Chapter 57

Indeed, how many kisses had they shared now? Accepting Daniel's relentless lips, Freida clutched at his collar. Sensing her signal to let her breathe, Daniel's shoulders slightly pulled away. A heavy breath escaped from both their parted lips simultaneously. Daniel's eyes narrowed as he swept back his sweat-drenched hair. Should he stop here? Or should he force himself to feel more of her soft skin? His mind was in turmoil, unable to make a decision, but his body, honest to its instincts, kept leaning impatiently towards her. Freida firmly grabbed his shoulder, which was slowly descending again.

"Just a little more. Let me rest a bit more."

Freida, with a face that seemed on the verge of tears, mumbled weakly.

"It's too... hard."

Yes, it must be hard for you, even to this extent. I'm trying to be considerate of you, to the point where my head feels like it's about to explode. Stopping now feels like a letdown, and I want to push forward, but I'm worried. I thought it would be a tense tug-of-war between reason and instinct, but my body quickly pulled away. It seems I managed to retain a fragment of my reason amidst all this. Still, a deep sense of regret lingers. Daniel swept back his disheveled white hair, tidied up the clothes he had undone, and got off the bed. The sky outside the window had turned a dark red, and darkness had long since flooded the room, which had no lights. It meant he had spent the afternoon in this room, drinking in Freida's lips and burying his nose in her scent.

"Huh, I must be crazy."

Daniel let out a hollow laugh, first turning on the wall light and then lighting the candle on the bedside table. After confirming the flame on the wick, he turned his eyes to the bed. Their gazes met in the soft light that spread through the air. Daniel's still heated, red eyes slowly scanned Freida. Her swollen, pouting lips, from which a barely audible breath escaped, her cheeks, red like a rose, even in the darkness, and her white hair, which clung to her cheeks, unable to fall behind her ears. Seeing her disheveled from the storm of his passion, he felt as if he were falling into an endless abyss. His heart was tossed about, unable to find its footing. I knew this would happen. I knew she would stir me up like this, yet I crossed the line. I didn't even try to resist, and my decision to raise the white flag was purely my own. I also knew that this choice could plunge both Daniel and Freida into great trouble. Despite all this, I couldn't ignore this powerful woman who had brought me to my knees in an instant. Standing beside the bed, Daniel, who had been silent while maintaining eye contact, saw Freida tilt her head in confusion. Seeing her innocent eyes, which couldn't hide her bewilderment, Daniel's stiff expression softened.

"The sun has set."

While removing a strand of hair from above Freida's eyebrows, Daniel said calmly. The thought of sharing ordinary days with her, where the sun rises and sets, made his heart feel heavy.

"Yes, it has. Um, but Daniel..."

Freida nodded slightly, then hesitated. Curious about what she wanted to say, Daniel waited for her to finish. He didn't mind her looking for the right words to say to him.

"Um... well, you know."

Daniel kept a gentle smile as he waited for Freida to finish speaking.

"Are you... not hungry?"

The moment he understood her question, a hunger he had forgotten about surged within him. Desire. Obsession. Hunger. His senses, which had been dormant, one by one awoke and found their place. The innocent eyes, unaware of what he had done, blinked loudly, pleading with hunger. ***

Not long after the messenger bird from the eastern border arrived, the Chamberlain, the Duke of the western region, brought news. The Empress Dowager's expression, which had been calm, twisted instantly upon reading the message that the Solon tribe, which had been quiet for years, was crossing the eastern border again.

"Exactly when does he plan to return to Chellino, and why did he end up going there in the first place..."

She had known from the beginning that Leopold would go to Daniel, so she sent the Chamberlain with him. But the news that it had actually happened gave her a headache worse than expected.

"Hmm."

As she groaned and pressed her temples, the advisor, Duke Climar, approached.

"Your Majesty, should I call a doctor?"

"No."

With a clear cause for her headache, a doctor would only be a nuisance. Margret waved her hand and pressed her knuckles into her aching forehead.

"Is Lord Boiled quiet?"

"Yes, he hasn't reported anything unusual yet."

Sending a quick and light-footed person would only result in them dying at Daniel's hands without a trace. That cunning man would throw them into the wolf's den and deny everything. Even before losing consciousness, he had pretended to be obedient to the royal family, but his defiance had increased over time.

'He's grown too powerful. It's time to get rid of him, but there's no one suitable to replace him.'

She decided to at least send a monitor. Sending someone who would die was pointless, so she chose the cautious and serious Lord Boiled. But he was too slow, or perhaps he was still confused about whom to be loyal to.

"Have the preparations been made as instructed?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. We have prepared a claimant for the ownership of the Boiled family's mansion and estate, along with fake documents to support the claim. Once you give the order, a request to resolve the dispute will be submitted to the royal family."

