****
****
The Empress Palace was gorgeously decorated with gilded Moorish ceilings and ornamental battlements. The bedroom walls were painted in rosy colors, as if to emphasize beauty more than any other room.
The red curtains that surrounded the bed rustled in the breeze that blew through the small open window.
As she lay in bed trying to sleep, Liv had a strange feeling and found it hard to fall asleep.
‘Why do his words keep lingering?’
The words he had spoken with a more determined look than ever.
“Because if I lost you, I would never forgive myself.”
Liv couldn’t forget the way he looked from behind, his red cape fluttering, as he left incomprehensible words.
Why on earth did he run all the way here? Liv didn’t think about it once. How does Carius feel about her? What are his feelings towards her?
His emotions were confusing to Liv, who had been running with nothing but revenge on her mind.
‘I must concentrate solely on getting the Prince out, we don’t have much time before the imperial meeting in a month.’
But Carius’s determined blue eyes kept coming back to her.
Maybe it was the breeze coming in through the window. Liv’s eyes fell on the window that made a squeaking iron sound.
“They all had nightmares. How painful it must have been, and how they all ran away from the great castle.”
Meanwhile, Liv was worried, and her heart ached when she thought of Theodore’s face.
He looked just like the Emperor. His eyes, his nose, his figure, everything.
If he was a normal prince, he would have grown up in the palace with all kinds of love all to himself. It was heartbreaking to see those sharp eyes still so clear, following only the light entering the window.
Liv held the necklace that was on her neck, trying to calm her complicated mind. Trust in the power of the necklace and think of the child, trying to sleep.
She was lost in her thoughts, and before she knew it, she was imagining lying in this bed with Theodore.
“Mother, I don’t want to go to bed yet!”
She imagined herself as a clumsy mother, soothing the young child, comforting him that tomorrow awaited him and that he must go to bed early.
The warmth of the child’s body, the warmth of his eyes, the way she embraced his tiny frame, made her feel as if Edmund was reborn in heaven.
Before she knew it, her eyes began to close in her warm imagination of the future. It was as if the necklace really connected her to the Prince.
****
Liv opened her eyes in the strong sunlight entering through the window.
“Hmmm!”
As she sat up and stretched, she looked around with a sudden sense of alienation. The warmth was so warm, it felt as if someone was here with her.
Soon, she heard the maid’s voice from outside.
“Your Majesty, are you awake?”
“Come in.”
The maid came in naturally and opened the window. The fresh morning air permeated the room.
After lightly organizing the messy bedding, the maid approached and handed Liv a cup of rose water. Savoring the scent of the flowers that touched her nose, Liv stared at the maid.
“You’re …… I’ve never seen you before.”
“I am the maid in charge of the kitchen, Your Majesty.”
“Why did a maid in charge of the kitchen come in here?”
“Well, um… the maid’s in charge said they were going somewhere for a while.”
Liv had a strange feeling for a moment and got up from her seat and headed to the window. When she looked out and checked outside, she saw the busy maids of honor coming into the castle in the distance.
“Where are they going.. ………?”
As she mumbled to herself, the maid discreetly approached and spoke to her.
“Your Majesty, Your Majesty, you can’t trust all the maidservants here.”
Liv knew exactly what the words meant, but she pretended not to know and asked,
“What do you mean?”
At her question, the maid looked around and lowered her voice.
“In this Imperial Palace, especially in His Majesty’s castle, there are many people who have received secret orders from the Dowager Empress.”
“… What is your reason for telling me this?”
“Her Majesty Empress Celestine, the biological mother of Prince Theodore, regretted such a situation and lovingly guided me. Empress Celestine has been kind not only to me, but to everyone………”
Liv listened to her story quietly. The maid cleared her throat for a while and continued.
“But, even though Prince Theodore is trapped in the pagoda, no one comes forward. I guess they are all scared of the Empress Dowager.”
“….!”
“But I know the current Empress Liv is different. I want to help you, Your Majesty.”
“…You want to help me?”
Liv’s red eyes shook slightly. It was difficult to entrust her secrets to the maids here anyway, but she needed a maid to be her hands and feet.
“What is your name?”
“My name is Jane.”
“From this day forward, I will appoint you to be my personal maid.”
“What? But I’m a commoner, Your Majesty.”
The maid flinched and bowed her head. Liv raised her up and said,
“I don’t need to know where you came from. I just needed one person I could trust. I believe in you, so you must be loyal to me.”
“Huh, but …………!”
At that moment, Liv could feel the presence of someone outside. A group of maids who had been somewhere else entered the room with a tray of teacups.
Looking at Jane curiously as they prepared for tea time, Liv said.
“This is Jane, who will now be my maid. Make your acquaintance.”
