#74. Our Majesty Has Changed
Only the sound of horses’ hooves echoed loudly in the silence.
At the edge of that silence, Nikolai parted his lips.
“There are countless secrets.”
“What kind of secrets?”
“Ones so heavy that they make me want to collapse under their weight.”
“……”
“Sometimes, I want to let them all go. Not that I ever have.”
His hollow voice reverberated through my chest.
Whenever Nikolai spoke in that fragile tone, it felt like I might crumble along with him.
In the original story, only Nikolai’s atrocities were shown. His inner self was never explored. He must have had countless secrets he couldn’t tell anyone…
The truth was, I didn’t really know who Nikolai was either.
My heart fluttered at his beauty, and I wavered at every word he said—
Yet I’d always comforted myself by thinking: He’s a tyrant and a philanderer. That’s just who he is.
But perhaps I was the one trapped by prejudice.
Maybe I only ever saw the sides of him that I wanted to see.
“Why did His Majesty take so many empresses?”
Douglas’s question left a long echo in my mind.
I leaned slightly against Nikolai’s chest, pretending not to notice how he flinched.
“Just let it all out. Or throw it away if you must. You only live once, after all.”
“If I confess, will you tell me something too?”
“Depends what you want to hear.”
“Everything about Elizabeth Emster.”
“……!”
“From beginning to end. From the moment we met, up to this very day.”
Nikolai’s voice came out hoarse.
The pain in my heart felt like being bitten on the inside.
So you knew… that I approached you with a purpose.
That first, unexpected kiss that left me trembling.
The contract. The game of seduction.
Everything between Nikolai and me had started as a calculated operation.
Even if chance and emotion crept in later, there had never been anything truly natural about it.
A man as intelligent as Nikolai would never have been fooled.
He had simply chosen to play along.
Where should I even start? Will he believe me? Will he think I’ve gone mad?
When I first possessed this body, all I wanted was to survive.
If I could just stop Claudia, I would do anything.
But everything fell apart after meeting Nikolai.
I fell helplessly for him—
knowing full well I would get hurt.
And yet, I couldn’t stop myself.
I didn’t want him to hate me.
I was afraid that if he learned my secret, it would wound him—
and that a wounded Nikolai would leave me forever.
“When the time comes, I’ll tell you everything. I promise.”
I lowered my head and offered a meager answer.
“……Then I shall wait.”
His voice was fragile and lonesome, like it would shatter if touched.
Your Majesty, why did you gather so many women? What secrets torment you so deeply?
I bit my lip.
How could I urge him to confess his secrets when I was still hiding mine?
How long would we keep touching only the surface of each other?
“Let me explain everything about the divine relic. It happened when I visited the chapel at Marquis Nettleton’s estate.”
I briefly summarized how I came to possess Morashincia’s Eye.
Of course, I didn’t mention my past life or possession—
nor that I’d once tried to use my demonic nature to seduce him.
This world, too, had women called “witches.”
Not fairy-tale witches who rode brooms with black cats—
but women who were simply different.
Those born with unusual gifts or appearances.
Married women who defied convention or challenged authority.
Wealthy widows.
They were the ones most often branded as witches—
and vanished soon after.
Even men were executed for sleeping with witches, or for being “possessed by demons.”
It seemed every world had its own way of purging what it couldn’t understand.
With demonic power in me, I’d be the first on the list. If anyone found out, I wouldn’t face the guillotine—I’d be burned at the stake.
How terrified must the original Elizabeth have been?
Perhaps that was why she tried to seduce so many people—to make them her allies.
“I didn’t know that monocle could pierce through illness.”
Nikolai muttered absently.
I sighed softly.
“Knowing didn’t help much. I’m not a healer or an apothecary.”
“And without the relic?”
“I’m just an ordinary human being—no different from Your Majesty.”
At the words ordinary human being, Nikolai froze.
A faint unease crept through his rigid body.
“That was a slip of the tongue. I just meant… a regular person.”
“Same thing.”
“You’re right.”
“Have you ever looked at Simon through Morashincia’s Eye?”
“He was perfectly healthy—except for some liver damage from drinking.”
“And at the duel?”
“I didn’t have the relic then.”
“If you had… perhaps you’d have seen his change.”
Nikolai’s voice trailed off.
When I looked up, his face was as expressionless as carved marble.
“Was there some problem with Simon?”
“That day, he fell ill. Without any warning.”
“Fell ill?”
“I had to stop him… no, the disease.”
My breath caught.
My fingertips turned cold.
At last, one of the questions that had haunted me was about to be answered.
“Are you saying you killed him because of an illness? What kind of disease was it?”
“It was…”
Just then, a troop of mounted knights appeared, their hooves shaking the earth.
They wore silver armor over white clerical robes,
and bore banners marked with the scales of Morashincia.
“Holy Knights.”
“Are they here to greet His Majesty?”
“Do men draw their swords for a greeting?”
