“The national fortune is in turmoil, so I should take care of the weak beasts first.”
Demios took the sacrifices the people would make for granted.
The current empire was strictly dog-eat-dog and had a class system.
Since the above customs had continued for a long time, it was the opinion that it was right for the lower classes to take care of the problems of the upper classes.
Sepia realized Demios’s nature only after she became Empress.
‘But I believed that he would not touch the temporary funds.’
Demios had only watched Sepia’s charity and had never helped her in this regard.
When Demios first suggested that the temporary funds be transferred to the imperial foundation, she was actually happy.
It was a feeling that came from her own delusion that she had moved his heart even a little.
The reality she actually faced was cold.
It was enough to make her resent herself for trusting Demios back then.
‘You’ve already made up your mind.’
Leaning against the wall, he looked so indifferent and cold.
That’s when she realized.
The fact that no matter how much she persuaded him, he would not change his decision.
It was the moment when Sepia's faith as the Empress and the Emperor's partner completely collapsed.
The money that could have saved countless people would now be used for the government's extravagance.
Her hands and feet froze.
Her heart was breaking apart along with her faith in him.
However, as the Empress, she had to remain calm.
'How much money can I move right now?'
The Empress's palace's budget from last year was almost depleted.
The imperial budget was temporarily set in the first month of each year and was finally allocated in late spring.
The new year had arrived, but winter was expected to last at least three months.
'Even if we stop the school and well construction right now...'
No matter how much she calculated, it was impossible to hold out until a new budget was allocated.
Her mind was not simply calculating the funds.
Sepia, who had deduced the number of people who would die during the winter, closed her eyes tightly in the dizzyingness.
In the meantime, Demios, who had leisurely gotten up, approached her and spoke.
“I won’t stop you from running a charity business. I’ll leave that to the Empress’s discretion.”
The cold and beautiful face teased Sepia to the end. Even if she had the authority to run the business, she couldn’t do anything without the necessary funds.
Sepia barely managed to look at him.
She made her last appeal.
“...I understand that you hate me. But before they were my subjects, they were your subjects. It is the imperial duty to take care of them.”
Demios took the sacrifices the people would make for granted.
The current empire was strictly dog-eat-dog and had a class system.
Since the above customs had continued for a long time, it was the opinion that it was right for the lower classes to take care of the problems of the upper classes.
Sepia realized Demios’s nature only after she became Empress.
‘But I believed that he would not touch the temporary funds.’
Demios had only watched Sepia’s charity and had never helped her in this regard.
When Demios first suggested that the temporary funds be transferred to the imperial foundation, she was actually happy.
It was a feeling that came from her own delusion that she had moved his heart even a little.
The reality she actually faced was cold.
It was enough to make her resent herself for trusting Demios back then.
‘You’ve already made up your mind.’
Leaning against the wall, he looked so indifferent and cold.
That’s when she realized.
The fact that no matter how much she persuaded him, he would not change his decision.
It was the moment when Sepia's faith as the Empress and the Emperor's partner completely collapsed.
The money that could have saved countless people would now be used for the government's extravagance.
Her hands and feet froze.
Her heart was breaking apart along with her faith in him.
However, as the Empress, she had to remain calm.
'How much money can I move right now?'
The Empress's palace's budget from last year was almost depleted.
The imperial budget was temporarily set in the first month of each year and was finally allocated in late spring.
The new year had arrived, but winter was expected to last at least three months.
'Even if we stop the school and well construction right now...'
No matter how much she calculated, it was impossible to hold out until a new budget was allocated.
Her mind was not simply calculating the funds.
Sepia, who had deduced the number of people who would die during the winter, closed her eyes tightly in the dizzyingness.
In the meantime, Demios, who had leisurely gotten up, approached her and spoke.
“I won’t stop you from running a charity business. I’ll leave that to the Empress’s discretion.”
The cold and beautiful face teased Sepia to the end. Even if she had the authority to run the business, she couldn’t do anything without the necessary funds.
Sepia barely managed to look at him.
She made her last appeal.
“...I understand that you hate me. But before they were my subjects, they were your subjects. It is the imperial duty to take care of them.”
Because there were subjects, there were nobles, subjects, and the imperial family.
Even though her faith was shattered, she wanted him to revoke the order just this once for the sake of the subjects and not her.
However, Demios only shook his head.
“It’s not that I hate the Empress, but the Empress resents me.”
There was resentment toward Sepia in his grumbling.
However, Sepia didn’t understand what he was saying.
“Why do you think I resent Your Majesty?”
If it was about the government, she had already endured it many times.
If he would just withdraw this order, she could give the budget allocated to each palace to his government without any complaints as the Empress's authority.
That's what she was going to say.
However, Demios avoided her question and kept his mouth shut.
'You're not doing this because you think I hate Titi?'
She thought he'd say that she was jealous of his government and resented him.
No matter how much she thought about it, there was nothing else that she could guess.
Before Titi appeared, Sepia and Demios had always been on the same level.
There was nothing she liked or disliked.
Strangely, now that she thought about it, she thought that wasn't the case.
His gaze contained a certain conviction that Sepia would definitely resent him.
