TTEWD 13

Episode 13. No Bad Intentions. It’s Just Nursing.

Enric hesitated, unsure how to respond.

“If it makes you uncomfortable, I can hide in a dark corner.”

“It’s useless. Even if you stay still, you stand out, Marquis Deysha.”

Countess Bauzen pressed her wrinkled hand to her forehead, clearly troubled.

“You may be handsome, but at least you should be ordinarily handsome. That’s probably why His Majesty noticed you.”

“……”

“In any case, drink some water. Even chew on some jerky.”

“I’m fine……”

“Enough! As your healer, I command you. I won’t tolerate another patient being made.”

Though she spoke sharply, she was worried about Enric.

Enric silently took the cup of water and snacks the Countess offered.

“Thank you.”

“It’s for His Majesty, so there’s nothing to thank me for. If you make our poor emperor cry, I will never forgive you.”

“……”

“You must also truly have lost your memory. Don’t even dream of deceiving His Majesty!”

Countess Bauzen openly threatened Enric.

Enric gave a bitter smile. Two secrets he couldn’t tell Stella had already arisen.

The first was that he wanted to become Stella’s true lover.

The second was that he could read the ancient script of the Colonahtus Empire.

*‘Am I somehow connected to the Colonahtus Empire? If I really were a spy of Colonahtus…’*

As with Angel, the ancient script of Colonahtus was the privilege of high nobles and senior priests.

It wasn’t something a mere slave could casually glance at and learn.

Why could he read the ancient script of Colonahtus?

He searched through his memories several times, but all he found was darkness.

Enric bit his lip. Just imagining Stella’s shocked face caused him pain.

Her fragile body would never withstand that shock.

She would be blamed for being deceived by her lover and accused of secretly colluding with the enemy.

Enric shook his head, forcing himself. He could not be Colonahtus.

Hadn’t his mother hated the Colonahtus Empire more than anyone else?

Even during his days as a gladiator slave, he had never come near Colonahtus territory.

The problem was the lost twelve years. Enric had no idea where he had been or what he had done during that long time.

He resented his missing memories. He found himself uncomfortably fixated on the father he had never once been curious about.

Should he ask his mother? Where is the hometown of the trash who abandoned his family?

Enric recalled the moment he had been abandoned by his mother.

“You ruined my life, Enric! Cursed boy. You shouldn’t have been born.”

Afterward, a fragment of the past he thought he had forgotten appeared before his eyes.

His mother sat in an old carriage, driving a mule.

Listening to her humming, Enric rested his chin on his hand.

“Mother, what song is that?”

“It’s a hymn called ‘Even in Mud, Flowers Bloom.’ It’s my favorite song.”

His mother, with her pure white hair twisted up, looked back at him, her smile the happiest he had ever seen.

—

Late at night, after Countess Bauzen had left, Enric never took his eyes off Stella.

She hadn’t regained consciousness, but her color had returned, and her breathing was steady.

It seemed Countess Bauzen’s medicine was finally taking effect.

Stella’s face in the moonlight was beautiful. Her long, neatly fanned eyelashes

reminded him of a doll. Her sharp nose and slightly parted lips were so lovely.

*‘Is she really sick?’*

Her translucent skin, with veins faintly visible, looked moist as if kissed by dew.

Imagining the touch of her skin, Enric’s face flushed.

*‘Would it be okay to wipe her sweat? The grandmother’s maid used to do it too.’*

If Stella knew, she would certainly be angry, but now she couldn’t stop Enric.

He was alone with her in the empress’s chamber. Swallowing dryly,

Enric picked up the towel Countess Bauzen had left behind.

“Your Highness. I’ll just wipe your sweat.”

“……”

“I have no other intentions. No bad intentions. Just nursing, that’s all.”

Even as he knew she couldn’t hear him, he found his own excuses amusing.

He only wanted to care for her, yet his clenched fists were damp with sweat. His heart raced wildly.

If he didn’t calm his breathing, he felt as though his heart would burst through his chest.

Of course, he wasn’t afraid that Stella would suddenly wake up and scold him.

“Then, excuse me.”

As Enric brought the towel to Stella’s forehead, heavy footsteps echoed down the corridor.

An intruder? He froze and strained to listen.

The steps stopped in front of the chamber, and then the door opened.

*‘Who could enter the empress’s chamber without permission? And why didn’t the attendants stop them?’*

His curiosity was soon answered.

—

“Get up at once, Empress.”

A cold voice pierced her consciousness.

I want to sleep more. I don’t want to get up.

But the voice would not allow her to drift back into slumber.

“Do you think pretending to be sick after causing trouble will suffice? You’re disgustingly selfish.”

She forced her heavy eyelids open. The deep pain starting at her temples swept through her body.

Her fever had broken, but her frail body still craved rest.

