Chapter 68
“Were the Empress and the Grand Duchess together?”
Mateo, having returned to the secondary palace because of the rain, asked, looking at Eliana, who was wrapped in a blanket.
“Yes.”
“That’s strange. Weren’t they supposed to be on bad terms?”
Eliana lowered her head at Mateo’s question. Her lips, turned purple, trembled. After all, she had fallen into the lake in the middle of winter and gotten soaked in the rain.
“But more importantly, why did you fall into the lake? And both of you together?”
It was like a snake.
Eliana instinctively shrank her neck under the hunter-like gaze that slowly constricted, choking its prey. She wasn’t sure if it was safe to relay the conversation she had had with Rozella.
“I don’t know what happened exactly, but the moment I turned around, the Empress’s falcon attacked me.”
All Eliana could see were the tips of Mateo’s boots. She didn’t have the courage to lift her gaze and meet the Emperor’s eyes.
She had suspicions but lacked precise information. She didn’t even want to think what might have happened if she had turned too late.
“The falcon of Rozella attacked someone?”
This wasn’t a question for Eliana. Mateo fell silent, as if he had instantly understood the situation from her words.
Mateo clicked his tongue and looked at Eliana.
“It seems the Grand Duchess needs some rest.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
That was all. Instead of ordering her to search for the missing Empress, the Emperor allowed Eliana to rest.
Though Mateo’s treatment felt somewhat unsettling, Eliana desperately needed the rest, just as he had said.
Just as Eliana was about to leave the Emperor’s reception room:
“Eliana!”
“Such an insolent man.”
The Emperor’s voice roared at Gredi, who had entered without knocking. Eliana, hiding her delight at seeing him, stopped in her tracks at the Emperor’s outburst.
“I apologize, Your Majesty.”
Soaked from head to toe, it seemed Gredi had been caught in the rain. Water dripped from him onto the floor, pooling at his feet. Mateo, however, glared at him with a displeased expression, clearly dissatisfied.
“Duke Klyber.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
His wet hair covered his black eyes, but Eliana could still feel his gaze on her.
Even if it had only been a day, the feeling of his concern was comforting. Seeing Gredi seek her out first, rather than the Empress, filled her heart with warmth she could not hide.
“Prepare a search party immediately to find the Empress.”
At the Emperor’s command, Eliana instinctively glanced out the window. The forest outside, shrouded in darkness, was being continuously battered by rain.
Boom! Crash!
Thunder and lightning struck, heightening Eliana’s anxiety.
“…Yes, Your Majesty.”
Mateo, sending Gredi out into the downpour again, arrogantly lifted his chin, as if not even a brief reunion between them was permitted.
Glancing at Eliana, wrapped tightly in her blanket, he turned and left the reception room.
“Rozella’s falcon hasn’t returned either.”
“……”
“Strange, isn’t it? A falcon trained by humans attacking a person.”
Mateo clicked his tongue, pacing around Eliana, his hand resting on her shoulder as he spoke soothingly.
“The Grand Duchess must have been quite startled.”
Despite having previously ordered her to rest, he now seemed intent on holding her.
“More than that, I’m concerned about the Empress.”
Eliana tensed at the hand on her shoulder. Even through the damp fabric of her clothing, the intensity of his desire was palpable.
“The Grand Duchess is kind-hearted, too.”
Mateo smiled, looking out the window. Gredi, having hastily organized the search party, was leaving the palace garden.
Only then did Mateo remove his hand from Eliana’s shoulder.
“She probably won’t return today, right?”
“Excuse me?”
Eliana lifted her head at the Emperor’s muttered words, a shiver crawling up her spine.
“Ah, I’ve held you too long, Grand Duchess. Go, get some rest.”
Mateo’s gaze swept over her, covered by the blanket, and he licked his lips, tongue darting out.
This was a night without Rozella clinging to him with her pregnancy excuse or Gredi by her side. Mateo seemed to view the situation as an opportunity.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Eliana, bowing her head deeply, quickly withdrew. Gredi had already left for the Orante Forest. Closing the reception room door, she hurriedly went to a corridor window.
