The nobles who had witnessed the scene firsthand would surely gather in small groups, losing track of time as they gossiped about it.
“By tomorrow morning, there’ll be even more interesting news added.”
It was easy to imagine how quickly the rumor would spread—that on the very first day of the wedding, the Empress had been cast aside. Whether she had been rejected or had refused first would not matter. In rumors like these, the weaker party was always her.
And suddenly, a sinister premonition flashed through her mind.
“Surely… he wouldn’t go to Dian Poitiers so brazenly, not even on a day like today?”
As Adel muttered to herself, her face darkened instantly. With a sigh, she let slip a curse she had not used in a very long time.
Adel’s ominous prediction was right on the mark. The Emperor had rushed to the Ivory Palace the moment the ceremony ended, as if he had been waiting for it. When he flung open the doors of the Ivory Palace, the maids hurried out and bowed deeply before him.
“Has she awakened?”
“She has not, Your Majesty.”
Karl furrowed his brow and entered Dian’s bedroom. On the enormous bed lay a woman with a deathly pale complexion, motionless as if dead.
His violet eyes sank deeply. It felt as though someone were gripping his throat. He slowly drew in a breath.
Karl, Karl.
Karl, my son.
At the sound of that sorrowful voice—one that could not possibly be heard—the Emperor clenched his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut.
The vast bed. Blonde hair scattered across the pillow. A pale-faced woman.
Cold sweat ran down his back, and his hands grew damp.
“…Your Majesty?”
At the faint voice, Karl snapped back to his senses. When he opened his eyes, Dian was half sitting up, looking at him. Karl quickly stepped over to her.
Dian’s gaze fell on the Emperor’s clothes. He was still wearing the ceremonial attire from the wedding. Her lips threatened to curl upward, and she tightened her jaw to suppress it.
He must have seen me collapse before leaving—so the wedding must have been a mess.
“Are you conscious?” he asked.
Dian nodded slowly. Then, gazing at him with eyes still hazy from waking, she spoke in a reproachful tone.
“You came running here the moment the ceremony ended? How could you do that, Your Majesty?”
“That’s enough.”
“I’m sorry. I’m always causing trouble for you…”
“That’s enough.”
Dian struggled to sit up.
“…The Empress will be waiting for you. You should go.”
“I said I won’t.”
At those words, Dian bit her lip and began to cry.
“I chose the Empress’s wedding dress, Your Majesty.”
“……”
“I also chose the ceremonial crown she would wear, Your Majesty.”
Dian did not yet know that Adel had changed it to a golden crown.
“The ceremonial items, the flowers… I chose everything.”
“……”
“It felt like my chest was being torn apart.”
She stopped there. She wanted to pour out more of the suffocating feelings weighing on her heart, but she could not vent any further.
Don’t cross the line and make him sick of you.
So Dian vented her anger only through tears.
After crying for a long while, Dian finally straightened and looked directly at the Emperor’s face.
In that moment, a chill ran through her chest. He watched her tears with a cold expression devoid of any agitation—there was even a hint of weariness. The faint tears she had left dried up without a trace.
“Nothing will change from before,” he said.
“May I continue to stay by Your Majesty’s side like this?”
“Yes.”
“…But then… who should I be introduced as to Her Majesty the Empress? Now that the Empress has arrived, the nobles will openly call me a concubine.”
As Dian clutched his sleeve with fragile hands and pleaded earnestly, ripples finally appeared on his previously impassive face. The Emperor, who had been frowning, tilted his head and asked,
“Is there a title you want?”
“…A lover.”
“……”
“Please tell the Empress that I am Your Majesty’s lover.”
The moment she said it, Dian’s heart began pounding wildly, as if out of control. Her breathing grew rapid, and cold sweat broke out.
A wolf is never fully tamed.
The Emperor gazed down at her for a long while, his expression unreadable. Then, after a pause, he replied in an indifferent tone,
“Very well.”
At his consent, Dian felt as if she might float into the air.
Taming a wolf is impossible, but one can provoke a reaction by touching its weak spot. Emperor Karl was like a sensitive wolf, hiding blazing fire within—and Dian knew his weak point well.
