Remaried Empress

The eyes of my ladies-in-waiting turned to me at the same time.

"Hm? What is it?"

Princess Soju noticed their gazes and turned to me. I knew that my ladies-in-waiting believed the "anonymous friend" that Prince Heinley was looking for must be me.

"..."

My thoughts were the same. Was Queen's owner...Prince Heinley? It could be a coincidence, but the chance that it was not was high.

The ladies-in-waiting hesitated for my answer, but when I remained silent, they pretended not to know and turned to other things. Princess Soju's attention was caught elsewhere, but Laura leaned over to me.

"Your Majesty, that bird looks like a hybrid of an owl and an eagle. Do you think its owner might look like Prince Heinley?"

Countess Eliza nodded.

"I agree, Your Highness. I think this rumor might be about you."

The other ladies-in-waiting also looked at me with their eyes shining expectantly.

" ...I think so too."

The ladies covered their mouths and exchanged excited glances. But when I added, "I'm not going to come forward," they all turned crestfallen.

"Your Majesty, wouldn't it be a good idea to be friends with someone as beautiful as Prince Heinley?"

"Prince Heinley would love it even more if he found out that his letter partner was the Empress.".

"Didn't he ask you to dance?"

I shook my head.

"I want to stay a friend whose name or face he doesn't know."

"But..."

Laura sounded dismayed, but a glare from Countess Eliza quieted her. The Countess nodded as if she understood my thoughts.

"Prince Heinley has many scandals involving women. He has the reputation of a womanizer, and if his private correspondence turns out to be the Empress, everyone will give her strange looks."

Countess Eliza gave a cold stare towards Rashta and Grand Duke Lilteang. The Grand Duke was standing in front of Rashta and laughing loudly.

"We will have many enemies in the future, and they may think to spread malicious rumors. It's best to be cautious."

It wasn't until Countess Eliza finished talking that Laura gave a small "Oh," and nodded..

"But I am a little sad..."

*

*

*

"Sending letters when you don't know their identity is so romantic."

"Is that true? There are so many strange rumors about Prince Heinley, so it's hard to believe anything, right?"

"But if he's lying, then he won't find his 'friend' in public."

"We don't even know if the person is a friend or lover."

"I don't know, maybe the other person is married."

"I think it's a woman, but wouldn't it be fun if it was a man?"

The words were met with an outburst of laughter at Rashta's salon. Rashta lounged in her soft purple chair while she listened to the nobles' chatter. Cherily sat next to her, cooling her by waving a fan. As Rashta listened wordlessly to the conversation, Prince Lilteang gave a hearty chuckle and turned to Rashta.

"Why are you so quiet, Lady Rashta? You're not the one who wrote those romantic letters, are you?"

"It's not Rashta."

"Really? Don't you think Miss Rashta's sweet tongue would be enough to enthrall Prince Heinley?"

Rashta smile and shook her head, and encouraged the party to continue on with their conversation. She thought nobles only told solemn stories, and she found it interesting that both slaves and aristocrats indulged in the same kind of provocative gossip. She sat there drinking her tea, but she noticed that Viscountess Verdi had not said a word.

"Viscountess Verdi? What's wrong? Are you feeling sick?"

Rashta spoke to her gently. Viscountess Verdi gave a start, but then shook her head and smiled.

"Do you want to go back to the Empress?"

The nobles suddenly stopped talking and looked at the woman.

"That will not happen."

The Viscountess offered another smile and shook her head.

"Now I serve Miss Rashta."

The rest of the nobles turned their conversation back to Prince Heinley again, and the lady-in-waiting gave a small sigh.

"..."

Rashta tilted her head and studied the older woman's profile.

"Viscountess Verdi, if you want to return to the empress, you can be honest with Rashta."

Eventually, Rashta spoke to her again after all the other nobles had left and there was only her and the two maids.

"I don't want to return, really, Miss Rashta."

Viscountess Verdi answered her quickly, but Rashta was not convinced.

Viscountess Verdi, who had taken up the position as Rashta's lady-in-waiting through Baron Lant, was someone who had stood steadfastly by the Empress' side ever since she took the throne. For this reason, Baron Lant chose Viscountess Verdi, who was dire in need of money. When a former lady-in-waiting of the Empress becoming Rashta's lady-in-waiting, Rashta's reputation rose.

But even Rashta was not overly familiar with Viscountess Verdi. The lady-in-waiting was here because of money, and was not as reliable as Cherily or Kisu. Maybe Viscountess Verdi noticed the slight air of distrust, but she made excuses while having the eyes of a startled rabbit.

"It's not because I want to go back to the Empress, Miss Rashta."

"But it seemed like..."

"When they were talking about Prince Heinley, I...I just remembered something about the Empress."

Rashta's look of distrust vanished.

"There's a rumor about Prince Heinley, but what does it have to do with the Empress?"

Rashta had already been rejected by the Prince twice. Viscountess Verdi nervously fidgeted with her teacup, but she had already started speaking and Rashta was staring at her with bright eyes.

"The..."

She had no choice but to confess.

"The letter acquaintance that Prince Heinley is looking for. It's Her Majesty the Empress..."

Rashta's eyes rounded. Cherily, who was fanning Rashta, looked on in surprise.

"Really?"

Viscountess Verdi replied with a quick "Yes" to Rashta.

"But the Empress won't come forward even if the letter acquaintance is Prince Heinley. She is very proud."

Cherily gave a giggle.

"Are you sure the Empress and the Prince Heinley exchanged letters without knowing each other?"

