Who Stole The Empress (R15) (Completed)

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Table of Contents

  • 1. Chapter 1. Kill The Empress
  • 2. Chapter 2. Tanatos’s Cripple Empress
  • 3. Chapter 3. She's Really Here
  • 4. Chapter 4. The Empress Is Going To Die
  • 5. Chapter 5. How Did This Happen?
  • 6. Chapter 6. Swallowing Eyes
  • 7. Chapter 7. Natasha Roanti
  • 8. Chapter 8. The Crying Sound
  • 9. Chapter 9. Are You Throwing Yourself Away?
  • 10. Chapter 10. Why Did This Woman...?
  • 11. Chapter 11. Then Bite If Off And Kill Me
  • 12. Chapter 12. Ability To Save
  • 13. Chapter 13. The Shadow She Left Behind
  • 14. Chapter 14. Into His Realm
  • 15. Chapter 15. Tamon's Purpose
  • 16. Chapter 16. This Damn Woman!
  • 17. Chapter 17. I've Never Hated You
  • 18. Chapter 18. How About Love?
  • 19. Chapter 19. A Night Walk
  • 20. Chapter 20. How Do You Want To Die
  • 21. Chapter 21. Ronasso's Anxiety
  • 22. Chapter 22. How To Let Go Of Sadness
  • 23. Chapter 23. Lersha Resha
  • 24. Chapter 24. It’s Not Ugly
  • 25. Chapter 25. Where Is The Empress's Treasure?
  • 26. Chapter 26. The Reason For Death
  • 27. Chapter 27. The Consolation Of The Unashamed
  • 28. Chapter 28. A New Name
  • 29. Chapter 29. A Small Change
  • 30. Chapter 30. Out Of Control
  • 31. Chapter 31. There's Always Trouble
  • 32. Chapter 32. Dazzling Silver Hair And Purple Crystal Eyes
  • 33. Chapter 33. My Silver Fox
  • 34. Chapter 34. Is It Okay To Eat This Poisonous Plant?
  • 35. Chapter 35. Don't Be Weak
  • 36. Chapter 36. Don’t Leave Me
  • 37. Chapter 37. An Unfamiliar Peace
  • 38. Chapter 38. Warmth Of The Palm
  • 39. Chapter 39. Give Me Your Right Foot
  • 40. Chapter 40. That’s Right
  • 41. Chapter 41. The Bride's Scream
  • 42. Chapter 42. You Are Like A Gift
  • 43. Chapter 43. Ensemble Drink
  • 44. Chapter 44. I Think It’s Her
  • 45. Chapter 45. Exactly One Month
  • 46. Chapter 46. I’m Disappointed
  • 47. Chapter 47. She Doesn’t Know
  • 48. Chapter 48. To The Lady Of The Pink Rose Forest
  • 49. Chapter 49. Red Stigma On The Chest
  • 50. Chapter 50. That Person Will Come
  • 51. Chapter 51. Smile Next Time
  • 52. Chapter 52. I’m The Owner Of That Leg
  • 53. Chapter 53. The Twins’ Dream
  • 54. Chapter 54. Karen Turasia
  • 55. Chapter 55. Red Passion In The Desert
  • 56. Chapter 56. Cassion Krasis
  • 57. Chapter 57. Brothers
  • 58. Chapter 58. He Did Not Know How To Be Patient
  • 59. Chapter 59. An Unpleasant Visitor
  • 60. Chapter 60. My Brother's Mistress
  • 61. Chapter 61. Tomorrow, Lunch, Together
  • 62. Chapter 62. Roselyn's Anger
  • 63. Chapter 63. Red-eyed Savior
  • 64. Chapter 64. He’s Back
  • 65. Chapter 65. Bloody Master
  • 66. Chapter 66. Welcome Back
  • 67. Chapter 67. I Missed You
  • 68. Chapter 68. Thank You For Staying Alive
  • 69. Chapter 69. It's All Coming Together
  • 70. Chapter 70. Hope That Shine At The End Of Despair
  • 71. Chapter 71. A Mean Woman
  • 72. Chapter 72. Ronasso's Adversity
  • 73. Chapter 73. Preparation To Go Out
  • 74. Chapter 74. Each Person's Heart Flows Differently
  • 75. Chapter 75. Smile, Rosie
  • 76. Chapter 76. Do You Want Me To Show You My Specialty?
  • 77. Chapter 77. Aim And Shoot
  • 78. Chapter 78. The Gap
  • 79. Chapter 79. Arrows That Burn Flesh
  • 80. Chapter 80. I’ll Bring You The Proof
  • 81. Chapter 81. Even If I Die Like This
  • 82. Chapter 82. The Reason She Was Confident In Winning
  • 83. Chapter 83. An Unexpected Guest
  • 84. Chapter 84. Love That Couldn't Overcome Hatred
  • 85. Chapter 85. Aranrosia
  • 86. Chapter 86. The Rightful Owner
  • 87. Chapter 87. Can I Trust You?
  • 88. Chapter 88. A Blind Man
  • 89. Chapter 89. The Wind Lantern Ceremony
  • 90. Chapter 90. If You're There, Come Out
  • 91. Chapter 91. Similar
  • 92. Chapter 92. Ignorance Is Bravery
  • 93. Chapter 93. I Can Tell You
  • 94. Chapter 94. Hartz’s Conditions
  • 95. Chapter 95. If You Kiss Me
  • 96. Chapter 96. Change
  • 97. Chapter 97. Anna
  • 98. Chapter 98. I’ll Have To Remove It
  • 99. Chapter 99. The Prophet's Gamble
  • 100. Chapter 100. Because He's So Good At It
  • 101. Chapter 101. A Mysterious Trend
  • 102. Chapter 102. The Conditions Of The Gift
  • 103. Chapter 103. The Tips Of His Ears
  • 104. Chapter 104. The Meaning Of Yellow Lily
  • 105. Chapter 105. God, Please Take Care Of Them
  • 106. Chapter 106. I'd Like To Meet Him
  • 107. Chapter 107. It’s Beautiful
  • 108. Chapter 108. What Do You Want Me To Do?
  • 109. Chapter 109. There's Only Two Of Us
  • 110. Chapter 110. Even If It Hurts A Little, It Will Last A Long Time
  • 111. Chapter 111. Does This Make Sense?
  • 112. Chapter 112. With Both Feet
  • 113. Chapter 113. Instinct
  • 114. Chapter 114. Did It Happen?
  • 115. Chapter 115. One Step, Two Steps
  • 116. Chapter 116. A Familiar Voice
  • 117. Chapter 117. I See The Glory Of Winter
  • 118. Chapter 118. That's Why It's Not Me
  • 119. Chapter 119. . It Was A Flash
  • 120. Chapter 120. When The Revenge Is Over
  • 121. Chapter 121. What Will He Get?
  • 122. Chapter 122. What Is Your Name?
  • 123. Chapter 123. Sweet
  • 124. Chapter 124. Black Canyon (1)
  • 125. Chapter 125. Black Canyon (2)
  • 126. Chapter 126. A Twisted Doubt
  • 127. Chapter 127. You Have To Save It
  • 128. Chapter 128. The Secret Of The Silver Horned Deer
  • 129. Chapter 129. His Sincerity
  • 130. Chapter 130. Into The Black Fog
  • 131. Chapter 131. Breaking In
  • 132. Chapter 132. Tell Me, Asha
  • 133. Chapter 133. Warmth
  • 134. Chapter 134. Evidence Of Longing
  • 135. Chapter 135. Under The Wheels
  • 136. Chapter 136. Natasha's Crime
  • 137. Chapter 137. Who Left The Flowers?
  • 138. Chapter 138. He Who Sees The Will Of God
  • 139. Chapter 139. Winter Can't Beat The Pines
  • 140. Chapter 140. Let’s Go There Together
  • 141. Chapter 141. Betrayal
  • 142. Chapter 142. A Vanished Home
  • 143. Chapter 143. Finally, At The Imperial Palace
  • 144. Chapter 144. Remove It
  • 145. Chapter 145. Your Worst Nightmare
  • 146. Chapter 146. July 16th
  • 147. Chapter 147. Pretend You Don’t See It. Pretend You Don’t Know It
  • 148. Chapter 148. Take The Child To His Mother
  • 149. Chapter 149. A Crack
  • 150. Chapter 150. Song Of The Fall
  • 151. Chapter 151. Anna’s Situation
  • 152. Chapter 152. Perso’s Anguish
  • 153. Chapter 153. A Suspicious Maid
  • 154. Chapter 154. Whose Baby Is It?
  • 155. Chapter 155. This Is My Answer
  • 156. Chapter 156. The Wild Dog Outside The Fence
  • 157. Chapter 157. The Main Characters
  • 158. Chapter 158. That Day
  • 159. Chapter 159. Let Me Tell You A Secret
  • 160. Chapter 160. Run Away
  • 161. Chapter 161. The Hunt Begins
  • 162. Chapter 162. To The Hell I Got Out Of
  • 163. Chapter 163. Let's Watch
  • 164. Chapter 164. The Crazy Emperor
  • 165. Chapter 165. Rampage
  • 166. Chapter 166. Clash Of Life And Death
  • 167. Chapter 167. Collect
  • 168. Chapter 168. The Banquet Is Over
  • 169. Chapter 169. A World Without The Power Of God
  • 170. Chapter 170. Thorny Hedge
  • 171. Chapter 171. It Was The Night When Winter Ended
  • 172. Chapter 172. Side Story 1 - The World Has Been Turned Upside Down
  • 173. Chapter 173. Side Story 2 - Death In The Dark
  • 174. Chapter 174. Side Story 3 - Monstein
  • 175. Chapter 175. Side Story 4. Tamon's Happiness
  • 176. Chapter 176. Side Story 5. Very Sweet And Tender
  • 177. Chapter 177. Side Story 6. Methods Of Persuasion
  • 178. Chapter 178. Side Story 7. A Night Full Of Peach Scent
  • 179. Chapter 179. Side Story 8. Desired Asha
  • 180. Chapter 180. Side Story 9. Unexpected Fit
  • 181. Chapter 181. Side Story 10. Return
  • 182. Chapter 182. Side Story 11. All Is Well
  • 183. Chapter 183. Side Story 12. Amazing News
  • 184. Chapter 184. Side Story 13. A Very Cute Dream
  • 185. Chapter 185. Side Story 14. What Kind Of Bullsh*t Is This?
  • 186. Chapter 186. Side Story 15. What Will Turn The World Upside Down
  • 187. Chapter 187. Side Story 16. Suspicious Meeting
  • 188. Chapter 188. Side Story 17. Find Me
  • 189. Chapter 189. Side Story 18. You Just Have To Enjoy It
  • 190. Chapter 190. Side Story 19. Time To Become A Family
  • 191. Chapter 191. Side Story 20. Omen
  • 192. Chapter 192. Side Story 21. Became A Family (End)

