Even a tiger would come if called, and one of the few people who confidently met his eyes, Royden, visited his office.
“What brings you here?”
“Just. It was past midnight, and the light was on in the office.”
When there were people around, Royden treated Zion with respect, but when they were alone, he treated him casually as if he had returned to being a teenager.
Zion didn’t seem to mind at all.
“There’s a lot of work.”
While Zion was speaking, Royden comfortably sat on the sofa in the office.
“And a lot to think about.”
“What are you thinking about?”
Zion got up and sat across from Royden.
“Just, I was wondering what to do with the bird in the cage.”
Royden immediately knew that Zion was talking about Empress Irina. Royden slowly sipped his cold black tea and asked.
“What are you going to do with Her Majesty the Empress?”
He was genuinely worried about his friend.
From the moment Zion ascended to the throne, there was a lot of opposition from the nobles, and it was the same after he became emperor.
Of course, his father, Duke Richard, was a strong supporter, but that was not enough.
To strengthen his position, he had to welcome a person with a strong background as the empress.
That’s why Zion’s supporters had no choice but to strongly oppose making Irina, a daughter of a family with nothing special, the empress.
‘Well, it’s meaningless now.’
Five years after Zion ascended to the throne, that is, now, he has reached the absolute imperial system.
‘It was a needless worry, but I didn’t know he would establish his position so monstrously fast. He didn’t just establish it, he solidified it.’
“It’s none of your business.”
Zion replied coldly with a smiling face.
What to do with his friend who growls whenever the topic of the Empress comes up. Royden let out a short sigh.
“Don’t torment her too much.”
Royden said, looking straight at Zion. Zion, not liking Royden’s attitude, smiled even brighter.
His friend Zion, the angrier he got, the brighter he smiled. Conversely, the words that came out of his mouth were like rose thorns, stabbing people’s hearts.
So, the brighter Zion smiled, the more tense he became.
“You seem to have no trouble these days, don’t you?”
“You’ll regret it later.”
Worried about Zion, and also a little…worried about the Empress Irina he saw at that time.
She was a beautiful and righteous person. An Empress who threw herself to save a maid while she herself was a weak woman. He had never heard of such a thing.
He hoped that she wouldn’t break down soon.
“Ahahaha, regret. You’re making an interesting point.”
Looking at Zion laughing heartily, Royden let out a short sigh.
‘He’s really angry.’
He did it knowing he would get angry. For the upright and courageous Empress Irina, he wanted to talk to Zion at least once.
“Go back.”
“Zion.”
Zion spoke in a low voice. When he got this uncontrollably angry, he wouldn’t see him for days, or even months if it was severe.
“I’m giving you a chance because it’s you.”
“….”
“If it were someone else, they might have already seen blood here.”
Royden got up. If he provoked him any further, he might really see blood.
“Don’t meddle inappropriately again. I won’t forgive you then.”
As Royden left his seat, Zion rested his chin on the sofa and closed his eyes.
Things are clearly not going as he thought.
He feels uncomfortable every time he sees the Empress. Rather, she seemed closer to being unaffected.
It went wrong from the moment she threw away the chance to escape without knowing the subject. She doesn’t move as he wants.
The ones being swayed were close to him.
Even now. It was the first time that Royden, who rarely crossed the line, interfered in his affairs like this.
Thinking about it, he couldn’t bear the discomfort.
But he couldn’t act rashly. If he acted halfway, he might be the one being swayed again.
‘It’s ridiculous.’
Zion never dreamed that he would think this way.
He thought she was just a stupid bird, but it seems not. He realized her dirty lineage once again.
‘How to fix this relationship? You should hate me and be afraid of me instead.’
[His Majesty the Emperor is my husband. It’s natural for a wife to worry about her husband.]
But funnily enough, that phrase didn’t leave his mind.
Did she learn some cunning trick? No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t figure out what to do.
Emperor Zion had to spend the night wide awake in his office, unable to do anything.
****
‘Is what Bell told me definitely correct?’
There was someone suspiciously lingering in front of a splendid mansion.
Her face was almost invisible, deeply hooded, but her jet-black hair of good quality fell long.
The suspicious woman lingering in front of the mansion’s gate was Arundel.
Bell had found out the address of Irina’s family, the Count Dunkeld’s home, even before a week had passed.
Bell, who secretly handed over a small note, asked, ‘They said they didn’t move.’ but she vaguely dodged it, saying she was mistaken.
Then, for some reason, it seemed like Bell was looking at her with sympathetic eyes, but she didn’t bother to ask.
