The Sacred Forest, or rather the Monster’s Garden, was full of greenery following the season, unlike when Duke Ostein had nearly been murdered there. However, the green here wasn’t bright and beautiful.
Instead, the dark tinge made it eerily gloomy even in the bright summer. The leaves were so dense that it was dark from the entrance. As the sun began to set, the shadows grew long and deep, making it even more uninviting.
Why here of all places? Kaela wanted to just lie down anywhere and keep her eyes closed for a long while. She wasn’t in the right state of mind to return to the place where her father had died, or nearly died.
But she had to come here due to the Emperor’s specific instructions. She looked down at what the servant at the entrance was holding out with a bitter expression.
“Please take this.”
That was the Emperor’s instruction. Take what the servant offers and enter the Monster’s Garden. Kaela stared at the small bottle placed on the tray the servant was holding.
It looked similar to the poison bottle she had secretly brought when she got married. However, this was a much smaller crystal bottle. And the black liquid inside was suspicious to anyone who saw it.
“What is this?”
Although Kaela knew she had to obey without question, she couldn’t help but ask. Count Horhen, the elderly servant who attended the Emperor, stared at her steadily.
“It’s a gift Your Highness will present to His Majesty the Emperor.”
Kaela didn’t recognize the bottle. She didn’t know what it was. But it meant that it had been decided it would be a gift from her. The Emperor, the master of the Empire, had decided so. Then she had to follow along as if that were the case.
Kaela accepted the tray that Count Horhen held out. This was similar to a story she knew. There were two people in the garden.
“Enter alone. His Majesty has not permitted visits from anyone other than Your Highness.”
Kaela entered the dark Monster’s Garden alone, without any knights or maids. A chilling sound came from somewhere. Clatter, clatter – the grating noise repeated.
Kaela looked down. It was the sound of the bottle hitting the tray as her trembling hands made it shake.
Was this the day Ostein and Lusenford would fall? Was this poison, and would the two territories be razed to the ground because the Grand Duchess of Lusenford presented poison disguised as a gift to the Emperor?
The Emperor could annihilate troublesome families after creating situations if he wished. It was entirely possible.
He was capricious, after all. With Lusenford finding a gold vein and starting to handle money, if his greedy nature wanted to swallow up Ostein along with it, he just needed to roughly dispose of the Grand Duke and Duchess of Lusenford.
Kaela knew best how easy it was to frame someone.
‘What should I do?’
What if she just drank it here? Not delivering the gift would also be a serious crime. But she was scared. She was afraid there would be something too painful at the end of this, afraid there would be more frightening things.
‘No. Get it together.’
Kaela squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again. Painful and frightening things ultimately meant a painful death. Death. That’s what she had wanted. She needed to accept it with dignity.
From her experiences so far, it seemed she was not destined for a painless death. Perhaps a painful death was her fate.
‘You can only die if you suffer enough. You couldn’t die because you tried to avoid the pain.’
She knew this. But her hands gripping the tray turned white. Though she tried to prepare herself, she was scared. Kaela moved forward. She knew this path well.
It was the path she had run down to save her father, her father who was helplessly exposed before the Emperor, or rather, just to die with him. Ominous bird calls scratched at her ears.
The shadows grew deeper along the dark path, and before this suddenly arrived ominous event, Kaela sensed death again.
No matter what happens, she just needed to die. She could endure the pain. Kaela walked on silently, remembering this fact that she kept forgetting. When Peon saw the Duke of Ostein sitting face to face with the Emperor, did he feel like this too?
“Ah, you’re here.”
In the inner garden, where Duke Ostein had been murdered, Peon and the Emperor were sitting. As the Emperor rose from his seat, Kaela slowly bowed.
“I am in the presence of the Empire’s Sun. May you live a thousand years.”
Even her voice trembled and barely came out. She desperately held onto the tray to prevent the bottle from tipping over.
“Enough, rise.”
The Emperor caught and lifted Kaela, who was about to collapse, while taking the tray.
“You always keep me waiting.”
The Emperor’s voice mixed rebuke and irritation. That was a pointed remark. Kaela quickly lowered her head.
“I apologize.”
The Emperor, who had been looking at the bowed Kaela with dissatisfaction, paused before speaking again.
“You may leave.”
It meant to go back. Like the horrific murder that occurred here before the regression, the person who delivered the item leaves the Monster’s Garden again.
‘The Emperor has done this more than once.’
Kaela was careful not to distort her face at the intuition that crossed her mind.
“Wait outside and leave together. It won’t take long.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
As Kaela straightened up after bowing in a situation where she could only say ‘yes,’ she saw Peon. Like her father, he remained here. Was he going to die this time?
–It’s fine, go ahead and wait.
A voice echoed in her mind rather than her ears. Peon and Kaela’s eyes met. He sat with a tea set in front of him, slightly nodding at her.
–Hurry.
She couldn’t tell what expression Peon was making. Kaela returned along the path she came, pale as a sheet. Her legs were trembling.
‘He’s the son of a dragon.’
So Peon would be fine. Probably. Is there poison that can kill a dragon? Does the Emperor know Peon is a dragon’s son? Probably not. It must have been like this when her father died too.
While Peon seemed to know what was happening having experienced it before, her father must have died watching without knowing anything, shot by the gun the Emperor pulled out.
Just as the Ostein family was destroyed then, would the Grand Duchy of Lusenford suddenly disappear today? Would no one be able to escape the absolute death decreed by the Emperor? Her thoughts flowed chaotically, mixing in disorder.
“Ah…”
Kaela finally grabbed onto a towering shrub and bent over, letting out rough breaths. A ringing sound pierced her ears. The massive trees in the Monster’s Garden loomed over her as if they would devour her.
