***
Blueny stared at the pre-packed suitcase, lost in thought.
The bright sunlight streamed in through the window.
Last night felt unusually short.
‘I suppose I didn’t want the morning to come.’
Because once the day changes, everything will come to an end.
Eventually, the fact that the Kingdom of Soren had deceived the Promian Empire was revealed.
They pretended to be allies on the surface, but behind the scenes, they conspired with the Ilnord Empire to produce counterfeit magic stones.
As if that weren’t enough, they even resorted to despicable actions to exploit his weaknesses.
Blueny was an accomplice to all of it.
Therefore, after they settle matters with Jayren, they will undoubtedly come for her.
‘They’ll be here no later than before lunch.’
With that thought in mind, she cleaned up all traces of her stay and waited for him.
However, as the afternoon passed and even the evening approached, no one came to find her.
‘Did something go wrong?’
That shouldn’t have been the case.
After waiting for a long time, Blueny decided to check on Jayren’s room.
But when she arrived, the room was already empty.
All that was left was a single letter on the table.
– Blueny,
I suggested that we leave together, but due to certain circumstances, it seems I’ll have to return alone.
While staying here, I saw that the Emperor appears to be treating you well, which put my mind at ease. Continue to live well here, just as you have been.
It would be best if we consider this meeting our last.
It was nice to see you. Take care from now on. –
The letter contained words that flipped everything on its head and conveyed that he had already fled from the place.
As soon as she read it, she clenched her fist tightly.
“He just left like that?”
Without any incident?
She clearly remembered that Delight had dragged Jayren away the day before.
That meant he was already aware of everything.
‘How could he have returned unscathed?’
Blueny knew exactly why he had been so desperate to take her away.
‘He would have been anxious as long as I remained here. But he just left like that?’
There had to be a reason why Jayren was able to leave this place unharmed.
There had to be a reason why he gave up on taking her with him.
Both matters were likely connected to Delight.
“Where is Delight right now?”
Blueny, who had been calmly trying to collect her thoughts, was nowhere to be seen.
With fiery eyes and an intimidating aura, she stormed towards the place where Delight was.
“Perfect timing. I was just about to come find you…”
Delight noticed Blueny and smiled lightly as he spoke.
But before he could finish, Blueny, with the sound of a sharp gust of wind, stood in front of him, blocking his path. Her expression was murderous as she questioned him.
“Are you insane?”
“……Blueny?”
“You just let him go? And you even granted them everything they wanted?!”
As soon as she arrived, Blueny unleashed her fury on Delight.
Her anger had already reached its boiling point.
“So, you’ve already heard. As you know, he just left a moment ago. I didn’t inform you before he left because…”
Delight tried to explain calmly, as if he had anticipated her reaction.
But his words didn’t make it to the end.
Blueny, already enraged, wasn’t willing to listen to anything he had to say.
“How could you just let him leave like that? Chase after him right now and catch him!”
“……….”
Blueny grabbed Delight’s arm and shook it vigorously.
After everything she had resolved herself to in order to get here.
What could this man possibly be thinking, doing something so foolish?
Her vision started to spin.
“You’ve lost your mind.”
She clutched her head in frustration.
“You must have gone crazy. There’s no other way you’d do something this idiotic.”
If Delight had learned all the details about what the Kingdom of Soren had done, then what he should have done was clear.
And yet, he was allowing them to leave so casually.
“Don’t you dare say it’s because of me.”
Blueny glared at Delight with a cold, piercing gaze.
“I’m sick and tired of hearing that excuse.”
She drew a firm line.
Truthfully, she already knew.
Though her relationship with Delight had never been good, he had still kept an eye on her situation.
Without her realizing it, the Kingdom of Soren had often sought Delight’s help throughout their marriage, and they had reaped the benefits from it.
Every time, they had used her status as the Empress of Promian as their justification.
It wasn’t until several years into her marriage that she finally learned about the outrageous demands the Kingdom of Soren had made of Delight.
Before their marriage, she had assumed that Delight would naturally and firmly reject such advances from the kingdom.
She had even expected him to laugh at them.
‘That’s why I didn’t worry about it at all.’
But when she learned the truth later, it was a huge shock.
Perhaps, for Delight, it had seemed like the least he could do as a courtesy to his nominal spouse.
So, when the alliance was broken, she left without hesitation.
Since she couldn’t be of any help, she didn’t want to be a hindrance either.
