Chapter 36:
A Broken Relationship
The Empress’s Palace, Erphia’s Residence.
Sunlight poured through a large arched window, illuminating the elegant, antique room.
The room was deathly quiet after the maids had been dismissed. The carpet made of golden fox fur shimmered like velvet.
Erphia lay on a long sofa in the center of the room, absently tapping the armrest with her fingers.
Ben still hadn’t returned, long past the expected time.
In over twenty years of loyal service, Ben had never been late like this.
“Surely… something hasn’t gone wrong?”
Nervously, Erphia bit her lower lip.
“To Ben, slipping poison to a lowly woman should’ve been nothing.”
If anyone knew Ben’s skills, it was Erphia.
He had never hesitated to get blood on his hands for her sake.
He had been by her side for so long, and not once had he failed her.
Even so, today her uneasiness was stronger than ever.
“Why do you despise that woman so much, Your Majesty? You are the mother of all people. Must you really be swayed by a nobody like her?”
Those were the words Illeon had said to her, and they lingered in her mind.
Unlike her, the noble Empress, that woman was a nobody.
Aside from a pretty face, she had nothing.
And yet, ever since that woman appeared in the palace, everything had started to fall apart.
Her relationship with her son, Jeremy, had deteriorated. Dietrich, who should have dealt with the woman, instead grew close to her.
“Even Illeon…”
Erphia’s hand trembled where it clutched the sofa.
If her only strength was her appearance, then destroying that appearance would be the best course.
The surest way to devalue a person was to ruin what they prized most.
At that moment, the sound of angry footsteps echoed beyond the closed hallway.
“Jeremy?”
Just as Erphia frowned, the doors suddenly burst open with a loud bang.
“Mother!”
It was a voice filled with raw agony — completely unlike his usual tone.
Despite the alarming tone, Erphia welcomed the sound of her son’s voice and rose with a warm smile.
“You’re here, Jeremy.”
But the moment she saw him clearly, her face froze.
Before her stood… a monster.
The only resemblance to her son was the golden hair and violet eyes.
His skin had melted grotesquely; his features twisted beyond recognition. Jeremy’s face was hideous — horrifying enough to make her look away.
Erphia stammered in disbelief.
“Is… is it really you, Jeremy? What happened to your face…?”
Jeremy walked closer.
Up close, his face was a nightmare.
Bones peeked through the melted flesh, his eyes, nose, and mouth grotesquely distorted. He looked less like a man and more like a demon.
Erphia’s legs gave out, and she collapsed back onto the sofa.
“You should know better than anyone why I look like this.”
The bitter voice coming from the monster was unmistakably Jeremy’s.
Something had gone terribly wrong.
The poison meant for Celia — her son had consumed it instead.
“You had your knight, Ben, give me poison. I drank the honey water you gave me without hesitation — like a fool!”
The twisted lips on the left side of his face curled in disdain.
Erphia felt her world crashing down.
She screamed in denial.
“No, Jeremy! I would never do such a thing to my own son!”
“Then tell me — where is your knight, Ben?”
Her heart dropped.
Ben still hadn’t returned.
And yet Jeremy just claimed Ben had given him the poison.
Anyone would think she was the culprit.
“Could Ben… have betrayed me?”
For over two decades, he had served faithfully — and now, just before Jeremy was to ascend the throne, this?
Her eyes widened in panic.
“Since when…?”
The betrayal hit her like a thunderclap. She bit her lip so hard it bled.
Jeremy sneered at her silence.
“Mother, why is Ben nowhere to be seen? Don’t tell me you ordered him to do this and then helped him disappear?”
Erphia shook her head violently.
“How could you think that of me?! I love you more than my own life!”
“The handwriting in the letter, the honey water — everything matched. And you still deny it?”
Erphia’s face went pale.
“Someone… someone must have impersonated me. They’re trying to drive a wedge between us! Where is the letter now?”
“Ben has it. As soon as I recognized your handwriting, I gave it back to him and drank the honey water.”
Contempt flashed in Jeremy’s eyes.
