Of course, the love story was hers and not Leah’s.
If the emperor learned of her past life, he surely would not be able to sleep. So she moderately used the men in the harem for reference.
As time passed by, she ran out of things to talk about and ended up faking a story, involving the handsome men she saw in the harem earlier that day.
It was not like they would arrest her for lying.
With such a soft and gentle voice, it was like a lullaby.
Three hours later.
The result of her 10% truth, 90% lies love story was…
“Your Majesty?”
…
The emperor, who was like a beast, finally closed his eyes.
The sensitive baby elk, no, the sensitive black panther, had finally turned into a gentle sheep.
“Good night, Your Majesty.”
While softly patting the chest of the sleeping black-haired emperor, she grinned.
Mission accomplished!
This was what she called success.
* * *
Xi’an Vermouth was in a bad mood today.
“Please let me live—ahh!”
“Kyaah!”
Creak—
In an underground torture chamber filled with flesh and blood, the fishy smell lingered in the air.
The enemies tied in the torture machine could not overcome the pain and died.
“Stop.”
The heavy tortures created a disgusting sight, making him feel uncomfortable. However, things were done under his order, so he tolerated it.
Tired…
Then, a severe migraine struck him.
Xi’an got up from his seat and left the chamber. As he came down the stairs, he encountered Duke Celeste.
“Your Majesty, are you sure you’re stopping the torture now?”
The duke asked worriedly, but Xi’an knew. The person with snake-like eyes was always greedy for something.
He was very tired. The headache had been bothering him for the last several years. So, Xi’an shook his head in response and tried to pass by the duke.
Unfortunately, the duke stopped him, even knowing very well that he was in severe pain.
“There are still captured enemies. You must torture all of them to root out the rebellion.”
‘Your Majesty, those who dare to dream of the collapse of the Vermouth Empire must be slaughtered and find peace… Have mercy on me!’
Rolling like a crazy dog on the battlefield several years ago, he returned to inherit the throne.
Cromwell Celeste, the elder who claimed to be his father-in-law, constantly urged Xi’an, who was suffering from the aftermath of war, to not rest in order to protect Vermouth.
He was young and weary, yet he endured the pain as the experienced Duke told him.
He did everything to refute the prophecy proclaimed when he was born: ‘An emperor with emotions will destroy the fate of the empire.’
Fearing his son would destroy the empire, the previous emperor deprived him of all emotions from an early age.
Joy, sorrow, suffering, and even love.
Xi’an, who was denied a lot of things, had to eat a fixed amount of food, sleep for a certain period of time, and accomplish the task given him. He lived like a doll.
As the Crown Prince, he followed the order to go to war and cut down his enemies. But when his father died, he had to return and become the emperor.
And Cromwell, Duke Celeste, offered his daughter to be the empress, seeming to be loyal follower and protector of the dead emperor and supporter of the Crown Prince.
‘You must not have feelings as an emperor. The empress must be a woman who will not beg for the love of the emperor; she will keep her place quietly.’
The emperor, who had already erased all his emotions, accepted the Duke’s clear request. After all, love was a waste he did not need.
Even after receiving the only daughter of the Duke Celeste as Empress, Xi’an’s life was the same.
Emptiness and colorless, a daily repetition in his life.
He was stained the moment he brutally tortured and killed the enemies he had captured.
His life, which was black and white until then, was dyed bright red.
But the more he did those things, the more his head felt like it was going to break. Xi’an was not happy with such a change.
Ever since he was educated at an early age, he had always been quiet.
So he carried on with his life and just increased the time in slaughter.
Time passed, and he slowly got used to the headaches, discomfort from the cold, irregular beating of his hard heart.
‘Ackh! Save me!’
But the screaming that pierced his eardrum was unbearable. At night, he would lay still on bed while the noises echoed and tormented him all night.
Xi’an realized that even the slightest noise would worsen the screaming in his head. So he removed all the people around his bedroom.
It’s really noisy.
Things were getting worse. He became rougher, his hands crueler. Even dealing with the political affairs aroused his anger, just hearing the ministers talk.
When Duke Celeste offered to alleviate his suffering, he immediately agreed.
The duke took over the political affairs and exchanged with the ministers in the office.
Meanwhile, he immersed himself in torturing captives and returned achromatic life. He spent the whole day in the darkness of the basement, seeking comfort from the screams and bloodstains.
But nothing changed. He became more reticent. It was to the point where he was losing his speech abilities. Furthermore…
‘Kyaakh!’
He was now in the third month of his marriage. However, during the last time when he had shared the bed with the Duke’s daughter, she screamed as if she would blow up his ears.
