"…"

Tamon tried hard not to show his emotions, but he was also a skillful negotiator.

He had already noticed the Empress’s agitation, although she hid it well. She changed her voice to a much friendlier one than before.

"I'll give you everything that's out there. Instead……give me your red cocoons."

The whole situation changed at once.

She sneered and pulled out the best silk, obtaining sole trading rights to the red cocoons grown only in Amor.

Instead, she could retrieve everything from the shipwreck.……….

That woman, the Empress of Tanatos, was such an annoying and difficult person.

Once she became the empress, she enjoyed power as she saw fit, and acted methodically on the diplomatic front at every turn.

But on the other hand, he admired her boldness, her determination, and her graceful tactics.

She never raised her voice. Another way to put it was she never once showed signs of excitement or panic.

Nor did she ever push the weaker nations with what she had.

She didn't even bother trying to make the opponent feel awkward with her unskilled laughter.

What an ancient and noble tactic.

But the Emperor of this country was trying to get rid of such a woman.

Tamon glared at the Emperor, who was sitting on the upper seat, then looked at the Empress with a gaze full of derision.

‘He's an idiot.’

Ronasso's eyes widened in surprise at Tamon’s swearing.

“Me……………?”

“It's not you, Ronasso.”

Tamon shoved his face away as Ronasso approached him.

He couldn’t understand why the Emperor was rumored to have made such a wish to God.

The Emperor, who didn’t even know what kind of jewel* he had, stupid rotten to the eyeballs…

(*The Empress is the jewel)

A monarch.

This country had been holding on so well to its past glory. It was that very woman who maintained that glory, and now her husband was trying to take it down.

It was as if he was jealous of the jewel that he had.

He was a pathetic man.

It was more humiliating and frustrating for him to deal with such a man.

It wasn't worth it, nor was it fun.

Ronasso noticed where Tamon’s gaze was going as he growled. Looking at the Empress, Ronasso clicked his tongue.

“By the way, the Empress is truly amazing. With everything going on with her family, she looks fine. I never thought she’d show up with such a calm face.”

A few hours ago, the Empress’s brother was taken to an underground prison for treason.

The story was told secretly by Gichi, the only remaining spy in this imperial palace.

There were seven concubines that Tamon had planted in the Imperial Palace of Tanatos. However, six of them were captured by the Empress and ousted.

‘It's just amazing.’They were all people who were born and raised in this country and had been educated about Tanatos for more than a decade.

However, they couldn't even last a year and disappeared in the eyes of the Empress.

Most of them were probably dead. That bloodless, stern woman would never let a spy who infiltrated her country live.

It didn't matter.

He never felt sorry for the people who tried to take what was his either…

When you want something that belongs to someone else, you have to be willing to risk it.

Even death, of course.

In Natasha’s palace, Count Cainely’s evidence of treason was found, and he was imprisoned as a result.

It was only one line, but it was enough for Tamon to grasp the situation.

Natasha, the emperor's beloved concubine, the sly woman must have penetrated and framed Count Cainely.

Fabricating evidence, well, that was easier than flipping the palm of the hand, the problem was creating circumstantial evidence…….

But how did Count Cainely get in and out of Natasha's palace?

The righteous Count Cainely would never have fallen into Natasha's trap, but it was strange.

“She probably didn’t sleep a wink all night, but her expression hasn't changed a bit. I’d say she has more thick skin than you.”

Ronasso marveled in a huff.

Tamon raised one eyebrow in a grimace, but Ronasso, his best friend of twenty years, wasn't one to be afraid of him.

"Why? Did I say something wrong? Weren’t you the one who sat down the aristocrat that took away the Dali’s power at the negotiation table and made him apologize a few years ago? And weren’t you the one that wanted to squeeze everything of value from him?”

“That's preposterous.”

“An outstanding shift in attitude, embracing yesterday's enemies as today's friends. Oh, and didn't you once secretly invite Lady McBirther to a dinner party last year? You’re such a sly fox.”

