Ethan smiled slightly at Joy being kicked out, then looked back at Dorothea.
But Dorothea was staring at him with angry eyes. Ethan approached her with a worried expression.
“Princess, are you okay?”
It was when Ethan offered her a word of comfort.
Plak-!
Dorothea’s hand slapped his cheek.
For a moment, Ethan froze. It was more shocking that Dorothea hit him than the cheek hurt.
“You are still the same.”
Dorothea looked at him and said.
Ethan was confused.
“What are you talking about?”
It was clearly Joy who was at fault now. But, somehow, Dorothea seemed to be more angry with Ethan. Ethan couldn’t understand her.
‘If you want to be angry, you have to be angry with Joy.’
Rather, he is a victim of this situation.
“Are you going to deny it to the end, Ethan?”
“What do you mean?”
Ethan, who looked at Dorothea with sad eyes as if he was unfair, was very beautiful. Enough to attract people.
So Dorothea was even more angry. Unlike Joy, who at least feels sorry for Dorothea, Ethan pretends to be the victim until the end, far from admitting his guilt.
Not being able to hide his eyebrows twitching slightly at Dorothea’s staring eyes.
Had Dorothea not known who he really was, he would have been completely innocent.
“It’s terrible.”
Ethan Bronte was the same as before.
And Dorothea Milanaire. Still, she changed her feelings in an instant with a handkerchief Theon gave her.
Dorothea was angry, and she couldn’t even contain her anger, so she couldn’t understand Joy and Po’s feelings, and now he even slapped Ethan’s cheek.
Dorothea was disillusioned with Ethan and with herself.
“I ruined everything because of you.”
Dorothea blamed Ethan, but she knew.
‘The root of all problems is me.’
Trying to change Ethan so she can live right. How arrogant was that delusion?
She can’t even do it properly because it’s too hard to hold on to herself.
Again, Dorothea overlooked her incompetence and became greedy. It was Dorothea’s fault for not avoiding him, knowing how much evil Ethan and her meeting had created.
* * *
Before returning, the hobby of the ‘Golden-Eyes Angel’, who appeared like a comet in the social world, was to drop his Things secretly.
If he dropped a handkerchief or gloves, the Young lady who couldn’t take their eyes off him would pick it up. Ethan knew very well that the young lady was happy just to touch his things.
And he enjoyed a sense of superiority as he saw noble young ladies bowing their backs and knees and bowing their heads to pick up his things.
Sometimes there were young ladies who secretly put things that Ethan dropped into their sleeves, and Ethan burst out laughing.
‘You are a lady who picks up dropped items, and her low-level stealing is very noble and splendid.’
A cunning person who enjoyed quietly insulting the nobles inside.
Dorothea Milanaire was the first to discover Ethan’s subtle playfulness. And that was the beginning of her and Ethan’s sins.
The evils of the two were so intertwined with each other. A tyrant who ascended the throne by treason. Ethan is The right arm of the tyrant who helps Dorothea.
When the two evils met their partners, they took root and started to bloom.
And finally, Dorothea came up with an army, insulted her father’s death, and murdered her brother.
* * *
Immediately after Raymond passed away. Dorothea was immersed in the deep darkness that surrounded her.
Raymond’s blood dripped under her feet.
Pain, nausea, and tremors throughout the body.
Dorothea walked past Raymond’s corpse, dragging her heavy feet to the floor, to the black center table.
On the table lay the crown of the empire she had longed for. She picked up the crown with her bloodstained hands. Dorothea raised the corners of my lips as hard as she could and looked at the crown.
In the quiet, pitch-black darkness, the crown rested on her hand in a black silhouette.
‘Yes, this is a delight.’
The life Dorothea has been pursuing all her life, and the result of her hard work.
“Hahaha…!”
Dorothea picked up the crown and laughed like a madman.
She couldn’t handle spirits, and she did it, which everyone told her not to. At that moment, the sound of a door clicking was heard.
“Dorothea…”
When Dorethea turned her head, Theon was there.
“Theon.”
When Dorothea found him, she trembled like a thief caught doing something bad.
‘Why am I trembling?’ Dorothea asked herself.
That’s fair. Now she was emperor and was proud to have killed Raymond.
‘Yes, I’m not guilty.’
‘I’m just a winner!’
“Theon, look at this.”
Dorothea placed the crown over her head with trembling hands.
“Now, I am the emperor.”
Dorothea smiled broadly at Theon.
Blurry silhouette in the dark. Theon sat down on the spot. Blood was dripping from the wound, Dorothea was covered in Raymond’s blood, and Raymond’s body lying on the floor.
