The Hated Empress Tames the Tyrant

“You dropped this.”

 

Startled by the fallen diary, Arundel bent down to pick it up.

 

“Thank you…!”

 

As Arundel lifted her head, the hood she was wearing fell back.

 

“…!”

 

The knight captain recognized her. A ripple of surprise crossed his handsome, neat face.

 

Fortunately, perhaps also recognizing the maid next to her, he did not speak rashly.

 

“You should go back quickly.”

 

As the knight captain spoke to the maid, she blushed as if disappointed and disappeared from the spot.

 

Fortunately, it seemed that the maid did not recognize Arundel.

 

“Why is Her Majesty the Empress here…”

 

“Lower your voice!”

 

Arundel quickly covered the knight captain’s mouth. The knight captain’s eyes widened at the unexpected behavior of the empress.

 

Arundel’s heart pounded.

 

This knight captain could have been close to Zion. That probability was high for a knight captain.

 

If the fact that she had escaped from the Empress’s Palace reached Zion’s ears, Emperor Zion would be the type to put shackles on her own feet.

 

“Please go back quickly. I will escort you to the Empress’s Palace.”

 

Perhaps noticing Arundel’s difficult situation, the knight captain whispered in a low voice.

 

Arundel was in a great deal of trouble.

 

‘How did she escape from the Empress’s Palace?’

 

Since the knight captain might be close to Emperor Zion, she had to follow his words for now.

 

However, seeing the knight captain heading towards the main gate of the Empress’s Palace, Arundel was startled and blocked his way.

 

“You can’t go this way!”

 

At Arundel’s sudden action, the knight captain looked at her with a puzzled face.

 

“I came out from there.”

 

The knight captain’s gaze followed where Arundel was pointing. A curtain was slightly visible through the leaves.

 

“Why did you do such a thing? If His Majesty the Emperor finds out, he will not let it go.”

 

The captain sighed briefly and scolded Arundel.

 

Arundel’s eyes sparkled at his words. For now, he meant that he had no intention of telling Zion first.

 

“What is your name, captain?”

 

“…It’s Royden.”

 

At the sudden question, Royden hesitated and then calmly answered.

 

“Royden. If His Majesty the Emperor finds out that I have escaped from the Empress’s Palace, I am as good as dead.”

 

“…”

 

“So please…”

 

“I have no intention of speaking.”

 

At the earnest expression of the Empress, Royden seemed to understand what she wanted to say without listening to the end.

 

Fortunately, he really seemed to have no intention of speaking.

 

“Instead, please refrain from such actions in the future.”

 

At Royden’s words, Arundel nodded vigorously. For now, she had to back down like this.

 

Thanks to kind Royden helping her climb over the stone wall, she didn’t have to show the disgrace of climbing over the wall using the curtain in front.

 

‘I shouldn’t have helped.’

 

She regretted her meddling behavior, thinking of the maid who would have been saved even if it wasn’t her because the knight captain happened to appear, but it was already too late.

 

Thanks to that, she returned to the Empress’s Palace without any reward for going out.

 

Because of her nature that couldn’t ignore people in difficulty, she was at risk of being expelled from the Heaven Realm, but her body still moved automatically when she saw such people.

 

Blaming her innate nature, Arundel lay down on the bed.

 

“It’s mealtime, Your Majesty the Empress.”

 

‘Mealtime comes back really quickly.’

 

As it was time for dinner, the maids visited the bedroom to deliver the meal while monitoring her.

 

Still, seeing these maids every day was a bit of a relief as they were the only people she saw every day.

 

Of course, if she spoke again, they would disappear as if they had seen a ghost.

 

Arundel thought so and looked at them preparing the meal. There was a maid she was seeing for the second time, or rather, for the first time.

 

‘That’s the maid I saved earlier!’

 

That maid seemed to have recognized Arundel from the moment she entered the room, and she was sweating profusely in embarrassment. She seemed to think she had made a mistake not recognizing him earlier.

 

“It’s very distracting to have so many people come just to serve a meal. Next mealtime, only this girl should come to prepare the meal.”

 

She pointed out the maid she had saved earlier and spoke cheekily.

 

The maids seemed to be flustered, but they couldn’t go against the Empress’s words for now.

 

Arundel praised herself as if she had never meddled in the daytime. Indeed, it was good to live kindly.

 

Anyway, that maid owed her. If she groomed her well, she would be of great help to her.

 

Especially since she knew nothing about the outside situation, it would be a huge gain just to pass that on.

 

Thus Arundel was filled with anticipation.

 

****

 

“Ha-ha, I’ve finished running. Captain.”

 

Royden looked down at the knight soaked in sweat.

 

The face of the knight who had run 200 laps around the training ground was so red that he looked like he was about to collapse at any moment.

 

“Go back.”

 

The knight bowed his head 90 degrees and disappeared from the spot.

 

The retreating knight gritted his teeth. He had been caught in that state by the knight captain of all people.

 

Royden, the royal knight captain, was an outstanding swordsman who had been appointed as the youngest knight captain.

 

Not only was he skilled, but he was also the eldest son of the Duke of Richard, who was the only one who supported Zion until he ascended to the throne, and was known to be close friends with the emperor, who did not care about people.

 

‘All paths are blocked!’  (TL: perhaps it meant the development of his career is blocked)

 

Knight Captain Royden was a person of integrity and outstanding chivalry.

 

Seeing his own figure mocking a woman, it was clear that he would not look favorably on him in the future.