Chapter 1. Kill the Empress

 

***

Sponsored by Lia. Thank you 💖 (¼)

***

 

“This jewel belongs to Amelia. Don’t even think about it.”

 

Amelia was a distant relative who had been close to Ronasso since childhood. She was like a sister to him.

 

After looking around for a special gift for Amelia’s coming up wedding, Ronasso bought this green jewel.

 

“Tamon, this is what you need to see.”

 

Ronasso pulled out a note that lay underneath the jewelry box.

 

‘Why do you want me to look at the paper, not the jewel?’

 

Tamon glanced over at Ronasso suspiciously and unfolded paper.

 

“Look at the last page.”

 

Slowly, Tamon’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the writing on the page.

 

“Where did you get this?”

 

“Rodelg.”

 

“Rodelg. Aha..….”

 

A little past the capital of Amor, there was a very small and ordinary city.

 

The city, which was not particularly beautiful and not developed in terms of agriculture and fishing, had quite a lot of visitors, but it was all for the monthly market.

 

The market held in the daytime was called Mork, and the market held at night was called Rodelk.

 

Rodelk was the place where auctions were held.

 

Sometimes there were illegal transactions, and disturbances, but Rodelg was still an interesting place.

 

For this reason, even the royal family tolerated their transactions to some extent.

 

The taxes paid there were also substantial.

 

The interesting thing about the Rodelg auction was that no one knew what the item of the day would be until just before the auction was held.

 

Furthermore, even the Marwich family, who ran the auction house, was known to be untouchable at the auction.

 

This was because they shared their interest in the auction house fairly with other families.

 

Sometimes the items were eye-poppingly rare, and sometimes they were inevitably unidentifiable.

 

But not once was there an auction that was not interesting.

 

It was also interesting to note that any time an item was bought or sold at an auction, no matter when or who it was, there would always be some incident.

 

Well, this auction was. ….

 

[O Life. Engrave* before the sixth moon rises and the twelfth night passes. And let her know that the Iron Child is crossing the sea. If the child cannot be saved before it reaches land, her treasure will fall back to her death.]

 

It looked like that very interesting and riveting incident was about to happen from Ronasso and Tamon.

 

*TL: I want to explain the word ‘engrave’ a little bit. In order to help Tamon to get over his power overload (the heart disease that caused death in his family for generations) which turns him into a monster, the process ‘engraving’ aka having s*x, needed to occur. And the deal between Roselyn and Tamon was that if Roselyn ‘engrave’ with him, he will give her five wishes. Few earlier chapters when Tamon asked her to be ‘his partner’, he meant to ask her to be his ‘mark’, to ‘engrave’ him. And this note, which seemed like a direct message to Tamon and Roselyn to tell them to ‘engrave’ in that certain time, and to tell Roselyn about the child crossing the sea. The child is Arsene who had Roselyn’s treasure, was abducted and was now on the ship crossing the sea. I’ll use the term ‘engrave’ now  instead of ‘s*x’ since I explained it.

 

****

 

Tamon rubbed his clean shaven chin as he looked at the paper that Ronasso had given him.

 

He narrowed his eyes, as if thinking, and then asked in his characteristic low tone, 

 

“Did you ever tell anyone you’re looking for something like this?”

 

“No! Of course not! Amelia said she didn’t want a present, and I was secretly preparing one for her!”

 

Even if someone knew that Ronasso would go to the Rodelk, they couldn’t possibly know whether or not Ronasso would get this exact jewel.

 

No one knew if this jewel would be there or not.

 

But the written message….

 

Life, Engrave, Death…….

 

There was no exact name, but this certainly included Tamon, Roselyn, and Gillotti. It was about hidden relationships and their abilities.

 

Plus the language of the message.

 

It wasn’t any other language, it was the language of Hirusha.

 

How could so many coincidences come together?

 

No, it wasn’t a coincidence.

 

Tamon opened his narrowed eyes and stared at the elegant handwriting on the small piece of paper. 

 

Somebody knew his secret.

 

***

 

Pong.

 

Water droplets fell from between her white fingers over the calm surface of the water.

 

Roselyn, who entered the bath alone, refusing the twins’ help, watched the droplets falling through her fingers endlessly.

 

She had always been used to being taken care of, but now she was going to have to work harder to do it herself.

 

It was a different life now, and she wanted to embrace it. Because she had risen from the depths of despair, she could not live the same life as before.

 

…Phew.

 

Roselyn exhaled hotly and submerged herself in the warm water. Through the open glass window, she could see the moon floating high in the sky.

 

A gentle breeze blew, and the heat brushed her cheeks.

 

The water was lukewarm, but strangely enough, her whole body was hot.

 

“……. It’s only an engrave.” (*see my explain for ‘engrave’ above)

 

There was no other reason.

 

A deal between her and him.

 

It was the only act.

 

But why is it so……

 

“…”

 

Roselyn gripped her slightly trembling fingers.

 

Unlike her hot body, her fingers were cold. It was a sign that she was nervous.

 

Nervous?

 

Why on earth?

 

She deliberately chose to breathe.

 

She didn’t want to be nervous because of the man, nor did she want to give off the impression that she was nervous.

 

But, why does her body feel so hot?

 

Roselyn splashed water over and over on her stiff muscles to relax her body.

 

There was an abundance of various fragrances the twins had prepared for her, but she purposely didn’t use any of them.

 

She scrubbed her body with the water soap that was provided.

 

‘Try to atone for my mistakes, try to atone for my past.’ She said this with all sincerity.

 

Wiping herself off, she tied the waist of her thin nightgown tightly.

 

She straightened her shoulders and back, as if she was going out in public for the first time as Empress.

 

Deal.

 

Yes, it was just a deal.

 

A contract, that was all.

 

She whispered to herself incessantly and walked down the hallway to her bedroom with her legs straining.

 

Was it her imagination?

 

The sensation in her broken leg felt slightly different.

 

It felt like the limp was decreasing and the strength in her legs increased.

 

‘I’m more aware of many things now.’

 

Roselyn gave a slight shake of her head and slowly opened the bedroom door. Fortunately or unfortunately, Tamon was not in the bedroom yet.

 

‘What should I do?’

 

She signed a contract and she had to carry out the transaction, but there was no involved party.

 

She stood there for a while and then slowly sat down on the bed. She stretched out her back and waited for Tamon to come with her eyes raised.

 

Then she thought of the days when she had to sleep with the Emperor.

 

She sat neatly like this even then, waiting for Gillotti.

 

She sat in the easy chair provided next to the large matrimonial bed and waited for the emperor who was promised to come.

 

Then, very late in the night, a drunken Gillotti arrived.

 

Gillotti, completely drunk, approached as he frowned at Roselyn, who sat stiffly waiting for him.

 

“The invoice. How do you expect me to hold you when you’re so white?”

 

He would lie on the bed, fussing. It was Roselyn’s luck if he fell asleep like that.

 

Sometimes he couldn’t stand the frustration and jumped up, then he would take off Roselyn’s pajamas roughly.

 

Ignoring Roselyn’s words that do it slowly, he forced her to lie face down, showing her back. It was unknown whether it was violent or relevant.

 

“Don’t look back, Empress, do you know how frightening that look can be to a man? You have unlucky eyes. Purple is the color of the dead. You are a dead person. Your emotions, your joy, aren’t they?”

 

These were the insulting words that he spat into her ear while grabbing her hair and thrusting violently. Roselyn clutched the comforter without any response and endured the moment through clenched teeth.

 

‘Yes. I endured it.’

 

She had to endure it.

 

The many obligations that rested on her shoulders.

 

The worries and cares of those she loved.

 

The grief and suffering of the people she had to take care of.

 

She had too much on her plate and she had to live with it.

 

It had to be done, she thought.

 

It had to be done.

 

Ring ring.

