Chapter 5 – I Will Come To You
Diana smiled a little at Gloria’s startled-rabbit expression as she wiped her tears with a handkerchief she had pulled out.
“Can you believe it, Your Majesty? Not long ago, Older Brother hugged me while crying like a child. Saying ‘I’m so glad you’re alive!’”
“…Duke Ludenberg?”
“Yes.”
Diana answered Gloria’s question meekly. However, in fear that the news might reach Kaien’s ears, she was quick to add, ‘It’s a secret, Your Majesty.’
‘If my brother hears this, I might really get into trouble.’
It was a belated concern, but Diana didn’t have to worry. Rather than the fact of his crying, Gloria was focused on the phrase ‘I’m relieved you’re alive.’ coming from the Duke who sheds neither blood nor tears. She covered her mouth in surprise.
Her mind went blank. Suddenly a thought flashed through her consciousness and boldly squeezed her heart.
‘No way!’
She didn’t know why, but her intuition was screaming. At the surprising notion, her mouth curled upward into a thick curve.
Full of anxiety upon witnessing the Emperor’s sudden change in demeanor, Diana asked.
“Your Majesty, you’re not going to tell my brother, are you?”
“More than that, Diana. I have a favor to ask.”
“Is this ominous foreboding only my misunderstanding?”
Just as when she cried, Gloria’s countenance changed again, and Diana tried to disengage. The glowing dark blue eyes were somehow disquieting, but the Princess of Ludenberg could not escape from the Emperor’s grasp.
As her waist was suddenly caught, Diana’s face flushed. Gloria’s eyes sparkled.
“Help me meet the Duke tonight!”
“Whaaaaaaaat?!”
At Gloria’s unexpected request, Diana forgot about comporting herself as a Lady and shouted out loud.
Undoubtedly, it was a problem for unmarried women to meet men late at night, but beyond that issue, Gloria was engaged to marry soon!
Someone with a fiancé said she wanted to meet a single Duke late at night.
‘Not someone else, but Oppa?’
As it was a delicate subject, Diana’s expression was grim.
But Gloria could not miss this opportunity, and with a serious face spoke to the bewildered princess.
“It’s for very important state affairs, so I hope you can help me.”
“If Your Majesty commands.”
Gloria’s firm expression and solemnity in speaking left no justification for refusing.
Diana placed her hand on her chest, bowed, and acquiesced to the Emperor’s order. If it was a meeting for state affairs rather than a private rendezvous, there was no way to interfere.
‘We must meet… Although, I didn’t mean to make a fuss.’
Gloria sighed heavily and felt sorrow at Diana’s troubled face.
Kaien Ludenberg.
He lost his parents in an accident and lived with his little sister in the Duchy. There was no reason or event so significant in the Duke’s life to cause his gratitude to the point of tears. Except for that gruesome day.
‘I need to confirm it.’
Gloria’s heart pounded wildly as she dug her nails into her palms.
Thus that hectic day ended.
After confirming that Gloria had fallen asleep earlier than usual, Baroness Berne, the matron charged with the Palace’s general management, smoothed the bedding and left the room.
Tap, tap.
“Alright.”
Gloria jumped from the bed when the sound of Baroness Bern’s footsteps had completely faded. The Baroness had supervised the general administration of the Palace night affairs since the days of the late Emperor. She had to move carefully since being caught would mean a headache at minimum.
“Here it is!”
Before dinner, Gloria asked Diana to prepare clothing for camouflage. She quickly pulled out a basket of clothes from under the bed.
“Doctor ‘s clothing?”
It wasn’t a dress. Gloria’s eyes widened when she saw a doctor’s insignia on the arm. She thought Diana would dress her as a maid or a coachman to go to the Ludenberg’s Duchy.
“Of course, it doesn’t matter.”
Gloria took off her ivory chemise and quickly changed into the doctor’s uniform.
As she finished donning the prepared disguise, Gloria found a note at the bottom of the basket.
“Hooo.”
Gloria smiled thinly at Diana’s message.
[I have informed the guard officer in advance. I’ll see you in front of the carriage at the back door at 10 pm.”]
“Who’s this Duke’s younger sister?”
Gloria was satisfied with Diana’s handling of the plan, which informed the officer, not the guard so no one would be reprimanded.
She hurriedly hid her red hair under a navy blue hood and quietly exited the room.
Diana was going to arrange the route and take care of the court ladies. And it was clear that she had done a good job as Gloria saw not even an ant when she went outside.
“Your Majesty.”