When Dian reached out her hand, the Emperor took it. She lay back down on the bed, shifting slightly to the side.
“Hold me.”
Even at her frail voice, Karl stood there for a moment. Dian looked at him with pleading eyes, and in the end, the Emperor removed his shoes, climbed onto the bed, and pulled her into his arms.
Listening to the steady beat of his heart through his ceremonial clothes, Dian buried her face against his chest. Her pale lips curved into a smile.
In the end, she succeeded in taking the Empress’s first night.
If I cannot become Empress, then no one will be able to fully claim that position.
The very next day after the imperial couple’s wedding, rumors spread at a terrifying speed, like wildfire through dry brush.
“Oh my! Can you believe it? They say His Majesty rushed straight to the Ivory Palace the moment the ceremony ended.”
“Then that means the Empress was cast aside on her wedding day?”
“Exactly. His Majesty even arrived late to the wedding, didn’t he? Honestly, I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“They say Miss Poitiers practically swept up all the latest pieces from Elin Atelier.”
“My goodness—do you know how much just one necklace there costs?”
“Where do you think that money came from?”
It had become an entertaining spectacle.
“How is Her Majesty the Empress doing?”
“They say she barely shows any change in expression. Apparently, she somehow knew and declared yesterday that she would not permit any visitors. Though, well… that didn’t exactly preserve her dignity.”
“What does it matter if she’s Empress? She’s worse off than a concubine.”
“Do you think she’ll be able to take control of the imperial palace?”
Just then, one of the noblewomen chatting in a small group suddenly startled and grabbed the arm of the speaker.
“What is it?”
“Shh!”
Annoyed by the careless question, she stiffened her expression and shook her head slightly. The noblewomen glanced around in alarm.
“!”
One of them bit her lip in shock. The Empress herself was walking leisurely down the corridor right beside them.
The noblewomen quickly straightened and offered polite greetings. Adel accepted their bows with graceful composure and continued on her way. The noblewomen clutched their pounding chests as they watched the Empress’s retreating figure.
“Do you think she heard us?”
At that question, they narrowed their eyes, recalling the Empress’s expression. But all that came to mind were those striking, languid golden eyes.
“…No. She was too far away to hear us, and she didn’t look displeased. She must not have heard.”
“You think so?”
They exchanged glances and nodded slowly.
“Whew… we really should watch what we say.”
“Exactly. Even after being humiliated like that at the ceremony, she didn’t show the slightest disturbance. Did you see her expression?”
“I don’t know why, but… you know, like something from the forest—a black carnivorous animal.”
“A black panther?”
“Yes! A black panther. It was like seeing one.”
“Oh, really! I told you to watch your mouth!”
“Well, still… honestly, in her current situation, do we really need to be careful? She doesn’t even have a powerful family backing her up. Isn’t that right?”
Meanwhile, as Adel walked down the corridor past them, her face had gone cold and rigid.
As they had whispered, the distance had been enough that she couldn’t hear their words. But their reactions were unmistakable—whispering behind her back, then jumping in surprise when she appeared. And it wasn’t just them. Every maid and attendant she encountered during her walk reacted the same way.
Adel turned away as if there was nothing more to see.
She had gone out for a walk to calm the turmoil inside her, but with every group reacting the same way, there was no way she could remain ignorant. Her ominous premonition from the day before had come true.
She no longer felt the coolness of the breeze or the warmth of the sunlight as she returned to the Empress’s palace. Maintaining a calm, unhurried demeanor felt like it was making every muscle in her body scream.
Only after entering her empty room did she finally gasp for breath. She buried her distorted face in her hands and stood there for a long while, unmoving.
She had come prepared for this, but the gap between imagination and reality was brutally vast.
It wasn’t only at Ehmond’s request that she had brought no one from her homeland. They were all people needed back in Gottorf—people who had no reason to follow her into this exile, and who should not have done so.
Adel roughly rubbed her face. Through the spill of her black hair, a wild glint shone in her vivid golden eyes.
It was time to stop looking back at the past and think about the life she would live here
