Logan’s face stiffened at the words ‘His Majesty the Emperor’.
She felt that his expression was really satisfying.
“All right.”
Psychke turned her back and ignored Logan.
* *
The attendant led her to a secret terrace hidden behind a huge statue.
As if to prove that it was not a space used by just anyone, the terrace was shaped like a room.
Lazy music, expensive rugs on the floor, and luxurious white furniture.
Right in the middle of her, the emperor greeted her expressionlessly.
“Here you are.”
He was holding an ice cup that Psychke had made with supernatural powers.
“No matter how much power I put into it, it still won’t melt.”
She grabbed the hem of her skirt, bowed her head and turned the empty glass like a real glass of wine.
“I greet the sun of the empire.”
“Do you like to drink?”
“No, I don’t like it.”
“My bad.”
The emperor, who replied that he was not sorry at all, moved to his seat and uncorked the red wine bottle. He filled it and held it out.
Psychke did not move, didn’t even raise her head.
The emperor was sarcastic as if he didn’t like it.
“The cup the emperor is giving you, are you going to refuse it?”
Only then did Psychke raise her eyes and glance at the red wine.
Although the color and aroma seem to be much better than what was served in the banquet hall.
It was disgusting to receive it, so she pretended to make a mistake and let go of his ability.
Chwaa!
The glass of ice melted. As it fell, mixed with the contents that had lost its support, red liquid flowed down the emperor’s hand.
For a moment, Psychke had the illusion that the liquid was blood.
“Haa.”
The emperor, who had been staring blankly at his hand, sneered.
Psychke, who didn’t care about him, apologized for lying.
“My apologies. It hasn’t been long since I acquired my power, I am still amateur.”
“Were you?”
It was a disbelieving voice, but it didn’t matter.
Psychke lowered her head even more. Then he held her chin in his hand.
“Glorielle.”
The strong scent of wine from the Emperor’s hands stung her nose.
She sighed, trying to calm down but she was frowning. Suddenly, the emperor thrust his face into her.
Now, the distance between the two was only about half a span.
As if he was wearing a mask, he had no expression and let out a dry voice.
“Between the past and now, that boldness has not changed.”
Past? Are you talking about when she was young?
“As for your relationship with Lestir, nothing has changed.”
The emperor’s gray eyes uttered incomprehensible words one after another, arrogant enough to eat her.
Feeling that he was being strangled, Psychke strained her eyes.
Then, strangely, the stiff expression of the man softened.
He asked softly as if soothing a crying child.
“Your eyes, are you still scared?”
How did he know that?
Eye phobia was a secret only to Silkisia.
When someone asked why it was taboo to invite Silkisia to the North, she would answer only to this extent, ‘There are always things in the North that don’t exist in the South.’
She didn’t say what exactly it was.
‘But how?’
“You must be scared, nothing has really changed.”
The emperor let go of her chin and had a strangely satisfied look.
“Shia.”
“…?”
“Glorielle.”
“Yes?”
“This is different.”
He stretched out his wine-scented hand.
Psychke reflexively backed away at the gesture of trying to brush her cheek.
Why is he doing this?
He was the one who shattered the previous generation of Silkisia and brainwashed her.
He thought that since the plan had gone wrong, he would either appease or threaten, and she accepted the meeting because she wanted to hear something.
The way he looked at her right now, and how the atmosphere fills this space.
Doesn’t it feel like reuniting with a long-lost lover?
Suddenly, the voice she heard on the tombstone of the first Silkisia in the Ashen Forest came to mind.
‘Beware of Adelheid.’
Adelheid was the name of the current emperor and the first emperor.
Should she be careful with this man?
The emperor looked down numbly at the hand that had lost his target, then smiled.
“At times like this, you look like Shia again.”
“What did you call me?”
She asked directly, not wanting to stay here any longer.
A man of about the same age as Verndia smiled slightly, unbefitting the years he had lived.
He pursed his lips, almost inaudibly.
“Do you want me to give you Silkisia?”
For a moment, Psychke doubted her ears. What was he doing?