Until The Real One Shows Up​

[Great sun of Rosenberg.

Please forgive me for leaving like this. But last night I realized. Your Majesty will never, ever let me go.

So I left the Empress’ Palace without saying a word. Please consider my feelings. I have no doubt that this is the way for everyone.

Don’t look for me. I know you’ll find out, but I’ll never go back. So please give up and make Lady Hazel the new Empress.

I wish for Your Majesty to be happy by her side. I’ll live well as I am, so there’s nothing to worry about.

I, Anastasia Barantes, ask His Majesty for a divorce. Please, just let me go. And forget about me.

– Anastasia Barantes Rosenburg.

p.s. Don’t blame Sir Colton too much. Because I was begging him to keep it a secret. please.]

From the first line to the last, there was nothing that did not go against his heart.

Even ending the letter with worries about another man.

He wanted to ask her. She was worried about Colton who will be reprimanded by him, and she was worried about who will be left behind after she left.

How… After she’s gone, didn’t she have any worries about him?

Even wanting to forget her and be happy next to another woman.

“That can’t be possible…”

Wilhelm mumbled bitterly as he covered his face with his hands.

He needed her. He couldn’t live without her.

It had been vaguely felt before, but he fully realized it with her departure.

“Come back… Save me.”

A mournful voice came out that would have brought tears to her eyes if Anastasia had heard it, and his hands covering his face were getting wet.

~~~~

Last night, she forgot to close the curtains and fell asleep. As a result, the warm sunshine filled it.

As the white sunlight poured at right angles into her eyes, Anastasia twisted and turned with a frown on her forehead. She finally opened her eyes.

On the bright ceiling that came into view immediately, Anastasia sensed that the sun had risen in the middle of the sky.

When she turned her head and looked at the wall clock, it was like that, too. It was time for Anastasia to yawn languidly.

“Are you up?”

A voice as bright as the sun resounded through the room. Anastasia smiled and looked at the woman approaching her.

“Good morning, Selene.”

“It’s already lunchtime, Your Majesty.”

“It’s not Your Majesty, anymore.”

Anastasia frowned and admonished her.

“When on earth are you going to adjust to calling me by my name, Selene? It’s already been a month since we came here.”

“Oh… I’m sorry.”

Selene excused herself with an awkward expression.

“But please understand. It’s too hard for me to dare to say Your Majesty’s name.”

“Your Majesty again.”

“It’s true. Technically, you’re still the Empress. The Emperor is not getting a divorce.”

“…”

In an instant, the romance was broken and reality appeared.

It was true. Anastasia was still a Rosenberg, not Barantes.

Because the news that he would make Evelyn Empress had not yet reached her ears.

“Let’s stop talking about that.”

Anastasia shook her hand and changed the subject. She didn’t want to hear such a story this morning.

“What’s for lunch today?”

“Ah, a sandwich with plenty of ham and cheese! They also have potato salad. Shall I bring it to you?”

“No, it’s okay. I want to eat at the table today.”

“Understood. Then I’ll be ready, so please come out slowly.”

Selene immediately left the bedroom again, and Anastasia did one big stretch.

Then, as she opened the window next to the bed, a cool breeze blew in.

The refreshment made her feel better in no time. Anastasia smiled and got out of bed.

~~~~

The place Anastasia had fled from the Imperial Palace to was the sparsely populated rural village of Belrose.

When the goddess Rosenia descended on Rosenberg, it was the land where she first set foot, where the air was good and the sun was good. It felt like her body was naturally getting better just by breathing in the air.

It may be because of that, but the bleeding that started on the day they left the Imperial Palace disappeared completely as soon as they settled here.

Still, it came out that there were no special problems on the medical examination, and in Anastasia’s head, the presence of blood in Anastasia’s head was gradually fading away.

“… That’s why Bessie asked me to help him get along with Max.”

Anastasia, who took a bite of the ham and cheese sandwich, sat in front of Selene and stared at her, who was babbling.

Although they had only been here for a month, she seemed to have adapted quickly, and she was getting along quite well with the villagers.

“You seem to have gotten very close to the people here.”

As Anastasia spit her words out, Selene stopped and looked at her.

“I’m going to have to leave this place soon, but I’m afraid you’ll miss it a lot.”

“Hey, can you still stay here?”

