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The existing warehouse of the imperial family was full, and a new warehouse was needed.
Yes. She made everything possible. Like an emperor, she enjoyed a luxurious life that everyone would envy.
She ate rare fruits from the far south, drank pearls in champagne, savored chocolate wrapped in gold, bought splendid peacocks, and collected legendary swords. The laughter of luxury and pleasure did not stop in her garden.
“How glad it is that Your Majesty is commanding the whole world.”
“If it were Raymond Milanaire….”
A nobleman was speaking, and his mouth was stopped by the chill.
Dorothea’s sad eyes turned to him.
“Clark?”
The nobles who were seated took in their breath and froze.
Emperor Dorothea, who had just laughed out loud, hardened her face as if she had become a different person and put the red cherry in her hand.
The garden, which had been filled with laughter, fell into a cold silence that made it doubtful that he was deaf in an instant.
Raymond. A taboo word that should never be spit out in front of Dorothea.
Dorothea picked up her sword, which was at an angle to one side. Realizing his mistake, Clark immediately knelt on the floor and shook his shoulders.
“Your Majesty, I mean, Your Majesty is much better than Raymond…”
Srekk!
Before he could finish speaking, red blood spattered on the white tablecloth and the plate of food. The nobles who were there closed their eyes and turned their heads in amazement.
“Ethan.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Clean it up.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Ethan, standing next to Dorothea, called the soldiers to collect the body. After Clark’s body was removed, Dorothea leaned back in her seat and drank the blood-splattered wine.
“Why is everyone silent? enjoy it.”
Dorothea smirked at the atmosphere of the aristocrats.
* * *
Dorothea suffered from insomnia. After Raymond’s death, her insomnia got worse and worse. During the day she was drunk with pleasure and luxury, but at night there was nothing to appease her.
Theon was always locked up in her room and never with her. He has been silent since that day.
After ascending to the much-desired throne, she lost her way. She had no more Jealous Raymond to steal what she had, and no throne to target. So she began to covet the rare things she had never had before.
‘I thought that getting what I didn’t have would fill the void.’
But it didn’t fill anything, and she was tired of the unfilled emptiness.
“People still gossip about me.”
Dorothea scoffed.
“It’s the bullshit of the ignorant.”
Ethan answered.
“You still say that the dead nobles are loyal?”
“They are blind to old traditions.”
Ethan comforted Dorothea like that, but Dorothea, who was darkly shaded, did not change.
“After that day, Theon doesn’t look after me properly.”
After Raymond’s death, Theon has not dealt with Dorothea all along.
Even at a forced wedding or at an official ceremony of the imperial family, Theon did not make eye contact with Dorothea.
Even if she made a bouquet of rare and beautiful flowers and presented it as a gift, even if she made a ring with only one jewel in the world and presented it as a gift, Theon did not know how to hold her in her arms.
‘If he smiled just once, if he held my hand, I would be able to solve this endless feeling of emptiness and sleeplessness.’
She was a ruthless tyrant but did not know what to do with his beloved Theon.
‘My love, the one I want.’
Dorothea, unable to intimidate Theon or forcibly tie Theon to the bed, trembled alone.
‘I wanted to win Theon’s heart, but it was painful that I could never get that much.’
‘How can I make Theon laugh?’
If he laughed at the sound of ripping silk, Dorothea would tear all the silk in the world in front of him.
‘How the hell do I get Theon to look at me?’
“Your Majesty, it is late at night. Go to bed.”
“Ethan.”
“Yes, my Majesty.”
“Theon must hate me.”
Dorothea stared blankly at the dark dawn that filled the window with empty eyes.
Ethan knelt next to Dorothea.
“Don’t worry about it. Your Majesty is the highest in the world and has it all.”
“When I think of Theon, it seems as if nothing is mine in the world.”
“Your majesty. I am by your side. I will cherish Your Majesty forever…”
“You don’t have to comfort me like that, Ethan.”
It was something that others would be happy to hear, but Dorothea felt that even that was futile.
Because Dorothea was one of the few who knew that Ethan Bronte was armed with hypocrisy and pretense. His consolation was nothing but empty words.
Empty words that only add emptiness.
“… ”
Ethan looked at Dorothea and spoke.
“It seems that Prince Theon wrote another letter to the young lady Julia.”
At his words, Dorothea’s heart sank helplessly.
