Chapter 262

It had been a very long time since the Empress had stepped outside the palace that served as her gilded prison.

Even in her sunlit chambers, she had never lacked warmth, but now that she stood directly beneath the open sky, the sunlight made her feel oddly dizzy—like the world tilted just slightly.

The Empress suddenly halted and looked up at the blazing sun above.

The light filtered through her veil wasn’t as intense as she remembered, yet still sharp enough to sting her weakened eyes.

Tears welled up reflexively, forming a thin shimmer along her lower lashes.

She pressed her fingers gently to the corners of her eyes and then resumed walking.

The Emperor’s palace was adjacent to her own, so reaching her destination didn’t take long.

The gatekeepers recognized her at once and opened the doors without even asking for verification.

She was the Empress, the one and only wife of the Emperor.

There was no need for a wife to seek permission from servants to visit her husband’s quarters.

Especially not when that husband lay unconscious, incapable of barring her entrance himself.

She passed through the tight security without hindrance and finally arrived at the Emperor’s bedchamber.

The man who lay in that bed, ravaged by illness, looked even more gaunt than he had the last time she saw him.

Her visits had never been frequent, so in a way, it was only natural that he had deteriorated this much.

“How is His Majesty faring?”

The Empress asked, her tone cool. The maid attending the Emperor bowed respectfully and responded.

“Fortunately, his condition hasn’t worsened. However… according to the physician, it’s safe to say there’s almost no chance of him regaining consciousness.”

“Has he been delirious again? Calling out for others like before?”

“He’s been quiet lately, Your Majesty.”

“I see…”

So, it really is time, isn’t it?

The Empress murmured softly, her voice nearly a whisper.

She pulled out the chair beside the Emperor’s bed and took a seat, then told everyone else to leave.

The maid who had accompanied her, along with those attending the Emperor, moved swiftly to exit the room.

Now only two people remained in the large chamber: the Emperor and the Empress.

He could no longer speak, and she, too, kept her silence for a long while. A chilling stillness settled over the room like frost.

After a long silence, the Empress finally spoke.

“How convenient for you. Just like back then—you get to pretend you don’t know anything and avoid responsibility.”

“……”

“If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve made sure you kept your wits about you. It’s a bit unfair that I’m left cleaning up the mess all by myself, don’t you think?”

With each word, her tone grew lighter—casual, even.

Abandoning all decorum, she gazed down at the Emperor not as the sovereign of a nation, but as one would look upon a useless, hollow shell of a man.

He might be the Emperor in name, but he was no longer conscious. What did it matter now if she acted with some degree of irreverence?

Even if, by some miracle, he opened his eyes this very moment, it would make no difference.

All she would need to do is cover his mouth and wait a little while longer, and everything would return to peace.

The only reason the Empress hadn’t acted on that simple solution was because of her son.

Her son was not yet ready—neither politically nor emotionally—to assume the throne.

The Emperor’s death had been postponed, solely for her son’s sake.

But things have become too complicated.

Back when Iona married the Duke and left the capital, it seemed everything had fallen neatly into place. Who could’ve predicted that she would return, dragging the past—that past—back with her?

The Empress scowled slightly as the image of her son’s face from that morning flickered in her mind.

A soft, bitter laugh slipped past her lips.

“It seems… he already knew, didn’t he?”

When the letter announcing Iona’s birth first arrived, Richard had done everything in his power to suppress suspicion.

He had claimed confidently that he knew who had sent the letter, and assured her that he would handle the matter quietly on his own.

At the time, she had stepped back, pretending to trust him. But she had never truly believed him.

The way Richard looked at Iona… she had known for quite some time.

If her son had lost his mind and developed feelings for someone who shared his blood—if such an absurdity had truly taken root in reality…

“Well, it wouldn’t be all that surprising.”

The Empress muttered bitterly, her tone laced with scorn.

A child born of a coward’s seed and raised by a hypocrite—what strange outcome would be too strange?

She had remained suspicious, and eventually, her suspicions had been confirmed.

“What do you think you’re doing? Calling her here before verifying the facts? That’s outrageous!”

This morning, the Empress had finally acted after learning that the Crown Prince had failed to capture the culprit.

As soon as Richard heard the news, he came rushing in and accused her of acting recklessly.

He probably hadn’t realized it, but the panic on his face had given the Empress all the confirmation she needed.

Her son was desperately trying to hide the truth from her.

“If it’s difficult to uncover the truth, then we’ll summon the person involved and hear it from their own mouth. They might be holding onto a key detail we’ve missed.”

“And what if she fabricates false evidence? You know the position she holds—as a member of the royal family.”

“Was your knight always so calculating?”

“……What I mean is, we need to be more cautious.”

The Empress stared at her son for a moment, then answered coolly.

“I already gave you a chance. You were the one who failed to make use of it.”

“Mother…”

“So let’s end this here. Before I start thinking this little tantrum of yours is just you lashing out because you can’t stand being rejected.”

Upon hearing the Empress’ warning, Richard gritted his teeth and shot her a sharp glare.

That look—etched like an afterimage—continued to feed her growing doubts.

Why was that?

Why hadn’t Richard, who cherished that girl more than anything, ever laid a hand on her?

Why, when she had raised suspicions about Iona’s birth, had her son tried so desperately to deny it, without even a flicker of surprise in his expression?

Why had he, from the very first time he met Iona as a child, stubbornly insisted on keeping her by his side?

…What was behind it all?

The Empress suddenly burst out laughing, a wild, bitter sound.

Then, biting down hard on her lip, she reached out and seized the Emperor by the collar.

Her voice dropped to a low growl, barely above a whisper.

“You and I… we really did give birth to something impressive, didn’t we?”

After the fire, the Empress had been bedridden for a long time.

She had remained unconscious for no short span of it, either.

If her son had discovered something during that period—

If he had intercepted information meant for her and kept it hidden all this time—

…Then everything that had happened could suddenly make perfect, terrifying sense.

Her grip tightened on the Emperor’s collar.

Perhaps the pressure around his neck was enough to cause discomfort.

The Emperor’s brow twitched slightly in a faint grimace.

With a shove, the Empress released him and staggered back, her breaths rough and uneven.

No matter how defective a child they had birthed, it was too late to replace the successor now.

There were no other children left to name as heir.

If her son bore an irreparable flaw, then that flaw would have to be hidden.

Even if it meant erasing the source—silently, discreetly, and without a trace.

Now that she had met Teresa’s daughter, there was no longer any room for doubt.

What needed to be done had already been decided.

To Teresa, the Empress was a mortal enemy.

And that was all she could ever be.

So even if a part of her wished to spare Teresa’s daughter, she knew that was nothing more than a false sentiment.

She had spent so long deceiving Teresa, and deceiving herself, that deception had become second nature.

She was still fooling everyone by habit.

“I can’t be foolish enough to leave a threat alive again.”

Spitting out the words coldly, the Empress hardened her expression and turned her back on the Emperor.

---The End Of The Chapter---

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