Creak—

The door was pushed open, and the cold late-autumn wind blew into the bedchamber, neutralizing the stuffy warmth left behind by the long-running heating arrays.

That heat perhaps was not solely the work of the warming arrays, though there was no way to distinguish it now.

The silver-white, icy figure stepped into the room. Her posture remained graceful and elegant, noble and imposing as ever, though her footsteps were slightly disordered.

Eyes carrying a chill comparable to the autumn wind outside swept across the room. The unpleasant traces left behind by those wicked women still remained, while a certain yellow-haired man was nowhere to be seen.

Her Majesty the Empress narrowed her eyes coldly, just about to flare up—

“Oh? Let me see whose Majesty this is. Did she get lost?”

A broad, warm embrace suddenly wrapped around her from behind.

That magnetic voice carried enough charm to make any young woman’s heart race and face flush. Combined with the deliberate teasing brush of breath against her earlobe, it was undoubtedly a devastating sneak attack.

Certain yellow-haired scoundrel was brimming with confidence, convinced this would surely conquer Her Majesty the Empress and rewrite his suspended death sentence...

“Let go.”

However, the Empress’s response descended like ice and snow.

“What’s wrong? Who upset my Majesty?”

Certain yellow-haired scoundrel attempted to continue his offensive and turn the situation around. But just as his wandering hands tried to move farther...

the ice grew colder.

“Let go.”

Celicia turned around expressionlessly.

“Do you want me to kick you?”

“......Fine.”

Muen quickly released her and raised both hands high, signaling that he was one hundred percent a proper gentleman.

Of course, it was not because he was scared.

It was simply because he understood...

When An, Anna, Liya, or Ariel said they would kick him, it might merely be flirtatious teasing.

But Cia...

she kicked for real.

And while those jade-like feet tasted wonderful when licked, getting kicked in the ass by them truly did not feel very good.

“Did someone really upset you?”

“I get it! It was those Kingdom bastards during the negotiations, right? Things didn’t go well? I knew it! How could those greedy people possibly give up their interests so easily? Those assholes—once I get the time, I’ll definitely teach them a brutal lesson!”

Muen pounded his chest, looking deeply concerned, as though he wanted nothing more than to march over and beat those hateful nobles senseless before hugging the Empress’s jade feet to soothe the grievances she had suffered.

“......”

Celicia said nothing. She merely stared at Muen coldly.

“W-what’s wrong?”

Muen blinked innocently, looking pure and harmless.

“Is there something on my face?”

“You’re still pretending to be stupid? Do you really think those trash could make me angry?”

“Then...”

Celicia suddenly stepped forward, grabbed the tie Muen had just put back on, and directly continued the topic from before she left.

“Did you enjoy yourself just now?”

“Of course not—”

Muen originally intended to righteously express his pain and humiliation...

but under the Empress’s gaze, which seemed to see through everything, his tone could only abruptly shift into something more tactful.

“It wasn’t that enjoyable...”

“Really? It looked to me like you were in absolute ecstasy.”

“That was only something I deliberately acted out!”

Muen’s grievance immediately transformed into solemn sorrow.

“If I hadn’t acted that way, would they have let me go?”

“Oh?”

Celicia raised a beautiful brow.

“If that’s the case, then why didn’t you resist? You kept enthusiastically cooperating. Toward the end, you were the one taking the initiative, weren’t you?”

“Taking the initiative is absolutely slander! In that kind of situation, how can anyone still tell who’s active and who’s passive? As for not resisting...”

Muen tilted his head forty-five degrees toward the sky, like a fallen maiden reminiscing about an unbearable past.

“I was bullied by three people working together. Three... a full three! With these tiny arms and legs of mine, how could I possibly be a match for the three of them? After being viciously bullied by those three little devils, the fact I still haven’t been drained dry and can still stand here before you, Cia... don’t you think that’s already a miracle?”

“That’s right!”

