Chapter 27
“…That being said, His Majesty must already know that the Marchioness is lying.”
Since Cindy admitted the truth herself, the Imperial Palace had no choice but to punish her.
To resolve the matter, the palace demoted Cindy’s family: the family that had been counts was reduced to barons.
Because of this incident, the nobles, wary of public opinion, began canceling their gatherings. Naturally, even the dinner at the Count of Aer’s residence was canceled.
Although it was extremely rude for a noble’s daughter to cancel an engagement with the Empress at her own whim, Azelina didn’t think much of it.
She knew better than anyone that Romantica had not maliciously canceled the lunch.
“Your Highness, are you planning to visit the garden today?”
Iana asked quietly.
“…With His Majesty watching, I have no choice.”
After seeing Princess Melisina several times in the imperial gardens, Azelina had a rough idea of when she could go without encountering the princess.
Not wanting to meet Melisina as usual, Azelina waited until the princess had returned to her quarters before stepping into the garden with Iana.
The air felt especially crisp that day as they strolled through the palace gardens.
“….”
A sharp gaze from behind made her keep turning her head. No matter how hard she tried to ignore it, she kept noticing it.
Azelina glanced back and quietly asked Iana:
“Um, Iana… have I ever punished any other palace maids without realizing it?”
“Huh?”
“If not, why are these maids glaring at me as if they wanted to kill me…?”
It would have been understandable if they were from Selina Palace, but these were maids from other palaces, many of whom she had never seen before, so she couldn’t help but be surprised.
As she spoke, Azelina discreetly looked back, and Iana approached the hiding maids and began speaking to them.
After the maids, their cheeks red, responded, Iana hesitated for a moment before returning to Azelina and said:
“They have a request for Your Highness.”
“A request? What kind of request?”
“Well… they asked if you could pick just one flower from the garden…”
Iana couldn’t finish her sentence, probably finding the request absurd herself.
‘…Why are all these maids glaring at me over such trivial things?’
Even Mable, who usually gave Azelina a sharp look just to stay near Iana longer, was no exception.
Azelina shook her head with a small smile and picked a hyacinth from the garden, approaching the maids.
The maids hesitated in surprise but stretched their hands to accept the hyacinth Azelina offered.
Unable to meet her eyes, the maids’ faces lit up the moment they received the flower.
“You actually picked it for us!”
Since they were not part of the royal entourage, the maids were not allowed to enter the imperial gardens.
That explained why they had been hovering near Azelina, unable to enter the garden themselves.
Azelina couldn’t help but feel a little absurd at the situation.
“Th-thank you so much, Your Highness.”
“Um… could I trouble you for one more flower?”
A maid who had been hiding behind them asked carefully.
It was not a difficult request, so Azelina picked another hyacinth and handed it to the maid.
“Wow! Thank you!”
“It’s nothing.”
Seeing the maid repeatedly bow in gratitude, Azelina felt unexpectedly proud and smiled.
Azelina looked up at Rashid’s face, whom she hadn’t seen in a long time.
“….”
“So now you understand the situation.”
Rashid narrowed his eyes and raised his eyebrows.
Azelina didn’t understand why he said this; she had only picked the flowers because the maids asked her to.
“I didn’t do anything wrong! I just picked the flowers because the maids asked me to!”
“No matter the reason, you’ve disrupted my palace gardens all the same.”
She had only picked flowers for a few maids; it wasn’t exactly enough to “mess up” the gardens.
Besides, when had he suddenly become so interested in the imperial gardens?
“….”
Still, thinking it over, Azelina realized she had technically done something wrong.
Rashid was right: regardless of the reason, the imperial gardens were his, in every sense.
“…I understand. I was wrong.”
Azelina nodded sincerely. Even if she felt unfairly treated, the fact remained.
After a brief pause, she continued,
“So… you want me to restore the gardens to their original state?”
She asked, but Rashid didn’t answer. He hadn’t expected her to admit her fault so straightforwardly.
“So I can restore them if I need to?”
Though flustered, Rashid forced a calm expression.
“It would be best if the Empress refrains from walking in the gardens for a while.”
Hearing this, Azelina immediately felt annoyed.
“…I’m not a child. Do I really have to be restricted in this way?”
Strolling in the gardens was practically her only hobby.
Usually, there was no need to leave the palace, so she would submit the proper paperwork for approval. In reality, leaving the palace as a royal required a lot of procedure.
So being told not to walk in the garden meant having to go through the cumbersome process just to leave the palace grounds…
Azelina had indeed done wrong, and she had no right to complain about the punishment.
But what did picking flowers for the maids have to do with walking in the gardens? Perhaps it would be better if he just told her to restore the garden to its original state.
“I’ve already caused enough trouble for the guards and messed up the garden. Isn’t this already lenient enough?”
“….”
It seemed somewhat unfair, but she didn’t have much to say.
‘…Still, I did give him a reason to scold me, so I can’t complain.’
After Rashid left, Azelina clenched her fists and complained to Iana.
Iana couldn’t speak against the emperor, so she only nodded silently, which Azelina didn’t mind.
“Honestly, I’m starting to doubt if the generous Second Prince I knew even exists.”
“….”
Iana stiffly lifted the corners of her mouth in a faint smile.
“If I can’t go to the gardens, I’ll have no choice but to leave the palace entirely.”
No matter what happened today, Azelina was determined not to comply with Rashid’s wishes.
Iana warned her that disobeying the emperor was impossible, so Azelina had no choice but to sneak out of the palace alone.
Though she was the empress of a great empire, she wore a hat and covered her face with a scarf, though she wasn’t sure if it would help.
She had planned to return late, but once outside, she realized she had nothing to do.
If Iana had been with her, they could have strolled near the fountain and chatted, but alone, it was boring.
The square was still bustling, though nothing in particular happened.
“Excuse me, Lady.”
At that moment, someone tapped her shoulder, and she turned her head.
Four men in travel attire came into view.
“Excuse me… is this Sekentia? Sicaantia? May I ask if this is the right place?”
“If you mean the imperial capital, it’s Skaentia. Yes, you’ve found it correctly.”
Confused by the capital’s name, they were likely travelers from another country.
When Azelina answered, the group brightened and asked in a more polite tone:
“Could we ask you to guide us to our destination?”
“Hmm… let me hear where you want to go first. I don’t think I can go far.”
Azelina shrugged.
They wanted to go near the largest riding grounds in the empire. It was a place she knew and not in a shady alley, so it seemed relatively safe.
Azelina guided them there.
“Thank you very much, Lady.”
Upon reaching their destination, they bowed in gratitude.
The building they mentioned had a large shop on the first floor selling various goods.
As they were about to part ways, the shop door jingled open, followed by footsteps of someone walking out.
“…?”
As soon as their eyes met, Azelina froze.
It was someone she recognized.
