Chapter 17: The End of the War

To repair the damage left by war, Liam worked day and night without rest. Sleep was a luxury. In truth, he couldn’t sleep at all.

Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the severed head of his father gazing down at him, and the lifeless eyes of his mother weeping tears of blood. At some point, he stopped even trying to go to bed. He would sit in his office working through the night until he passed out on the sofa, catching only brief snatches of sleep.

Once national affairs had somewhat stabilized, Liam began to worry about Eden again.

It was clearly against custom for an unmarried man and woman past adulthood to live under the same palace roof. Liam knew full well that the only reason the nobles hadn’t said a word was because they were watching his every move.

Even if they didn’t raise the issue, he had already planned to send Eden away. Once the restoration was complete. Once the political turmoil had settled. Once the major state ceremonies were done.

The problem was, that plan kept being postponed again and again.

“Where are you going at this hour?”

“I just needed some air…”

“The sun’s been down for a while. Don’t tell me you intended to go out alone, without a guard.”

Fortunately, Eden no longer approached Liam the way she used to. Before he could draw a line, she seemed to draw one herself. The distance between them was neither too close nor too far.

Eden had mastered survival through instinct, learning how to make herself fade into the background. To always stay within reach, yet with so little presence that there was no need to be on guard.

She fulfilled exactly what Liam demanded of her.

“I’ll be more careful. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t make me worry about things like this. Go inside.”

Though Liam told himself he was glad, a part of him felt deeply unsettled by it.

Day by day, Eden spoke less and grew more timid. She flinched at the smallest things, constantly watching his expression and blushing at the slightest hint of disapproval.

She never asked anything of him. Nothing at all.

Liam couldn’t help but wonder if this was her strategy to make him care. But even then, Eden never sought his affection or attention. She only smiled faintly whenever she saw him and made small talk about the weather.

“You didn’t touch your quarterly budget. Just like last quarter.”

“But Liam, I’m really fine. I have everything I need. That money could be better used–”

“D**n it. Can you stop saying you’re fine? You’re fine being insulted? Fine not receiving what’s rightfully yours? Then tell me, what isn’t fine?”

Liam lost his temper for the first time. He had exploded after seeing Eden return her entire budget allocation virtually untouched.

Startled, Eden went pale and shrank back. Her voice trembled as she whispered,

“I… I’m sorry.”

“Stop saying sorry, too. I’m sick of it. What is it you’ve done so wrong all the time?”

His voice grew louder. Tears welled up in Eden’s wide eyes and fell like raindrops.

Liam felt his heart drop. Why is she crying again? He ran a hand roughly down his face.

“…Stop crying. I hate the sound of it.”

He lowered his voice sharply.

Watching her bite her lip and clench her fists to hold back her tears made Liam feel like he was sinking. He tore his eyes away and issued a cold command.

“If you’ve nothing more to say, wipe your tears and leave.”

And that was it.

Liam turned back to the mountain of paperwork, and Eden quietly returned to her room, her footsteps barely audible.

Days passed in the same monotonous rhythm. Eden remained the same, awkward around him, yet still managing a few meaningless words here and there. She never showed it, but Liam knew she’d been deeply hurt by that day.

Eden didn’t cry or rage like someone drained of all emotion. She had no close companions to confide in, and she never stopped others from mocking or slandering her.

But none of that seemed to matter. She still smiled sweetly at him, and his days remained unchanged.

“I missed you.”

Then one day, Eden changed. And Liam’s world began to unravel.

“I’ve been lying down so long, I missed the fresh air. Let’s take a walk, Liam.”

Eden’s smile was radiant, her expression full of life, her eyes bold as if she had become someone entirely different.

Liam convinced himself he was simply curious about this new side of her. That was all. That’s why he took her outstretched hand, why he followed her on a walk that didn’t suit him in the least.

The garden was in full bloom with roses. Just like the day they first met. Eden’s plain dress fluttered in the wind, the sunlight catching in her silver hair. The sight stirred a long-dormant nostalgia in Liam’s memory.

He suddenly recalled watching Eden and his mother spend time together in secret.

‘You always found me in an instant. It was almost strange, how fast.’

“Liam.”

Eden smiled, her eyes crinkling sweetly, her voice honeyed enough to ache.

‘But when I think back, I was the same.’

Thud. Liam felt his heart plummet.

“Should I be afraid of you?”

She brushed his hair back gently with a strangely familiar touch. Liam’s heart resonated at the coolness of her fingers brushing his forehead.

“I’m not afraid of you, Liam… Will you punish me for that?”

Eden crossed the distance between them in an instant, as if the thick boundary he had drawn didn’t exist. With innocent ease, she pierced through the sharp air of his subconscious guard, as though even the highest walls meant nothing to her.

“Liam will always be Liam to me.”

Dangerous. Truly dangerous. Liam’s temples pulsed.

Get a grip. Look away. Keep walking. It’s just a whim, it’ll pass. He ordered his mind over and over again.

“Back then, now, and always.”

