Chapter 55
Ivan slowly stepped into Ian’s room. The place was a mess. The maids, who had rushed over in the middle of their meals, were stumbling about trying to prepare warm water to wash the child, while Madam Howard staggered around with a sleep-stricken face before sinking into a chair.
“Are you alright, Madam Howard?”
“What’s wrong with my body…”
A maid, glancing around nervously, carefully approached the fallen madam and helped her to her feet. She barely managed to stand, leaning heavily on the maid for support.
Watching the scene, Ivan decided not to rebuke her. He could guess, more or less, how they had managed to separate Ian from her.
“There are no external injuries, and it seems he swallowed some water. Please pat his back to help it settle instead of letting him vomit. It doesn’t appear the water went into his ears, so just wipe him down with a dry cloth.”
The royal physician finished Ian’s examination and gave detailed instructions. Amelia hastily rubbed her tear-streaked cheeks with her hand and nodded, absorbing every word.
“……”
Meanwhile, Ivan quietly looked around. The maid who usually stuck to Amelia like a shadow—as if something terrible would happen if she ever left her side—was nowhere to be seen. Even without explicit orders, that woman would stubbornly remain at her side.
“Where’s your maid?”
Ivan asked. Only then did Amelia, who had been thanking the physician, notice his presence and turn toward him.
“Louis’s whereabouts are none of Your Majesty’s concern.”
She spoke coldly, as if she herself had been the one to throw Ivan into the pond. Ivan chuckled.
“Leave.”
Amelia had the audacity to demand. The sharpness in her voice startled the nearby servants, but surprisingly, Ivan didn’t scold her for her insolence.
“Whether that woman was your maid or a servant doesn’t matter to me. Even if she died in some ditch somewhere, it’s none of my business.”
He simply mocked Louis in a scathing tone, as if her existence was worth less than a speck of dust.
“Isn’t it laughable, bristling with thorns as if that’s all it takes to protect someone, without even knowing how to do it?”
“……”
“Thanks to your foolish decision, that child ended up like this.”
Ivan swept his damp hair back and motioned toward the small child, still hiccupping after crying himself hoarse. The hostility and anger that had been on Amelia’s face softened slightly.
“Who do you think saved that child?”
Amelia looked as if the air had been knocked out of her. Her hands were trembling.
“……”
Of course, as she’d said, it wasn’t Ivan’s concern. He wasn’t asking for praise. With a hint of irritation, Ivan turned and grabbed the door handle. As if sensing his parents’ discord, Ian began crying again.
“Your Majesty, I’ve brought a change of clothes.”
The chief attendant hurried up with fresh garments. But even that was annoying. Ivan waved him off and started walking toward the main palace.
“…Your Majesty?”
Then, his steps halted. The chief attendant, scurrying behind him, looked up curiously. Ivan was gazing back at the Western Palace.
Ian’s frail, whimpering cries, barely audible now, seemed to claw at his ears.
Ivan looked down at the corpse of the maid behind the prison bars with a cold expression. He had only allowed himself a brief delay—thanks to Rodan and the chief attendant who had begged him to change out of his wet clothes.
“We are deeply sorry, Your Majesty!”
The jailers prostrated themselves, foreheads pressed to the damp stone floor. Their voices cracked with panic, and sweat ran down their backs in rivulets.
Ivan didn’t shout or reprimand them. He merely stared at the body. The blue-tinged skin, the blood trickling from her lips, the purple fingernails.
“Poison.”
The cause of death was obvious. Ivan came to his conclusion and turned away without a hint of emotion. There was nothing to ask or wonder about a corpse.
“Your Majesty, what should we do with the body?”
Rodan asked. They couldn’t just let a useless corpse rot in the prison. But he couldn’t make the decision himself either—this was a criminal Ivan had personally brought in.
“Hmm.”
Ivan, already climbing the stairs, replied indifferently. He sounded utterly uninterested.
“What did I suggest earlier?”
He paused on the stairs.
“Ah, I remember.”
“……”
“Beheading, burning, or drowning.”
He recalled the options he had once offered, all terrifying means of execution.
“I asked which one she preferred, but she never answered. So I’ll decide myself.”
Ivan chuckled briefly. Rodan could picture the scene without seeing it. Even if she had answered, Ivan would’ve done whatever he wanted anyway.
“Behead her and hang the head on the city wall. Burn the body on a pyre in the street until it turns to ash.”
“……”
“Water has no sin. It shouldn’t be dirtied.”
He placed both feet on solid ground again. Judging by his expression, he seemed to think this was a rather merciful punishment for someone who had tried to harm his son.
“But, Your Majesty… why did you save the child?”
Rodan asked as they strolled through the palace grounds. The question implied surprise—was the boy worth risking himself for? Ivan didn’t answer.
“……”
Because even he didn’t know.
Ian had nearly died.
Amelia held the now-sleeping child close and only returned to her bedroom when she herself was about to pass out.
“I was foolish and deserve death.”
But even in bed, her mind raced, mechanically retracing everything that had happened.
“The maid said there was still time before the others returned from dinner, so she offered cookies as a snack. I ate a few.”
Madam Howard, now fully aware, quickly deduced why she had been left alone in Ian’s room. When she learned what had happened while she was unconscious, she pressed her forehead to the ground and begged for forgiveness.
Amelia understood the unspoken meaning—Madam Howard wasn’t only seeking pardon for her negligence. She feared what might happen if Ivan found a reason to hold her accountable.
“I know this wasn’t your fault, Madam Howard.”
Amelia knew someone had used her. It wasn’t Howard’s idea to leave the room unguarded.
“I’d rather eat in my room.”
“It’s the servant’s job to bring it there.”
And if Amelia was to blame, it was only for trusting Louis too much. Distrusting Ivan, she had chosen to dine in her quarters, and Louis had dragged her out anyway.
“……”
She’d thought it would be fine. She had repeatedly told Louis to keep someone by Ian’s side. Louis had always said she understood. Even Duke Russell had promised to assign extra eyes and ears.
“Priestess.”
Someone should have been there with Ian.
“Why was no one there?”
But no one was.
“I don’t know either. I clearly instructed that no one was to leave the room, that Madam Howard was to remain with the child.”
If everything had been so perfectly cleared away before Ivan himself noticed Ian in danger, it could only mean one thing: this had been a setup meant to kill him.
“Maybe the emperor cleared the area himself to harm the child. He’s the only one who benefits from this.”
“He saved Ian.”
“It could’ve been for show. A warning—he could kill the boy at any time.”
It was hard to understand. Maybe Ivan had put on a convincing act. He’d deceived her before.
“Thanks to your foolish decision, that child ended up like this.”
But her instincts screamed otherwise. His cold eyes, his sharp tone—they said something else.
She had seen Ivan act gentle and kind before. But cruel condemnation? That wasn’t an act. That was his nature.
And yet, he had saved Ian. The man who claimed he might kill the child had thrown himself into a pond to rescue him.
Perhaps…
That thought began to stir.