“It’s been over ten times already.”
After marriage, Theon continued to write letters to Julia.
Without talking to Dorothea, several times a year.
Theon was anxious while waiting for Julia’s letter, but when Julia’s letter arrived, he received it with a happy expression that had never been before, and after reading the letter, he read it again and again with a sad face and put it in his arms.
The series of processes was the care and love that Dorothea dreamed of.
What was not allowed for Dorothea Milanaire?
Dorothea’s heart ached again as if a scab had been ripped off a scar.
“Shall we get Prince Fried’s letter out of the way?”
“No, Ethan, you don’t have to.”
Dorothea closed her eyes.
Already, endless jealousy towards Julia was consuming her heart, making a bigger hole. It was Dorothea who was hurt by the contents of the letter. Dorothea couldn’t stand it.
“Ethan.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“I have to build a new palace.”
Dorothea opened her eyes and muttered. The only way to win Theon’s favor was to sacrifice what she had.
‘If I build the most beautiful palace in the world and give it to you, Theon will look after me.’
Staying in a beautiful palace will definitely make Theon feel better.
“The best architects, craftsman and gardeners in the world… Gather all the experts you need and make sure you use only the best materials.”
Dorothea decided to build a palace that would go down in history and become the legacy of mankind.
And she vowed to engrave her love on that great legacy. Without realizing that it was the tyrant’s sin.
* * *
But Theon was angry with Dorothea’s decision.
“Did I ask Your Majesty to build a palace?!”
‘No, Theon, it’s all for you. I know you’ll be happy…’
“Your Majesty is completely blind! You’re not making the right decisions!”
Theon hated all her gifts. All the things that others longed for because they couldn’t have it…
“Ethan Bronte, get out first.”
“Theon, Ethan has been a loyal follower of me since I was a princess.”
“He is a servant, not a loyalist.”
“If I let him go, can you love me then?”
Dorothea asked.
Theon didn’t answer.
“A person’s heart is not changed by a covenant.”
“Theon.”
“But at least there will be no hatred of your Majesty as it is now.”
“Is Julia Delevine the reason you don’t love me?”
Dorothea finally called her name, which she hated so much.
Then Theon’s red eyes shook.
Didn’t he know that that little commotion was as great a shock to Dorothea’s heart as an earthquake?
“I… It’s not that I love Julia Delevine.”
At Theon’s excuse, Dorothea didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
‘Maybe you’re covering it up for fear I’m hurting Julia?’
‘Do you think I, the tyrant, will kill your love?’
Dorothea clenched her fists.
‘He says he loves Julia so much, but if I truly loved Theon, would it be right to send him to Julia for his happiness?’
That thought ran through Dorothea’s mind.
But no matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t give up Theon. The moment she let go of him, Dorothea felt as if all ties to the world would be severed.
‘Without Theon, why do I have to live?’
‘I’ve already lost all the light in my life, including wealth, power, and even fame.’
Without Theon, there was nothing left of her life. Even the meaning of the existence of a person named Dorothea.
Therefore, she had no choice but to hold onto Theon in an ugly way.
And the hatred towards Julia grew that much.
“Never let Julia enter the Lampas.”
Dorothea eventually barred Julia from meeting Theon.
“I will reclaim the title of Delevine family.”
After a while, even the small noble title that Julia had was taken away. As a result, Julia became very ordinary, no, even trivial to say the least.
Dorothea thought that would make her feel better.  However, Contrary to expectations, her mood did not improve at all. No, it just got worse.
The morning after taking Julia’s title, she sat in front of the mirror, dressing up with the help of her servants.
Intricate cuckoo clocks, gold eagle statues, colorful glass bottles of perfumed oil, and sumptuous luxury items sparkled in the mirror.
A necklace set with dozens of diamonds hung around her neck, and her hair was adorned with colorful flower-shaped hair bands and earrings that were too heavy for her ears.
Dorothea’s whole body was showing off her authority to the extent that anyone could tell that she was the emperor.
But Dorothea looked more ugly and ugly than ever.
Her eyes bulged like a hole on her emaciated face, her body was thin enough to wonder if she could hold a sword properly, and her eyes that are as murky as a lake after the rain.
Dorothea was so angry that she wanted to break the mirror. The large jewels in her ears sparkled and seemed to laugh at her.