Chapter 36
When Ivan was watching Amelia with an emotion he couldn’t name, it happened. Amelia, who seemed to be fast asleep, suddenly opened her eyes wide. The abruptness of it startled even Ivan.
“…Why?”
Ivan, following Amelia who sat up with dazed eyes, also raised his upper body.
“…Ian.”
Ian? What about the child?
Ivan, unable to grasp the meaning of her murmuring, wore a puzzled expression. A slight furrow of his brow revealed his confusion.
“He’s crying.”
A spark of awareness slowly returned to Amelia’s eyes. Before Ivan could stop her, she pulled up her slipped gown and dashed out of the bedchamber.
“….”
Left alone in the room, Ivan rubbed the back of his neck and stepped down from the bed. He had planned to leave anyway. He had no intention of letting others see that he had spent the night in the same bed as Amelia. Now was not the time to make their relationship known.
Ivan opened the door to the adjoining room beside Amelia’s bedchamber, revealing a small space. He halted before the large portrait of the late Empress hanging on the wall. It looked like an ordinary wall—but Ivan paid no mind. With ease, he pushed the portrait aside. It tilted diagonally, and Ivan reached toward the wall beneath it, as if measuring the exact location. Within seconds, the wall opened like a mouth, revealing a hidden passage.
A faint sound of a child crying came from inside.
“Still a mother, after all.”
It was remarkable that she could wake up from sleep just by catching such faint cries. No doubt, her ears were attuned only to her own child. Thinking so, Ivan stepped into the passage without hesitation.
The door closed behind him, and the tilted portrait returned to its original position. Only the curtain that had hung beside it fluttered slightly—just enough to hint that someone had been there.
“How could the Priestess be here at this hour…?”
Both Madam Howard and the wet nurse, startled by the sudden appearance of the Priestess in the middle of the night, wore surprised faces. But Amelia ignored their reactions. She strode forward and gathered the wailing infant into her arms.
“Ian, it’s okay.”
She began to gently rock the child and soothe him. Gradually, the baby’s breathing calmed, and the crying subsided.
“Oh my…”
Karen, the wet nurse, covered her mouth with one hand in amazement. Ever since arriving at the Imperial Palace, Ian had been a handful at night—never sleeping properly and exhausting everyone around him. Surely, Ian himself must have been tired, but Madam Howard and Karen, who had to care for him, were at their limits.
Why did he cry? Why wouldn’t he sleep? He wasn’t hungry, wasn’t sick, and his diaper wasn’t dirty. There was no explanation, and it was driving them mad.
“Unbelievable.”
But now, held in the arms of the Priestess who had rushed in during the night, he calmed down just like that. It was hard to believe even as they watched it happen.
“To think he could fall asleep so easily…”
Madam Howard murmured, sounding a little defeated.
“Has Ian always cried this much at night?”
Amelia asked gently, and Madam Howard nodded.
“Yes, he tends to fuss a lot at night. It must have been difficult.”
Amelia looked at them with an apologetic expression, still patting Ian’s back with steady, rhythmic motions.
As though she were his mother.
But such a thing was never to be spoken aloud, not even in jest. A Priestess was the purest, most sacred being in the world. To doubt her in that way was blasphemy.
“Perhaps it would be best if I kept him with me during the nights while I’m at the palace?”
“But he needs to be fed every two to three hours,” Karen said with a troubled look, rubbing her temple. She could simply nurse him whenever he woke, but Amelia couldn’t do the same.
“It would be too much to ask someone of your status to sacrifice so much of your time.”
Madam Howard also responded firmly. Amelia had made the offer casually, believing she could help, but she now realized how others might perceive it.
“Then, if Ian continues fussing and refuses to sleep, don’t hesitate to bring him to me.”
Both Madam Howard and Karen nodded.
“We will. Please, hand him over now.”
Madam Howard reached out cautiously. Amelia looked down at Ian’s sleeping face with a tender expression, then gently transferred the warm little body into the older woman’s arms.
