“I-I was jesting, Your Majesty! All the rooms inside the palace are perfectly soundproof! Th-there’s no way I’d be able to hear anything…! It’s the honest truth! Cross my heart! Your Majesty, I couldn’t even hear footsteps from there! If doubt crosses your mind, you can check later for any noise in the room!”Ivan’s stern look loosened, though somewhat.Thereafter, Basil went down to his knees and grabbed it. It throbbed in searing pain. The damn beast kicked his leg while naked with his thing dangling off.Disgusting!“If you make jokes like that again, I won’t go easy on you next time.”Ivan turned around and went to the bathing room. He slammed the door close.Basil blew and huffed and rubbed his knee while not forgetting to swear under his breath towards that bad-tempered, nasty king.Seeing how horrid the beast reacted to his simplistic joke, cold sweat formed on his temples. Had he made a blunder of mistake last night to open the door, he really would have been executed on the s
“This is the list of honored guests you’ll be having breakfast with, Your Majesty. They’ve long expressed their wish to see Ehrlich’s great king. After the meal, the honored guests will return back to their homeland.”While Ivan finished washing himself clean, Basil handed him a paper listing the names of the honored guests.Ivan gave the paper a slight glance and looked at Basil. “…Hmm. Coulson’s Dimitri won’t be attending? Why is that? And I see that Marquis Preibius is physically present but his name isn’t on the list.”Basil lifted his head with wide eyes. A lightbulb popped up as if he had just remembered. “Ah, right. He did not come this time, Your Majesty. Only the Crown Prince Ivan and Marquis Preibius came as Coulson’s representative for the wedding ceremony. Of course, it’s understandable you’d not know of this since… you were too busy with…” Basil choked and muttered eerily soft to the side, “…pleasuring the Queen Goddess to notice the small minute details…”Ivan did not he
Alicia was left alone in the room after Ivan left. She wrapped her body with a blanket swiftly before the maidservants arrived. Then she stepped out of the bed.“Ah…”But as soon as her feet touched the cold floor, she unconsciously lost strength. Her legs wobbled and she fell to the floor. She knew the issue of her problem. It was not only her lower area aching in pain, her whole body, too, ached in a blaze aflame like it’d been beaten and whipped all night long.She grabbed onto the bed frame pole and struggled to stand. Meanwhile, Mrs. Cessley came into the room. Behind her were the maidservants holding the bathwater filled full with warm water.Mrs. Duchess saw Alicia’s struggle. She gasped in immediate surprise and quickly ran over to her.“My Queen, are you all right?”Alicia looked into her eyes and gave a weak smile. “Mrs. Cessley… I apologize but could you lend me your hand a bit…? I’m a little out of energy right now…”“Oh my goodness…” Mrs. Cessley propped Alicia up. She ga
Alicia looked into the duchess’ gentle eyes.“Mrs. Cessley, are you talking about the banquet that’ll be hosted in the palace?”“Yes. It’ll be the banquet where you, My Queen, and His Majesty greet and tend to the nobles in the gathering together as a pair for the first time. You don’t need to feel pressed. The only useless thing they’ll be interested in is what trendy dress the queen is wearing and how many times she danced with her king. You’ll only need to greet them with an adequate smile. They’re merely innocent cats hiding their claws in the beginning, after all.”It is as Mrs. Cessley says.The banquet tomorrow will only be of quiet reconnaissance and the first she’ll make an official appearance as queen. The nobility will watch her every move with keen eyes and judge the sort of queen they think she is. From there, they’ll decide how to proceed with her.Alicia remembered the time when she was an easy target for the nobility to prey upon. She had a lack of experience handling
Alicia gave a bright, beaming smile. “I’ll be fine, uncle. Don’t worry and go. I’m sure mother’s missing you dearly too. And… please give this to Dimi as well.”She passed the letters she wrote personally to the marquis. Though the letters a queen writes should have a seal of royalty before being sent, this letter was written beforehand and before she was pronounced queen.The letter was also personal.The one letter she sent to the Dimitri of the past became a problematic occurrence that labeled her as a spy sharing Ehrlich’s secrets to Coulson. She needed to be careful, for her sake and for Dimitri’s sake.This, too, would probably be the last letter she’ll send to Dimitri for the many months to come.The marquis nodded his head and looked at the letter in hand. Alicia noticed his expression turn sour when she spoke of Dimitri.“Did something happen to Dimi? He didn’t come to the wedding ceremony, and on top of that, I know he was fuming with anger that he directed it towards you be
“Well, I had a good rest like you told me. I also saw my uncle.”Ivan’s eyebrows frowned slightly at her reply, at the word uncle. She noticed that he was not annoyed at her meeting with the marquis, but that he’s trying to gauge her reaction.“He told me how you pulled him to the side and reassured him that you’d take care of me and protect me. Thank you, Ivan, for putting his mind at ease. He was relieved after hearing those words from you.”Somewhat flushed, his head turned slightly to the side. He looked a little bit awkward.Clearing his throat, he said, “I see. Umm… were you reading a book?”With glinting eyes and a rueful smile, he held her hand and led her towards the bed and sat together with her on the edge of the bed.He picked up the book she’d been reading seconds ago.“Ah. A report, I see. It’s a report highlighting past events from ten years ago.”“Yes. I’ve been away from Ehrlich for so long that…”Ivan let out a small sigh.“You’re a diligent person. You could have ta