Certain yellow-haired scoundrel spoke with dramatic rhythm, as though reciting poetry.

“A miracle! This is precisely the miracle born from my desperate resistance against completely falling into their demonic clutches—”

“That’s enough!”

Celicia sighed and instinctively pressed a hand against her forehead in helplessness.

This bastard’s slick tongue had grown stronger again.

At this rate, forget three or four women...

even if five or six came later, he would probably still be able to twist the argument his way.

“I’m not twisting anything.”

Muen seized the chance to stick close again.

“Every word I’ve said came straight from my heart.”

“...Hmph.”

Celicia could not be bothered continuing this topic any further, because even if she did, what would it accomplish? At most she could kick him a few times. She was unwilling to do anything harsher than that.

“Help me change.”

Celicia suddenly raised both hands.

“Huh? Change clothes?”

Muen froze for a second.

“Why not call the palace maids? I’m not really good with these complicated outfits...”

“Mm?”

“Your loyal attendant, Muen Campbell, is now at your service, Your Majesty.”

Muen placed a hand over his chest and gave a perfect bow, instantly slipping into his role as the Empress’s attendant.

Naturally, this was not because he was scared either.

He simply believed that as a true gentleman, relieving women of the trouble caused by overly complicated clothing they could not remove by themselves was part of his professional duty.

Incidentally, his professional duties also included many other things, such as shoulder massages, hand-holding, kissing, appreciating black stockings...

“How do I take this off?”

Having received permission to touch the Empress’s body, Muen’s hands immediately slid upward along her waist.

Her waist was already slender to begin with, but now, cinched tightly by the corset, it seemed delicate enough to grasp in one hand, like a willow branch ready to snap.

Yet the moment he crossed those plains, towering mountains rose abruptly from the earth, majestic and imposing like a mighty fortress, blocking the disrespectful intruder seeking to continue climbing upward.

“That’s not where you remove it from.”

Celicia coldly watched her so-called “attendant” openly taking advantage of his duties to grope her body. She showed no mercy. Her crystal-glossed high heel lifted. Though she had originally intended to use the heel, when it landed, it became the tip instead.

“The back!”

“Hiss, that hurts. You could’ve just said so. Why are you getting physical?”

Muen exaggerated his suffering, but his hands did not slow at all. He smoothly reached the back of the Empress’s waist.

Gently brushing aside the flower-like ornaments, and following Celicia’s continual guidance, Muen finally found the complicated hidden clasp concealed within the layered folds.

For the sake of elegance and prestige, every clasp on this gown had been hidden with meticulous care. Due to their awkward placement, even putting the dress on required several experienced palace maids assisting the Empress together, and it still took nearly an hour.

Taking it off required even more time.

But for Muen, once he located the clasps...

the dress was already as good as removed.

Click. Click. Click. Click.

Along with several crisp sounds of clasps disengaging, the upper half of Celicia’s gown immediately loosened, exposing her smooth jade-like back and fragrant shoulders completely.

“So beautiful.”

Muen lowered his head, carefully admiring the Empress’s sculpted collarbones and the sunlit slopes of the suddenly rising peaks.

“Well done.”

Under the hot breath filled with masculine scent brushing across her skin, Celicia narrowed her eyes slightly.

“I’ll give you a reward.”

“What reward—mmph!”

Before Muen could react, Celicia suddenly captured his lips.

There was not the slightest trace of coldness.

Even though Celicia’s small face remained incomparably icy, as though still displeased about earlier, her lips were burning hot.

Like a blaze igniting upon Muen’s lips before ruthlessly storming cities and seizing territory, continuously invading deeper and deeper.

Muen blinked, staring at Celicia mere inches away, somewhat surprised.

Because no matter what happened before, the girl had always maintained a certain restraint befitting the Empress of the Empire. Even during the earlier ambush by Anna and the others, that restraint had never disappeared.

But now...

that restraint seemed to have been thrown directly into the fire, causing the flames to burn even fiercer and hotter.

