WTSP - 22

Could it be that the emperor is still asleep at this hour?

Assuming he would be busy with work, I headed to his office, only to find that Serdel wasn’t there.

Instead, an official informed me that he was likely in his chambers.

The man who seemed like he’d rise before dawn and keep himself occupied all day—still in his bedroom at this hour?

I shook my head in disbelief and signaled a handmaid with a blink of my eyes as I stood outside the chamber door.

“Your Majesty, the Fourth Empress has arrived.”

“Let her in.”

I was relieved not to have struck out twice in a row. At the same time, I hoped he wasn’t lying under the covers in bed—that would be too much of a cliché.

Fortunately, Serdel was seated at a table in the middle of the room, reading through documents. Once the door closed behind me, I approached him and held up the wine bottle.

“Isn’t this the wine you enjoy, Your Majesty?”

“The person who looked like they might collapse at any moment seems to have disappeared. You’re looking much better.”

Serdel fixed his gaze not on the wine but on my face as he set down his fountain pen atop the papers.

Prinz Kingdom Tribute Agreement , Imperial Project Proposal … The densely written text made my eyes hurt just glancing at them.

“Ah, it seems the medicine worked wonders. I feel perfectly fine after a good rest. What a relief.”

“So you personally came to deliver wine?”

“My father specifically asked me to bring it to you directly.”

I handed the bottle to Serdel and tilted my head toward the chair—an unspoken request to sit.

“You could have sent it through an official.”

“It’s a specially produced wine, so Father insisted I deliver it myself.”

“The Meredith family’s grapes are always top-tier. Their wines leave a finish unlike others.”

I didn’t want to complicate things by revealing everything to Serdel. Sometimes, keeping it simple was best.

With a silent promise to let this be a one-time thing, I ran my fingertip along the curve of the wine bottle.

What did it taste like? Curiosity got the better of me. Perhaps noticing the glint in my eye, Serdel spoke up.

“You look like you want to try it. Didn’t you drink enough of it during your days as a noblewoman?”

“Ah, back then, my health wasn’t great…”

Had I given myself away too easily? His words hit the mark, making me awkwardly self-conscious.

Before coming here, I had been quite the drinker among my peers—not someone who overindulged recklessly, but someone who loved collecting excellent spirits.

I especially favored wine and whiskey because soju had started tasting unbearably bitter in my mid-twenties.

When I first became an adult, I used to drink all night without knowing my limits...

Especially in sports circles, where heavy drinking was practically a rite of passage.

The memory of guzzling alcohol like there was no tomorrow made me instinctively shake my head.

They say stamina diminishes year by year once you become an adult—and judging from how I felt now, it wasn’t far from the truth.

“Would you care for a sip?”

“Now?”

“A light tasting clears the mind.”

True, one glass wouldn’t hurt—it wasn’t an entire bottle, after all.

As if reading his intentions, the waiting maid brought two transparent wine glasses and an opener, setting them down gracefully.

The ornate wine glasses, adorned with gold accents, were exquisite and intricate, clearly crafted with painstaking effort.

Serdel deftly uncorked the bottle with practiced hands and gestured toward the glasses.

Since refusing would’ve been impolite, I smiled and lightly took hold of the glass.

The deep red hue of the wine shimmered brilliantly inside the crystal-clear glass. Its aroma alone was richer than any wine I’d ever smelled back home.

Being emperor sure does have its perks. Whether it’s food or drink, he gets only the finest.

After filling both glasses, Serdel turned to me.

“Any toast come to mind?”

“What do people usually say in situations like this?”

“To the sun that illuminates the Carlot Empire, I offer my reverence. Something like that. Though it’s rather clichéd, isn’t it?”

Wasn’t he embarrassed calling himself the sun?

Serdel delivered the line with complete nonchalance. It must’ve been something he’d heard countless times from nobles and royals alike. I racked my brain trying to come up with something fresh.

“How about ‘neonajalhae’?”

“…Did I mishear you, Empress?”

His slightly furrowed brow betrayed a hint of bewilderment.

“For you and me—to shine bright together! Neonajalhae, cheers!”

I added a playful “cling” sound effect for dramatic flair, ignoring my own embarrassment.

He said he disliked clichés, so I went with what I thought was creative—”neonajalhae,” a quirky Korean drinking phrase.

The two glasses clinked together with a crystalline ring that sent shivers down my spine.

Though Serdel gave me an incredulous look, I proudly tipped the glass to my lips.

The rich aroma of aged red wine filled my mouth, its deep tannins lingering delightfully.

Wow, this is incredible. I could easily finish a whole bottle sitting right here.

It was clear why the Meredith family was said to have conquered the empire with their wine.

Watching me intently, Serdel savored the wine as well, eventually nodding in satisfaction as he drained his glass.

Maybe I should suggest another round.

