But she couldn’t just leave the Emperor like that.
“I have to go down.”
When Sepia turned around from the window and tried to pass Roxanne, Roxanne grabbed her wrist.
“Wait a minute, Sepia.”
“Weren’t you going to leave?”
Both Sepia and him were surprised by the sharper voice.
She shut her mouth. Roxanne grabbed Sepia’s hand and gently stroked the back of her hand.
Was it an illusion ?
His body temperature felt higher than usual.
“Let’s go together.”
Sepia sighed and turned her head. It was an implicit permission.
They went down the stairs and went into the lobby.
The door was already open, and Demios had come in with a splendid procession.
A huge box, pollen, beautifully bloomed flowers, and even the palace maids.
Seeing it up close was even more embarrassing.
A premonition that it might not be happening followed her.
Sepia stood before Demios with her expression fixed.
He was wearing a pure white robe. Thanks to this, the red of the gorgeously blooming rose he was holding stood out in contrast.
“Sepia.”
“Your Majesty. By the way, what brings you here?”
Sepia greeted him politely at his call.
Demios paid no attention to his cold response.
Where had his sensitive nerves gone? The soft and sweet atmosphere he was emitting was embarrassing.
Before answering Sepia’s question, he looked back at Roxanne.
He sneered, sensing something he could sense from the same divine beast.
“You don’t even dare to possess it.”
Sepia looked back at Roxanne at the words that she couldn’t understand.
His expression hardened slightly.
Unlike her, Roxanne seemed to have recognized the meaning.
Demios smiled as if he had seized the opportunity.
His dazzling smile, unusual for a madman, mixed incongruously with his worn-out beauty.
“Sepia Ishtar. As the Emperor and as ‘Demios,’ I propose to you.”
He held out a bouquet of flowers.
The fresh scent of roses wafted in and his proposal continued.
“Become the Empress again.”
All the employees who had come out to the front of the department, including Sepia, were thrilled.
The reason she was able to return to the palace was because she had ascended to the throne as the Grand Duchess.
Roxanne’s eyes grew fierce.
He blocked Sepia’s path and said,
“The Star of Ishtar is my wife and the Grand Duchess.”
“Is that really so?”
At the taunts that followed, Demios rolled up his sleeve.
“Look at this.”
The name engraved on his wrist was Sepia’s.
Name engraving.
Everyone was caught up in confusion and silence at the sudden phenomenon.
The effect of the name was to blindly draw and touch the object with one’s name.
That was why Demios was so confident.
“It’s not fake, it’s real. Because it suddenly floated over my body.”
He stroked his wrist like a precious gift.
It was clearly Sepia’s name that draped over Demios’ skin.
‘Why is my name there?’
She was human.
It meant that she was not being swayed by the laws of the number of people.
Seeing him caressing her name, she felt goosebumps as if he was stroking her.
“Have you forgotten the memory of dethroning me?”
“It was to win you over.”
I did it because I loved you.
The confession he made at the lakeside behind the Empress’s palace echoed in Sepia’s head.
Nonsense.
Sepia realized once again that he was crazy in another sense.
He confidently extended his hand.
“I’ll make you Empress again.”
“...Did you think I would accept it if you said that?”
“Didn’t you obsess over the position of Empress?”
It really was.
She thought that the only value in life was in the position of Empress.
But not now.
‘I wanted to fulfill my duty.’
She believed that if she fulfilled the duties of the position, she would become perfect.
But even though she stepped down as Empress, nothing had changed for her.
In the end, it was Sepia herself who completed everything.
So the crossroads of choice were the same.
“I do not have Your Majesty’s name.”
Whether Demios had Sepia’s name or not, her answer would always be the same.
Those cold words were enough to crack his expression.
“...Does that mean you are not attracted to me?”
“Not even a little bit.”
Why?
His eyes seemed filled with doubt.
The moment her name was engraved on Demios, he felt an even stronger attraction.
However, this was the exact opposite of the theory of names.
Sepia was not affected at all, and only Demios longed for her even more.
Cold blue eyes turned to Demios.
Cold-blooded Empress.
Just like the nickname he had given Sepia once.
“If you truly love me, let me go. And rule the empire properly.”
“The empire is something I already have, not something I want.”
She shut her mouth. Roxanne grabbed Sepia’s hand and gently stroked the back of her hand.
