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"I want to stay here. Next to Your Highness..."
"......"
At Iana's words, Charles, perhaps angered, silently gazed out the window.
Hoo-.
She blew out the candle she was holding.
Darkness once again filled the room.
Only Charles, bathed in the blue moonlight from beyond the window, was clearly visible.
Iana asked in an extremely low voice.
"Have you been suffering like this because of His Majesty the Emperor?"
"Iana."
He called her name, a little sharply.
"Don't do that again. Don't use schemes that provoke His Majesty the Emperor and make him attack Your Highness."
"......"
"You're still distressed by the Emperor revealing his hostility, aren't you? Or am I wrong?"
Iana and Charles's eyes met for a moment. But he remained silent.
The moment she saw Charles standing there with a troubled expression, she recalled the moment Marcel slapped her in the Empress Palace.
She believed she had resigned herself to her brother's fate.
But seeing Marcel reveal his hostility, she felt resentful and heartbroken.
Because the feelings built up over the time she had deeply trusted and relied on him couldn't be emptied so easily.
"As Your Highness said, it's late, so I'll be going now."
She bowed her head in greeting and turned around.
Then Charles spoke to her back.
"Iana, what am I supposed to do if even you are angry with me?"
She turned around, waving her hands vehemently with an aggrieved expression.
"I'm not angry, I'm just saying this because I'm worried about Your Highness. So..."
As Iana stammered in embarrassment, Charles chuckled.
Only then did she realize that he had made a joke.
"You were teasing me again, weren't you? I'm really going now."
Iana playfully glared at him.
Clang-.
Charles put down the glass he was holding on the table and spoke.
"If you absolutely have to go up..."
"......?"
"I wish you would give me a hug before you leave."
After speaking, Charles opened his arms towards Iana.
She placed the candlestick she was holding on the display case and walked towards him without hesitation.
Thud-.
Iana was embraced fully in Charles's arms. Was it because of the alcohol? She felt a deep heat from his body against hers.
Charles buried his face in her shoulder.
The two were silent for a moment.
He slowly raised his head and spoke in a low voice.
"Iana, the reason I'm suffering isn't because my brother is showing hostility towards me."
"Then what is it?"
At Iana's question, Charles's eyes turned cold.
"It's because the hostility towards my brother is growing uncontrollably in my heart."
"......"
"That's what's so hard to bear."
On a night bathed in blue moonlight.
Iana could read it accurately. Charles's heart was changing greatly.
✦ ✦ ✦
At the same time, Riel was alone in the Emperor's darkened bedroom, gazing out the window.
The Emperor, in high spirits for some reason, was drinking with his ministers until late at night.
'I must separate Iana from the Emperor's side.'
To get rid of Iana, she had to deal with Grand Duke Ervin behind her.
But the relationship between the Emperor and Grand Duke Ervin was ambiguous.
The Emperor was wary of Grand Duke Ervin, but at crucial moments, he protected him.
She had to find out the reason for that complex emotion in order to devise a plan to attack Grand Duke Ervin.
As Riel was lost in thought, she heard a commotion outside the bedroom door.
'His Majesty is here.'
Riel waited demurely for the Emperor in front of the door, as usual.
"His Majesty the Emperor is entering."
A moment later, she heard the voice of the secretary from beyond the door.
Bang!
The bedroom door was opened roughly, and the drunken Emperor entered, supported by his secretaries.
As they laid the Emperor on the bed, Riel approached to change his clothes.
Then, an elderly secretary firmly stopped her.
"Please remain still. This is our job."
Riel and the secretary exchanged tense glances.
That's when it happened.
Whoosh-.
The Emperor grabbed Riel's wrist and pulled her into his arms.
"Come here."
"Your Majesty!"
Riel pretended to be surprised and nestled in the Emperor's arms. She pressed her body against the Emperor's and boldly kissed his lips deeply.
As the embarrassing situation continued, the secretaries bowed and left the bedroom.
As the Emperor turned to kiss her, Riel pulled away and asked in a sultry voice.
