A gentle fragrance lingered in the darkened room. A pleasant scent that calmed the mind and led to deep sleep. However, it had no effect on the woman curled up in bed.
“Huk!”
Her suddenly opened eyes were bloodshot, and the deeply wrinkled corners of her eyes twitched. She wanted to flee the room immediately, but her frozen body wouldn’t move as she wished.
At the end of her gaze was the shadow of a person looking down at the bed. No, not a person but something else.
Pale platinum hair, cold like moonlight, flowed luxuriantly in the still indoor air. When the violet-blue eyes turned toward her, a sharp scream burst from the Empress Dowager’s mouth.
“Aaaagh!”
It was exactly the same appearance as when she had last seen her decades ago. The violet-blue eyes that didn’t seem human and the chillingly pale platinum hair.
“Ibis!”
The Empress Dowager widened her eyes and writhed. She barely managed to pull her immobile body up, grabbing the bedpost to raise her upper body.
“Go away! Stop it! Why are you tormenting me?”
The ghost-like wavering figure of a woman approached silently. The Empress Dowager contorted her wrinkled face and screamed more convulsively.
“I, I did nothing wrong. It wasn’t my fault!”
Facing the Empress Dowager, who was howling like a beast, the person—or whatever it was—opened their mouth. A voice resembling a human’s, yet one that resonated in the Empress Dowager’s ears like an auditory hallucination.
“You did nothing wrong?”
“It was His Majesty who did it. I knew nothing!”
The woman looked down at the Empress Dowager with a coldly subdued gaze. The violet-blue eyes flashed as eerily as their bizarre color.
“You subdued the knights. You opened the castle gates. You sold your family, your people to the Emperor’s army.”
“No, it wasn’t my fault! I, I only did what I was told!”
The Empress Dowager flailed her arms trying to avoid the approaching figure. She waved her skinny arms like hollow twigs and screamed in rage.
“You think a mere specter like you can harm me? You can’t do anything. At most, you can only torment my mind. Get out of here now!”
A cold sneer appeared at the corner of the woman’s mouth. Eyes full of killing intent pressure the frightened opponent.
“That’s why everyone thinks you’re mad. You’re going insane. Until you die, I will watch you descend into madness. Until you pay for the blood on your hands.”
Despite the Empress Dowager’s struggles, the woman’s face came closer and closer.
“You will pay the price, Ilerna. As much as the blood on your hands.”
“Aaaagh!”
The struggling Empress Dowager fell off the bed. As if she couldn’t feel the impact of the fall, she frantically moved her body and crawled on the floor.
“Is anyone there! Why isn’t anyone coming!”
After screaming like that for who knows how long, the door finally burst open.
“Gasp, Your Majesty!”
The head maid rushed to help the Empress Dowager who had collapsed on the floor. But the fiercely struggling Empress Dowager mercilessly scratched and tore at the person trying to hold her.
“Ah! Your Majesty, please be still!”
“Ibis! Bring that woman’s corpse! Drag it before my eyes!”
Deep in the night, the Dowager’s palace was thrown into turmoil. Awakened maids lit fires throughout the building, making it as bright as day, and gathered at the Empress Dowager’s bedroom.
“She’s already dead. Your Majesty, it’s just the ghost of a dead person.”
“Uh-huh, Ibis is dead, dead…”
“Yes, Your Majesty. So please calm down.”
The Empress Dowager, who had already lost her mind, lay back on the bed with the support of the soothing head maid.
“Your Majesty, this is medicine to help you sleep.”
The head maid poured medicine into the Empress Dowager’s mouth, handed by someone. But the medicine trickled down from the mouth of the dazed Empress Dowager, soaking her clothes.
“One more.”
At the head maid’s instruction, a waiting maid held out another medicine bottle.
“You need to take the medicine to sleep peacefully. Come now, just swallow slowly, Your Majesty.”
