Chapter 5
“The meal resumed. The steward entered carrying a large silver platter, and various dishes spiced with spices from the Silk Road were extravagantly laid out.’’
Empress Dowager glanced briefly at her mother while quietly pretending to eat.
From the moment Laras entered, Empress Mother’s face stiffened, not giving attention to anyone else but her son.
It was a face filled with fear of her son committing further rudeness.
Aristide struggled to keep his gaze away from him and focused on the meal.
“Give me a lot. I’m going to eat all of this.”
Laras received a hefty turkey leg from the steward and, with both hands, alternately received beef ribs, taking a bite each time.
Aristide made an effort not to turn his gaze towards him. Empress Mother focused solely on Loras, not touching anything herself.
“Eat slowly, Laras. Eating too much at once can upset your stomach. Put this down on the plate…”
Empress Mother attempted to place Laras’s left rib on his plate, but Loras quickly pulled his head back. Though his lips were stained with seasoning as usual, Aristide was in agony, almost to the point of tears.
Empress Mother, too, seemed to be suffering.
Laughter could be heard somewhere. Aristide instinctively raised his head.
It was Empress Third’s daughter, Anashenka, and Renok. They openly teased Loras for a moment before bursting into uncontrollable laughter.
In the silent dining room, their laughter was all the more vivid. Empress Mother’s hand, wiping Laras’s lips, paused.
Her pale face seemed as if it would break.
Following her gaze, the chef, who was preparing dishes to serve to her son, looked up.
A chilling gaze fell upon Anashenka and Renok. The laughter vanished from the siblings’ faces.
“How dare you mock the son of the Empress in front of her.”
The atmosphere in the room instantly chilled.
Fear spread across Anashenka and Renok’s faces. Tension stained not only them but everyone present.
“Your Majesty, Second Princess and Third Prince were merely…”
Empress Gladyis tried to placate him in her confusion.
“Silence!”
The Emperor barked sharply.
“Your…Your Majesty…”
Gladyis trembled, bowing her head.
The Empress Dowager openly scorned Empress Gladyis. According to those who had long served in the palace, the Emperor had never quite favored his third wife. Initially, he had tolerated Empress Gladyis’s family and background, but at some point, things had soured.
From some point onwards, whenever she opened her mouth, he would regard her with eyes that said she was nothing but a base-born merchant’s daughter.
“To dare ridicule the Emperor’s son in front of the Emperor. Is it because of your fundamentally ignorant merchant blood?”
It was a harsh reprimand. Renok and Anashenka trembled, their lips trembling.
Aristide pondered the Emperor’s chilling reprimand. It was not like how he reprimanded his own children.
It felt more like dealing with someone who was never his child to begin with.
Even if they were said to carry half of a base-born merchant’s blood, half of them were still made up of the Emperor’s blood. Yet still…
“Your Majesty, please forgive them. The fault lies solely with me, not the prince and princess.”
“Gladys rose from her seat and knelt before the Emperor.’’
arass’s whimpering echoed in the hall. The Empress mother patted her son’s back, offering him water. Aristide glanced at the Emperor.
“Your, Your Majesty. Please, please….”
Just the sight of her face was enough to disgust him. The Emperor rose from his seat and ruthlessly slapped her cheek. Gladys collapsed without strength.
Anashenca, startled, rushed forward to embrace her mother.
“Your Majesty. I beg your forgiveness for my sister, the Third Empress. Please don’t treat my mother like this. It was my brother and I who were wrong. Please… sniff…”
Anashenca began to sob, tears streaming down her cheeks as she clasped her hands together in supplication. Leinock, too, knelt beside the Third Empress.
The Emperor kicked Leinock’s chest mercilessly and glared at Anashenca. Suddenly, Carl stood and knelt beside his brothers.
“Your Majesty. Please, remain calm.”
His voice was firm.
Whether to save his brothers or to salvage the atmosphere on this unfortunate day, it was unclear, but his sincerity was evident even as he knelt.
“That’s enough. I’ll go back now.”
