The maids were undoubtedly shocked as well.
I quickly dropped the newspaper and rushed out to greet him with proper courtesy.
“I-I greet Your Majesty the Emperor.”
“Sit.”
It didn’t seem like the emperor was angry.
The maids hurriedly arranged a tea table, and suddenly, I found myself sitting across from the emperor in my room.
I’d never imagined such a situation, and I could feel sweat trickling down nervously.
‘What if he gets upset because I look like my mother?’
My body shrank involuntarily.
“Last night.”
The emperor, who had been staring at me, suddenly spoke.
“Simon Cerno, the young duke, didn’t come, did he?”
“Pardon?”
“I heard about it this morning.”
I was startled and looked at the emperor, shocked by his unexpected words.
At that moment, I was surprised once again by his gaunt face. Seeing him up close, he looked even more sickly than yesterday. It was the aura of a person plagued by illness, something I had only felt from my bedridden mother.
Words slipped out instinctively.
“Um, I’m really sorry…”
I barely swallowed the follow-up words, ‘For making you come all this way despite your condition.’
“What are you apologizing for this time?”
The emperor clicked his tongue.
“Sigh… Why do you look so pitiful, like a drenched puppy? Tsk.”
His gaze fell on my trembling shoulders.
I suddenly recalled my brother’s words.
“His Majesty tends to find everything unsatisfactory, but he never makes unreasonable decisions in any situation, so it’s fair to say he’s a wise ruler.”
This was my first time facing the emperor like this, and although I was bewildered, I felt a strange sense of trust.
“Anyway, I thought your fiancé and the attendants at the concubine palace would mediate things properly, like adults.”
Then the emperor said something unexpected.
“Are you alright?”
Huh?
I blinked in confusion.
“…I didn’t know you missed Edwin that much.”
Huhhh?
A sudden thought came to mind.
“I only went into that room because I missed the Crown Prince…”
Ah, that’s what he was thinking.
The emperor had just learned yesterday that I missed my brother.
In my past life, we had never shared such personal conversations.
“Seems like the young duke of Cerno and the maids aren’t enough.”
The emperor sighed deeply.
I realized something significant from his response.
‘He’s right. From an outsider’s perspective, it wouldn’t seem like I’d feel lonely.’
I had the empire’s best fiancé, high-ranking maids always by my side, and I maintained a composed, smiling face, dressed impeccably, with graceful posture and elegant steps, leaving nothing to criticize.
On top of that, my brother had left me all sorts of luxury items, even decorating the surroundings of the princess’s palace with rare, multicolored sands.
On the surface, I was a princess who lacked nothing.
‘I didn’t even realize how miserable I was in my past life.’
Even I had believed I was living well under Simon’s protection, surrounded by the maids.
Whenever I wrote letters to my brother, I would sincerely say, “It’s a little stifling, but I’m doing just fine.”
Even though I felt depressed and lonely in what was essentially a confinement, all my childhood connections had disappeared, and I had no one to lean on as I kept hearing, “Princess, just stay put. You still don’t know the palace well.”
Still, I believed I was doing the right thing by following my mother’s last words and my brother’s advice.
“For now, I’ll give you some guidance.”
The emperor paused briefly before speaking again.
“From now on, don’t admit to ‘faults’ so easily, like you did yesterday.”
“…Excuse me?”
“You did well yesterday. To be honest, there’s nothing more charming than a child admitting their mistakes and vowing to do better in front of adults. But that only works when you’re still a child.”
The emperor’s blue eyes looked at me steadily.
Then, suddenly, he frowned in displeasure.
“Once you lower yourself, there are things you can never undo.”
He seemed to be recalling yesterday and growing irritated.
‘Is he about to start sharing complaints? My brother did tell me to only listen after he clicks his tongue.’
Thanks to my brother’s advice, I was able to listen to the emperor’s words with a calm heart.
“It was a foolish move for you to say, in front of the ministers, that you would accept punishment yesterday. Because of that, I had no choice but to administer a punishment, though truthfully, I didn’t think it was necessary.”
Actually, that’s what I was aiming for, but I couldn’t say that out loud.
“From now on, avoid showing weak and timid behavior that doesn’t look good. Earning sympathy by trembling only works the first time; if it’s repeated, you’ll just look foolish.”
The emperor frowned, clearly displaying his irritation.
“No matter how young you are, there are times when you need to be shameless here. In the harsh political world, the weak are inevitably ignored. Tsk. Though you could use that cute and frail image to gauge someone’s true intentions when you don’t know what they’re thinking.”
Cute? Frail?
If people from the North, like Kayan, heard that, they’d be utterly shocked.
Still, it was the emperor’s first lesson for me. I nodded earnestly and replied seriously.
“Yes, I will remember and never forget. Thank you so much for teaching me.”
The emperor took a deep breath.
It seemed he had released much of his discomfort after pouring everything out to his young granddaughter. His face returned to its usual calm expression, and he nodded slowly.
“In any case, don’t worry too much about the punishment. It’s your first, so you may feel nervous, but it’s really just a formal part of royal education.”
His tone was both stern and kind, almost as if he were a different person from before.
Just like my brother said, while the emperor might get irritated often, he also calmed down quickly, which was a relief.
“I’ll let you know my schedule, so at the right time, come with your guardian to receive your punishment.”
In the royal palace, procedure is very important. It was unthinkable for the emperor to come and personally administer the punishment. As part of the formalities, I would have to go to him.
“I’ll arrange for you to stay with a noble family where you can relax for a few days afterward.”
Ah!
I finally understood why the emperor had come in person.
‘He must have seen my maid going to inquire about his schedule and decided to come and inform me himself!’
It wasn’t a matter that required the emperor to come personally.
‘But he came? Why would he bother?’
He likely wanted to reassure me after seeing that I was scolded by Anna last night while Simon was absent.
Especially since I had mentioned yesterday that I missed my brother.
And to make sure I didn’t worry too much about the upcoming punishment…
‘…Wait, could this be…?’
A curious hypothesis formed in my mind.
‘Could Mother have been wrong?’
My brother, who sincerely worried for me, had been wrong.
So, it was possible that my mother, who despised me, wasn’t entirely correct either.
I sat there, a bit dazed, pondering.
‘Could it be that His Majesty doesn’t hate me after all?’
The emperor sighed again, his expression once more dissatisfied as he continued.
“I’d like to teach you once more that you shouldn’t use violence recklessly, but the concubine palace must have already scolded you thoroughly last night. Simon Cerno wasn’t there to stop it, either.”
At that moment.
“Excuse me.”
A maid approached gracefully and began pouring tea.
With the soft sound of the tea being poured, she smiled kindly and spoke.
“The young Duke Cerno was delayed in receiving the news due to unforeseen circumstances, but he sent a gift this morning as an apology and will visit today to express his regrets.”
She was a count’s daughter, serving as the head maid and my closest attendant.
The emperor slightly furrowed his brow, his expression suggesting displeasure at the maid’s audacity for interrupting the conversation of the royal family without permission.
As expected, she immediately bowed and apologized.
“Oh, I’m so sorry. That was thoughtless of me. I’m too familiar with the princess, and I seem to have forgotten my place.”
She was trying to smooth things over by claiming to be close to me.
She had intervened, knowing it was inappropriate, just to take Simon’s side.
‘In the past, I would have let this slide…’
But now that I could see through the maids’ intentions, I didn’t want to let it go so easily.
And there was one more thing I wanted to confirm. Was it really true that the emperor didn’t hate me?
‘In that case… it might be worth taking a gamble.’
My mind began to race quickly.
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