Selene said with a smile, as if she had nothing to worry about.

“I have to go back to the capital. Before the rest of the money runs out.”

“… Yes, that’s true.”

Anastasia’s original plan was to hide in a deserted area and return to the capital once Wilhelm made Avelin the new Empress.

She planned to do so, so she had already written to the Duke of Barantes, and the Duke agreed that would be good.

Because of that, without looking for any special means of livelihood, Anastasia was living with the belongings she brought.

Prices were not that expensive compared to the capital, and both of them were frugal, so there was no problem in living.

But even a month later, Wilhelm showed no sign of making Evelynn Empress.

Even… 

– His Majesty is looking for you. Please be careful with your health.

It was written in a letter from her father.

As she wrote in her letter to Wilhelm, she expected it… 

‘I didn’t know it would take this long.’

Although her father and other aristocrats were urging him to make Avelin Empress, he refused to listen.

‘… But he won’t last forever.’

He won’t be able to do anything about it if she doesn’t go back.

Anastasia believed that time would take care of everything, and she deliberately stopped thinking about the imperial masters.

“What are you going to do today?”

“That’s right. What shall I do?”

After finishing her meal, Anastasia pondered for a moment at Selene’s question.

After she came to Belrose, there was nothing special Anastasia did. All she did was go for a walk outside, read a book or take a nap.

As long as she remembered, she had always been busy, and she was very unfamiliar with this kind of serenity, but eventually, as time passed, she gradually got used to it.

“Shall we go to the temple? A few days ago, Priest Kanuto said that if you go to the temple today, you will be given grape jam made with the grapes from the previous harvest.”

“Wow, is that good? Tomorrow, we can spread jam on soft white bread and eat it! It will be so delicious!”

“Yeah, then. Let’s get ready and go.”

Anastasia smiled and stood up. Selene hastily followed her.

Selene went into her room and opened her closet, she said as she pulled out a white dress from her few sets of clothes.

“You seem to go to the temple often these days.”

“I know.”

Anastasia stared blankly in the mirror and smiled slightly.

“When I was in the Imperial Palace, I seldom visited the temple.”

“Nowadays, you go almost every day.”

“Well, maybe there’s nothing special to do here?”

“If you go like that, what do you pray to the Goddess?”

“What…”

Anastasia unknowingly blurted the end of her words. When she went to the temple, it was obvious that she was praying to the goddess.

‘Let Wilhelm forget me and make Avelin happy.’

In short, the prayer was stretched very long, so Anastasia prayed and prayed.

Not only that, but that was really all Anastasia wanted now.

Her happiness was what she hoped for next. She couldn’t think of anything else but that now.

And, perhaps, if he was happy, Anastasia believed that she would follow her own happiness after looking at it.

“I shouldn’t have asked. It’s always obvious what Her Majesty is praying for.”

And Selene knew it well. She rubbed her mouth and unbuttoned the buttons on Anastasia’s back one by one.

“In any case, Your Majesty loves the Emperor so much…”

That was the moment. Selene’s words cut unnaturally, and her fingers stopped as if enchanted by her.

After a few seconds passed in that state, Anastasia, who sensed her strangeness, asked.

“What, Selene?”

“… Ah.”

Selene came to her senses later and answered.

“It’s nothing.”

But for someone who said that, Selene’s expression on her face was confused.

‘… What? I’m sure it was…’

On Her Majesty’s shoulders… It seems that the sign of the Goddess appeared.

‘It disappeared right away, but…’

If she hadn’t seen it in vain, she was sure it had reappeared on her shoulder.

‘What is it…? Why did the sign suddenly appear and disappear again?’

Selene could not understand at all.

‘Should I tell the Empress?’

As she continued to unbutton the buttons on her back, Selene pondered. But she eventually decided that she wouldn’t speak of it.

‘In the end, it disappeared again… If I tell her for nothing, I will only upset her.’

But Selene continued to move her finger, thinking she should keep an eye on it in the future.

~~~~

And it happened a few days later.

“Ahh!”

A sharp scream echoed through the quiet Anastasia’s house.

Anastasia, who was entrusting herself to Selene, asked with a puzzled face.

“Why all of a sudden, Selene?”

“Oh, the sign…”

Selene stuttered in a trembling voice, startled.

“The sign of the Goddess has reappeared on Your Majesty’s shoulder!”