TEWRIT 05

Episode 5

Eliano’s lips trembled uncontrollably. The Emperor pressed his lips deeply against hers. As he pulled back, he whispered lowly.

“Did you really think I wouldn’t know anything?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I’ve been patient enough with you, Lia. All those little tricks you’ve been playing…”

“Your Majesty, are you still doubting me? That spy is…”

Marcel kissed her again. Eliano didn’t resist the emperor’s kiss or the hands undoing her clothes. She simply closed her eyes. She intended to keep them closed the entire time. But even that, Marcel wouldn’t allow.

Lifting her up, he placed her on his desk and lightly slapped her cheek, ordering her to open her eyes. Humiliation washed over her.

“If you don’t open your eyes, I’ll stop. Don’t you want to carry the seed you desire so much? Then you’ll have to satisfy me.”

Eliano could no longer endure how he treated her like a plaything. No matter how much she needed a child, she couldn’t bear this level of humiliation. She slapped Marcel’s hand away as he grabbed her chest and snapped angrily.

“Forget it! I don’t need your seed! I’d rather be deposed and die as a barren woman!”

Her words seemed to ignite something in Marcel. He used his strength to push her back down onto the desk. The impact left her head throbbing as she hit it, and her scream echoed briefly before Marcel cursed and continued his rough, violent actions.

She knew she had to scream. Marcel, who cared so much about appearances, would surely stop if she did… But then Marcel’s tone shifted back to that of the emperor.

“If someone comes, I’ll stop. I’ll never come to you again, and perhaps I’ll even take the lead in having you deposed as empress.”

“If you hate this so much, then scream, Empress.”

Eliano couldn’t scream.

“I know you don’t love me anymore. I know all you want is my seed. And I’m giving it to you!”

With every angry word Marcel shouted, her body was shaken violently.

“Look at yourself, lying beneath me. The once noble empress, now begging for a child…”

That day, the emperor took her like a beast. There was no consideration, only the release of all his anger. Who had the right to be angry here? Eliano felt a deep sense of injustice.

“So this is why I can’t stand you. Even if I don’t love you, Lia, you should still love me. Everyone’s telling me to depose you, but I’m the one keeping you here!”

An act without love only brought pain.

“Make some noise. You weren’t like this in Lynxgen. Feel something…!”

Marcel’s attempts to elicit pleasure from her only felt like another way to humiliate her. But Eliano endured it and did what he wanted. To survive, she needed to have a child. Unbearable tears streamed down her face.

“Your tears are still as precious as jewels.”

Marcel whispered lazily as he licked her tears. The act continued until Eliano collapsed from exhaustion.

***

“Lia, my love… I was wrong… Don’t cry. I didn’t mean to hurt you…”

When she opened her eyes, Emperor Marcel was crying. He apologized with a face full of guilt. Eliano saw this as an opportunity. She felt something disappear inside her. Though it left her hollow, her mind grew clearer.

“I know you did it because you love me, Your Majesty. You still love me, don’t you?”

Eliano spoke words she didn’t mean as she seduced the emperor. She had decided to live in the same world as the concubines she had once scorned. When Eliano shed tears, the Emperor started visiting the empress’s palace again.

From that day on, her tears became her true weapon. Eliano began to fully realize the power of the emperor’s love. She understood in her bones what it meant for the women of the imperial palace to rely entirely on the emperor’s favor—and that the empress was no exception.

Eliano gave up her pride and took back the tears that had previously represented her frugality. With a sorrowful face and tears streaming down, she began seeking the emperor’s embrace.

“I can’t live without you.”

She even knocked on the emperor’s bedchamber herself and went into his arms.

“I missed you so much. I can’t sleep unless I’m in your arms.”

Eliano fulfilled all of the emperor’s desires in bed. Thankfully, he never took her like he had that day outside of the bedroom.

“Lia, my love. You’re the only one for me. You’re the only one who truly loves me. Please, be kind to me.”

In truth, it was her lingering love that allowed her to act this way, more than the need to survive. Without it, she wouldn’t have been able to endure the humiliation and disgrace. Eliano felt that she could do anything to escape this miserable reality.

***

“Flint Howard of Bianteca greets Her Majesty, the Empress of Zacador. Please excuse this unannounced visit as I make my proposal tonight.”

That night’s uninvited guest infiltrated the empress’s bedroom, leaving no room for her to turn him away. He did not have a weapon, yet Eliano gripped the dagger hidden in her sleeve tightly.

“Duke Howard… Do you truly think this situation makes any sense?”

Unable to hide her anger, Eliano addressed the man. To be exact, this meeting had been forced, with her lady-in-waiting threatened into arranging it. No matter how nostalgic it might have been to see someone from her homeland, Eliano had no goodwill for a rogue from an enemy nation.

Such a meeting was beyond inappropriate—it was dangerous.

“Did the Rosana Duchy grow angry because I’ve renounced Bianteca? Or is this an attempt by Bianteca to deal with a traitor from their homeland?”

“Bianteca never expected anything from Your Majesty in the first place.”

“Nothing? Do you think I’m a fool? The moment the empress denied her homeland and remained childless, their dreams of meddling in Zacador’s internal affairs vanished.”

“Bianteca has no room to care about such things because of your family’s circumstances.”

The back-and-forth dragged on.

