Episode 95
The Emperor sighed deeply.
“Did you think Hart was my only son? I, too, lost a son last week!”
He raised his voice in frustration.
“But what would you have me do? As you yourself said, I heard the testimonies of the annex servants, but they all unanimously stated that Hart had never once seen the Saint before the day he died!”
“That’s only because the Second Prince must have already intervened…!”
“Enough!”
The Emperor thundered.
The Empress flinched at the loud shout, swallowing a sob.
Tears streamed down her wrinkled face.
“Do not speak ill of the Second Prince any further in my presence. Rurik is the only prince remaining in Brentani, and an excellent commander who has successfully led all recent invasion wars, expanding the Empire’s name and territory.”
The Emperor added, now seemingly calm.
“Whether you love that child or not, the unchanging fact is that he is Emperor material.”
“…So, is Your Majesty going to pretend to love him now, of all times?”
The Empress glared at him with tear-filled eyes.
“I know what you were thinking when you gave that twelve-year-old a demonic sword! Heaven knows and I know!”
The very next instant, a sharp slap rang out, whipping the Empress’s head to the side.
As the Empress stared in shock, the Emperor spoke, breathing heavily.
“I said enough. I thought you would be busy preparing for your brother’s trial, but it seems not?”
He then turned his back on the Empress, who stood frozen like a statue, and left the audience chamber first.
The Empress remained standing, unable to catch her breath, pouring out tears for a long while.
How long did she stay in the empty audience chamber?
A voice came from behind her.
“…Your Majesty, the Empress.”
It was Victoria Nersa Tata, the First Imperial Consort.
The young woman who had secured the position of Imperial Consort was at times the Empress’s rival, and at other times, a comrade in the same boat.
The Empress flinched, wiped her tears, and looked up.
‘The Tata Marquis must be feeling quite smug since Gideon lost his ducal title.’
Not only that, they seemed to have no intention of hiding it. The First Prince’s funeral had been just days ago, yet the Consort’s dress was dazzlingly bright, belying the midwinter season.
She took out a handkerchief, as ostentatiously decorated as her attire, and offered it to the Empress.
“You must be so heartbroken…”
The Empress did not want to show her wretched state, nor did she believe Victoria was sincerely comforting her. Yet, she had no excuse to refuse the handkerchief offered before her eyes. Now was not the time to make more enemies.
“…Thank you.”
Imperial Consort Victoria asked cautiously, “Since His Majesty the Emperor isn’t here… if you’re feeling unwell, perhaps you might join me for tea in my chambers?”
“…I’m not feeling well. I must decline.”
When the Empress refused outright, Victoria spoke regretfully, “Then I suppose I cannot share the interesting story I heard at my embroidery circle.”
The Empress glanced up slightly and saw the unique purple eyes characteristic of the Tata family gleaming mischievously.
Noticing the Empress’s gaze, Victoria added casually, “Oh, the annex head maid sometimes attends my embroidery circle.”
The corner of Empress Dorotheo’s mouth twitched momentarily.
Pretending not to notice, Victoria bowed meekly.
“She told quite an interesting tale, and I thought to inform you, but if you’re unwell… I shall take my leave now.”
“If you pity me and wish to show kindness,”
the Empress’s voice stopped her.
“It is only right that I host the tea. Let us go to my chambers.”
Imperial Consort Victoria was nearly ten years younger than the Empress. The woman, still beautiful as a flower, shook her shoulders as if she could barely contain her joy and laughed.
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
“…You must have your own worries as well,”
the Empress spoke with difficulty, her teacup before her.
“The Imperial family’s affairs have postponed Jenais’s marriage indefinitely. I am sorry for that.”
Indeed, it was natural for Victoria to hold a grudge.
‘If you were going to lose the Crown Prince and put the Imperial authority on trial, Your Majesty should have first fulfilled the promises you made to me.’
Victoria, the eldest daughter of a fallen Count’s family, had seduced the Emperor, ten years her senior, willingly becoming a concubine, but her dream of bearing a son and becoming the foremost woman in the Imperial household had long since evaporated.
After Victoria gave birth to Jenais, the Emperor granted her father, Count Tata, the title of Marquess, but that was all. Victoria subsequently suffered multiple miscarriages, and the Tata Marquis remained a nominal nobility with a tiny fiefdom.
‘Jenais is my one and only, my everything…’
After the Emperor’s shallow affections shifted to the obedient and undemanding Second Imperial Consort, Victoria had joined hands with the Empress to survive.
‘If only Jenais’s marriage is settled smoothly, then my life dedicated to the Imperial family would no longer feel wasted.’
She was fundamentally different from the Empress, who had a powerful natal family. Victoria’s life had always been a series of choices.
‘It’s the same now.’
And so, along with Jenais’s fiancé, the young Marquess of Pereira, she had been among the first to align herself with Prince Rurik. But the Empress, steeped in grief, did not know this yet. The son who had been her ears was dead, her only daughter was the most foolish in the Imperial Capital, and her ruined family was drowning in sorrow.
“The young Marquess of Ferreira is faithfully waiting for Jenais, so please do not worry, Your Majesty.”
The Empress seemed to listen to Victoria’s words half-heartedly.
“I’m glad to hear that…”
Victoria subtly broached the main topic.
“More importantly, Your Majesty. About that story I heard at the embroidery circle…”
As the Empress fidgeted and licked her lips, Victoria whispered,
“Ah, before that. Could you promise to keep the source of this story—that it came from me—a secret? Our embroidery circle strives for a somewhat equal relationship, you see. If word got out, I would be in a bit of a predicament.”
The Empress forced a smile and urged her on.
“Of course. Don’t worry, just tell me.”
“Well, it was about a month ago, I think?”
Victoria began slowly.
“The annex head maid mentioned that a new maid had arrived, and the Second Prince specifically assigned her to his private bedchamber. Not as an attendant, but as a maid.”
Even for nobles other than princes, it was uncommon for a male noble to assign a female servant directly to his bedchamber.
The Empress asked cautiously, “…Did you happen to hear the girl’s name?”
“Helen, or something like that? It was a common name.”
Victoria tilted her head.
“Well, they said her eyes were a striking emerald color and quite pretty.”
“…It wouldn’t be Helena, would it?”
The corner of the Empress’s mouth twisted into a cruel smile, but Victoria merely replied with an innocent face.
“Now that you mention it, it does sound like that.”
Then, her eyes sparkling as if sharing a secret, she whispered, “But the more interesting thing is, when I recently asked about that story again, she denied ever having said such a thing.”
The Empress smiled bitterly, her eyes glistening.
“She must have something to hide.”
The very next day, chaos erupted at the Imperial Annex.
The head maid, who had been working without issue, was suddenly arrested and taken away by the Imperial Guard. Not just any maid, but the head maid.
The news reached Rurik through the Chamberlain, and naturally, it gave him grounds to act.
Although Rurik knew all of this was the Empress’s doing, he pretended ignorance and went to the audience chamber first.
“…I heard the Imperial Guard arrested and took away one of my subordinates.”
The Emperor asked in confusion, “What? Who?”
“The villa head maid, Paula Muis.”
