"Please calm down, your majesty!"

His eyes glimmered with a frosty, painted sheen. Though motionless, his countenance betrayed no joy. He maintained his post until the room grew dark and cold, but the desperate pleas of an empress from across the way drew his attention away from the ministers.

Soon, he breathed out, and he stopped the room from completely freezing. He couldn’t help but to look at her, and the memories he just had remembered.

There were some things that were better that way. After all, time changed for both of them. In which even a blossom love can eventually vanish like a thin air.

Even if things were not exactly the same. Is it better for her if they just got separated? Why does he keep on insisting on maintaining this relationship? For what reason?

Then something happened a year after that. She was driven to give birth to his child, and then she lost her child after only a month in her care.

That is why, when she quickly changed, that even her kind heart turned cold, he knew it was all his fault. He sends her off the hill; he made her that way.

But why can’t he let her go? He’s only making her more miserable.

"Your majesty?" 

It took him a while to get back from his deep thoughts, and he nodded. "My wife is right. We don’t need to discuss things. You just have to sign the contract or else you will be hanged for treason."

It was not a question; it was his demand. The ministers know that, since they have betrayed his majesty’s trust in them.

They did not want to die, nor did they want their families to be hanged with them.

"We will accept our punishment, your majesty’s, so please have mercy on our family! We are also grateful for your mercy."

"That is my wife's judgment. If I can choose, I’d rather have you killed," he said, warning them that this is his wife's idea, not him.

"Thank you, empress!" They forcefully yelled as they kept their heads down low on the ground.

Selena nodded, and he looked at her husband who suddenly changed the way he addressed her. She had gotten used to him calling her "empress" so it was unsettling for him to call her "my wife" instead.

Perhaps he remembers something, or he resolved to change. 

"Your majesty, I'd like to finish this issue but we have a bigger problem beforehand!"

He tilted as he stood up. "What is it?" he asked. 

Selena turned and looked at Derrick before she asked him to come. Derrick came closer to them and he bowed his head as he greeted his majesty. 

"Your highness, we have received pressing information from Tarica City, a domain governed by Baron Darkus. A knight positioned in the area has disclosed an outbreak of disease and conveyed a plea for assistance from the Baron," said Derrick, then he paused himself and looked at his majesty.

"I asked Count Raymond for support but he rejected my request, so we did not have a choice but to ask her majesty to convey this message to you, his majesty," he continued and then he turned back.

An epidemic? He looked at the count whose face was quivering at the side of the room. He was indeed incompetent, but to be this lacking is somehow dissatisfying.

"Your majesty, we're told that hundreds had been affected, and the baron lacked medical manpower to take care of the victims. They did not have any priests to help with the epidemic, nor did they have countermeasures for such problems. At least about hundreds have fallen sick, though the baron said he locked the borders. It will not stop the epidemic and it might spread fast."

The eastern border is also known for being a place that merchants and traders go. So if they don't make any attempt to suppress the issue, it will spread like a wildfire which will affect them both financially and economically.

Disregarding such a matter, the count had become oblivious to his standing.

He looked at Selena and thought. ‘Was this the reason she came? ’

She must have done a lot of investigation before she came. The reports and documents she threw to them were the ones he had in the office. She might conspire with the butler to steal those reports. Still, he was not even agitated.

However, this epidemic, a such unforeseen event. "Schedule a conference meeting in two hours. We will discuss our solutions with the entire management, including the estate lords."

It can't be helped. "Send our team of healers to the border right now. It will give us time to find a solution by then. Send words to the cities and villages to warn them of the upcoming epidemic, and close their gates from what remains."

If this epidemic doesn't spread that far, it will give them time to breathe, but that is if it was contained in one area.

Although he sent an aid; the healers were a top priority, they might take some time to arrive. This is the right time to begin a meeting, and there's no telling what kind of plague is escalating, so they need a proper countermeasure.

First, they will gather some doctors with healers to conduct research on this epidemic. Second, scatter a warning to the cities around. Third, gather doctors and researchers to find a solution to this issue.

And if this is a man-made issue, they will need to ask the Magic Tower for support.

━━✣━━

Selena gave a long, boring sigh as she was looking at the glass door of the balcony from his majesty’s office. She was forced to join his majesty as they waited for the meeting and as they were dealing with the ministers’ issue that had been solved using a fealty contract.

It was about time she had to leave herself, but the emperor refused to let her go. So she was looking at the glass door with confusion, awaiting her husband's permission to leave.

At first she thought they were going to discuss the issue, but then he asked her to stay, forcing her to follow.

The author had not envisaged Callisto to exhibit such behavior. Despite his unwavering determination, the Callisto he conceived displayed a lack of regard for his spouse. What transpired?

Instead, she has to ask. They lack communication. It was hard for them to even start a conversation. 

"Your majesty, why am I here?"

Selena covers her lips after she realizes that she's been talking like her past life. It was informal and rude. 

Callisto looked at her while he was looking at a sheet he was reading.

"Take responsibility and show your face to our dear subjects who ridiculed your origin. It is time for you to show them who you are, as the empress of this empire, someone with higher authority than them."

He seems rather bizarre today; she thought as she glared at him. "I think his majesty is sick today," she said, but Callisto just looks at her and he continues reading.

"I am fine, so my wife didn't need to worry," he said.

Selena couldn't help but to ask a question. What is his deal calling her "his wife"? He rarely does that, and it's odd that his majesty would address her like that.

"I am not sure whether to believe that. You look strange today," she implied. 

He glanced at her and he put down the note he was holding. "My wife speaks as if she knows me. I am overwhelmingly fluttered."

Again, he keeps on calling her "his wife" Selena has yet to adapt to him addressing her with such nicknames. Indeed, he seems different, but he still looks cold.

"Your majesty, I speak merely because you seem quite unwell. I am not specifically telling you that I know you very well," she explained.

Callisto smiled. "And yet, I said, 'my wife didn't need to worry' for I am well enough to talk to you right now."

He's really undoubtedly calling her that. "I am just not used to these changes, your majesty," she said, but her face was like an open book.

"I understand what you mean, so from now on I will try to change and meet your condition, my wife."

There's no arguing now. The emperor won and Selena didn't have a choice but to breathe in and sigh as her sign of defeat.

"Then, your majesty, can you refrain from calling me your wife? It’s quite embarrassing to consider that we have not been very close to each other."

Callisto smiles. "No, that can't happen. I shall address you whatever I like, my wife, and you are very cute to act bothered."

Why is he like this!? She thought and could not help but to feel ashamed. Previously he exuded an air of suave reserve, but presently his performance is imbued with a playful demeanor without any discernible cause.

Is this what they call character development? That's too fast for development too!

"I beg your majesty—"

The emperor looked at her with a smile, but Selena couldn't even continue delivering the words she wanted to tell him. She felt strange. He's never been like this, but she has to admit, according to Selena's memory, he doesn't always ignore her.

"Your majesty, can you please continue ignoring me instead? I am used to being as thin as an air in your eyes," said Selena.

The emperor looks at her and his face turns pale. "Who said I have been ignoring you?" 

What? Selena's face widened, because she heard something that she shouldn't hear. What did he mean? She asked herself, the author always believed that she wrote him to ignore Selena even when she killed herself.

Yet, this man acts differently from Callisto Rey Alvadiz. Not only that, he doesn't seem to remember the way she suffers in his arms? Is this an insult? Or a mocking?

Her emotions broke into pieces. He acted so caring now, but he never even looked at her and his daughter when she gave birth.

"You're kidding me, right?" she said with a bitter voice.