After a long silence, he opened his mouth.
"...Yes. The empress is right. They are all my subjects. What should I do?"
Demios lowered his eyes in thought.
The sudden change brought a sense of desperation to Sepia's gaze again.
Her trust had already been shattered.
However, she had no choice but to rely on his mercy.
“Titi’s budget will be allocated in late spring after the budget is prepared this month. I promise this in the name of the Empress. So please, please revoke the order to ban the establishment of new business divisions and to return the existing temporary budget.”
She was thinking of adjusting the amount the government wanted.
However, he shook his head as if the calculations did not add up.
“Well, that alone would be difficult to negotiate.”
“As much as possible, the amount that Lady Titi wants...”
Even though her faith was shattered, she wanted him to revoke the order just this once for the sake of the subjects and not her.
However, Demios only shook his head.
“It’s not that I hate the Empress, but the Empress resents me.”
There was resentment toward Sepia in his grumbling.
However, Sepia didn’t understand what he was saying.
“Why do you think I resent Your Majesty?”
If it was about the government, she had already endured it many times.
If he would just withdraw this order, she could give the budget allocated to each palace to his government without any complaints as the Empress's authority.
That's what she was going to say.
However, Demios avoided her question and kept his mouth shut.
'You're not doing this because you think I hate Titi?'
She thought he'd say that she was jealous of his government and resented him.
No matter how much she thought about it, there was nothing else that she could guess.
Before Titi appeared, Sepia and Demios had always been on the same level.
There was nothing she liked or disliked.
Strangely, now that she thought about it, she thought that wasn't the case.
His gaze contained a certain conviction that Sepia would definitely resent him.
After a long silence, he opened his mouth.
"...Yes. The empress is right. They are all my subjects. What should I do?"
Demios lowered his eyes in thought.
The sudden change brought a sense of desperation to Sepia's gaze again.
Her trust had already been shattered.
However, she had no choice but to rely on his mercy.
“Titi’s budget will be allocated in late spring after the budget is prepared this month. I promise this in the name of the Empress. So please, please revoke the order to ban the establishment of new business divisions and to return the existing temporary budget.”
She was thinking of adjusting the amount the government wanted.
However, he shook his head as if the calculations did not add up.
“Well, that alone would be difficult to negotiate.”
“As much as possible, the amount that Lady Titi wants...”
Just as Sepia was about to continue her explanation, Demios pulled her waist closer and spoke with a distance that made their lips almost touch.
“If you want what you want, fulfill your duties as an Empress.”
The Emperor’s red eyes blazed with dark desire.
Sepia, faced with a more distinct desire for monopoly than ever before, froze.
Demios’s expression distorted as he saw her frozen in his arms.
“Isn’t this a deal where I’m at a loss? After all, you have to fulfill your duties as an Empress anyway. So if you want to negotiate, come to my bedroom yourself. By the way, I’m warning you in advance that you shouldn’t be so stiff.”
The sneer-like taunts tore Sepia’s heart apart like the claws of a beast.
“No matter how much you treat me like an animal, I don’t have a hobby of hugging a piece of wood.”
Demios pushed Sepia out of his arms.
“Ah...!”
“I see you don’t want to hug me today. From now on, if you come looking for me late at night, I’ll assume you’re coming to make a deal.”
He left Sepia in the reception room and went outside.
A long time later, Sepia left the palace.
With a staggering gait, not even knowing where she was going.
‘Why is it so cold?’
She blankly looked up at the sky and saw snow falling above her head.
After walking for a while, she was already far from the palace and in the middle of a remote garden.
Sepia held out her hand.
The snow that sat on her palm held a small crystal for a moment before melting uselessly.
‘...He’s right.’
She was the one who had neglected her duty as an Empress.
Demios even said that if she fulfilled her duty, he would revoke the order.
But from the moment he proposed the deal, her mind had turned blank and she couldn’t think of anything.
‘Because I’m scared.’
Because she was so scared of Demios making such a proposal.
At that moment, she couldn’t even think of her position as Empress or the people she had to take care of.
It was true that Demios had said that it was a deal that would be a loss for him. If she just did her duty as he said, she would be able to save the poor who would die all winter.
But she hated herself for not being able to say that she would accept the offer.
“Ah...”
Her eyes were wet, perhaps because of the snowflakes that had started to fall again.
But it was strange.
‘Snow shouldn’t be this warm.’
It was when Sepia was about to rub her eyes.
A hand reached out and wiped her eyes.
She looked up blankly and Roxanne was standing there.
‘Why was he...?’
Because her vision kept blurring, she thought it was a mirage at first.
He silently hugged Sepia.
The embrace that should have been unfamiliar was neither scary nor fearful. Rather.
“It’s okay to cry.”
After hearing his words, she realized that she was crying.
“Sob...”
Sepia cried endlessly.
In the arms of the only person she could hold.
A neat room.
Sepia sat down on the chair and accepted the cup he offered her.
“Here it is.”
“...Thank you.”
A nice scent wafted from the large mug.
‘Jasmine tea.’
It was her favorite.
When Sepia held the mug with both hands, he spoke a little awkwardly.