 

A breeze blew in through the open window.

 

As she closed my eyes and felt it, she suddenly felt that her shoulders were not so heavy.

 

That’s right.

 

The Roselyn of the past died.

 

After admitting it, she felt significantly relieved.

 

Her expression finally relaxed. Very slightly, the corners of her mouth went up, but she didn’t notice.

 

It was just then.

 

“······I’m so honored that I don’t know what to do.”

 

Tamon spoke as he quietly walked in.

 

Roselyn turned to look at him, showing no sign of surprise.

 

He stared at her with his arms crossed under the archway that connected the rooms. 

 

Roselyn was used to moments like this.

 

It was Gillotti, who used to stare at her as she sat on the bed waiting to do her duty.

 

Gillotti’s voice was nightmarishly haunting.

 

At that moment, looking at her quietly, Tamon smiled and spoke slowly.

 

“You must.”

 

His red eyes did not leave hers for a moment.

 

“Very pretty, precious, waiting for a very long time…”

 

With unshaken eyes and an unshaken voice.

 

“You’re sitting there like a gift.”

 

He said a completely different word than nightmare.

Chapter 2. Tanatos’s cripple Empress

 

***

Sponsored by Lia. Thank you 💖 (¼)

***

 

“This jewel belongs to Amelia. Don’t even think about it.”

 

Amelia was a distant relative who had been close to Ronasso since childhood. She was like a sister to him.

 

After looking around for a special gift for Amelia’s coming up wedding, Ronasso bought this green jewel.

 

“Tamon, this is what you need to see.”

 

Ronasso pulled out a note that lay underneath the jewelry box.

 

‘Why do you want me to look at the paper, not the jewel?’

 

Tamon glanced over at Ronasso suspiciously and unfolded paper.

 

“Look at the last page.”

 

Slowly, Tamon’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the writing on the page.

 

“Where did you get this?”

 

“Rodelg.”

 

“Rodelg. Aha..….”

 

A little past the capital of Amor, there was a very small and ordinary city.

 

The city, which was not particularly beautiful and not developed in terms of agriculture and fishing, had quite a lot of visitors, but it was all for the monthly market.

 

The market held in the daytime was called Mork, and the market held at night was called Rodelk.

 

Rodelk was the place where auctions were held.

 

Sometimes there were illegal transactions, and disturbances, but Rodelg was still an interesting place.

 

For this reason, even the royal family tolerated their transactions to some extent.

 

The taxes paid there were also substantial.

 

The interesting thing about the Rodelg auction was that no one knew what the item of the day would be until just before the auction was held.

 

Furthermore, even the Marwich family, who ran the auction house, was known to be untouchable at the auction.

 

This was because they shared their interest in the auction house fairly with other families.

 

Sometimes the items were eye-poppingly rare, and sometimes they were inevitably unidentifiable.

 

But not once was there an auction that was not interesting.

 

It was also interesting to note that any time an item was bought or sold at an auction, no matter when or who it was, there would always be some incident.

 

Well, this auction was. ….

 

[O Life. Engrave* before the sixth moon rises and the twelfth night passes. And let her know that the Iron Child is crossing the sea. If the child cannot be saved before it reaches land, her treasure will fall back to her death.]

 

It looked like that very interesting and riveting incident was about to happen from Ronasso and Tamon.

 

*TL: I want to explain the word ‘engrave’ a little bit. In order to help Tamon to get over his power overload (the heart disease that caused death in his family for generations) which turns him into a monster, the process ‘engraving’ aka having s*x, needed to occur. And the deal between Roselyn and Tamon was that if Roselyn ‘engrave’ with him, he will give her five wishes. Few earlier chapters when Tamon asked her to be ‘his partner’, he meant to ask her to be his ‘mark’, to ‘engrave’ him. And this note, which seemed like a direct message to Tamon and Roselyn to tell them to ‘engrave’ in that certain time, and to tell Roselyn about the child crossing the sea. The child is Arsene who had Roselyn’s treasure, was abducted and was now on the ship crossing the sea. I’ll use the term ‘engrave’ now  instead of ‘s*x’ since I explained it.

 

****

 

Tamon rubbed his clean shaven chin as he looked at the paper that Ronasso had given him.

 

He narrowed his eyes, as if thinking, and then asked in his characteristic low tone, 

 

“Did you ever tell anyone you’re looking for something like this?”

 

“No! Of course not! Amelia said she didn’t want a present, and I was secretly preparing one for her!”

 

Even if someone knew that Ronasso would go to the Rodelk, they couldn’t possibly know whether or not Ronasso would get this exact jewel.

 

No one knew if this jewel would be there or not.

 

But the written message….

 

Life, Engrave, Death…….

 

There was no exact name, but this certainly included Tamon, Roselyn, and Gillotti. It was about hidden relationships and their abilities.

 

Plus the language of the message.

 

It wasn’t any other language, it was the language of Hirusha.

 

How could so many coincidences come together?

 

No, it wasn’t a coincidence.

 

Tamon opened his narrowed eyes and stared at the elegant handwriting on the small piece of paper. 

 

Somebody knew his secret.

 

***

 

Pong.

 

Water droplets fell from between her white fingers over the calm surface of the water.

 

Roselyn, who entered the bath alone, refusing the twins’ help, watched the droplets falling through her fingers endlessly.

 

She had always been used to being taken care of, but now she was going to have to work harder to do it herself.

 

It was a different life now, and she wanted to embrace it. Because she had risen from the depths of despair, she could not live the same life as before.

 

…Phew.

 

Roselyn exhaled hotly and submerged herself in the warm water. Through the open glass window, she could see the moon floating high in the sky.

 

A gentle breeze blew, and the heat brushed her cheeks.

 

The water was lukewarm, but strangely enough, her whole body was hot.

 

“……. It’s only an engrave.” (*see my explain for ‘engrave’ above)

 

There was no other reason.

 

A deal between her and him.

 

It was the only act.

 

But why is it so……

 

“…”

 

Roselyn gripped her slightly trembling fingers.

 

Unlike her hot body, her fingers were cold. It was a sign that she was nervous.

 

Nervous?

 

Why on earth?

 

She deliberately chose to breathe.

 

She didn’t want to be nervous because of the man, nor did she want to give off the impression that she was nervous.

 

But, why does her body feel so hot?

 

Roselyn splashed water over and over on her stiff muscles to relax her body.

 

There was an abundance of various fragrances the twins had prepared for her, but she purposely didn’t use any of them.

 

She scrubbed her body with the water soap that was provided.

 

‘Try to atone for my mistakes, try to atone for my past.’ She said this with all sincerity.

 

Wiping herself off, she tied the waist of her thin nightgown tightly.

 

She straightened her shoulders and back, as if she was going out in public for the first time as Empress.

 

Deal.

 

Yes, it was just a deal.

 

A contract, that was all.

 

She whispered to herself incessantly and walked down the hallway to her bedroom with her legs straining.

 

Was it her imagination?

 

The sensation in her broken leg felt slightly different.

 

It felt like the limp was decreasing and the strength in her legs increased.

 

‘I’m more aware of many things now.’

 

Roselyn gave a slight shake of her head and slowly opened the bedroom door. Fortunately or unfortunately, Tamon was not in the bedroom yet.

 

‘What should I do?’

 

She signed a contract and she had to carry out the transaction, but there was no involved party.

 

She stood there for a while and then slowly sat down on the bed. She stretched out her back and waited for Tamon to come with her eyes raised.

 

Then she thought of the days when she had to sleep with the Emperor.

 

She sat neatly like this even then, waiting for Gillotti.

 

She sat in the easy chair provided next to the large matrimonial bed and waited for the emperor who was promised to come.

 

Then, very late in the night, a drunken Gillotti arrived.

 

Gillotti, completely drunk, approached as he frowned at Roselyn, who sat stiffly waiting for him.

 

“The invoice. How do you expect me to hold you when you’re so white?”

 

He would lie on the bed, fussing. It was Roselyn’s luck if he fell asleep like that.

 

Sometimes he couldn’t stand the frustration and jumped up, then he would take off Roselyn’s pajamas roughly.

 

Ignoring Roselyn’s words that do it slowly, he forced her to lie face down, showing her back. It was unknown whether it was violent or relevant.

 

“Don’t look back, Empress, do you know how frightening that look can be to a man? You have unlucky eyes. Purple is the color of the dead. You are a dead person. Your emotions, your joy, aren’t they?”

 

These were the insulting words that he spat into her ear while grabbing her hair and thrusting violently. Roselyn clutched the comforter without any response and endured the moment through clenched teeth.

 

‘Yes. I endured it.’

 

She had to endure it.

 

The many obligations that rested on her shoulders.

 

The worries and cares of those she loved.

 

The grief and suffering of the people she had to take care of.

 

She had too much on her plate and she had to live with it.

 

It had to be done, she thought.

 

It had to be done.

 

Ring ring.

 

A breeze blew in through the open window.

 

As she closed my eyes and felt it, she suddenly felt that her shoulders were not so heavy.

 

That’s right.

 

The Roselyn of the past died.

 

After admitting it, she felt significantly relieved.

 

Her expression finally relaxed. Very slightly, the corners of her mouth went up, but she didn’t notice.

 

It was just then.

 

“······I’m so honored that I don’t know what to do.”

 

Tamon spoke as he quietly walked in.

