It was an absurd statement.

A marriage without my consent—I couldn’t comprehend what he was even saying.

“Absolutely not, you—according to your will…!”

It won’t happen.

My tongue stiffened, making speech increasingly difficult.

Helsion, seemingly guessing my condition, gently crinkled the corners of his eyes. Then, as if already knowing I wouldn’t hear him out, he replied.

“Unfortunately, young lady, you will marry me. No matter how much you kick and scream in refusal, it’s useless. After all, a grand wedding ceremony isn’t the only way to become husband and wife.”

Surely…!

I stared at Helsion with shocked eyes.

As if he’d perfectly read the thoughts flashing through my mind, he nodded leisurely and continued.

“You’re probably right in your thinking. We plan to consummate the marriage before the wedding ceremony. I’ll lavish affection upon you until we conceive a lovely child who resembles us.”

“Mad, madman!”

I wanted to hurl curses at him, but the paralyzing poison rendered me unable to speak—driving me to the brink of madness.

I couldn’t understand why he’d go this far.

I knew he coveted the magical engineering weapons I’d created. But to obtain them through such a method…?

A sudden realization struck me, and I stared at Helsion as if in shock.

I now understood what he was truly after.

‘My child…?’

Obviously, if I died, everything would be inherited by my child.

If I gave birth to Helsion’s child while paralyzed by poison and then died, that child would inherit all the magical engineering weapons I’d created.

As the child’s father, Helsion could claim ownership of those weapons on the child’s behalf—and no one could stop him.

‘This can’t be happening!’

It was horrifying.

Helsion undoubtedly planned to forcibly marry me—and then take my life.

Seeing my wide, shocked eyes, Helsion chuckled softly. He must have realized I’d figured out his entire scheme.

“It’s already too late, young lady. That’s why I wished you’d have simply accepted my proposal.”

“This… this…!”

You bastard!

If I ever escape this, I won’t let Helsion get away with it—emperor of Karua Empire or not.

But unlike my boiling rage, my body grew increasingly rigid, completely immobile. I could barely force even a single word from my lips.

Still smiling, Helsion effortlessly lifted me into his arms.

Placing me—motionless as a doll, only my eyes blinking—onto a chair with a backrest, he loudly called out toward the outside.

“Hey, there!”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

At his voice, people who had been standing far away approached.

“Lady Brellof has accepted my marriage proposal—immediately announce this news.”

“Understood.”

“We will consummate the marriage tonight—make the necessary preparations.”

“Orders received.”

No one questioned the fact that the consummation would precede the wedding ceremony.

This was the Karua Empire. No one dared contradict Emperor Helsion.

I watched helplessly as the chief steward and palace attendants moved to carry out his orders. Darkness clouded my vision—I couldn’t think of any way to escape this situation.

Hiss! Hiss!

Soon, a small snake slithered across Helsion’s hand, flicking its tongue, then crawled onto me.

The sensation of the snake wriggling inside my dress was so horrifying I squeezed my eyes shut.

“From now until you give birth to our child, this snake will remain with you. Though the paralyzing poison prevents movement, your mind still functions—think carefully. The only path for your survival is to follow me.”

My tongue had completely stiffened, rendering me speechless. I glared at Helsion with all the strength I could muster.

I’d rather die than obey his will—even slightly.

Helsion chuckled, gently stroking the corner of my eye. Tilting his head with an expression of pure amusement, he whispered softly.

“Oh, did I mention? I quite like how stubborn you are, young lady.”

Unspoken curses swirled uselessly inside my mouth.

“As I said earlier, I’m greedy—I must possess whatever I desire. I’ll handle everything myself, so you just stay still as you are now.”

I was anxious. Though I tried not to show it outwardly, my insides burned with urgency.

The only silver lining was that Helsion, wishing others to believe I’d accepted his proposal, wasn’t touching me yet.

Still, time was running out.

