Chapter 4
Chapter 4
The story began with Hestia returning to the Empire to become Empress and facing Calix as his wife.
Hestia was the only daughter of the prestigious Kainer family, with three older brothers above her. She was someone with a deep thirst for knowledge and a desire to explore many paths.
Casting off the traditional roles expected of noble daughters, she crossed the border to the neighboring Kingdom of Hayton to study at a magical academy, where she trained for many years. No one had expected that training to last ten years, but not even her father, Duke Kainer, could curb her insatiable drive to learn.
She was especially gifted in healing magic, so much so that it would be no exaggeration to say that no one at the academy could rival her abilities.
Though I had only known her as a character in a book, I found myself admiring Hestia more and more as I read. She could have been content with what she had, but instead she forged her own path and took control of her life and that, to me, was incredible.
She possessed a natural brightness, an unshakably positive mindset, and a brilliance rooted in tireless effort. And, befitting a heroine, she had a beauty that could make anyone turn their head for a second look.
All things considered, Hestia was the kind of person who could captivate anyone, someone so perfect it was only natural that she became the story’s main heroine.
‘That’s why even Calix ended up falling for her.’
But then, did that mean Calix had never truly loved Ariel?
That didn’t seem to be the case.
In the early chapters of the original novel, Calix was utterly smitten with Ariel, to the point where he didn’t even glance at Hestia. And judging by how he treated me now, me, who had become Ariel, it was clear he was a man in love.
He simply changed once a new love appeared. The love he had with Ariel didn’t last forever.
‘Then what am I supposed to do?’
After recalling the details of the original story, my thoughts came full circle.
Calix might be in love with Ariel now, but that Ariel wasn’t me. Even if I shared her memories, I felt nothing for him. That’s why, even if he were to fall out of love with me someday, I wouldn’t feel any regret. That was where I stood.
‘I could push him away now, before his feelings shift…’
But that was too risky. Too many variables were in play.
Could I really push away the Emperor? What if Calix, still in love with Ariel, became obsessed instead?
That could completely derail the original storyline.
Of course, the fact that I’d possessed Ariel in the first place had already altered the narrative, but that didn’t mean I had to go out of my way to shake up something that was already on the verge of collapse.
And then it happened.
As I was busy trying to sort out my thoughts, noise erupted from outside.
Suddenly, the door burst open, and a tall, broad-shouldered man strode in.
Without hesitation, he approached me. As moonlight streamed in through the window, his figure slowly emerged from the shadows.
It was Calix Winstor Roimann, the Emperor of the Roimann Empire and the male lead of this story.
“You’re awake.”
He closed the distance to the bed in an instant, lowered his head, and pressed his lips gently to my forehead before pulling away. Caught off guard by the sudden kiss, I simply stared at him, wide-eyed, as he moved.
“How are you feeling? Are you better now?”
“Ah… yes. I’m feeling much better.”
Barely regaining my composure, I did my best to mimic the Ariel from my memories.
“That’s good to hear.”
Even in those few words, his kindness shone through unmistakably.
‘Wow… is it even fair for someone to be this good-looking?’
After a lifetime of seeing only average faces, encountering someone who radiated such presence was overwhelming felt almost like a dream.
He looked like a masterpiece crafted by the gods. As if every detail – his eyes, nose, lips – had been perfectly sculpted, with nothing out of place. It was beauty that went beyond harmony into the realm of perfection.
Seriously, it was unfair.
Some people are put together like a random collage of features, while others get made into literal works of art…
Not that I minded. Having such eye candy around was its own kind of reward.
As I continued to marvel at his looks, I found myself blankly gazing up at him until the bed gave a slight bounce.
Calix had sat down on the edge. The small shift helped snap me back to reality, but then his eyes locked onto me, and a wave of tension crept in.
‘Why is he staring at me like that?’
He looked at me like he could see straight through my soul, and I instinctively wanted to avert my eyes. But before I could, he began to stroke my hair and face again, just like he had when I was pretending to be unconscious.
‘Is touching people a habit of his or something?’
As uncomfortable as it was, I couldn’t stop his large hand from reaching for me. It wasn’t that I enjoyed it. I simply hadn’t sorted out my stance yet.
If I rejected him coldly now, he’d definitely think something was wrong. Because Ariel had never once turned away his touch.
‘No wonder her body’s worn out.’
There’s a limit to how much affection one can or should accept.
I sighed internally and shook my head in dismay.
Having examined Ariel’s body, now mine, I knew she was incredibly delicate and slender. In contrast, the man now touching me with such gentle concern was enormous.
Calix was known as one of the greatest swordsmen on the continent and only a few could match him in combat.
‘No wonder he was so ripped.’
The memory of feeling his rock-solid body last night was still vivid. Their physical disparity had been obvious from the start.
No matter how much they loved each other, ignoring Ariel’s frail constitution and pushing her like that… how could her body take it?
Sure, love was part of it, but I already knew through both the novel and Ariel’s memories why they had pushed themselves so hard. It was because of the issue of succession.
Even before he became Emperor, and even after, Calix had never taken another woman besides Ariel. She was the only one for him.
The nobles, well aware of that, were too terrified to even suggest he take an Empress. On the rare occasion when some oblivious noble brought up the topic, Calix would respond with icy coldness and often retribution. He never forgot those who dared to speak out.
Many nobles were banished from the capital under the charge of disrespecting the royal family and weren’t allowed to return without the Emperor’s express permission. And yet, despite not using contraception, no child had been born to them for years.
Medical examinations confirmed that neither of them was infertile.
So the nobles waited, hoping.
But as the years passed with no news, they eventually ran out of patience and one bold soul risked their life to speak directly to the Emperor. Even then, Calix didn’t budge. Some nobles were forcibly expelled from the capital once more.
After several rounds of that, the nobles decided to change tactics.
Since Calix wouldn’t listen to them, they targeted Ariel instead. And that strategy worked far too well.
Slipping just a few well-placed words past the Emperor’s watchful eye about the Empire’s future and her duty as Empress, it was enough to shake Ariel to her core.
Already burdened by guilt for failing to bear an heir, the external pressure pushed her to the breaking point. With barely a nudge, the nobles achieved their goal.
Ariel eventually accepted their opinions and urged Calix to take another wife.
At first, Calix flatly refused. He wouldn’t even listen to her. For the first time, the man who had always treated her with kindness raised his voice in anger.
But Ariel didn’t back down. She pleaded with him in tears, and in the end, he relented.
Still, Calix wasn’t someone who would bow to the nobles’ wishes so easily. He set a condition.
If they could produce an heir within a year, the nobles would never again speak of bringing another woman into the palace. But if no heir came within that year, then he would agree to take another Empress.
And the woman for that role had already been chosen.
……
T/N: Calix really loved the original Ariel 🥺
