So, those were unfocused eyes.
“Xi, Xian?”
“You mustn’t provoke him. It seems that seeing blood has awakened his instincts from the battlefield.”
The instinct of mercilessly cutting down enemies in war. In other words, Sian’s nature—the one that had earned him the title of a bloodthirsty tyrant—had awakened.
‘That’s impossible.’
That look was definitely not the Sian I had known until now. But even so, would hunting a few monsters really be enough to awaken the instinct to hunt people?
‘That doesn’t make sense!’
I stopped Cedric, who was standing off against Sian with his sword drawn.
“Don’t do this! His Majesty isn’t that kind of person. Let me talk to him!”
“Your Majesty the Empress, I may be a friend of the Bermut Imperial Family,”
Cedric blocked me with one hand and spoke firmly.
“But as long as the engagement with the House of Duke Celeste is still valid, I also have a duty to protect you.”
“What?”
“If you don’t make it to the wedding, Eloise will be heartbroken.”
What the hell is he talking about?!
Whoosh—
Just then, an arrow, coming from who knows where, grazed my cheek in an instant.
“Ah!”
Drip.
By some miracle, the angle was just off enough to avoid serious injury. But my sliced cheek burned, and blood trickled out.
“Your Majesty?”
But a bigger problem than the wound was the burning sensation spreading from it.
Even in my dazed state, I realized this was a poisoned arrow.
I knew because the sharp, stinging scent on the arrowhead was exactly the one I had prepared for by taking a universal antidote in advance.
‘Alsetamine.’
On its own, it’s a mild poison. But if left untreated, it causes severe aftereffects and can even be fatal. Thank goodness I had prepared for it beforehand.
‘Who did this?’
Who released a chimera into this peaceful hunting ground and then shot a poisoned arrow?
“Cough.”
Blood dribbled from my mouth. Though I had developed some resistance, taking a direct hit still had an effect.
“Your Majesty the Empress! Was it poison?”
Cedric hurriedly supported me.
I nodded to indicate that I was fine, but to outsiders unaware of the situation, I must have looked on the verge of death. Cedric’s face was filled with urgency.
Crack!
But there was an even bigger issue.
Right after I was struck by the poisoned arrow, Sian’s eyes darkened further.
His veins bulged all over his body as he lunged forward with a completely deranged expression.
Clang! Thud!
“Urgh! Y-Your Majesty, run!”
Cedric barely blocked the first strike and shouted as he shoved me away.
For a brief moment, our bodies brushed against each other.
‘…That scent, it can’t be?’
The scent of Alsetamine—something Cedric should not and could not have—was clinging to him.
I had no idea why.
Was it because of that? His desperate expression as he shielded me suddenly felt… strange.
Clang! Zing!
Meanwhile, their battle continued fiercely, so intense that flashes of blue sword aura flickered between them.
Cedric was already struggling—his sword blade worn down after only a few clashes.
Slash! Squeal!
“Argh!”
His slipping blade grazed Cedric’s skin. Blood trickled from his neck.
At the same time, drops of blood dripped from Sian’s own wounds, but his golden eyes didn’t even blink.
That must have been exactly the terrifying figure of the battlefield tyrant that people whispered about.
I was sure of it now.
‘Someone set this up. They made Sian lose control on purpose.’
I didn’t know what trick they used, but the strongest suspicion pointed to the blood.
Otherwise, there was no way he would suddenly lose himself like this.
‘I won’t forgive them. After all I did to raise him properly!’
If he lost control here, everything would be ruined!
I gritted my teeth in frustration.
My mind raced.
A rampaging black panther—what had calmed it before was quality sleep and proper meals.
‘Then, what should I do to stop him this time?’
Emotion, body, contact.
At that moment, the method described in that red book was the only thing that came to mind. It was a desperate choice, even if it was drastic.
‘Please, please!’
I shut my eyes tightly and leaped between them.
“Move aside!”
“Your Majesty?!”
Balancing on my toes, I boldly wrapped myself around Xian’s neck.
And before his out-of-control instincts could stab me with his sword—
Chuu.
I cupped his face and pressed my lips against his.
“…….”
His icy golden eyes glared at me, more terrifying than a chimera’s.
But I didn’t pull away, and the moment that passed felt like an eternity.
Clatter!
The blood-soaked sword fell to the ground.
Cedric was thrown backward as if repelled.
At the same time, a large, heated hand grabbed the back of my neck and pulled me in.
“Mm!”
I could taste the metallic tang of blood, but before I could react, a scorching tongue pushed past my lips.
My entire body was lifted off the ground, my toes no longer touching the earth.
“Ah…”
Wait. This is too—way more than I expected!
The overwhelming pressure wrapped around me, leaving me utterly flustered. But the lips pressing against mine, tilting my head back to seal every gap, were so hot I felt like I was about to lose consciousness.
“Your Majesty! Your Majesty the Empress!”
“Are you all righ—?!”
A rush of people surged toward us, yet I still couldn’t escape from Xian’s grip.
‘Wait, stop, stop it!’
Feeling the shock and horror from those around us, I struggled, but it was useless.
“Ah, mm…”
The moment our tongues tangled, a shiver raced up my spine, jolting me into sharp awareness.
Right now, I was being crushed in Xian’s embrace… while kissing him.
“Mm…!”