He’d publicly declared we’d consummate the marriage tonight—I had to act before then.

I tried to think calmly, but it wasn’t easy. I was furious beyond reason—and terrified.

Again and again, Ascan’s face—seen just before I entered the imperial palace—flickered before my eyes.

‘Ascan…!’

Tanashia, who’d entered the imperial palace saying she’d be right back, hadn’t emerged even after a long time passed. Zen sensed something was wrong.

But he couldn’t act on mere suspicion.

Perhaps an unforeseen circumstance had prolonged her meeting with Helsion.

Zen was patiently waiting for Tanashia when—

Clatter, clatter!

He overheard fragments of conversation between knights galloping past on horseback.

“Did you hear the news? Lady Brellof has accepted His Majesty the Emperor’s marriage proposal—she’ll soon become Empress.”

“Really? So that’s why they summoned Lady Brellof to the Karua Empire—to propose?”

“That’s right. It was officially announced just now—there’s no mistake.”

Zen stared incredulously at the spot where the knights had passed.

Tanashia didn’t always consult Zen before making decisions, but he knew for certain that today’s meeting with Helsion wasn’t intended to accept a marriage proposal.

Moreover, she’d said something to him while coming here.

—I know Ascan keeps saying things that annoy you. But please, try to see him in a better light.

—Why should I…!

—Because he’s the man I love.

Zen had guarded Tanashia for ten years. He knew her personality—she’d never do something she hated, even if it killed her.

Though he intensely disliked that the man she cherished was Ascan, he knew she’d never marry Helsion and abandon him.

That was as impossible as the sky splitting in two.

‘Something’s wrong.’

Dismissing it as mere rumor felt impossible—the knights’ mention of “officially announced” gnawed at him.

An ominous feeling, incomparable to anything before, washed over him. It was the intuition only someone who’d long guarded Tanashia could possess.

Silently, Zen looked up at the sky.

Before entering the imperial palace today, he’d given Tanashia a signal flare. If anything happened, she should have sent the signal.

‘I didn’t expect not seeing the flare to make me even more uneasy.’

In the worst-case scenario, Tanashia might be in a situation where she couldn’t even use the flare.

Zen hesitated. Should he wait for Tanashia to emerge—or verify the story he’d just heard?

With communication cut off from Orland, the decision rested entirely on him.

At that moment—

Clomp, clomp. The chief steward who’d escorted Tanashia into the palace appeared.

The steward seemed to remember Zen, who’d followed Tanashia earlier. He walked straight toward Zen and spoke.

“The bodyguard who accompanied Lady Brellof may now return.”

“What do you mean? Where is Miss Tanashia?”

“No need to worry. Lady Brellof has accepted His Majesty the Emperor’s proposal—she plans to consummate the marriage tonight within the palace.”

So suddenly?

Zen couldn’t accept it.

Even if the steward’s words were entirely true, it was proper etiquette to summon members of the Brellof family to attend to her.

“In that case, I’ll bring the maids who serve the young lady.”

Zen decided he must meet Tanashia, no matter what excuse he had to make.

But the steward shook his head and spoke reassuringly.

“His Majesty has ordered that the palace will handle all preparations for the consummation. With little time remaining, there’s no need to bring maids from the Brellof household.”

There was no reason to conceal officially announced information from Zen alone. Rather, the steward spoke as if kindly explaining matters to the bodyguard of the woman soon to be Empress.

‘Consummating before even holding the wedding ceremony…’

Zen was certain.

Something terrible had definitely happened.

Yet, hiding his inner turmoil, Zen replied to the steward with a blank expression.

“Understood. Then I shall take my leave.”

Zen walked obediently toward the palace exit. The moment the steward and palace guards were out of sight—

Swish. As if vanishing into thin air, Zen’s figure disappeared completely.

He’d activated his darkness attribute ability to infiltrate the palace covertly.

