DMEC | Chapter 5

“No matter how ten years have passed, it’s still me… How could you forget? We spent a whole eight years together!”

The Joel they remembered was not the emperor but the prince. Even though he was weaker than his twin sister Loue, he always carried Lute around like a doll, and let him sit on his lap to serve as a chair.

After raising him for eight years and keeping him locked up for ten more, how could he not remember? Now Lute was not the child he raised but his spouse.

Anna and Melik’s expressions slowly hardened with anger. Even though they had waited ten years with divorce in mind, Joel completely forgetting Lute was a different matter altogether.

How could he forget Lute? He cherished and loved him so much. Above all, back then, Lute was so beautiful that he was unforgettable.

From birth, the fate of the twin sister Loue and younger brother Lute was decided.

The country of snakes, Synthsis, was unique among the seven nations, as only women could inherit the throne.

This tradition extended beyond the royal family—even among commoners, it was the mother who controlled the household’s wealth. In other words, all domestic affairs were governed by a mother’s words and hands, while the father was merely a figurehead—responsible for earning money and protecting the home like a knight.

In a nation that instilled strength in women and submission in men, Lute—born a boy and particularly frail—could do little.

Always teetering on the brink of death, he was ultimately saved by Eliana, the reigning Empress at the time, who clung to an old superstition she herself had never believed in.

The superstition was that if a boy dressed as a girl for eight years, he would become healthy. Because of this, Lute grew his hair long and wore dresses like his sister. Still, people could immediately recognize Lute among the twins for one reason.

It was because of his exceptionally outstanding appearance from a young age. Even as a child, his sapphire-like blue eyes, long and dense eyelashes like a fan, a prominent nose between chubby cheeks, and rose-colored lips were unforgettable.

Those who saw Lute once could never forget him. Especially as he grew, his appearance shone even more, making Anna and Melik think it was better for him to be confined here.

“Hic, hic… I’m going to get a divorce, so, Anna, bring the divorce papers tomorrow. I’ll sign them right away!”

Anna sighed as she watched Lute cry in Melik’s arms again. The divorce would proceed smoothly as expected, but what about afterward?

Melik was also worried, feeling dizzy at the sight of Lute’s long, ivory legs under the cloak.

How could such a beautiful prince live as a commoner outside? Who would protect our prince? He couldn’t hide his face all the time.

While lost in thought outside, a sudden gust of wind howled through the trees.

Lute, who had been swimming excitedly in the lake and had not dried off properly, immediately began to shiver. His teeth chattered, and his entire body trembled uncontrollably as the cold seeped into his skin.

Without hesitation, Melik bent down, lifted Lute into his arms, and carried him toward the Water Palace—a structure so worn and fragile that it looked as if it could crumble at any moment.

As expected, Lute couldn’t get out of bed, suffering from physical and mental pain.

✮⋆˙

The day after the Emperor returned from his dragon hunt, the sun had already begun its slow descent westward from the center of the sky.

While enjoying a light tea with the nobles, he listened carefully to the affairs of the empire—details he had only known through letters during his four-year absence. Fortunately, as they were all capable individuals he trusted, the regions had remained stable in his absence, with no major crises.

As always, pirates prowled the seas. Some regions had struggled to pay taxes due to drought and poor harvests, leading to the execution of a lord who had resorted to brutal tax collection. Such matters were routine—common occurrences that merited discussion but caused little surprise.

The council of twelve deliberated over the empire’s affairs with solemnity, their conversation lasting until the great hourglass had been flipped twice.

Then, without warning, the Emperor suddenly stood.

Eleven high-ranking nobles turned their gazes toward him.

Without hesitation, he removed the cloak symbolizing his emperorship and handed it to Alexander, the Knight Commander who had long stood by his side.

“Alexander, take off your clothes.”

Some nobles spat out their tea with a “Pfft!” while others choked on their snacks and clutched their throats. The emperor, not looking at them, saw Alexander’s bewildered face and beckoned with his finger.

“Take them off, all of them.”

Alexander swallowed dryly, his expression firm with determination. It was an unspoken rule that he indulged his desires without regard for gender. His promiscuity—known only to those who were aware—now seemed to extend even to his most loyal subjects.

He never spared a glance at faces. Whether they were ugly, bald, short, or tall, he lay with anyone who agreed and handled the aftermath with meticulous precision.

