Remaried Empress

"Why did you call me?"

Prince Heinley turned to Rashta sternly, and her eyes drooped. She looked miserable.

"Don't you have anything to say to me?"

Her voice quivered in meekness. McKenna understood why so many people fell in love with Rashta. There was something about her distress that aroused pity in the viewer's heart.

"No."

Heinley's voice was a flat monotone, however, and McKenna tutted warningly. Despite Rashta's tarnished reputation, she was still highly favored by the Emperor. McKenna didn't care what Heinley said about her behind the scenes, but the prince would have to be careful in front of her face...

Prince Heinley seemed to completely disregard that, however.

"Don't you have anything to say to me? I think you do."

Rashta's large eyes glistened and filled with tears. McKenna knew what was coming. Prince Heinley could appear light and casual, but at the drop of a hat he could become cold and frightening. Prince Heinley's frigid gaze intensified, and Rashta, who seemed intimidated, started to cry.

"You are a wonderful man."

McKenna didn't expect those words to leave her mouth. Rashta gazed at Prince Heinley with her dark eyes, not a trace of fear on her expression. On the contrary, she looked deeply moved. Who reacted to a cold attitude like that...?

McKenna's eyebrows twisted in disbelief at her unusual behavior, and Prince Heinley, too, frowned in surprise. Rashta gave a sheepish smile as she wiped her eyes with one hand.

"I'm sorry. You must be embarrassed by Rashta's sudden crying."

"..."

"After the rumor spread, people began to treat Rashta horribly. They used to be sweet, but now they laugh and mock Rashta."

She finished dabbing her tears with her sleeve, but as soon as she lowered her arm she choked up again.

"But Prince Heinley is the only one who treats Rashta the same way...of course we're not on good terms, but Rashta was just touched..."

The urge to protect her strengthened even more when she was crying. Some nobles only treated other nobles with kindness, and looked down at people with lower status. It was likely those same people had terribly humiliated Rashta.

"I see."

Despite the pitiable sight before him, Heinley continued to speak with cold formality. He seemed to have no opinion on her situation, and he checked his wristwatch and said, "Well, that's enough," then walked away without another word.

McKenna, feeling sorry for Rashta, smiled awkwardly at her and followed Prince Heinley.

"Your Highness, I know you're on bad terms, but that was a little too cold, wasn't it?"

"You want me to show courtesy to someone who tried to deceive me? Who accused me of being a liar?"

What extraordinary talent. McKenna was certainly offended on Heinley's behalf, but he had momentarily forgotten about it when he saw Rashta cry. He tilted his head in thought, while Prince Heinley turned back towards the southern palace.

"More importantly, when is Elgy coming? Did you deliver the letter?"

"I delivered it properly. But why did you call him all of a sudden?"

*

*

"Duke Elgy Klaudia?"

I stared at the minister in bewilderment and he nodded.

"Did he come here as part of a delegation mission?"

"No, he said he stopped by for sightseeing."

Foreign guests rarely visited a month or two after the New Year's celebrations. There were no festivals at this time, and those who did stay past New Year's did it so they wouldn't have to visit again. Why would Duke Elgy Klaudia, who couldn't attend the New Year's celebrations on the account of being too busy, suddenly come now?

'Ah, perhaps he came to see Prince Heinley?'

Duke Elgy Klaudia was known to be a close friend of the prince. So...a playboy friend. I wondered at this, but I signed the documents permitting his stay, and continued on with my work. I heard the name Duke Elgy again while having dinner with the ladies-in-waiting.

"Your Majesty, did you hear? Duke Elgy Klaudia came to the palace today."

"Of course she knows, Laura."

" Oh, I see. So you know too? Who Lord Elgy was with all day?"

I cut my salad with my knife.

"Prince Heinley?"

Laura snorted, "No."

"He was with the slave, Rashta."

Ah...Rashta.

 "That's surprising."

