* * *
I stared at his face.
He looked the same as always.
But somehow, his red eyes felt deeper.
He let out a quiet sigh.
“I mean it. Whether you believe me or not is up to you.”
“…Why would you go that far just because I said so?”
“Sometimes, you just get a feeling.”
“A feeling?”
“Like—if I do this, this person will be disappointed in me and start to hate me.”
Ateol said in a quiet voice.
“I didn’t want that.”
If he had killed Siwoo… yeah.
I would’ve been disappointed.
Maybe even deeply. It could’ve driven a wedge between us.
But… I thought Ateol wouldn’t care about that kind of thing.
As I searched for something to say, he stood up.
“You should head back now. I’ll escort you to the tower.”
“I can go alone.”
“Then that means we can also go together, doesn’t it?”
What kind of twisted logic is that?
I couldn’t even argue.
I just stood up, dragged along.
As we sat in the carriage, I kept thinking:
Was he telling the truth?
Or not?
I remembered what the status window said.
‘Do you not trust Ateol?’
Damn it. Isn’t that status window the main reason I stopped trusting him?
The rest… well, that was Ateol’s fault.
Or maybe it was just my own miserable personality.
Even I knew I was gloomy and melancholic by nature.
If I’d been a cheerful, sunny type, maybe it would’ve been easier to trust Ateol.
But I wasn’t—and what could I do about that?
As I spiraled deeper into thought, Ateol spoke up.
“These days, the former Emperor and Empress keep calling for me. Say they have something to tell me.”
“Figures.”
I remembered how desperately they had summoned me to show me that multicolored cloud.
That painfully awkward atmosphere…
They were never suited to be rulers in the first place.
And it was obvious why they kept calling Ateol now.
They wanted to leave that palace.
Technically a ‘palace,’ but in truth, more like a giant prison.
“Even if they’re criminals, they’re still my parents. I can’t just ignore them forever—people are watching.”
“Then go. You like that kind of thing, don’t you? The taste of power.”
Ateol widened his eyes in brief surprise—then burst into laughter.
Was that really that funny?
After laughing for a while, he answered, still smiling.
“True. Every day is a delight now. I’m just grateful to you for giving me this position.”
“You would’ve become Emperor even without me.”
“Perhaps. But it would’ve taken longer. Maybe another six years or so?”
I froze at the mention of six years.
It had already been five months since I returned to the past.
The truth of my identity had been revealed during the Month of Foretide—the lantern festival.
Which meant… six years from now, Ateol would become Emperor.
His timing was so precise, it gave me a chill.
“Why six years, though?”
“Because that’s how long it would’ve taken to prepare everything.”
In the previous life, when did he meet Siwoo?
One thing was clear—Siwoo, the real Tower Master, wasn’t part of that version of the plan.
I fell silent for a moment, then mustered up the courage to ask—
“If I hadn’t approached you first. And if you… had met Siwoo before the Archduke did. Would your plan have gone more smoothly?”
“Well, of course.”
The reply came quickly.
I flinched, but he kept talking.
“But it would’ve been far less interesting.”
“Interesting…?”
“There are countless crossroads in life, aren’t there? Once you choose a path, you never know what the others held. Hmm… Just thinking about never having known this kind of thrill is enough to make me dizzy.”
This thrill, he said, reaching out and grabbing my arm, yanking me toward him.
In an instant, I was sitting on his lap.
“What the— Let me go.”
“You’re the one who brought it up.”
“When did I—?! You’re the one who twisted it into something weird!”
Whether he cared or not, Ateol kissed me.
I struggled at first, but as our lips and tongues intertwined, my resistance began to fade.
The deep, lingering kiss melted my body.
A soft moan escaped my throat without me realizing.
Ateol’s hands wandered over my robe, then slid up to pull back my hood.
At the same time, he gently gripped my long hair.
His lips pressed harder against mine.
I opened my mouth without hesitation, letting his tongue in when he asked, letting him suck on my lips when he wanted.
The kiss went on and on.
“Mm… ngh… hmm…”
Sloppy sounds mixed with moans.
His hands caressed my chest, waist, and hips over my clothes—hot and greedy.
Then I suddenly realized the carriage had stopped, and I came back to my senses.
I shoved at Ateol’s chest with both hands, hard enough to make a thud.
He had been biting my tongue gently but backed off without resistance.
“Serta and Cloden are probably outside….”
“Ah.”
Ateol tilted his head to the side.
“That was a rather provocative statement.”
“What…? What part?! How?!”
“No need to know. You’re lovelier when you don’t.”
He wiped my wet lips with his thumb and then, without a hint of shame, offered his own face to be wiped.
Not sure what to do, I ended up brushing his mouth off clumsily with the back of my hand.
His lips curved beneath it in a faint smile.
He took my hand, kissed the back of it, and then pulled my hood back up with both hands.
My face remained bright red until the carriage door opened.
I thought Ateol would come into the tower with me, but he only gave a polite bow and saw me off.
I entered my room feeling oddly deflated.
Still… maybe I should try to see Siwoo before he leaves.
I do need to raise his affection level…
But wait, wouldn’t that be like forgiving Siwoo?
That would be a problem.
I’ll just write him letters or something later to raise it.
“Do you need anything?”
Cloden asked, sounding concerned as usual.
I didn’t really need anything, but—
“That book Siwoo wanted to read. What exactly was it?”
“It’s part of the Tower Lord’s personal records. Shall I fetch it?”
Wait, he can get that?
Well, I suppose nothing’s impossible for the Tower Lord.
I nodded, and Cloden said “Understood,” then left.
He returned in under thirty minutes with the book in hand.
What the hell.
Did he fly to the Imperial Library?
Curious, I looked at the cover.
In tiny gold letters was the word [Copy].
So the original was at the Imperial Library, and this was a replica kept in the Tower.
I opened the book.
It really was full of personal notes—what food the Tower Lord had become obsessed with and had sourced from across the land, who he met after finishing official duties, and other such trivial details.
Not exactly detailed, but deeper than what you’d find in official histories.
There were even notes about animals he had kept—raccoons and rabbits.
Huh.
Not unlike now.
[Affection: Siwoo]
93%
Siwoo is thinking, “I want to know more…”
“…?”
Wait, he wants to know more?
But I’m the one who read the book.
Why is his affection going up?
What even is this affection system?
Clicking my tongue in frustration, I kept reading.
Maybe because the affection level had randomly gone up, but now I was imagining myself in the scenes described in the record—even though I hadn’t experienced any of it.
And then something even stranger happened.
* * *
