About

I became the Emperor. I ascended over countless corpses, stepped through blood, and closed my eyes as the crown was placed upon my head. And the one person who was always by my side through every moment—I eventually stained even her in crimson. * You and I were bound by a political marriage. And I wasn't particularly interested in you. I didn't love you. Ah, but there was something that changed my attitude toward her. Your eyes, which wavered strangely whenever I spoke intimately with another woman. Seeing those eyes—always brilliant and noble—flicker before me sent a dull ache to my stomach and a chilling thrill through my veins. In that moment, for the first time, I felt a single emotion: amusement. From then on, I craved that pleasure more and more. I deliberately brought concubines around you to display physical affection, and I subtly mocked and insulted you in front of others. But boringly enough, you simply remained silent. The more I tried to break you, the more your solid resolve seemed to harden. Like a fool, I didn't know my concubine was secretly killing you out of jealous madness; I didn't know you were swallowing your tears alone in an empty room. I simply spat out words to your wasting frame. "Useless woman." And then, I finally saw it. How much she was trembling after hearing those words. Seeing you look as if you were about to crumble for the first time, I felt something was wrong, but I ignored it. I just thought you could overcome anything. Meanwhile, the country I ruled by force eventually erupted in blood once more. It was around the time I was losing my very self while cutting down countless rebels. The moment an assassin's blade was leveled at me, You stood before me. Dragging your terribly pained body to hold me lightly. My belated love for you finally drove a blade into your heart.