“What?”
The maids knew that Jane was a commoner.
They couldn’t help but be astonished that Jane, who was a daughter of a Viscount, became the Empress’s maid in an instant.
“Your Majesty! That makes us uncomfortable!”
‘’Oh?, you mean you are uncomfortable with my orders?”
Liv crossed her arms and raised her head. The maids, facing her cold eyes, flinched.
“But how can a commoner be the Empress’s personal maid!”
At the same time, when they stared at Jane mercilessly, Jane couldn’t even raise her head and looked down on the floor.
Liv spoke casually to Jane, not caring about the whining maids.
“From now on, you will come to my room every morning. All messages must be delivered without omission.”
At this, the maids were speechless, grasping only their innocent skirts.
Through the awkward air, the aide entered the bedroom. Jane, meanwhile, took a breath as the aide approached and delivered a message.
“Your Majesty, Empress Dowager is looking for you right now. You have to go greet her today.”
The word “Empress Dowager” brought to Liv’s mind a presence she had forgotten. Immediately, Liv replied firmly with a determined look in her eyes.
“I understand. Tell Empress Dowager I’ll come.”
Then Liv made another threat to the maids.
“If anything happens to Jane. You all will face the consequences. Do you understand?”
The maids retreated, bowing their heads helplessly, and Liv finally sighed and turned to Jane.
“I don’t fully trust you either. Still, don’t forget that I’ve appointed you as my personal maid.”
“…Yes,Your Majesty.”
Jane knelt down in front of her.
“I’ll do my best, Your Majesty!”
Liv nodded and looked down at the window again.
Her bad relationship with the Empress Dowager never ends.
She remembered the spiteful words of Empress Dowager Patricia, who was her mother-in-law in the past when Edgar was Emperor.
“What do you mean the Empress is jealous? It has always been the case that the emperor had an heir to succeed him.” (Patricia)
“It’s not as promised, Your Highness.” (Liv)
“Promise what, Empress? Oh, my Edgar rose to become emperor thanks to the Empress’s family lineage. Is that what this is about?” (Patricia)
“I can’t accept that your Majesty has a concubine!” (Liv)
“If others heard what you said, you would be laughed at. The Empress of the Emporium Empire is such a pathetic woman.” (Patricia)
“Your Highness!” (Liv)
“Behave yourself. If you don’t want even the baby in your belly to be treated coldly.” (Patricia)
Liv tightened her fists, biting her lip at the sight of her once cruelly crumpled self in the past.
****
After Liv finished her preparations, she headed for the Empress Dowager’s Palace. The Empress Dowager’s Palace was, in fact, the largest and grandest of the imperial castles.
Liv, accompanied by her attendants, entered a large garden surrounded by a hedge of sharp butterfly lilies.
In the center of the garden was a large fountain with a towering statue of a winged angel. Along the long path of five-colored landscaping plants, well-grown lime trees stood tall.
In the midst of it all, gardeners gathered to tend to the plants and flowers.
‘’All the gardeners who should be in the Empress’s Palace are gathered here. Yeah, wasn’t she the one who liked to dress up more lavishly than the Empress?”
Liv looked at him with disdainful eyes, then passed by and went to the audience chamber of the Empress Dowager.
While the Dowager Empress’s attendant went to announce her visit, Liv was given a tour of the audience chamber.
The image of a god in a chariot painted on the ceiling and the portrait of the previous emperor hung on one wall. The audience chamber, like before the regression, revealed the majestic atmosphere.
It would be a magnificent chamber for first time visitors, but for Liv, it was just a hellhole.
Soon the sound of shoes could be heard in the distance, and the unhurried steps came to a halt just behind her.
“Empress, you’re here.”
Liv turned around and saw Empress Dowager Patricia in a luxurious purple dress of fine fabric surrounded by all kinds of jewelry.
“I am here to see Your Highness.”
Liv greeted her with a slight bend of her knees, then looked up at the Empress Dowager.
The golden hair raised in fullness, the jeweled crown on top of it, the emerald eyes beneath the rich lashes, the nose raised as high as it could go as if to show her overwhelming power.
The beauty of Empress Dowager Patricia, the most beautiful woman who had ever dominated the era, was always as beautiful and still as enchanting as the moment she possessed the previous emperor and claimed her throne.
The Empress Dowager stared at Liv from top to bottom as she lightly bowed her head, then soon shook her head from side to side and clicked her tongue.
“How hard is it to see the Empress after she ascended to the throne? Don’t know you have to come to greet me the day after the wedding.”
Liv smiled without saying a word, and the corner of the Empress Dowager’s eyes became even sharper at the sight.
“What have you learned about court etiquette!”
The Empress Dowager said as she sat down on her throne.