“You have no idea where he’s going, do you?”
She muttered as she anxiously watched the empty space Gredi had left. The rain beating through the open window felt cruel.
“Let us go, Your Grace, the Grand Duchess.”
“Rodin?”
“The Duke entrusted me with your protection, Your Grace, before leaving.”
Eliana closed the window as Rodin smiled faintly.
Though it had been a long-awaited reunion, a sigh came before any sense of relief.
He still hadn’t left her side—and didn’t seem to plan on leaving at all.
“That’s not necessary.”
“I am only following the Duke’s orders.”
Eliana’s teeth chattered from the cold, but Rodin didn’t step back; he merely adjusted her blanket.
“If you linger, you might fall ill from the fever and be unable to greet the Duke upon his return.”
Hurrying along, Eliana could hear Rodin’s footsteps behind her echo unusually loudly.
Boom! Crash!
Lightning flashed, thunder roared.
The enormous noise caused Eliana to collapse to the floor.
“Your Grace!”
A rising vision made her bite her lip and close her eyes tightly.
Her deceased ex-husband lay bleeding on the floor, staring at her.
The memory she had tried to forget bit at her heels, tormenting her.
It was a day she needed warmth more than ever—but there was no one to give it.
“…It’s okay.”
Eliana pushed Rodin away. Attempting to stand, her legs gave out, and she swayed.
“Eliana!”
Unable to restrain himself, Rodin touched her.
Thwack!
The sharp sound echoed through the empty corridor.
“Don’t touch me.”
Eliana averted her gaze and moved forward, hurrying before the freezing chill could consume her completely.
* * *
“The nights in the forest are long.”
“……”
“Even longer when it rains.”
Baron Bliss refilled the empty glass with wine while attending to Emperor Mateo, who hummed absentmindedly in the bath.
It was the day the Empress disappeared. He didn’t seem like a husband trembling with anxiety at all.
The relationship between the Emperor and Empress was neither good nor bad. Compared to ignoring the late Empress and nobility’s advice to make Rozella Empress, it was relatively neutral.
Mateo, wary of Duke Klyber hovering around Empress Rozella, displayed this openly—but it didn’t exactly look like love. More like someone who had gotten the toy he wanted.
“Is the water temperature fine, Your Majesty?”
“Just right.”
Mateo hummed as he raised the glass Baron Bliss had poured.
Outside, thunder and lightning continued, the torrential rain unrelenting. The Empress had vanished after falling into the lake.
The Orante Forest lake was well-known but avoided by all.
Ten years ago, during a hunting tournament, the Crown Prince had been killed there.
After his disappearance, finding his body took days due to the lake’s vast depth.
The Empress, who had clung to the faint hope, lost consciousness. The Emperor, who lost his most beloved son, fell into deep grief.
Despite offering an enormous reward, the culprit was never caught.
So, the nobles who remembered that incident avoided the lake entirely.
Baron Bliss couldn’t understand why the Empress would lead the Grand Duchess to the forbidden lake.
“Bliss.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Is Duke Klyber still staying in that room?”
“…Yes, Your Majesty.”
Baron Bliss bowed slightly, reflecting on Mateo’s question. It was one of the few things even he couldn’t understand.
After Rozella became Empress, the room once used by the deceased Crown Prince during the hunting tournament was opened. Mateo had never used it even after ascending the throne. Rozella gave the room to Duke Klyber, citing the lack of rooms.
It made no sense, but no servant would interfere in something even the Emperor did not prevent. They merely thought Rozella’s affection for Klyber was special.
“Why do you ask that now?”
Mateo chuckled lightly at the question. Bliss glanced nervously at the Emperor.
Due to the rain, Mateo had returned without being able to hunt. Normally, he would be irritable and put the servants on edge.
Yet, his mood seemed unusually good.
“Baron, have you ever secretly eaten someone else’s cake?”
Surprised, Baron Bliss tilted his head.
