By Zephyria 
It was a lazy afternoon, just after tea time. The ornate window frame, decorated with coral and agate, was definitely something I was seeing for the first time, but for some reason, it looked familiar. I was wearing uncomfortable formal attire and just staring blankly out the window. Suddenly, I felt strange. My body wasn’t moving according to my will.
I don’t know how long I stood there like that. I heard slow footsteps approaching from behind. I wanted to turn around, but my body remained as if nailed in place. ‘I’ was staring out the window like a statue, without even blinking.
‘Empress.’
It was Adrian’s voice. I finally realized when I heard Adrian’s voice calling me Empress. Ah, it’s another dream. Ever since the system announced a temporary hiatus, these frustrating dreams, where my body wouldn’t move as I wished, had been visiting me from time to time.
‘Would you believe me if I said my longing was so deep that I couldn’t wait until the end of the day?’
‘…Your Majesty.’
The me in the dream finally turned around. Adrian, wearing the Emperor’s golden uniform with a somehow miserable expression… looked much older than I knew.
He gave a faint smile that made the viewer feel even more sorry for him. Even the splendid uniform was not enough to hide the inner desolation he felt.
‘Is that so? Are you burdened by even this much?’
‘…’
‘I’m sorry, Empress.’
What was he sorry for? The me in the dream felt like I was going crazy with guilt towards the Crown Prince, no, the Emperor, who was expressing his apology.
I wanted to say something to him, who was kneeling before me so pathetically, despite his position as the most powerful man in the land. That it wasn’t your fault. That I, I was sorry.
The Emperor’s eyes turned red as he held back overwhelming tears.
‘Can you at least tell me the reason?’
‘…Your Majesty, I.’
‘…’
‘…’
I moved my mouth, opening and closing it. I desperately moved my lips like a fish out of water, but that was all. Those who were not qualified had no right to mention any verbal expression.
I didn’t know what kind of qualification or right that was, but one thing was certain.
‘Never mind.’
‘…I’m sorry.’
Even though I was receiving the Emperor’s utmost love.
‘As I swore, you are only my Empress until my last breath. Be satisfied with that.’
‘…’
The me in the dream was so fiercely lonely and tormented.
‘So please, don’t feel guilty.’
Perhaps even more so than I am now, repeating dozens of lives.
I don’t know how long I had been sleeping. Suddenly, my eyes snapped open.
“Ah…”
I felt like I had a terrible dream, but what was it? I couldn’t remember it well. It had happened occasionally since last year, so I decided not to worry too much about it.
My eyelids felt heavy. My eyelids were heavy and my mood was damp and sinking, so I decided to just keep my eyes closed. Everything was a hassle and I had no motivation. My mood was always like this after going through a Heat cycle. How should I put it? It was a sense of powerlessness, a sense of exhaustion, as if I had become a beast swayed by my physical instincts.
“What sorrowful dream were you having so deeply that your expression wouldn’t clear?”
It was a familiar voice. I forced my eyes, which wouldn’t open easily, to look up, and the Crown Prince, still neatly dressed, was guarding my bedside.
He seemed to be stroking my hair with a kind expression and gently wiping away the tear marks, but I didn’t notice any of that. I was just surprised that he was still here, not having left yet.
“Oh, Your Highness… why are you still here? Haven’t you left yet?”
When I fell into a fainting sleep and opened my eyes again, the Crown Prince had already returned to the palace long ago, but what was going on today? He let out a hollow laugh as if he was dumbfounded, then flicked his finger on my forehead without hurting me.
“Look at the way you talk. Are you telling me to hurry up and leave, right now?”
“No, no. I’m just saying that because you’re a busy person… By the way, what time is it? Nicole will be here to pick me up before the evening banquet. You should leave quickly.”
“Hmm. Suspicious. Why are you so eager to kick me out?”
Behind the Crown Prince, who was complaining in a disgruntled tone without answering my question about the time, I could see the window, which had already turned black. It wasn’t just dusk, but the sky was completely dark, so it must have been at least nine o’clock.
What? The banquet must have already ended? Once the part I was worried about was resolved, my body just felt languid and relaxed. I giggled and fiddled with the jeweled buttons on the Crown Prince’s clothes.
