Trigger warning for anorexia!
“If you tell the truth, I’ll die.”
Selena looked up at Ianathas as if she had the upper hand. If they moved on to that topic, he would get caught.
“Then leave, from the Abelard Empire.”
But this time it was different. Ianathas became cold when he realized how he felt.
He no longer wanted to be swayed by Selena Verdeen. From the beginning, when Evelina tried to help him leave the palace, there was a crack in his mind.
And after Evelina left. He thought that if Evelina lived somewhere, he would be able to return to his daily life as if he were satisfied with it.
Evelina was the one who had a child of the Emperor, not him, and according to the words of the knights, she cried every day in the Emperor’s arms even before she left. He believed that it would make no difference to him if she left.
But after Evelina left, he was empty. At first, he thought that emptiness was guilt.
But when Evelina came back, the anticipation was high. It made him realize it wasn’t guilt.
Moreover, the Emperor and Evelina, like people who were not compatible from birth, were at odds even though they did nothing with each other.
He thought he was the real destiny of Evelina. That’s what was likely. He was her childhood friend, and it was his acting that made him try to get engaged to her, but it had been that way for so many years.
Although it only took a long time for his affection to become real love, He and Evelina were really like fate from a fairytale book.
“Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
Selena was embarrassed. Ianathas has never been so hard on her. He was always such a fool as to beg for her. He was a crybaby who was dragged around by her since he was young. He was the one who did everything she asked him to do so far.
“Why all of a sudden?”
“…I’m tired… of you.”
“You’re lying, aren’t you?”
“No.”
Ianathas knew Selena’s character well. She may have looked pure on the outside, but she was never that kind of person. Ianathas loved the tough side of her. But now she didn’t have him, and when he realized that that side of her was actually mean rather than cool, his heart felt strange.
“Then let me have the property of the Marquis of Logias.”
“Do you think I don’t know how to use it?”
“…Ian.”
“Please don’t call me by my nickname anymore. I’m… I’m really scared that you don’t seem to be the Selena I know anymore.”
Ianathas said so and turned first and walked out.
After he disappeared, Selena was embarrassed that everything didn’t go her way. At the same time, she clenched her fist in anger that Ianathas, who was nothing short of her servant, disobeyed her.
“You’ll regret it, Ian.”
She said so and chewed her lips.
~~~~
“Oop!”
The reason why Evelina became unable to eat well was not only that morning sickness rarely ended. Her morning sickness, which seemed to improve a little, was actually responsible for the spirit of refusing food.
“Heuk… ugh.”
She was now used to the physiological tears that flowed out every time she vomited her food. Tears running down the chin contained no emotion. However, she had difficulty breathing because of the pain of squeezing her stomach.
She seemed to be fine as soon as she really vomited everything in her stomach.
“Ha…”
Evelina felt relieved when she thought everything she had eaten was out.
She was too ugly. So, she thought, Kaiden didn’t look at her the way he used to. So, it seemed that if she spit out the food, she would be able to return to her slim and well-proportioned body. With her fresh look before pregnancy.
So it wasn’t a disgusting body with dark circles under the eyes or a protruding stomach.
“Haha…”
She laughed at the thought. At the same time, it was hard because the tears didn’t dry up.
The anorexia pretending to be Evelina’s morning sickness was getting worse.
~~~~
“I think Her Majesty is throwing up on purpose.”
Hans learned of Evelina’s condition and told the Emperor. He was able to submit a report directly to Kaiden because he became the chief imperial doctor. This was the Emperor’s office.
Everyone who worked at the Empress’ Palace died. Except for Hans. Rather, Hans Revive was able to survive thanks to the advice he gave to Kaiden.
He had given Kaiden sleeping pills over and over and over again. Each time he prayed to Hans and said,
‘I want to feel exactly what Evelina felt when she died.’
‘Your Majesty… but…’
‘Don’t you have any medicine?’
‘…none.’
After Evelina’s death, Kaiden seemed to really want to die the same way she did. Hans had no idea that Tenesi had a mysterious medicine to pretend to be dead. He thought such drugs were scientifically impossible. But it did exist.
That’s why Evelina, whose death he had confirmed himself, lived like that and lived like a doll in the bedroom of the Imperial Palace.
“…I,Is it because she doesn’t want to see me?”
“…Your Majesty?”
“Because she doesn’t want to see me again… Is she really trying to die this time?”
