horizon, Cain had always been thinking of her.

“Cain. Ghibellin.”

When Adel called, Cain and Ghibellin ran to her as if they had been waiting. Ghibellin, frowning, examined Adel closely and sighed.

“Your Highness…… why are you so thin?”

“I’m not thin.”

“You are. You are! Your face is pale. What happened? If I had known, I would have brought plenty of your favorite dried meat. No, I should have left it behind…….”

“Did you eat it all on the way?”

“…….”

Ghibellin, a large figure, shrank and nodded, and Adel laughed at the sight. Then, turning her head from Ghibellin, she met Cain’s piercing gaze.

“Why no word? Is something wrong in Gotrop?”

“…….”

“Cain.”