Was it an illusion ?
His body temperature felt higher than usual.
“Let’s go together.”
Sepia sighed and turned her head. It was an implicit permission.
They went down the stairs and went into the lobby.
The door was already open, and Demios had come in with a splendid procession.
A huge box, pollen, beautifully bloomed flowers, and even the palace maids.
Seeing it up close was even more embarrassing.
A premonition that it might not be happening followed her.
Sepia stood before Demios with her expression fixed.
He was wearing a pure white robe. Thanks to this, the red of the gorgeously blooming rose he was holding stood out in contrast.
“Sepia.”
“Your Majesty. By the way, what brings you here?”
Sepia greeted him politely at his call.
Demios paid no attention to his cold response.
Where had his sensitive nerves gone? The soft and sweet atmosphere he was emitting was embarrassing.
Before answering Sepia’s question, he looked back at Roxanne.
He sneered, sensing something he could sense from the same divine beast.
“You don’t even dare to possess it.”
Sepia looked back at Roxanne at the words that she couldn’t understand.
His expression hardened slightly.
Unlike her, Roxanne seemed to have recognized the meaning.
Demios smiled as if he had seized the opportunity.
His dazzling smile, unusual for a madman, mixed incongruously with his worn-out beauty.
“Sepia Ishtar. As the Emperor and as ‘Demios,’ I propose to you.”
He held out a bouquet of flowers.
The fresh scent of roses wafted in and his proposal continued.
“Become the Empress again.”
All the employees who had come out to the front of the department, including Sepia, were thrilled.
The reason she was able to return to the palace was because she had ascended to the throne as the Grand Duchess.
Roxanne’s eyes grew fierce.
He blocked Sepia’s path and said,
“The Star of Ishtar is my wife and the Grand Duchess.”
“Is that really so?”
At the taunts that followed, Demios rolled up his sleeve.
“Look at this.”
The name engraved on his wrist was Sepia’s.
Name engraving.
Everyone was caught up in confusion and silence at the sudden phenomenon.
The effect of the name was to blindly draw and touch the object with one’s name.
That was why Demios was so confident.
“It’s not fake, it’s real. Because it suddenly floated over my body.”
He stroked his wrist like a precious gift.
It was clearly Sepia’s name that draped over Demios’ skin.
‘Why is my name there?’
She was human.
It meant that she was not being swayed by the laws of the number of people.
Seeing him caressing her name, she felt goosebumps as if he was stroking her.
“Have you forgotten the memory of dethroning me?”
“It was to win you over.”
I did it because I loved you.
The confession he made at the lakeside behind the Empress’s palace echoed in Sepia’s head.
Nonsense.
Sepia realized once again that he was crazy in another sense.
He confidently extended his hand.
“I’ll make you Empress again.”
“...Did you think I would accept it if you said that?”
“Didn’t you obsess over the position of Empress?”
It really was.
She thought that the only value in life was in the position of Empress.
But not now.
‘I wanted to fulfill my duty.’
She believed that if she fulfilled the duties of the position, she would become perfect.
But even though she stepped down as Empress, nothing had changed for her.
In the end, it was Sepia herself who completed everything.
So the crossroads of choice were the same.
“I do not have Your Majesty’s name.”
Whether Demios had Sepia’s name or not, her answer would always be the same.
Those cold words were enough to crack his expression.
“...Does that mean you are not attracted to me?”
“Not even a little bit.”
Why?
His eyes seemed filled with doubt.
The moment her name was engraved on Demios, he felt an even stronger attraction.
However, this was the exact opposite of the theory of names.
Sepia was not affected at all, and only Demios longed for her even more.
Cold blue eyes turned to Demios.
Cold-blooded Empress.
Just like the nickname he had given Sepia once.
“If you truly love me, let me go. And rule the empire properly.”
“The empire is something I already have, not something I want.”
All he truly wanted was Sepia.
However, those words only made her heart grow colder.
“Your Majesty always says that.”
He regarded the vast empire as nothing more than a possession.
However, those words only made her heart grow colder.
“Your Majesty always says that.”
He regarded the vast empire as nothing more than a possession.
His feelings toward her would ultimately be the same. Sepia still wondered why her name had appeared to Demios, and what the phenomenon of imprinting was in the first place.
