Chapter 4
Edwin sat in his office, reading through the towering stack of memorials that had accumulated before him.
His expression looked as though he might draw his sword and execute someone at any moment.
With a scowl, he crushed several reports in his fist.
“How many days has it been now?”
“…Only five days, Your Majesty. Please calm yourself.”
“Five days, and you still haven’t found her.”
His voice grew colder.
“Your incompetence truly knows no bounds.”
“Your Majesty…”
“And to think I’ve kept someone this useless as my right-hand man all this time.”
Briand immediately dropped to one knee and lowered his head.
To survive under this mad Emperor, there was only one rule—
Keep your head down, avoid provoking him, and complete whatever task you were given.
“Two days.”
“…Pardon?”
“If you fail to find her within two days…”
Edwin’s crimson eyes narrowed.
“…I’ll have every one of you beheaded.”
“…Thank you, Your Majesty.”
Briand bowed until his forehead nearly touched the floor before answering in a loud voice.
Only after he had left the office did Edwin press a hand against his temple.
Ever since Elthia disappeared, the headache tormenting him refused to go away.
Or perhaps…
It was only because she had always remained by his side that he had never noticed the pain before.
Closing his eyes, Edwin pictured Elthia.
She had been the most unpleasant woman he had ever known.
Always hiding half her face behind that long curtain of hair.
Always speaking so little that everyone instinctively avoided her.
A woman like that had nowhere she belonged except the Imperial Palace.
“Where could a woman like that possibly be hiding?”
Unlike Erika, who constantly smiled at everyone, Elthia’s default expression had always been gloomy.
No one within the palace walls had ever seen her genuinely smile—
Or even wear an expression close to happiness.
Young and old alike disliked her.
She was always alone.
The only companions she had were animals…
And one maid.
Beth.
Beth had served Elthia ever since her days in House Grunui.
She was the one person Elthia cherished above anyone else.
Edwin had disliked the way Elthia had desperately begged him to allow Beth into the Imperial Palace.
It was one of the very few times she had refused to obey him.
She never cared how cruelly people treated her.
Yet whenever someone mistreated those around her…
She would never bow her head.
She tolerated everything Erika did to her.
But the moment Erika directed that same cruelty toward Beth—
Elthia refused to stay silent.
That had always irritated Edwin.
So one day…
He made her an offer that, for Elthia, was unimaginably cruel.
“Then come to my bedchamber tonight.”
That night…
For the first time, Edwin embraced another woman right in front of Elthia.
Already torn apart countless times inside, Elthia silently watched the two of them make love.
Eventually Edwin lost interest.
With obvious irritation, he ordered Elthia out.
She hurried back to her own room…
Only to vomit everything she had eaten.
Even after she had completely left, the intimate sounds echoing behind her continued over and over.
The cruelty of it…
The humiliation…
She had carefully prepared herself before coming, wondering why he had summoned her.
Now the image of herself overlapped with the woman moaning beneath him.
The nausea became unbearable.
Even so…
She couldn’t let him go.
The fact that every part of her still responded to him filled her with despair.
After that night…
Whenever Edwin spent the night with Erika, he always summoned Elthia as well.
Separated from them by nothing more than a thin white curtain…
He killed her heart again…
And again…
And again.
Recalling the look on Elthia’s face during those nights, Edwin let out a quiet laugh.
She was still useful to him.
“…At least for now.”
The only reason he had made Elthia his Empress…
Was for Erika’s sake.
Erika had arrived from a distant conquered nation as part of the spoils of war.
To the people of the Laurel Empire, she was still an outsider.
A nation as proud of its heritage as Laurel would never easily accept a foreign woman as Empress.
The highest position someone from a fallen kingdom could normally attain…
Was Imperial Consort.
That had always been the precedent.
Since making Erika Empress was difficult…
Giving the title to someone as easy to manipulate as Elthia was far more convenient.
No matter what title Elthia possessed…
The only woman Edwin considered worthy of standing beside him was Erika.
Still…
The thought of someone else laying a hand on what belonged to him…
Was irritating.
Disgusting.
A broad smile spread across Edwin’s face, revealing every perfectly aligned tooth as he slowly clenched his fist.
“I suppose it’s been a while since I left the palace.”
The attendants hurriedly prepared his carriage and clothing.
Because the Emperor rarely ventured outside, everyone was unusually tense.