Since Duke Elgy was Prince Heinley's best friend, I thought he would avoid Rashta on principle. Laura continued on nervously.

"They didn't just meet. They were together all day long. I heard they were very close to each other."

Another lady-in-waiting, who was waiting for her turn in the conversation, followed Laura's words quickly.

"Not just that. They were so close, they caused quite some trouble."

What happened? I looked at her questioningly, and she shook her head and clicked her tongue.

"Duke Elgy and Rashta were walking together when they came across a noble. He said he knew Rashta was a runaway slave and insulted her for being with the duke. As soon as the noble finished speaking, Duke Elgy punched him."

*

*

*

The table in Rashta's drawing room was loaded with a diverse assortment cakes—light pink strawberry cake, yellow banana cream cake, melon cake...

The desserts, tailored to Rashta's taste, were created by the Emperor's chef and were made to perfection in both appearance and taste. However, these dishes were not for Rashta today.

"Thank you for earlier, Duke."

Rasta smiled and thanked Duke Elgy sitting opposite her. She was deeply grateful to him. Although Viscount Roteschu retracted his remarks about Rashta being an escaped slave within a day, everyone was reluctant to believe him. As she feared, Rashta quickly became estranged from the nobles. Her friends stopped visiting her, and the flow of gifts disappeared.

What was most upsetting, however, was the occasional glimpses she saw of their gazes. Some nobles showed contempt, others curiosity, some pity, and others vague interest.

But Duke Elgy was different from all of them. He treated her kindly, like when she was treated as an aristocrat during New Year's. At first Rashta believed it was because Duke Elgy was ignorant about the rumors, but soon she saw with her own eyes that he didn't care about it at all. He even threw his fist at the nobleman who taunted her. He was a royal, he was a duke, he was a beautiful man who surrounded himself with the love of women—and he punched someone for her. Rashta was flattered beyond measure, and so she invited him to enjoy her favorite food.

"Thank you. I only respond that way to rude people, by the way."

"Well, as you may have heard, there are bad rumors going around about Rashta. They're false, of course."

"Does this always happen?"

"That's—"

"It's nothing to be ashamed of. The ones who are rude are the ones who should be ashamed."

"..."

"I suppose it happens a lot."

Duke Elgy propped his arm against the chair arm and uttered a low swear word.

"That bastard. Saying you're a slave in front of you. So what if you're a slave? I should have thrashed his mouth more."

"Those are scary words, Duke..."

"I originally came here to see a friend, but I'm glad I met you first. If I weren't there, no one else would stand up to that ruffian."

His friend was probably going crazy that he didn't show up yet. He rubbed his eyes and wondered if he was concerned.

" He has a mean temper. "

Duke Elgy was so different from the nobles Rashta met before. He seemed rough like a mercenary from a street bar, yet simultaneously had a sophisticated and noble air. She found it even more amusing to see the contrast of this muscular, big-mouthed noble eating dainty cakes. And he didn't care if she was a slave...

Rashta especially liked him.

"Anyway, miss, let's make it so it doesn't happen in the future. There's no way those ruffians will suddenly disappear."

"Right..."

" You'd better take care of it as soon as possible. "

"There's no way to fix it. Viscount Roteschu spread those rumors himself, and people don't believe him even when he says it's false."

"Pass it on to someone else. It's faster than an explanation."

Duke Elgy answered her bluntly and swallowed another bite of yellow cake.

"Pass it on?"

"The role as society's chewbone. Shift it to someone else."

"!"

The palace was shrouded in morning fog when I awoke. I opened the window and leaned my head out, allowing the cool air to cleanse my body. Today was the day I would discuss opening diplomatic ties with Grand Duke Kapmen.

'I have to be at my best.'

I mentally composed myself. When I tied the curtains together, I discovered a letter on a window sill, secured underneath a stone so it wouldn't fly away.

'Prince Heinley?'

I opened the letter and saw Prince Heinley's handwriting.

– Trust me.

"?"

