Evelina’s heart stopped, along with everything else that showed the telltale signs of life, as if she were truly dead.
<Dawn Dew> was originally a secret known only to Tenesi royalty. She knew Usher because her father told her about it.
Evelina who drank it could indeed be dead for a week. However, even though her life activities stopped, strange sounds were heard.
“Call the doctor! Right now!”
Kaiden, who woke up in the morning, seemed to still greet the early dawn. Evelina thought it was dawn, seeing that she hadn’t heard the birds chirping around her yet.
“Bring them right now!”
Kaiden’s screaming voice sounded too unfamiliar. His voice was somehow accompanied by a deep tremor.
For a long time. Her senses had faded, and she could not figure out what he was doing.
She didn’t even know how much time had passed.
Evelina knew that the Emperor would not cry, but she could not confirm that he did not.
She thought his heavy breathing was strange. She could hear gasps, which she couldn’t tell if he was laughing or crying. But she couldn’t see anything because her eyes were closed.
Obviously the heart didn’t beat. It was so clear that even she could tell.
But her ears continued to hear, which troubled her. She wondered if she had to endure for a week like this, but she was really relieved at the thought that if she endured like this for a week, she would really be free.
“It’s my fault.”
She knew he was talking to her.
His wet voice, his suffocating breath.
“I should have told you everything from the beginning.”
His voice was so garbled that you might mistakenly think he was really crying.
“I thought you wouldn’t believe me if I told you the truth. So I didn’t tell you.”
Evelina couldn’t deny it any longer. It’s not because he was laughing happily that he was breathing like this.
He was clearly crying.
“When I found out that you loved me even though I didn’t tell you… You have no idea how happy I was.”
He looked at her face and stroked her cheek. His tears fell down her face.
Evelina felt distant, but she couldn’t help but notice that his tears were falling into her eyes and running down her temples.
“I guess that’s why I get punished like this.”
Evelina wanted to fall asleep at the warm breath she felt near her chest. She fell asleep and hoped she wouldn’t hear anything.
“If I had known it would be like this, I would have said I love you every day from the first day we met.”
That’s how she had to endure for a long time, denying Kaiden’s cries.
~~~~
“Your Majesty, if you don’t drink a sip of water like that, you’ll pass out.”
“Who said you could talk to me?”
Kaiden’s voice was cold.
“Then are you going to continue fasting like this?”
“It’s none of your business. Go before I break your neck.”
She thought she heard Kaiden’s voice as she woke up, but Evelina really fell asleep before she knew it.
Her funeral took 3 days. The death of the Queen turned the Emperor cold again.
It rained at Evelina’s funeral.
She was recorded and buried as Empress on a royal tombstone where Empresses could not be buried.
The imperial tomb was built on the outskirts of the capital.
Although it was far from the Imperial Palace.
People often witnessed the Emperor standing there staring blankly at the tomb.
~~~~
It was a few days later that Evelina opened her eyes.
“You woke up very late.”
As soon as she opened her eyes, she tried to identify the owner of the voice.
“Oh…”
“It will take time to adapt. Your eyes are closed.”
She had her eyes closed for so long that she couldn’t open them properly. She sighed when she confirmed that the person in the blinding view was Usher Fronen.
“What about your knighthood?”
“Your Majesty passed away and a lot were laid off.”
“What about Ian?”
“Marquis Ianathas resigned from the position of Captain of the Guards, which he held concurrently, and returned to the position of Minister of Military Affairs.”
When Evelina was told that Ianathas was unharmed, she was relieved. When she closed her eyes, she could hear the sounds of horses’ hooves, her swaying body, and the rustling of grass in her ears. She really woke up from her death.
“Where are we going?”
“It’s where my mother hid when she held me.”
“Where is that?”
“This is Veron, Your Majesty.”
Veron was quite far from Chanter, the capital of the Abelard Empire.
“Isn’t it cold there?”
“It’s on the way to Tenesi. They say she gave birth to me on the way to the Abelard Empire and settled there.”
Usher’s voice was quite satisfied. He was delighted with Maineber island, which Evelina had completely siphoned before she died. He knew that a diamond mine was discovered there and amassed a huge amount of wealth.
“If we go this way, we won’t encounter any members of the imperial family. Because it is remote, merchants do not pass by.”
The fastest route to Tenesi was through the Balkans. The roads were well paved there, so many merchants and nobles came and went. For Evelina, it was the place where she lost her adoptive parents.
So Usher’s path was this way.
“What are you going to do now that you aren’t a knight?”
Evelina said to change the subject.
“Everyone was cut, but I wasn’t cut.”
“Then did you quit voluntarily?”
“Nope. I’m on leave for a month. Wouldn’t it be suspicious if I quit too?”