‘But why hasn’t she shown up for days!’
The problem was that she couldn’t find her younger sister Eileen for a week.
It was never easy to come here every time over the stone wall of the Empress’s Palace. How nervous she was in case someone might find out.
Eileen, who didn’t know her feelings, didn’t show up anywhere.
She had seen so many family photos of Irina that she felt like the photos would be pierced.
Especially after knowing that Irina had been disowned, her father’s face looked very vicious.
‘No matter how difficult the home situation is, but to sell your daughter?’
When she returned to the palace, Arundel nodded her head, saying she would tear up Irina’s father’s face from the photo.
Just then.
“Eileen!”
At the sound of someone calling Eileen, Arundel hid her body and looked at where the sound came from.
There stood Eileen, whom she had been waiting for so long. The person who called Eileen was her mother, and it seemed like she was passing something on.
Arundel hid her body and waited until Eileen passed the gate.
When Eileen left the mansion without knowing anything and was completely alone…
Right now!
“Eileen!”
At Arundel’s call, Eileen jumped as if she had met a ghost. Was her impression a bit more fierce than what she saw in the photo?
“Irina…! How are you here!”
Eileen looked around and pulled Arundel to a dark place.
Arundel was a bit nervous, but she had to talk to her, so she followed obediently.
“What are you doing coming here! Are you out of your mind!”
Eileen grabbed Arundel’s shoulder and shook it, scolding her. She seemed to be angry and scared at the same time.
‘So it wasn’t a fierce look, she was just angry.’
Arundel, who was being obediently shaken, slowly removed Eileen’s hand from her shoulder.
“I’m sorry for coming here secretly. But with the sudden disownment, I really wanted to hear the story.”
“…That’s, unfortunately, true!”
“True…?”
“From the beginning, all of this happened because of you!”
She didn’t think to comfort herself, but at her sister’s reversed words, Arundel squinted her eyes and looked at her.
“Don’t look at me like that! Honestly, it’s not wrong!”
For now, she had to let her rant. Arundel was quietly listening.
“Do you know how much damage we’ve suffered because of you?!”
“…….”
“You’re not even our family! You’re not my real sister!”
Arundel’s eyes widened. Eileen hesitated for a moment, thinking she had hurt Arundel as she widened her eyes.
“Well, it’s true! If our uncle hadn’t left you in our house, it wouldn’t have come to this!”
At the shocking information, Arundel was momentarily stunned.
‘So, I am not the real daughter of Count Dunkeld, but the daughter of Count Dunkeld’s biological brother?’
Thinking about it, it felt right. Empress Irina, who didn’t resemble anyone else in the family photo, was like that, and so was Zion’s attitude.
Every time he mentioned the dirty bloodline, it was strange that he didn’t get rid of Count Dunkeld sooner if he hated it so much.
‘Then, the target of Emperor Zion’s wrath was not Count Dunkeld, but the brother of Count Dunkeld!’
As Arundel, lost in thought with a blank expression, looked a bit strange, Eileen’s anger subsided a bit.
“Anyway. We’ve lived together for a long time, and I’m sorry to see it come to this.”
“……”
“But never, ever come back. If the emperor finds out, he might destroy our family.”
Arundel, who had learned a tremendous harvest today, wanted to give Eileen a kiss, but she held back and slowly nodded her head.
She did her best to act sad.
****
After parting with Eileen and walking alone, Arundel suddenly looked up at the sky. It was a clear sky without a single cloud.
‘I miss it.’
Arundel recalled the days when she flew in the sky and defeated demons.
How did it come to this…
She didn’t regret ‘that incident’, but she found herself wondering if there could have been another way.
If she hadn’t fallen for the demon’s temptation back then, she wouldn’t be suffering like this now.
Just 25 years later, ‘that incident’ was exposed, causing a stir not only in the Heavenly Realm but also in the Demon Realm.
Of course, she knew that it would be discovered someday, but the timing was faster than she thought.
‘I wonder if she’s doing well…?’
Arundel remembered the beautiful woman with curly blonde hair.
The woman who gave Arundel a reason to join hands with the demon, if she is alive now, she would probably be middle-aged.
Her golden, empty eyes had captured Arundel’s gaze in an instant. Even now, she couldn’t figure out what had drawn her to her.
She was always meddlesome, but this time she admitted that she had gone too far. She shouldn’t have interfered so much in human affairs.
But the woman she couldn’t ignore had grabbed Arundel’s ankle.
Suddenly looking at the blue sky, Arundel was curious about the woman’s whereabouts.
She didn’t know where she was now, or if she was doing well.