“Since this is where the knights stay... I’m sorry I can’t serve you a proper cup.”
“This cup is good too. I like it.”
Sepia smiled faintly.
The plain white mug actually brought about a strange sense of stability.
As she slowly sipped the tea while wrapped in a thick blanket, her heart gradually calmed down.
And then came belated regret and shame.
‘To show myself like that.’
Once the tears began to flow, they never seemed to stop.
Roxanne held her in his arms until she stopped crying.
Until her eyes stopped snowing, in the dark garden, forever.
After she had cried so much, this was the place she had followed him to.
‘Here...’
An oil lamp on a small side table softly lit the interior.
Sepia looked around while pretending to drink tea.
The room, which was neither large nor small, had only a desk, a bed, and minimal furniture.
On the table were the imperial map she had lent him, and documents of unknown origin piled up. Her gaze then turned to the coat hanging on the wall.
While the clothes she was wearing were barely wet, the coat he was wearing had darkened from being soaked in snow.
‘Why do I feel this way?’
When she saw the wet coat, her heart, which had been momentarily calm, seemed to start to flutter strangely.
She turned her head to avoid the unfamiliar ripples.
Then her eyes met his.
“This is my bedroom.”
“If you want what you want, fulfill your duties as an Empress.”
The Emperor’s red eyes blazed with dark desire.
Sepia, faced with a more distinct desire for monopoly than ever before, froze.
Demios’s expression distorted as he saw her frozen in his arms.
“Isn’t this a deal where I’m at a loss? After all, you have to fulfill your duties as an Empress anyway. So if you want to negotiate, come to my bedroom yourself. By the way, I’m warning you in advance that you shouldn’t be so stiff.”
The sneer-like taunts tore Sepia’s heart apart like the claws of a beast.
“No matter how much you treat me like an animal, I don’t have a hobby of hugging a piece of wood.”
Demios pushed Sepia out of his arms.
“Ah...!”
“I see you don’t want to hug me today. From now on, if you come looking for me late at night, I’ll assume you’re coming to make a deal.”
He left Sepia in the reception room and went outside.
A long time later, Sepia left the palace.
With a staggering gait, not even knowing where she was going.
‘Why is it so cold?’
She blankly looked up at the sky and saw snow falling above her head.
After walking for a while, she was already far from the palace and in the middle of a remote garden.
Sepia held out her hand.
The snow that sat on her palm held a small crystal for a moment before melting uselessly.
‘...He’s right.’
She was the one who had neglected her duty as an Empress.
Demios even said that if she fulfilled her duty, he would revoke the order.
But from the moment he proposed the deal, her mind had turned blank and she couldn’t think of anything.
‘Because I’m scared.’
Because she was so scared of Demios making such a proposal.
At that moment, she couldn’t even think of her position as Empress or the people she had to take care of.
It was true that Demios had said that it was a deal that would be a loss for him. If she just did her duty as he said, she would be able to save the poor who would die all winter.
But she hated herself for not being able to say that she would accept the offer.
“Ah...”
Her eyes were wet, perhaps because of the snowflakes that had started to fall again.
But it was strange.
‘Snow shouldn’t be this warm.’
It was when Sepia was about to rub her eyes.
A hand reached out and wiped her eyes.
She looked up blankly and Roxanne was standing there.
‘Why was he...?’
Because her vision kept blurring, she thought it was a mirage at first.
He silently hugged Sepia.
The embrace that should have been unfamiliar was neither scary nor fearful. Rather.
“It’s okay to cry.”
After hearing his words, she realized that she was crying.
“Sob...”
Sepia cried endlessly.
In the arms of the only person she could hold.
***
A neat room.
Sepia sat down on the chair and accepted the cup he offered her.
“Here it is.”
“...Thank you.”
A nice scent wafted from the large mug.
‘Jasmine tea.’
It was her favorite.
When Sepia held the mug with both hands, he spoke a little awkwardly.
“Since this is where the knights stay... I’m sorry I can’t serve you a proper cup.”
“This cup is good too. I like it.”
Sepia smiled faintly.
The plain white mug actually brought about a strange sense of stability.
As she slowly sipped the tea while wrapped in a thick blanket, her heart gradually calmed down.
And then came belated regret and shame.
‘To show myself like that.’
Once the tears began to flow, they never seemed to stop.
Roxanne held her in his arms until she stopped crying.
Until her eyes stopped snowing, in the dark garden, forever.
After she had cried so much, this was the place she had followed him to.
‘Here...’
An oil lamp on a small side table softly lit the interior.
Sepia looked around while pretending to drink tea.
The room, which was neither large nor small, had only a desk, a bed, and minimal furniture.
On the table were the imperial map she had lent him, and documents of unknown origin piled up. Her gaze then turned to the coat hanging on the wall.
While the clothes she was wearing were barely wet, the coat he was wearing had darkened from being soaked in snow.
‘Why do I feel this way?’
When she saw the wet coat, her heart, which had been momentarily calm, seemed to start to flutter strangely.
She turned her head to avoid the unfamiliar ripples.
Then her eyes met his.
“This is my bedroom.”
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Thank you for the translation!
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