Chapter 23
Those eyes—golden pupils like a ferocious beast cutting through the dark night—made Karl’s movements stop. The distance between them was so close it was hard to focus, yet that gaze alone was unmistakably clear.
Karl straightened the head he had been tilting. Tightly closed lips, a jaw set with tension, sharply lifted eyes, stiff shoulders. Adelaide was angry. At the sight, Karl tilted his head and smiled seductively. With a smile so dizzying that even an enraged Adelaide might momentarily lose her senses, Karl whispered,
“Why?”
“……”
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“……”
“Did you come to me tonight in such an alluring state because you wish to spend the night with me? If you ask me to hold you, I will. It wouldn’t be so bad to consummate the first night today.”
At those words, Adele clenched both fists tightly.
Yes. That statement wasn’t entirely wrong. When the Empress suggested that she and the Emperor should get along, that implication was included.
But—his expression, his attitude, those thoughtless words tossed out as if teasing, devoid of consideration—made her anger surge. Her mood became, quite literally, filthy. Humiliation crashed over her like raging waves, striking her entire body, and Adele trembled with rage.
Karl tilted his head again, staring as if engraving into his mind Adele’s expression as it collapsed moment by moment.
“I’m going to kiss you, so close your eyes.”
“Stop.”
Adele did not close her eyes. Instead, she glared even more fiercely at the Emperor. Karl raised his hand and brushed the corner of her eye. At the same time, Adele slapped his hand away.
“Stop it!!”
Were the eyes of a leopard deep in a dense jungle like this? Vivid golden pupils, still thick with untamed wildness, tightened around the Emperor’s throat. Karl couldn’t tear his gaze away from her eyes. A strange shiver ran down his spine and spread through his body.
If he were to press down the nape of this sleek, agile black beast’s neck and force it into submission, how would those wild golden eyes change?
Adele pushed his body away and rose from her seat. The Emperor stepped back once, then closed the distance again, standing right up against the Empress. At a distance close enough for their bodies to touch, he growled a warning.
“I know that you were once the Crown Princess of Gotthorf. Truly, eyes befitting an Emperor. But Empress, do not forget that the Emperor here is me. I prefer a docile and obedient woman. Never again meddle in what I do. Do you understand?”
With that, Karl strode back to his seat and sat down, barking the order in his usual cold tone.
“I have no appetite for dinner, so return to the Empress’s palace and dine there. Remember my words well and carve them into your heart.”
＊ ＊ ＊
Even Adelaide’s sturdy legs, which had never wavered even before colossal calamities hurtling down from the heavens, lost their strength and trembled. The humiliation that surged like a raging torrent and struck her back shattered her reason like sand. A filthy, indescribable emotion seemed to seep into every strand of her hair, every fine down on her skin. Anger welled up, making her eyes burn.
She rubbed at the nape of her neck with her hand as if to tear it away, where his breath had touched her, and turned, striding forward. She wanted to drive away the mingled breath they had shared at such close range. Distracted and unsteady, Adele left the Emperor’s chambers and began walking endlessly down the corridor.
Moonlight pouring in through the windows soaked her body as if drenching it, and though it was summer, she felt cold. It felt as though a chill wind were blowing against her bare nape, and Adele repeatedly rubbed her neck with her hand. It felt as though she were walking through empty air.
“Your Majesty the Empress?”
Adele, walking absentmindedly, came to an abrupt stop.
“Your Majesty the Empress?”
At the voice calling again, Adele snapped to her senses as if splashed with cold water. Her half-loosened gaze tightened sharply.
“Is something the matter?”
A gentle voice, a tone that seemed concerned, a faint scent of perfume. Dian Poitiers. If asked to name the person she least wanted to meet right now, it would be her. Wearing a light, flowing dress, Dian approached with graceful steps and bowed lightly in greeting.
‘What does my face look like right now?’
Adele closed her slightly parted lips and set her jaw. She straightened her shoulders and stood upright.