He looked down at my playful gestures with a generous gaze, as if watching a child’s antics, without stopping me, then reached for the bedside table next to the bed. There was a pile of biscuits with a crunchy texture and crumbly cookies baked with plenty of butter. To exaggerate a little, it was a truly mountainous amount.
Only then did I realize I was hungry. I had gotten up late and had a simple lunch, barely eating, and had been waiting for the evening banquet, but I hadn’t been able to eat properly because of the unexpected guest who had barged in and made me cry my eyes out, so it was only natural. It was a wonder that my stomach hadn’t rumbled.
Without asking for it, I licked my lips, and the Crown Prince picked up a cookie studded with chocolate chips and brought it to my mouth.
I was curious how the person who couldn’t even leave the room had prepared the tea and desserts exactly to my taste, but I decided to ignore it. He was such a resourceful person, he must have done it somehow.
I didn’t lift a finger and filled my hungry stomach.
My attitude towards the Crown Prince had become naturally impudent at some point. At first, like Allen had done, I had planned to appeal to him with a pitiful and pathetic appearance like his own mother, but as the time we spent together accumulated day by day, it became clear. To Adrian Pearson, as long as the condition of being an Omega who could cry prettily under his control was met, the rest didn’t matter. What my inner self was like, what thoughts I had. It really didn’t matter at all.
Favorability: 57.83%
The explosive rise in the early stages was no longer there. The Crown Prince’s favorability was increasing little by little. I decided not to get unnecessarily anxious. I knew that even when playing as Allen, the favorability would only increase steadily after we had a relationship towards the middle and end of the game. I was just proud that I had achieved this much in a year without going all the way.
The current Adrian was treating me more like a rare pet than respecting me as a proper partner or prospective spouse. Thanks to that, or perhaps because of it, he was quite amused by my acting presumptuously within reasonable limits and let it slide. It didn’t particularly upset me that he wasn’t sincere. I was rather more comfortable this way.
Until the previous playthrough, I had been curious how Allen could manage other fish in his pond even after taking the Crown Prince’s lover position.
Somehow, as I accumulated the Crown Prince’s favorability bit by bit, I felt like I understood. Whether I accumulated 100 percent or 1000 percent favorability, to the Crown Prince, a ‘lover’ was just a cute pet that didn’t greatly defy him.
“Huh? Your Highness. Now that I think about it, the clothes you’re wearing now…”
While munching on a cookie, I suddenly noticed the jacket he was wearing. It was true that he looked like a painting no matter what he wore because of his handsome face and physique, but the texture of the shirt and the color of the jacket were somehow like someone else’s clothes. Was he wearing that earlier too? Ah, no.
The dark blue uniform that Adrian had worn at first was so thoroughly soaked by me, both the jacket and the pants, that it must have been impossible to wear.
“Ah. It just so happened that Count So was loitering near the room. Thanks to him, I received help in many ways.”
“And… Andrew, my brother?”
“Yes. Hearing that you were sound asleep, he brought snacks for you to eat instead of a meal when you woke up, and he also gave me clothes to change into. Truly, he is the Count So of Hamilton who gives his all.”
“Hmm. I see…”
Hearing that the cookies were provided by my first brother, I suddenly lost my appetite even though I had been eating them well.
“I’m full. I don’t want to eat anymore.”
“You’re already full? You haven’t even eaten a few bites?”
“Yes. Don’t give me anymore. I’m full.”
“How can you be so thin with such a small appetite?”
He lightly wrapped his hand around my limp wrist and clicked his tongue as if he was sorry. He said that I was so thin because I had such a small appetite.
“By the way. I heard that you’ve been bothering the Count every day lately?”
“Um… you heard about that too?”
“Of course I did. What’s with the sudden talk of traveling? And to such a distant place as Duke Graham’s territory.”
Thomas was indeed a loyal servant and a capable spy. I carefully watched the Crown Prince’s expression before giving a proper answer. Seeing that he didn’t seem greatly displeased even when I mentioned traveling or the Grand Duke’s territory…
“That’s, Your Highness.”
“Yes. Tell me.”
Somehow, it seemed that I had found my way back safely very easily. And it was a splendid shortcut that had been polished to a shine.