Even the sound of tossing and turning in bed seemed like it would tear his eardrums, so the high-pitched scream was enough to snap his strings of rationality.
Hah!
And that time, he went wild like a beast.
He had lost his mind, and he had no recollection of what had happened. When he regained consciousness, the canopy of the bed had been violently torn, and the empress was weeping, half unconscious.
The same thing always happened during their bed sharing schedule, which was held twice already since their marriage.
Xi’an Vermouth left the bedroom with an even worse headache, the pain seeming to cut though his brain.
After the incident, Xi’an’s torture became more brutal that the knights who rolled in the battlefield had to close their eyes.
However, Duke Celeste, who surely must have heard of what happened, did not cancel the monthly schedule of bed sharing. People even secretly whispered that an unborn heir was more precious than his daughter.
Xi’an was displeased with everything.
The sensations he felt after he started the torture and slaughter, the auditory hallucinations, and headaches that got worse because of the empress, who screamed every time they shared the bed.
So he warned the duke as the third bed sharing schedule was approached.
With things as it was, he could not guarantee his daughter’s life.
‘Do as you will, Your Majesty.’
Duke Celeste bowed his head, hiding his snake-like eyes.
Xi’an did not want to think deeply about his intentions. The headache was getting more painful, and he did not like the changes in his life that had no control.
If even a father could give up on his own daughter, then the death of the emperor’s heart did not seem to be unfair now.
That was the only thought, the instinct to be freed from the pain that was piercing his brain.
And so, Xi’an Vermouth entered the room where he would meet his wife again, and with an incoming headache, he was extremely sensitive.
Creak—
When he entered the quiet bedroom, the empress was already sleeping, unlike before when she was very vigilant and hid in a corner.
Good job.
Last time, the empress was almost strangled by him. He did not know, but if the empress was not sleeping right now, his wild instincts would have really killed her.
Xi’an went into the bed and tightly covered his ears. In the vacuum of silence, with his ears covered, he could hear the screams.
He just had to wait until dawn.
Then he could get out of this quiet but more painful bedroom and return to his familiar and targeted torture chamber.
Because this is my life.
Xi’an closed his eyes, almost stopping even breathing.
“Creep!”
“Puuu!”
He endured the auditory hallucinations tormenting his eardrums, to the point where he could break his skull.
It was then…
“There, Your Majesty—”
Instinct came out rushing with that small whispering voice.
Rather than enduring it, he should just kill her.
Even the pair of blinking purple eyes were noisy.
Blood started bursting from his hands. He grabbed her neck and gave one last warning before strangling her.
“Noisy.”
Soon the empress would cry again. Then he could cut her slender neck. Then everything will be over.
At the thought, his blood swelled with excitement. Xi’an waited for her last moment, his eyes getting hot.
But something unexpected happened.
“Your Majesty, please lie down again.”
Instead of weeping, the empress was speaking to him.
Ugh!
He did not want to hear the voice breaking the silence. So he grabbed the empress and pressed on her hard, as if biting off the nape of her neck.
But the empress sighed and continued to speak.
“Your Majesty, do you have a migraine?”
The unexpected noise, the attitude on the first night, and the words that broke through terrible pain…
Xi’an unknowingly stopped his attempt of murder. While the empress, taking advantage of the opportunity, broke free and touched him.
“Your Majesty, just lie down and close your eyes… Are you sleepy? Your Majesty, I will tell you an interesting story until you fall asleep.”
Xi’an was deeply perplexed.
It’s loud. It’s annoying, I don’t like it.
Strangely, the headache did not get worse.
He thought hearing so many words would pain his brain to the point of breaking. But, the screams he heard in the torture room were more painful to listen to.
Why is it different now?
Xi’an was lost in his thoughts, not even realizing that he was quietly listening to the voice of the empress who was patting his chest.
“Well, there was a man who I met when I was 20. It was my first love…”
There was still the throbbing, but it was bearable.
Xi’an, who was still contemplating the strange phenomenon, half-heard the empress’s voice and lay down expressionless.
And three hours passed just like that.
It seemed that the time when he should have left the room had already passed. But Xi’an could not leave the room.
…
His body was starting to get drowsy.
For the first time in a long time, Xi’an felt his headache gone, his tense muscles and nerves relaxed.
“He kept showing interest in other women and asked me to break up. So, Hyundo, no! Hey! That’s right. Give back all the presents I gave to you…”
Gradually, his senses and consciousness became distant. And only the empress’s whispering voice settled in Xi’an’s brain.
…What have you done?
To his surprise, he was sleepy.
-To be continued
Translator: Byoun Editor: Kofeibean
