Tension hung between Ermedeline and Valliere like a tightly pulled rope.

However, Henry’s gaze, as he scrutinized Valliere, remained nonchalant.

“It’s fortunate that you’ve regained your senses. I have urgent matters to attend to, so I should be on my way.”

With a fond look in his eyes towards Valliere, Henry exited her bedroom.

‘Didn’t he hear us?’

Although they had whispered to each other, they were close enough that he should have heard, making the lack of any response somewhat unsettling.

Ermedeline and Valliere had both decided that there was no need for further conversation.

“Take care of yourself.”

Ermedeline left a formal farewell and returned to her own room.

“Rooney.”

“Yes?”

“When do you think His Majesty arrived?”

“Well, it seems like he arrived a little while ago.”

“How long ago, roughly? How long did he stay in Valliere’s bedroom?”

“Um… I’d say about 1 to 2 minutes?”

“I see…”

“Perhaps that’s the case. Is it important?”

“No, it’s nothing significant.”

Although Ermedeline brushed it off, it wasn’t entirely inconsequential.

1 to 2 minutes is an ambiguous duration.

Henry had only checked Valliere’s condition and left the room, so he might have overheard their conversation before that.

***

‘Oh, what exactly did they say? Did they talk about possession?’

Contrary to Ermedeline’s concerns, Henry hadn’t heard any conversation related to possession.

He had only heard the last part of their conversation.

Ermedeline expressing a desire to leave the palace, even while risking her life, wasn’t that unusual. Given her recent concern about her reputation, it wasn’t an unexpected statement.

“I thought her obsession with me had lessened, but it seems she was still considering leaving the palace.”

However, Valliere’s ominous words were something that not even Henry, who had been her lover for a long time, could have anticipated.

‘Setting her on fire directly? Is that something one would expect to hear from Valliere? Moreover, what does ‘bully’ mean? Is it a recent slang term?’

Well, even if he didn’t understand the words very well, what bothered him more was Valliere’s revealed ambition for the position of Empress.

While Valliere might have seemed content on the surface, she had never wished for anything other than Henry’s love, at least not outwardly.

‘But you never truly know what’s in a person’s heart. She probably didn’t want to stay in the court forever.’

Henry tried his best to understand Valliere’s statement, but the threat of setting someone on fire remained a troubling passage in his mind.

Valliere was someone who even carefully caught and released small insects that had crawled into the house, showing her concern for their well-being. The sudden use of formal language and elegant table manners could be attributed to her long life in the royal palace, he thought.

However, a threat – even in this serene setting – was still a threat. Not just any threat, but a threat to use her position to execute someone as if it were nothing.

He wished he could erase his own memories if possible.

‘Is it my fault? Should I have never brought her to the palace? Should I have let her stay in the estate and visited her from time to time? Did the poison that has spread throughout the palace finally infect Valliere too?’

Valliere was exceptional but hadn’t lost her purity.

Where had the Valliere gone, who wanted to hold Ermedeline accountable for her wrongdoing and punish her openly, even while resenting her actions?

Henry felt despondent, thinking that perhaps her transformation was due to his own desires.

‘Alright. I should pay more attention. I should focus on not making her feel lonely or anxious.’

While Henry was making a commitment to be more faithful to his lover, Valliere requested a visit from Félio.

Félio reluctantly agreed to the visit with an uneasy expression. However, upon seeing Valliere lying in bed, his heart immediately softened. Despite being the Ice Prince, he wasn’t so heartless as to remain indifferent to a suffering woman.

“What’s wrong? Where does it hurt?” Félio asked.

Valliere tilted her head gently in response to Félio’s question and replied in a soft voice, “There isn’t a specific place that hurts. It’s just… there have been many things on my mind lately.”

“Oh, it’s fortunate that there’s no pain. But why did you summon me?”

“I called you because I’m worried,” Valliere said.

“Worried about what?” Félio inquired.

“Lately, there have been ominous rumors circulating that you, the Ice Prince, are getting close to the Empress. Of course, I don’t believe it, but…”

“I see. We’re not close at all, but we do interact publicly more often due to official matters. Did you call me to address these rumors?”

Félio’s neatly arched eyebrows quirked, displaying an expression that seemed to ask, ‘Really?’

“You visited this morning, too, very early, and the maids in the palace were chattering.”

“Sigh.”

Félio let out a short sigh and nervously brushed back his thick, dark blue hair from his forehead.

“So, what does that have to do with your excellency? Do I need to report my comings and goings to you?”

“You don’t have an obligation to do so. However, isn’t she the wife of the Emperor? Anything that tarnishes the reputation of the Empress will inevitably affect the reputation of the Emperor.”

“I see. Your point is valid. But what does this have to do with you?”

Félio’s face had lost any trace of sympathy and now bore a provocative, annoyed gaze.

The Ice Prince was a fair person, treating everyone impartially, regardless of their status or age.

Valliere was momentarily at a loss for words. 

She had been straightforwardly asked what it had to do with her, and what could she possibly say in response. 

Officially, Ermedeline was Henry’s wife, but she was nothing to Valliere. 

Félio was daring to step into the realm of the Emperor and Empress’s affairs with his question. 

And even though Valliere may have been immature in some ways, she was a top scorer in language proficiency. She could easily follow the context of this conversation. 

“Are you suffering from memory loss these days, Sir?” Valliere retorted. 

“Me?”

“It seems like you often forget the fact that the palace’s mistress will soon change.”

“Huh? Is that so? I’m forgetting that fact?”