As I lazily swirled the stem of the glass between my fingers, I suddenly felt a wave of dizziness wash over me.

The world began spinning clockwise, and I lost control of my body.

Even though it wasn’t summer, a heat surged through me. What was happening?

“Uh…?”

Blink-blink. My vision flickered like a dying lightbulb, as if someone were shaking me violently by the shoulders.

I pressed my hand to my forehead, frantically trying to make sense of the situation—but something felt off.

Serdel’s approaching figure grew blurry and indistinct. Clinging to the last threads of consciousness, I managed to mutter one final sentence.

“Ah… just a moment.”

Surely this wasn’t poisoned again, was it?

________________________________________

All of this unfolded within barely a minute.

Finally, some peace and quiet. Watching Ophelia breathe deeply, seemingly fast asleep, Serdel muttered softly to himself.

Qwen2.5-Max2:07 pm

It all happened so quickly that there was no time to process or react.

“After just one sip, this is what happens?”

Ophelia, confident after taking a single swallow of wine, became completely intoxicated exactly thirty seconds later.

The reason lay in the fact that her frail constitution—known to be the weakest in the empire—hadn’t been taken into account beforehand.

Her assumption—”Surely one glass won’t get me drunk”—had turned out to be tragically accurate.

Ophelia, who lacked any ability to metabolize alcohol, had indeed become tipsy from just a single sip of wine.

Even Serdel, renowned for his sharp instincts, took considerable time to realize what was happening.

When Ophelia began showing unusual symptoms, Serdel immediately examined the wine with a stern expression. Had someone poisoned it again?

But her condition didn’t align with typical poisoning. She hadn’t collapsed outright; instead, she behaved exactly like someone who was drunk.

She staggered, unable to steady herself, and her cheeks flushed pink. By the fourth time she mentioned how the world seemed to be spinning, Serdel finally grasped the truth: she was intoxicated.

This was something he had never anticipated.

“She’s an Empress who manages to trouble me in every possible way.”

As a heavily intoxicated Ophelia instinctively reached to refill her glass, Serdel gently grasped her forearm.

“That’s enough for today.”

His voice carried an unexpected tenderness. With hazy eyes, Ophelia gazed at him before parting her lips.

“I never imagined I’d actually meet you… Hmm, hiccup. In my dreams, I only ever saw you from afar.”

“Did you long for me, someone you’ve never even met?”

Muttering incomprehensible phrases, Ophelia suddenly sprang up from her seat and looked directly at Serdel.

In the shimmering green of her irises, his own reflection appeared. At that moment, she broke into a radiant smile.

“Mmm, it’s fortunate that there are people here who care for you deeply. Honestly, I used to feel heartbroken because no one paid attention to you… or Brilline either. I didn’t even have the chance to cherish them properly.”

“Empress.”

“Just know this: I truly wish for your happiness. Every character feels like a precious but wounded finger… Ugh, I’m dizzy.”

Did she even understand what she was saying? Ophelia continued to ramble nonsensically, staring at Serdel.

Being an unpopular web novelist was far more painful than she had ever imagined.

Pouring her heart and soul into crafting characters, only to have no one acknowledge them—it was crushing.

She wished someone would at least read her stories and criticize them, but she couldn’t bring herself to confess such feelings to others.

“It’s humiliating… pathetic…”

Letting out a hollow laugh, Ophelia clutched the collar of Serdel’s shirt with both hands.

Serdel neither brushed her hands away nor scolded her for daring to touch the emperor. He simply stared at her with an enigmatic gaze.

“Happiness, love…”

Serdel rolled these two elusive words on the tip of his tongue. Recent doubts and questions resurfaced, swirling in his mind.

He had believed himself deeply in love with Brilline, submerged in the intoxication of romance. Yet, at some point, those emotions began to feel foreign—as though they weren’t truly his own.

It was as if someone had forced ill-fitting clothes onto him. The conviction grew within him that these feelings weren’t born of his own will.

Like walking a predetermined path, merely moving his feet without agency.

He couldn’t fathom why this confusion persisted. All he knew was that it left him feeling strange, as though butterflies fluttered in his stomach.

“You leave me bewildered.”

In every sense of the word. This sentiment had lingered since their first encounter and remained constant to this day.

Though he couldn’t yet decipher its meaning, one thing was certain: it wasn’t entirely negative.

Could this be the process of slowly discovering aspects of myself I never knew?

A frog living at the bottom of a well believes the well is the entirety of the world. For the frog, that confined space is its universe and life.

At that moment, Ophelia tilted her head back, standing on tiptoe, and captured Serdel in her gaze.

Their breaths mingled, their faces mere inches apart.

Her crimson lips parted silently, and then her vision faded to black. Ophelia Meredith closed her eyes.

Yes, like the blackout between acts in a play.