Ivan’s eyes softened and flashed momentarily. “You said something like that before as well. When did it occur? When did you have trouble sleeping?”Alicia smiled bitterly and said, “Six years ago… when my mother died.”He looked at her with solemn eyes and stretched his hand out to caress her head.“So you’ve had a difficult time sleeping at night because of that,” his voice was soft, “I understand. To have someone you love dearly leave you would frighten anyone, after all.”“…Yes.”But truth be told, the moment insomnia plagued her at night was the moment she re-lived the past. She had no plans to wallow in self-pity or blaming others for the misfortunes she’d gone through, but it was difficult… was it depression? Fortunately, she was able to recover and mend her broken heart to an extent in Coulson, but when night came, memories of her death and the last minutes of it kept rolling on repeat.It was difficult to sleep.If she closed her eyes, she kept wondering if she’d end up in tha
Hearing Ataraxia’s words, Ivan’s heart broke into a million pieces. This heavenly being granted him a chance to fulfill his lifelong desire in the form of a wish, yet it could not work out as he hoped it to be. “…Do you not have any other wish? This is your only chance.” This heavenly being was merciless. Ivan looked up. Ataraxia’s large pool of golden eyes bore no emotions. None at all. It looked at Ivan with blank, quiet eyes. After a while, it shook its head and floated away. Ataraxia was leaving. Ivan gritted his teeth and spoke, “Then turn back time…! I’ll be the one to change her feelings for me.” “Time… yes. That is possible. What time do you want?” “…The time she wants.” Whether it be the moment she drank the poison or the time she had never known his existence, it mattered not to him. As long as she was alive… as long… then… he’d be ready to chase her through the ends of the earth to change her broken and caged heart. He’ll make sure of it. “I understand. I’ll grant
Epilogue (1) – DimitriTranslator – YueYears later.“…and Elheim truly loved his human woman. But he was a God, pure and divine, so he could not remain too much longer on earth. If he stayed in the human world for too long, he’d lose all his divine powers…”The man who was reading the book out loud paused for a while and looked at a particular direction in his audience. There, there was a little girl with the same hair color as him. He saw her yawning while little eyes narrowed with displeasure, as though wondering why he’d stopped. The man resumed reading the book.“In the end, Eiheim had no choice but to leave the woman he loved and to go back on earth. However, he wept for the love he had to leave behind on the human world and those tears turned into rain. At the same time, a baby was growing inside his woman’s womb, a baby created from their union. This baby was born strong and healthy, and she had an incredible power. She had the power to turn himself into a bird. In the human w
Translator – YueT/N: This is the end, so extra-long chapter for today?Ivan irrupted into the room, sword in hand and a murderous look in his eye… to see Alicia licking her fingers. In front of her there was a huge plate filled with food. There was an abundance of seafood. Next to her was a worker who looked at Ivan with widened eyes.“Ivan?”Alicia quickly took her finger out of her mouth and looked at him. She asked again, nervous.“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”The inn worker looked alternated glances between Ivan and the sword in his hand, his legs shaking.“Oh… it’s just… it looked like your wife was pregnant, so I was only asking if there was anything she disliked so I could bring something else…”Since Alicia had taken her robe and coat off, she was wearing a light dress that showed her bulging belly clearly. It seemed that the inn boy had noticed it and was only asking whether she liked the food.Ivan felt ridiculous for getting angry over something like this.No, more
Translator – Yue“Salerno Inn”Alicia read the old sign that was hanging atop a building. It was an inn, so it definitely offered food and shelter to travelers.“It would take us around two hours to reach your mother’s mansion. It might be faster if we rode my horse together, but you can’t while pregnant… if you don’t want to spend the night in a place like this, then I’ll find another way…”Ivan murmured while trying to assess Alicia’s reaction. He knew that the inn was old and gloomy. He’d spent some nights here before himself but he knew that it was different for Alicia, who’d only lived in mansions and palaces. She might even find this place repulsive.He did not want the news of them here to spread too much, which was why he’d chosen this place as he could keep their identities hidden. But… perhaps he should have thought of Alicia more. Maybe it would be best to go to someone else’s house and reveal their identity so they could spend the night somewhere more comfortable.As he ke