 

Roselyn turned to look at him, showing no sign of surprise.

 

He stared at her with his arms crossed under the archway that connected the rooms. 

 

Roselyn was used to moments like this.

 

It was Gillotti, who used to stare at her as she sat on the bed waiting to do her duty.

 

Gillotti’s voice was nightmarishly haunting.

 

At that moment, looking at her quietly, Tamon smiled and spoke slowly.

 

“You must.”

 

His red eyes did not leave hers for a moment.

 

“Very pretty, precious, waiting for a very long time…”

 

With unshaken eyes and an unshaken voice.

 

“You’re sitting there like a gift.”

 

He said a completely different word than nightmare.

Chapter 3. She's really here

 

***

Sponsored by Lia. Thank you 💖 (¼)

***

 

“This jewel belongs to Amelia. Don’t even think about it.”

 

Amelia was a distant relative who had been close to Ronasso since childhood. She was like a sister to him.

 

After looking around for a special gift for Amelia’s coming up wedding, Ronasso bought this green jewel.

 

“Tamon, this is what you need to see.”

 

Ronasso pulled out a note that lay underneath the jewelry box.

 

‘Why do you want me to look at the paper, not the jewel?’

 

Tamon glanced over at Ronasso suspiciously and unfolded paper.

 

“Look at the last page.”

 

Slowly, Tamon’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the writing on the page.

 

“Where did you get this?”

 

“Rodelg.”

 

“Rodelg. Aha..….”

 

A little past the capital of Amor, there was a very small and ordinary city.

 

The city, which was not particularly beautiful and not developed in terms of agriculture and fishing, had quite a lot of visitors, but it was all for the monthly market.

 

The market held in the daytime was called Mork, and the market held at night was called Rodelk.

 

Rodelk was the place where auctions were held.

 

Sometimes there were illegal transactions, and disturbances, but Rodelg was still an interesting place.

 

For this reason, even the royal family tolerated their transactions to some extent.

 

The taxes paid there were also substantial.

 

The interesting thing about the Rodelg auction was that no one knew what the item of the day would be until just before the auction was held.

 

Furthermore, even the Marwich family, who ran the auction house, was known to be untouchable at the auction.

 

This was because they shared their interest in the auction house fairly with other families.

 

Sometimes the items were eye-poppingly rare, and sometimes they were inevitably unidentifiable.

 

But not once was there an auction that was not interesting.

 

It was also interesting to note that any time an item was bought or sold at an auction, no matter when or who it was, there would always be some incident.

 

Well, this auction was. ….

 

[O Life. Engrave* before the sixth moon rises and the twelfth night passes. And let her know that the Iron Child is crossing the sea. If the child cannot be saved before it reaches land, her treasure will fall back to her death.]

 

It looked like that very interesting and riveting incident was about to happen from Ronasso and Tamon.

 

*TL: I want to explain the word ‘engrave’ a little bit. In order to help Tamon to get over his power overload (the heart disease that caused death in his family for generations) which turns him into a monster, the process ‘engraving’ aka having s*x, needed to occur. And the deal between Roselyn and Tamon was that if Roselyn ‘engrave’ with him, he will give her five wishes. Few earlier chapters when Tamon asked her to be ‘his partner’, he meant to ask her to be his ‘mark’, to ‘engrave’ him. And this note, which seemed like a direct message to Tamon and Roselyn to tell them to ‘engrave’ in that certain time, and to tell Roselyn about the child crossing the sea. The child is Arsene who had Roselyn’s treasure, was abducted and was now on the ship crossing the sea. I’ll use the term ‘engrave’ now  instead of ‘s*x’ since I explained it.

 

****

 

Tamon rubbed his clean shaven chin as he looked at the paper that Ronasso had given him.

 

He narrowed his eyes, as if thinking, and then asked in his characteristic low tone, 

 

“Did you ever tell anyone you’re looking for something like this?”

 

“No! Of course not! Amelia said she didn’t want a present, and I was secretly preparing one for her!”

 

Even if someone knew that Ronasso would go to the Rodelk, they couldn’t possibly know whether or not Ronasso would get this exact jewel.

 

No one knew if this jewel would be there or not.

 

But the written message….

 

Life, Engrave, Death…….

 

There was no exact name, but this certainly included Tamon, Roselyn, and Gillotti. It was about hidden relationships and their abilities.

 

Plus the language of the message.

 

It wasn’t any other language, it was the language of Hirusha.

 

How could so many coincidences come together?

 

No, it wasn’t a coincidence.

 

Tamon opened his narrowed eyes and stared at the elegant handwriting on the small piece of paper. 

 

Somebody knew his secret.

 

***

 

Pong.

 

Water droplets fell from between her white fingers over the calm surface of the water.

 

Roselyn, who entered the bath alone, refusing the twins’ help, watched the droplets falling through her fingers endlessly.

 

She had always been used to being taken care of, but now she was going to have to work harder to do it herself.

 

It was a different life now, and she wanted to embrace it. Because she had risen from the depths of despair, she could not live the same life as before.

 

…Phew.

 

Roselyn exhaled hotly and submerged herself in the warm water. Through the open glass window, she could see the moon floating high in the sky.

 

A gentle breeze blew, and the heat brushed her cheeks.

 

The water was lukewarm, but strangely enough, her whole body was hot.

 

“……. It’s only an engrave.” (*see my explain for ‘engrave’ above)

 

There was no other reason.

 

A deal between her and him.

 

It was the only act.

 

But why is it so……

 

“…”

 

Roselyn gripped her slightly trembling fingers.

 

Unlike her hot body, her fingers were cold. It was a sign that she was nervous.

 

Nervous?

 

Why on earth?

 

She deliberately chose to breathe.

 

She didn’t want to be nervous because of the man, nor did she want to give off the impression that she was nervous.

 

But, why does her body feel so hot?

 

Roselyn splashed water over and over on her stiff muscles to relax her body.

 

There was an abundance of various fragrances the twins had prepared for her, but she purposely didn’t use any of them.

 

She scrubbed her body with the water soap that was provided.

 

‘Try to atone for my mistakes, try to atone for my past.’ She said this with all sincerity.

 

Wiping herself off, she tied the waist of her thin nightgown tightly.

 

She straightened her shoulders and back, as if she was going out in public for the first time as Empress.

 

Deal.

 

Yes, it was just a deal.

 

A contract, that was all.

 

She whispered to herself incessantly and walked down the hallway to her bedroom with her legs straining.

 

Was it her imagination?

 

The sensation in her broken leg felt slightly different.

 

It felt like the limp was decreasing and the strength in her legs increased.

 

‘I’m more aware of many things now.’

 

Roselyn gave a slight shake of her head and slowly opened the bedroom door. Fortunately or unfortunately, Tamon was not in the bedroom yet.

 

‘What should I do?’

 

She signed a contract and she had to carry out the transaction, but there was no involved party.

 

She stood there for a while and then slowly sat down on the bed. She stretched out her back and waited for Tamon to come with her eyes raised.

 

Then she thought of the days when she had to sleep with the Emperor.

 

She sat neatly like this even then, waiting for Gillotti.

 

She sat in the easy chair provided next to the large matrimonial bed and waited for the emperor who was promised to come.

 

Then, very late in the night, a drunken Gillotti arrived.

 

Gillotti, completely drunk, approached as he frowned at Roselyn, who sat stiffly waiting for him.

 

“The invoice. How do you expect me to hold you when you’re so white?”

 

He would lie on the bed, fussing. It was Roselyn’s luck if he fell asleep like that.

 

Sometimes he couldn’t stand the frustration and jumped up, then he would take off Roselyn’s pajamas roughly.

 

Ignoring Roselyn’s words that do it slowly, he forced her to lie face down, showing her back. It was unknown whether it was violent or relevant.

 

“Don’t look back, Empress, do you know how frightening that look can be to a man? You have unlucky eyes. Purple is the color of the dead. You are a dead person. Your emotions, your joy, aren’t they?”

 

These were the insulting words that he spat into her ear while grabbing her hair and thrusting violently. Roselyn clutched the comforter without any response and endured the moment through clenched teeth.

 

‘Yes. I endured it.’

 

She had to endure it.

 

The many obligations that rested on her shoulders.

 

The worries and cares of those she loved.

 

The grief and suffering of the people she had to take care of.

 

She had too much on her plate and she had to live with it.

 

It had to be done, she thought.

 

It had to be done.

 

Ring ring.

 

A breeze blew in through the open window.

 

As she closed my eyes and felt it, she suddenly felt that her shoulders were not so heavy.

 

That’s right.

 

The Roselyn of the past died.

 

After admitting it, she felt significantly relieved.

 

Her expression finally relaxed. Very slightly, the corners of her mouth went up, but she didn’t notice.

 

It was just then.

 

“······I’m so honored that I don’t know what to do.”

 

Tamon spoke as he quietly walked in.

 

Roselyn turned to look at him, showing no sign of surprise.

 

He stared at her with his arms crossed under the archway that connected the rooms. 

 

Roselyn was used to moments like this.

 

It was Gillotti, who used to stare at her as she sat on the bed waiting to do her duty.

 

Gillotti’s voice was nightmarishly haunting.

 

At that moment, looking at her quietly, Tamon smiled and spoke slowly.

 

“You must.”

 

His red eyes did not leave hers for a moment.

 

“Very pretty, precious, waiting for a very long time…”

 

With unshaken eyes and an unshaken voice.

