Chapter 116

Etias spoke again, his eyes cold like a sudden blizzard.

“For your insolent behavior, I will hold your emperor accountable later.”

His words meant: even if Barzenka begged to join, he might not accept them—yet Gomels dared to set conditions.
At his chilling rebuke, Gomels’s legs gave out and she fell to the floor.

“Huff…”

At Etias’s feet, his black shadow swirled, pressing down with overwhelming force like proof of his anger.
If that shadow coiled around her throat, she would die instantly.

“S-sorry, Your Majesty!”

Finally realizing the danger, Gomels trembled and pressed her forehead to the ground.

“….”

I stared blankly at the scene, then slowly placed my hand on my chest.

‘…He’s changed.’

Before, Etias had been a beast forced to hide his claws.
Now, he was a predator with wings—free to unleash both cunning and strength.

“I spoke wrongly. Please, forget what I just proposed.”

Her voice shook with fear. The flirtatious smile and playful charm she’d used earlier had vanished completely.

After a moment of silence, Etias pressed his lips together and said firmly:

“Return to your country and tell your emperor this.”

Their secret plan to invade Oswell was already ruined. Now, the allied nations were raising powerful armies to punish them.

“Choose: die with the West, or bow to Oswell and live.”

“…!”

At those words, Gomels’s shoulders trembled.
She finally stammered out in a crawling voice:

“Y-yes… I will tell him so.”

Bowing again and again, she withdrew at last.

“…Katrin.”

After sending Gomels away, Etias turned his deep eyes toward me.

“…Yes.”

The heavy, complicated emotions in his gaze made my chest sting.

“Let’s walk.”

Looking at him, I gave a small nod.

The rear garden of the palace was beautifully landscaped.
I remembered being invited to parties here before.
Now, those memories belonged both to me, and once to Katrin.

A small waterfall flowed from the cliff rock, and beautiful flowers swayed in the breeze.
Rare jewels embedded in the ground glowed softly with lantern-stones lit inside.

Everyone else was at the ballroom. Only the two of us were here now.

‘My throat feels dry.’

Walking beside him, tension ran down my spine.

He escorted me into the circular courtyard of the garden and stopped.
With the faint sound of flowing water around us, I slowly looked up at him.

His black hair swayed in the night breeze. His blue eyes, still carrying some of that earlier chill, held me in their gaze.

He slowly opened his lips.

“Support.”

At that word, my fingertips flinched.

The words I had blurted earlier could not be taken back.

“You said you didn’t support me for the empire’s sake?”

His low voice brushed against me, making my cheeks hot.

During his earlier confession, Etias had misunderstood—he thought I stood by him for the empire, for justice.

“…Yes.”

I had always thought I would clear that misunderstanding someday, but I didn’t expect it to be today.

‘But I couldn’t just leave it, not after what Gomels said.’

— I supported His Majesty for His Majesty’s sake.

My lightly clenched fist tingled.

“You mean… you supported me, for me?”

His voice was rough, his blue eyes trembling with waves of emotion.

In the silence, I let out a small breath and nodded once.

His eyes shook visibly.

“Why, Katrin?”

Etias’s voice carried a strange note of hope.

“I… Your Majesty…”

My face burned, words scraping out in a husky whisper.

Etias didn’t look away, staring straight at me.

I placed my hand on my chest, steadied my breath, and spoke each word clearly.

“I like you.”

A gentle spring breeze brushed against my cheeks.
Every sound—the branches swaying, the leaves rustling—felt clear and sharp in my ears.

“I supported you because I like you, Your Majesty.”

Etias von Clyde.
The man I had loved for so long, my dearest.

It wasn’t for the empire.
It wasn’t for justice.
I simply wanted him to succeed, to smile in health, and to live happily.

‘Yes… I wished for your happiness. That’s why I supported you.’

Lowering my gaze, I confessed the truth.

“….”

‘My heart… it feels like it’s going to burst.’

From the corner of my eye, I saw him staring at me in silence, lips tightly closed.

“Ha…”

A sigh, heavy and shaky, slipped from his lips at last.

Then, before I realized it, his breath rushed close—his lips pressed against mine.

Under the moonlight, his face tilted and kissed me directly.
The scent of him flooded in, my mind turning white with the shock of it.

It was a fierce kiss, filled with rough desire, stealing my lips and breath.

“Haa…”

It was my first kiss like this. When he pulled back, a moan-like breath escaped me.

But under the moon, he looked at me with an unreadable expression, then kissed me again.

“…!”

Like I was drowning in water, yet he kissed me again and again, as if he found me irresistible.

His strong hand supported my back. Each time I tried to breathe, he kissed me once more.

“Haa… Katrin.”

At last, breathless, he touched my flushed cheek, then pulled me into his chest.

‘My heart… is it okay?’

With my forehead against his chest, I could feel my heartbeat racing wildly.

Once, even just talking to him had made me giddy. Now, I was kissing him deeply.
It felt like I could die without regrets.

I almost felt like I would float up to the sky in joy. As I tried to calm my breaths, his voice reached me.

“You must take responsibility.”

As he released me slightly, his eyes met mine.

His blue eyes, framed by stern brows, glimmered with unshakable resolve.

“…Responsibility?”

— If you’re not here, I’ll die.

I remembered his whispered words from before.

“Yes. For life.”

At his low voice, a shiver of electricity ran from my fingertips down my spine.

He lifted my hand and placed it on his chest.

Looking straight into my eyes, he said:

“Stay by my side.”

Thump. Thump.

I stared blankly at his lips.

His face, faintly blushing, spoke again.

“You’ll take responsibility for making me this way.”

The breeze swirled gently around us, like a blessing brushing through my hair.