 

The knight blamed his difficult position and hid his figure in the training ground.

 

On the other hand, Royden didn’t care about the disappeared knight. This was because he was thinking about Empress Irina, whom he saw during the day.

 

‘Was Empress Irina like that?’

 

The more he thought about her kicking in the air, the more confused he became.

 

The only pride of the Duke Dunkeld, which had no great presence, was indeed Lady Irina. But the reason she was famous was because of her beautiful face.

 

She was definitely a beauty that was hard to forget once seen.

 

She, who had the appearance of a delicate deer, was usually quiet and didn’t speak much. So she didn’t show herself in social circles often.

 

However, she lifted her skirt and kicked in the air, and even escaped from the Empress’s Palace by riding a curtain.

 

The Empress’s radical behavior was still a surprise in itself.

 

On the other hand, he was very worried about such an empress.

 

Despite taking Empress Irina as his wife, Zion did not hold a coronation ceremony for the empress.

 

So there were few people who recognized the empress, but if someone saw her escaping and it reached Zion’s ears, it was unknown how he would act.

 

It was not his place to interfere, but he was worried about his friend, Emperor Zion.

 

His twisted obsession and possessiveness towards the empress would eventually consume him.

 

And above all, he hoped that Empress Irina would not wither under his obsession.

 

It was the first time he had spoken to her, but she was definitely different from the usual noble ladies. She seemed like a fun person to get close to.

 

Of course, Zion would be furious.

 

Remembering Empress Irina he saw during the day, he unknowingly smiled.

 

****

 

Knock knock-

 

Arundel lifted her head at the sound of knocking on the door.

 

She had been eagerly waiting for this time when she could talk alone with the maid she had helped yesterday.

 

She was determined to extract a lot of information. She had been eagerly waiting for lunchtime, burning with determination yesterday.

 

However, the person who opened the door and came in was not the maid she had been waiting for.

 

“Your Majesty the Emperor…!”

 

The person who opened the door and came in was none other than Emperor Zion. He entered the bedroom with a light smile.

 

“Today, I thought I would have a meal with the Empress.”

 

Arundel had to do her best to manage her expression so as not to show her dislike.

 

“How about having a meal in the garden that the Empress likes?”

 

“…That’s fine.”

 

Arundel was very worried about his sudden visit, wondering if he had found out that she had escaped from the Empress’s Palace yesterday.

 

The table in the glasshouse of the garden was filled with appetizing foods.

 

Certainly, when the emperor came, the food was quite different from what she usually ate. Arundel looked at the food, which was different from her usual meals, with dissatisfaction.

 

“The Empress asked me if I had eaten last time.”

 

“…Yes.”

 

“I was moved by the Empress who thought of me, so I thought I should definitely have a meal together with you.”

 

Lies. Arundel had to swallow back the words that were about to come out of her mouth.

 

What moved? What was that his icy gaze she saw then?

 

Fortunately, looking at his attitude, it seemed that he didn’t know about the day she had escaped from the Empress’s Palace.

 

Then what kind of words will he use to hurt her today?

 

“Today, Duke Dunkeld visited.”

 

Duke Dunkeld…? According to what she had read in the diary, he was the father of Empress Irina.

 

At his sudden words, Irina stopped her actions.

 

On the other hand, Emperor Zion was cutting veal with an elegant gesture as if nothing had happened.

 

Every time she saw him, she thought it was a pity for his beautiful appearance. If his character had just followed his face even half way.

 

Even in the Heavenly Realm, where everyone has outstanding looks on average, Zion was a rare beauty.

 

His platinum blonde hair, reaching down to his shoulders, softly swayed with his movements as he cut the flesh. His deep honey-colored eyes, visible between his lowered eyelashes, sparkled subtly.

 

“He came to trade with the Empress as a condition just before he went bankrupt.”

 

Arundel, who had been lost in his face, came back to reality.

 

“He said he would disown Empress Irina from the family.”

 

Disown? From Arundel’s point of view, they were a family she had never met, so it wasn’t shocking or hurtful, but it was a bit inconvenient because she had to meet her younger sister.

 

“…I see.”

 

Arundel responded calmly.

 

“How do you feel? They were a family you lived with, but they gave you up without hesitation.”

 

“……”

 

“You are now completely alone.”

 

Emperor Zion narrowed his eyes and smiled.

 

The words that came out of such a beautiful face were always like thorns, digging into people’s hearts.

 

“Remember clearly. Now, you only have me.”

 

Zion looked pleased.

 

Arundel stared at him with a blank face. Really, how entangled was this relationship that he hated Empress Irina so terribly?

 

“Your Majesty.”

 

Arundel muttered, looking at the remaining food. Zion frowned and looked at Arundel.

 

“Don’t skip meals, please take care of yourself.”

 

Arundel, who didn’t want to follow his pace, spoke out of context.

 

And she was sincere about eating well. It takes energy to hate someone.

 

She wondered how he could maintain that solid-looking body by eating so little. Hating her and his health are two different things.

 

It is said that a healthy mind dwells in a healthy body. If his body gets worse from there, he might torment herself even more.

 

And the fact that she was disowned was unexpected, thus it was a bit difficult, but it was neither more nor less.

 

Anyway, when she looked in the mirror of projection, she seemed to have never met her family. There was nothing to change significantly.

 

But Zion, whose expression was getting more and more fierce, didn’t look okay.

 

“…Do you find me funny?”

 

Zion said with a fierce expression.