I raised my hand to shield my eyes from the sun.
Squinting, I saw most of them already brandishing their blades—
like soldiers riding into a life-or-death battle.
“It doesn’t look like a welcoming ceremony to me.”
“Quite the extravagant hospitality for guests.”
“Even so, they’re being far too rude to the Emperor.”
“They take after you.”
Nikolai frowned irritably, then cleared his throat and looked out into the distance.
“What are you planning to do?”
“If they want peace, they’ll get peace. If they want blood, I’ll give them blood.”
Before I knew it, Nikolai had drawn his sword—
and disturbingly enough, he looked pleased.
No, it wasn’t my imagination.
“I’ll show you the horsemanship I couldn’t display at the arena. I can take them all down with you on my horse.”
“Do I really have to watch?”
“You’ll regret it if you don’t.”
Nikolai’s lips curled into a grin—
the one he always wore when he was about to do something reckless.
“What brings you here, Your Highness?”
Kares looked down at Susan and Franz.
Under his piercing gaze, Susan shrank back,
while Franz lifted his chin proudly and demanded,
“Where has His Majesty gone?”
“I do not know, Your Highness.”
“When will he return?”
“That, too, I do not know.”
“Does the Minister of the Interior know anything then?”
“My duty is not to chase after His Majesty once he leaves the palace,
but to ensure that the Empire continues to run in his absence.”
Kares’s dry tone made it sound as if he were saying, I’m busy, now go away.
But instead of getting angry, a strange light flashed across Franz’s face.
“I heard Marquis Brendan was trapped in the Ice Tower. He’s the one who tried to kidnap Elizabeth.”
“You hear things quickly.”
“He’s also the one who poisoned me, isn’t he? Stop treating Elizabeth like a fugitive.”
“Hmm…”
“Call off the pursuit. I’ll prove her innocence myself.”
Susan clasped her hands and looked at Franz.
He’s so mature at times like this… He’s even grown taller since taking his tonics. Soon he’ll be taller than me.
At sixteen, Susan was small for her age.
Most people thought she was still a child.
To her, Franz—who seemed to grow taller by the day—was someone to admire.
But to Kares, the crown prince was merely a nuisance.
“That’s beyond my authority, Your Highness. Please return to the Crown Prince’s Palace.”
“That’s an order—from the Crown Prince.”
“Forgive me, but Your Highness has no authority.”
“!”
“Stay quietly where it’s safe. With His Majesty away, no one knows what might happen.”
Kares’s gaze froze over like the winter sea.
‘Quietly’? That almost sounded like a threat… No, I’m sure he’s just being cautious. Lord Kares is loyal to His Majesty, after all…
Susan nervously looked at Franz.
She feared he’d lash out at the insult of being called a powerless prince—
but instead, Franz smiled.
A bright, genuine smile.
“Thank you for the advice, Kares. Sorry to bother such a busy man.”
Susan pressed her hand over her chest, pained by the sight.
All the way back to the palace, Franz said nothing.
Susan bit her lip, not knowing how to comfort him.
Then Franz suddenly stopped and turned to her.
“Honestly, I don’t feel like sitting quietly. What do you think, Susan?”
“I’ll follow Your Highness’s will.”
“You don’t have to just agree. I want to hear your opinion.”
Blushing, Susan gripped her dress tightly.
“What are you planning to do?”
“I’m done being a prince in name only. I want to help Elizabeth. First, I’ll meet Marquis Nettleton.”
“My brother?”
“Will you come with me?”
Franz held out his hand.
It was small, calloused, and scarred—
a hand that spoke of a short but harsh life.
“Would I be of any help to you, Your Highness?”
“Just by being here, you already are.”
Franz smiled.
Susan took his smaller hand and bowed her head.
Franz knew more hidden passageways than just the one behind the Canary Room.
To shed blood right in front of the temple?
There couldn’t be a worse situation.
Yet Nikolai looked delighted—
like a child who’d found a new toy.
“You dare stir up dust in the sacred ground! Get off your horse this instant!”
One of the knights shouted, unaware he was practically asking for death.
They clearly didn’t know they were addressing the Emperor himself.
Then again, who would expect someone to pick a fight just for riding a horse down a normal road?
“Your Majesty, maybe you should dismount now?”
“Why should I? This is my land.”
“Because peace is better than trouble?”
“There isn’t an emperor alive who obeys orders from some holy knight.”
“We came here to find the second relic. You said you’d be a faithful attendant, remember?”
After that lip-seal promise, too!
I wanted to ask if he was already breaking his word.
“You’re right. No need to fight for nothing.”
Surprisingly, Nikolai agreed.
I clapped and praised him.
“As expected of our merciful and wise Emperor! Please, let’s just endure this once. They’ll regret it soon enough.”
Nikolai calmly sheathed his sword.
Oh my, our boy has changed— no, our Majesty has changed!
I was sincerely moved.
But of course—
Nikolai struck from behind once again.