“Raymond…”
Tears fell from Theon’s red eyes. Dorothea saw that, and her heart throbbed like a twist.
‘Why are you crying, Theon? You are my fiance, Theon. Your fiance became emperor? Then you should be happy!’
Dorothea trembled at Theon crying.
“You should be happy, Theon.”
Dorothea wanted Theon to have more joy for her than the sorrow of losing Raymond.
Dorothea moved her feet heavy with hesitation, approached Theon, and knelt down. Then she wiped Theon’s crying cheeks and smiled. But contrary to her intentions, instead of wiping Theon’s tears away, her hand only splattered the fishy blood on Theon’s wet cheeks.
“Theon, you are now sitting next to the Emperor.”
Dorothea reminded him of his position again, but Theon was still crying. As if Raymond’s death was a more precious and important event than her accession as emperor.
Those tears trampled, toppled, torn, and burned Dorothea.
The moment of the birth of the new emperor, which should have been filled with joy, was swallowed up in grief.
As if Dorothea Milanaire’s birth was mourning.
It was from that day.
Theon, who had accepted a strategic engagement, began to hate Dorothea. But Dorothea Milanaire was already emperor. She forced Theon to marry her and made the palace hers.
But.
“We cannot recognize Dorothea Milanaire as emperor!”
In front of the palace, stubborn nobles knelt and fought, and Ubera’s famous people were with them.
“Dorothea Milanaire is a sinner who usurped the throne!”
Although he killed many nobles when he struck Raymond, not everyone was silent.
When Dorothea ascended to the throne, people raged as if the sky had two sides. At first, Dorothea thought that it would be enough to prove that she was doing her job properly as an emperor.
‘If I show my abilities, they will recognize me as an emperor.’
But that was Dorothea’s naive delusion.
“That is a waste of treasury!”
“It is too early.”
“You must first look at the people near you!”
Aristocrats hold on to Dorothea’s legs and oppose everything she wants to do.
They vehemently opposed Dorothea’s decision, even with the slightest sting, and spoke as if everything she did was foolish. Although Ethan persuaded some, Ubera’s stubborn loyalists did not fall for Ethan’s words.
‘You can’t. You can’t. Every decision you make is wrong.’
Nothing was right about Dorothea.
“Your Majesty, your Majesty is doing well. There are only a few who oppose Your Majesty. Ignore it and move on.”
Ethan said to Dorothea, who was interrupted by the criticism.
Yes, as Ethan said, there were only about three out of ten who opposed it. The other seven have already handed over to Dorothea’s side.
However, the world called those three loyalists, and the other seven called vassals who cling to the unjust emperor.
What a glass field is to a person’s heart? Why is it that even if the seven speak kind words, the criticism of the three comes and sticks?
Even after hearing ten words of praise and they kneel in front of the palace, the one word of criticism lingers in Dorothea’s ears every night and doesn’t leave.
“Someone who cannot see the spirit cannot become an emperor!”
“The murderer who killed His Majesty Raymond must not rise to the throne!”
“There is no justification for the current emperor!”
In the end, Dorothea raised her sword to close their mouths. Those who have ears that do hear her voice must not open their mouths.
Dorothea captured and killed all the nobles and longtime officials called Ubera’s loyalists. Blood flowed profusely in the plaza of the Lampas.
So people called Dorothea Milanaire a tyrant.
And Theon trembled at the bloodstained execution ground.
“Dorothea…”
Theon looked at Dorothea and shook his head.
“You are crazy…”
His red eyes were full of anger and resentment. The gaze of hatred from the one you love the most.
Dorothea felt like the world had collapsed.
“Am I crazy, Theon?”
“You can’t be like this.”
“I can’t?”
‘You say no to me too.’
Dorothea looked at Theon and asked.
“Then what should I do?”
‘Tell me, Theon. Can you tell me what to do? If you tell me you can, I’ll do it.’
Dorothea pleaded with Theon. She was going to follow whatever answer Theon gave her.
‘If only you could tell me what to do.’
However, Theon looked at Dorothea and left without saying a word. As if there was no ‘becoming’ for her in the end.
As if she was already wrong.
“Haha…”
Dorothea burst out laughing.
No, was that a laugh? Was it the remains of a brutal burn? What had already happened was irreversible, and the way Dorothea had to go was fixed.
Dorothea Milanaire, beheading all of those who opposed it, accomplished a feat that previous emperors could not. The Ubera Empire, led by her, occupied the largest territory in history.
‘Look at this! The world works fine without that spirit!’
Finally, Dorothea proved her abilities to the world.
* * *