Chapter 15
“Are you satisfied?”
Ern asked with a sigh for the umpteenth time.
He pulled out a box of poems that he had kept close to his chest. With the sound of the box closing, the poems also caught fire.
“Satisfaction? I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”
“You know everything, so why do you keep doing this?”
Ern glanced at his emperor.
His emperor couldn’t take his eyes off the window.
Even though it’s called a window, there’s nothing outside but a garden and the walls of Devita Palace.
He doesn’t seem interested in such things. What on earth is he looking at?
“It was too much to designate a maid as the empress. Wouldn’t it have been better to choose Rose Yang instead?”
“Rose?”
“Rose Kenneth Yang. Have you already forgotten?”
Ern asked as if amazed.
It was a scandal he had created by ordering an investigation, but still. It was quite a commotion! To forget it just like that.
“Oh.”
“You really forgot.”
Ern shook his head. What can he expect from that man?
“Why was it that maid? Even if she wasn’t to your liking.”
Ern asked the question that the entire empire was most curious about at this very moment.
Perhaps some newspapers would be willing to give up half of their budget just to hear the answer to this question.
“I wanted to see her.”
“Pardon?”
Him? When did you see her?
Ern furrowed his brows.
However, Johannes quickly turned his gaze away from the window with an indifferent expression. It was the first time since the conversation started that he diverted his attention from the view outside.
“I missed her.”
“What?”
“Why do you want to see Samuel Gears, Your Majesty?”
Ern asked with an uneasy expression.
“Even recalling him… was a mystery. Well, it could be considered a final consideration, but… there’s no need for you to meet him in person now.”
That’s right.
Behind the doors of the reception room, Samuel Gears was waiting for the emperor.
For the sake of his solo audience with the emperor.
Not summoned by the emperor, but calling for him.
“No, why did you summon him to the coronation ceremony in the first place?”
Ern looked straight at Johannes and asked.
What on earth is going on in that head of yours?
“Is it for political reasons? Just because someone like that attends the coronation, does it mean the new emperor is in good health? Does it mean you don’t even care about the crown prince?”
Please tell me it’s for such reasons.
Ern silently pleaded. But Johannes didn’t open his mouth. He just extended his hand to Ern.
It meant to present the poem.
“Your Majesty.”
Ern placed a poem in his hand.
“The whole world is working very hard to understand the meaning hidden behind Your Majesty’s green eyes. Do you have to hide it even from me?”
“Ern.”
“Yes.”
When Ern hesitated, Johannes tapped the poem held in his mouth.
“Fire.”
….
Damn human.
Ern Lars cursed inwardly with all sorts of profanity.
But he didn’t forget to set it on fire.
If he didn’t set it on fire, that crazy snake might thrust its venomous fangs again. That was out of the question.
“I’ll just step back. Take some time to meet Samu Gears.”
As Ern raised both hands and feet to leave,
“I thought you might want to see her.”
Johannes said, exhaling smoke deeply.
“The way she shakes.”
Because she was that kind of woman.
A woman who made people feel that way.
“Ern.”
“Yes.”
Ern, who was lost in thought, snapped back to reality at the sound of his name being called.
“Bring Samu Gears.”
“…Yes, Your Majesty.”
Ern quickly stepped back.
He had sensed that the Emperor was in a rather bad mood.
As Ern disappeared, Johannes deeply inhaled the scent of the smoke. The sweet fragrance filled the air in the imperial chamber.
The dark appearance of the Devita Palace was unsettling. It seemed as if it was protesting something.
A woman who never bent, always standing tall. She seemed like someone who led a life where nothing could sway her, growing up never able to shake.
Misconceiving that she was truly strong.
In reality, it was because she had always been in a greenhouse. Growing up in a place without a single gust of wind.
“Isn’t it?”
Johannes flicked the poem with two fingers.
“Being a greenhouse flower was the only option, I suppose. Maybe it was just my perverse hobby.” Johannes chuckled self-deprecatingly. Well, it might have been just his own taste.
“Beholding the sun of the empire.”
From now on, it was time to confirm, though.
They didn’t hold a wedding, but they had a ceremony.
They didn’t form a marital bond, but she was the Empress.
That meant, even though they weren’t a couple, they didn’t have to fulfill bedroom-related duties.
As the Empress of the Empire, she had many other duties to fulfill.
Her first duty given was this.
Clang.
The sound of utensils clashing echoed. With no voices, even such sounds resonated loudly.
Anel felt nauseous. She didn’t want to serve food in front of that man in the first place.
In fact, it was unexpected.
Anel thought he would call one of the empresses to have the meal.
It was natural. The Emperor detested her terribly.
If he had called one of the empresses for the meal, he could trample on her pride and avoid any displeasure.
“…”
Anel glanced briefly at Johannes.
Even though they were in the same space, he felt very distant.
It was the same with using the same table. The reason was that Johannes was exactly opposite her.
The table in the palace was quite long compared to usual tables.
Since it was originally made to seat twenty people, it couldn’t be helped.
“Your Majesty, would you like more coffee?”
“It’s fine.”
Anel declined the servant’s offer.
The man across from her was impeccably dressed, even though it was an early hour.
His black three-piece suit had not a single wrinkle, and even the sapphire pin in his tie remained undisturbed.
The only thing disheveled was his body.
Johannes sat arrogantly with his body turned, not touching the food even though it was an early hour.
He only occasionally sipped his coffee.
If that was the case, it would have been better if he hadn’t come at all.
Anel forced herself to swallow the food.
Despite being half-siblings, it was unbelievable how different people could be, even if they shared the same blood.
Johannes seemed busy with work, only glancing at the documents without touching the food.
He simply drank coffee intermittently.
If he was going to be like that, it would have been better if he hadn’t come.
Anel struggled to eat her food.
“I guess you came down personally because you wanted to see me in pain.”
Whether he knew Anel’s thoughts or not, Johannes continued to write something with a fountain pen without looking up.
“If you have something to say, say it, Your Majesty.”
At that moment, Johannes spoke without lifting his head.
Anel’s cheek twitched. It wouldn’t have been as embarrassing even if she had been caught stealing something.
“…I want to know the meaning of my name.”
At the mention of the name, Johannes’ hand paused.
Johannes put down the documents, raised his head, and looked straight at her.
The gold-framed glasses on his sharp nose sparkled briefly.
“What name.”
What name? Anel tightened her grip on the knife in her hand.
“Do you give out names so generously, Your Majesty?”
Anel Catenatus Dinegur.
It was natural for the Empress to have Dinegur as her last name.
However, Catenatus.
It was unusual for the Emperor to give a middle name to the Empress, and it was even more unusual for that name to be ‘Catenatus.’
“Binding” as a word for a name, and that too for the Empress.
Upon hearing that name, Anel felt a sense of humiliation.
To give such a name, and to the noblest lady in the empire, no less.
“Ah.”
Johannes slowly took off his glasses.
Then his eyes, hidden behind the glass, were revealed.
Those eyes that made Anel unable to move.
Once again, he tried to uncover her inner thoughts.
Anel turned her gaze away, refusing to look directly into those emerald eyes.
“I thought you were talking about someone else’s name.”
Anel’s heart raced, feeling something warm flowing from within.
Talking about Jizel, huh?
“What’s there to regret about a name?”
