Chapter 29
The next day, Lia received a letter from a familiar person.
I don’t think I’ve ever received a letter since coming here.
The sender was Duke Seronian, Liarna’s father. Since he could not visit the Imperial Palace, he had sent a letter instead.
Holding the letter from Duke Seronian, Lia hesitated.
Should I read it… or not?
There was probably nothing good written inside.
She felt like burning it without even opening it, but she decided to read it first. She did not know what it might contain.
As expected, the contents of the letter were not welcome at all to Lia.
“Sharing a bed, my foot.”
She did not even want that, yet he was telling her to hurry and have the Emperor’s child. She had clearly refused last time, saying she did not want it. Had he still not given up?
Well, it was something worth being greedy over. The Empress’s position was always unstable, so rather than being the Empress’s father, he likely wanted to become the Crown Prince’s maternal grandfather.
All for the power he himself would gain.
She was both the Empress and a duke’s daughter, yet she had been left in such a precarious position because Duke Seronian had completely neglected her.
It was deliberate.
If the Empress held too much power, he would not be able to control her as he pleased. So he only wanted her to barely maintain the Empress’s position. Nothing more.
If there had been talk of her being dragged down from the Empress’s seat, Duke Seronian would have stepped in immediately.
Thinking that way made Lia dislike him even more. She also hated how Liarna had been thoroughly used by those around her.
“This should be burned.”
It was not worth thinking about. That included the items sent along with the letter.
Duke Seronian had sent several gifts with the letter. Looking at them, they appeared to be tea.
According to the explanation attached, it was not ordinary tea.
Tea that helped men and women share a bed? Tea that made it easier to conceive a child?
Along with that explanation, Duke Seronian had instructed her to give the tea to the Emperor.
He told Lia to drink it as well, but she had no intention of listening to that.
She did not even know what kind of tea it really was. Despite the explanation, it could be something dangerous.
Lia’s judgment was wise.
After neatly burning the letter she had received that morning, Lia calmly reviewed the documents on her desk.
Then someone came to visit her. It was the head maid she had seen once before, along with another maid.
“We greet the flower of the Empire, Her Majesty the Empress.”
The head maid bowed respectfully. The maid behind her also bowed. She looked rather old to be a new maid.
“What is it?” Lia asked.
“There is someone I would like to introduce to Your Majesty.”
At the head maid’s words, Lia looked at the maid standing behind her. The maid smiled and showed polite manners toward Lia.
That alone earned her a passing mark. Until now, it had been rare to see such an attitude after all the contempt Lia had received.
“This maid will serve as Your Majesty’s personal attendant from today onward. If she does not please you, we can replace her with someone else.”
A personal maid…
Lia carefully examined the maid, then spoke as if it did not matter.
“That’s fine.”
“And Your Majesty, there is something else I wish to say.”
“Go ahead.”
“It may be rude of me, but from now on, you do not need to speak so politely to us.”
Lia looked at the head maid, realizing she had not considered that.
No one had ever pointed it out before. That was because no one cared enough—or dared—to say anything. But now that the Empress’s position was finally stabilizing, it was not appropriate for her to speak politely to mere maids.
That was why the head maid had spoken up, despite the risk of being rude.
However, Lia did not answer right away.
In truth, Lia spoke politely not out of respect, but to keep distance. And from Lia’s perspective, having grown up in Korea, everyone here was a stranger regardless of rank, so polite speech had come naturally.
“…All right.”
It was difficult to change immediately, as her habits from Korea remained. But if she was going to live in a place with strict hierarchy, she had to act accordingly.
The head maid looked as if she wanted to say more, her lips moving slightly, but she held back.
Lia could tell what she had wanted to say.
Even just now, Lia had still used polite speech. The head maid must have been debating whether to point that out.
“I understand. You may leave.”
This time, Lia spoke properly in a lower tone. The head maid bowed and left the room.
Only Lia and the new maid remained.
“What is your name…?”
Speaking informally to someone she had just met felt uncomfortable, but those were the rules here.
“My name is Laila.”
The maid bowed her head politely. Lia nodded.
There was nothing else to say. Honestly, she was not sure she even needed a personal maid.
Lia ignored the maid’s presence and focused on her work again.
The maid quietly remained by her side, watching her.
After some time passed—
Lia looked at the light desserts and tea placed on her desk with a puzzled expression.
“What… is this?”
She stopped herself from saying “What is this?” too bluntly and asked instead.
“I thought it wouldn’t be good for you to focus only on work…”
The maid spoke carefully.
She had been concerned because Lia had not even drunk water while working.
Lia nodded slightly in thanks.
She had been about to take a short break anyway.
Stopping her work, Lia picked up one of the desserts.
The cookie was crisp and crumbly, and quite delicious. It was not overly sweet, but not bland either. Drinking the tea with it made her feel satisfied.
She felt like she needed coffee more than tea, but the tea was not bad.
“It was made personally by the Imperial Palace’s head chef. Does it suit your taste?”
“Yeah. It’s fine.”
Not just fine—it was very good.
“That is a relief. Normally, the head chef does not make desserts himself, but this was specially prepared by order of His Majesty the Emperor.”
“Ah.”
So that was why.
Lia recalled the letter Kartian had sent after seeing her enjoy desserts last time, and quietly ate another cookie.
She had been buried in work until just moments ago and was fairly stressed, but eating something sweet made that stress fade a little.
It really did help.
