Chapter 76
“I’m trying to make a gift for His Majesty the Emperor.”
I forced myself to sound bright as I met Kard’s eyes.
So that I would look like a wife sincerely making a gift for her husband—purely out of affection.
At least until the diffuser was finished, I couldn’t let Kard find out.
“A gift?”
“Yes. When I thought about it, I realized I’ve never really done anything for His Majesty.”
That was true.
I had always been the one asking things of the Emperor.
Don’t touch me. Don’t dance with me. Don’t escort me.
But I still want to go on a honeymoon.
“…Wow. When I list it all out, I really am trash, aren’t I?”
And to think I dared to do all that to the Emperor of a great empire.
Yet I had never once given him anything in return. At most, I’d occasionally held his hand, as if granting a favor…
“Even that was a lie.”
This gift, too. Calling it a gift when I was actually planning to give him death.
It felt as though the air suddenly became heavy, pressing down on me. My mood sank rapidly, and I struggled to shake it off.
I had managed so far. I had kept my guilt buried.
So I had to do the same this time.
“So what do you plan to give him?” Kard asked.
“A diffuser.”
“…Pardon?”
I answered automatically, then came to my senses when I saw Kard’s confused expression.
Ah. Right. There probably wasn’t even a concept of a “diffuser” here.
“It’s a kind of perfume. Regular perfume needs to be sprayed, but a diffuser releases its scent gently just by being left out.”
“I see.”
Seeing that he seemed to understand roughly, I continued.
“I need to gather the materials to make it, but it would be difficult on my own. If I order the maids to do it, it’ll reach His Majesty’s ears… Would you be willing to help me in secret, Sir Daemon?”
When I recited the excuse I had prepared in advance, Kard nodded willingly, as if he understood.
“Of course. What do you need?”
“Hmm… first, a glass bottle about this size.”
I gestured roughly with my hands.
“It would be nice if it were square and angular. Since it’s a gift, it should look pretty too. And—”
Explaining only with words felt limiting, so I brought paper and a pen and began drawing a design for him.
“We also need thin sticks to draw up the scent. Like this.”
Kard took the sketch and examined it carefully.
“Your Majesty… you’re quite good at drawing.”
“Oh—am I?”
I laughed awkwardly at the unexpected compliment.
I had studied art a little, once upon a time.
“And we’ll need a fragrance too… something that suits His Majesty.”
“Understood. I’ll obtain everything as shown. But there is one thing I’m curious about… May I ask?”
“Of course. What is it?”
Just when I had relaxed, thinking everything was going according to plan, Kard’s sharp question flew straight at me.
“The liquid you requested from the guild earlier… Are you planning to use that for this ‘diffuser’?”
“Ah.”
It was one of the questions I had anticipated.
Given how quickly I moved after receiving the guild’s investigation results, it was only natural that Kard would connect the two.
Still, the reason I had begun making the diffuser right away was simple.
“There’s no point in dragging this out.”
Macrancho extract needed to accumulate slowly to take effect, so the sooner the Emperor was exposed, the better.
With no knowing when the war might begin, it was best for the effects to start as soon as possible.
And since this plan required Kard’s help, he would eventually learn that the diffuser was poisonous.
Once Kard became involved, even if he hadn’t known it was poison at the time, avoiding punishment would be difficult. Unlike the previous request, this would be treated as an attempted assassination of royalty.
That was what I intended to use against him.
Rather than die together, he would have to help me.
You’re already… complicit in treason.
“Unless he chooses to die with me.”
Preventing that outcome would be my responsibility—keeping a firm hold on his heart.
“That liquid from the guild is unrelated. Do you happen to know what it is?”
Did you read my request documents?
Understanding the intent behind my question instantly, Kard shook his head.
“No. How could I possibly know the contents of Her Majesty’s request?”
As he spoke, his fox-like, narrow eyes curved gently. Looking at that handsome face, something inside my chest throbbed painfully once more.
“…It was something my father carried with him. He wouldn’t tell me what it was, so I secretly took it.”
Even then, my mouth smoothly spilled the lie I had prepared.
It didn’t matter if the lie was discovered.
He would know soon enough anyway.
I couldn’t tell whether Kard fully believed me. But he simply replied, “I see,” without asking anything further.
At his unreadable reaction, I let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Please… just let things go the way I planned.
***
While Kard went to gather the necessary items, all I could do was wait.
But my mind was far from at ease. Perhaps it showed.
During dinner with the Emperor, he stared at me for a long moment before finally asking,
“Is something troubling you these days, Empress?”
“No.”
The defensive answer came out reflexively.
The pressure of having to avoid him, the guilt of preparing to give him the diffuser, and the dissonance between the two made my tone stiffer than I intended.
I realized it too late.
I wanted distance, not a fight.
“…Is something wrong?”
“No, there isn’t.”
I softened my voice as I replied.
Of course, it didn’t work. The Emperor was already looking at me with concern.
“That look… I’ll never get used to it.”
“There is something. Your expression says otherwise.”
“…Really, there isn’t.”
“Is there a reason you can’t tell me? Because you don’t trust me? Or… because it has to do with me?”
“…!”
No—no, that’s not it.
The words I couldn’t say echoed inside me.
Why was he so perceptive? My husband was wonderful in every way—too perfect, in fact. Sometimes, he could pretend not to notice things, but instead he always dug them up.
“No, it’s not like that. I’ll tell you once I’ve sorted out my thoughts.”
Since lying wouldn’t work anyway, I chose honesty to defuse the situation.
I didn’t know if a day would ever come when I could tell him everything.
Would it be while holding him as he bled to death from the blade in my hand—crying as I confessed the truth, apologizing, begging him never to forgive me?
Either way, one thing was certain.
There would be no beautiful farewell for us.
The turmoil in my mind, once boiling like lava, cooled abruptly. As the cold spread rapidly through every vein in my body, I finally regained control of myself.
“My emotions have been unstable lately.”
It was a bad sign.
“…At least eat properly. You’re barely touching your food.”
It’s because I have no appetite…
I couldn’t say that, so I nodded and picked up a piece of steak, placing it in my mouth.
I could feel how tender the meat was, but it didn’t taste good the way it used to.
Still, I smiled at the Emperor.
“It’s delicious.”
“Eat more.”
“Yeees…”
Honestly, I felt like I might get indigestion.
But stuffing my mouth felt better than continuing this exhausting conversation.
After focusing on the meal, I returned to the Empress’s palace and collapsed into sleep the moment I arrived.
