Chapter 7
Crazy or whatever, the Emperor’s words weren’t exactly elegant, but it was understandable this time around.
From calling the Empress privately as ‘my daughter’ in a public setting to treating the Emperor as a man who plays tricks behind the Empress, it was the Duke who went too far.
If it was five years ago, it might have been easier to let this slide, but now that Karloi is expanding his presence, this has crossed the line.
“The Duke called himself an old man, and at last, he’s finally old.”
“Old man? Your Majesty! This…!”
“When are you going to admit that, I don’t care about the anniversary of your wife’s death? I can’t stand this any longer, this is so unpleasant.”
No one dared to stop Karloi from leaving the conference hall, as he was venting his daunting anger everywhere.
Crazy old man. Karloi mumbled.
He was angry, and couldn’t stand the Duke’s ridiculous nonsense.
All the blood from men that were killed by the Duke was enough to fill the river, so what’s the big deal about his wife’s death? She just died in an accident.
Gorten struggled to follow Karloi, who had accelerated in anger.
Karloi stopped at the entrance to the annex, where the rain was creeping in. When Gorten glanced, the attendants brought large umbrellas.
“…Your Majesty, the reason you hesitated then is because you knew it was the anniversary of the Duchess’s death, right?”
Gorten asked between the sound of the rain. Karloi didn’t reply, but Gorten knew he was right.
“How could the Empress… maybe she did it on purpose?”
“Deliberately?”
“To give the Duke an excuse to blame His Majesty.”
It was a reasonable doubt, but Karloi didn’t agree easily. He thought she was unlikely to do this, but Karloi laughed at his own thoughts.
What does he actually know about Yvonne?
Karloi was harsh to her at the Empress’s palace the last time. She might have felt hurt by it and wanted to empower the Duke.
The more he thought about it, the more it felt like a well-grounded hypothesis. Why else would she choose that day?
A servant approached and whispered to Gorten.
“Lady Roden wants to see you, Your Majesty. She has something to tell you.”
“…Tell her to meet me at the indoor garden. I don’t want to see any nobles on the way.”
Entuarum, the indoor garden of the annex, was famous for its beautifully crafted glass ceiling and was the most beloved by the Emperors of the Croisen Dynasty.
He wasn’t particularly interested in the place, so he didn’t usually visit it. Though only those allowed by the Emperor could enter, so it seemed quite symbolic to go there.
Karloi, who was heading through the Emperor’s passage to the indoor garden, suddenly stopped, causing Gorten and other attendants to untangle their steps and stop as well.
“Your Majesty?”
Karloi looked through the indoor garden’s front door and saw Yvonne in front of an ornate door, which was decorated with various ivy plants.
With his hand reached out from the rain covers, countless raindrops fell on his pale hands and shattered terribly.
There was no way Karloi would allow the Empress to enter this place, where she wasn’t allowed. Gorten, of course, was terrified thinking about that fact after noticing Karloi’s glance, but Karloi stood blankly.
“…Rain.”
The appearance of him muttering unknown words to himself seemed peculiar.
It’s indeed raining, but Gorton doesn’t understand what he meant. Karloi was looking at the Empress with a serious face, as if possessed by something.
“Your Majesty?”
Gorten’s cautious call caused his facial expression to change as if the veil had been removed. He couldn’t believe what he was doing.
“Are you all right?”
“Ah… I saw something weird because of the rain. Why is the Empress here, without my permission?”
“Well…Your Majesty doesn’t visit here, so it’s not very well maintained. The servants seem to have just opened the door because it is the Empress.”
As Karloi’s face hardened, Gorten instinctively felt that something was on his mind.
“Well. I could just go and ask her myself, so I wouldn’t have to keep wondering.”
“What?”
“Do you mean, if she deliberately set the date for the Queen’s ceremony to be that day?”
Karloi took the lead and strides ahead. The sound of the raindrops hitting the ceiling was more intense with each step taken. It has been raining for three days.
The land that the wolf loved most, so they made the continent, Croisen, nicknamed heavenly. However, the only flaw would be its rainy season.
Even in Croisen, it was the first time since fourteen years ago that such heavy rain was so severe that everyone admitted in unison.
Palaces were poorly repaired, and old buildings that were not used were all in bad condition.
Today, the third day, it didn’t rain as hard, so Karloi was able to walk outside, but the intensity of the rain was still strong enough to make leaves fall.
You could tell by just looking at the soaked leaves around Yvonne.
