Episode 40

Without lifting a finger, I had managed to acquire a Royal Guard composed of a thousand knights.

I wasn’t sure what I’d use them for yet, but having them ready could be useful someday.

The thought of fulfilling my late husband’s dream made me feel good.

As I left the main palace and headed back to the empress’s palace, Lian continued walking beside me.

When I gave him a questioning look, he just smiled back, so I stopped and asked.

“How far do you intend to follow me? Go to the auxiliary palace, Duke Lian.”

“I don’t want to be apart from Your Majesty for even a moment.”

Why is the snake barking now?

“Stop saying nonsense and go to the auxiliary palace.”

“Why is it nonsense?”

Lian tilted his head, eyes wide, making me think that perhaps the gods are fair.

They must have taken away his sense of humanity and common sense in exchange for that abnormal beauty.

Momentarily lost for words, I couldn’t respond, and Lian slowly took my hand and said,

“If I become your consort, we can always be together.”

“Duke Lian, no couple spends every moment of the day together.”

“I will.”

“That’s not a suggestion.”

“But I don’t want you to be with anyone else.”

Lian brought my hand to his lips.

Anyone seeing us would think we were having a conversation, yet despite having spoken the most to him since coming to Belpator, I didn’t feel like I’d had a proper conversation with him.

It was a sad realization.

I pulled my hand away just before his lips could touch it.

A flash of disappointment crossed his violet eyes as he watched my hand retreat.

“We can’t always do what we want. Go wait in the auxiliary palace.”

As I turned to leave him behind, I heard him murmur softly.

“I will do just that.”

“What?”

Not quite catching it, I turned back to him. Lian responded with his blindingly fake smile.

“I said I’ll wait in the auxiliary palace.”

It didn’t seem like that’s what he originally said, but the lying snake left behind his dazzling smile and turned away.

Today, the snake seemed unusually out of sorts.

When I reached the empress’s palace, I found Lothania and Melbrid sitting together at the entrance.

“Mother!”

Lothania ran up to hug my skirt, while Melbrid greeted me with a more proper bow.

“Greetings, Your Majesty the Empress.”

“Mel, did you come to the palace today?”

“I came on an errand from my brother.”

“The Duke of Zernia?”

“You’ll understand when you visit the auxiliary palace.”

Melbrid’s smile was reminiscent of his brother’s, except it wasn’t a fake smile like Lian’s.

“Mother, Mother. Can I postpone my afternoon lesson and play with Mel?”

Lothania looked up at me with her sparkling reddish eyes, full of anticipation for playing with her friend.

I stroked her hair and asked,

“Won’t it be too tiring with two lessons tomorrow?”

“I can do it!”

“Then go ahead. Mel, go back with the Duke when he leaves.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty the Empress!”

“Thank you, Mother!”

Lothania and Melbrid laughed together and ran out of the empress’s palace.

Anna, holding a large parasol, ran alongside Lothania, followed by maids and guards.

Admiring Anna’s strength, I began to think about Lothania’s different reactions in the past few days.

When Henry visited, she made excuses about nonexistent lessons to avoid meeting him, but now she wanted to postpone her real lessons to play with Melbrid.

If this leads to a strained relationship with the snake, the children will get hurt.

Though Lian might be a bit crazy, he is an efficient administrator for the empire. There’s no need to create unnecessary tension.

Maybe, like with Aiden, I can navigate this situation well.

Though real conversation with Lian seems impossible, as long as it looks like we’re talking to others, it should be fine.

I changed into a light dress and went to the auxiliary palace with a firm resolve.

Upon entering the reception room of the auxiliary palace, I found eight life-sized ice statues of Lian and the insane snake himself waiting for me.

“Duke Lian, what is all this?”

“I prepared these for Your Majesty, who suffers in the heat.”

“…It’s cooling, but did the ice have to be shaped like you?”

“If it must exist, it should be beautiful, shouldn’t it?”

The narcissistic snake smiled with his beautiful face.

I had just made up my mind, but now I was doubting whether partnering with this madman was a good idea.

Avoiding the gazes of the nine ice statues, I sat on the sofa. Despite their shape, the ice was indeed cooling.

Surrounded by nine ice sculptures of Lian, I found the cool air they emitted quite pleasant.

Considering he brought these ice blocks because he knew I suffered from the heat, I found this madman quite endearing.

I recollected Lothania and Melbrid’s bright smiles and steeled my resolve once more.

On the positive side, Lian always tried to give me something.

There was the chocolate cake, the horse he wanted to show me because of my love for animals, and now ice.

For someone lacking in humanity, being so considerate wasn’t easy.

Carefully avoiding eye contact with the ice Lians, I spoke to the real one.

“Thank you. It’s cool and nice.”

It was a natural thing to say, but Lian looked surprised and then smiled faintly.

“You’re the first person other than Melbrid to thank me for a gift.”

“What happens if they don’t thank you?”

“Usually, they ask if I’m threatening them.”

I wondered how he managed to get cursed at for giving gifts, but recalling the state of the two gifts I had received from him, I could understand.

“You must have felt misunderstood.”

“No, it wasn’t a misunderstanding.”

What kind of life had he led to give gifts that were perceived as threats? What did he give, exactly?

Curious but not wanting to delve into it, I changed the subject.

“Melbrid must have had a hard time bringing these here.”

“He was probably happy to have an excuse to enter the palace.”

“He did come to see me to ask if he could play with Lothania. I wonder if they had lunch before running off to play.”

I laughed, thinking of Lothania and Melbrid running like puppies, and Lian smiled too.

“Now that I think about it, you’re the only one who laughs in front of me besides Mel.”

“If there are only two people in your life who smile at you, you might want to reflect on your life choices.”

“I think I’ve lived well, getting everything I wanted.”

Lian answered with a proud and satisfied expression.

Right. This guy was deeply troubled.

If he was satisfied, who was I to argue?

I nodded vaguely to mean he should live as he pleased, and his expression suddenly grew serious.

“Now there are only one, no, two things left.”

“One of them being to free yourself from the oath’s shackles?”

“Exactly. Mel likes the Crown Princess.”

“How is breaking free from the oath related to Melbrid liking the Crown Princess?”

“If I die, Mel becomes the snake.”

“Even if that happens, nothing will change. Lothania likes Melbrid.”

“She might now, but once she awakens and Mel becomes the snake, everything will change. No human wants to marry a beast they’ve raised.”

Lian spoke calmly, but I was shocked.

Could it be that the lack of marriages between the royal family and the three ducal families over the past 300 years was for this reason?

To the Luminals, the beasts were literally just ‘beasts’?

Maybe Bonita’s attitude of refusing to dine with the beasts stemmed from being a direct descendant of the Luminals.

The power of the oath, which even divided people’s hearts, was terrifying, and it made me understand why the three beasts were so desperate.

At first, I only thought about protecting Lothania from the beasts who dared to threaten their master, but the more I learned about them, the more complicated my feelings became.

Thinking of Melbrid shyly following Lothania around made me sigh.

“So you wanted to break free from the oath for Melbrid’s sake.”

“Yes. I want to give him whatever he wants.”

Perhaps the reason he answered ‘death’ when I asked what he feared most was the same.

If he died, his beloved brother would have to become the snake.

This was a deeply touching display of brotherly love.

I thought he was just a snake with a ruined personality, but he was a brother who deeply cared for his sibling.