“Mmh...”

A deep kiss.

Then separation.

Heavy fragrant breaths continued blowing against him, revealing that internally, the Empress was perhaps not nearly as calm as she currently appeared.

And only then did Muen finally notice that faint, seductive flush upon the Empress’s fair skin had never actually faded away.

“My beloved Majesty... don’t tell me you...”

“Shut up!”

Celicia gave Muen no chance to speak at all. Her snake-like waist twisted, and she directly slipped free from the elaborate gown.

Snow-white... yet faintly pink skin was finally revealed completely to the air. Even the enchanted gemstones decorating the ceiling seemed to dim, not daring to compete against such flawless beauty.

Celicia pushed Muen directly down onto the bed, while she herself pounced after him and pinned him beneath her.

The familiar position. The familiar scene.

Only now, the noble Empress had changed outfits.

Before, she had worn magnificent royal attire, elegant and dignified.

Now, she wore nothing at all, breathtakingly flawless.

Either version was beautiful enough to leave people speechless.

“Haven’t you been getting rather arrogant lately?”

Celicia bent her waist and lowered her upper body, then used one finger to arrogantly lift Muen’s chin.

“Hm? Have I?”

“So many beautiful women are intimately connected to you, and every single one of them has an extraordinary status. There’s probably no one else in the world blessed like you are. Feeling proud of yourself?”

“Heaven bear witness, I’m a devoted romance loyalist!”

Muen raised his hands to support the shaded undersides of those twin peaks, slowly caressing them back and forth.

“I swear, my love comes from the bottom of my heart... for every single one of you.”

“You certainly have a lot of sincerity to go around. So who’s next? That little princess called Afrella?”

“...You know about her?”

“Of course I investigated women closely connected to you. Besides, her identity is far from simple.”

Celicia’s expression turned teasing.

“What? Worried? Thinking I can’t touch the others, but that little princess... is currently completely at my mercy?”

“No, no, you’ve misunderstood.”

Muen gave a bitter smile.

“In your eyes, am I some ultimate stallion who pushes down every woman he encounters? As long as she’s beautiful, I won’t let her go?”

“Aren’t you?” Celicia countered.

“Afrella is only fourteen! Even if I’m admittedly somewhat beastly in certain aspects, I’m not beastly enough to lay hands on a fourteen-year-old girl! People would curse me forever for that!”

Muen argued with righteous indignation.

“You’ve already done plenty of things that would make people curse you forever. The Saintess admired by countless believers was just beneath your crotch earlier...”

“...That’s different.”

His righteous aura vanished instantly. Immediate surrender.

After all, if that matter were exposed, it would go far beyond mere public criticism. Forget his reputation—his entire Campbell ancestral graveyard would be condemned into ruin.

“In any case... nothing like that is possible with Afrella. She’s too young, and my relationship with her isn’t what you think.”

“Really?”

Celicia lowered her eyes, carefully observing Muen’s face, searching for even the slightest trace of deception.

There was none.

Because no matter how he looked at it, Muen genuinely believed his relationship with Afrella remained pure and sacred.

After all, they were merely believer and object of belief.

“That said...”

Celicia suddenly murmured softly,

“Four years really isn’t very long, is it?”

“And those shameless sluts definitely won’t remain satisfied with their current positions forever either, so I must...”

“Hmm? What is Your Majesty saying?”

“I said nothing. Shut up!”

“Oh...”

Muen looked wronged. This time he truly had not done anything...

“Hiss—”

But he did not have time to feel wronged for long before suddenly sucking in a sharp breath.

Because this time there was neither foreplay nor punishment beforehand. Her lofty Majesty the Empress simply rolled her waist gracefully, allowing the dragon to return smoothly once more to its homeland.

“I told you already. Once I came back, I would punish you again.”

Looking at Muen’s pained expression after the sudden ambush, the Empress smiled wickedly.

“And this time...there’s no one left who can save you.”