Even a tiger would come if called, and one of the few people who confidently met his eyes, Royden, visited his office.
“What brings you here?”
“Just. It was past midnight, and the light was on in the office.”
When there were people around, Royden treated Zion with respect, but when they were alone, he treated him casually as if he had returned to being a teenager.
Zion didn’t seem to mind at all.
“There’s a lot of work.”
While Zion was speaking, Royden comfortably sat on the sofa in the office.
“And a lot to think about.”
“What are you thinking about?”
Zion got up and sat across from Royden.
“Just, I was wondering what to do with the bird in the cage.”
Royden immediately knew that Zion was talking about Empress Irina. Royden slowly sipped his cold black tea and asked.
“What are you going to do with Her Majesty the Empress?”
He was genuinely worried about his friend.
From the moment Zion ascended to the throne, there was a lot of opposition from the nobles, and it was the same after he became emperor.
Of course, his father, Duke Richard, was a strong supporter, but that was not enough.
To strengthen his position, he had to welcome a person with a strong background as the empress.
That’s why Zion’s supporters had no choice but to strongly oppose making Irina, a daughter of a family with nothing special, the empress.
‘Well, it’s meaningless now.’
Five years after Zion ascended to the throne, that is, now, he has reached the absolute imperial system.
‘It was a needless worry, but I didn’t know he would establish his position so monstrously fast. He didn’t just establish it, he solidified it.’
“It’s none of your business.”
Zion replied coldly with a smiling face.
What to do with his friend who growls whenever the topic of the Empress comes up. Royden let out a short sigh.
“Don’t torment her too much.”
Royden said, looking straight at Zion. Zion, not liking Royden’s attitude, smiled even brighter.
His friend Zion, the angrier he got, the brighter he smiled. Conversely, the words that came out of his mouth were like rose thorns, stabbing people’s hearts.
So, the brighter Zion smiled, the more tense he became.
“You seem to have no trouble these days, don’t you?”
“You’ll regret it later.”
Worried about Zion, and also a little…worried about the Empress Irina he saw at that time.
She was a beautiful and righteous person. An Empress who threw herself to save a maid while she herself was a weak woman. He had never heard of such a thing.
He hoped that she wouldn’t break down soon.
“Ahahaha, regret. You’re making an interesting point.”
Looking at Zion laughing heartily, Royden let out a short sigh.
‘He’s really angry.’
He did it knowing he would get angry. For the upright and courageous Empress Irina, he wanted to talk to Zion at least once.
“Go back.”
“Zion.”
Zion spoke in a low voice. When he got this uncontrollably angry, he wouldn’t see him for days, or even months if it was severe.
“I’m giving you a chance because it’s you.”
“….”
“If it were someone else, they might have already seen blood here.”
Royden got up. If he provoked him any further, he might really see blood.
“Don’t meddle inappropriately again. I won’t forgive you then.”
As Royden left his seat, Zion rested his chin on the sofa and closed his eyes.
Things are clearly not going as he thought.
He feels uncomfortable every time he sees the Empress. Rather, she seemed closer to being unaffected.
It went wrong from the moment she threw away the chance to escape without knowing the subject. She doesn’t move as he wants.
The ones being swayed were close to him.
Even now. It was the first time that Royden, who rarely crossed the line, interfered in his affairs like this.
Thinking about it, he couldn’t bear the discomfort.
But he couldn’t act rashly. If he acted halfway, he might be the one being swayed again.
‘It’s ridiculous.’
Zion never dreamed that he would think this way.
He thought she was just a stupid bird, but it seems not. He realized her dirty lineage once again.
‘How to fix this relationship? You should hate me and be afraid of me instead.’
[His Majesty the Emperor is my husband. It’s natural for a wife to worry about her husband.]
But funnily enough, that phrase didn’t leave his mind.
Did she learn some cunning trick? No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t figure out what to do.
Emperor Zion had to spend the night wide awake in his office, unable to do anything.
****
‘Is what Bell told me definitely correct?’
There was someone suspiciously lingering in front of a splendid mansion.
Her face was almost invisible, deeply hooded, but her jet-black hair of good quality fell long.
The suspicious woman lingering in front of the mansion’s gate was Arundel.
Bell had found out the address of Irina’s family, the Count Dunkeld’s home, even before a week had passed.
Bell, who secretly handed over a small note, asked, ‘They said they didn’t move.’ but she vaguely dodged it, saying she was mistaken.
Then, for some reason, it seemed like Bell was looking at her with sympathetic eyes, but she didn’t bother to ask.
