The face of the Holy Empress lit up from hearing his answer. It was obvious she did not understand what he had meant when he said that a Queen should not have scars. Instead, she began to point out her many scars and snake bites to explain what happened.

Gilyn's smile fell, "Assassination attempts?"

She only nodded in response.

Gilyn took a knee and grabbed her hand softly, "My Queen, your Holy Empress. I vow that I will never allow another assassination attempt to befall you again. As long as I breath, I will ensure your safety."

The Holy Empress looked at him in confusion after seeing how upset he had become. The servants looked at each other in uncertainty. When the Holy Empress saw his determined and somber expression, she slowly reached out to pet his head.

His body stiffened up, "Y-Your Holy Empress! Please stop!"

She tilted her head again to show her confusion.

He explained, "I am not a child! Please do not treat me like one!"

The Holy Empress smiled tenderly at him. Gilyn's breath caught in his throat as he felt his body grow warmer from that heavenly smile. It was a smile that would stop you from questioning if she really was the Holy Empress.

From that moment on, a comfortable yet worrisome feeling began to bloom in Gilyn's chest.

As the years went on, Gilyn made true to his oath to protect her. They quickly became close and would share many conversations. The Holy Empress was relieved that Gilyn wasn't annoyed with how much she wrote. Unlike the King, he was always patient with her. He would always wait for her to write before responding.

Over the years, Gilyn came to understand her more. She rarely smiled, but when she did it would light up the entire room. One glimpse and Gilyn honestly believed that everything would be alright in the world. That smile made the horrors Gilyn recounted from the war slowly fade away. However, Gilyn had to watch as that smile became more and more rare.

Her first child was taken from her before she could even give him a name.

Her second child was killed for being a girl.

But then… Simon was born. At that moment, everything changed.

For better or for worse.

At first, everything was perfect. The King had stopped visiting the Holy Empress once she was pregnant with Simon. When he was born, Gilyn reported to him that it was a boy. He was slightly afraid that the King would take this son just like he had the first one. Gilyn wasn't sure if the Holy Empress could handle another upset like that.

However, to his surprise, the King didn't care. He allowed Simon to stay with her.

The Holy Empress was starting to smile more frequently again. She truly treasured the son who loved her unconditionally. As she was bouncing Simon on her lap, he stared at her with large sparkling eyes while giggling madly. His smile was similar to the one the Holy Empress had.

It was the light in a dark place.

Gilyn would watch over the two with a smile. He had become completely devoted to the Holy Empress. He never had the opportunity to belong to a family before despite being from a noble family. He found himself thanking the Gods for allowing him to experience such tender love.

Simon stumbled over to Gilyn and tugged on his pants. Gilyn looked down to see Simon with a bright smile. He held his hands up towards him, "Dada dada!"

Gilyn panicked and looked around without hesitation. He was relieved to see that none of the servants were around to hear. He bent down and tussled Simon's hair, "Silly boy! You can't call me that."

Simon tilted his head in confusion.

Gilyn chuckled as he picked him up, "Your real father would get very upset."

Simon pouted for a moment before wrapping his arms around his neck, "Dada!"

Gilyn sighed at a loss. He looked over to the Holy Empress and was startled to see her smiling so gently. His face felt a bit hot, "Your Holy Empress… Shouldn't you tell him not to call me this?"

She wrote on a piece of paper and held it up: -I like it. I wish Gilyn would be Simon's daddy-

Gilyn felt as if an arrow pierced his heart. His face immediately turned red, "Y-Your Holy Empress! You can't say such things!! Do you even realize what that means?!"

She tilted her head and wrote on another: -What does it mean? I think we three would be a good family-

Gilyn blushed and forced himself to look away from her innocent expression. Truthfully, she couldn't understand what Gilyn was thinking about now. She would read erotic novels, but she couldn't understand why others thought the acts inside of them were an inappropriate thing to do.

