Around that time, Dana was in the midst of turning the empire into a wasteland. Reforming the rotten empire was necessary, so making more enemies was inevitable.
Though she knew it was something she had to do, there were times when she felt like disappearing. It was natural to crave someone to share her thoughts with. However, there was no one in the empire with the guts to share a drink with the Iron-Blooded Emperor.
Except for Banessa, that person.
And so, somehow, they occasionally ended up drinking together.
「Sister, hic! You can take it easy. I’m telling you. I’ve been watching our lord closely. Too much responsibility will shorten your lifespan! Do you want to die young? Huh? Do you want to die young?!」
「Huh, are you saying you were too harsh, Sister? Never! You were perfect! Shout out like today! That’s how people get their heads straight, you know? What? You’re reluctant to step up? Don’t worry! I’ll take on the role of the villain, hic! Me and Brother will handle it all!」
At first, she thought he was a madman.
How dare he call the emperor and the emperor’s brother “Sister” and “Brother”?
But she just couldn’t hate him.
It was clearly nonsense, but as she listened, her heart strangely felt lighter.
He was quick-witted and scratched the exact spots that were itching. Even as she scolded him to shut his mouth, she found herself giggling. In the end, she couldn’t help but realize.
She had fallen.
For that crazy knight.
‘I must be insane. I’m really insane!’
Dana denied reality.
Banessa? Banessa, of all people? That I’ve fallen for that madman?
This makes no sense. My taste couldn’t be that frivolous. It must be that the pressure is getting to me, and I’ve temporarily lost my mind…
「The third wing has left? Without even saying goodbye to me?」
「Yes, it seems Lord Callisto was entrusted with the teleportation magic circle. Thanks to that, the entire palace is in an uproar. Ugh, it’s chaos even in his final moments.」
But Dana eventually had to admit it.
The moment she heard that Banessa had left, more precisely, the moment she heard that he left without even saying goodbye, it felt like the sky was falling.
‘That bastard, I’ll kill him!’
Despair turned into rage in the blink of an eye.
In truth, her anger wasn’t justified.
Officially, there was nothing between Banessa and her. That simple-minded, reckless knight probably didn’t even know what she thought of him. After all, she had never revealed her feelings!
‘I’ll never forgive him!’
Still, she couldn’t help but seethe with rage.
Dana fumed for days before reaching a conclusion. The sudden hardship awakened her instincts.
It was something she had learned from a lifetime of cleaning up after her bombshell of a younger brother. The word “despair” did not exist in her vocabulary. When faced with a challenge in life, all that was needed was to destroy it.
Just like now!
I just need to find a man far better than that insolent person!
So Dana began summoning eligible noblemen of marriageable age. She was determined to choose her future husband herself.
“Hoho, Your Majesty. When would be a good time to propose?”
When she first started, Dana believed she would succeed in no time.
She wasn’t looking for an extraordinary man. She was the emperor of a nation. She would handle everything herself. The man just had to be better than Banessa.
“I’d like to have the imperial wedding before spring ends.”
However, the more men she met, the more she realized how wrong she had been.
Had she truly gone mad?
Why did Banessa still seem like the best choice?
In the midst of her growing frustration, Dana pondered.
Is it really possible? Can I find a proper husband? Are there even any decent men left in this empire?
Maybe it was the lack of patience, but she wanted to throw the duke standing before her out of the window. Dana took a deep breath.
She had already acted rashly several times. Even before this duke, young high-ranking nobles had practically been kicked out of the drawing room after being harshly rejected by her.
‘At this rate, I’ll run out of potential husbands.’
She had to endure, as much as possible. If she didn’t like this duke, she would have to decline gracefully…
*Clunk.*
*Whiirrr.*
Then it happened.
Suddenly, the window flung open, and a strong gust of wind rushed in.
Dana flinched and looked toward the window. She was particularly startled because she had just been imagining throwing the duke out of it. The cold wind scattered her carefully styled gray hair.
“I’ll close it for you, Your Majesty.”
The duke, who had been passionately courting her, quickly stood up. He winked and approached the open window, walking as if he were a victorious general returning from battle.
He thought to himself.
‘Hmph, just as I thought. She’s clearly falling for me.’
Duke Alt was a terrible narcissist. His family had spoiled him since he was young.
This extended to his relationships. His romances were always perfect. Every woman he met clung to him… or so the duke was convinced.
‘There’s no need to listen to cowards. What? Ten men have already been rejected by the emperor? That she has impossibly high standards, and I should avoid embarrassment by not even entering the palace? Ridiculous.’