"The Empress knows now. But she didn't at the time."

Rashta's curiosity was aroused, but she didn't say anything and contemplated the information carefully. Viscountess Verdi glanced towards Rashta to see if she had said something offensive. After a long moment, Rashta finally spoke.

"Then Viscountess Verdi knows a little about the letters that the Empress and Prince Heinley exchanged?"

"I...yes?"

Viscountess Verdi's voice quivered, and a playful smile spread across Rashta's face.

"Can we make it so it looks like the letter acquaintance is Cherily?"

"I'm sorry? You want to deceive Prince Heinley?"

Viscountess Verdi burst out angrily. Rashta gave a peal of laughter and held the hem of Cherily's dress.

"It's not deceiving. I'm just playing around."

"But..."

"You said it yourself, Viscountess. The Empress would never come forward."

"But...you would still be deceiving a member of the royal family..."

"Do you know the contents of the letter?"

"I don't know about any recent ones, Miss Rashta. Prince Heinley might ask about it."

"He may not ask."

"But..."

"How did they exchange letters? Even if they passed it through someone in the middle...huh, I wonder."

"But Miss Rashta..."

"If he finds out, we can say it was a joke. If things go well, the Prince will fall in love with Cherily. Right?"

"I'm...I'm here to see Prince Heinley..."

The woman approaching the southern palace intercepted a man passing by. The man was a knight, though not a citizen of the Eastern Empire.

"Who are you running an errand for?"

"Oh, no. I wanted to tell him something..."

The knight tilted his head as he observed the woman.

"You?"

Though woman was neatly dressed, she didn't look like a noblewoman. She had to be a servant working in the palace. He found it difficult to fathom why the Prince would want to meet with a foreign maid.

"I hear the prince is looking for his letter acquaintance..."

The knight's eyes widened.

"You're the one Prince Heinley is looking for?"

Coincidentally, the knight was of the Western Kingdom, the same as Prince Heinley. At the knight's distrustful look, the maid—Cherily—turned red and cried, "Yes!" Rashta had persuaded her that she could play it as a joke if it didn't work out, but if it did, she could win the love of a beautiful prince. She was still terrified, however,

"..."

The knight stared silently at Cherily then turned around.

"Come this way, please."

.

Cherily anxiously followed the knight. Viscountess Verdi had told her about the contents of the letters, but considering the time when the lady-in-waiting returned to her estate, Cherily was uneasy about not knowing the recent exchanges. Rashta reassured her that she didn't have to know, but...

"We're here."

Cherily stopped, swallowing dryly and staring straight ahead. The knight knocked on the door and announced the maid's visit.

"Your Highness, a woman has arrived claiming that she was the one exchanging letters with you."

But no matter how long they waited, no one answered.

"Oh. Did he step out?"

The grumbling knight told Cherily to wait in the drawing room, and she sat motionless in the empty space. It must have been an hour before the knight finally came back and said, "He's here. He'll be seeing you now."

"What? Now?"

The door to the empty drawing room was not closed, and the sofa she was sitting in faced towards the corridor. She hadn't seen anyone passing by. But the Prince was here?

.

'Maybe he was inside the whole time and pretended he wasn't...'

Cherily's unease grew, but she stood up quickly and followed the knight. The bedroom door opened.

Inside this door, she could be humiliated, or her future could be changed. If things went well, she would be like Rashta...

Cherily cautiously ventured inside the room. Inside the large space stood two windows wide open, the curtains drifting inwards from the breeze. A tall man stood between the curtains. He was partially nude, wearing only an open thin robe.

'That's Prince Heinley...'

Cherily's eyes widened.

The man's light hair scattered in the breeze. He was more handsome than the rumors even suggested. If an angel came descended to this earth, he would certainly look like this. However, the moment Cherily looked into his sharp purple eyes, she was struck by the thought he might be more devil than angel. He seemed ethereal at first glance, but soon she felt a chilling undercurrent. Cherily's instincts told her to run away.

However, the moment their eyes met, Prince Heinley offered her a gentle smile, and she pushed away that instinctive feeling.

"My Lady, are you the one I've been exchanging letters with?"

"Y-yes."

Prince Heinley raised his eyebrows, and Cherily stared back, her heart pounding. She thought he would ask for proof, but he did not say anything. Her heart thumped louder. After a long moment, he smiled.

"Are you sure?"

"What?"

"I want to ask you for sure. The person I am looking for is very precious to me."

"!"

"I would be very happy if you were my letter acquaintance, but if not...I would be so disappointed that I don't know what I would do."

She heard the implied threat. Prince Heinley approached her and smiled benignly again.

"Are you sure it's you, My Lady?"

*

*

*

I was having friendly lunch with the nobles I knew. Princess Soju, who I had become close with yesterday, arrived at the table with a bottle of wine.*

"This is a speciality of our Southern Kingdom. Consider it my apology for being late." 

As people looked towards her, Princess Soju smiled, then seated herself and placed the wine bottle on the table. Laura turned to the Princess, who she was seated next to.

"Have you heard?"

"What is the gossip?"

Princess Soju gave a broad smile.

"Well, I've only just heard, so not many people are talking about it yet."

The table pressed Laura for the gossip, and she lowered her voice conspiratorially, her eyes shining.

"I heard it on the way. Someone said they knew Prince Heinley's letter acquaintance."

Laura's eyes fell on me, and I reflexively furrowed my brow. It was one thing for me not to come forward, and another for someone else to pretend to be me.

"Who did they say it was?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. I heard it was Miss Rashta's maid."