A brief silence followed. Then Calix answered in a very low voice, mixed with a bitter smile.
"I wasn't happy."
The eyes that met trembled quietly.
"That's why I couldn't give up on you."
Calix's voice was firm.
His eyes held a determination that he could no longer retreat. The achievements he had made in the war, the support he had gained from them, the newly risen forces, and the Talamand built by Odelia had now become his strength.
Now that he has finally secured the foundation to face Fabiana and Devon head-on, shouldn't he take a step closer?
And above all, recent events made Calix acutely afraid.
The reality that he would never have seen Odelia again had he been even a moment late tightened a chilling grip on his breath.
Their gazes met even more deeply. Odelia's fingertips tightened.
Calix did not miss that subtle tremor, pulled her closer, and hugged her tightly.
The moment their lips touched, the air in the room heated up even more. At first, they were cautious, but soon their breaths intertwined, deepening their connection.
Calix's hand, which had rested on Odelia's cheek, traced down her neck and wrapped tightly around her waist. Odelia held her breath for a moment, then responded by hugging him tightly.
Calix wrapped his arms tightly around her waist and lifted her up. At the sudden sensation of floating, Odelia's arms wrapped even tighter around his neck.
He sat her on the edge of the bed with careful but unhesitating steps and kissed her deeply once again.
After mixing breaths for a while with their lips touching, Calix slowly lay her down.
Odelia, gently lowered onto the bed, looked up at him while breathing heavily.
Calix's hand slowly traced down her shoulder. As the warmth seeping through her clothes dug into her skin, Odelia's body trembled subtly.
Feeling the trembling, Calix leaned closer without pulling his lips away. Odelia also reached out, albeit awkwardly, and wrapped her arms around Calix's neck.
Calix adjusted his grip on Odelia's hand so that she would hug him tighter. Odelia could not meet his eyes properly and looked away.
Seeing that, Calix gently grabbed her cheek and held her close to him.
"Don't look elsewhere, focus on me."
As he burrowed deeper into Odelia's embrace while meeting her gaze, Odelia grabbed his shoulders and let out the trembling she had been suppressing through her breath.
Calix wrapped his arms tightly around her body, filling each other even more deeply.
It was a night when they fully confirmed each other.
***
Fabiana sat in her private drawing room, where a faint fragrance was rising, passing around a wine glass. Her expression was clearly a smile, but it was mixed with anger and displeasure.
How could I have known that the two of them were in that kind of relationship?
Seeing her father, who usually looked down on her, unusually quiet, she felt a sense of schadenfreude, but at the same time, she was furious that she had missed the golden opportunity to bring Odelia down.
Fabiana took a sip of wine with a deep sneer, while the Duke of Devon, sitting opposite her, remained silent with his arms crossed. Deep fatigue and irritation flickered in the corners of his eyes.
"Father, be honest with me. Are you really saying you didn't know about the relationship between the two of them? Then why on earth did you think... Right, that you thought you could bring Odelia down if you killed that man, Gideon?"
Duke Devon also didn't know that Allan would die.
Since the three of them were usually close, he was trying to frame Odelia by making it look like Gideon was trying to smuggle through a trading business.
"Is it that amusing to see your father in such a predicament?"
As Fabiana shrugged instead of answering, Devon looked his daughter up and down with a displeased expression.
"Gideon already knew about our plan. If that information had fallen to the Emperor, we would have been the ones to suffer."
"So, what was the evidence like?"
"Don't worry, by now that data would have sunk to the bottom of the sea with Gideon."
"That's a guess, isn't it? It's not certain."
As Fabiana slammed her glass down, leaned back in her chair, and narrowed her eyes to point it out, the Duke of Devon closed his lips for a moment, then cleared his throat to erase the awkwardness.
"We just need to continue with the original plan!"
Then, as if he had no intention of continuing the conversation, he jumped up from his seat and left the drawing room.
As the door closed, Fabiana let out a hollow laugh, as if dumbfounded.
"He boasted so loudly... but as he approaches old age, his sharp mind has grown clouded."
A man slowly emerged from behind Fabiana, who was speaking coldly. The man, who limped with every step he took, was the very man whose ankle Calix had severed back then.
"I guess I should start getting ready."
Must she remain overshadowed by her father's shadow forever? She's the mother of the next heir to this imperial family.
Fabiana realized for sure through the last trial that no matter how hard she tried, she could not win Calix's heart.
What if he had looked at her even once? If he had hugged her just once, she probably wouldn't have hated him this much.
But that never happened.
Fabiana put down her wine glass. A deep smile spread across her lips. The humiliation and sense of defeat that had been burning hot just moments ago were turning into cold rage.
Even the father, who looks down on her, and Calix, who ultimately never looks at her.
'Everyone looks down on me.'
Only now could she know for sure. This feeling is no longer affection. It was hatred.
'Come to think of it, Liam died by my hand, too. Why am I acting all high and mighty now? I just need to kill off the things that get in the way.'
Even the name of the Emperor was nothing more than a life that had ended in futility before her. Killing people had now become an act that Fabiana did not hesitate to perform.
Father, and Calix, too.
It was Fabia who had resolved to tear down, one by one, everything that had ignored, used, and ultimately turned its back on her. If she was going to be ignored anyway, she decided to turn her back on them first before she ended up in that state.
Fabiana slowly pulled up the corners of her mouth.
From now on, she's neither a daughter nor a prospective Empress. She will simply survive, take, and prove.
Fabiana stood up from her seat and walked away.
***
Next morning.
Odelia slowly opened her eyes to the cold bedroom air. The spot beside her was already empty. Only the sheet, still retaining Calix's body heat, indicated that he had been here just moments ago.
Odelia slowly sat up. As she regained her senses, vivid memories of last night flooded back in. When their hands and breaths intertwined, the moment.
“...I’m crazy.”
Odelia let out a low sigh and pulled the blanket up to cover her naked body. She muttered, as if reproaching herself, that she had done something crazy while intoxicated by the heat of the moment.
At noon that day, Odelia boarded a carriage heading to Talamand.
Outside the carriage window, the palace built of golden domes and white marble gradually receded into the distance, disappearing as a mere dot. The sight felt like a final farewell, sending a chill down her spine.
As the silk sheets brushed against her, the sensations of last night came back to her. Calix's breath, his fingertips, his embrace. How foolish it was to surrender her body to the heat of the moment, even to her own reflection. Odelia clutched the hem of her cloak tightly with both hands.
"Let's pretend this never happened. I must be crazy... I was lonely for a moment, too."
The words she muttered softly scattered, buried in the vibrations inside the carriage. She tried to deny what happened last night, telling herself it was just a mistake brought on by loneliness, but the more she denied it, the clearer the memory became.
Odelia slowly closed her eyes.
If she lives solely as someone under his protection, she might feel emotionally comfortable and happy for the moment. However, that happiness will not last long. From that moment on, she will no longer be his.
Calix will have to fight for the rest of his life to prove and protect Odelia on her behalf.
That weight would be a burden, not love. Odelia did not want such a life.
Leaning on and depending on him just because she loved him, and letting him fight the world on her behalf, only made the burden he would have to carry for the rest of his life even heavier.
That's not love.
She resolved to herself very quietly, yet firmly. She had no intention of staying by his side, merely accepting his touch as a matter of due mercy.
Now, she couldn't do that.
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