This time, however, there was no way he could use her as an excuse for letting them off the hook.
Jayren had to be dealt with, and the Kingdom of Soren had to be made to face the consequences of what they had done.
Among those consequences…
“I should have made him pay too! Last night, I deliberately tried to knock over the candle! I was siding with Jayren!”
“Then why did you just let him go like that?!”
“Anyone who poses a threat to you should be dealt with cleanly, leaving no loose ends!”
“Besides, this matter involves the counterfeit magic stones that have tormented you for so long!”
“I can’t believe that bastard Jayren profited by using my name against you all this time!”
Her heart felt like it was about to burst from the frustration. It was so suffocating that she felt tears welling up in her eyes.
“It turns out that his story about being a loving sibling was a lie too, huh.”
Delight’s reaction was calm.
“Well, I suppose a man who only talks about ‘doing it for his sibling’ when it’s convenient for him could never have genuine sibling love.”
“Don’t tell me you believed what that scumbag Jayren said?”
Blueny despised Jayren. In the past, she had even refused to call him ‘brother.’
“Still, I wasn’t sure what you were thinking. I thought maybe, since he’s family, you’d care about him a little.”
“Care about that lowly bastard? Are you kidding me?”
“That’s a relief. Looks like we were on the same page after all.”
Delight chuckled softly as if he found it amusing.
“But I have to thank him for one thing.”
“What could you possibly be thankful for with someone like him?”
“Thanks to him, I was able to confirm that you remember.”
“……….!”
Delight’s cold hands cupped Blueny’s cheeks.
His hands, cold like his heart, now cooled down her burning face.
“Take a breath.”
“……….”
“It wasn’t because of you.”
Even though she was still furious, the cold touch gradually steadied Blueny’s breathing.
Her harsh, shallow breaths slowly stabilized, brushing softly against Delight’s hands.
“I let him go on purpose, so you don’t have to get so worked up.”
“………”
“But now I’m curious. Why did you do that?”
At his nonchalant question, Blueny suddenly went silent.
For a brief moment, Delight’s gaze turned cold as he watched her reaction.
“You knew what could have happened to you, didn’t you?”
“I was prepared for that.”
Without noticing his gaze, Blueny replied calmly.
As if it wasn’t a big deal at all.
At the same time, veins bulged from Delight’s neck.
His brows furrowed deeply, and after a moment of thought, he looked at her with a subtle expression and opened his mouth.
“There’s one thing that’s been bothering me, something I haven’t been able to figure out.”
“A problem? What problem could there possibly be now?”
Blueny, once again agitated, got in his face, demanding an answer.
“Could it be…”
Delight spoke slowly, as if savoring every word.
“…that you like me?”
“What?”
Blueny’s face immediately twisted into a scowl.
Upon seeing her reaction, Delight smirked with a look that said, “Of course, I knew it.”
“I know it’s unlikely, but still… If you didn’t like me, some of your actions wouldn’t make sense.”
“You’re right.”
“……….”
“I like you. I’ve liked you from the very beginning.”
It was a sudden confession from Blueny.
Listening to Delight’s nonsensical rambling had made her so frustrated that she blurted it out impulsively.
‘When did I start liking you…? And you have the nerve to ask something like that…!’
Oh…
What did I just say?
The realization of what she had just confessed hit her a moment too late.
Her face flushed bright red in an instant.
***
“One step back… Retreat!”
“Huh?”
“What?”
“Everyone, step back! Move away, quickly!”
Frantically waving her hands like she was shooing away flies, she quickly backed away from the entrance of Delight’s room, trying to be as quiet as possible.
“What’s going on? Don’t tell me it’s so bad we can’t even go inside?”
Zaire, who had been pushed forward by me, asked, unable to hide his concern.
“It’s fine. But this is definitely a situation where we should absolutely not get involved!”
“That sounds like it is a serious situation, doesn’t it? How can you say it’s fine? Shouldn’t we just go back in and…?”
This time, Serdin, who had been quietly following my gestures, turned around and asked.
The more they pressed, the more suffocated I felt inside.
“No, if we get involved now, we’ll completely ruin everything.”
So let’s just leave!
As we turned the corner of the hallway, I glanced back one last time at the spot where Delight’s room was.
‘What did I just hear? Do I need to go back and clean my ears?’
It was all so intense in so many ways.
Recalling the brief snippets of conversation between the two, I shook my head lightly and averted my gaze.
