ESWPT 08

Chapter 08

“Your subordinate told me to decide whether to kill you or divorce you. I didn’t want you dead, but I also didn’t want to divorce you and become the emperor’s consort, so I ran away.”

Edward gritted his teeth.

“You left without saying a word to me?”

“I thought that divorcing me would be better for you. Didn’t the emperor’s scrutiny lessen in practice?”

Cecilia spoke calmly.

It was a strangely peculiar thing.

In their relationship before, Cecilia was the emotional one and Edward the rational one.

But after meeting again five years later, the roles had completely reversed.

Even now, Edward seemed to barely hold back the flood of emotions within him.

“…We swore together, Cecilia. We swore to withstand the emperor together. We vowed to wait until he collapses on his own.”

“It wasn’t as easy as we thought. I was afraid the emperor would destroy you first…”

“So that’s why you left without a word? Not a single message in five years?”

Edward snapped angrily.

To Cecilia, who remembered him as someone who, no matter how oppressive the emperor’s actions, always calculated a rational response, this was an unfamiliar face.

“Cecilia, I truly thought you were dead! Otherwise, there’s no way you could disappear without leaving a trace for five years!”

“That’s exactly what I wanted!”

Cecilia could no longer hold back.

She had done her best.

Not just for herself, but for Edward as well.

There was no reason for Edward to blame her like this.

“I had to disappear somewhere no one in the world could find me. Even you thought I was dead, and only then could I be safe…”

“Did you never think of asking me for help?”

“So you could drive me into the abyss, Edward? I chose the latter of a dead husband and a living ex-husband, and I thought that was what you wanted too!”

Cecilia drew a deep, shaky breath.

“Now tell me, was I wrong? Should I have asked you to kill me?”

“You were wrong.”

Edward replied stiffly.

“We are… married.”

“But we weren’t real spouses anyway!”

“….”

Silence fell.

Cecilia looked Edward squarely in the eyes.

She was unashamed, because she wasn’t lying.

They had been business partners, holding hands to endure Emperor Rinek’s tyranny, but never genuine lovers or spouses.

And now, even that was over. It had been five years since their legal divorce.

“You said we weren’t real spouses.”

Edward spoke very slowly.

Cecilia hesitated.

There was a dangerous energy in his voice.

But instead of closing her mouth, Cecilia chose to make him realize the obvious truth.

“Yes. And now, we aren’t even fake spouses. We divorced long ago.”

“Hah…”

Edward let out a hollow laugh.

“You’re completely mistaken, Cecilia. I tore up that document a long time ago.”

“…!”

Only then did Cecilia recall the wanted posters describing her as ‘Cecilia Ceres.’

She had assumed it was all the emperor’s scheme… but apparently not.

“So you are legally my wife. You are the Empress of Rinek!”

“Your Majesty!”

Cecilia was so flustered that she couldn’t respond when Perol suddenly knelt before Edward.

“Please take back those words! This witch as empress? The woman who abandoned Your Majesty and sent him to hell, how could she possibly be Your Majesty’s consort and the Empress of this empire?”

Edward completely ignored Perol and looked straight at Cecilia.

“The document you wrote was torn to shreds long ago. And I am the emperor now… so you are the empress, and must perform your sacred duties under imperial law.”

“Edward.”

Cecilia’s voice trembled.

“What have you done?”

Only then did reality hit her.

Edward, who had made a pact with a devil.

Using that power to overthrow the emperor and take the throne of Rinek himself.

Threatening the entire magical kingdom to find her…

Was this really the man she had known?

The Edward she remembered had not been cruel or cunning.

He had been cold and unyielding, refusing to harm others for his own sake.

Cecilia had once shared that principle with him.

But now… she realized that principles were meaningless.

‘Those who create principles don’t actually follow them.’

Just like with her mentor Branto at the Tower of Guardians.

Cecilia had respected and been grateful to him, yet she knew he snuck out every week.

Not for the tower, not for magic research… but to secretly follow an actress he liked on her tour.

‘Right. I’ve changed in five years… so Edward probably has too. It makes sense.’

Her mouth tasted bitter.

No matter how much she repeated it in her mind, the disappointment rising from deep inside could not be quelled.

Finally, Edward spoke.

“The emperor tried to kill me. So I was supposed to just obediently die?”

“…And yet you made a pact with a devil.”

Edward’s eyes narrowed.

“You even know about that. I must never let you go.”

Cecilia frowned.

She had no intention of running away anyway.

After all, Edward wasn’t a villain like the former emperor Gerard, so why would she flee?

And Rinek was her home. The lecherous emperor was dead; she could reunite with her family and friends and live happily.

“Don’t worry about that. Until the divorce process is completed, I’ll stay in the palace, then return to my parents’ home…”

“You’re surprisingly ignorant of the law, Cecilia.”

Cecilia could tell.

Edward was attacking her with all his heart.

“You cannot divorce me.”

“Why not?”

Then it happened.

“See! That’s why I said we must kill this witch, Your Majesty!”

Perol again insisted, forcefully.

Cecilia frowned.

She remembered him as a reasonable man… had her memory failed her?

“For the next year, do you not see what this witch might do to us?”

“Perol.”

Edward’s voice turned cold as he commanded.

“Leave.”

“Your Majesty!”

“I said leave. Before you disappoint me further.”

Fortunately, Perol did not resist his command.

After Perol left, Edward tossed her a sheet of paper. Cecilia unfolded it and quickly scanned it.

It was a hastily copied excerpt from the law.

In short, it stated that the emperor and empress cannot divorce.

A marriage once formed is sacred, to prevent confusion among the empire’s citizens.

But the next clause existed.

Only… if there is no heir, and the empress fails to conceive for more than a year, divorce is possible.

Cecilia blinked.

So if she simply doesn’t conceive, divorce could be achieved in just one year?

“Just one year?”

Five years had passed, and one year now seemed easy.

She lifted her head to look at Edward, who seemed surprised.

Cecilia quickly made her decision.

She would live in the empire. After missing her family and friends for the past five years, she could no longer remain a fugitive.

To do that, she had to handle her relationship with Edward carefully.

“I’m sorry, Edward. Leaving without a word was thoughtless. Even if I thought it was the best solution at the time, I should have at least consulted you…”

“Cecilia.”

Edward’s expression faltered as he began to speak, but Cecilia continued.

“So for this one year, I will be the best empress possible. You also need a partner to stabilize the empire, don’t you?”

Cecilia knew.

Edward would not refuse her proposal.

Just like six years ago.