“One last question. Where is your knight, Ben?”
Erphia felt suffocated.
Why had Ben disobeyed her and poisoned Jeremy instead of Celia?
Everything lined up too neatly — like a well-written script.
It was hard to believe Ben had acted alone.
Now, only one person could help her — Illeon, of House Gredrick.
The very man who had supplied the poison.
If anyone knew the truth, it was him.
“I must see Duke Gredrick at once.”
As she turned to leave, Jeremy grabbed her wrist so tightly it felt like it would shatter.
“Mother, I’m still speaking to you.”
“Jeremy! I would never do such a thing to my own child!”
“Then look me in the eyes and say it. Why can’t you even look at my face?”
When she continued to avert her gaze, Jeremy gripped her tighter.
“Mother… I am your son. You cherish me more than life itself — why would you do this?”
Even as she appealed to his emotions, Jeremy didn’t let go.
“Do I disgust you now, too? Is my face so horrifying you can’t even bear to look at me?”
Panting, Erphia finally looked at his face.
Behind the twisted features, those violet eyes — just like hers — burned with madness.
The mere sight of it made her stomach churn.
She clamped a hand over her mouth to stop herself from vomiting.
“Urgh…!”
Jeremy’s eyes grew cold as he looked at her.
He released her wrist and muttered icily:
“As of today, I have no mother.”
“…J-Jeremy?”
“Once I take the throne, the first thing I’ll do is strip you of your title.”
Without another word, Jeremy turned to leave.
Erphia desperately clung to him and wailed, but he coldly shrugged her off and walked away without looking back.
“Jeremy!”
Her scream echoed through the palace. Her fingers trembled violently as they clawed into the luxurious carpet.
Meanwhile…
The Imperial Palace was vast and hard to navigate.
Celia retraced her steps carefully and made her way toward Dietrich’s residence.
Along the way, she saw a few knights and nobles. But given the chaos from the news of Jeremy’s disfigured face, no one seemed to pay her any attention.
Dietrich’s mansion stood tall, with stone domes and pointed spires. It looked grand, but unlike the lavish golden marble halls of the palace, it felt oddly out of place.
“The Emperor granted him the title, didn’t he?”
Instead of giving him a fief, he built a mansion inside the palace.
Tasteless, really.
Even the lowest nobility, like barons, had their own territory. Yet Duke Dietrich had none.
“And to think I once pitied him. What a joke.”
Celia let out a bitter laugh.
Who was pitying whom?
Even if his dukedom was just a title, Dietrich had earned his rank as Captain of the Royal Guard with his own strength.
“What does he want to gain by using me?”
Does he, like her, want to bring down Avelon?
Was that why he whispered in the night that the three great dukes were the real enemies?
“If so, I could use him too.”
They shared the same goal. And he was the only one who could cure her terminal illness.
“How far does his healing ability extend…?”
When he held her hand, her anxiety faded. When he kissed her, it felt like life flowed back into her.
“…A kiss.”
Thinking back to the kiss made her feel strange.
Celia shook her head to banish the spiraling thoughts.
“Just as he’s using me, I’ll use him too. A kiss means nothing.”
Before she knew it, she had arrived at Dietrich’s mansion.
Outside, a man she vaguely recognized stood guard with a perfectly straight posture.
Judging by the gray streaks in his hair and the lines on his face, he seemed to be around fifty.
“Dietrich called him Anderson, didn’t he?”
Celia approached, realizing this must be Dietrich’s right-hand man.
Anderson’s eyes widened when he saw her.
Understandable — while she had seen him before through a window, Anderson had likely never seen her up close.
But only for a moment. Anderson quickly composed himself.
“What business brings you here?”
His curt tone was much like Dietrich’s.
“I’ve come to see Duke Calypso.”
“The Duke is not at the residence right now.”
Celia frowned. She’d expected him to be here. Where could he have gone in all this chaos?
“Can you tell me where he is? I have a message for him.”
“His Grace is…”
Anderson trailed off — and just then, a cloak was gently draped over Celia’s shoulders from behind.