‘But why hasn’t she shown up for days!’
The problem was that she couldn’t find her younger sister Eileen for a week.
It was never easy to come here every time over the stone wall of the Empress’s Palace. How nervous she was in case someone might find out.
Eileen, who didn’t know her feelings, didn’t show up anywhere.
She had seen so many family photos of Irina that she felt like the photos would be pierced.
Especially after knowing that Irina had been disowned, her father’s face looked very vicious.
‘No matter how difficult the home situation is, but to sell your daughter?’
When she returned to the palace, Arundel nodded her head, saying she would tear up Irina’s father’s face from the photo.
Just then.
“Eileen!”
At the sound of someone calling Eileen, Arundel hid her body and looked at where the sound came from.
There stood Eileen, whom she had been waiting for so long. The person who called Eileen was her mother, and it seemed like she was passing something on.
Arundel hid her body and waited until Eileen passed the gate.
When Eileen left the mansion without knowing anything and was completely alone…
Right now!
“Eileen!”
At Arundel’s call, Eileen jumped as if she had met a ghost. Was her impression a bit more fierce than what she saw in the photo?
“Irina…! How are you here!”
Eileen looked around and pulled Arundel to a dark place.
Arundel was a bit nervous, but she had to talk to her, so she followed obediently.
“What are you doing coming here! Are you out of your mind!”
Eileen grabbed Arundel’s shoulder and shook it, scolding her. She seemed to be angry and scared at the same time.
‘So it wasn’t a fierce look, she was just angry.’
Arundel, who was being obediently shaken, slowly removed Eileen’s hand from her shoulder.
“I’m sorry for coming here secretly. But with the sudden disownment, I really wanted to hear the story.”
“…That’s, unfortunately, true!”
“True…?”
“From the beginning, all of this happened because of you!”
She didn’t think to comfort herself, but at her sister’s reversed words, Arundel squinted her eyes and looked at her.
“Don’t look at me like that! Honestly, it’s not wrong!”
For now, she had to let her rant. Arundel was quietly listening.
“Do you know how much damage we’ve suffered because of you?!”
“…….”
“You’re not even our family! You’re not my real sister!”
Arundel’s eyes widened. Eileen hesitated for a moment, thinking she had hurt Arundel as she widened her eyes.
“Well, it’s true! If our uncle hadn’t left you in our house, it wouldn’t have come to this!”
At the shocking information, Arundel was momentarily stunned.
‘So, I am not the real daughter of Count Dunkeld, but the daughter of Count Dunkeld’s biological brother?’
Thinking about it, it felt right. Empress Irina, who didn’t resemble anyone else in the family photo, was like that, and so was Zion’s attitude.
Every time he mentioned the dirty bloodline, it was strange that he didn’t get rid of Count Dunkeld sooner if he hated it so much.
‘Then, the target of Emperor Zion’s wrath was not Count Dunkeld, but the brother of Count Dunkeld!’
As Arundel, lost in thought with a blank expression, looked a bit strange, Eileen’s anger subsided a bit.
“Anyway. We’ve lived together for a long time, and I’m sorry to see it come to this.”
“……”
“But never, ever come back. If the emperor finds out, he might destroy our family.”
Arundel, who had learned a tremendous harvest today, wanted to give Eileen a kiss, but she held back and slowly nodded her head.
She did her best to act sad.
****
After parting with Eileen and walking alone, Arundel suddenly looked up at the sky. It was a clear sky without a single cloud.
‘I miss it.’
Arundel recalled the days when she flew in the sky and defeated demons.
How did it come to this…
She didn’t regret ‘that incident’, but she found herself wondering if there could have been another way.
If she hadn’t fallen for the demon’s temptation back then, she wouldn’t be suffering like this now.
Just 25 years later, ‘that incident’ was exposed, causing a stir not only in the Heavenly Realm but also in the Demon Realm.
Of course, she knew that it would be discovered someday, but the timing was faster than she thought.
‘I wonder if she’s doing well…?’
Arundel remembered the beautiful woman with curly blonde hair.
The woman who gave Arundel a reason to join hands with the demon, if she is alive now, she would probably be middle-aged.
Her golden, empty eyes had captured Arundel’s gaze in an instant. Even now, she couldn’t figure out what had drawn her to her.
She was always meddlesome, but this time she admitted that she had gone too far. She shouldn’t have interfered so much in human affairs.
But the woman she couldn’t ignore had grabbed Arundel’s ankle.
Suddenly looking at the blue sky, Arundel was curious about the woman’s whereabouts.
She didn’t know where she was now, or if she was doing well.
