117. The Choice Given to Me

Deon’s eyes widened. His gaze, which had been piercing through me, gradually hardened.

I did not avoid his eyes and matched his stare. Three pairs of eyes intertwined in the air.

Instead of getting angry or raising his voice, Deon slowly approached me.

He grasped my wrist, from which blood was dripping.

I relaxed my clenched fist. As I unfolded my fingers one by one, my blood-soaked palm was revealed.

He clasped my trembling hand. Deon raised his hand, trying to touch my scar. However, his hand hesitated in mid-air, unable to touch my wound easily.

In the end, he withdrew his hand that was about to touch the scar.

Silently staring at my blood-drenched palm, Deon bit his sleeve.

With a ripping sound, his white shirt tore.

Using the teeth that had bitten my neck, he tore his own shirt. Then, he wrapped my palm with the piece of shirt he had in his mouth. The white fabric quickly turned red with blood.

“I’ll listen to your excuses later. Get treated there first.”

Deon wrapped my palm tightly. He tied the ends of the cloth firmly so it wouldn’t come loose.

“Where?”

As I stared blankly at him, Deon opened his mouth.

“The only place for you is by my side, in the Imperial Palace.”

Deon grabbed my tightly wrapped hand, as if he would never let go.

“Lady Leonie will not go. She has decided to stay by my side.”

When I stood up, Edan moved his rigid body and blocked Deon.

“How dare you block me?”

Once again, sparks flew in their eyes.

The tension in the room, filled with broken objects from the scuffle, made it hard to breathe.

I stepped between them. I grabbed Edan’s arm and tried to calm his fury.

“I’ll be back.”

“Lady Leonie.”

Edan’s eyes were filled with worry as he called out to me.

“It’s okay. I’ll be back soon.”

I held his strong arm to reassure him. I felt Deon’s gaze fixed on the hand holding Edan’s arm, but I did not let go.

“Are your farewells over?”

Deon grabbed my hand again.

“Edan Beaumon. From today, you are not to step even one foot out of the estate. I also relieve you from your position as the head of the knights until further orders.”

With my hand still in his grasp, Deon pulled me into a dark corridor where the lights had not yet been turned on.

“Lady Leonie.”

At the shout echoing through the corridor, I turned around. In the distance, I could see Edan’s large silhouette.

“Please come back safely. I will be waiting.”

* * *

Deon stubbornly refused to let go of my hand the entire way to the Imperial Palace.

I tripped and stumbled over stones in frustration. After pretending to fall several times to get him to release me, Deon slowed his pace slightly. But he never let go of my tightly held hand.

“Where are you planning to keep me?”

I asked him as we crossed the shortcut through the forest and approached the lake.

Even for an emperor, there are established procedures in the palace. But bringing an outsider into the palace through this secret passage? It was as if he intended to bypass all protocols.

Bringing me into the palace now was equivalent to announcing that there was another way in besides the official gate.

But Deon seemed to think nothing of it.

“What do you mean, where?”

“Don’t you plan to imprison me?”

Imprisoning me wasn’t such an urgent matter, at least in my opinion. With Edan under house arrest and me effectively trapped in the empire, there was no need to rush.

“What are you planning to do with me now?”

I no longer served any use for my blood. I couldn’t understand why he insisted on dragging me to the palace.

Deon stopped in his tracks at my words. He looked down at his hand, still holding my wrist.

Staring intently at my wrist, Deon muttered as if to himself.

“…We need to have a meal together.”

As if it were the most important thing in the world to him.

His reply was so absurd that I frowned.

What, did he want to play house? Though he wasn’t pointing a blade at me directly, I didn’t have the courage to share a meal with someone who had wielded a sword so fiercely against me.

“Are you hungry? Oh, do you mean you want to drink my blood? If you wanted my blood, you could have drunk the blood I spilled back at Edan’s estate. Why didn’t you just say so?”

Anger surged within me at his sudden and ridiculous words. Though he spoke of a meal, it seemed like he had no intention of telling me seriously about my future residence.

As I tried to untie the bandage, Deon hastily stopped me and sighed quietly.

“Stop it. Enough with the wordplay.”

“What wordplay?”

“You know what I mean. I no longer drink your blood. And now, there’s no need for me to.”

His words carried multiple meanings.

He no longer needed to wage a conquest now that he was emperor. And he had found another substitute.

I halted my powerless steps. Deon, who had been dragging me, stopped as well and turned to look at me.

“You know that Madame Elisabeth’s child is a blood bag, don’t you?”

Deon said nothing.