“The roots of a noblewoman lie in Bianteca.”

“Roots?” At the long-forgotten term, Eliano murmured.

“I have no intention of denying my origins here, but I am the empress of Zacador. I am a Zacadorian.”

To survive, Eliano had lived by denying her origins, insisting over and over that she was not Biantecan but Zacadorian. Yet the label of “Bianteca” still caused her problems.

“That is precisely your roots, Your Majesty. I’ve lived in Zacador for 20 years, yet I’ve never forgotten my roots for even a moment. I believe the same is true for you.”

Speaking calmly was Flint Howard, a Biantecan with the unique background of having been born in Zacador. Eliano twisted her lips and retorted.

“Unlike you, I lived peacefully and happily in Lynxgen. We’re not the same.”

The Howard family had suffered through a string of tragedies, but Eliano had enjoyed a blissful honeymoon in Lynxgen. It was the price of Bianteca’s defeat in a reckless war initiated by Emperor Leopold during the early years of his reign. As part of the fallout, Maximilian Howard, a renowned Biantecan general, was sent as a hostage to Zacador, where he fathered Flint Howard. Born posthumously after his father’s death and soon losing his mother as well, Flint spent a troubled childhood in Lynxgen.

With the loyalty and help of his late parents’ supporters, he survived and eventually returned to Bianteca with the crown prince, which many saw as a miracle. If Emperor Leopold’s older brother, Flint’s grandfather, hadn’t died right before giving up the throne, Flint’s life would have been completely different.

“Roots… How fitting for someone called the ‘Tragic Crown Prince.’ But don’t try to confuse me with such words. I’m not like you.”

Eliano mocked him. The nickname “Tragic Crown Prince” had originated in Zacador.

When Flint Howard became famous across the continent, Eliano made remarks about his family background to discredit him.

—The Duke of Howard is a tragic figure.

Crown Prince Alphonsus died due to **illness** (or another unspecified reason). In Bianteca, the rules say the firstborn inherits the throne, so only he could have become king, regardless of gender issues in their society. Without him, there wouldn’t be a clear heir to take over.

Zacador frequently mocked Bianteca, accusing its late emperor of poisoning his elder brother out of ambition. Eliano’s comments added fuel to those rumours. Because of her sharp tongue, Flint Howard’s solid friendship with Bianteca’s crown prince had once wavered.

Yet, standing before her now, Flint’s face remained calm.

Suddenly, he asked her.

“So, are you happy now?”

As empress of Zacador, Eliano was surrounded by wealth.

Everything she wore and owned was lavishly adorned, yet she looked like she carried the weight of the world’s burden and sorrow. Flint felt a mix of surprise at the change in the once-innocent noblewoman and sympathy for her.

“And are you happy, serving the son of your enemy?” Eliano countered.

“I didn’t expect you to bring up such an outdated title.”

“You’ll need to get used to it since it’s your badge of honour now.”

Though mocked as a puppet empress, Eliano, the mistress of the Zacadorian imperial palace, had access to the continent’s most sensitive information. Some even said she knew more than Emperor Marcel himself.

”Have you come to cause friction between my husband and me? That’s a lowly task for a gentleman of Bianteca.”

Eliano removed a silver ornament from her hair and dropped it into the teapot, stirring it with deliberate elegance.

Flint’s eyes followed her movements.

After setting down the ornament, she poured tea with a refined grace that was interrupted by his next words.

“I’ve come to take the princess home.”

“What…?”

Tea spilt over the edge of the cup.

“Don’t you want to escape this reality? If you take my hand, you can live out the rest of your life peacefully in your homeland.”

Eliano filled another cup with unwavering precision, but her gaze, reflected in the tea, trembled violently. Though she quickly suppressed her emotions, Flint noticed the fleeting change. To further emphasize his point, he added, “This is the will of Demian Rosana.”

At that name, her green eyes took on a different hue, reminiscent of lush greenery yet darkened by something else.

Demian Rosana.

The young duke of the Rosana family was Eliano’s twin brother. Once inseparable, calling each other halves of a whole, they had drifted apart long ago. Affection and trust had been replaced by resentment and hatred.

Though Eliano had supported her family with immense wealth and devoted herself to the Rosana household, they, and especially Demian, had abandoned her in her most desperate and vulnerable moments.

“You may not believe it, but he worries about you.”

Before Flint could finish, Eliano threw her teacup at him. The cold tea drenched Flint, prompting a sigh from his attendant. The man had warned Flint not to mention Demian’s name, but the upright Flint had insisted on revealing the truth.

Eliano’s eyes turned bloodshot.

“How dare you make fun of me?”

She couldn’t contain her rage. Another teacup shattered against the floor, though this time Flint dodged it.

“Are you planning to use me as a stepping stone to conquer Zacador? Whose idea is this? How noble of them! This must be Demian’s doing. What did that man promise you? A shortcut to the throne?”

Eliano panted angrily, her temper flaring as though Demian himself stood before her.

“The emperor is more trustworthy than Demian Rosana!”

Her face flushed red, and her green eyes gleamed with malice. But beneath the anger lay betrayal and disappointment.

“You’re a pitiful empress, Your Majesty. Marcel Zacador is not a man you can trust.”

Flint calmly spoke as he brushed the tea from his wet hair.