 

“You’re sitting there like a gift.”

 

He said a completely different word than nightmare.

Chapter 4. The Empress is going to die

 

***

Sponsored by Lia. Thank you 💖 (¼)

***

 

“This jewel belongs to Amelia. Don’t even think about it.”

 

Amelia was a distant relative who had been close to Ronasso since childhood. She was like a sister to him.

 

After looking around for a special gift for Amelia’s coming up wedding, Ronasso bought this green jewel.

 

“Tamon, this is what you need to see.”

 

Ronasso pulled out a note that lay underneath the jewelry box.

 

‘Why do you want me to look at the paper, not the jewel?’

 

Tamon glanced over at Ronasso suspiciously and unfolded paper.

 

“Look at the last page.”

 

Slowly, Tamon’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the writing on the page.

 

“Where did you get this?”

 

“Rodelg.”

 

“Rodelg. Aha..….”

 

A little past the capital of Amor, there was a very small and ordinary city.

 

The city, which was not particularly beautiful and not developed in terms of agriculture and fishing, had quite a lot of visitors, but it was all for the monthly market.

 

The market held in the daytime was called Mork, and the market held at night was called Rodelk.

 

Rodelk was the place where auctions were held.

 

Sometimes there were illegal transactions, and disturbances, but Rodelg was still an interesting place.

 

For this reason, even the royal family tolerated their transactions to some extent.

 

The taxes paid there were also substantial.

 

The interesting thing about the Rodelg auction was that no one knew what the item of the day would be until just before the auction was held.

 

Furthermore, even the Marwich family, who ran the auction house, was known to be untouchable at the auction.

 

This was because they shared their interest in the auction house fairly with other families.

 

Sometimes the items were eye-poppingly rare, and sometimes they were inevitably unidentifiable.

 

But not once was there an auction that was not interesting.

 

It was also interesting to note that any time an item was bought or sold at an auction, no matter when or who it was, there would always be some incident.

 

Well, this auction was. ….

 

[O Life. Engrave* before the sixth moon rises and the twelfth night passes. And let her know that the Iron Child is crossing the sea. If the child cannot be saved before it reaches land, her treasure will fall back to her death.]

 

It looked like that very interesting and riveting incident was about to happen from Ronasso and Tamon.

 

*TL: I want to explain the word ‘engrave’ a little bit. In order to help Tamon to get over his power overload (the heart disease that caused death in his family for generations) which turns him into a monster, the process ‘engraving’ aka having s*x, needed to occur. And the deal between Roselyn and Tamon was that if Roselyn ‘engrave’ with him, he will give her five wishes. Few earlier chapters when Tamon asked her to be ‘his partner’, he meant to ask her to be his ‘mark’, to ‘engrave’ him. And this note, which seemed like a direct message to Tamon and Roselyn to tell them to ‘engrave’ in that certain time, and to tell Roselyn about the child crossing the sea. The child is Arsene who had Roselyn’s treasure, was abducted and was now on the ship crossing the sea. I’ll use the term ‘engrave’ now  instead of ‘s*x’ since I explained it.

 

****

 

Tamon rubbed his clean shaven chin as he looked at the paper that Ronasso had given him.

 

He narrowed his eyes, as if thinking, and then asked in his characteristic low tone, 

 

“Did you ever tell anyone you’re looking for something like this?”

 

“No! Of course not! Amelia said she didn’t want a present, and I was secretly preparing one for her!”

 

Even if someone knew that Ronasso would go to the Rodelk, they couldn’t possibly know whether or not Ronasso would get this exact jewel.

 

No one knew if this jewel would be there or not.

 

But the written message….

 

Life, Engrave, Death…….

 

There was no exact name, but this certainly included Tamon, Roselyn, and Gillotti. It was about hidden relationships and their abilities.

 

Plus the language of the message.

 

It wasn’t any other language, it was the language of Hirusha.

 

How could so many coincidences come together?

 

No, it wasn’t a coincidence.

 

Tamon opened his narrowed eyes and stared at the elegant handwriting on the small piece of paper. 

 

Somebody knew his secret.

 

***

 

Pong.

 

Water droplets fell from between her white fingers over the calm surface of the water.

 

Roselyn, who entered the bath alone, refusing the twins’ help, watched the droplets falling through her fingers endlessly.

 

She had always been used to being taken care of, but now she was going to have to work harder to do it herself.

 

It was a different life now, and she wanted to embrace it. Because she had risen from the depths of despair, she could not live the same life as before.

 

…Phew.

 

Roselyn exhaled hotly and submerged herself in the warm water. Through the open glass window, she could see the moon floating high in the sky.

 

A gentle breeze blew, and the heat brushed her cheeks.

 

The water was lukewarm, but strangely enough, her whole body was hot.

 

“……. It’s only an engrave.” (*see my explain for ‘engrave’ above)

 

There was no other reason.

 

A deal between her and him.

 

It was the only act.

 

But why is it so……

 

“…”

 

Roselyn gripped her slightly trembling fingers.

 

Unlike her hot body, her fingers were cold. It was a sign that she was nervous.

 

Nervous?

 

Why on earth?

 

She deliberately chose to breathe.

 

She didn’t want to be nervous because of the man, nor did she want to give off the impression that she was nervous.

 

But, why does her body feel so hot?

 

Roselyn splashed water over and over on her stiff muscles to relax her body.

 

There was an abundance of various fragrances the twins had prepared for her, but she purposely didn’t use any of them.

 

She scrubbed her body with the water soap that was provided.

 

‘Try to atone for my mistakes, try to atone for my past.’ She said this with all sincerity.

 

Wiping herself off, she tied the waist of her thin nightgown tightly.

 

She straightened her shoulders and back, as if she was going out in public for the first time as Empress.

 

Deal.

 

Yes, it was just a deal.

 

A contract, that was all.

 

She whispered to herself incessantly and walked down the hallway to her bedroom with her legs straining.

 

Was it her imagination?

 

The sensation in her broken leg felt slightly different.

 

It felt like the limp was decreasing and the strength in her legs increased.

 

‘I’m more aware of many things now.’

 

Roselyn gave a slight shake of her head and slowly opened the bedroom door. Fortunately or unfortunately, Tamon was not in the bedroom yet.

 

‘What should I do?’

 

She signed a contract and she had to carry out the transaction, but there was no involved party.

 

She stood there for a while and then slowly sat down on the bed. She stretched out her back and waited for Tamon to come with her eyes raised.

 

Then she thought of the days when she had to sleep with the Emperor.

 

She sat neatly like this even then, waiting for Gillotti.

 

She sat in the easy chair provided next to the large matrimonial bed and waited for the emperor who was promised to come.

 

Then, very late in the night, a drunken Gillotti arrived.

 

Gillotti, completely drunk, approached as he frowned at Roselyn, who sat stiffly waiting for him.

 

“The invoice. How do you expect me to hold you when you’re so white?”

 

He would lie on the bed, fussing. It was Roselyn’s luck if he fell asleep like that.

 

Sometimes he couldn’t stand the frustration and jumped up, then he would take off Roselyn’s pajamas roughly.

 

Ignoring Roselyn’s words that do it slowly, he forced her to lie face down, showing her back. It was unknown whether it was violent or relevant.

 

“Don’t look back, Empress, do you know how frightening that look can be to a man? You have unlucky eyes. Purple is the color of the dead. You are a dead person. Your emotions, your joy, aren’t they?”

 

These were the insulting words that he spat into her ear while grabbing her hair and thrusting violently. Roselyn clutched the comforter without any response and endured the moment through clenched teeth.

 

‘Yes. I endured it.’

 

She had to endure it.

 

The many obligations that rested on her shoulders.

 

The worries and cares of those she loved.

 

The grief and suffering of the people she had to take care of.

 

She had too much on her plate and she had to live with it.

 

It had to be done, she thought.

 

It had to be done.

 

Ring ring.

 

A breeze blew in through the open window.

 

As she closed my eyes and felt it, she suddenly felt that her shoulders were not so heavy.

 

That’s right.

 

The Roselyn of the past died.

 

After admitting it, she felt significantly relieved.

 

Her expression finally relaxed. Very slightly, the corners of her mouth went up, but she didn’t notice.

 

It was just then.

 

“······I’m so honored that I don’t know what to do.”

 

Tamon spoke as he quietly walked in.

 

Roselyn turned to look at him, showing no sign of surprise.

 

He stared at her with his arms crossed under the archway that connected the rooms. 

 

Roselyn was used to moments like this.

 

It was Gillotti, who used to stare at her as she sat on the bed waiting to do her duty.

 

Gillotti’s voice was nightmarishly haunting.

 

At that moment, looking at her quietly, Tamon smiled and spoke slowly.

 

“You must.”

 

His red eyes did not leave hers for a moment.

 

“Very pretty, precious, waiting for a very long time…”

 

With unshaken eyes and an unshaken voice.

 

“You’re sitting there like a gift.”

 

He said a completely different word than nightmare.

Chapter 5. How did this happen?

 

***

Sponsored by Lia. Thank you 💖 (¼)

***

 

“This jewel belongs to Amelia. Don’t even think about it.”

 

Amelia was a distant relative who had been close to Ronasso since childhood. She was like a sister to him.

 

After looking around for a special gift for Amelia’s coming up wedding, Ronasso bought this green jewel.