The gesture of coaxing was natural. After barely getting the Empress Dowager to take the medicine, the head maid withdrew from the bed.
“Wipe off the medicine and change Her Majesty’s clothes. Keep the bedroom lights bright like this.”
The head maid giving orders was also about the same age as the Empress Dowager, with visible scattered white hair. Having stayed by her side for many years, she skillfully directed the situation.
The midnight disturbance was resolved that way. The maids who had finished their duties left the main building and heaved long sighs.
“It seems to be getting worse and worse.”
“I know. This is already the fourth time this month. Searching for a sister who died decades ago, my goodness.”
“It must be because of guilt, right? They say it was the Empress Dowager who handed over evidence of treason and opened the gates of the Grand Duchy.”
“What’s the use of living in luxury with gold bedding? She suffers from ghosts her whole life and can’t even sleep properly.”
“Shh, if you gossip about this elsewhere, they’ll flog you immediately, you know?”
“Sigh, I don’t know. She’s so old, what if something happens to her?”
“Something’s already happened long ago.”
The maids whispering amongst themselves hurried back to their quarters.
****
The Empress Dowager’s face showed no trace of last night’s commotion. Her pale complexion was hidden under thick makeup, and her bloodshot eyes were washed with herbal water to maintain a clear color.
But she couldn’t hide the feeling of decline, like a lamp about to be extinguished. Her limp body and the overly large and ornate chair made it even more apparent.
“Why is the scent so strong? Doesn’t it give you a headache?”
The Empress Dowager irritably pushed away the teacup. It was tea she usually enjoyed, but today even that gave her a sense of rejection.
“I’ll have it changed, Your Majesty.”
The waiting maid quickly took the teacup and withdrew. Unable to contain her irritation, the Empress Dowager turned her arrows toward the person sitting across from her.
“Although you’re the precious daughter of the Marquis family, why do I barely remember seeing you?”
“Regrettably, my position was too insignificant to enter the palace much.”
“Marquis Maiheller left you like that?”
“My father didn’t particularly like me being prominent.”
Shafri lowered her gaze and answered politely. Not bothering to hide her displeasure, the Empress Dowager openly criticized her.
“If you needed help, you should have shown your face earlier. Are you treating me like an old woman tucked away in a back room?”
Instead of making excuses, Shafri apologized and lowered her head even more. She restrained her words, knowing there was nothing to gain by upsetting the Empress Dowager.
The maid who had left the reception room returned. Watching the Empress Dowager’s mood, she set up newly prepared tea utensils and filled the teacup.
“Ah, it’s hot!”
The Empress Dowager screamed as she lifted the teacup. Perhaps due to her weak hand, the handle slipped. With a loud noise, the teacup fell onto the table.
“Your Majesty!”
Shafri also rose from her seat in surprise.
“Your gloves are wet. Did you burn yourself?”
“Get away! How dare you touch me!”
The Empress Dowager, startled, clutched her hand. She hid her hand from Shafri’s gaze as if concealing something. It was an excessively intense reaction.
“I apologize. I overstepped.”
As Shafri backed away, a waiting maid approached the Empress Dowager with spare gloves. While Shafri kept her head bowed, the maid quickly replaced the gloves.
The waiting maids only did their jobs and quickly withdrew. In the midst of an uncomfortable silence, an attendant arrived.
“Your Majesty, Duke Talion has arrived.”
Color returned to Shafri’s face for the first time. The Empress Dowager straightened her slouched body and gestured.
“Let him in.”
A man with a larger and more solid build than the knight guarding the reception room entrance strode in.
His well-proportioned, balanced physique and firm muscles were like those of a knight, but his neatly styled blonde hair, refined features, and the aura emanating from his face were typical of a capital nobleman.
“I greet Her Imperial Majesty, the Empress Dowager.”
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen Duke Talion.”
The Empress Dowager brightened at Drushia’s visit.
