“Why do you have to go so far?”

David Charlene asked, looking at the Emperor in embarrassment. He had difficulty understanding it since the Emperor sent him as Queen Evelina’s chief aide.

David was originally Kaiden’s second-hand aide. He was a man who had a reputation for being competent at a young age. Besides, David also thought at first that the emperor had demoted him. But he didn’t make a mistake.

But now that he saw it, it was certainly like he sent him for Queen Evelina.

“You went to the Empress’ Palace and now have numerous questions.”

“I’m sorry.”

David bowed his head at that moment, realizing his situation.

“I did everything as you said therefore, I won’t care anymore.”

“Grandmother is dumb, too.”

Kaiden didn’t think his grandmother would bite the documents that he had prepared and leaked. If she were more suspicious, he was intending to place more snare then.

But it was funny that she tried to attack Evelina with the poor documents he leaked. He thought maybe she was in a hurry because he collapsed.

“As expected, grandmother. You won’t disappoint.”

She expected so much warmth from him as a grandmother, and when she heard that he had collapsed, she ran like crazy and tried to throw the Queen away.

“Ha.”

He laughed unconsciously at his grandmother’s behavior.

He no longer needed the affection of others. As he was under the illusion that he had gotten everything he wanted.

~~~~

“I have proof that Your Majesty the Dowager Empress embezzled the cost of constructing the Viaten Bridge.”

“You…”

Evelina was down to the basement where the Dowager Empress was imprisoned. She could only stand now, but she came down thinking it was right to finish the work at once.

“As I checked, there was a big difference in the amount of money spent on building buildings on the bridge.”

“Do you think I don’t know that you manipulated it?”

“I thought you’d say that, so I arrested all the bridge workers. And then the officials already confessed to me.”

Evelina threw the bait and was waiting. She had already found a way to bring the Empress down completely.

“Don’t lie!”

“It would be nice if it was a lie. It’s sad for me to lose my grandmother, too.”

“You!”

Dowager Empress Isabella jumped up from her seat. Then he tried to reach out to Evelina beyond the bars. But Evelina stood in a distance beyond her reach with dull eyes.

Evelina almost felt amused that this stupid Dowager Empress had been bothering her.

She wondered what it would have been like if she hadn’t learned the work of a marquis from the Marquis of Logias.

It must have been for that reason that the Empresses and Queens who had been there had suffered from the Dowager Empress. Evelina was good at business because she had a lot of work in place. After all, the Marquis’* seat was empty. The bookkeeping was an easy read. That’s why she didn’t get beaten.

*TN: the daughter’s seat. She’s not talking about her father. 

“If Kaiden dies, I’ll get your neck first!”

Evelina said, trembling with the impudence of the Dowager Empress.

“We’ll find out about Kaiden soon, too. So please clean your neck and wait. Her Majesty the Dowager Empress.”

“Wait! Did you say he was safe? Did he wake up? Didn’t he look for his grandmother?”

When the Dowager Empress asked urgently, Evelina ignored it and turned around.

“Kaiden woke up. But he was looking for me, not looking for Her Majesty.”

“No way! I’m his only family!”

“You’re not the only one. I’m here now.”

Evelina deliberately went out of the dungeon, saying that Princess Elsius was not there.

She felt somewhat relieved.

Now one of the two wings that will haunt her is completely broken. If she dealt with the other one, she will be able to send her parents into exile in the Kingdom of Tenesi and close her eyes comfortably.

Until then, use Princess Elsius to manipulate Kaiden. She would die when he’s off his guard.

She thought so.

After tonight, it’s the 10th.

There were ten days left before she died.

~~~~

Evelina was dreaming. She fell asleep while nursing Kaiden in the Emperor’s Bedroom. She felt like she was dreaming of her childhood.

Evelina thought so when she saw that her hand was a little unlike now. There were broken nails and blackened. It was because of bruising.

‘When I get married, I’ll plant lots of peonies.’

“And?”

“I want a rose in the bouquet.”

“You said peonies are good.”

‘But I want a rose in the bouquet. Roses are gorgeous and nice.’

Then, even though he was a man with no face, she could feel the child frowning.

‘What do you like about roses? They have thorns.’

“Roses are pretty, but I like the flower language, too. If I get married, they’ll love me forever.’