Each silently prayed that no one would provoke his temper today.
Whenever Edwin appeared in public, nearly everyone bowed their heads, desperately avoiding eye contact.
Only children…
Or the elderly…
Occasionally failed to do so.
Edwin showed them no mercy.
He simply cut them down.
“Y-Your Majesty…”
Watching terrified people tremble beneath him brought him indescribable pleasure.
Edwin was a man intoxicated by killing.
Whenever something displeased him…
He killed.
Then buried the evidence.
The Bloody Monarch.
The cruel and merciless Emperor of the Laurel Empire.
That…
Was Edwin.
***
“I think I should be leaving now.”
Elthia stood, picking up the dishes.
“Just leave them.”
Heinz spoke coldly.
But Elthia couldn’t bring herself to obey.
“No, I couldn’t possibly…”
“Is someone waiting for you?”
Only one day had passed since the Imperial Knights surrounded the area.
No one knew how many soldiers were still outside.
To Heinz, Elthia’s determination to leave anyway seemed strangely suspicious.
At his question…
Her lips closed tightly.
Beth.
She immediately thought of Beth.
No one else in the palace would want her to return.
But Beth…
Beth had cried uncontrollably from the very moment Elthia was imprisoned, even running to beg Edwin herself.
Elthia squeezed her eyes shut.
The memory resurfaced.
“I know Her Majesty.”
“She would never do something like this.”
“What touching loyalty.”
Edwin mocked her.
His gaze shifted away from Beth…
And settled on Elthia.
So… you’ve actually grown attached to nothing more than a servant?
Beth’s tiny body was pressed so low to the floor she was almost lying flat as she desperately begged.
Edwin smiled—a smile chilling enough to freeze anyone’s blood.
Then he asked Elthia,
“Shall I kill this girl instead of you?”
At worst, Elthia herself would only be imprisoned for a few days…
Perhaps a month.
But for Beth…
Her life hung in the balance.
Stepping protectively in front of Beth, Elthia clenched her teeth.
“…I did it.”
In the end…
She confessed to a murder she had never committed.
“If someone kills another person…”
Edwin smiled coldly.
“…they deserve punishment.”
“…”
“And surely you understand…”
“…that being Empress doesn’t make you an exception.”
Edwin had forced her into saying it.
“Still…”
Erika spoke up beside him with an expression full of fake sympathy.
“Her Majesty would never act without reason.”
“Please take that into consideration.”
Knowing exactly where she stood…
Elthia endured every humiliation they inflicted.
Without anyone willing to stand on her side…
The only way to survive in the Imperial Palace…
Was to bow her head.
Even if she was wronged…
She had nowhere to escape.
Because…
She loved Edwin.
Crash!
The sharp sound of something breaking shattered the silence.
“I told you to leave it.”
The plate slipped from Elthia’s hands and exploded into countless fragments across the floor.
Heinz sighed quietly before standing.
“I-I’m sorry.”
“I’ll clean it up.”
Panicking, Elthia knelt and reached for the broken pieces.
The sharp edge sliced into her fingers.
Blood immediately began flowing.
“I told you…”
Perhaps irritated by the way she kept creating more problems, Heinz approached with a faint scowl.
Then…
He stopped.
“…What are you…”
The blood flowing from the deep cut between her fingers…
Stopped.
Right before his eyes.
“W-Well…”
Only then did Heinz realize…
The gloves Elthia had been wearing ever since she arrived were gone.
His expression changed instantly.
“What are you?”
His sharp eyes fixed on her.
The suspicion in his gaze made Elthia’s hands tremble uncontrollably.
Seeing her frightened reaction, Heinz relaxed ever so slightly.
But the doubt in his eyes remained.
“…I’ve always been like this.”
She wasn’t lying.
Whether she had been born with the ability or not, it had awakened when she was eight years old.
“Serious wounds take several days…”
“But something like this heals almost immediately.”
“So…”
Heinz frowned.
“You’re saying you recover unusually fast?”
“Actually…”
After hesitating, Elthia gently took hold of his arm and rolled up his sleeve.
“…Excuse me for a moment.”
She placed her hand over the scratch that had yet to heal.
Immediately…
The wound began disappearing.
Within moments…
His arm was completely restored, without even a scar remaining.
“…What…”
Heinz’s pupils shook.
Seeing the astonishment on his face…
Elthia gave him a bitter smile.