Gilyn grew more used to her, so he wasn't as easily startled. However, every so often she would say something like this. It made him want to protect her innocence even more. As he looked at the loving Simon and the gentle Holy Empress, he thought that he wouldn't mind to be in a family with them.

But not everything was meant to be.

One day, Simon was playing in the library. Usually, he would be either clinging onto Gilyn or his mother. He was a child who couldn't stand to be alone. However, on this fateful day he decided to play hide and go seek with Gilyn and the Empress.

As he ran through the bookshelves, he suddenly collided with a person. Since he was still young, he didn't understand how the world worked yet. He also had never seen his father before. That's why when he looked up at the frightening looking person he had collided into, he beamed at him in apology, "Torry Mitter!"

This smile was all it took for the King to grow furious.

The King picked him up by the collar immediately frightening Simon. The King glared at him, "What a disgrace."

The Holy Empress and Gilyn heard the commotion and immediately appeared. The Holy Empress panicked upon seeing the King holding Simon with such hostility. She began to make strange noises as she fell to her knees and clasped her hands in a begging posture.

Gilyn spoke while bowing, "Greetings to your Majesty. Has the Prince does something to offend you?"

Simon began to cry from the pain. He was always a happy child who had never cried before. He never even cried when he was starving. The King spoke, "It seems that this child is a disgrace to the Royal Family. Not only does he cry and smile without proper manners, but he also cannot speak correctly!"

The Empress looked at Gilyn in a panic. He understood immediately, "Your Majesty. Please forgive the child. We will surely reprimand him for insulting you."

"Reprimand him! HAH! That's not enough. No. This brat needs to be thrown to the lower tier army to deal with. Maybe that will toughen him up."

Gilyn broke out into a cold sweat. The lower tier was the worst part of the army to be placed in. The children were either orphans of war, or their parents sold them for spare coins. They were mistreated to the highest regard. They were tortured brutally, forced to kill, starved, all under the premise of "becoming strong".

How could this little boy survive that?

Gilyn looked to the King in a panic, "Your Majesty! Please do not do that! I can punish Simon properly! I can-"

"You dare look me in the eyes and disagree with a royal decree?!"

Gilyn immediately looked down as he tried not to tremble under the King's mad look. He clenched his fists behind his back in self-deprecation. Why was he so weak!? How could he possibly not help the ones he loved even now?

He spoke in a low voice, "No… Your Majesty… I dare not do such a thing..."

The King dragged Simon away who wailed, "MAMA! DADA! PWEASE!"

The Empress let out a cry and ran to stop him. Gilyn held her back with tears in his eyes. He grit his teeth as the Empress wailed out a painful cry.

He was helpless to stop the King…

He was helpless to save Simon...

As he held her, he whispered gently into her ears, "Don't worry Empress… I have a friend who I fought side by side with who is high ranked in the lower tier. I can have him protect Simon… Don't worry… Please don't worry… I will ensure Simon's safety."

For days and days, the Holy Empress merely cried without leaving her bed. Eventually, she could cry no more. For months, she stayed in that dark room without moving. Gilyn tried hard to cheer her up and get her to eat, but she had been destroyed.

Once, he came in to see her sitting in bed looking at the closed window with a frown. Her face was gaunt from malnutrition. He placed a plate beside her and spoke softly, "Empress… Please eat…"

She leaned over to the table and pulled out a paper. She wrote: -I have no name.-

He was shocked, "What do you mean?"

She wrote: -They call me Queen. They call me Holy Empress. Yet, I have no name.-

Gilyn couldn't respond and looked away with a miserable expression. It was true. She was a person who was never given a name.

She was called the Holy Empress.

She was called the Queen.

However, she was never meant to be her own person.

Gilyn took her hand, "Then… What about Meret?"

She slowly turned to look at him.

He smiled, "Meret. The Goddess of snakes."

A smile finally formed on her face even though it was faint. She gave a single nod in acceptance.