The Empress mother rose from her seat, unable to bear the sight. Aristide also pretended not to see his brothers, rising and helping lorass. Frozen, Rorass only blinked his eyes.
“Rose.”
The Emperor turned to the departing Empress mother.
Disappointment creased his face. Ignoring him, the Empress mother tried to leave with her son.
“As the Second Prince said, please remain calm.”
“Wait.”
“…Isn’t this all trivial?”
“What do you mean?”
The Emperor tried to grasp the Empress mother’s wrist as she turned away.
She shook him off as if flicking away a bug, then muttered with a pale face.
“I’m sorry. On such a joyous day like today, larass has ruined everything.”
Aristide shot a fleeting glance at his father before turning away.
Leinock’s shallow groans as he lay on the ground went unnoticed. It didn’t matter. Whether through disdain or reprimand, only Aristide or lorass would inherit the shining achievements of their father. Even if they endured scorn and rebuke, they were the only ones worthy of ascending the throne.
“Mother. Are you angry?”
It was a journey back in the carriage.
The distance between the main palace and the star palace was quite significant, so it took at least 10 minutes by carriage to arrive. Unlike the magnificent and grand main palace, the star palace was simple and modest.
Situated in a remote corner even within the imperial palace, it rarely saw foot traffic, and few people even bothered to glance in its direction.
Even the grass growing in the garden seemed humble to the point of being shabby.
This was the only place where Afrosa could set foot, the only place she could call home and find solace in, amidst the opulence of the imperial court.
“Why do you think that way?”
“Just because of me, Mother…?”
“No, Loras. It’s not because of that.”
“But…”
Afrosa smiled towards her son, but Loras still had a gloomy expression.
She turned her gaze away from him for a moment.
“We’re finally getting closer to our home.”
Afrosa murmured, looking out the window.
The star palace had been her dwelling since before Aristide was born.
Despite being conceived there, Aristide was born in the star palace due to Afrosa’s insistence. Unlike the children of Valerie and Gladys… There was no sorrow. No regret. It was her who desired to leave the main palace.
For a long time… Afrosa wanted to distance herself from her husband.
Erase him from her dazzling life, as many others desired. Even when giving birth to her daughter, she prevented her husband from coming to the star palace.
In this palace. No, in the empire, there was no one who could stop him, so reluctantly, she confined herself to the star palace.
Afrosa hoped her husband wouldn’t defile the star palace. If he set foot in the star palace, she would have nowhere to breathe.
At least she should have a place to rest her legs as much as the house where she lived.
“Mother.”
“Yes?”
“Are you angry?”
“….”
“It’s because of me again, isn’t it?”
“No, Ari. Ari wasn’t angry. Really. Father wasn’t angry either, so don’t worry.”
With guilt weighing heavy on his shoulders, Loras, with his lips trembling, seemed on the verge of tears. It felt like his heart was being torn apart.
The crimson bruise that had settled in his unsettled heart throbbed painfully.
Afrosa gently held Loras’s hands, which were much larger and longer than her own, like a mother caressing a baby’s hand, fragile and thin.
“It’s okay. Laras. You did nothing wrong.”
“But, but because of me, Mother…”
Laras, shedding tears, began to cry aloud.
Afrosa bent her waist and pulled him into her embrace.
She tenderly stroked the back of her son, who was as tall as his father. Laras cried in her arms like a seven-year-old child. Holding twenty-three-year-old Loras and thinking of twenty-three-year-old Alek. His black hair swaying in the wind.
The iron eyes containing the setting sun in the forest. His lips that curved when their eyes met and his long eyes. The time when only she had him… She didn’t know then.
Even after living the same number of years as him, her son wouldn’t outgrow his seven-year-old self… She never expected that their marriage would crumble so terribly.
“I love you, Afrosa. Marry me.”
Her cheeks tinged with apology and her healing smile were so lovely.
Afrosa accepted the bouquet he offered and happily closed her eyes.
She gently wiped her wet cheeks and kissed him. If they were to return to that forest in that spring, she wouldn’t doubt his love.
