The Evil Empress Adores Me - Chapter 135

“…what?”

I looked vacantly at Damian. 

His calm voice caressed my ears.

“I’ve been thinking about it. Why do I want to become the emperor, and why do I want to rise to the highest position in the empire?”

“Damian.” 

“And all the reasons ended with you.”

The moment he said those words, all light and sound disappeared from the world. 

The rest of the world turned to black and white, only Damian had color. 

“I cannot entrust this empire to an irresponsible uncle…I have to take responsibility as the Crown Prince…”

Damian shook his head as he smiled faintly. 

“Of course, this doesn’t mean I’ve never considered it, but.”

Damian reached out and gently caressed my hand. 

“Before all that, I want to make you happy somehow.” 

“I-I.”

“Without you by my side, nothing in this world has meaning.”

That meant…

I stared at Damian, my eyes trembling.

Scarlet eyes, shining like a setting sun, were focused on me.

“It means I love you.”

I could feel the love in his voice as he calmly spoke without hesitation. 

“That’s what I had to say to you today.”

“I’m sorry that I confessed rather suddenly, but…”

Damian smiled shyly, like a young boy meeting his long-lost first love.

“I couldn’t stand it any longer.”

I was barely thinking.

That one confession brought about so many implications. 

What if Damian and I were engaged not out of ‘necessity’ but out of ‘love between the opposite sex.’

If Damian and I were on the same point, I’d be so happy I’d cry without even knowing it. 

Wait, what if Damian notices my heart pounding like crazy? 

Even if that happens, I can be happy about one thing. 

At this very moment, Damian said he loves me…

“To be honest.”

“Huh?”

“Hearing you call Sienna by her name…”

Feeling like I was possessed, I said that out of the blue.  

I was perfectly fine. I hadn’t had a single drop of alcohol. 

And yet…

The truth that I kept bottled up deep down in my heart finally came out. 

“…it really bothered me.”

“Charlize.”

“At first, I just thought I was sad about losing a dear friend.”

My voice was trembling slightly.

“You were my precious friend before we were crown prince and maid.”

The next thing I knew, my voice was trembling terribly.

“So, I thought that was what bothered me…”

I inhaled deeply and met Damian’s gaze again. 

“Now, I don’t think that’s it.”

“…then?”

“I-.”

I had this feeling I couldn’t shake off. 

Because the moment I say this, Damian and I won’t be able to go back to our old relationship.

But I still wanted to. 

This overflowing feeling in my heart, this uncontrollable emotion. 

It can’t be expressed with soft, shallow words…

“I want you Damian, all to myself.” 

It was an intense desire to monopolize him. 

My lips spoke slowly.

“…I don’t want to share you with anyone.”

Silence passed.

The silence was deafening as the deepest parts of a river.

After a moment, Damian stutteringly asked me. 

His voice was desperate, giving the impression we’d collapse and die right here and now if we weren’t thinking alike. 

“I need to know…do-do you love me?”

“I do.”

I wholeheartedly knew it for the first time. 

I could answer without the slightest hint of hesitation. 

I didn’t want to hide my feelings from Damian any longer.

I calmly fixed my gaze on Damian.

The scarlet eyes, which always shone brilliantly, were now dimly filled with smoldering heat.

“…Charlize.”

Damian reached out to me.

I didn’t avoid that hand.

The hand that held the sword for so, so long, gently wrapped around my chin, slowly lifting it upwards. 

Feeling his touch, I closed my eyes.

Our lips met.  

My whole body felt hot like a fire inside me from the searing touch of his lips. 

Our excited breathing mingled as his breath warmed my soul. 

The time spent seemed as long as an eternity and as short as an instant. 

Slowly, slowly.

“….ha.”

Finally, I let out a deep breath.

As if he never wanted to leave, Damian slowly parted his lips from me. 

His eyes looked down at me like they were going to consume me whole.

‘I….’

I want you to keep looking at me like that.

No one else, just me.

I raised my trembling hand and wrapped it around Damian’s neck.

Though the thumping sound from my heart disturbed my ears.

It felt like only Damian and I were the people that existed. 

I opened my lips and said what I craved most. 

“I don’t want to go back to what we had before.” 

I want you. 

I’m tired of constantly lying to myself.

I don’t want to be your friend anymore.

I…

I want to be your one and only. 

At that moment, Damian hugged me tightly.

***

That night.

Damian and I happily crossed the boundary. 

We spent our time just being together. 

An Old Promise

After the harvest festival, I had some free time for the first time in a long time.

As I looked through the piled-up letters, I put a hearty smile on my lips without realizing it.

It was because I found a familiar name among the letters.

“Is that Ellen?”

I picked up the letter.

[Dear Sister Charlize. Sister, how are you? This is Ellen. I heard that my sister recently became a saintess of Lebane. We were all very happy.]

I could vividly imagine her innocent voice in my ears. 

However, ‘Saintess of Lebane’…

It’s so embarrassing to hear such a nickname from Ellen.

I shuddered slightly and continued to finish reading the letter.

I read some short stories she recounted in her letter. 

From two children arguing over a children’s book and an older sister that requested a history book but their teacher objected…

‘It seems like there aren’t enough books for children to read.’

Well, books were a luxury item.

Although the price has become cheaper with the development of printing technology, it still was quite pricey.

The children’s orphanage probably doesn’t have a sufficient budget for a sizable number of books. 

I could understand the teacher’s refusal, so I narrowed my brows.

Ellen, who had been talking about those around her for a while, now went back to her own story.

[Oh, you remember when the back of my hand hurt? The scary lady scratched it with her fingernails.]

Hmm, are we talking about the spring tea party?

She’s probably referring to Lady Bennet as the scary lady, right?

I tilted my head and read the following.

[Actually, something really strange happened. 

I went back to the orphanage that day, and the wound on my hand and back was completely healed! 

Of course, the teacher didn’t believe me…

Still, I believed that Sister Charlize was a special person. 

By the way, I was surprised to hear that Sister Charlize had manifested the divine beast’s power. 

My hand must have gotten better thanks to you Sister, right?]

Hey, did that happen?

I gaped.

I thought I had awakened to the power of the divine beast quite suddenly. 

[I look forward to seeing you again next time. Until then, stay healthy, Sister!]

The letter ended with a cheerful greeting.

Hmm, the power of the divine beast.

I thought for a moment.

I heard that the divine beast Aurelia had both the ‘power of destruction’ and the ‘power of purification.’

The Damian of the original novel awakened the power of destruction, culminating in a terrible ending. 

However, Damian has the power of purification now and seems to be quite mentally healthy.

There was no such thing as an impoverished figure in the original work.

“Whoa.”

I unknowingly let out a short sigh.

Now that I think of it, I seem to be giving the ‘original novel’ a lot of thought. 

Just how far did my intervention change the course of events?

Damian’s no longer…he’s not going to fall into despair somehow, is he?

Feeling blue, I picked up the letter again. 

I tried to write as clearly as possible, but I felt a little better when I couldn’t help but see the crooked letters.

That’s my Ellen.

Sending me letters like this—isn’t it just cute and commendable?

Damian, who had been folding letters and putting them into envelopes with a satisfied look, approached me. 

“Charlize.”

“Oh, Damian. You’re back?”

I welcomed him.