Noble estates are inherently a source of conflict. Requests to the royal family to determine who owns the land, passed down through marriage and inheritance, number in the dozens each year. The basic principle for the royal family in resolving territorial disputes is the existence of authenticated documents. No matter how insignificant, maintaining the lineage of a noble family requires estates and mansions. Once they are involved in a dispute, anyone would have to be cautious of the royal family.

'People who have nothing are more attached to what they have.'

If they don't move, make them move. If they are indecisive, give them a choice.

"Tell them to start. I can only hope that Lord Boiled has enough sense to realize why he's in trouble. If not, we won't need to waste any more time and can find someone else."

"Yes, I understand, Your Majesty."

"It's frustrating. There are so few people who can take care of their own responsibilities."

Without her intervention, nothing gets done properly. There are so few people she can trust and use.

"Huh."

The Empress Dowager sighed deeply and pressed her forehead. As time passed, the mistakes she had made became painful regrets.

'Maybe I should have spared a few.'

Having eliminated all the families that could obstruct Leopold, unexpected situations arose. She had uprooted the roots of potential enemies, but once they were gone, there was no one left. Her maternal family, the Baichen, had always been selective, and Richard was the last of Leopold's bloodline. The Laigningen Dukes, known for producing only sons, were given the position of Empress because, despite their numbers, they had no capable male siblings. The von Heim, the last of the von Heim Dukes, was on his last legs and would likely be gone by the end of the year. The twelve dukes, the empire's enemies, were gone, but that's where new problems began. Focusing only on cutting out the rotten parts, she overlooked that these wounds would also become part of her body. Without lips, teeth are not protected, and without flesh, bones are exposed. The brilliant mind of the Baichen, Margret, had made such a basic mistake. For three hundred years, the chaos in the Svergen Empire was attributed to the weakened royal authority. As long as the descendants of the twelve dukes fought over the throne, there could be no peace in this land. Like the ancestors of the Baichen, Margret still does not doubt this judgment. Therefore, even when the twelve dukes maintained their pure bloodline through incestuous marriages, the Baichen kept their distance. Perhaps because of this, the Baichen family did not produce madmen like the Duke of Haidel or those suffering from hereditary diseases like the Hatzfelds. Instead, there were few healthy male heirs. Rather than going to war and showing their bravery like the Richard family, they focused on using their intellect. They couldn't send their precious male heirs to war and sacrifice them. The Baichen's decision to break the three-hundred-year-old rule against incestuous marriages and marry into the Richard family, one of the twelve dukes, was solely Margret's. To make Richard the emperor and herself the empress, to continue the Svergen royal lineage with a perfect bloodline. The family's elders unanimously accepted her decision that the time had come. Raised to be an empress from birth, Margret carried the future of the Baichen on her shoulders and stepped out into the world with the flawless plan crafted by the brilliant minds of the Baichen over the past three centuries.

'Laura, if it weren't for you...'

The hand that had been pressing her forehead clenched into a fist. Unlike her, who was heavy, dark, and cold, Laura, the low-born woman from Laphas, brightened and excited everyone just by existing. The humiliation and disgrace she and her husband inflicted on her were not even worth remembering. Her mother almost ruined her grand plan, and her son tried to block her son's path. Or perhaps he really did block it. Could this be the reason why Leopold has no heirs?

'No, no. I've confirmed it many times. It's impossible.'

She had conducted many experiments on her subordinates, both men and women, and none of those who had taken Ekinasia once became infertile. At the time, she had only intended to kill Laura, so Leopold's lack of children must be a coincidence. But this lingering unease, what is it?

'I should have killed her along with her mother, without any hesitation.'

If she had, the people of the empire would not have known the name of 'Duke Daniel Richard,' who boasts of more glamorous tales than 'Emperor Leopold von Bulstark II.' Margret lowered her hand from her forehead and looked at Duke Climar.

"Send more assassins to Utrecht. Choose capable ones who can act immediately if they find any leads."

"Your Majesty, as you know, very few return alive from there."

"Then we must choose even more capable ones. Since the Emperor will soon be going there, it's also acceptable to send them hidden within the royal guard."

Though she didn't want to imagine it, if Daniel had secretly fathered and raised a bastard child like his mother, it would be a disaster. If Leopold ends up without an heir, even a half-breed would be the only royal bloodline left.

'I can't bear to see that.'

Daniel must be the end of the Duke of Richard.

"Send a messenger to the border to gather more information on the Solon tribe's movements. Ask if they need reinforcements."

No matter what, she would not allow the low-born blood of Laura to taint the empire.