“Furthermore, haven’t you despised the Empress? You were consumed by resentment, and now it seems you’ve even forgotten that.”

In response to Valliere’s remark, Félio momentarily smirked with a sardonic smile, then fixed her with an unwavering, icy stare.

“I appreciate your concern for my forgetfulness. However, that is entirely unrelated to you, so please refrain from summoning me for matters related to the Empress.”

Félio, lost in thought, left Valliere behind in her room. He was already busy preparing the defense for the boy who had stabbed the Empress, and he had many other pressing matters to attend to. Being called in over such trivial rumors was exasperating.

And this, too, was related to government affairs.

‘Forget the resentment? Me?’

Félio recalled his grudge against Ermedeline and contemplated his own motives. 

When he initially helped bring down the Duke de Françoise, it was to seal any potential escape routes for her. 

His assistance in establishing the orphanage was also primarily motivated by the intention to be the first to collect evidence if any experiments related to the curse took place there. 

But this time?

How would defending the boy serve his own revenge?

Rationally, he believed that he was defending the boy to shift all the blame onto him and have him executed, preventing any vulnerability of the Ilyenian Dukedom from being exposed to the Empress.

However, deep down, Félio knew that it was the desperate look in Ermedeline’s eyes as she pleaded for the boy’s life that had shaken him. He didn’t admit it to himself, but that was the truth.

‘That woman? Could she have ulterior motives? Could she genuinely want to save the boy? I’ve been fooled too.’

It felt uncomfortable.

There couldn’t be any sympathy in him for that wicked woman.

To put his suspicions to rest, Félio sought out Ermedeline before leaving the palace.

While waiting with the palace guards to announce his visit, he heard laughter coming from inside.

‘Laughter? What’s going on? Did they consume some strange concoction?’

Upon entering, Félio found Ermedeline, with Rooney seated in front of her, busy arranging her hair.

“Please wait just a moment. It’s nearly finished.”

Ermedeline and Rooney seemed engrossed in adjusting their hairstyles while looking in the mirror.

“Ta-da! All done! How do you like it? Isn’t it lovely? With your beautiful face shape, it looks even better with your hair braided like this and leaving a bit of side hair!”

Amidst loosely braided hair at the back, small white flowers were delicately interspersed.

“Empress, your handiwork is truly impressive! It looks so beautiful! I’ve always just put flowers behind my ears; I’ve never tried using them like this before!”

“Hehe. I used to be a beautician for my youn…”

Ermedeline was about to mention that she used to be a beautician for her younger siblings, but her words trailed off. 

She was making an effort to adapt to her new life, but she couldn’t stop the sudden wave of longing. 

The orphanage had always been bustling, but it was also a lonely place. 

When they attended kindergarten or school, their classmates had families, but the orphanage children didn’t. 

Of course, the headmistress and the other teachers took good care of them, but even the young children knew that they were different from having a real family. 

However, the orphanage children considered each other as family and had to rely on each other even more.

When the time came to leave the orphanage, what she had feared the most wasn’t being thrown into a world without any support but the fact that she wouldn’t be able to see her younger siblings every day.

In her previous life, Ermedeline had loved the moment when she would sit the little children on her lap and braid their hair. She couldn’t do their hair as nicely as their mothers could, but she still put all her care into it, hoping that they wouldn’t feel alienated wherever they went.

Rooney noticed Ermedeline’s sudden change in demeanor.

“Empress, are you okay? Why the sudden change? Did Duke Félio come to visit, perhaps…?”

With a hint of resentment in her eyes, Rooney looked at Félio. It was a subtle way of expressing her complaint, as if to say, “Why interrupt at such a good time?”

“Me, me, what did I do?”

Ermedeline burst into laughter when the bewildered Félio widened his eyes and tried to regain his composure.

“That’s right. Thanks to Duke Félio, the atmosphere is completely ruined.”

Ermedeline and Rooney exchanged glances and continued to giggle, seemingly oblivious to Félio’s indignation.

“I had no intention of ruining the atmosphere. I just wanted to make sure the trial preparations were going well and thought you might be curious,” Félio replied, trying to justify his visit.

Félio, who had been accused of spoiling the mood despite not doing anything, wore a gruff expression. Seeing this, Ermedeline got up and personally pulled out a chair, urging Félio to sit. Of course, Rooney quickly followed suit, but Félio managed to take a seat a step ahead.

Despite sitting in the chair, Félio still had his lips slightly puckered and was turning his head slightly. Ermedeline found this rather cute.

“It seems people might have a misconception.”

“Excuse me?”

“They call you the Ice Prince when, in reality, you’re this adorable when you sulk.”

“Wha-when did I…!”

Hearing that a grown adult was sulking left Félio’s face red in an instant. Ermedeline couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Hehe, did I hit the nail on the head?”

Ermedeline looked at the flustered Félio with a genuinely amused and bright smile, as if she found his reaction truly entertaining. She sat down in front of him.

“How are the trial preparations going?”

“Uh, well… about that…”

Of course, Félio knew that Ermedeline’s statement was nothing more than playful banter. However, he couldn’t understand why he was feeling so flustered. Her light laughter and radiant smile felt surreal to him.

As their eyes met, Félio’s flushed face reached the brink of exploding. Blood rushed to his head to the point where he hardly even knew what he had just heard.

“That’s?”

Ermedeline leaned forward slightly to listen to Félio’s words.

“It’s a… a secret!!”

Ermedeline and Rooney suddenly found themselves at a loss for words as they watched Félio’s disappearing figure after blurting out those inexplicable words.