But Eden’s transformation continued to shake him. At some point, his world began revolving around her. And the rational voice inside him went silent.

Why have you changed? Why do you stir me up like this?

Why can’t I push you away, no matter how much I try? Like my lips are sealed. Like my hands are frozen.

He spent sleepless nights, tormented by questions he couldn’t answer.

“I won’t run away anymore, Liam.”

It irritated him, every emotion she stirred in him. His helpless will, his heart that found comfort just from meeting her eyes.

“I won’t hide, and I won’t let myself be taken away.”

He didn’t want Eden to become a hollow Empress. That title only stripped people of everything. Like his mother, who withered away after losing all purpose and will.

Eden reminded him too much of Lillian. Just as he resembled the father he so hated.

‘Then what is it I want from you?’

Make you my mistress? The thought filled him with disgust.

The emotion he felt for Eden had never been mere lust.

‘Maybe it’s better to send you somewhere I can’t see you at all.’

He felt unsettled when he saw her, but it was worse when he didn’t.

‘Edenastie, just what are you…?’

Possession. After long deliberation, Liam decided to define his feelings as possessiveness. It brought some small relief. But that fleeting peace shattered the moment he faced her again.

He hated that his eyes always sought her. That a single expression from her could sway him made him feel pathetic.

The mere thought of his jealousy made his face burn. He turned into a foolish child around her. Every word she spoke sent him from heaven to hell. The feelings were too vivid to ignore, no matter how much he tried.

Liam scrubbed his face with both hands.

“This is driving me insane.”

He had suppressed and denied it for so long, but the emotions he couldn’t uproot had begun to sprout.

Gradually, he came to accept that Eden was someone special. He could no longer deny it.

Yes. Eden was the only person still alive inside him.

But Liam couldn’t forget his father’s cursed advice: that whatever he cherished would ultimately destroy him. He hated it, but he agreed.

Feelings were a nuisance. He knew that whatever he didn’t want to lose would inevitably become his greatest weakness.

“Or maybe I’ve already gone mad.”

But somewhere along the way, all that worry became meaningless. If he was going to die anyway, it didn’t seem so bad to die by her hand. It already felt too late.

With Eden, he felt peace. In those moments, he felt like just a normal man. He could breathe. He could sleep.

Eden had settled into him quietly, like clean air. The feeling of being alive. It was addictive.

He could have lived without ever knowing it. But now that he had, he couldn’t bear to lose it. Liam wanted more. Just watching wasn’t enough. Even touching wasn’t enough.

‘If you’ve changed, maybe I can change too.’

He no longer had the strength to deny his heart. Before Eden, radiant and pure, he was utterly powerless. At a breath’s distance, Liam stared at his reflection in her blue eyes, heart pounding with unspoken truths.

I’ll admit it now. I didn’t know for so long and refused to know. But now I do. Your change made me see.

“I… I love you, Eden.”

I’m certain. I’d stake everything on it.

Liam surrendered completely. Eden had conquered him without lifting a single finger. She would likely never know Liam’s personal war was over.

A war in which pride and resistance had no place.

“I lost… and you won.”

And he’d never been more glad to lose.

* * *

Even after Liam drifted into sleep, breathing steadily, Eden couldn’t close her eyes.

It wasn’t the nap she’d taken earlier. It was him, his presence in the dark filled the entire room. His warmth, his movements, the sound of his breathing – all of it overwhelmed her.

Her eyes were hollow as she gazed at his profile.

“You said you love me.”

His eyes when he confessed were heartbreakingly pure. It was a plea so sincere it stirred even her frozen heart. That memory overlapped with a version of him from her previous life, a nightmare that swallowed her whole.

Eden clasped her trembling hands tightly, as if in prayer.

“You’ve loved me all along… haven’t you?”

Her voice broke apart with emotion.

“You… you really are cruel to the end.”

Her expression, cold and frozen like ice, finally crumbled. Why did this man seem so desperate to drag her into ruin?

She bit her lip hard as she looked at his sleeping face.

“I hate you. I curse you.”

His slumbering face was, uncharacteristically, peaceful. Liam and peace, a pairing that never seemed to fit. Maybe that’s why. Watching him sleep made her want to say everything she’d held back.

The bitterness in her mouth overflowed.

“But hating you like this… is getting harder.”

Every time he smiled, every time he spoke, every time he slept with that innocent look on his face. Every moment he felt unfamiliar.

“I end up… hating myself.”

After a pause, she slowly reached out to pull his robe closed and gently drew the blanket over him.

She’d gotten used to this. A habit now.

Liam was surprisingly sensitive to cold, though he rarely showed it. But he hated sleeping fully dressed, so he always went to bed in just a robe and woke with it completely undone.

No matter how many times she scolded him, nothing changed.

“I once loved you.”

She had learned so many new things about him in this life. As memories she couldn’t even call ‘nostalgia’ came flooding back, an indescribable wave of emotion overtook her.

“You…”

Eden’s mind went blank. As though she had forgotten every word in the world, she could say nothing more.

And so, in that relentlessly flowing night, only Eden stood still.