“You’re welcome to come to me anytime.”
“Yes.”
Though she replied obediently, Amelia knew Madam Howard wouldn’t come easily. But Ian had calmed down, and in a situation where Amelia could not reveal that she was his mother, there was little else she could do. In the end, she had to leave Ian behind and return to her chamber.
The bedchamber she returned to was empty. Ivan had already left. The bed they had shared felt vast and cold. Amelia ran her hand over the place where Ivan had been lying. It was cool.
A strange loneliness washed over her. Or maybe… anxiety? Curling up like a child in the womb, she closed her eyes.
But sleep did not come.
Aaron pulled back his hood. The candlelight cast a warm hue across his platinum-blond hair. Considering his usually sharp personality, the gentle image was almost laughable—at least, that’s what Duke Russell thought.
“You said you wished to speak?”
He had raised Aaron himself, so there was no point in criticizing the contrast between the boy’s exterior and true nature now.
“Yes. I don’t understand the orders you’ve given.”
Aaron was honest.
“I suppose you wouldn’t.”
Under different circumstances, Duke Russell might have scolded him for being impertinent. But this time, he understood.
“You told her to seduce the Emperor?”
Aaron’s disbelief was justified. The order he had received—especially when Amelia was sent into the palace—was completely out of line with everything they had done before.
“Amelia is desperate to escape this time. If she actually manages to attach herself to the Emperor, what will you do then?”
Aaron’s concerns were valid. Of course, Duke Russell had considered the possibility.
“I’ve seen the son she gave birth to, Aaron.”
The Duke opened the bottle on the table. As he poured himself a drink, the sharp scent of alcohol hit Aaron’s nose.
“With that bright, striking golden hair… he could easily be mistaken for a royal bastard.”
“He’s not the Emperor’s child.”
“I know. That’s why she can never claim him as such.”
Duke Russell sipped his drink slowly. The relaxed air about him made Aaron all the more uneasy.
“My lord…”
“But a thought crossed my mind.”
“……”
“What if the Priestess truly bore the Emperor’s child?”
Aaron said nothing. The idea was too far-fetched to have ever crossed his mind. The Temple and the Crown had always been at odds.
“That child would become Crown Prince without question. And one day, Emperor. Taking the throne from him would be all too easy.”
“What if she betrays us first? What if she begs the Emperor for help—whispers secrets in his ear…?”
Aaron’s logical worry was met with a smile from the Duke.
“True. That would be going too far.”
“……”
“Which is why I said one night was all it would take.”
Leaning back comfortably in his chair, the Duke folded his hands over one knee.
“You know how much the Emperor loathes the Priestess. He would never touch her.”
“Aaron.”
Aaron stopped speaking when the Duke burst into laughter. The younger man paused.
“You still don’t understand, do you?”
“……”
“All men are the same. The more they hate and despise someone, the more they want to conquer them. To assert their dominance.”
The Duke’s eyes gleamed as he explained the crude truth of the world.
“The Emperor will take the Priestess. Because in the end, he’ll want to believe she’s just another woman weeping beneath him.”
And then he would revel in the feeling of victory. The Duke was certain of it.
“That’s the moment we strike.”
The smile vanished from Duke Russell’s face.
“The Priestess is supposed to be pure—body and soul—dedicated wholly to the divine.”
That’s why all the men who had lain with previous Priestesses had been killed. Even the guards who knew the truth had been silenced.
“But if she falls, all because of the Emperor’s spite? If she breaks down, sobbing that the voice of the gods no longer reaches her? If she claims she has become just an ordinary human?”
Aaron said nothing. The outcome would be obvious. The high nobles, led by Duke Russell, would overthrow the Emperor who had tainted the Priestess and ruined the kingdom’s fate.
“Even if the Emperor finds out her secret—it won’t matter.”
“……”
“That’s what I’ve been aiming for, Aaron.”
