Chapter 18
The Albrecht Empire, the most prosperous empire of men.
Unifying all the kingdoms of the Central Continent and turning them into an empire, this giant nation has a star-studded list of celebrities, the most famous of which is
Empress Ageni.
She was the favorite Empress of her people, and the favorite monarch of all time.
She was her people’s favorite empress of all time.
‘It’s always popular to have a mother-in-law character who’s awake and well-spoken.’
A fantastical Seaworld where there’s no such thing as a mother-in-law. Isn’t she beautiful?
She also liked Empress Ageni.
Her upbringing was probably the biggest reason for the crown prince’s good character.
It was a shame she died so soon.
“Welcome.”
Gently curling black hair, a simple but elegant plain dress, and a small crown for a headdress.
She was unadorned, but not at all lacking. She was already overwhelmed by the aura Empress Ageni exuded.
Wow, sister, have me.
“Didn’t you have a hard time getting here?”
“Yes!”
“Wow. You’re in good spirits, I’m glad to see. Please sit this way.”
“Yes.”
“I invited you over here because of the scenery, and from what I’ve heard from the maids, you’ve had a hard day today.”
She felt the Majesty of the imperial family in a room with a panoramic view of the cool landscape of the backyard.
This is the money shit of the imperial family…
For now, it’s just Empress Ageni, but in a few generations, it will be a great tourist attraction like the rest of the world.
She can’t believe she’s so worldly to think that this amazing view is so important to the modern world. She feels a little wrong.
“Hoo hoo. Is it beautiful?”
“Yeah. The scenery is absolutely stunning, no, it’s beautiful.”
“I’m glad you like it. I’ve heard it’s a favorite place of Bonhu’s.”
She admire and admires, because it’s not the kind of power and money that can change a whole place for the sake of the view from this room.
Is this money and power?
Might it be fun to have them?
A maid from the Empress’s palace placed dessert in front of me, freshly squeezed orange juice.
A warm scone, crème brûlée with rich melted brown caramel, and macaroons that stood out by their color.
‘Mmm. This sounds delicious.’
Still, Confucian chilso don’t eat unless an adult picks up the cutlery first.
“Hoo-hoo.”
The Empress suddenly laughed, as if she was being funny.
“Ah, your distress is so cute that I laughed unintentionally. Eat to your heart’s content.”
“Okay.”
But isn’t it the rule of this floor that you can’t eat to your heart’s content just because you’re told to eat to your heart’s content, but I’m going to eat.
‘Ah, but I ate so much earlier, I’m full.’
She blamed it all on the crown prince, who fed her all sorts of things.
“Is this the first time we’ve been alone together? You were very small when we first met. Ah, you were too young to remember then?”
What is the best thing to do when something you don’t understand is brought up?
Stay very still.
“You were cute then, but you’re even cuter now.”
It was cute, so she didn’t mind. It’s just less impressive because it’s her face.
‘But why is she looking at me like that?’
She was the second most popular person after her mistress, so she was sure she was looking at her with curiosity, but she couldn’t understand the nature of Empress Ageni’s favor and fondness for her.
“You really do look a lot like him.”
“What?”
Empress Ageni didn’t answer, only smiled. The wistful smile triggered a slight… trigger.
What the hell does Empress Ageni have to do with my biological father?
‘That was never mentioned in the novel!’
She exclaimed, confused by the sudden unknown rice cake.
“Do you have any questions?”
“Uh…”
She blinked and finally said.
“What did you call me here for?”
“Um. If I say I missed you, would that confuse you?”
“What?”
What the hell was that?
“Hoo-hoo-hoo.”
Empress Ageni laughed, as if she found her panic amusing. Your Majesty the Empress, quite. You have a wicked hobby…
‘That’s a cute reaction. Don’t worry, my ugly son seems to have caused you some trouble, so I’ve called you here to apologize on his behalf.’
“Apologize…?”
The word was out of place for an imperial. Imperials were usually arrogant.
Not Albrecht, of course. She was a member of the royal family.
It was an imperial family whose motifs were diligence, sincerity, humility, faithfulness, and sincerity.