****
Just as the Emperor said, it was “something that wouldn’t take long.” The Emperor opened the bottle Kaela brought and poured its contents into a new teacup. He didn’t even try to hide it. This was a common occurrence between stepfather and stepson since childhood. That black poison was Peon’s share. It was just decided that way.
“How is work?”
The Emperor held the teacup without poison.
“Most issues will be resolved once the engagement ceremony is decided.”
“Dorothea is taking quite long to decide.”
The conversation mainly consisted of typical reports between Emperor and subject. It would be brief anyway. The Emperor merely waited to confirm that Peon’s complexion turned pale and blood pooled at his mouth after drinking his share of tea.
“The Imperial family is short-handed. That’s why I called you, Hyperion.”
This was a kind of ‘education.’
“I know you’re doing well, but you should come immediately when called.”
“Yes, I apologize, Your Majesty.”
Peon answered while swallowing the pooled blood and tea.
“Finish drinking and go.”
“Yes.”
The Emperor stood up, seemingly uninterested in watching further. The servants would check whether he drank it all anyway.
“From now on, don’t hesitate when I command. Should this old man have to beg?”
So that’s what bothered him. Peon suppressed a smile and bowed his head.
“Yes, Your Majesty. I apologize.”
“You have your own family now. You’re not a foolish child anymore, you’re grown, so you should understand what I mean.”
“I will keep it in mind.”
The Emperor left without looking back. Peon looked down at the teacup and took another sip. This taste on his tongue was something he hadn’t noticed when he swallowed the same poison before. His sensitively developed taste buds now caught everything.
‘How troublesome.’
Although he decided to act human without showing it because of Kaela, everything was still bothersome. The whole process was cumbersome and annoying – drinking moderately, coughing up some blood, showing signs of struggle to the Emperor’s hidden eyes everywhere.
However, contrary to his thoughts about it being troublesome, Peon thoroughly displayed the entire process, feigning stumbling steps and a pale complexion as he walked out of the Monster’s Garden.
His wife was waiting. He wiped his mouth where traces of poison and blood had spilled.
Kaela was crouched at the garden entrance. For a princess to be crouched down, face buried between her knees and trembling – it showed just how difficult this was for her. Peon approached and bent down.
“Let’s go, Kaela. It’s over. It’s alright.”
Kaela, still trembling, barely raised her head. Her pale, sweat-soaked face became slightly visible. Peon smiled.
“Let’s go.”
“…Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re bleeding.”
Kaela pointed to his mouth. He whispered softly.
“I have to at least pretend.”
The Emperor’s servants were still around. They were checking if Peon had properly emptied the teacup, hadn’t spilled it somewhere, and was showing exactly the right symptoms for the precisely measured amount he was supposed to drink.
“I have to pretend to be struggling just enough. Come on, Kaela.”
Kaela rose as he helped her up. The couple had received the same punishment from the Emperor today. The Grand Duke and Duchess barely made it away from the Monster’s Garden before returning to their townhouse by carriage.
In the carriage, Kaela stared at Peon intently.
“I told you I’m fine.”
He smiled after pulling down all the curtains.
“Your face is paler than mine.”
Kaela didn’t respond.
“This much is nothing now.”
Is it because he’s a dragon? Kaela could only ask with her eyes, unable to say such things near the palace.
“I’ve had a lot of practice, and as you thought, these poisons have no effect on me anymore.”
“You’ve had… a lot?”
“Well, yes.”
“How?”
“Just like what you saw today. Like this. When I do something bad, I receive punishment from my stepfather.”
Not just poison, but terror and humiliation together.
“W-when did it start…?”
“Before going to Lusenford.”
A shocked silence circled the carriage again.
“Were you worried? It’s nothing.”
“I wasn’t worried about Your Highness.”
“I know. That’s not what I was asking.”
Kaela looked outside with reddened eyes. But there wasn’t much to see in the darkness that had settled over the streets.
“The Emperor has a habit of suddenly lashing out at unexpected times. If you just quietly accept and drink it, it ends quietly. Ostein won’t be in danger.”
Peon addressed exactly what Kaela had been worried about.
“You were just made to bring the poison because you’re a wounded person.”
Kaela was someone who would be terrified just by looking, and the Emperor probably thought that seeing Peon coughing up blood would be enough ‘punishment’ for her.
“What was it for?”
“Because we came late.”
“I know that. Is there something else?”
“Because I made the Emperor have to ask multiple times despite coming late.”
“Ha.” A laugh of disbelief escaped.
“Meaning I should have immediately said ‘yes’ to the great Emperor, but instead made him stoop to explaining and asking. That’s the kind of person he is.”
As a result, Peon had to drink the poison, and Kaela had to bring that poison and watch her husband drink it. The couple received punishment together.
“You don’t need to worry about it.”
“I don’t want to care either.”
After trying to look out the window, Kaela finally lowered her head and muttered.
“I didn’t want to know about these things either.”
But she ended up knowing everything. Even when trying to look away, it was visible, and even when wanting to pretend not to know, her brain already moved on its own to thoroughly uncover the hidden background and conclusions.
“I wanted to stay ignorant too…!”
Peon’s calm gaze changed at her trembling voice.
“Kaela.”
“Why should I know Your Highness’s circumstances? You didn’t know about mine either, you didn’t even care! Then fairly, I shouldn’t know either, why, why make me know, why…!”
Peon could only watch as she became completely rigid, her blue eyes turning red with transparent liquid pooling in them.
“I remained a spy until the end, so why, Oppa, why can’t you be the person who killed Father until the end, why!”