The Karua Empire was a powerful nation with strong military authority. Palace security was tight—if he delayed, he’d likely be discovered.

The time he had to investigate unnoticed was short.

Anxiously, Zen hurried past buildings, frantically searching for Tanashia.

‘Miss, where on earth are you?’

Fortunately, before long, Tanashia’s familiar figure entered his field of vision.

But something was wrong. Tanashia sat motionless as a puppet with severed strings, attended by palace maids.

The maids held various wedding dresses before her and asked,

“Which of these do you prefer?”

“……”

But Tanashia gave no answer.

Though the maids looked confused, they wisely stayed silent—unwilling to upset the woman soon to be Empress.

After a moment, Tanashia closed her eyes as if resigned.

Zen quietly confirmed her location.

Ascan was meeting Bill at the mansion as planned.

Bill, seeing Calspeliver completely transformed for the first time, couldn’t close his mouth in astonishment.

“It’s truly incredible. I’d heard Lady Brellof was a genius in magical engineering, but I never imagined she could accomplish this so perfectly.”

Ascan chuckled as if receiving the praise himself, nodding.

“I know. I was surprised too—the level of completion exceeded my imagination.”

“If Lady Brellof’s magical engineering weapons are this exceptional, they’ll greatly aid us. To achieve our goal as quickly as possible—”

“Enough.”

The cheerful atmosphere lasted only a moment. Ascan cut off Bill’s words, refusing to listen further.

Bill looked puzzled, but Ascan had no intention of using Tanashia for revenge.

As he’d told Bill before, he couldn’t forget his vengeance. But neither could he treat a woman he cared for as a mere chess piece.

“Bill, obtaining Calspeliver is enough. Our plan is progressing well—there’s no need to drag her into it.”

“What do you mean? If there’s a faster way to exact revenge, why take the long route?”

It was an unexpected clash of opinions. Somehow, whenever Tanashia was involved, their thoughts diverged sharply.

Ascan was about to speak, frowning—

Clunk. Something distinct from the natural sound of wind was detected.

It was a sound too faint for an ordinary person to hear—but it couldn’t escape Ascan’s keen ears.

Ascan instantly realized an intruder had entered the mansion.

He didn’t know who dared sneak into the mansion where he was present.

“Shh.”

Ascan first raised a finger to his lips.

Bill, though unaware of the intruder, immediately fell silent—acting swiftly, knowing Ascan’s exceptional hearing.

Moments later, they heard footsteps rapidly approaching along the building’s outer wall.

The moment Ascan and Bill exchanged glances and turned toward the window—

Bang!

The window suddenly flew open, and someone leapt inside.

The figure who rolled swiftly through the air and landed on the floor was Zen.

Surprised by Zen’s unexpected appearance—after all, he was supposed to be guarding Tanashia—Ascan wore a puzzled expression.

Zen, face rigid, looked at Ascan and spoke.

“…Something has happened.”

“Something?”

Ascan was still frowning in confusion when—

Clatter-clatter. This time, rapid footsteps approached from the corridor.

The door burst open without a knock, and Carlton rushed in. He was breathing heavily from running so urgently.

“Huff, huff—C, Captain. It’s a disaster.”

Ascan shifted his gaze from Zen to Carlton, who’d suddenly appeared.

“What’s happened?”

“I, I just received word from the imperial palace. Lady Brellof has accepted His Majesty the Emperor’s marriage proposal—she plans to consummate the marriage tonight within the palace.”

Ascan’s eyebrows twitched. His jaw clenched tightly, neck veins standing rigid.

Darkness settled into his golden eyes. From his grimly sunken expression radiated an overwhelming, terrifying aura—as if he were a volcano on the verge of eruption.

Though Bill, Carlton, and even Zen in the room were all highly skilled, they were completely overwhelmed by the pressure emanating from Ascan.

In a voice lowered like a gathering storm, Ascan spoke.

“What the hell are you talking about right now?”