Usher spoke nonchalantly, and then Evelina met his eyes, frowning like a baby opening her eyes for the first time, and she smiled.
“Kaiden…”
“He’s doing fine.”
Usher lied before she could open her eyes. He thought she would know he was lying if she looked.
“Where do you go back when your vacation ends? Royal guards? Imperial knights?”
“I think I will return to the Royal Guard.”
“I see.”
Evelina felt grateful when she realized that he had kept his word that he would still stay with her for a month and help her settle down.
“You can open your eyes slowly. We have to go for a while anyway.”
After confirming that she was in the carriage, Evelina closed her eyes again.
“What kind of person am I in Veron?”
“You’re my mistress.”
“…”
“I’m kidding, but you’re not laughing.”
“Was that a joke? Sir Usher isn’t good at jokes, so tell me in advance. I’ll get ready to laugh.”
At Evelina’s words, Usher laughed under his breath, and said.
“You are going to be my wife. However, due to circumstances, we will pretend that we are not married yet.”
“I see.”
Evelina somehow thought that she wouldn’t be able to stay in Veron for long. If she wanted to completely distance herself from the imperial family, she will have to part with Usher someday.
“I’ll sleep a little longer. I feel so stiff.”
Evelina said because her left breast ached.
“Yes, okay. I will wake you up again when we arrive.”
“Yes.”
That’s how she fell asleep. By the time she arrived at Veron, she was at peace.
~~~~
Arriving in Veron, Evelina could barely open her eyes. After a while, by the time the sun was going away, it was less dazzling even when I opened my eyes.
“This is who will be my wife.”
It was not the lord of Veron who Usher introduced Evelina to. They were just people who seemed to be semi-noble; they didn’t own mansions, but they had decent houses.
“What is your name?”
“It’s Lena.”
“Nice to meet you, Lena. Usher is my best friend.”
The woman with her brown hair down in a fine braid made it clear that she was no lady. Although she was wearing luxurious clothes, she was somehow lacking to be an aristocrat. She also seemed like a commoner with a lot of money.
“This is Hecate, Lena. This is Castle Ross.”
As Usher eased her words to her, Evelina opened her eyes wide as if she were embarrassed, and then quickly put on a smile.
“Lady Hecate, please take good care of me.”
“Me as well.”
That’s how Evelina ended up staying with the Ross couple.
~~~~
“Do you share a room?”
“I did when I was an escort,Your…”
Usher, who was about to call her Your Majesty, shut his mouth.
“Call me Lena, feel free.”
“Miss Lena.”
“Even if it’s just the two of us, call me comfortably. If anyone hears it, they will misunderstand.”
“Yes.”
“You can talk comfortably.”
“yes.”
Usher cast away his words with a strange expression.
Evelina thought it was rather good. Because when she was alone, the voices she heard when I was dead kept ringing in her ears.
She hated being alone. She was afraid of the thoughts she had whenever she was alone. It was as if Kaiden, who had deceived her, might actually be in love with her.
“Usher.”
“Yes, no, yes.”*
*TN: He speaks formally at the beginning but corrects himself to seem less formal since they are acting as a married couple.
Evelina peeped as he spoke with difficulty as if he had not yet adjusted.
“I think a year is enough to take care of me. If I have a child… then I will live alone.”
“I need postpartum care after I give birth to a child. I was going to watch you for about two years, so don’t be too hasty.”
Evelina felt strange because he seemed to know better than her, the mother.
“How long has Usher’s mother been here?”
“Until she gave birth to me. And she died while giving birth. My father came that week and took me.”
Evelina already knew, but when she listened to it again, she thought this place looked a little different.
“Is it because of your mother that you came here?”
“There’s that, too. This is the village in the middle of the forest, so there are not many people looking for it. You saw Hecate earlier, right? She’s one of the three security guards in this town.”
“Oh, my God. Only three?”
Usher chuckled unconsciously when Evelina was surprised by the words.
“Yes.”
He gave up her bed to Evelina and then went to the sofa and said,
“Sweet dreams.”
Then he fell asleep first.
After washing up, Evelina dried her hair completely, then went to bed and fell asleep.
Even when she was about to fall asleep, she remembered Kaiden’s voice, so she deliberately began to think about her adoptive parents.
~~~~
“Whoop…! Keuk!”
When she stopped taking the imperial medicine, Evelina had side effects. She sank to the floor, vomiting blood and had a bleeding nose.
“Keoeuk…”*
*TN: A choking sound
But, fortunately or unfortunately, there was no one around.
She was deliberately going to the well to help them with their work, to thank the Rosses for helping her.
“Ugh…”
The pain of squeezing her chest made Evelina faint, leaning against the well.
Stunned, she had a dream.
The dream was her real memory. Forcibly forgotten by the Marquis of Logias.