 

“Tamon, this is what you need to see.”

 

Ronasso pulled out a note that lay underneath the jewelry box.

 

‘Why do you want me to look at the paper, not the jewel?’

 

Tamon glanced over at Ronasso suspiciously and unfolded paper.

 

“Look at the last page.”

 

Slowly, Tamon’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the writing on the page.

 

“Where did you get this?”

 

“Rodelg.”

 

“Rodelg. Aha..….”

 

A little past the capital of Amor, there was a very small and ordinary city.

 

The city, which was not particularly beautiful and not developed in terms of agriculture and fishing, had quite a lot of visitors, but it was all for the monthly market.

 

The market held in the daytime was called Mork, and the market held at night was called Rodelk.

 

Rodelk was the place where auctions were held.

 

Sometimes there were illegal transactions, and disturbances, but Rodelg was still an interesting place.

 

For this reason, even the royal family tolerated their transactions to some extent.

 

The taxes paid there were also substantial.

 

The interesting thing about the Rodelg auction was that no one knew what the item of the day would be until just before the auction was held.

 

Furthermore, even the Marwich family, who ran the auction house, was known to be untouchable at the auction.

 

This was because they shared their interest in the auction house fairly with other families.

 

Sometimes the items were eye-poppingly rare, and sometimes they were inevitably unidentifiable.

 

But not once was there an auction that was not interesting.

 

It was also interesting to note that any time an item was bought or sold at an auction, no matter when or who it was, there would always be some incident.

 

Well, this auction was. ….

 

[O Life. Engrave* before the sixth moon rises and the twelfth night passes. And let her know that the Iron Child is crossing the sea. If the child cannot be saved before it reaches land, her treasure will fall back to her death.]

 

It looked like that very interesting and riveting incident was about to happen from Ronasso and Tamon.

 

*TL: I want to explain the word ‘engrave’ a little bit. In order to help Tamon to get over his power overload (the heart disease that caused death in his family for generations) which turns him into a monster, the process ‘engraving’ aka having s*x, needed to occur. And the deal between Roselyn and Tamon was that if Roselyn ‘engrave’ with him, he will give her five wishes. Few earlier chapters when Tamon asked her to be ‘his partner’, he meant to ask her to be his ‘mark’, to ‘engrave’ him. And this note, which seemed like a direct message to Tamon and Roselyn to tell them to ‘engrave’ in that certain time, and to tell Roselyn about the child crossing the sea. The child is Arsene who had Roselyn’s treasure, was abducted and was now on the ship crossing the sea. I’ll use the term ‘engrave’ now  instead of ‘s*x’ since I explained it.

 

****

 

Tamon rubbed his clean shaven chin as he looked at the paper that Ronasso had given him.

 

He narrowed his eyes, as if thinking, and then asked in his characteristic low tone, 

 

“Did you ever tell anyone you’re looking for something like this?”

 

“No! Of course not! Amelia said she didn’t want a present, and I was secretly preparing one for her!”

 

Even if someone knew that Ronasso would go to the Rodelk, they couldn’t possibly know whether or not Ronasso would get this exact jewel.

 

No one knew if this jewel would be there or not.

 

But the written message….

 

Life, Engrave, Death…….

 

There was no exact name, but this certainly included Tamon, Roselyn, and Gillotti. It was about hidden relationships and their abilities.

 

Plus the language of the message.

 

It wasn’t any other language, it was the language of Hirusha.

 

How could so many coincidences come together?

 

No, it wasn’t a coincidence.

 

Tamon opened his narrowed eyes and stared at the elegant handwriting on the small piece of paper. 

 

Somebody knew his secret.

 

***

 

Pong.

 

Water droplets fell from between her white fingers over the calm surface of the water.

 

Roselyn, who entered the bath alone, refusing the twins’ help, watched the droplets falling through her fingers endlessly.

 

She had always been used to being taken care of, but now she was going to have to work harder to do it herself.

 

It was a different life now, and she wanted to embrace it. Because she had risen from the depths of despair, she could not live the same life as before.

 

…Phew.

 

Roselyn exhaled hotly and submerged herself in the warm water. Through the open glass window, she could see the moon floating high in the sky.

 

A gentle breeze blew, and the heat brushed her cheeks.

 

The water was lukewarm, but strangely enough, her whole body was hot.

 

“……. It’s only an engrave.” (*see my explain for ‘engrave’ above)

 

There was no other reason.

 

A deal between her and him.

 

It was the only act.

 

But why is it so……

 

“…”

 

Roselyn gripped her slightly trembling fingers.

 

Unlike her hot body, her fingers were cold. It was a sign that she was nervous.

 

Nervous?

 

Why on earth?

 

She deliberately chose to breathe.

 

She didn’t want to be nervous because of the man, nor did she want to give off the impression that she was nervous.

 

But, why does her body feel so hot?

 

Roselyn splashed water over and over on her stiff muscles to relax her body.

 

There was an abundance of various fragrances the twins had prepared for her, but she purposely didn’t use any of them.

 

She scrubbed her body with the water soap that was provided.

 

‘Try to atone for my mistakes, try to atone for my past.’ She said this with all sincerity.

 

Wiping herself off, she tied the waist of her thin nightgown tightly.

 

She straightened her shoulders and back, as if she was going out in public for the first time as Empress.

 

Deal.

 

Yes, it was just a deal.

 

A contract, that was all.

 

She whispered to herself incessantly and walked down the hallway to her bedroom with her legs straining.

 

Was it her imagination?

 

The sensation in her broken leg felt slightly different.

 

It felt like the limp was decreasing and the strength in her legs increased.

 

‘I’m more aware of many things now.’

 

Roselyn gave a slight shake of her head and slowly opened the bedroom door. Fortunately or unfortunately, Tamon was not in the bedroom yet.

 

‘What should I do?’

 

She signed a contract and she had to carry out the transaction, but there was no involved party.

 

She stood there for a while and then slowly sat down on the bed. She stretched out her back and waited for Tamon to come with her eyes raised.

 

Then she thought of the days when she had to sleep with the Emperor.

 

She sat neatly like this even then, waiting for Gillotti.

 

She sat in the easy chair provided next to the large matrimonial bed and waited for the emperor who was promised to come.

 

Then, very late in the night, a drunken Gillotti arrived.

 

Gillotti, completely drunk, approached as he frowned at Roselyn, who sat stiffly waiting for him.

 

“The invoice. How do you expect me to hold you when you’re so white?”

 

He would lie on the bed, fussing. It was Roselyn’s luck if he fell asleep like that.

 

Sometimes he couldn’t stand the frustration and jumped up, then he would take off Roselyn’s pajamas roughly.

 

Ignoring Roselyn’s words that do it slowly, he forced her to lie face down, showing her back. It was unknown whether it was violent or relevant.

 

“Don’t look back, Empress, do you know how frightening that look can be to a man? You have unlucky eyes. Purple is the color of the dead. You are a dead person. Your emotions, your joy, aren’t they?”

 

These were the insulting words that he spat into her ear while grabbing her hair and thrusting violently. Roselyn clutched the comforter without any response and endured the moment through clenched teeth.

 

‘Yes. I endured it.’

 

She had to endure it.

 

The many obligations that rested on her shoulders.

 

The worries and cares of those she loved.

 

The grief and suffering of the people she had to take care of.

 

She had too much on her plate and she had to live with it.

 

It had to be done, she thought.

 

It had to be done.

 

Ring ring.

 

A breeze blew in through the open window.

 

As she closed my eyes and felt it, she suddenly felt that her shoulders were not so heavy.

 

That’s right.

 

The Roselyn of the past died.

 

After admitting it, she felt significantly relieved.

 

Her expression finally relaxed. Very slightly, the corners of her mouth went up, but she didn’t notice.

 

It was just then.

 

“······I’m so honored that I don’t know what to do.”

 

Tamon spoke as he quietly walked in.

 

Roselyn turned to look at him, showing no sign of surprise.

 

He stared at her with his arms crossed under the archway that connected the rooms. 

 

Roselyn was used to moments like this.

 

It was Gillotti, who used to stare at her as she sat on the bed waiting to do her duty.

 

Gillotti’s voice was nightmarishly haunting.

 

At that moment, looking at her quietly, Tamon smiled and spoke slowly.

 

“You must.”

 

His red eyes did not leave hers for a moment.

 

“Very pretty, precious, waiting for a very long time…”

 

With unshaken eyes and an unshaken voice.

 

“You’re sitting there like a gift.”

 

He said a completely different word than nightmare.

Chapter 6. Swallowing eyes

 

***

Sponsored by Lia. Thank you 💖 (¼)

***

 

“This jewel belongs to Amelia. Don’t even think about it.”

 

Amelia was a distant relative who had been close to Ronasso since childhood. She was like a sister to him.

 

After looking around for a special gift for Amelia’s coming up wedding, Ronasso bought this green jewel.

 

“Tamon, this is what you need to see.”

 

Ronasso pulled out a note that lay underneath the jewelry box.

 

‘Why do you want me to look at the paper, not the jewel?’

 

Tamon glanced over at Ronasso suspiciously and unfolded paper.

 

“Look at the last page.”

 

Slowly, Tamon’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the writing on the page.

 

“Where did you get this?”

 

“Rodelg.”

 

“Rodelg. Aha..….”

 

A little past the capital of Amor, there was a very small and ordinary city.