Before entering the palace, Duke Alt had boldly declared to those who warned him:
「I am Duke Alt! Her Majesty will have no choice but to recognize my charm.」
「Be realistic. You’re certainly attractive, but do you think you’re the only impressive man around her? She’s chosen by the gods. She’s not just the emperor but also a Wing. A mere human like you…」
「Ordinary, you say! Watch your words! I am Duke Alt!」
After boasting to those around him, he met Dana.
The result? As expected, it went exactly as he had predicted. Dana fell for him instantly.
Although she hadn’t said so explicitly, the duke was certain.
Her eyes, her expression—they told him everything. He chuckled, recalling how Dana had been too shy to even make proper eye contact with him.
Just as the duke was about to close the window, his hand froze.
He heard something strange.
*Ssssk.*
It was a sound like something crawling up the wall. The duke instinctively looked down. His eyes widened.
“Ugh!”
That was the last thing the duke said in the drawing room. A thick, dark brown tree root suddenly wrapped around his waist. Before he could utter another word, it yanked him out of the window as if pulling up a radish. The duke hung in midair, frozen for a moment, before he let out a scream.
“Aaaahhh!”
*Thud.*
The duke’s scream quickly faded into the distance.
The branches swiftly grabbed hold of the latch and closed the window. Silence returned to the drawing room.
Dana, who had been watching with her mouth agape, suddenly stood up. The moment she saw the wriggling branches, a person immediately came to mind.
“Callisto!”
She didn’t run toward the window but toward the door. She yanked it open, and on the other side stood a man leaning against the wall. Dana’s sharp voice rang out as she looked into his gray eyes, which mirrored her own.
“Are you out of your mind?”
“I had no choice. I couldn’t bear to listen to what that man was saying.”
Callisto said as he grimaced. Without even asking to enter, he stepped boldly into the room. Dana gritted her teeth as she watched his back in disbelief.
“Did you… overhear? Did you seriously make the spirits do that? Eavesdrop on my drawing room with the power of the goddess? Have you lost your mind?”
Callisto didn’t back down either.
“Sister, aren’t you being too much?”
“What did I do?!”
“You expect me to serve that trash as the emperor’s consort? Do you really think that’s something I can accept?”
Dana flinched. Callisto’s gray eyes burned with intensity. He ran a hand through his hair in frustration.
“I didn’t eavesdrop on purpose. Do you think the spirits would have come to me if things weren’t that bad? Your divine power was flaring out of control, so they begged me to check on you! That’s why I came!”
“The spirits?”
“Why have you been acting like this lately? Why are you trying to marry men you don’t even like?”
“That’s because of—”
“Responsibility! I understand that. But, I don’t know. Does simply placing any man on the throne as consort make it a responsible action? Especially Duke Alt? He’s trash. An idiot full of narcissism. If you’re going to put such a fool in the consort’s seat, then it would be better to just…!”
“To just what?”
Dana snapped. Callisto clamped his mouth shut. A name had filled his throat but never made it out.
‘This is driving me crazy.’
Though Dana didn’t know it, Callisto had long since figured out his sister’s feelings.
Callisto felt indebted to Dana.
Before he met Leticia, he had been a delinquent. Even though he had his reasons, that didn’t justify the suffering Dana had endured because of him.
In any case, he wanted to help his sister. That’s why he ignored the Tower’s constant calls for him and remained in the empire.
‘Should I have held onto that bastard?’
Despite that, he couldn’t easily accept his sister’s feelings for Banessa.
After all, Callisto himself considered Banessa to be a half-crazed lunatic. He’d failed over ten times trying to bury him underground.
Without a doubt, Banessa was the first person in his life to irritate him so relentlessly without any malice.
‘I thought Sister would handle it well on her own.’
Still, if Dana chose Banessa, Callisto knew he’d have to help.
Banessa might be a Wing, but he was also a knight of a foreign nation. Their relationship wouldn’t be an easy one.
‘And yet, he left without even saying goodbye to her?’
When Banessa barged into his palace asking him to make a teleportation scroll because he had to return to his Principality, Callisto had assumed everything between him and Dana had been sorted out.
But after barely escaping Banessa’s relentless badgering and checking on things, it turned out that wasn’t the case.
Banessa had left the empire without a word. And this was the result!
‘If you ever cross my path again, you’re dead.’
Callisto gazed coldly out the window where Duke Alt had disappeared.
By now, the duke was likely packed into a carriage sent by his family and on his way back to his estate. Hopefully, he’d never dare try such nonsense again, not knowing his place.
“There’s news from the Tower.”
That aside, Callisto had to deal with the immediate issue at hand. He pulled out the reason he had come here in the first place. It was a letter Valenos had brought from the Tower to the empire. Handing over the paper, still faintly pulsing with dark blue magic, Callisto spoke.
“The movements of the stars have changed. A new ruler has appeared in the Holy Empire.”
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