Of course, Clifford wouldn’t understand that.

“Get up, unless you want to be branded a traitor.”

“…A traitor?”

“You must be coming to your senses because it hits close to home, huh?”

Clifford sneered, surveying the room with a mocking glance.

“I thought you’d be rolling around with the castle toys. You must’ve hidden cleverly.”

Even in her bedroom, she could not rest as long as Clifford, her husband, was present.

Feeling a near-furious resignation, she sat up. Even that made her bones cry out.

“Did you come for some amusement?”

“Why speak like that? I didn’t sneak into your bedroom.”

“……”

“I am legally your husband. I have the right to be here whenever I wish.”

Clifford tapped the floor with his finger, his gaze growing even crueler.

Goosebumps rose over her entire body, but she feigned indifference.

“If you came to coax me, leave. I will never use the castle for Prince Gillian’s sake.”

“This concerns the national interest you value so highly.”

“No.”

The word “No” felt unfamiliar coming from her lips.

Clifford narrowed his smooth brow.

“If Autonia severs diplomatic ties, who will bear the responsibility?”

“You made a ridiculous promise, Your Majesty. Why should I be responsible?”

“You enjoyed every power as Empress, and now you shirk responsibility?”

“Think as you will.”

“Empress, why are you suddenly rebellious?”

At the word “rebellious,” she bit her lip. The emperor treated her like an obedient mule.

“I also have the right to live by my own will.”

“Hahaha!”

Clifford laughed contemptuously. She shivered, her insides twisting.

She thought she was used to his mockery, but she wasn’t.

“You speak as if you alone sacrificed everything!”

“You speak as if I lost nothing.”

“Stop flattery just because your legs can’t move well. It won’t work on me.”

“……!”

“Think I don’t know your scheme? Don’t think you can fool me.”

How long must she be at Clifford’s mercy? Could divorce free her?

It was the first time she thought of divorce herself.

She had rejected his demand before, citing Michel’s blind desire and Clifford’s influence.

Even if miserable, she believed protecting the Empress was for the empire’s sake.

Was it really? Or was it simply that he could not accept her as herself, rather than as Empress?

“Be honest, Stella. Do you want to be emperor so badly?”

Clifford changed his tone, and she questioned her ears.

“You tried to control me, drove wedges between me and the ministers, all to ascend to the throne!”

Clifford blamed her for his own incompetence and labeled her a traitor.

She clenched her fists so tightly her nails bit into her palms.

“I have never once wanted to be emperor.”

“How can I trust a traitor?”

“Do you have proof that I plotted treason?”

“Proof isn’t needed. Your eyes, so filled with lust for power, reveal everything.”

Clifford was not a man who could reason.

It was humiliating to have served such a man as husband.

But her voice was icy, like a winter blizzard.

“If you wish to accuse me of treason, bring real evidence. Evidence a judge would recognize.”

“Even if you act, the truth will surface.”

“Act? What do you mean?”

“The Marquis Deysha, that slave—bringing him here, expecting jealousy?”

“!”

“I know you well. Women like you can’t play with anyone else. You cannot function as a woman. That man is merely a prop.”

Clifford was convinced for absurd reasons that Enric was a fake official.

Her pride stung at his words. A woman who couldn’t play, a woman who could not function as a woman. A creeping sense of disgust arose.

“I have changed.”

“Have you really shared your body with a slave, not me?”

“…It’s true that Marquis Deysha brings pleasures Your Majesty could not provide.”

Clifford’s eyes sparked with a pale flame.

It felt like an alarm trumpet sounded somewhere. He stepped closer.

“Yes. Once you know the pleasures a man can give, your body changes.”

The cold smile on his lips was terrifying. She unconsciously gripped the sheets.

“Shall I see how much my wife has changed?”

Clifford whispered in her ear. A shiver ran down her spine.

A sharp ringing pierced her eardrums. A drop of cold sweat traced her back.

“Don’t make that face, Stella. I don’t want it either.”

“Your Majesty, what are you trying to do?!”

“For the people awaiting an heir, I will fulfill my duty as your husband.”

She had never hated the word “husband” more. Like a mouse trapped in a snare,

she stiffened, and Clifford basked in his sense of victory.

Clifford’s hand yanked the blanket away, then grabbed her leg hidden beneath the sheets.

“Did that man touch these withered legs too?”

Clifford’s lips twitched.

Even if someone tore out her heart alive, it wouldn’t feel this hopeless.

Wherever his hand touched, it felt as though hundreds of worms crawled over her.

She wanted to shout, “Don’t touch me!” No—she wanted to cut Clifford’s throat herself.

But she had no strength to wield a sword, much less push away her beastly husband.

Who could prevent the emperor from lying with the empress? The despair surged to her throat.

As a single tear, long held back, escaped, a golden flash lit the darkness.