Roselyn raised her gaze and stared out at the open sea.?

    ?

    The surface of the sea, reflecting the light of the rising sun, sparkled like a jewel. The sea shone with a different light every moment, but every moment was as beautiful as a jewel.?

    ?

    Roselyn was distracted by the surging sea, forgetting that food was placed in front of her. It didn’t stay still for a second, but she felt strangely calm.?

    ?

    ‘This is what the ocean is like.’?

    ?

    Last night, she was also blinded by the pitch-black sea that contained the moon.?

    ?

    But the midday sea embracing the sun had a completely different face from the night sea. Night and day, the sea was truly a vast and beautiful place.?

    ?

    It was strange and mesmerizing. It was so amazing that admiration was inevitable.?

    ?

    When Roselyn turned her gaze away from the sea, Tamon said unexpectedly.?

    ?

    “You must like the sea.”?

    ?

    Roselyn glanced at him, then moved the fork.?

    ?

    “I don’t have to like it. It’s my first time seeing it.”?

    ?

    She took a small portion of the food and put it on her plate, then cast her gaze to the sea again.?

    ?

    “First time? You’re really seeing the ocean for the first time?”?

    ?

    Tamon asked back in disbelief.?

    ?

    Without accepting or denying, Roselyn cut another small piece of seafood from her plate.?

    ?

    “Why? Tanatos is not an inland empire.…….”?

    ?

    “I couldn’t leave the palace unattended.”?

    ?

    Roselyn replied nonchalantly.?

    ?

    When she was a child, she couldn’t go outside the capital frequently because it was dangerous.?

    ?

    At best, she followed her grandfather around the provinces near the capital, or she and Anna stayed at her mother’s villa for a while, which was all the traveling she did.?

    ?

    When she was old enough to get married, she became the Crown Princess by order of the Emperor, and then it was a series of practical affairs.?

    ?

    Gillotti, on the other hand, roamed around quite freely. Whenever he wanted to go to the sea and mountains or fields, he went without hesitation.?

    ?

    It was always Roselyn who took care of the Imperial Palace and handled important matters on his behalf.?

    ?

    Being an Empress did not come with many privileges.?

    ?

    Rather, she worked on behalf of the emperor, but it didn’t mean that she could seize the emperor’s power.?

    ?

    She had no such greed.?

    ?

    Moreover, her family considered honesty to be the highest virtue, and she was raised that way.?

    ?

    Her grandfather always believed that even a nobleman will always fall if he thinks only of enjoying himself rather than taking care of his family.?

    ?

    And he said that this idea was passed down from his grandfather’s grandfather’s generation.?

    ?

    Whenever she was given a task, she had to complete it.?

    ?

    No matter how much she didn’t want to do it, it was not in her nature to handle it in a lax manner.?

    ?

    She loved the joy that came when everything was handled neatly.?

    ?

    The more rambunctious Gillotti became, the more she immersed herself in the Imperial Palace work. It was necessary for her to concentrate so as not to be distracted.?

    ?

    But the more she did so, the harder Gillotti’s gaze on her became.?

    ?

    So much so that she could feel his hatred through her skin.?

    ?

    So ever since joining the imperial family of Tanatos, there was no room for Roselyn to enjoy looking at the sea or the mountains.?

    ?

    “I see.”?

    ?

    Tamon didn’t ask for more in-depth insights after that one word. He was a witty man, and that should have been enough.?

    ?

    Roselyn cut the seafood into smaller pieces and put them in her mouth. Fresh seafood was flavorful even without any special sauce.?

    ?

    Seafood eaten directly from its place of origin could be so delicious.?

    ?

    She thought vaguely.?

    ?

    Come to think of it, Natasha always bragged about the food she ate when she and Gillotti went to Louvre.?

    ?

    She would swoon and fuss over how delicious the horribly shaped fish, giant squid, fresh shellfish and oysters were.?

    ?

    She gently tilted her head to look at the bright white, round thing on her plate.?

    ?

    Speaking of which, what is this??

    ?

    She put it on her plate without thinking, but she had never seen it before.?

    ?

    It didn’t look like an oyster or a shellfish. She thought it might be squid, but it was a little different from what she knew.?

    ?

    When she pressed it with my knife, it was soft and felt like a mushroom.?

    ?

    “Those are scallops.”?

    ?

    Tamon, who had been watching her closely, said.?

    ?

    ” What?”?

    ?

    “It’s the part that comes out of the big shell and it’s quite tasty. You can cut it into thin slices and eat it raw, or you can cook it.”?

    ?

    He kindly explained what she was looking at and casually put one piece in his mouth.?

    ?

    “Hmmm.”?

    ?

    Tamon chuckled as he savored the taste.?

    ?

    Hesitantly, Roselyn also put a small piece of scallop into her mouth.?

    ?

    The flavor was good, as if it had been baked in fine butter. Not to mention the texture.?

    ?

    Without saying a word, she took another piece of scallop and cut it. Tamon, who was watching her closely, smiled softly and gently pushed the seafood plate in front of her.?

    ?

    Roselyn felt as if a little of the toxicity in her body was released.?

    ?