“I’m sure he came back with a proper apology, but I’m sure he came back with a lot of embarrassment. He’s my son, but Pession is so energetic, just like you. I only wish he was half as energetic as Therion and Shirua.”
Hmm. Not exactly the kind of thing you’d expect from someone who’s just taken up a sword and gone out on a monster-slaying spree, vowing to kill anyone who crosses her fiefdom.
“Ah, have you ever seen Therion and Shirua?”
“No.”
“Oh, well, I’d love to introduce you to them sometime.”
She politely decline.
“How is Mehen?”
He recently became her mum.
“He’s fine.”
She didn’t know what to say straight away, so she just stammered. Mehen has a social status.
He was a caring child.
“I see, that’s good.”
She shook her head, wondering if Mehen had any interaction with Empress Ageni, but then she realized that he was the Archduke of Halbern’s representative.
“Eat this, too.”
This family seems to have a hobby of turning people into pigs. The Pession was followed by a food torture.
Fortunately, compared to Pession, the Empress Ageni didn’t complain if she couldn’t eat.
‘Mmm. Maybe it’s her mood.’
She thought she would just brush it off, but the more they talked, the more she realized.
Why does she seem to like me?
This outpouring of favor and fondness, it was too blatant to pretend not to notice.
What? What did I do? I didn’t do anything
The unexplained fondness raised her guard.
“I’ve heard that you don’t get on well with children. Do they bully you?”
The Empress asked.
She blinked at the unexpected question. Ugh.
“No. It’s just that I’m congenitally weak, and I just don’t get along with them.”
“I see.”
“Yeah.”
The silence that followed.
Empress Ageni looked as if she wanted to ask something more, then closed her mouth.
“At any time, if you have any problems, you can ask for help from the Imperial.”
“What?”
“You understand?”
“Yes.”
“Hoo-hoo.”
The Empress laughed in satisfaction at her stumbling response.
Even after seeing that, she still couldn’t believe it. The Empress was her enemy.
What was that?
***
She said yes, but she wasn’t going to run to the Empress if something happened.
‘She’s not some kind of customer service center and you just call her for help as soon as you have a case?’
Collection meetings.
The idea of a gathering of the crown princes’ little friends to play, share knowledge and scholarship, exchange friendships, and hopefully lay the foundation for the country’s future was not quite as fairytale as Empress Ageni had hoped.
‘It was more like love and war.’
Jealousy, envy, conspiracy, and backstabbing, all in an endless, invisible competition for the crown prince!
In such a situation, the existence of her appeared.
“Hehehe.”
By accidentally becoming the recipient of the Crown Prince of Pession’s undivided attention, her status was quickly elevated.
With the constant supply of unsolicited attention, the children’s attitudes towards me began to change one by one.
They generally fell into three categories.
Group one, complete ignorance.
“Huh!”
No greeting, no eye contact, just a quick turn of the head, and a group chattering amongst themselves in the distance.
They were mostly from the great nobility and had nothing to fear.
Hmm. The same disregard, the same comfort, the same bed. She rather like it.
Group two, pretending to be neutral.
“Ah, hello. Arellin.”
“You’re here again.”
“Would you like some of this?”
They looks both ways to see if anyone’s looking at her, and it’s very suspicious that he cringes at every word.
She don’t intend to get close to him, but since the crown prince is only interested in her, this is usually the reaction of naive, thin-skinned kids who are trying to get involved and stand out somehow.
She doesn’t feel sorry for them, but she doesn’t know what good this will do…?
And the long-awaited group three.
“Arellin.”
“Arellin.”
Red alert.
Her instinctive sense of danger and her ancestral big data triggered the warning.
Twins with a reputation for trouble.
The lesser demons of Sperom, one of the five ducal houses, approached her.
Ciel Sperom.
Noel Sperom.
“Does Arellirin really fall down when she runs?”
The source was the crown prince.
Their eyes twinkled with interest, and they looked at her as if they had found an interesting toy.
She made up her mind.
“Your Majesty, do you think I should leave that little group of friends?”
“No, you can’t.”
A swift rebuff.
‘No, Your Majesty. You said I could always ask for help!’