At this rate, the past history was going to start coming out one after another, Tamon thought, kicking Ronasso in the shin.

"Shut up and give me what you've got."

Ugh.

Tamon was trying to act like a noble but it was hard to deal with Ronasso. Only a few years ago he was a great general, running around the battlefields every day.

He was a gladiator, a swordsman, an archer, and a cavalryman.

In a word, he was a soldier who was good at everything.

Such a kick from Tamon was the same as getting hit with a hammer. However, Ronasso could not show his painful expression because he was the Knight commander after all.

“Judging by the kick, your retirement must have been all a sham.”

"Ronasso.”

“All right, all right.”

Ronasso pouted with his thick lips and passed on the information he had gained while roaming like a shadow in the court earlier.

“The Emperor and Natasha were secretly on a tangent. I could see a hint of nervousness as they whispered about something. The imperial palace, the white dress, the last…. Sounded like they were planning something…………… The troops waiting behind the grand ballroom are also extraordinary.”

"How about ……… Sunset Mansion?"

“Since dawn, the Duke of Sunset and his children have disappeared at once. Maybe that's why the empress came out. There's nothing to tell us about the whereabouts of her family members.”

The Emperor and the Empress were talking to each other without making eye contact.

The young emperor, with his pale honey blonde hair, turned his head and glared at the Empress, who was staring straight ahead.

He was objectively praised as a beautiful Emperor, but to Tamon's eyes, the Emperor's face now looked like nothing more than an ugly sweet potato.How shabby he looked when he couldn't kill the Empress right away and acted fine with a blushing face.

In comparison, the Empress sat quietly, making eye contact with the noble guests one by one as she stared into their eyes.

It was a scene that made one think that the Emperor was the one who was caught off guard last night.

“Isn't it strange?”

"What is?”

“The Empress is now thoroughly isolated.”

Ronasso spoke in a rather heartfelt and passionate tone as if he was watching an interesting play.

"In her lifetime of loyalty and affection!"

Tamon did not reply to Ronasso, who was talking and giggling.

Isolation.

That's right. She was isolated.

But why was that fact so unreliable? It was as uncomfortable as hearing ugly news about a parent you don't want to know about.

‘Yeah, it has nothing to do with me.'

Tamon thought cynically and poured himself a glass of cold wine.

He even took the risk and issued a warning, but she didn't listen to it.

Therefore, it did not matter whether the Empress of this country was betrayed, executed, or exiled.

In fact, the more Tanatos's imperial family was disturbed, the better it was for Amor country, which was in a subtle feud, as there was a benefit to be gained in that gap.

How great it would be to sit on the side and enjoy the benefits while others fought against each other.

Because the gravy that would come out if he took even a bite out of this prosperous country would be substantial.

It was unimaginable until just a few months ago, but things were happening right before his eyes, more than any other incident.

Tamon's eyes were fixed on the ice doll-like profile of the Empress.

Ronasso fidgeted, foretelling the end of this skit.

“I can assure you. Perhaps the Empress………….."

At that moment, Roselyn and Tamon's gazes intertwined.

His red eyes that were as hot as fire and her violet eyes that were as dark as the ice of the deep sea, no one seemed to have anything to say and slowly moved away.

That was just it………

He began to feel thirsty.

His body became hot.

Even though their gazes were only intertwined, it felt like something about her and him was secretly mixed.

A confusingly hot heat was surging through his hard lower body.

A thirst so intense that it immediately burned his throat.

It was as if he had swallowed something he shouldn't have.

‘I'm not going to make it through this season, I'm going to die.’

The Empress's violet eyes could not be erased. The cold stare she gave pierced into him.

His mind boiled and his body became overheated.

The desire that he had been forcing himself to suppress suddenly felt like a volcano about to erupt.

A lewd voice disturbed Tamon’s ears.

‘Would the Empress’s skin be as cold as her eyes?’

A devilish whisper filled Tamon's head.