Chapter 19: Broken Hearts

Evelyn dressed as usual and headed to the room where the Emperor’s office was located.

Serus, who was guarding the door, looked at Evelyn and gave a polite example. Still, her body became stiff for no reason because it was the Imperial formality she felt after a long time.

“The Emperor is waiting.”

Evelyn nodded lightly.

It wasn’t a big deal, Fabian used to be so indifferent, and it wasn’t any different now. Besides, Evelyn’s situation was different now. She was no longer in need of getting Fabian ‘s attention or seeking his affection.

“I see you, Your Majesty.”

Evelyn walked into the room and set a straight example. Fabian unexpectedly sat on the sofa, not at his desk, and took Evelyn.

“Raise your head.”

Evelyn looked up as ordered and saw Fabian. It was a cold face. He was so calm that no one would believe that the two of them had been married in the past when people saw them.

“Sit down.”

“It’s all right.”

But Fabian pointed to the sofa with his eyes again. Evelyn couldn’t disobey his orders, so she sat down on the sofa. Only then their eye level became aligned.

“You must be very surprised to see the Demon up close.”

Fabian always said similar things, and it was just that kind of relationship.

“It’s all right now.”

There wasn’t a lot of words between the two. It’s the same right now, and Evelyn didn’t feel uncomfortable with it. Silence had become commonplace between them. Fabian ‘s atmosphere was so dark, and his black eyes froze everyone else.

“I’ve written all I’ve seen and learned in detail.”

Evelyn broke the silence and took the scroll out of her arms and placed it on the table. Suddenly, Fabian stared at Evelyn with puzzled eyes, but Evelyn didn’t see it.

“Don’t do it in writing.”

“Your Majesty hates wasting time, so I thought this was more efficient than listening to my story.”

It was the correct answer. Fabian hated wasteful things and hated wasting time listening to other people’s stories. But for now, Fabian didn’t like her response.

“It’s a poor report, but I hope it can help you.”

First, Evelyn stood up, as if she had said everything she had to say. Fabian’s black was a little depressed when he looked at such Evelyn.

“Then, I’m going to go back.”

Evelyn bent her knees, gracefully, to show her example. Their reunion was too short for Fabian to think. Evelyn had already said good-bye when he hadn’t said anything yet.

It’s as if they never got married.

“Wait.”

Fabian said with a frowned eyebrow.

“Is that all….?”

This time, Evelyn’s blue eyes were puzzled. She couldn’t figure out what Fabian was asking for.

“I asked if there was only one scroll to give me.”

“I wrote down everything I saw. If you want another witness, I’ll look for it.”

Again, this wasn’t the answer Fabian wanted.

“You’re hiding something from me?”

His cold voice penetrated into Evelyn’s ears. But fortunately, Evelyn was able to maintain a serene look as she was already prepared for this.

“What could I hide from you?”

“Why are you avoiding me, then?”

Fabian knew something was going off. Evelyn, who ended up seeing him again, always avoided being in the same room with him. Since there were no such people around Fabian, Evelyn ‘s attitude seemed strange.

“I’ve never done that.” Evelyn’s calm voice rang.

“Are you not trying to cut your time with me? You hurried away the last time you talked to me.”

“Yes, I did!”

Fabian looked at Evelyn with a frowned eyebrow. But unexpectedly, Evelyn was staring at Fabian without making any excuses.

“·······why?”

Fabian asked back, but Evelyn looked a bit confused.

“That’s all!”

“That’s all?”

Fabian frowned more deeply. She didn’t know that Fabian knew it. But Evelyn had nothing to be sorry for Fabian because now their relationship had changed.

“I’ve never avoided you, but that’s right, I’ve been trying to cut the time with Your majesty. I have nothing more to say.”

An unexpected reaction from Evelyn made Fabian speechless for a moment.

“Huh?”

Vain laughter leaked out. Evelyn’s appearance didn’t change at all, but she seemed to be a completely different person.

“Why? Why are you trying to cut your time with me?”

Evelyn looked calmly at Fabian, but with mixed emotions. This man just didn’t know about anything. Again, her decision was not the wrong one.

“Your Majesty and I have been divorced.”

“I didn’t throw you out.”

“But we’re divorced.”

Fabian had a puzzled look on his face. Evelyn really was trying to make the look, but she was holding it in. This insensitive, heartless man had no idea what his attitude was wrong with.

But Evelyn was not obligated to teach him. As Evelyn said, they were divorced.

“Is there a clause to reduce the time we spend together after we have divorced?”

“No, it’s the opposite.” Evelyn looked straight into Fabian’s eyes with no fear.

“I divorced because I wanted to cut off my time with your Majesty.”

“······what?”

Fabian raised his voice unconsciously, but Evelyn remained calm.

“You heard it.”

Fabian blinked.

“I’ve never breathed comfortably near your Majesty for a moment.”

Evelyn tried to leave quietly, but the words that once started didn’t stop. That’s what she always wanted to say. Now it was her last chance to say that.

“The Imperial Family was no different from a prison to me.”

Once again, Fabian blinked.

“I’ve never treated you harshly.”

“Yes….”