She was smiling at the boy sitting with her in the shade of the tree where she sat. Perhaps because of the shadow shaking around his eyes, his face looked too dark, and his eyes were invisible.

‘I don’t want to go on a honeymoon, and I want to share a room.’

“Why?”

‘It’s romantic when it’s just the two of us. And many couples get married and use separate rooms. I don’t like that.’

She looked at his lips and saw him smiling brightly.

‘Then keep the music box well. I’ll do everything you say when I come back.’

Soon the boy reached out and touched her hair.

“Ah.”

Evelina opened her eyes to the touch that touched her ear.

As if she had reached out in her dream, someone was touching her earlobe and hair.

“Lina.”

She was completely awoken by the voice calling her and came back to reality.

“Kaiden!”

She straightened herself up and examined Kaiden’s condition. He looked surprised at her voice but smiled at her.

Evelina was embarrassed to think that he could sit like this after penetrating the lower abdomen.

“The doctor must be….”

“This is nothing. Some were seriously injured on the battlefield.”

She didn’t know that the psychopath was pretending to be sweet to her. But perhaps it was because he was hurt because of her when he seemed to be fine. The frustrating and anxious feelings melted away at once.

“Ugh…”

“Lina?”

Her jaw trembled with relief that he didn’t die because of her. There was a blur in front of her, and she was out of breath.

Evelina thought she was doing this because of guilt. No matter how terrible he was, his father was still the bad guy. It was her family who tried to kill Kaiden repeatedly.

But my family was more important to her than anything else. She didn’t even know that her behavior was selfish. She wanted to save her adoptive parents who raised her like their own daughter. Just like when she was saved by them and lived comfortably.

It seemed that a lot of the feelings of worry and debt that she had unconsciously remained towards Kaiden.

In addition, no matter how much he was acting, he was injured while protecting her from falling.

Maybe he thought she might have broken my neck while falling off the horse at that time. Perhaps that’s why, even though she knew in her mind that his actions were intentional, she felt sorry in her heart.

“Ugh, Kaiden…”

His expression changed strangely when she cried. The corner of the eyes softened sadly and the lips gently parted.

Maybe because Evelina saw him with an expression she had never seen before. He seemed to look like a man. Up until now, he had been looking like a monster.

“Me, because of me, uh… Kaiden is…”

“I got hurt because I was stupid. Lina did nothing wrong.”

He gently pulled Evelina into his arms. Where on earth did this power remain, he hugged her body with strength.

She couldn’t cool down by his strange, willing sigh in her ear. Her heart was beating wildly, with a warm heart ted with apologies.

“I’m honestly fine. But it’s nice to see Lina crying because she’s worried.”

“Ugh, hhh…”

“I’m a little selfish.”

She couldn’t stop crying because she was helplessly beaten by his words.

~~~~

It was clear that Kaiden was a real monster.

Even though he had a hole in his stomach, he returned to his daily life as if he were fine, and when he heard about his grandmother, he reacted sourly.

“I’m going to put my grandmother in custody on Lesis Island.”

The two were in Kaiden’s office. He sat Evelina on his thigh and was looking at the papers.

“There is…”

“She went too far this time.”

Lesis Island was a frozen place. The fortress there was famous for the severe cold, so there were no knights without frostbite on their toes. Pirates often invaded there. Hence, the emperor often hung their heads in front of the city gates as an illustration.

“We have guests coming from Tenesi, so I’m going to send her after the guests go.”

Evelina didn’t know that Kaiden would punish his grandmother so severely. It’s hard for young people to live in a place where they can’t live for a few years, and now he was sending his grandmother who was in her 70s.

“Will it be okay?”

“Yes. She’s my grandmother, but she’s never acted like a grandmother.”

In addition, he learned that when he collapsed, she sent a letter to the princess, who married into the next country.

The contents of her letter were as follows.

The emperor will die soon, so if Princess Jelian returns with her son, I will put him on the throne.

When Kaiden found the letter, he had no trace of affection for his grandmother. It was an affection that didn’t even exist in the first place, and it was all about compassion that was connected by blood.

“And after the reception of Tenesi’s guests this time, I think I’ll have Marquis Logias as Foreign Minister.”

She looked at Kaiden’s words with surprise. Then he looked at her and said, smiling brilliantly.

“In fact, I have deliberately prevented Lina from meeting the Marquis of Logias.”