Chapter 32……..
Robbie’s Misunderstanding
After seeing Mick off, my heart felt hollow—but the moment I met Robbie, it was as though a great weight had lifted.
“Robbie, since you came all this way, you should rest plenty before you go. Oh, I even built a training ground!”
“A training ground?”
“Mm-hm! I need to build stamina and get used to the winters here. Ah, let’s spar. You’d better be prepared—I won’t let you go until you surrender!”
Finally—finally, a proper sparring partner had appeared. I was thrilled.
“Fine. I’ll spar with you starting tomorrow.”
“Really? You’re not fully recovered from your journey yet—is it okay?”
His easy acceptance made me feel a little guilty, but I didn’t want to miss this chance.
“Facing you… a bit of a handicap is actually good stimulation. Ugh!”
He had just lifted his chin arrogantly when I gave him a quick jab to the stomach. His face twisted in pain—it was so funny that I burst out laughing.
That’s when Millie entered the reception room.
“Your Highness, a room has been prepared for Young Master Robbie in the West Palace.”
“Really? Alright.”
I got up and held Robbie’s hand tightly.
“You must be tired, so rest well today. Robbie, you don’t know how happy I am that you came.”
When I said it sincerely, Robbie smiled and replied gently.
“Me too, Lea. Honestly, I hesitated before coming, but I’m glad I did.”
After entrusting Millie to guide him, I returned to my chamber with a lighter heart.
Adele and Sophie were waiting and tended to me carefully, helping me bathe and prepare for bed. I let their hands guide me.
“Your Highness, why are you crying?”
Adele, drying my hair, suddenly asked in alarm.
“Me?”
I looked into the mirror—my lifeless eyes were overflowing with tears, like a broken faucet. Oh no.
Disgusted with my weak expression, I closed my eyes. That only caused the dammed-up tears to gush out all at once.
The grief I had forced down poured out like a flood. I covered my face with both hands, stood up, and collapsed onto the bed.
“Mick, I miss you so much.”
Adele and Sophie quietly withdrew, leaving me to sob into the silence.
When the chamber was still, fear gripped me. How was I supposed to control this clumsy healing power that suddenly appeared? How was I supposed to endure this time without him?
Mick, who spent most of the year at war… Without him, I felt I might wither away from loneliness.
Yes, it might be the fate of every queen to wait. But I didn’t want to live like that.
As I lay there, an idea came to me.
“If Mick doesn’t have time to stay in Fritan Castle, then I should go to him.”
It didn’t seem impossible. I had practiced swordsmanship for more than ten years—defending myself would be no problem.
And though I was still clumsy, maybe my healing powers could help on the battlefield.
“The problem is horseback riding. I’ll need to speak with Duke Xenon and start training right away.”
Having set a new goal, my heart calmed.
I wiped my tears, lay down, and for the first time since Mick’s departure, drifted into sleep with a clear mind.
***
When Robbie entered the guest chamber of the West Palace, he immediately took Millie’s hand. She flinched at the sudden contact.
“Millie, you’ve worked hard looking after Lea all this time.”
“N-no, not at all.”
She gently pulled her hand back, lowering her head shyly.
“Be honest with me. Is Lea alright? She’s not… spending every day crying, is she?”
“Of course not. Her Majesty is happier than ever.”
Robbie tilted his head, suspicious, but then nodded as if he understood.
“Well, she was so unhappy in Marquis Uzkal’s manor…”
“That’s not it.”
Millie realized he was misunderstanding, and fumbled for the right words.
“Her Majesty is truly happy now. Because… well, she’s fallen in love.”
“What?”
Robbie’s face instantly darkened.
“You don’t mean… Lea has fallen in love with King Mickroc?”
“Why not?”
Millie replied proudly.
“The two of them are so passionate these days. Just earlier, they were clinging to each other like magnets, unwilling to part.”
“They didn’t… consummate, did they?”
“Of course they did!! They’ve barely left the chamber for the past three days. His Majesty won’t let Her Majesty out of his arms for even a moment…”
Millie blushed slightly as she recalled carrying meals to the antechamber adjoining the bridal chamber, where she had heard the soft, tender voices of the King and Queen.
In fact, ever since the wedding banquet, when the couple disappeared after only a brief appearance, rumors had flown throughout the castle.