Talion—a house that maintained a steadfast power on its own, regardless of the political landscape. It was a family that the imperial house and relatives-by-marriage coveted the most, but which remained aloof, lending strength to no one.
A figure who couldn’t be looked down upon even with his head bowed. Drushia’s solid face was as lofty as his family’s reputation.
“I heard you called for me.”
“Wouldn’t it be nice if you came before I called? Since no one visits me after I left the imperial palace, I had no choice but to take action myself.”
“Yet it seems Marquis Maiheller has paid you a visit.”
The Empress Dowager’s face hardened at the pointed remark. Unconcerned, Drushia’s gaze shifted to Shafri. Feeling the sharp gaze, Shafri slightly turned her head away.
“Duke Talion doesn’t seem to like this meeting.”
The Empress Dowager’s mood gradually worsened. Despite being exiled from the imperial palace, she was the mother of the current Emperor. No one had ever been this stiff in front of her, though they might whisper behind her back.
“How could that be? It’s just that this is the first time you’ve summoned me, and I found it curious that it would be now.”
“Perhaps because you stay away from social circles. Why is the Duke’s conduct so cold?”
“Having spent three years in the expeditionary forces, I’ve forgotten much of the capital nobility’s etiquette. I have many shortcomings compared to the generous Empress Dowager.”
‘Look at this?’
I called him stiff, but the way he subtly deflects is incredibly irritating. The Empress Dowager couldn’t even express her anger and just frowned. Suddenly, she remembered how her son had greatly respected the previous Duke Talion.
‘This youngster isn’t even half my age. Grandfather and grandson are exactly alike.’
She instantly recognized that clumsy persuasion wouldn’t work on such a person.
“Um, Your Majesty.”
Shafri gently intervened in the battle of nerves between the two.
“Yes, right. I almost forgot. The two of you have been engaged for a year, but you still haven’t set a date?”
Drushia’s eyes sharpened.
Shafri avoided his gaze, waiting for the Empress Dowager’s next words.
“I called you because I thought I’d give a wedding gift.”
“I had no idea Your Majesty had such interest in our wedding.”
Though he tried to maintain composure, he couldn’t hide his stiffened face. Drushia found this situation awkward. He didn’t understand why the Empress Dowager was getting involved in his marriage.
The Empress Dowager’s expression became more relaxed. There was even anticipation about how the other would react to what she was about to say.
“What good is it that my son is Emperor and my grandson is Crown Prince? They’ve driven me out of the palace like this and don’t even look in on me. For someone like me, connections that have continued from the past are precious.”
After being banished to the Dowager’s palace, most high nobles turned their backs on the Empress Dowager. Marquis Maiheller was one of the few who still maintained friendly relations with her.
The Empress Dowager elegantly touched the teacup with her fingertips and continued.
“As a wedding gift, I’m thinking of returning Talion family’s heirloom.”
Drushia lifted his head sharply, forgetting courtesy. His wide eyes crossed with surprise and doubt.
The Talion family heirloom. It referred to the sacred object that had been with the family since its founding in the early days of the empire. However, it was also an item that the late Emperor had almost forcibly taken decades ago.
It was a time when the Grand Duchy had been turned into a wasteland due to charges of treason. When all nobles were cautious about being caught for strict offenses.
The late Emperor had practically confiscated the Talion family’s sacred object. The excuse was that he would “keep it safe,” but in reality, it was no different from having stolen it. The Duke of Talion at that time gave the sacred object to the late Emperor and was instead instructed to manage the Grand Duchy.
“Has His Majesty the Emperor approved this?”
“His Majesty doesn’t care about such items anyway. Isn’t it better to return it to its original owner than let it rot in storage?”
If it was going to be returned like this, why take it in the first place? One couldn’t help but wonder.
“But, Duke Talion.”
The arrogant Empress Dowager carefully observed Drushia’s expression.
“Have you ever tried to retrieve it?”