Kaiden was not looking at Hans. The office was quiet. The fountain pen that Kaiden had just moved seemed to have stopped.
“I don’t think so.”
“Then what is it?”
Hans, who realized that the Emperor was looking at him before he knew it, bowed his head and said.
“I’m just a doctor.”
Kaiden sighed at Hans’ words.
“But as a childhood friend of Evelina, I would like to tell you.”
“Say it.”
“Please cherish Lina.”
“She said she didn’t want to see me. I went to see her, and she told me to go.”
“Your Majesty.”
“I want to cherish her, too. I want to be by her side. But what am I supposed to do when she says she doesn’t like it?”
Kaiden sighed as he watched the ink flow from the broken fountain pen in his hand.
“Get out.”
“…Lina likes peonies. She likes roses, too.”
“I know more about Evelina than you, Revive.”
“You said you knew her well, but you don’t know her anymore. It’s the most dangerous thing when you think you know.”
Hans said so at the risk of his life. After all, Kaiden Abelard had been a person who would blow away the lives of his subordinates so much that they would be worse than worms.
“…Yes, you are right.”
However, surprisingly, Kaiden tried to understand Hans.
~~~~
Kaiden tried to recall the things Evelina liked as a child.
‘I really wish I had a family.’
Evelina really wanted to have a family. She felt the absence of her family more desperately than anyone else during her time growing up in a poorhouse. He thought that it was for that reason that Evelina saved him and that she was good to the family at the poorhouse.
That’s why Kaiden tried to subjugate his grandmother and Elsius. But they were blinded by self-interest and tried to hurt Evelina. He had not even been able to kill them at will, which had already become a memory in Evelina’s head.
He picked a bouquet of peonies and held it in his arms. He thought it would be nice if Evelina would accept it this time. He plucked so much only with those whose petals were not damaged. Very carefully.
So he headed to his bedroom at the Emperor’s Palace where Evelina would be.
The walk was so heavy that it felt like walking in a swamp. This time he wanted to apologize even if she rejected him. He understood her situation and was sorry. He’d rather she wasn’t scared by his words that she didn’t want to see him.
He moved on, thinking so.
When he reached the bedroom of the Emperor’s Palace, he did not open the door first this time.
“Tell Lina I’m here.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Then the maid came out and went inside. He didn’t know if Evelina woke up, but there was a busy sound inside.
Kaiden’s hearing was so good that he thought he might hear if Evelina turned him down over the door. Maybe that’s why he was worried that it would have been better if his hearing was bad.
Surprisingly, however, there was no loud noise inside. However, he could hear the sound of footsteps on the carpet, the sound of moving objects, and the sound of cloth being worn.
How long had he been waiting?
It took an hour before the door opened. For Kaiden, the hour was as long as ten hours. But the moment she opened the door, the wait, which was like 10 hours, flew out of his head as if it were nothing like a 10 minute wait.
“Your Majesty.”
“I brought it because I thought it would suit Lina.”
As soon as he came, he gave her the bunch of peonies he was holding. When he handed her the bouquet, Evelina looked at him without receiving it.
“Ugh… Your Majesty.”
“Didn’t you decide to call me by name?”
Kaiden couldn’t raise his head after handing Evelina a bouquet of flowers. When she turned him down, he was resentful, but when he stood in front of her, he only remembered what he did wrong.
He thought it was embarrassing and shameless for him to cry.
“I’m sorry, Lina.”
Evelina realized that maybe it was because Kaiden was talking without looking at her. That the reason he avoided her wasn’t really because of her appearance.
“Really… Are you trying to get someone else to be your Empress?”
Evelina asked in a desperate voice.
“Lina?”
“Are you really tired of me… that you’re trying to get another woman in?”
Evelina’s voice stopped. Kaiden looked up at that moment, and his heart felt like it was burning when he saw her crying.
“Who said such nonsense?”
He spoke in a deadly tone. Because he wanted to find out who said such nonsense and tear them up and kill them. It was for Evelina that he renovated the Empress’ Palace, not for anyone else.
“Are you really tired of me?”
As Evelina cried and spoke, Kaiden was gradually gaining his composure.
Over this whole story she has been reduced to a woman crying over a man and made a puppet while everyone else knows what’s going on. This is so incredibly frustrating.
Agreed, frustrating. It doesn’t seem like she even thinks about her baby. Don’t live for a man, live for you, live for your baby. I hope she does not act this selfish once baby is born.