The Love Letter
Lillian’s screams, choked with sobs, echoed all the way to the hallway of the Empress’s Palace.
“Don’t! Please, don’t!”
But the guards did not treat her words as commands in the slightest. The bedroom door swung open, and she was tossed onto the bed as if she were mere refuse. The guards exited immediately, leaving only the head maid, Sophia, behind.
Lillian looked up at Sophia, her face a mess of smeared tears. Her hair was disheveled, and her clothes—with knots and buttons undone and fabric crumpled—looked like rags.
No, those knots and buttons might not have been undone by force, but by her own hands. The wrinkles in her dress were likely not caused solely by being dragged here.
“Did I not tell you to stop seeing him?” Sophia asked with a deep, weary sigh. Lillian hiccuped, gasping for air as she sobbed.
“It’s not my fault. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
She said the words, but there was no way she didn’t know exactly what she had done wrong.
As the Empress, she had engaged in an affair with a man outside the palace. While taking a lover might be a common occurrence for some, that was only true for those who held real power. Setting aside the immorality of adultery, a woman who had risen from a lowly status to become Empress solely through the Emperor’s favor could not expect to remain unscathed after betraying the very husband who was the source of her position.
Yet, Lillian, who had collapsed onto the bed in tears, suddenly scrambled down and knelt, clinging to Sophia’s ankles.
“You know. You know how I live. I just… I just wanted to be loved, even if only a little. Can’t you even pity me?”
Sophia thought that it was that very pity that had been the mistake.
She had been by Lillian’s side for over ten years. Though she was meant to be a monitor, it was impossible not to grow attached after spending so much time together.
Sophia knew better than anyone that the position of Empress was a mere illusion. The claim that the Emperor favored her was a complete lie. In the twenty years since Lillian had given birth to their daughter, they had never once sat down to talk, except during official functions. They had never truly been a married couple.
If she had wanted to make a true friend, there had been opportunities. Not every maid who had passed through her service during those long years had looked at Lillian with the sole intent of surveillance.
If she disliked talking to maids, she could have engaged in social activities and made friends outside the palace. She had not been imprisoned for twenty years.
She could have flaunted her luxury and power. If she had ambition, it was possible to attempt to build her own faction within the imperial palace. Increasing her influence over her daughter, the sole heir, would have been a relatively easy success.
If she were willing to endure the reputation of being vulgar, she could have continued to dance. There were many other ways to enjoy life—indulging in fine dining or building a reputation through an interest in art and literature.
But there are women in this world who place value only on the love of a man.
And so, Sophia pitied her. She pitied her loneliness, and she pitied the very fact that she was the kind of woman she was.
Perhaps the previous Duke of Schwaben had chosen her as Empress precisely because she was that kind of woman. She was someone who would never even harbor the greed to develop the ability to dare oppose the Schwaben family.
“I believe I should not have pitied you. If I hadn’t, Your Majesty would not have committed such a mistake.”
“So, Sophia….”
Because she had pitied her, she had recommended she go to the theater. She knew Lillian was infatuated with Sion Miller, but she hadn’t thought it was a bad thing.
Visiting the dressing room to give him flowers and chatting for a moment was fine. Even taking a walk together was within the realm of tolerance. If it were merely sharing hearts in secret under the name of friendship, she had intended to turn a blind eye. Knowing everything that had passed, she couldn’t bring herself to believe that Lillian would betray the Emperor and commit adultery.
But she had crossed the line.
“What were you thinking? Did you truly not know what would happen if this fact became known?”
“Hic, ugh.”
“Rumors are spreading. That a noblewoman of a status difficult to even speak of has taken Sion Miller as her lover. Someone already knows.”
Lillian’s eyes, trembling as she shed tears, wavered.
“If this fact is revealed to the world, Your Majesty is finished. Do you think the Schwaben family will just stand by and watch?”
“I, I….”
Lillian trailed off, looking terrified. Sophia sighed. She wasn’t a fool; she must have understood what she was being told.
“Rest well in your bedroom for the time being. I will announce outside that you are suffering from an illness.”
She helped Lillian up and sat her back on the bed. As she turned to leave, Lillian suddenly lunged forward and grabbed the hem of her dress from behind.
“Sion, Sion must not be touched!”
“Your Majesty.”
Sighing, Sophia tried to pull her hands away again. Lillian pleaded, clutching the fabric so tightly her knuckles turned white.
“It’s only my fault. I seduced Sion. So, don’t lay a hand on him.”
“…….”
“Please, Sophia…. Please.”
Sophia did not answer, instead forcibly prying Lillian’s hands away. She walked out and slammed the door shut.
Theodore entered the old mansion in the Linden district with a heavy heart.
Known as the Red Brick Mansion, the place had been abandoned for over a decade. It was one of the largest and finest properties in the area, but conversely, that meant those with the wealth to live here had no desire to reside in this district. It was too close to the entertainment district.
Immediately after absorbing several back-alley organizations, including the one led by Paul Bauer, he had purchased this mansion. The Count of Lutgarth had a townhouse in the capital, but it would be far too conspicuous if someone like Paul were seen coming and going there. Rather than worrying about disguising everyone every time, it was better to buy a mansion in a place with high foot traffic near the entertainment district, where visitors wouldn’t stand out.
Of course, Theodore himself had to be careful when he visited.
“Hoo.”
He sighed as he crossed the desolate garden. A few trusted soldiers from the Lutgarth army were disguised as gardeners, pruning branches and pulling weeds to keep watch around the mansion, but since they weren’t real gardeners, the situation rarely improved.
Well, it wasn’t an important matter. It seemed that the neighbors, who had shown curiosity at first, no longer dared to approach the house after running into Paul’s gang a few times.
When he knocked, the butler came out. He was a man brought from the Lutgarth territory.
“Welcome, Master.”
“Has the guest arrived safely?”
“Yes. He said he thought you would want to see him, so he is waiting without having gone to sleep.”
Theodore nodded and strode toward the living room. Since most of the mansion’s space remained uncleared, that was the only place suitable for a conversation.
Sion Miller was sitting on the sofa, holding a script and reciting lines in a loud voice.
“If revenge is a wound, then it must be a blade thrust deep into the heart to reach the place where it bleeds!”
Theodore stood crookedly in the doorway, tilted his head slightly, and asked.
“Is this a script you chose because you wanted to put your own words into the lines?”
“Ah, Count.”
Sion lowered the arm he had raised theatrically and stood up. There wasn’t a hint of anxiety to be read in his smiling expression.
“There are moments when you know exactly when practicing something will lead to success.”
“You said you were waiting for me? Do you have something to say?”
“Hmm, the opposite. I was waiting because I thought you might have something to say to me.”
His attitude was cheerful throughout.
“I don’t have anything particular to say. I hope you aren’t uncomfortable while staying here. It’s dangerous, so I don’t think it’s good to go out carelessly. But I don’t suppose you were waiting to hear something like that?”
“What did Lady Laila say?”
Theodore looked at him with guarded eyes. He hadn’t held any prejudices against the profession of acting until now, but working together like this made it incredibly uncomfortable to read the other man’s mind. It was true that nobles also learned to consciously refine their gestures and expressions to avoid being read, but at least one could tell they were ‘trying not to be read.’ In contrast, this man could fabricate a persona that looked entirely genuine.
But he shouldn’t be the one to feel that way. Sion was the person who had stepped into Olivia’s plan even before Theodore.