This was the corridor connected to the Emperor’s chambers. Dian gazed at Adele for a moment, then smiled as if she understood. As humiliation surged again, Adele turned her gaze away and tried to pass by her.
“Your Majesty the Empress, are you cold?”
Adele did not answer. But it seemed Dian had no intention of letting her go.
“Oh dear, your arms are shaking. Your shoulders are trembling too.”
Blocking the Empress’s path, Dian examined her face and body with a worried expression. Feeling as though something might burst out all at once, Adele clenched her teeth and said,
“Move.”
That was the best she could do. If she were to justify herself, this was something she had no immunity to.
But to Dian, this situation was exactly the scene she had long imagined, yearning to encounter countless times. So at this moment, she had no intention of letting the Empress go. No matter how ferocious a beast may be, if it is wounded and bleeding, it can be subdued easily with even a small amount of force. Dian leaned close to the Empress’s ear and whispered,
“It seems you followed my advice. But it looks like things didn’t go very well. So… are you running away?”
“What?”
Adele growled with a savage expression, but Dian merely smiled brightly and added one more remark.
“Cover your neck. It’s red, Your Majesty the Empress. Well, then.”
Dian stepped back elegantly. After bending her knees gracefully in a bow, she walked away as naturally as flowing water. The glittering eyes of the attendants and maids persistently swept over the two of them.
Adele could neither grab Dian as she left nor lash out in anger. If she were to stop her now and vent her fury, she would only fall into an even deeper pit.
‘So… are you running away?’
It felt as though a huge bell were ringing beside her ears. As a headache surged, Adele pressed her hand to her head. It was a kind of blow she had never even imagined.
In her haste, fleeing down the stairs, her legs suddenly gave out, and before the maid following her could catch her, her body pitched forward. Gritting her teeth, Adele instinctively squeezed her eyes shut.
But at the same moment she closed her eyes, she felt a solid force bracing her shoulders.
“Your Majesty the Emp—”
Even the maid who had cried out trailed off mid-sentence.
Adele slowly opened her eyes. A strong yet gentle force pushed her body, which had lost its balance and tipped forward, back into place. Once Adele regained her balance and stood upright, he removed his hand from her shoulder and stepped back.
“Are you all right?”
A low voice tickled her ear. Adele stared at him blankly. Black eyes, like a moonlit night sea, quietly reflected her.
“Lionel Baldur…….”
She murmured his name, then snapped back to her senses. The muscles that had been loosely relaxed tightened instantly. Putting strength into her eyes, she desperately squared her shoulders.
“I missed a step. Thank you.”
After offering her thanks, Adele hurried down the stairs without looking back. Lionel followed the Empress’s retreating figure with his gaze.
He had come to the Imperial Palace to report something. Seeing the Empress rushing down the stairs, he had stepped aside, but something about her appearance seemed off. Watching her descend in such a disheveled state, as if fleeing, she looked so perilous that he couldn’t take his eyes off her.
Just as he thought she might fall, sure enough, the Empress staggered, and Lionel moved swiftly to catch her shoulder.
He lowered his gaze to look at his own hand. The shoulder he had barely managed to catch was astonishingly slender. His palm felt as though it had been burned by fire. Staring at the burning sensation in his hand, Lionel slowly curled his fingers into a fist, then lifted his head to look at the place where the Empress had disappeared.
The distorted, disordered bare face of the Empress—who always showed only a perfect image—remained in his mind like an afterimage. A tree that stands upright and endures the storm with its whole body appears noble from afar, but up close it was being shaken mercilessly, bending and warping.
‘She was someone who always smiled so brightly.’
Each time he saw her forcefully straighten her slender shoulders, desperately concealing her wounded, bare self, perhaps that was why his chest had felt so sharply chilled.
But soon, he shook his head slightly with a self-mocking expression. It felt utterly futile to pity the Empress.
＊ ＊ ＊
She had no idea how she had managed to reach the Empress’s palace. Without even removing her clothes, Adele climbed straight onto the bed. From far away, she heard Mrs. Giggs sending the maids away. Adele pulled the blanket over her head and curled her body up tightly.