However, the power of choice lay with her, not anyone else.
“Your Majesty, I do not want it.”
May this rejection be the end.
Sepia turned away from Demios, placing her hand on Roxanne’s arm.
The magnificent procession could not hold her back.
Not even the Emperor.
Her steps as she climbed the stairs were particularly heavy.
Sepia stopped in a hallway where the lobby was out of sight.
She let go of Roxanne’s arm and asked,
“Are you still going to leave without telling me why?”
It was her choice to reject Demios.
Therefore, it was a separate issue from being angry at Roxanne.
‘Why should I not know about something the Emperor noticed?’
The fact that Roxanne was hiding something had not changed.
The fact that he was avoiding her even at this moment was the same.
“...Sepia.”
He hesitated and brought up Sepia’s name.
Until then, she had turned her back to Roxanne. If she hadn’t felt his breathing irregularly, she wouldn’t have felt any reason to look back.
Roxanne’s face, which she had hurriedly met, looked red.
Surprised, Sepia reached out to his forehead.
“You have a fever.”
His body was as hot as his breathing.
The change she had felt when she held Roxanne’s hand in the palace a while ago was not an illusion.
Unlike Demios, he was a perfect divine being.
To Roxanne, a high fever meant a huge change.
Perhaps even to the point where his life was in danger.
“Why didn’t you tell me? Until it got to this point...”
Roxanne closed his mouth at the confusion in his voice.
He calmed Sepia with complicated eyes.
“It’s not the problem Sepia thinks it is.”
“Then what?”
Getting ready to go out despite having a high fever?
Without even telling her where he was going or exactly when he would return.
Sepia’s eyes turned red and he hesitated, but he ended up confessing.
“The period of liberation has come. I missed the timing a little bit, so I wanted to leave for a while.”
“Since when?”
“...Since I was in Leopold.”
Ever since he kissed her, Roxanne had been postponing the period of liberation.
Sepia’s expression became serious.
“I heard that if you postpone the period of liberation, your body will suffer.”
“It’s not to the point where it will be life-threatening.”
If you don’t liberate your main body in time, the body of a beast will suffer damage.
No matter how great a divine beast you are.
Furthermore, a beast that has reached the period of liberation takes it for granted to spend time with its partner.
Nevertheless, Roxanne tried to push Sepia away.
“...Is it because I’m human?”
“That’s not it.”
Roxanne shook her head.
His eyes were telling her that they were definitely each other’s match, but her anxious heart did not calm down easily.
Roxanne's breathing became increasingly rapid.
Finally, when he finally stopped breathing, he couldn't hold it in any longer and pulled Sepia close.
His arms were hotter than usual.
Moreover, a sharp sensation that she had never felt before shook Sepia.
Then, he kissed Sepia's nape and whispered,
"Do you know that, Sepia? For the divine beasts, the period of liberation means the mating season."
During the entire period of liberation, the divine beast's partner had to endure the huge beast.
The heat of the body was burdensome even for a fellow human.
It was a process that was difficult for a human's fragile body to handle. It was only when she entered Roxanne's arms that she realized.
What and how much he had endured.
He had been desperately exercising patience in case he hurt Sepia.
"I didn't want to hurt your beginnings."
Now, as if it had reached its limit, his hot body collapsed on Sepia.
The sound of his teeth chattering as if he wanted to bite her nape and suck her flesh could be heard in her ears.
Sepia wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered,
“No, Roxanne. I’d rather you hurt me.”
She wanted to endure everything about him.
Even if he left a rough scar, it would be fine. Even that scar would connect her to him.
Because she was ready to endure it.
So.
Sepia pulled his neck closer.
Her lips covered his cheek with her nose pressing against his.
A thrilling sensation.
It was the energy of a beast trying to release its body in heat.
Sepia’s body was pushed back.
His own beast was digging into the gap between Sepia, who was pressed against the wall.
Even if he left a rough scar, it would be fine. Even that scar would connect her to him.
Because she was ready to endure it.
So.
Sepia pulled his neck closer.
Her lips covered his cheek with her nose pressing against his.
A thrilling sensation.
It was the energy of a beast trying to release its body in heat.
Sepia’s body was pushed back.
His own beast was digging into the gap between Sepia, who was pressed against the wall.
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