Chapter 24
Fortentia Palace.
The first to arrive was, of course, Jiselle.
Prime Minister Galden was taken aback by Jiselle’s surprisingly quick arrival.
“Has the Empress arrived…?”
And her question only added to his confusion.
The Emperor’s time was as precious as gold.
The Emperor wouldn’t come early just to have breakfast.
At the moment, the Emperor was in a meeting with the Chancellor, Ern Lars, discussing state affairs.
“Your Majesty, there’s still about 15 minutes until breakfast. Her Majesty is probably finishing up with the affairs of state.”
“Oh… I see.”
Jiselle blushed again, realizing she had made a mistake.
But then,
“Duke Gears is here.”
As if to cover her embarrassment, Samuel arrived.
“Duke, report.”
“Garden once bowed deeply towards the person he was addressing.’’
Samu accepted Garden’s greeting with a bitter expression.
And Jisel stood awkwardly between the two.
“Hwangbi Mama.”
Samu greeted Jisel with a bowed head.
It was an unimaginable scene.
Originally, Jisel would have greeted Samu, and Samu would have casually acknowledged the greeting.
But now, Samu bowed and greeted Jisel in return.
While bowing to Samu, Jisel also wondered if this violated any etiquette.
So, he glanced at Garden, but fortunately, Garden showed no signs of disapproval.
“I, I think I arrived too early….”
Jisel hesitated in his words.
Even though their positions were now almost equal, he had been treating Samu as his superior for over a decade.
It wasn’t easy to speak on an equal footing.
“Hwangbi Mama seems considerate.”
However, Samu spoke affectionately, seemingly unaffected.
!”
“And Jizel almost burst into tears at such tenderness.’’
It was the first compliment she heard since becoming the empress.
It was unbelievable that tears would well up like this when they had no real connection.
Jizel thought of herself as pathetic, yet holding back tears was difficult.
As she tried to compose herself to express gratitude,
“Thank you-”
“Your Highness, the Grand Duke.”
A voice, shaking as if possessed, interrupted.
It was Anel.
“…Your Majesty, the Empress.”
As soon as Anel faced him, Samuel’s once affectionate expression crumbled mercilessly.
And-
“How, Grand Duke… came here.”
Anel was crumbling even more violently.
As soon as he faced Anel, Samuel collapsed.
And-”
“The Emperor graciously invited you to breakfast.”
“…!”
Anel’s eyes shook more roughly at Samu’s explanation.
The wandering gaze, devoid of direction, soon landed on Jezelle.
And immediately settled.
“Empress.”
Seeing me, Anel’s eyes intensified to such an extent.
And then, they immediately reached Jezelle.
And sank.
“Empress Dowager.”
Anel offered a greeting, unable to conceal the bitterness in his heart.
“…Empress Dowager.”
“Thanks to the concern of the Second Empress.”
Anel quickly regained composure.
In this light, she appeared flawless—a perfect Empress.
Jezelle smiled, unable to hide his disappointment.
Yes, that was the Anel that Jezelle knew.
Born into nobility and raised as an Empress.
Grew up beautifully without any hindrances—a person truly born to become an Empress.
Anel disliked her nickname, the Glass Doll.
Considering it a nickname revealing her fragility and her family’s overprotection.
However, Jezelle knew another meaning behind that nickname.
In the Morata Ducal House, a glass doll resides. Perfectly beautiful as if carved—
“The Emperor has arrived!”
No matter what happens, maintaining dignity and elegance.
“You don’t need to come all the way to the door to wait for me, Empress.”
Truly, a glass doll that suits a man like him.
Johann stood close to Anel.
And with a smile on his lips, he looked down at her.
The two of them looked like an endlessly affectionate newlywed couple.
But only Anel could sense that his eyes were as cold as ice.
“…You came early, Your Majesty.”
“I can’t keep my Empress waiting.”
If you can’t even say the words.
“If you can’t even speak, Anel glared at him, but Johann skillfully intercepted that gaze. He seemed not to care from the beginning. When Johann took the most honored seat, Anel sat across from the Empress’s seat. The table was so long that the distance between the two felt even greater.’’
