Chapter 08
Cartian left Ria’s room with a pounding heart and headed toward his study. But before he could reach it, he had to face Freya.
Freya greeted Cartian, but he did not return her greeting.
Freya bit her lip at the clear snub. His attitude toward Ria had changed, but she never expected him to be so cold toward her.
How could he change like this? The one who once whispered love to her was now so merciless.
“Your Majesty.”
Instead of the name she always used, Freya called him with the title “Your Majesty,” her voice filled with longing.
Even with her call, Cartian did not stop walking. Baron’s gaze toward Freya was filled with pity.
Though she remained a concubine out of necessity due to her rank, Baron had a favorable opinion of her.
She never used the emperor’s favor as a weapon to belittle others or manipulate him.
Freya’s eyes welled with tears as Cartian ignored her, but she didn’t want to let him go.
Risking impropriety, she hurried after him, grasping at the edge of his robe. Her hand trembled as it clutched the fabric.
“What is this?”
Cartian said coldly, exuding an icy chill like the north wind and winter snow—a stark contrast to the affectionate, tender gaze he had once reserved for Ria.
“I… I just want to speak with Your Majesty, even for a moment.”
Freya spoke with a trembling voice.
“Do you even realize the grave sin of touching the emperor’s body without permission?”
Cartian roughly shook off her hand.
“I’m… I’m sorry.”
“You want to speak with me?”
“…Yes.”
Freya answered with a faint hope in her voice.
“Go ahead.”
He wanted to finish his business quickly and eat with Ria, leaving no time to waste, but for old times’ sake, he would listen to a short piece of what she had to say.
“Do you… truly… not remember even a single thing?”
No, could someone change like this just because they lost their memory?
Freya could not believe it.
“Is remembering really necessary?”
I’m perfectly satisfied as things are.
Even without memory, it doesn’t mean he’s no longer emperor, nor that he’s neglecting his duties.
“But… I… I…”
Freya bit her lip again, unable to finish her words. The reality that she couldn’t cling to him at all was unbearably painful. She hated that he didn’t show even a shred of feeling toward her.
She shouldn’t hate him. She had no right to hate him. Yet seeing him changed like this, her heart ached.
“Do you not understand that even though I could have dismissed you immediately, I allowed you to remain a concubine out of great mercy?”
His voice was icy cold.
Freya quietly shed tears at those words.
‘How could he change so much? He said he liked me, that there was only me. Even if he couldn’t make me empress, he promised to give me a gift greater than an empress.’
Being a concubine was a precarious position—without the emperor’s favor, she could disappear at any moment. Yet she had endured in that position because the emperor liked her. More than an empress, even.
“If you wish to keep that small position, never speak to me again.”
He could not tell her to disappear entirely while living in the imperial palace, but Cartian no longer wished to be entangled with Freya.
“You… you said you liked me. That’s why I could endure. But if Your Majesty rejects me…”
‘What am I supposed to do?’
She needed nothing but the emperor’s love.
It didn’t matter if everyone hated her. It didn’t matter if no one remained by her side.
Even the concubine position he called “mercy.”
“If you don’t like it, leave. If you want, I’ll let you step down from that concubine position even now.”
With that, Cartian turned and walked away.
Watching his back, Freya collapsed weakly to the floor.
Why had he become so cold? Could the empress have somehow tricked him?
Was it really all the empress’s scheme—his memory loss, his liking her?
Silent tears ran down Freya’s cheeks.
“Ma’am.”
One of the maids who had been staying by Freya’s side approached her, looking pitiful.
“How can this happen?”
Freya never assumed that Cartian’s affection would always be hers alone, nor that she could possess him entirely.
But she had not expected it to wither so quickly. She had not expected that even after withering, he would become so cold.
“This is all because of that wicked woman.”
Though she shouldn’t speak ill of the empress lightly, seeing Freya so pitiful made it impossible to suppress her feelings toward the empress.
“Rina, you should be careful what you say; someone might hear you.”
Of course, Freya understood why Rina had said it.
Clutching the pain in her chest as if it were constricting her heart, Freya spoke painfully, worried about Rina.
‘How did it come to this?’
Rina’s face twisted as if sharing in Freya’s pain.