“Your Majesty!”
The maid, Mary Ann, and some of the handmaids were the first to notice Karloi approaching. Yvonne was surprised to find Karloi after their last meeting. She grabbed the hem of her dress with her hand soaked from the rain.
The water droplets that had accumulated in her hands flowed down the creases of the dress, weakly and wet the floor.
Karloi couldn’t take his gaze off her hand. He could remember clearly that it was the left hand that got injured the last time, but to reach it out to the rain without a bandage, is she really crazy or does she just not care at all?
The rainy sky was a dull gray light, and Yvonne, who was there, stood helplessly as if going to be swallowed up by the dullness. That was irritating to Karloi.
Since the ground Karloi was standing on was lower than the ground the Empress, and her companions were standing on. The Empress and others all bowed their knees low after seeing Karloi.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
When asked, Yvonne habitually hesitated for a moment and replied.
“I was just taking a walk.”
“In this weather? You have a weird hobby, Empress. Besides, this is a place where you can’t enter without my permission, did you not know that?”
When he saw the Empress and her companions’ surprised reaction, it seemed that they were not aware.
“No one told me…”
“Well, no one at the Imperial Palace works for the Empress, so who could tell you that?”
It was a remark to point out the fact that she refused to have the Imperial servants, and brought people from her own family instead. Yvonne returned to her blank expression, casting her eyes down.
Instead of Yvonne, who seemed to have no intention of making excuses, Mary Ann, the maid, carefully opened her mouth.
“Your Majesty, it’s… Even the servants here didn’t know because no one stopped us.”
“Is that so? No one stopped you?”
“Yes. If we knew, we wouldn’t have come in without permission.”
“I see. Then it was definitely not the Empress’s fault. Gorton.”
Karloi, who listened carefully to Mary Ann, gently called the attendant’s name.
“I’ll send everyone who works in the indoor garden to somewhere else, and I’ll make sure people who work here are smarter and know who they serve.”
Karloi had an unnecessary knack for sweetening cruel words.
In a low voice, Gorten gave the order without saying anything as he had expected it. Mary Ann was surprised by the afflicted results she had brought.
“Your Majesty.”
Yvonne quietly called Karloi.
“It’s my fault that I didn’t know. I’ll never come to the Entuarum again, so don’t punish these innocent servants that way.”
“You’re saying it as if I’m irritated. I’m not kicking them out at all. Since the Empress shouldn’t be here, I’m just making sure they know they were told.”
The sharp conversation between them was like exchanging knives, added to the tension with the sound of rain hitting a thin screen. The moisture was stifling enough to choke.
Yvonne sighed lightly, as though she was exhausted and did not respond any further. It was Karloi who opened his mouth again nonchalantly.
“…Is the date of the Queen’s ceremony deliberately set that way?”
“I don’t know what you mean. I just chose the earliest suitable day.”
“Isn’t that the anniversary of the death of your birth mother?”
Though Karloi was the person who asked the question insignificantly, as soon as Yvonne heard the question, her face turned pale and she started falling, rather, Karloi was surprised and took a step up.
“Empress?”
“Ah…”
“You don’t look too well, are you all right?”
“No, no. No, it’s okay.”
It was awkward to see her speak hastily. It was strange to see the Empress’s unexpected appearance after her expressions seemed to be uncaring and unemotional.
First was her drunk appearance, her resentful expression, and now this.
Seeing the pale, bewildered figure, Karloi frowned. Is she blaming herself for forgetting the death anniversary of her birth mother?
Looking at it made him wonder if she was doing that on purpose.
“Did you really not know? The Duke thought I chose that day on purpose.”
“Oh, no. I’m out of my mind. I will…”
Karloi frowned suspiciously. Does this even make sense? No matter how busy she was, he couldn’t understand how she could forget such a day.
“If you’re doing this deliberately because of last time at the palace…”
Karloi approached Yvonne and whispered.
“You better think carefully. If you do this again, I will find a way to kick you out of this place.”
“Your Majesty.”
“You wouldn’t want to be an excuse to drive your father out. If you don’t want to be a shameful Empress, stay still.”
Hearing that, Yvonne’s complexion became paler, but Karloi didn’t even feel sympathy for her. It only made him believe that she was good at acting because she resembled the Duke.
“The Empress’s complexion is quite ridiculous.”
Karloi said in a voice without containing any emotions. It was unsure how he actually felt from the tone.