The more our contact deepened, the harder it was to keep my senses together. Heat consumed me, as if it would swallow me whole, making my strength continuously drain away.
Not that I needed to support myself anyway—his grip was holding me up just fine.
‘Oh god, I’m doomed.’
I opened my eyes wide, horrified by the realization.
The gathered crowd was frozen in shock, watching the emperor and empress locked in a deep kiss with gaping mouths.
The grotesque chimera that lay dead nearby? The severely wounded prince gasping for breath? All of that had been pushed aside.
If I let Xian continue acting on pure instinct like this—
‘This will be a continental scandal!’
The image of my face plastered all over tomorrow’s newspapers made my hair stand on end.
“From Crazy Empress to Perverted Empress? Absolutely not!”
With a desperate whimper, I summoned superhuman strength and grabbed Xian by the collar.
He was too lost in the kiss to resist.
And then—
Whack!
I headbutted him.
“Y-Your Majesty?!”
“D-Did you hear that sound?!”
Pain exploded across my forehead. Around us, people let out stunned gasps, as if they had just witnessed something unspeakable.
Thud—
But the skull attack worked.
Xian, who had been greedily devouring me, rolled his eyes back and collapsed on the spot.
With my throbbing, swollen forehead, I sank down as well, dragged along with my now-unconscious husband.
Hey! What am I supposed to do now?! You just blacked out and left me to deal with this mess?!
“Your Majesty!”
“Your Majesty the Empress!”
Finally snapping out of their daze, people rushed toward us. The Imperial Knights quickly checked our conditions.
“His Majesty has no serious injuries aside from minor wounds. His breathing, pulse, and body temperature are all stable. He appears to have fainted temporarily!”
“Your Majesty the Empress, are you hurt anywhere?!”
“I-I’m fine.”
Mentally, I am not fine.
If anyone should’ve passed out, it should’ve been me, not Xian! But if we both collapsed here, it would look even worse.
‘I should’ve gone down first…’
I wanted to sob, but instead, I dusted myself off and stood up straight, acting as if my burning lips and throbbing forehead didn’t exist.
‘Embarrassment is temporary, but reputation lasts forever.’
I activated Leah’s specialty: shameless composure—otherwise known as a well-timed topic shift.
“Sir Robert, what exactly happened here?”
I gestured toward the chimera’s corpse and calmly asked. The Imperial Knight Commander, who had been organizing the situation, quickly reported.
“His Majesty was hunting with Prince Sylvester when that chimera suddenly appeared, causing a massive bloodshed.”
As he explained, he gestured toward Xian’s left arm, which was now being carried on a stretcher.
“Prince Cedric was also injured. During the chaos, one of his arrows ricocheted off a tree and grazed His Majesty’s arm, drawing blood. That appears to have triggered His Majesty’s loss of control.”
The commander continued with a troubled expression.
“His Majesty has been extremely sensitive to blood ever since the war. Unfortunately, with the scent of injured soldiers already in the air, the sight of his own blood must have pushed him over the edge…”
So, the chimera’s bloodbath was the first trigger. Then, Cedric’s stray arrow made Xian see his own blood, which ultimately made him snap.
‘Wait. Something’s… off.’
What was it?
I felt an instinctive sense of unease and quickly started retracing the events in my head.
Meanwhile, the knights worked to calm the murmuring nobles.
Cedric, who had been injured and lying on the ground, was now being supported as he approached us.
“We should leave this area immediately, Your Majesty the Empress. This place is dangerous. We don’t know when that thing’s companions might appear.”
His firm insistence was met with agreement from the Knight Commander.
“He’s right. We should evacuate the guests first and conduct a full investigation afterward. By the way, was that chimera slain by Prince Cedric?”
“No, His Majesty killed it.”
At my words, Cedric nodded.
“Indeed. Even in his unstable state, His Majesty displayed extraordinary martial prowess. That’s fortunate, but…”
Cedric pressed a hand against his bleeding wound, his expression growing serious.
“Forgive my boldness, but I’m deeply concerned about His Majesty’s condition. The war has been over for years, and this isn’t even a battlefield. Yet he lost control just from seeing blood.”
The air around us grew tense.
The gathered nobles, who had been watching Cedric and me, exchanged uneasy glances.
I blinked and responded.
“I understand your concern. But His Majesty does not lose his mind just from seeing blood. You all saw it—he attacked the chimera, not people.”
If he had truly gone berserk, he should’ve killed humans too. I pointed out the misunderstanding everyone had been fixated on.
“T-That’s true. Now that you mention it, even after he was injured, His Majesty didn’t attack people… he went after the chimera.”
“Yes. Though he seemed out of control…”
The knights and nobles murmured in realization. I firmly added,
“He may have mistaken me for an enemy and clashed with me when I was shot, but before that, he was clearly not attacking people indiscriminately.”
Cedric acknowledged my point.
“I made a hasty assumption, Your Majesty the Empress. Please forgive my rudeness.”
“But.”
I casually swept back my disheveled hair and looked straight at him, as if I had just remembered something.
“You said earlier that your injury was what triggered His Majesty’s attack, didn’t you?”
“At first, we worked together to fight that thing. But then, when I was injured, His Majesty suddenly turned on me…”
The chimera, the berserk Xian, and Cedric, who had been with him.
Something about the sequence of events didn’t add up.
Like puzzle pieces finally clicking into place—
I realized it.
He’s lying.