When she reached the Palace back door, Diana, wearing a robe, welcomed her with a firm face. Diana’s face was tense since it was the first time she had done this type of thing.
“Let’s go now.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Gloria got into the guest carriage and grabbed Diana’s hand. Diana’s face was taut as if she was very nervous, but there was no hesitation in her actions.
Gloria apologized to Diana with a contrite expression, and Diana braced herself in response as the carriage left.
“Sorry for the difficult request, Diana. You could let me go alone.”
Jumping at Gloria’s words, Diana answered.
“How could I leave Your Majesty alone? If you go with me, it will be easier for you to meet my brother.”
How dare she allow the noble Emperor of the Empire to move alone!
‘Besides, Her Majesty is Her Majesty, but my brother’s reaction concerns me more.’
Diana thought of Kaien, who hated Gloria.
It hadn’t been like that when they were young, but she knew things had changed after Gloria got engaged to Erun. Kaien started to blatantly ignore and turn a blind eye to her, so Diana knew her buffering presence was needed.
As the wagon began to speed up Gloria said.
“The Duke would be very angry if he knew that his only and precious sister accompanied me on an undercover mission at such a late hour.”
“That’s not… right.”
Diana struggled to answer Gloria’s statement. As she said, if Kaien found out that they went out surreptitiously without an escort at this hour…
‘I don’t even want to imagine it.’
Diana looked defenseless.
Kaien couldn’t even see a strand of the Emperor’s hair when he was angry, which is why the late Emperor often had a troubled smile when faced with him!
Gloria was grumbling about that man’s infamously horrendous temper, known throughout the Empire. She pressed her temples.
‘Kaien is really going to curse me.’
Between her worrying about Kaien’s likely profane reception and Erun’s lurking in the back of her mind, she had a well-justified headache.
But.
‘Even if he curses at me, I need to test it.’
Gloria narrowed her eyes as she recalled what Diana had said about Kaien’s behavior.
He hugged Diana and thanked her for being alive, like she did.
The Duke with no blood, no tears, no love.
‘It’s crystal clear.’
Gloria swallowed and wiped her damp, tense palms. She had to know the truth even if it caused trouble for Diana.
The question was whether or not it would make it easier for her to cut her fiancé’s throat. Either way, she planned to send him to the guillotine, but still, she wanted to execute effortlessly, so Gloria pressed her knuckle to her mouth and fell into deep thought.
‘It’s my first time doing something covertly.’
Gloria frowned as she looked through the carriage window at the night sky.
She had never done anything like this before Erun poisoned her. Because she was kept in a golden cage; she never properly left the Imperial Palace.
‘People change so much after they die.’
The cowardice ingrained in her body was still there, but the thought of ‘whatever’ was strong enough to overcome anything.
“Please die, Honey”
Erun’s betrayal and her father’s death. Gloria Blake, the delicate flower, was completely shattered like a porcelain doll.
Trusting someone. Loving each other. That was everything.
‘In the end… I brought it upon myself.’
At that disastrous and miserable fate, Gloria twisted her lips and laughed. All things considered, she’d prefer to think of it as a good thing! Willingly or not, arriving at this high and strict position was a great luxury.
Caught between her father’s excessive protection and Erun’s deceit, she gradually fell silent. And as she shut her mouth, her Will withered. Eventually, her spirit vanished.
‘Leave everything to me and focus on getting better, my Love.’
“I’ll fu— kill you, you damn bastard.”
The thought of Erun, sweet talking her with his words like cheap candy, caused Gloria’s eyes to flash with anger. Diana flinched at Gloria’s sudden outburst of swear words.
It was a reasonable reaction since words like ‘I’ll kill you, you fu— bastard’ erupted from the precious mouth of a person who before had only said ‘fool’ as a curse.
Unfortunately, Gloria didn’t notice Diana’s discomfort while she frowned and cursed continuously.
‘You’re doomed, you jerk. Worse than dog sh—!’
In her imagination, she dragged Erun to the central square, hanged him, and erased the household of Lebossi from history.
Nevertheless, Gloria knew. Even if she blamed her ex-husband for betraying her father and her, she was the one who committed the worst sin.
‘I was a Fool.’
The rage-filled tip of the sword aimed at Erun began to turn towards herself.
When Erun became Regent saying that it was all for his wife, she should have stamped his face with the Imperial Seal, instead of holding in her doubts.
And she should have issued the death penalty without mercy to the freak who dared not know the subject and crossed the Emperor’s authority.
How many people were sacrificed because of her foolish self?
Guilt transformed itself into firewood and embers and consumed Gloria’s soul.
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────