“Get away from me, you devil…”

“…….”

Cold air flowed from the deep blue eyes that looked down at her.

“Evil and cruel…. How, how could you do that to your brother…?”

“Is your heart broken because of my brother? Or….”

“No, no! Sisef and I are not like that! No!”

Hazel stumbled back.

“What should I do? You’re my wife. There’s definitely more important things to worry about than my brother’s safety.”

“What…?”

“Do your job, Hazel. Because I’ve always done mine.”

A finger slid over her face and gently swept her chin.

Hazel breathed urgently due to excessive soft and delicate hand movements.

“What do you mean?”

Achilleon’s lips lifted up in a smile.

“Your duty in bed.”

“You’re crazy….”

Hazel’s face turned pale.

“It’s the most basic duty a husband can ask of his wife, why?”

Achilleon nuzzled his face into Hazel’s neck and laughed. Instantly, his eyes lit up as he felt Hazel’s pulse beating fast.

“Isn’t that why you became Empress?”

“Let go of me, let go of me…”

Hazel hit him on the shoulders and kicked him with her feet. But Achilleon quickly caught her feet at once and her body was held down.

“Listen to me very carefully. Whenever I want you, I will hold you and embrace you. If you prefer to be held in front of everyone, I will gladly accept it.”

“…….”

Her defense movements came to a halt at his words. Hazel just gasped at the sight of her clothes peeling away under his hands.

“Oh, please don’t…Stop it. Please stop.”

She reached out and gave Achilleon a firm push, but he didn’t budge. She was no match for him from the start.

He was strong and cruel. It was the hands that had brutally slaughtered Sisef. It was disgusting and scary of him to say that he would hug her with his hands.

“What should I do…Sisef….”

The hand that was undressing Hazel stopped.

“You call my brother like that, don’t you care about your own sister?”

Hazel’s eyes widened as his voice fell on her ears.

“Lorette…”

“Now you remember her name?”

Hazel’s head snapped up at the mocking tone.

“Lorette, what did you do to her?”

“Well…”

He smiled with a dazzling beautiful face.

“What do you think happened to her?”

Hazel shuddered at his question.

“Answer me. No, no, no, don’t tell me…”

“Huh?”

Achilleon laughed as he looked down at Hazel with narrowed eyes.

“It’s horrible, Hazel, to pretend to care about your half sister after coveting her husband.”

He bit Hazel’s lip lightly and said.

“I feel dirty that I’m reacting to your horrible body.”

His smile twisted into a grimace. Hazel looked at him with tears in her eyes.

“Answer me. No… don’t…”

She couldn’t even bring herself to finish the sentence because she was afraid of the answer that would flow out of his mouth. she couldn’t bear the thought of any words coming out of his mouth.

“Do you want to know?”

“…….”

“She took her own life while holding the body of her husband.”

“What…?”

“Don’t worry, I placed her in the same coffin as her husband because I thought she would be lonely if she went alone.”

“…….”

“Why? You don’t want them to be together even after they’re dead?”

Hazel’s face turned deathly pale. Her lips, which had not opened as if they were hardened, parted.

“Kill me.”

Achilleon’s eyes flashed hazily at Hazel’s demand.

“Kill me, please. Just kill me…!”

“I can’t believe you tell me to kill my wife.”

He clicked his tongue, then grabbed Hazel’s face and pinned it to his.

“Hazel, think carefully. If you take your life..”

“…….”

“That day, the entire kingdom you love will be on fire. The father who gave his daughter in marriage to cheat on her husband, and your younger brothers, and everyone else…”

“Crazy bastard, you…are…cursed.”

Achilleon laughed as if he had just heard a sweet confession of love.

“Oh, my curse seems to have started a long time ago.”

“What…?”

“It started the day I fell in love with the damn Empress.”

The hand that touched her cheek was as cold as a snake’s scales. Hazel glared at him with a spine chilling sensation. Achilleon held her down and said,

“So we’re gonna be together when we die, aren’t we?”

“…….”

“Alive or dead, you’re mine. Hazel.”

Achilleon’s lips touched her forehead like a seal of punishment.

“And you haven’t even fulfilled your duty yet, have you?”

