The Emperor's Only Love

Later, Empress Victoria Sinclair summoned me to the palace, just as I had expected.

Dorian and Celeste's outing had been discovered. Dorian was grounded and forbidden from seeing Celeste again.

Empress Victoria ordered me to talk some sense into Dorian, and I had no choice but to obey.

As soon as I got close to Dorian's quarters, I could hear him throwing a violent tantrum and the sound of things shattering.

The moment I opened the door, I heard him shout, "Get out! All of you get out!"

Right then, with a loud crash, a porcelain vase smashed into my forehead. Everything went black for a moment, and I had to grab onto the door to steady myself.

Dorian saw it was me and froze, looking somewhat concerned. However, his pride kept him from saying anything.

Then, he suddenly said, "Was it you? Did you tell Mother?"

I could feel blood trickling down from my forehead, so I wiped it away with my handkerchief. I looked at him, and he seemed like a completely different person from that night.

I wondered what on earth my past self had ever seen in him.

I pressed my hand against my forehead as I explained. "It wasn't me. Whether you believe me or not, I didn't say anything."

"It really...wasn't you?" Dorian asked skeptically.

"How's Celeste? Did they punish her?" His tone was urgent and filled with regret.

"She's fine. They just won't let her leave the house."

...

That day, Dorian kept me there talking nonstop while drinking heavily. He told me all about how he had fallen for Celeste and the fun times they had shared.

I sat there quietly listening to their story, feeling absolutely nothing. Dorian said he did not care whether she was a legitimate or illegitimate daughter. He only loved Celeste as a person, and he promised to love only her.

Sure, Dorian could claim not to care about her status, but the woman who would stand as his official wife had to be of proper birth.

As I was about to leave, he broke down in tears and begged me to make sure Celeste knew that he would come find her.

...

In my past life, before I died, Dorian came to see me. He even brought what he called good news.

In a voice as gentle as if he were speaking to a lover, he said the cruelest things.

"Do you want to know how your precious mother is doing now?"

My throat was too damaged to speak, so I could only make grunting sounds.

"She's been sold to a brothel, I believe. I wonder if she'll be as tough as you and survive as long."

I thrashed on the ground, but my tears had long since run dry.

"Don't rush. There's more, like your father, your brother, your sister-in-law, and your nephew."

He was a complete monster.

I coughed up blood, lashing out wildly, wanting to kill him.

"Your father and brother are at the palace now. They can only stay inside the palace walls. Do you know why? Because they're made palace servants!"

He laughed maniacally as he said, "Oh, and your sister-in-law, she's so young. The soldiers at the military camp took a liking to her. What do you think happened to her? Don't worry about your nephew. He's so little; what can he do? He's out on the streets begging now. So, how do you like my arrangements? Pretty fair, don't you think? Or should I make some adjustments?"

...

After that day, Dorian realized throwing tantrums was not going to solve anything. He moped around for a while, then he went back to his usual self and stopped mentioning Celeste.

Then, he followed Empress Victoria's arrangements and summoned me to the palace regularly to 'build a relationship' with him, at least on the surface. However, in reality, I was just passing words between the two of them.