* * *
Zeroth couldn’t forget the feeling of that small body trembling helplessly in his arms.
Had he failed to give Sylvian any reason to trust him?
He agonized over why Sylvian couldn’t open his eyes even for a second in his arms.
When he awoke, Zeroth would have to kneel at his feet and beg forgiveness for everything.
For his failure to protect him.
For all the actions that had made him untrustworthy.
“I already told His Majesty that I won’t attend the trial.”
“Sylvian wouldn’t want to see your face all bruised either, Duke.”
“As a dominant Alpha, do you really think I’d fall apart that easily?”
Zeroth dismissed Kelvin, who was still trying to get him to rest.
He stayed by Sylvian’s side all day, releasing his pheromones in hopes they would draw him back faster.
He couldn’t bear to lose someone he loved again—not so meaninglessly.
If that was love, then he would call it love.
It was love.
That’s why, even as he denied his feelings for Sylvian, he had to admit he’d fallen again.
“When you wake, I’ll tell you over and over until you’re sick of hearing it. So you won’t ever think of running away again.”
He had only ever demanded love from Sylvian.
He had never once spoken his own feelings aloud.
Zeroth remembered the first night—how Sylvian looked up at him, frightened out of his wits.
“Hh…”
He had been so tense he could barely breathe.
Zeroth had kissed that pale, terrified face and breathed warmth into it.
“If you don’t want it, I won’t do anything. Just… please open your eyes.”
He pressed a soft kiss to Sylvian’s forehead.
As the sun set, he sat there unmoving, holding Sylvian’s hand.
Paul and Elgana came in now and then to check Sylvian’s condition.
Yuri and Martius nagged him to eat something.
And night fell again.
Watching Sylvian still asleep without so much as a stir, Zeroth realized that he, too, was ultimately powerless.
No matter how much he wished or prayed, some things were still beyond his reach.
The anguish overflowed from his eyes.
Only the high, pale moon bore witness to his sorrow.
“It’s been a while.”
“…You.”
On the day of Karl Rooster’s trial, Zeroth had no choice but to return to the palace.
The Emperor was at a loss for words at the sight of Zeroth’s face.
“The rebel leaders have been sentenced to death. Karl has agreed to marry Lady Nefer.”
“Then that’s enough.”
Did he really… feel nothing at all?
There was no anger or vengeance on that expressionless face.
The emptiness on the duke’s face made the Emperor stifle a sigh.
He felt like he was the villain.
“The Duchess will awaken soon. If you’re not satisfied with the current physicians, I’ll send in imperial doctors.”
“They’ve already come several times. That’s enough.”
They didn’t know why Sylvian wouldn’t wake up either.
They just repeated exactly what Paul had said, word for word.
“Until she wakes, why don’t you take some more time to rest—”
“Duke. Wouldn’t it be better to work instead?”
Crown Prince Aihin cut in before Zeroth could finish his request for more leave.
Standing beside him was his fiancée, Elizabeth.
“Your Highness. My Lady.”
Zeroth offered a respectful greeting, and Elizabeth gave a wry smile and waved her hand.
“We’ve still got a while before the wedding.”
“But you’ll be married before the year’s out, won’t you?”
“I was hoping Sylvian would attend. So I guess we’ll have to wait together, Duke.”
She spoke cautiously, expressing her feelings.
The duke, once cold and ruthless, now had warm, soulful eyes.
He finally looked… ordinary.
Knowing he too suffered and poured his heart into love made her heart ache even more.
“Here, these are the earrings you lent to Sylvian.”
“I’d forgotten. Thank you for bringing them back.”
When Elizabeth opened the box that Zeroth had handed her, Aihin, who was watching beside her, opened his mouth in surprise.
He hadn’t expected her to like Sylvian enough to lend her own gift.
“You’ll begin reporting to the knights from tomorrow.”
“I’ll think about it.”
Zeroth nodded at the Crown Prince’s words and headed to the courtroom.
The courtroom was packed with nobles eager to witness the punishment that would be handed to Marquis Rooster.
“For today’s trial, we’ve specially allowed commoners to attend. We vow to uphold fairness and integrity in judging the criminal, Karl Rooster.”
The independence army protested their innocence, rebelling even as they were judged, but Marquis Rooster calmly confessed everything he knew about the independence forces and their crimes.
The nobles looked confused, unable to understand why someone like the Marquis would side with the rebels.
“Norman, who first declared war on the Empire, became the defeated nation. Your sense of injustice does not justify killing innocent civilians.”
The court sentenced the independence fighters to death.
The executions were carried out on the spot.
Those who resisted, screaming they couldn’t die, had their heads severed by the executioner’s blade.
“Do you also admit to your crimes?”
“Yes. I do.”
“Hahaha. That’s enough acting, Marquis.”
The nobles looked puzzled at the judge’s words.
“The Marquis infiltrated the independence army and provided them funds under His Majesty’s secret order to eliminate them from within.”
Zeroth calmly sat in the courtroom, watching their little play unfold.
Strangely enough, he felt nothing.
No anger, no desire to kill anyone.
He had finally found Sylvian, but as the days dragged on without him waking, it felt like his heart shattered a little more each day.
Despite the nobles’ confusion, the judge proceeded to read aloud the imperial order given to the Marquis years ago.
“Will you be alright?”
“No. I’m going to break.”
“Let it go. Even Marquis Rooster is full of regrets.”
The fact that Karl had kidnapped the duchess was conveniently omitted.
Since he would soon be restored to power, it was better for both sides not to tie him to Sylvian anymore.
‘This is ridiculous.’
Karl, seated in the courtroom, couldn’t even speak as he heard the ruling.
Who—who had done this?
He understood that it couldn’t be helped, but he still thought he would face some sort of punishment.
It had been entirely his will to kidnap Sylvian.
He had acted for Hailey.
He hated Zeroth and wanted to destroy him.
The cost of ignoring the truth was steep.
Everything was now covered up as having been “for the Empire.”
“…The sins I’ve committed…”
Karl opened his mouth faintly, but then fell silent as he met a pair of red eyes from afar.
That gaze was filled with condemnation—but not with a desire to kill.
Why? Why not?
Karl shut his mouth tightly and stood to bow before the Emperor.
As the Marquis’s long list of achievements was read out, the nobles widened their eyes.
Even the kidnapping of the duchess was reinterpreted as Karl having preemptively rescued her from independence forces plotting revenge against the duke’s family.
“Incredible. Both the Duke and the Marquis.”
“So the duchess collapsed out of fear caused by those barbaric rebels.”
The nobles remained curious about the duchess, who still hadn’t made a public appearance.
Leaving them behind, Zeroth quietly exited the courtroom.
* * *