Translator – YueAfter listening to Mrs. Cessly’s words, Ivan immediately hopped on a horse and sprang to port. This time there was no Basil by his side, it was just him. While he galloped top speed, the events from these past six years came to his mind.When he arrived, the ship had already sailed. He was too late, again.He felt an empty space in his heart. He got down his exhausted horse and slowly walked to the edge of the beach. He had a desperate expression on his face.He stood there looking at the horizon when he felt something hot. There were hot tears trailing down his face. All the tears he’d held back all this time suddenly broke free.Despair and desolation surged from inside him. He sobbed and cried.Six years ago, when he’d missed her just like this, he’d managed to hold back his tears since there was still hope of seeing her again in the future. Instead of desolation, he turned his back to this very sea with the hopes of seeing her again soon.However, this time it was
Translator – YueThe Port of Salerno remained unchanged. Tall, imposing walls surrounded the beach. There were numerous houses with scarlet-colored rooftops everywhere. A seemingly endless turquois-colored. Everything was as calm and beautiful as before.There was only one ship resting on the shores. A white, modern, elegant ship.When the Queen’s carriage arrived to port, the usually hectic port city suddenly turned tranquil. The carriage’s door opened and the Queen descended from her vehicle surrounded by her guards. She was wearing a thick coat, hat and gloves all made of silver fox fur, as though she was planning on going somewhere far colder than Ehrlich. A little while later, the ship’s captain approached her.He took out his cap and bowed to the Queen of Ehrlich.“Greetings to the most honorable woman in Ehrlich, Your Majesty the Queen. May Elheim’s light always shine upon you.”A smile came up to Alicia’s lips.“Greetings, captain. I’ll be under your care.”The captain pointed
Translator – YueT/N: The chapter we’ve been waiting for?Mrs. Cessly wailed and started savagely criticizing Ivan.“This is all Your Majesty’s fault. It’s because you allowed the Queen leave for Coulson. Why did you do that?”“All I did was give her a choice.”“A choice?”“I told her to choose. To stay here, or to leave with the baby.”“Why on earth did you tell her that?!”“There’s a reason behind my marriage to Alicia. I lied to her and forced her to come here.”“Ah, I remember the Queen told me something like that. That Your Majesty did not wish to marry her, but Princess Helen. Is it related to that?”Ivan nodded.“Yes. I had no choice. If I had proposed to Alicia, she would have run away from as fast as she could.”Mrs. Cessly looked at Ivan intently with a complex look in her eyes. Seeing that Mrs. Cessly’s head was spinning top speed to find out what could possibly make Alicia want to run away from Ivan, he added in a slow voice.“She definitely didn’t owe me money nor anythin
“Alright. Go ahead, do it. Call me if you need any help as well.”“I will.”When their conversation came to an end, Ivan slowly rose from his seat. Alicia got up as well. Just when he was about to turn around, Alicia spoke.“I wish for you to stop feeling guilty of all that’s happened to me.”Ivan’s eyes focused intently on Alicia. For some reason, she found it hard to look him back in the eye, so she averted her gaze.“I don’t dislike you anymore, Ivan. I’m grateful to you for letting me live my life again and leave this place with my baby.”“Grateful…uh.”While he bitterly mumbled to himself, Alicia nodded her head.“After all, you did put in a lot of effort in saving my life. I’ll make sure I do everything in my power to live a happy life from now on. I’m not completely alone anymore, after all.”Alicia placed a hand on her belly.“Once this baby is born, I’ll only let him see and listen to the most wonderful things. I know I can’t stop the darkness of this world to reach him, but
Translator – YueAlicia’s jaw slowly opened.“When you say, ‘a chance to end this marriage’…”“You never wanted to marry me in the first place. You were forced into it because the Crown Prince threatened to kill your cousin if you didn’t.”“But why are you giving me this? This marriage will automatically end in a year, anyways.”Their contractual marriage had a time period clearly stipulated. Alicia couldn’t understand why he was giving her a choice right now.“If you want to end this marriage, then you don’t need to wait for the time to be up to do so. I’ll make sure you leave this country safely first thing tomorrow if you so wish it.”“Then… what will happen to the baby I’m carrying…?”Alicia’s voice faded. Her eyes darted to the contract clauses. There, she herself agreed on leaving all rights concerning the child to Ivan if she were to get pregnant. With the opportunity he was giving her, she’d be able to flee and hide somewhere far, far away, and he’d never be able to claim his
Translator – YuePatricia’s execution took place the following morning.In spite of being very early, many people gathered around the execution place. People gathered there to insult her for killing her own father, her benefactor and even trying to assassinate her own sister and Queen. She was seen as a true villain, an evil rarely seen before.Patricia listeTed to their insults and taunts until her very last moment.Even though Alicia had said that she’d no longer show any consideration towards Patricia, she did make sure that the most skilled executioner was selected to carry out her punishment. She’d heard of previous rare cases in which the neck was not cleanly cut off in one single strike, forcing the executioner to hack at the neck, which caused lots of pain and anguish before dying.After Patricia’s death, Alicia passed her days in a state of continuous astonishment. She rarely went outside and spent most of her time in her room. However, she did make sure of eating and resting