King Mickroc—who had ascended the throne at fifteen and thought only of war, never of women—was now utterly bewitched by the foreign queen from Harren.
But Robbie’s face twisted even more as Millie spoke.
“So… that man forced himself on her…”
“No, no! Not at all.”
Millie laughed, waving her arms.
From what she had seen, though Lea blushed at the King’s brazen affection, she never resisted him—sometimes it even seemed like she encouraged him.
And whenever she recalled King Mickroc’s hungry, smoldering gaze at Lea, Millie’s own heart would flutter.
“The way His Majesty looks at Her Majesty… it’s so sweet, it makes even us bystanders feel drenched in sugar. Sometimes I think my own heart will burst watching them.”
“Enough!”
Robbie suddenly shouted. Millie jumped.
“I’m tired. Leave me.”
“Uh… yes, of course. Rest well, Young Master Robbie.”
His cold tone startled her, and she retreated awkwardly.
His honey-gold hair, golden eyes, lean build, and handsome face were unchanged—but strangely, Millie no longer felt the flutter she once had. She couldn’t understand why he was sulking like a child.
As she stepped out of the West Palace guest chamber, the wind bit her cheeks. She shivered and reached into her coat pocket, clutching the warm magic stone William had given her.
It was as if she could feel his warmth through it, and her heart grew peaceful.
***
Though it was deep into the night and cloaked in darkness, a faint light glimmered from the Empress’s palace.
Haley, waiting quietly in her chamber, checked the time and summoned her maid.
“Where is His Majesty tonight?”
“He has gone to the Ninth Consort’s palace, Your Highness.”
As expected. The Emperor had chosen to spend the birthday night with his ninth consort. Confirming this, Haley prepared to go out.
Clip-clop.
Soon, a small, unadorned black carriage slipped quietly from her palace, vanishing into the darkened streets.
After a half-hour’s ride, it stopped at the Uzkal Marquisate—her family home.
The gates opened discreetly, as though forewarned. Haley and Yullan stepped down and entered. The mansion was so dimly lit it was hard to see even a few steps ahead.
“Your Highness, you’ve really come…”
The Marchioness of Uzkal, waiting nervously in the central hall, ignored Yullan completely and spoke only to Haley.
“Where’s Father?”
Shrugging off her cloak, Haley hurried upstairs.
“He’s gone to inspect the lands. He won’t return until tomorrow night.”
“Hah. He has money to inspect lands, does he?”
Haley sneered with contempt. The Marchioness flushed with shame, lips pressed tight.
The Marquis had been pestering the Emperor for money ever since selling Haley into the palace. The Marchioness had been borrowing from her own family to stop him—for fear her daughter would be ruined. But even that had reached its limit.
“Mother, tonight you’re gravely ill. That’s why I’ve come to visit at this late hour. Make sure the servants keep quiet.”
The Marchioness looked anxiously at her daughter.
“Must it really be this way, Your Highness?”
But faced with Haley’s cold, cutting gaze, she fell silent.
“Tonight you’ll sleep in another room.”
Haley swept past her and headed upstairs. Yullan followed silently.
At the Marquis couple’s chamber, Haley gestured to a side door.
Yullan slipped into the dressing room connected to the bedroom, noiseless as a shadow.
Then Haley opened the chamber door. A dark figure lay sprawled across the bed.
“Haley?”
As she approached, the man leapt up.
“So it’s true. When I got the letter, I wasn’t sure—but the great Empress herself called me here because she missed me?”
He arrogantly lifted his chin and pulled her into his arms. His thick lips crashed down on hers without a trace of tenderness.
“…Wilhelm, you’re still the same.”
Haley, breathing hard, wrapped her arms around his neck. He scooped her up and threw her onto the bed, tugging at her gown.
“Damn, why are you wearing so many layers?”
He cursed impatiently as he stripped off her clothes, quickly pulling at his own as well.
“Bored of that old Emperor, huh? I’ll take you to heaven again.”
But when he tried to thrust himself on her, she stopped him briefly.
“No. Tonight, you will be the one to see heaven.”
With a strange smile, she pulled him in for another kiss.
Moments later, Wilhelm’s eyes went wide with shock.
And for a long while, the Marquis’s chamber was filled with fevered, indecent sounds.