The only complication was that, being monogamous, he could only sire children through the Queen—who, inconveniently, was a man.

Moreover, the Queen hailed from Synthsis, a nation infamous for offering its people as tribute to the demon king, the Basilisk.

Despite his breathtaking beauty, many harbored resentment toward the Queen, whispering, “He’ll enchant people with that face. He should be confined.”

Thus, they found satisfaction in his imprisonment within the Water Palace—until, in time, they forgot about him entirely.

In the Great Empire of Killen, no one welcomed Lute, the lone survivor from Synthsis. Naturally, during the Emperor’s years of forgetting him, he was treated with nothing but neglect.

Confined within the Water Palace, he was given near-rotten food, worn-out clothes in desperate need of mending, and even when he fell gravely ill in the dead of winter, not a single palace doctor was sent.

Many had wished for his quiet demise, yet he had endured. And now, with only a month remaining until the divorce, the nobles did not even bother to speak his name.

But what if the Emperor took an interest in him now? What if he delayed the divorce?

He was, after all, the prince rumored to be the most beautiful in the land of snakes, Synthsis. Among the nobles who had once glimpsed him, there were even those so enchanted by his face that they found themselves unable to marry another. Some had even abandoned their titles, seeking refuge in monasteries—forever haunted by the memory of his beauty.

They could not forget that face.

The palace staff deliberately erased Lute’s existence from the emperor’s mind, saying, “As expected, he’s very bewitching, just like a person from the country of snakes, Synthsis.”

Yes, it was better to offer Alexander than to have the emperor take an interest in the queen and delay the divorce….

As the nobles’ eyes turned sinister and eerie, Alexander swallowed his tears and asked the emperor in a trembling voice,

“Do I have to take them off here, Your Majesty?”

“Hmm?”

The emperor thought for a moment and then quickly said,

“Oh? Are you embarrassed because there are too many eyes watching? Then, everyone, please leave. It seems that Alexander, our esteemed Knight Commander, is quite shy about taking off his clothes—despite us both being men.”

The Emperor let out a half-hearted laugh and snapped his fingers, unlocking the door with a flick of magic. The grand double doors swung open, and the chairs scraped backward as if pulled by an unseen force, lifting the nobles’ plump bodies from their seats.

Imagining two men—both built like towering door panels—entwined, the nobles turned pale. Without hesitation, they scrambled from the reception hall, vanishing like frightened mice.

The moment the last one fled, the Emperor snapped his fingers once more, sealing the doors shut. Then, without hesitation, he began to undress.

“Hurry up and take them off, Alexander.”

“Your Majesty….”

Alexander mumbled with a pale face.

“Are you really going to… embrace me here?”

“What?”

The emperor was startled. Having told him to take them off, the emperor was surprised and blushed as he said,

“What nonsense are you talking about? I just meant to take off your clothes!”

Alexander stupidly asked, “Huh?” The emperor pursed his lips, thought for a moment, and then, fiddling with his reddened ears, lowered his eyes. After pondering something, the emperor sighed and crossed his arms, looking at his friend and knight, Alexander, and spoke.

“I saw a fairy yesterday.”

“…Huh?”

Alexander’s face crumpled. What fairy? Why would there be a fairy here? Almost forgetting he was speaking to the emperor, Alexander suppressed his thoughts and asked,

“Where did you see it?”

“In the Emperor’s Forest, at the Sacred Lake.”

“The Emperor’s Forest, the Sacred Lake…?”

Alexander blinked, repeating the Emperor’s words under his breath. The names felt familiar—too familiar. He had heard them countless times since childhood, yet this familiarity was different.

A strange sensation gnawed at him, as if he had forgotten someone important. His lips moved unconsciously, muttering, “Fairy… Emperor’s Forest… Sacred Lake…”

The Emperor, growing impatient, urged him forward. “Alexander, stop stalling. Take off your clothes.”

Yet, Alexander remained frozen in place, unable to shake the feeling clawing at his mind.

“Oh, hurry up and take them off! I saw a fairy swimming there at this time! I saw it clearly with my own eyes!”

At that moment, Alexander spoke with a face of realization.

“The queen?”

“…What?”

The emperor frowned and asked again.

“The queen?”

It seemed the emperor had truly forgotten who the queen was. Completely.

But soon after, the emperor’s expression turned blank, and he murmured in a low voice.

“That’s right, that child was the queen…. So it wasn’t a fairy, but that child?”