Evelyn smiled faintly. It was a smile reminiscent of her lonely past.

“But you never gave me your heart.”

“Me?”

Fabian’s back felt strange. Maybe he didn’t really know about her.

“Have you ever been? Have you?”

There was silence at Evelyn’s simple question. Fabian couldn’t have imagined that such a moment would come to his mind.

Fabian respected Evelyn as Empress, but his heart was a different matter.

“That’s a pointless question. I always call the Empress……”

“Yes it’s a pointless question, because I’m no longer the empress.”

Evelyn cut off Fabian’s words. It was the first time she did that.

“Well, I’m going to leave now. I hope you’re healthy.”

Evelyn disappeared before he understood what she was saying. Fabian looked where Evelyn had gone with a brief-expression. Even if the Wyverns had appeared right now, he didn’t care.

“You divorced me because you didn’t want to be with me?”

Fabian ‘s voice rang miserably, and his forehead frowned deeply.

“How come….?”

Fabian had never been a bad husband. At least that’s how he felt.

In one marriage, he only had a relationship with one woman, and he never gave heart to another woman. Above all, he gave the Empress countless rights and wealth. Never in history, the Empire had so much money to give to the Empress.

“Why did you say I made you unhappy? I never did that.”

His chest felt tight.

Fabian was a fair Emperor. Likewise, he was a decent husband. But Evelyn asked to divorce and now said that she was unhappy about her short marriage with him.

“Huh, how dare you….”

Fabian spat out laughter. His handsome face was cloudy.

“Is she originally such an arbitrary woman?”

Evelyn ‘s smile, which he saw from the cliff over the telescope, was something Fabian had never seen before.

Evelyn never smiled like that to him. Even though Fabian made her the noblest woman in the Empire, she never smiled so brightly.

“Without my permission…….you’re happy without my permission.”

The current Evelyn was so different from the Empress that Fabian had remembered.

“How could she be so disrespectful….”

In Fabian ‘s heart, tears and fiery emotions overflowed. Evelyn ‘s figure, who turned away from him after saying everything she wanted to say, was still vivid in his mind.

It was Evelyn, who had married Fabian once and blushed shyly.

When Fabian was tired of his official duties, she smiled softly and welcomed Fabian with elegant gestures. She didn’t say anything and didn’t ask. Fabian felt at ease when he saw Evelyn’s blue eyes, who always stood quietly by Fabian ‘s side.

‘I will quit the Empress.’

It was until he heard it.

Fabian was so embarrassed at that time that he couldn’t even ask why. However, he couldn’t even ask because of the Emperor’s pride.

“So, why?!”

Fabian wanted to know why Evelyn had changed all the time, but he couldn’t find anything like that. Nothing changed in their marriage, but Evelyn changed and left.

“I don’t understand.”

Fabian repeated the same thing.

Even after Evelyn asked for a divorce, he went to the Empress’s palace, forgetting that he was divorced.

That night was an unforgettable memory for him.

The palace officials’ embarrassed look and his silly face when he noticed that everything in the Empress’s Palace stayed the same.

There was just one other thing, Evelyn wasn’t there. Evelyn had left her wedding gifts untouched. As if to say, there were no regrets.

“She abandoned everything and left.”

Fabian sighed. The royal status of the Empress, including all the wedding gifts, was given by him. But Evelyn threw away everything he gave her and left Fabian behind as if she had waited for that moment.

‘…You’ve never gave me a heart.’

Evelyn’s face, who was saying that, felt low. Because Fabian’s Empress never asked for anything.

‘Have you ever been? Have you?’

From the very first time, Evelyn was crowned Empress until she asked for a divorce. Every moment was impossible without Fabian’s heart. So he thought Evelyn must knew without saying anything to her.

“She was more stupid than I thought.”

Fabian cut off his thoughts in a low voice.

“It’s so easy to forget.”

Still, his thoughts hadn’t stopped. Fabian was reminiscent of the time when he proposed to Evelyn. There were no trivial things, but one thing was clear.

“We did something worthless each other.”

There was no emotion in his voice, but the depth of those dark eyes deepened.

“Forget it so easily and simply throw it away.”

Fabian looked at the ring on the ring finger of his left hand. He left the ring as it was because he never thought it should be thrown away.

It’s because sometimes he felt at ease having a ring on his finger. The ring was a symbol of promise and oath, and it was no different from Fabian even though he was the Emperor.

‘Evelyn Felice.’

Fabian still clearly remembered one spring day.

‘I like you.’

Fabian put his heart in his mouth for the first and last time. He already prepared a ring for Evelyn. Fabian was never shaken, despite opposition from the nobles, until he declared Evelyn as the Empress.

‘I have decided to see only one woman in my life, so only you will remain forever as my Empress.’

Only

Evelyn blushed her cheeks and nodded. That’s how the couple ended up together. The relationship that deliberately cut and thrown away by Evelyn was once so sparkling.

“I still don’t understand.”

Fabian spat out bitter words to himself. It was a question about Evelyn, who had changed.

“How could you forget so easily, and throw it away so simply?”

The vows of marriage were broken in vain.

“I still don’t know.”

Fabian had started to realize the fact little by little.