“Haa…!”

 

Like an air bubble rising from the deep sea to the surface, her consciousness snapped awake in an instant. 

 

The senses, awakening one by one along with her returning consciousness, hastily pulled Dahlia toward reality.

 

Haa, haa—She was truly short of breath, as if grass had actually choked and blocked her throat. 

 

The suffocating tightness in her chest and the vague, lingering impression of being a woman—now all that remained—churned uncomfortably within Dahlia.

 

‘Who on earth was that person? It definitely wasn’t Her Majesty, so why in the world did I call that person mother…’

 

How could a mere dream’s afterimage embed itself so deeply? 

 

Lost in replaying the woman’s face, still vividly remembered even after waking, she suddenly sensed another’s presence.

 

“Your Highness, Your Highness. Are you awake? How are you feeling?”

 

Could this still be a dream? Is this gentle, affectionate child in my dream?

Dahlia stared blankly at Bertha, who was anxiously examining her, then realized the hand wiping away her cold sweat felt vividly real.

 

“Ber…tha…?”

 

“Yes, Your Highness. It’s me. Bertha. I’m here, Your Highness.”

 

Bertha’s eyes glistened with tears as she smiled brightly. 

 

Finally realizing this was not a dream, Dahlia rose and embraced Bertha.

 

“You’re alive, Bertha. You’re alive…!”

 

“I’m so sorry for coming so late, Your Highness. No matter what happened, I should never have left your side…”

 

“No. Thank you for being alive, Bertha. I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

 

Dahlia and Bertha held each other, alternating expressions of gratitude and apology. 

 

Bertha, especially, gently touched Dahlia’s even more gaunt body than she had heard, crying until her eyes were swollen.

 

“Your Highness, you must eat something. If you go on like this, something truly terrible might happen.”

 

Looking at Bertha firmly grasping her hand, Dahlia bit her lip lightly. It was because she realized Hissin had deliberately sent this child to her.

 

Bertha’s purpose is to attend to me. If I don’t stay quietly in this room, rest, eat, and recover my strength, the responsibility will fall squarely on Bertha.

 

‘So that’s their game…’

 

Dahlia, who had been lightly biting her lip, found herself staring into Bertha’s earnest eyes. 

 

The innocent child, who knew nothing, seemed simply overjoyed to be serving her princess again, unable to take her eyes off her.

 

“…Alright. I understand. I’ll eat.”

 

Dahlia reluctantly asked Bertha to bring her a meal. 

 

Before long, Bertha returned with a warm bowl of besara, a stew made by grinding cumin, onions, and fava beans.

 

Unable to use Baran’s native spices, its aroma was subtle, but it was precisely the mild food suitable for her sensitive stomach.

 

Dahlia slowly picked up her spoon and scooped some of the thin besara. 

 

As she swallowed the first mouthful, she felt her stomach, which had been rebelling against Mohron’s unfamiliar foods, settle somewhat.

 

“Please eat slowly, Your Highness. If it’s not enough, I can bring as much more as you need.”

 

Bertha spoke while meticulously watching over her, as if feeding a younger sibling. 

 

Dahlia offered a small smile and took another spoonful into her dry mouth.

 

It was the first time since arriving in Mohron that her hunger was truly sated. Her stomach felt uncomfortably full soon after, as it hadn’t had enough food for so long, but she managed to finish about half of what was brought.

 

After rinsing her mouth, Dahlia brought up the questions she had postponed.

 

“Where were you all this time? Did they hurt you or treat you roughly?”

 

“No, Your Highness. Thankfully, nothing like that happened.”

 

Bertha said the place she had been kept was an ordinary room, similar to this one. 

 

It had a bed and a table, and while the meals weren’t lavish, they were enough to get by.

 

“I don’t know what they’re thinking, but one thing is clear: they don’t seem intent on harming us. The people of Baran are also safe, Your Highness.”

 

Dahlia wore an expression of disbelief at Bertha’s words.

 

“The people are safe…? I distinctly saw the Moon Lions storm in that day…?”

 

“I thought I was seeing things at first, too, but the Moon Lions didn’t touch the civilian houses at all. In fact, if people were outside, they quietly sent them back inside.”

 

Seeing that allowed Bertha to feel certain her own family was safe. 

 

Thanks to that, she said she was able to endure her time here.

 

“And… they said once Your Highness eats well and recovers your strength, they won’t lock this door anymore.”