 

The city, which was not particularly beautiful and not developed in terms of agriculture and fishing, had quite a lot of visitors, but it was all for the monthly market.

 

The market held in the daytime was called Mork, and the market held at night was called Rodelk.

 

Rodelk was the place where auctions were held.

 

Sometimes there were illegal transactions, and disturbances, but Rodelg was still an interesting place.

 

For this reason, even the royal family tolerated their transactions to some extent.

 

The taxes paid there were also substantial.

 

The interesting thing about the Rodelg auction was that no one knew what the item of the day would be until just before the auction was held.

 

Furthermore, even the Marwich family, who ran the auction house, was known to be untouchable at the auction.

 

This was because they shared their interest in the auction house fairly with other families.

 

Sometimes the items were eye-poppingly rare, and sometimes they were inevitably unidentifiable.

 

But not once was there an auction that was not interesting.

 

It was also interesting to note that any time an item was bought or sold at an auction, no matter when or who it was, there would always be some incident.

 

Well, this auction was. ….

 

[O Life. Engrave* before the sixth moon rises and the twelfth night passes. And let her know that the Iron Child is crossing the sea. If the child cannot be saved before it reaches land, her treasure will fall back to her death.]

 

It looked like that very interesting and riveting incident was about to happen from Ronasso and Tamon.

 

*TL: I want to explain the word ‘engrave’ a little bit. In order to help Tamon to get over his power overload (the heart disease that caused death in his family for generations) which turns him into a monster, the process ‘engraving’ aka having s*x, needed to occur. And the deal between Roselyn and Tamon was that if Roselyn ‘engrave’ with him, he will give her five wishes. Few earlier chapters when Tamon asked her to be ‘his partner’, he meant to ask her to be his ‘mark’, to ‘engrave’ him. And this note, which seemed like a direct message to Tamon and Roselyn to tell them to ‘engrave’ in that certain time, and to tell Roselyn about the child crossing the sea. The child is Arsene who had Roselyn’s treasure, was abducted and was now on the ship crossing the sea. I’ll use the term ‘engrave’ now  instead of ‘s*x’ since I explained it.

 

****

 

Tamon rubbed his clean shaven chin as he looked at the paper that Ronasso had given him.

 

He narrowed his eyes, as if thinking, and then asked in his characteristic low tone, 

 

“Did you ever tell anyone you’re looking for something like this?”

 

“No! Of course not! Amelia said she didn’t want a present, and I was secretly preparing one for her!”

 

Even if someone knew that Ronasso would go to the Rodelk, they couldn’t possibly know whether or not Ronasso would get this exact jewel.

 

No one knew if this jewel would be there or not.

 

But the written message….

 

Life, Engrave, Death…….

 

There was no exact name, but this certainly included Tamon, Roselyn, and Gillotti. It was about hidden relationships and their abilities.

 

Plus the language of the message.

 

It wasn’t any other language, it was the language of Hirusha.

 

How could so many coincidences come together?

 

No, it wasn’t a coincidence.

 

Tamon opened his narrowed eyes and stared at the elegant handwriting on the small piece of paper. 

 

Somebody knew his secret.

 

***

 

Pong.

 

Water droplets fell from between her white fingers over the calm surface of the water.

 

Roselyn, who entered the bath alone, refusing the twins’ help, watched the droplets falling through her fingers endlessly.

 

She had always been used to being taken care of, but now she was going to have to work harder to do it herself.

 

It was a different life now, and she wanted to embrace it. Because she had risen from the depths of despair, she could not live the same life as before.

 

…Phew.

 

Roselyn exhaled hotly and submerged herself in the warm water. Through the open glass window, she could see the moon floating high in the sky.

 

A gentle breeze blew, and the heat brushed her cheeks.

 

The water was lukewarm, but strangely enough, her whole body was hot.

 

“……. It’s only an engrave.” (*see my explain for ‘engrave’ above)

 

There was no other reason.

 

A deal between her and him.

 

It was the only act.

 

But why is it so……

 

“…”

 

Roselyn gripped her slightly trembling fingers.

 

Unlike her hot body, her fingers were cold. It was a sign that she was nervous.

 

Nervous?

 

Why on earth?

 

She deliberately chose to breathe.

 

She didn’t want to be nervous because of the man, nor did she want to give off the impression that she was nervous.

 

But, why does her body feel so hot?

 

Roselyn splashed water over and over on her stiff muscles to relax her body.

 

There was an abundance of various fragrances the twins had prepared for her, but she purposely didn’t use any of them.

 

She scrubbed her body with the water soap that was provided.

 

‘Try to atone for my mistakes, try to atone for my past.’ She said this with all sincerity.

 

Wiping herself off, she tied the waist of her thin nightgown tightly.

 

She straightened her shoulders and back, as if she was going out in public for the first time as Empress.

 

Deal.

 

Yes, it was just a deal.

 

A contract, that was all.

 

She whispered to herself incessantly and walked down the hallway to her bedroom with her legs straining.

 

Was it her imagination?

 

The sensation in her broken leg felt slightly different.

 

It felt like the limp was decreasing and the strength in her legs increased.

 

‘I’m more aware of many things now.’

 

Roselyn gave a slight shake of her head and slowly opened the bedroom door. Fortunately or unfortunately, Tamon was not in the bedroom yet.

 

‘What should I do?’

 

She signed a contract and she had to carry out the transaction, but there was no involved party.

 

She stood there for a while and then slowly sat down on the bed. She stretched out her back and waited for Tamon to come with her eyes raised.

 

Then she thought of the days when she had to sleep with the Emperor.

 

She sat neatly like this even then, waiting for Gillotti.

 

She sat in the easy chair provided next to the large matrimonial bed and waited for the emperor who was promised to come.

 

Then, very late in the night, a drunken Gillotti arrived.

 

Gillotti, completely drunk, approached as he frowned at Roselyn, who sat stiffly waiting for him.

 

“The invoice. How do you expect me to hold you when you’re so white?”

 

He would lie on the bed, fussing. It was Roselyn’s luck if he fell asleep like that.

 

Sometimes he couldn’t stand the frustration and jumped up, then he would take off Roselyn’s pajamas roughly.

 

Ignoring Roselyn’s words that do it slowly, he forced her to lie face down, showing her back. It was unknown whether it was violent or relevant.

 

“Don’t look back, Empress, do you know how frightening that look can be to a man? You have unlucky eyes. Purple is the color of the dead. You are a dead person. Your emotions, your joy, aren’t they?”

 

These were the insulting words that he spat into her ear while grabbing her hair and thrusting violently. Roselyn clutched the comforter without any response and endured the moment through clenched teeth.

 

‘Yes. I endured it.’

 

She had to endure it.

 

The many obligations that rested on her shoulders.

 

The worries and cares of those she loved.

 

The grief and suffering of the people she had to take care of.

 

She had too much on her plate and she had to live with it.

 

It had to be done, she thought.

 

It had to be done.

 

Ring ring.

 

A breeze blew in through the open window.

 

As she closed my eyes and felt it, she suddenly felt that her shoulders were not so heavy.

 

That’s right.

 

The Roselyn of the past died.

 

After admitting it, she felt significantly relieved.

 

Her expression finally relaxed. Very slightly, the corners of her mouth went up, but she didn’t notice.

 

It was just then.

 

“······I’m so honored that I don’t know what to do.”

 

Tamon spoke as he quietly walked in.

 

Roselyn turned to look at him, showing no sign of surprise.

 

He stared at her with his arms crossed under the archway that connected the rooms. 

 

Roselyn was used to moments like this.

 

It was Gillotti, who used to stare at her as she sat on the bed waiting to do her duty.

 

Gillotti’s voice was nightmarishly haunting.

 

At that moment, looking at her quietly, Tamon smiled and spoke slowly.

 

“You must.”

 

His red eyes did not leave hers for a moment.

 

“Very pretty, precious, waiting for a very long time…”

 

With unshaken eyes and an unshaken voice.

 

“You’re sitting there like a gift.”

 

He said a completely different word than nightmare.

Chapter 7. Natasha Roanti

 

***

Sponsored by Lia. Thank you 💖 (¼)

***

 

“This jewel belongs to Amelia. Don’t even think about it.”

 

Amelia was a distant relative who had been close to Ronasso since childhood. She was like a sister to him.

 

After looking around for a special gift for Amelia’s coming up wedding, Ronasso bought this green jewel.

 

“Tamon, this is what you need to see.”

 

Ronasso pulled out a note that lay underneath the jewelry box.

 

‘Why do you want me to look at the paper, not the jewel?’

 

Tamon glanced over at Ronasso suspiciously and unfolded paper.

 

“Look at the last page.”

 

Slowly, Tamon’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the writing on the page.

 

“Where did you get this?”

 

“Rodelg.”

 

“Rodelg. Aha..….”

 

A little past the capital of Amor, there was a very small and ordinary city.

 

The city, which was not particularly beautiful and not developed in terms of agriculture and fishing, had quite a lot of visitors, but it was all for the monthly market.

 

The market held in the daytime was called Mork, and the market held at night was called Rodelk.

 

Rodelk was the place where auctions were held.

 

Sometimes there were illegal transactions, and disturbances, but Rodelg was still an interesting place.

 

For this reason, even the royal family tolerated their transactions to some extent.

 

The taxes paid there were also substantial.