Samuel escorted Gesell politely so she could sit first.
However, both Samuel and Gesell had stiff, rigid expressions. Samuel felt a sense of frustration, while Gesell felt a sense of humiliation. Anel was completely unaware, but Samuel was well aware of the fact.
From the moment Johann appeared, Samuel was filled with despair.
It wasn’t just because Johann had taken away his position and his fiancée due to his weakness and negligence. What truly devastated him was that from the moment Johann appeared, Anel never once gave him a glance.
“Today’s breakfast is braised calf liver and duck breast as the main dishes…”
Gesell didn’t have much of a different mindset. However, her feelings were much more complex. She couldn’t understand why she felt humiliated. From the beginning, they were in completely different positions. Anel was the illegitimate daughter of the Duke’s family, and Gesell was her maid. And now, Anel was the Empress, and Gesell was the second empress.
‘’Although Anel was still above her, Gesell harbored different thoughts deep inside.”
“Now… Whether it’s that side or my side, well, isn’t there much of a difference?”
For some reason, the Emperor despised Anel.
Just looking at the fact that he elevated Jezelle to the position of the Second Empress made it evident.
Can a man be said to respect his own wife when he keeps her maid as a spy?
Jezelle was convinced that Jahan was using her to crush Anel.
So she felt a strange sympathy for Anel.
She was also subtly intoxicated by the taste of victory, experiencing it for the first time.
“If I am a discarded empress, then you are an even more thoroughly discarded empress.”
However, what she had just witnessed was somewhat strange.
“Those two, they clearly don’t get along… but there’s something.”
The Emperor didn’t even glance at Jezelle once.
It was as if he didn’t recognize her existence at all.
This was causing her immense humiliation.
As a result, the breakfast table was shrouded in a peculiar silence.
“Your Majesty.”
It was Samuel who broke the silence.
The two ‘Your Highnesses’ showed completely different reactions.
Anel’s shoulders stiffened in surprise as she raised her head, while Johann continued to slice the meat slowly without moving the corners of his mouth.
“If you permit, I would like to return to my territory.”
“…!”
Return to the Gears Territory? To that distant and desolate place?
At Samuel’s words, Anel’s rigid shoulders began to subtly slump.
The Gears Territory was one of the farthest from the capital.
Although it was vast and large, it was always desolate as it bordered the hostile Jorgeus Kingdom, an enemy of the Stein Empire.
Crops didn’t grow properly, and the territory was constantly engulfed in battles large and small.
That was the Gears Territory.
The reason Samuel could inherit the territory directly was that the previous Duke of Gears died in battle without leaving a successor.
And now, Samuel, who had never directly participated in a battle, was going there?
Anel’s complexion turned pale.
It wasn’t because she was ignoring Samuel. It was a place where anyone who went never came back.
“We received news this morning that Jorgeus invaded a village. Therefore, I intend to fulfill my duty and return to the territory. Please allow me.”
As Anel’s pupils trembled, Johann remained silent.
He neither affirmed nor denied.
He simply leisurely sliced the meat and put it in his mouth.
On the other hand, Samuel kept his gaze fixed on Johann, not touching his food.
In the suffocating silence, even Wald Garden seemed to be paying attention.
“Your Majesty-”
“Empress.”
At the moment Anel, in her incompetence, called Johann’s name, his lips parted.
“What are your thoughts?”
With the sudden formality, Anel tensed up.
However, Johann’s face showed no expression, as if he was saying there was no intention at all.
“I would like to hear the Empress’s intentions first.”
However, Anel thought that expression contained too many intentions.
“My knowledge is short—”
“Being raised as the empress, there is no one in this palace who doesn’t know.”
It was a plea not to exclude me by saying that I couldn’t even say such things.
Anel bit her lip. And she placed her hands on her knees. If unavoidable—
“With my limited insight, the conflict with Cartar is still unresolved.”
It had to be faced.