 

Bertha pointed to the closed door. 

 

There was always the clank of a bolt whenever it opened or closed, and besides the lock, a soldier was always posted in front of it.

 

Promising freedom once her strength recovered? 

 

Just as Bertha said, it was impossible to gauge what calculation Hissin had in mind.

 

“And, on the way here, my blindfold came loose a little so I peeked…”

 

Bertha glanced toward the closed door and lowered her voice to a whisper.

 

“I think this place where Your Highness is… might be his palace.”

 

“His?”

 

“Yes. The Gift of the Gods… no.”

 

Bertha, who had out of habi,t used the old title, quickly shook her head and corrected herself.

 

“Hissin.”

 

That this is one of the rooms inside Hissin’s palace. 

 

Dahlia, who had vaguely assumed it was some kind of detention center, was thrown into confusion by this unexpected fact.

 

To go so far as to imprison and care for her somewhere within his own palace. Without even coming to see her. To watch over her as she withered away like this.

[Endure it. Endure it and stay by my side.]

 

[That is the punishment I inflict upon you.]

 

From beyond her fading consciousness, the words Hissin had last carved into her mind resurfaced. 

 

Endure it. Stay by my side. That is the punishment he gives me.

 

How could that… possibly be a punishment?

 

How could a decision like that, where nothing is resolved, and we only gnaw away at each other, be a punishment? 

 

If it were punishment, it would be better if I alone suffered.

 

‘But you, watching me like that… you were suffering more.’

 

While she had resented and pushed him away with all her might in the moment, Dahlia knew the truth. 

 

That Hissin, who had deliberately wounded and shamed her with such cruelty, was also hiding guilt and anguish deep within his eyes.

 

He probably wasn’t even aware of it himself. 

 

It was a faint glimmer, but Dahlia saw it clearly. Seeing her suffer, Hissin was suffering in the same way.

 

And yet, he was straining with all his might to hold onto her. 

 

Even if his own body became riddled with wounds from the sharp thorns she had raised, he could not bring himself to let her go. 

 

Because he didn’t want to let go.

 

He had imprinted the daughter of the enemy who killed his parents and family upon his heart.

 

“For now… I suppose I must live quietly.”

 

If there is something more intense than love and hate, Dahlia thought quietly, it must be this nameless emotion they now possessed.

 

If we cannot let each other go.

 

Then perhaps to cut this bond with death… wouldn’t be so bad.

 

💫

 

Hissin walked down a long corridor and arrived before the interrogation chamber. 

 

As the soldiers opened the door, the pungent smell of iron mixed with the acrid stench of burning flesh assaulted his nose.

 

“Gyah, it hurts! Hot, it’s too painful!”

 

Khankundra, who had been jumping like a flea on the hot iron plate, suddenly began frantically scratching at the skin he hadn’t been able to touch before.

 

“Ehehehe… Itchy, it’s so itchy! There are bugs here! Filthy bugs are crawling all over my body!”

 

Khankundra scratched madly all over his body—face, arms, back—without distinction.

 

His nails had long since cracked and rotted away, so it was akin to scratching with bare fingers. 

 

Yet, the force was so great that the burned skin was on the verge of tearing away in shreds.

 

“Azure Gold Powder…! Bring me the Azure Gold Powder! I must smoke Sisha now! Bring me women and Sisha immediately!”

 

With bloodshot eyes, Khankundra shouted, then suddenly shook his head wildly.

 

“No, no, not now. I need that bitch’s blood now. Yes, bring her here now! Even if I have to chew her alive, I must drink Dahlia’s blood!”

 

Khankundra shook the iron bars as if having a seizure, then began laughing with a ‘ehehehe‘ again. 

 

Faced with his utterly deranged state, Hissin, seated in his chair, rubbed his throbbing forehead.

 

Unable to sleep deeply for days due to accumulated matters and various thoughts, his eyeballs felt searing hot, and his every nerve felt sharp like needles.

 

If he left Khankundra, who kept shrieking to bring Dahlia’s blood, any longer, he felt he might just kill him outright, regardless of interrogation.

 

Hissin barely suppressed the urge to tear the man’s mouth apart and commanded a soldier.

 

“Get rid of that. Bring in the Grand Vizier.”

 

“Yes, Lord Levitzenna.”

 

Soon, soldiers dragged the insane Khankundra away.