What did he want me to trust him for? I was surprised, but I felt happy receiving a letter after a long while. Unfortunately, I couldn't send a reply right away since Queen was gone. I tucked the paper in a drawer and went to the bathroom to wash my face in cold water. Afterwards I rang a bell, and the ladies-in-waiting entered to prepare me for the day.

"You're having a meeting at a round table, aren't you? You'll be seated next to people, so we shouldn't choose a dress that's too wide."

Countess Eliza selected a black dress that fell almost in a straight line, and then arranged my hair.

"If Queen comes when I'm away, please give him some water."

"Of course, Your Majesty."

"And allow him inside if it rains. Sometimes he gets caught in the rain outside the window."

I left Countess Eliza with my requests, then took a deep breath and left the room. I believed I could face this.

*

*

*

The meeting convened at 10 a.m. It was a relatively small assembly—present were the finance minister, the foreign minister, important officials from each department, Grand Duke Kapmen, Sovieshu and myself.

The topic was the opening of diplomatic relations with Rwibt, and the benefits, losses, and feasibility. There were a total of eight continents in the world, with little exchange between them. The Wol continent, where the Eastern Empire is located, and the Hwa continent, where Rwibt was located, were relatively close compared to other continents, but even so, it was still a long distance. It would take time to generate profits from private trade, and quick communication was essential in state-led transactions. Given the situation, it was difficult to reach a conclusion. However...

'Why does Sovieshu look like he's in a foul mood?'

He glowered through the discussions. He was supposed to lead the meeting, but he made it difficult to offer free opinions and the officials kept looking at him.

'Is it because of what happened between Duke Elgy and Rashta? He shouldn't bring that with him to work...'

I lifted my head from the map and swallowed my sigh, when I encountered Grand Duke Kapmen's gaze. His expression was neutral, neither antagonistic nor favorable. When our eyes met, he nodded, and I nodded in return.

*

*

*

The meeting crawled slowly, and by the end of it I was in charge of the matter at Grand Duke Kapmen's recommendation. His reasons were incomprehensible, considering his attitude towards me at New Year's Day.

'Grand Duke Kapmen.'

I finally closed the meeting, and the room emptied. I followed Grand Duke Kapmen out into the hallway.

"Do you have a moment? I want to ask you something."

"Yes. Go ahead and ask." freewebnovel.cσ๓

"Why did you recommend me to take charge?"

Grand Duke Kapmen raised his eyebrows.

"You don't like it?"

"I'm just curious. A few days ago..."

He criticized me for how I dealt with Rashta—or lack of it. I didn't say it out loud, but his lips curved up as if he understood what I meant.

Was he smiling? That made me quite upset.

"Because it holds true."

"..."

"There is no one else who could be in charge other than the Empress."

"What do you mean?"

"When I spoke of the Imona and Imot, you were the only one that understood what that meant."

He recommended me for that reason only? I hurried to explain.

"As I said before, I only know a few words. I wasn't being humble, it was true."

"Yes, but many people don't even know those words."

The language was not a compulsory subject at the academy ...Was it really alright to leave me with this serious task based on that alone? I couldn't show weakness as empress, however, so I finally nodded. Now that it had come to this, I had to fill in the gap with effort.

"Please, if you'll excuse me."

Grand Duke Kapmen gave a slight bow as if he had nothing more to say, then turned and walked down the corridor.

Tang tang tang.

The sound of his shoes echoed with each step he took. I turned my head and went the opposite direction, and when I saw Sovieshu through the open door of the conference room, leaning against a table.

He had been brooding throughout the meeting, but now his expression looked even darker.

"Your Majesty?"

I was worried and approached him, but I regretted it as soon as I did. Did something happen with Rashta? It was impossible for me to ask this, but I couldn't ignore Sovieshu when he was looking like this.

"You look grim. Are you alright?"

Instead, I avoided reason and only asked about his current state.

However, the words that left his mouth stunned me.

"Empress. Do you have a preference for foreigners?"