 

The interesting thing about the Rodelg auction was that no one knew what the item of the day would be until just before the auction was held.

 

Furthermore, even the Marwich family, who ran the auction house, was known to be untouchable at the auction.

 

This was because they shared their interest in the auction house fairly with other families.

 

Sometimes the items were eye-poppingly rare, and sometimes they were inevitably unidentifiable.

 

But not once was there an auction that was not interesting.

 

It was also interesting to note that any time an item was bought or sold at an auction, no matter when or who it was, there would always be some incident.

 

Well, this auction was. ….

 

[O Life. Engrave* before the sixth moon rises and the twelfth night passes. And let her know that the Iron Child is crossing the sea. If the child cannot be saved before it reaches land, her treasure will fall back to her death.]

 

It looked like that very interesting and riveting incident was about to happen from Ronasso and Tamon.

 

*TL: I want to explain the word ‘engrave’ a little bit. In order to help Tamon to get over his power overload (the heart disease that caused death in his family for generations) which turns him into a monster, the process ‘engraving’ aka having s*x, needed to occur. And the deal between Roselyn and Tamon was that if Roselyn ‘engrave’ with him, he will give her five wishes. Few earlier chapters when Tamon asked her to be ‘his partner’, he meant to ask her to be his ‘mark’, to ‘engrave’ him. And this note, which seemed like a direct message to Tamon and Roselyn to tell them to ‘engrave’ in that certain time, and to tell Roselyn about the child crossing the sea. The child is Arsene who had Roselyn’s treasure, was abducted and was now on the ship crossing the sea. I’ll use the term ‘engrave’ now  instead of ‘s*x’ since I explained it.

 

****

 

Tamon rubbed his clean shaven chin as he looked at the paper that Ronasso had given him.

 

He narrowed his eyes, as if thinking, and then asked in his characteristic low tone, 

 

“Did you ever tell anyone you’re looking for something like this?”

 

“No! Of course not! Amelia said she didn’t want a present, and I was secretly preparing one for her!”

 

Even if someone knew that Ronasso would go to the Rodelk, they couldn’t possibly know whether or not Ronasso would get this exact jewel.

 

No one knew if this jewel would be there or not.

 

But the written message….

 

Life, Engrave, Death…….

 

There was no exact name, but this certainly included Tamon, Roselyn, and Gillotti. It was about hidden relationships and their abilities.

 

Plus the language of the message.

 

It wasn’t any other language, it was the language of Hirusha.

 

How could so many coincidences come together?

 

No, it wasn’t a coincidence.

 

Tamon opened his narrowed eyes and stared at the elegant handwriting on the small piece of paper. 

 

Somebody knew his secret.

 

***

 

Pong.

 

Water droplets fell from between her white fingers over the calm surface of the water.

 

Roselyn, who entered the bath alone, refusing the twins’ help, watched the droplets falling through her fingers endlessly.

 

She had always been used to being taken care of, but now she was going to have to work harder to do it herself.

 

It was a different life now, and she wanted to embrace it. Because she had risen from the depths of despair, she could not live the same life as before.

 

…Phew.

 

Roselyn exhaled hotly and submerged herself in the warm water. Through the open glass window, she could see the moon floating high in the sky.

 

A gentle breeze blew, and the heat brushed her cheeks.

 

The water was lukewarm, but strangely enough, her whole body was hot.

 

“……. It’s only an engrave.” (*see my explain for ‘engrave’ above)

 

There was no other reason.

 

A deal between her and him.

 

It was the only act.

 

But why is it so……

 

“…”

 

Roselyn gripped her slightly trembling fingers.

 

Unlike her hot body, her fingers were cold. It was a sign that she was nervous.

 

Nervous?

 

Why on earth?

 

She deliberately chose to breathe.

 

She didn’t want to be nervous because of the man, nor did she want to give off the impression that she was nervous.

 

But, why does her body feel so hot?

 

Roselyn splashed water over and over on her stiff muscles to relax her body.

 

There was an abundance of various fragrances the twins had prepared for her, but she purposely didn’t use any of them.

 

She scrubbed her body with the water soap that was provided.

 

‘Try to atone for my mistakes, try to atone for my past.’ She said this with all sincerity.

 

Wiping herself off, she tied the waist of her thin nightgown tightly.

 

She straightened her shoulders and back, as if she was going out in public for the first time as Empress.

 

Deal.

 

Yes, it was just a deal.

 

A contract, that was all.

 

She whispered to herself incessantly and walked down the hallway to her bedroom with her legs straining.

 

Was it her imagination?

 

The sensation in her broken leg felt slightly different.

 

It felt like the limp was decreasing and the strength in her legs increased.

 

‘I’m more aware of many things now.’

 

Roselyn gave a slight shake of her head and slowly opened the bedroom door. Fortunately or unfortunately, Tamon was not in the bedroom yet.

 

‘What should I do?’

 

She signed a contract and she had to carry out the transaction, but there was no involved party.

 

She stood there for a while and then slowly sat down on the bed. She stretched out her back and waited for Tamon to come with her eyes raised.

 

Then she thought of the days when she had to sleep with the Emperor.

 

She sat neatly like this even then, waiting for Gillotti.

 

She sat in the easy chair provided next to the large matrimonial bed and waited for the emperor who was promised to come.

 

Then, very late in the night, a drunken Gillotti arrived.

 

Gillotti, completely drunk, approached as he frowned at Roselyn, who sat stiffly waiting for him.

 

“The invoice. How do you expect me to hold you when you’re so white?”

 

He would lie on the bed, fussing. It was Roselyn’s luck if he fell asleep like that.

 

Sometimes he couldn’t stand the frustration and jumped up, then he would take off Roselyn’s pajamas roughly.

 

Ignoring Roselyn’s words that do it slowly, he forced her to lie face down, showing her back. It was unknown whether it was violent or relevant.

 

“Don’t look back, Empress, do you know how frightening that look can be to a man? You have unlucky eyes. Purple is the color of the dead. You are a dead person. Your emotions, your joy, aren’t they?”

 

These were the insulting words that he spat into her ear while grabbing her hair and thrusting violently. Roselyn clutched the comforter without any response and endured the moment through clenched teeth.

 

‘Yes. I endured it.’

 

She had to endure it.

 

The many obligations that rested on her shoulders.

 

The worries and cares of those she loved.

 

The grief and suffering of the people she had to take care of.

 

She had too much on her plate and she had to live with it.

 

It had to be done, she thought.

 

It had to be done.

 

Ring ring.

 

A breeze blew in through the open window.

 

As she closed my eyes and felt it, she suddenly felt that her shoulders were not so heavy.

 

That’s right.

 

The Roselyn of the past died.

 

After admitting it, she felt significantly relieved.

 

Her expression finally relaxed. Very slightly, the corners of her mouth went up, but she didn’t notice.

 

It was just then.

 

“······I’m so honored that I don’t know what to do.”

 

Tamon spoke as he quietly walked in.

 

Roselyn turned to look at him, showing no sign of surprise.

 

He stared at her with his arms crossed under the archway that connected the rooms. 

 

Roselyn was used to moments like this.

 

It was Gillotti, who used to stare at her as she sat on the bed waiting to do her duty.

 

Gillotti’s voice was nightmarishly haunting.

 

At that moment, looking at her quietly, Tamon smiled and spoke slowly.

 

“You must.”

 

His red eyes did not leave hers for a moment.

 

“Very pretty, precious, waiting for a very long time…”

 

With unshaken eyes and an unshaken voice.

 

“You’re sitting there like a gift.”

 

He said a completely different word than nightmare.

Chapter 8. The crying sound

 

***

Sponsored by Lia. Thank you 💖 (¼)

***

 

“This jewel belongs to Amelia. Don’t even think about it.”

 

Amelia was a distant relative who had been close to Ronasso since childhood. She was like a sister to him.

 

After looking around for a special gift for Amelia’s coming up wedding, Ronasso bought this green jewel.

 

“Tamon, this is what you need to see.”

 

Ronasso pulled out a note that lay underneath the jewelry box.

 

‘Why do you want me to look at the paper, not the jewel?’

 

Tamon glanced over at Ronasso suspiciously and unfolded paper.

 

“Look at the last page.”

 

Slowly, Tamon’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the writing on the page.

 

“Where did you get this?”

 

“Rodelg.”

 

“Rodelg. Aha..….”

 

A little past the capital of Amor, there was a very small and ordinary city.

 

The city, which was not particularly beautiful and not developed in terms of agriculture and fishing, had quite a lot of visitors, but it was all for the monthly market.

 

The market held in the daytime was called Mork, and the market held at night was called Rodelk.

 

Rodelk was the place where auctions were held.

 

Sometimes there were illegal transactions, and disturbances, but Rodelg was still an interesting place.

 

For this reason, even the royal family tolerated their transactions to some extent.

 

The taxes paid there were also substantial.

 

The interesting thing about the Rodelg auction was that no one knew what the item of the day would be until just before the auction was held.

 

Furthermore, even the Marwich family, who ran the auction house, was known to be untouchable at the auction.

 

This was because they shared their interest in the auction house fairly with other families.

 

Sometimes the items were eye-poppingly rare, and sometimes they were inevitably unidentifiable.

 

But not once was there an auction that was not interesting.

 

It was also interesting to note that any time an item was bought or sold at an auction, no matter when or who it was, there would always be some incident.