    She had never been emotionally inclined in her life.?

    ?

    It was the first time in her life that she had been that stubborn and desperate.?

    ?

    Maybe it was the power of her past, where she had been taught to never waver and to always have a sense of normalcy. Before she knew it, she was herself again.?

    ?

    Roselyn sighed briefly.?

    ?

    The man in front of her was determined to bring her back to life after Gillotti tortured and killed her.?

    ?

    The man in front of her brought back to life what Gillotti tortured and wanted to kill. Even when she cut her throat, he recovered it at once.?

    ?

    Trying to die in front of this man was probably pointless.?

    ?

    If she really wanted to die, she had to get away from this man first.?

    ?

    Roselyn raised her head again and looked at the ocean.?

    ?

    If she crossed this ocean, she would see Tanatos.?

    ?

    Tamon lived in Ginesh, the capital of Amor, and across the sea of Ginesh, Louvre appeared.?

    ?

    Louvre.?

    ?

    Come to think of it, she wonder if Arsene made it to Louvre safely.?

    ?

    Roselyn remembered the boy who clung to her feet and cried, begging her to let him do anything for her.?

    ?

    Leaving “it” to him was an impulsive decision.?

    ?

    Originally, it was Vice Commander Katren who would take care of it.?

    ?

    Then, a few days before it happened, he was thrown into the Demon Forest on the Emperor’s orders.?

    ?

    She heard that Katren’s apprentice accidentally lost the Emperor’s sword in the Demon Forest.?

    ?

    “Therefore, shouldn’t you be held responsible for the mistake of your students, since it was a precious sword that the Prior King had gifted to me?”?

    ?

    That was tantamount to an order to die.?

    ?

    Roselyn, of course, was adamantly opposed.?

    ?

    She said she would run her own army and find the sword for him.?

    ?

    The emperor seemed to retreat for a while, but that night he pulled out only Kathren’s apprentice and pushed him into the forest.?

    ?

    “If I go now, I will be back soon. I’ll be right there.”?

    ?

    Katren left in a hurry to find his apprentice and did not come back that night.?

    ?

    And the next day, and the day after that…….?

    ?

    It wasn’t until Katren was gone, that Roselyn really felt the pain of having all her limbs cut off.?

    ?

    The nobles who had sided with her were quickly dying of a mysterious disease. The same was true for her cherished people.?

    ?

    Soon after, Charlotte, who had said she was going to have an engagement ceremony for her daughter, suddenly died of lung disease.?

    ?

    How did the Palace Secretary Thomson die??

    ?

    Yes, he suddenly contracted a strange disease that caused his limbs to rot.?

    ?

    He was always the one who sided with the Empress in front of the Emperor. He was also the one the Emperor considered the most troublesome.?

    ?

    That’s how he died, and died, and died again.?

    ?

    “Stop it.”?

    ?

    “No.”?

    ?

    “Why are you going this far?”?

    ?

    “Because I hate you that much.”?

    ?

    Gillotti walked past Roselyn with a smile on his face.?

    ?

    A few days later, Roselyn’s brother was captured and imprisoned.?

    ?

    ‘All of this happened because I’m not good enough.’?

    ?

    Roselyn lagged a step behind and clenched her teeth.?

    ?

    No matter how many times she hit her chest they didn’t come back.?

    ?

    And she couldn’t die easily.?

    ?

    She stared at the man in front of her with renewed eyes.?

    ?

    She hated the handsome face of this selfish, stubborn man who never let her die.?

    ?

    Even though she knew that all of this was not his fault, she glared at Tamon and resented him.?

    ?

    The slightly relaxed look in her eyes became more venomous again.?

    ?

    Tamon, who quickly devoured the hunk of meat in front of him, raised his head as if he felt her gaze.?

    ?

    He chuckled and shook his head.?

    ?

    “That look, it’s not good………”?

    ?

    “…”?

    ?

    “That’s the look you want to die again. Right?”?

    ?

    Roselyn lowered her eyes without saying a word.?

    ?

    But Tamon’s gaze was insistent as he noticed the change in her. He stared at her.?

    ?

    “Let me ask you this.”?

    ?

    He put down his fork and sipped at his cold white wine.?

    ?

    “Why on earth would you want to die so badly?”?

    ?

    She didn’t want to talk to him now.?

    ?

    But Tamon was persistent today, as he always was.?

    ?

    He waited, gazing at her leisurely, as if there was no need to hurry.?

    ?

    Sometimes he would even look at the ocean, filled his empty plate again.?

    ?

    One minute, two minutes, ten minutes, several minutes.?

    ?

    Eventually, Roselyn put down her fork, which she hadn’t held many times, and answered slowly.?

    ?

    “…….Nothing.”?

    ?

    “Nothing?”?

    ?

    Tamon urged her.?

    ?

    “Because I couldn’t protect anything.”?

    ?

    “Do you think that’s your fault?”?

    ?

    “Yes.”?

    ?

    Tamon tapped the table as he stared at her.?

    ?

    After a few moments of silence, he asked.?

    ?

    “It’s strange. How can you say you’re sorry and use their deaths for your sake?”