He chuckled as he met Hazel’s gaze, looking up at him as if to ask what he was talking about.

“We’re going to have a baby, Hazel.”

“What…?”

“Our child. The heir to this empire.”

He pushed his hands into her thin nightgown and continued speaking.

“It’s your duty. Empress.”

“No, it’s not. No, it’s not!”

Holding the struggling little body to his chest, Achilleon took a deep breath. He smiled contentedly as he felt her heart pounding.

“Give birth to my child, Hazel. Then we can get out of here.”

***

Ever since the day that Achilleon killed his brother and with the death of her sister, the Empress has been locked in her bedroom, unable to get out.

For days on end, with bars on the windows and a huge lock on the door, Hazel was at her wits’ end, with no way of knowing what was going on out there.

The maidservants who served her had all been decapitated and replaced by new ones sent by Achilleon, so she had nowhere to turn.

Day by day, she had to live a life of suffocation. Every night, the Emperor would come for the empress, embracing her fiercely and then leaving the bedroom.

The Emperor came to Hazel’s room in the late afternoon and did not come out until sunset the next day. The maids could tell from the occasional sobbing that she was alive.

Hazel was in the highest room of the tower, and no one was allowed to enter. All that was left was for food and baths to come into the next room.

Several days and nights passed in this way.

The maid, who with her half closed eyes outside the door, quickly stood up, as the door swung open.

“Your Majesty.”

A deep darkness lay on the Emperor’s face that she hadn’t seen in several days. However, everything else seemed to be too uneventful. It was as if all the sounds that had been leaking from the room were a lie.

Achilleon nodded to the maid, who looked at him. At the Emperor’s command, the maids hurriedly opened the door and went inside. As soon as the door opened, a gloomy atmosphere covered their entire body as if they had entered the gate of hell.

It was pitch-dark in the room.It was difficult to distinguish whether it was night or day. It was hard to believe that it was midday, some time after the sun had risen. The flashing light on the incense burner, with only the ashes remaining, was all the light that existed in the room.

“Empress?”

They saw a dim shape in the darkness. It was Hazel, buried in the bed. The maids quickly raised her body. They all sighed deeply at her soon revealed appearance.

“Let me wash you.”

“…….”

The maids woke Hazel, who was as unresponsive as a corpse, and took her to the washroom.

“I never thought His Majesty would go to such lengths.”

One of the maids let out a deep breath and poured water over Hazel’s body. Every spot where the warm water ran down, the marks of last night were clearly engraved.

The maids began to carefully wipe Hazel’s body, which hung limp in the tub.

The bath was filled with medicinal herbs that were effective in stabilizing the body and mind. Each time they carefully wiped the traces left by the Emperor with the water, a moan flowed from Hazel’s unconscious mouth.

“He was so kind… He would dedicate his entire empire to her.”

“Shhhh.”

The head maid placed her finger on her lips. Fortunately, Hazel, who was lying in the bathtub, did not show any reaction.

lDo you want to die? If you move your lips unnecessarily, your head will fly off next time.”

“…….”

“Be careful what you say. Have you forgotten what happened to all the other maids? We only have to do our jobs.”

At the chief maid’s cold threat, the maid who had been rubbing Hazel’s body raised her hand and rubbed her neck.

Even though she said that, the chief maid couldn’t shake the sad stare she was giving Hazel.

“It’s better to forget everything than to undo it.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Go get her clothes and towels. I’ll clean up here.”

“Yes, madam.”

The maid set down the sponge and rose from her seat. She glanced at Hazel, who was hanging in the hot water and not even moving slightly, and then hurried out of the washroom.

Seeing such a maid, the chief maid shook her head and raised herself up.

While the maid, who went out of the washroom and prepared to get the clothes, the maid in charge of the empress’s clothing spoke to her cautiously.

“By the way, is it true? The Grand Duke and the Empress have been seeing each other…”

“Shhhh. If the chief maid hears it, she’ll yell at you.”

The maid spoke in a low voice, and the other maid covered her mouth with her hand. However, they didn’t notice their conversation had leaked through the crack in the washroom door.

Hazel opened her tightly closed eyes.

“It’s better to forget everything than to undo it.”

As the words hovering in her ears over and over again, the blur began to come into clear focus.

****