Perhaps Theo wanted to protect Lethenia’s fragile pride. She couldn’t even imagine herself as an empress.
There was only one reason she wanted to become an empress: so she could be next to Ian. If it had been revealed that Lethenia wasn’t of Duke Bledel’s bloodline, both the empress position and the betrothal to Ian would have been in vain.
When the story about Lethenia came out, I noticed his expression had softened a little. He casually but cautiously threw a question.
“Aren’t you curious about your real family? If you want, I can look into it for you.”
“Not at all.”
I spoke without a moment’s hesitation. Whoever Lethenia’s family was, it had nothing to do with me.
However, there was a faint trace of bitterness in his voice.
“Since you always longed for your mother, I thought you might want to find another family to share affection with.”
At the mention of “mother,” I briefly touched on the red ruby necklace that Lethenia always wore.
“I heard my real father was a wandering foreigner, so he might be difficult to find. It’s possible that he’s already passed away. And even if I manage to find him, I’m not sure if he’d be pleased to see me. He might already be settled and have a new family.”
“That’s possible.”
“It’s preferable to live in ignorance than to suffer the consequences of knowing. Above all, I made the decision to live contentedly in the present rather than dwell on the past. The future is what matters.”
I wondered if the real Lethenia would have wanted to find her biological father, but it wasn’t important to me.
Theo nodded slightly in agreement with my words and spoke.
“There’s nothing more unfortunate than being trapped in the past. It’s nice to see that you have found the will to live.”
His voice, which had been somewhat sensitive due to the urgent and life-threatening situation, had softened considerably. The subtle tension in the atmosphere gradually dissipated, just like before.
“Do you know?”
“…….”
“Lately, Your Majesty’s appearance has been quite impressive.”
Theo smiled mischievously and unexpectedly uttered words that felt like a tremendous compliment. I felt elated.
His eyes, resembling beautiful emeralds, were fixedly on me. His enchanting smile seeped deep into my heart without me noticing.
Dawn was breaking before I knew it. I hadn’t planned on staying out for so long, but being chased by the men of Duke Bledel caused more delay than I anticipated. I was worried about Stella. Did she manage to hold on without being caught?
We managed to reach near the palace without attracting attention by taking a secluded path different from before, away from the cursed forest. As soon as we dismounted from the horse, he spoke first.
“I will leave for Schubert early tomorrow morning.”
“I won’t be able to see you for a while then.”
Perhaps sensing my disappointed tone, Theo carefully observed my stiffening expression. Then, he put on a light smile and spoke.
“While there was a dangerous situation, thanks to it, I can bid you farewell before leaving.”
“Take care of yourself.”
“Judging by your expression, it seems you already miss me.”
A small laughter escaped from his playful gaze. He mounted the horse again and continued speaking.
“If you have time, please use the magic notebook occasionally.”
“Are you talking about the spirit who said I was treating you poorly?”
“He’s a rather peculiar spirit, but I hope he visits my dreams occasionally to bring news about the empress.”
Theo opened his mouth again with a playful twinkle in his eyes.
“Please stay calm and quiet until I return. Such incidents as today should never happen again.”
“I will.”
After hesitating for a moment, he cautiously conveyed the words he had kept in his heart.
“When I return after finishing my task, I will take you outside the palace to explore. I know a lot of places that Her Majesty might like.”
With those words, he disappeared from sight. I stared blankly as he rode away, gradually vanishing from view.
I found myself unknowingly wanting to capture that scene in my eyes, wanting to preserve it.
***
When I returned to the Empress’s palace, I saw the anxious face of the Emperor’s chief attendant standing in front of the main gate. The countenances of the palace attendants brightened as they noticed me.
“Your Majesty the Empress!”
The chamberlain scanned me up and down, letting out a sigh of relief. In contrast, I felt a growing sense of unease. The fact that someone from Ian’s side was here… Probably means I got caught.
“It’s a relief to see you safe. Where on earth… His Majesty the Emperor was extremely worried. The Imperial Guards have all gone out in search of Your Majesty the Empress.”
“It’s nothing. I just went out to get some fresh air quietly.”
“Did you happen to go to the cursed forest?”
I was startled by the mention of the cursed forest. How did they know about that? Anyway, I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it for any reason. I had decided to keep today’s extraordinary events hidden. I slowly shook my head to indicate that I didn’t go there.
“I’m sure you didn’t. I was needlessly worried. I heard that someone witnessed a person entering the cursed forest while chasing after Your Majesty the Empress, so I had my doubts.”