His long silence was a confirmation. Yet, his unchanged demeanor puzzled me.

“Then why are you bringing me to the palace?”

“Is there a problem with me taking you?”

I let out a hollow laugh at his words.

That’s right. I was still Deon’s possession. The prisoner he bought from the Xian family at a high price.

His words echoed in my ears, “I’m just taking what’s mine.” I felt pitiful, remembering my status that I had momentarily forgotten.

“I’ll pay you back. So, please let me go.”

As I rustled, trying to escape his firm grip, he asked.

“What money?”

“The amount you paid to the Xian family to bring me here. It will take time, but I’ll pay it back little by little. Please set me free.”

“…Nonsense.”

“Your Majesty.”

“Call me Deon. I don’t see why you’re being so formal now.”

He dismissed my words lightly and tightened his hold on my hand again, leading me swiftly towards the palace tower.

In the darkened garden, luminescent insects flitted about.

Through the transparent windows, I could see birds quietly nestled in their roosts. The birds, which flew around the greenhouse during the day, now covered their eyes with their large wings and huddled quietly.

Noticing my gaze fixed on the greenhouse, Deon deliberately slowed his pace.

The palace, which I visited after a long time, had undergone many changes.

I hadn’t expected them to build a greenhouse in the middle of the royal garden. It was too beautiful to call it an enemy’s territory. It was a scenery I wouldn’t see again once I left.

Of course, given the bad memories associated with the previous royal family, I would want to erase all traces if I were him. Unlike a successor, Deon had undertaken extensive renovations inside the palace.

There must have been many officials who opposed, citing the importance of tradition. The corridors of the palace I saw during the audience had changed so much that they were unrecognizable.

The lights, wallpapers, and even the carvings on the pillars had been meticulously altered. And the scenery looked oddly familiar.

After wandering for a while, I finally realized the source of the strange sense of déjà vu.

It resembled the Empress’s residence.

Specifically, the room I had meticulously decorated, which was strangely out of place in the traditional Empress’s quarters.

I stared blankly at him as he walked ahead. My tightly held wrist throbbed.

* * *

It seemed like an excuse, but Deon truly intended for us to have a meal. He led me to the reception room in the Imperial Palace.

Once I was seated at the long dining table, Deon finally released my wrist.

I rubbed the marked wrist. Soon, the door opened, and as if they had been waiting, delicious-looking dishes began to pile up between us.

The table, as long as it was, filled up with a seemingly endless array of dishes. Just as I was frowning and considering getting up, I saw a familiar face among the servants pushing in the trays.

“Head Butler!”

It was the head butler who had served me at the villa. I sprang up to greet him. His attire was much more splendid now, but he seemed to have more white hair than before.

He smiled warmly at me and embraced me like a grandfather welcoming his visiting grandchild. His clothes smelled of the grass from the villa.

“I’m so happy to see you again.”

“Me too.”

Tears welled up in my eyes. He reached out and wiped the tears from my eyes.

“I prepared the food myself after hearing you were coming.”

So, he knew I would be here.

As expected, Deon had already anticipated that I would be at Edan’s house and that I would be brought here helplessly.

Knowing the butler had prepared the food himself made it hard for me to leave. Reluctantly, I readjusted myself in the chair I had been awkwardly sitting in.

The table was set with dishes I frequently ate in the North and at the Empress’s residence. They weren’t foods Deon would typically enjoy.

Deon wasn’t fond of overly sweet foods. However, he picked up his utensils and began to eat the food he normally wouldn’t have touched. His actions were without hesitation.

“You’ve changed your taste quite a bit since I last saw you.”

Deon looked up at my quiet mutter. It was nearly a whisper, but he caught it.

His slightly furrowed brow showed his confusion. It was clear he wanted to know what I meant.

“Didn’t you dislike these kinds of foods? You weren’t interested in greenhouses, birds, or…”

I prodded at the salad with my fork as I continued.

“I didn’t know you liked red hair. Seems you’ve developed new tastes.”

While I didn’t know his preferences for women, he certainly never had a fixation on red hair.

But Deon didn’t respond to my words.

Maybe I had gone too far. After all, even if his tastes had changed, it wasn’t my business to comment on them.

As I bit my lip, the butler, who was setting a bread roll on the tray, smiled. He casually dropped a hint.

“Perhaps now his taste will change to black hair.”

“…Old man.”

Deon’s voice dropped low as he called out to the butler, signaling him to hold his tongue.

Despite the reprimand, the butler continued to smile as he sliced the bread in front of me.