"Your Majesty, why are you in such a good mood today?"
"Do I look like I'm in a good mood to you?"
"Yes, you look very happy."
The Emperor lay back on the bed and muttered to himself.
"Good. Of course, it's good. I saw him surrender for the first time."
Riel carefully examined the Emperor's expression and asked cautiously.
"Was there someone who didn't obey Your Majesty?"
"......"
The Emperor raised one hand to his face and remained silent.
Riel didn't say anything more, afraid of upsetting the Emperor.
A tense silence followed.
Then, the Emperor broke the silence and opened his mouth in a sorrowful voice.
"If Charles had become the Emperor instead of me..."
"Your Majesty, how can you say such absurd things?"
Riel vehemently denied it.
The Emperor slowly lowered the hand he had raised to his face. Then, he spoke with a gentle look she had never seen before.
"Charles would have done well."
"......"
"Unlike me, he's the kind of guy who knows what to do."
"......"
"I'm proud of Charles, but I also want to kill him. Because I feel like he'll believe in the things I taught him someday and attack me."
The Emperor revealed his true feelings while drunk.
Only then could Riel accurately understand the Emperor's feelings towards Grand Duke Ervin.
Inferiority.
A Monarch who cannot do what he knows and is consumed by desire.
The Emperor was ashamed of it, but his desire to enjoy power was intense.
Because he knew his own shortcomings well, it was difficult for him to accept criticism, and he wanted everyone to prostrate themselves and obey.
"Good. Of course, it's good. I saw him surrender for the first time."
Riel recalled the Emperor's words and was able to understand the situation.
'His Majesty is keeping Iana by his side as a means to pressure Grand Duke Ervin.'
But Iana's confident attitude during the day bothered her.
'Could it be that Grand Duke Ervin didn't foresee this situation?'
Then, the Emperor closed his eyes as if he was falling asleep.
Riel lay down, resting her head on the Emperor's arm, and whispered softly in his ear.
As if a devil was whispering, wickedly.
"If you want to kill him, then kill him."
"......"
The Emperor slowly opened his eyes and looked at Riel.
It was unclear whether he was fully conscious or if his mind was blurred with alcohol.
But Riel continued without hesitation.
"Because Your Majesty is the Emperor of the Rubena Empire..."
"......"
"And my omnipotent God."
The Emperor overlapped his body with Riel's and kissed her passionately.
Blue moonlight fell on the window of the Emperor's bedroom.
Eerily and chillingly.
✦ ✦ ✦
The next morning, Iana returned to her quarters from Charles's room at dawn.
She had finished bathing and was getting ready to go out when...
Knock knock.
Along with the sound of knocking on the door, she heard a familiar voice.
"Iana Archmage."
"That voice is Vera?"
Iana hurriedly opened the door with a surprised expression.
Sure enough, Vera was standing there with large bags in both hands.
"Vera, how did you get here?"
Vera looked around and said in an exaggerated voice.
"The Marquess said that Madam, no, the Archmage, came to the capital urgently and didn't have suitable clothes to wear, so he sent me."
At Vera's words, Iana had a sudden thought.
'My brother sent Vera because he has something urgent to tell me.'
"Come in quickly."
At Iana's words, Vera hurriedly closed the door and entered.
"Vera, were you in the capital?"
"I came with the Marquess when he came to the capital."
Vera approached Iana and whispered, lowering her voice.
"He said there might be a story to tell Madam without arousing suspicion from others."
The Imperial Palace had strict censorship.
Letters were at high risk of being discovered, and if the Rechelles family's soldiers or informants came and went from the Imperial Palace, it could arouse unnecessary suspicion.
So, Marcel seemed to have brought Vera, who was her maid, to the capital in preparation for any situation.
Iana asked in a low voice.
"Why did my brother send you?"
"Oh, my goodness. The Marquess told me to say this."
"......"
"He said that the Council of nine archmages will attack Madam. On the grounds that purification magic is fake."
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