“That place is literally the cursed forest. If I had gone in, there’s no way I would have come out unharmed.”
“If you hadn’t come back by morning… Just the thought of it is terrifying. By the way, Her Majesty…….”
He hesitated for quite a while before finally speaking with difficulty.
“His Majesty the Emperor… was extremely worried about Your Majesty the Empress.”
The chamberlain seemed to have more to say, but he ultimately closed his mouth. Ian is worrying about me… I couldn’t comprehend his inexplicable words. Putting aside the chamberlain’s incomprehensible words, I entered the bedroom.
As I had guessed, instead of Stella dressed as the empress, Ian could be seen sitting with a cold expression. He stood up and quickly approached me.
With an uneasy gaze, he scanned me up and down. He walked briskly to the entrance and forcefully opened the closed door.
“Summon the court physician immediately.”
In Ian’s sharp, urgent tone as he called for the court physician, I felt a strange misunderstanding. Could it be he’s really… worried about me? Before hearing the chamberlain’s response, I quickly interrupted his words.
“No, there’s no need for that.”
I closed the door again and asked him.
“What’s wrong?”
“Did you go to the cursed forest?”
“……No.”
“Have you been anywhere near there?”
“Absolutely not.”
He let out a deep sigh, closing his eyes for a moment and then opening them again. His reaction was rather peculiar.
“What brought you to the Empress Palace?”
“Why are you asking me this now?”
Ian clenched his teeth.
“I just went out to get some fresh air, that’s all.”
“Without any guards and even forging a pass?”
“I wanted to go quietly.”
“And what if something had happened?”
He spoke as if he was genuinely concerned about me, but I didn’t think it was sincere.
Someone who is busy taking Rosetin to the Imperial Palace as if he would be in big trouble if he didn’t see her for a day won’t bother to pay attention to me. There might have been something going on, but I casually replied.
“Look, everything’s fine. I came back safely.”
“Don’t ever do that again.”
“No one saw me, so don’t worry. I went through all the trouble of disguising myself so that you wouldn’t get into trouble.”
Ian let out a short sigh, as if exasperated. There was no doll-like smile or indifferent, cold gaze on his face.
Instead, his expression and tone showed traces of worry and relief. Why on earth… Lately, I felt like I had been seeing Ian’s emotional side more often.
I wondered if he was just putting on an act to hide his feelings. While I was pondering what to say, he spoke first.
“I was worried.”
“About me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“It’s only natural.”
No, don’t be fooled. That’s undoubtedly a lie. He’s probably just worried about the Empress being missing and causing trouble.
As someone who knows how he has treated Lethenia all this time, I couldn’t simply believe his words at face value. I felt a pointless vindictiveness towards his pretentious behavior. It was a signal that Lethenia’s emotions were starting to stir again.
“I thought you didn’t care about me because you kept taking my maid.”
“Is that why you’re protesting now?”
“Of course not. I want the two of you to get closer as soon as possible.”
I spoke with a sigh as I took off my cloak.
“I haven’t had a chance to go out normally since becoming the Empress. It’s frustrating to be confined to the palace.”
Ian didn’t respond to that. The silence lasted quite a while, creating an awkward atmosphere.
“Oh, by the way, about Theo.”
As I mentioned Theo’s name, Ian’s face subtly stiffened. Our farewell a while ago kept weighing on my mind.
I couldn’t let go of the image of him walking away from me.
“If you want to make Rosetin your mistress, feel free to do so. I really meant it when I said let’s not interfere with each other’s business. As the Empress, who doesn’t have your approval, an official endorsement is necessary to bring in a mistress. I will help with whatever I can. But you have to cooperate too.”
“…….”
“Don’t touch him.”
Ian stared at my face intently. Then, a chilling voice reached my ears.
“No matter how much you resent me, that person will never return.”
I hadn’t expected his reaction, but I was now completely out of options.
“No, you will end up summoning him eventually.”
“Quite confident, aren’t you?”
“To be honest, I have no interest in the honor of the royal family that you are so eager to protect.”
“…….”
“You never treated me as a proper Empress anyway. You didn’t even show me the treatment befitting an Empress, and now you’re trying to impose obligations on me. Don’t you think it’s unfair?”
“You’re right.”
“So…”
“But this issue is unrelated to that.”
If not, then what does he want to say? He seemed to be uttering incomprehensible words without any intention of providing a proper explanation.
