Titie covered her chest and trembled.
What excuse could she make to cover up the situation?
Her sunken cheeks and prominent eyes rolled back in anxiety.
The Emperor kissed the inside of his wrist and pulled down his sleeve.
Titie hugged his leg and hung on.
“I did it because I loved you. Even without a name, I love Your Majesty.”
Her body of nothing but bones trembled pitifully.
Anxiety and fear of being abandoned.
However, her purple eyes still contained only Demios.
The Emperor asked the woman hanging at his feet.
“You did it because you loved me?”
Titie nodded desperately at that question.
“Yes. Your Majesty is like my god. Unlike the deposed Empress, I only want Your Majesty. Regardless of whether I have a name or not, I only want you.”
Her thick makeup was smudged by the tears that flowed ceaselessly.
I was wrong. Please forgive me.
But at the end of it all, there was love for you.
Isn’t there proof of that here? It was a moment of hope in Titie’s eyes as she stroked her stomach.
Demios raised his hand into the air.
Crack-!
With the sound of flesh being torn, his skinny body collapsed onto the carpet.
“How dare you deceive me.”
Titie trembled, covering her swollen cheeks.
There was not a single grain of affection left in the madman’s eyes looking down at her.
Just like Demios’s name, which had now become hazy.
Demios grabbed Titie by his dry white hair and dragged her into the hallway.
“Your Majesty... please!”
Her skinny body, with only her belly sticking out, struggled.
The Emperor headed to the hallway window.
The knights who realized what he was going to do were shocked.
Titie’s head stuck out the window.
She felt dizzy at the height where she could see the tops of the trees.
“Your Majesty, you can’t do this!”
It was at that moment when she was desperately trying to stop the Emperor. Titie, who was struggling, suddenly shouted.
“I am carrying Your Majesty’s baby!”
Standing tall.
Demios stopped walking as if he was thinking for a moment.
The madman’s eyes turned to his strangely swollen belly.
The knights expressed their discomfort at the current Empress’s condition, but the Emperor had no room to take it in.
“...A baby.”
Demios muttered to himself and let go of her hair.
Titie, who barely pushed the window frame open, slid down and fell to the floor.
“Sob, sob...”
The hand covering her mouth desperately suppressed her tears.
Demios, who was looking down at her with indifferent eyes, ordered the knight.
“Imprison that shameless woman who dared to deceive the Emperor in the west tower.”
Titie had only enjoyed absolute power as Empress for a little over a day.
However, the time when she had shared affection and given her bosom as a government had been at least a year.
The knights who witnessed all this spectacle barely suppressed their astonishment and lifted Titie.
The knight who held Titie was once again surprised by the strangely lightweight, but the Emperor was not looking at her at all.
His eyes were on the Empress’s bedroom.
The bedroom, covered in all sorts of filth and trash, was teeming with all sorts of bugs along with the summer temperature.
A bug with a shiny back was crawling in front of the Emperor.
Crunch.
Frowning, he trampled the bug and gave an order.
“Restore the Empress’s palace to its original state. The Star of Ishtar will return to its original place.”
The knights who heard this quietly murmured.
The deposed Empress, the Star of Ishtar, was now the Grand Duchess of Leopold.
And now she would return to being an Empress again.
With this, it became clear that the current Emperor was a madman.
The knights’ eyes filled with distrust, but Demios did not notice it.
The Emperor was staring intently at his own wrist.
The deposed Empress had returned.
The descendant of the Red King who returned as the Grand Duke and became her husband.
The imperial court, which had been in turmoil due to the madness of the Emperor, was faced with a new wave.
Along with the current Empress Titie, who was crowned the new Empress but was soon locked in a tower.
'It was really fake?'
'Then from now on, the Empress will be... '
The nobles living in the imperial palace whispered together.
The Empress's name was fake, and she should have been kicked out immediately, but since it was true that she had conceived a grandson, the prevailing opinion was that her abdication was postponed until after she gave birth.
In reality, the Empress's position was vacant.
What they were paying attention to was the newly returned Star of Ishtar, the Grand Duke, and the relationship between the Emperor.
However, the deposed Empress and the current Grand Duchess were busy fulfilling their responsibilities, ignoring the public's attention.
Charity Department.
The palace, which had been without its two heads, regained its vitality after a long time.
Elon's eyes filled with tears as he faced Sepia and Roxanne.
"Your Highness."
Elon's eyes were darkened.
Seeing the hardships of having to take care of the department alone all this time, she felt grateful and sorry at the same time.
Sepia patted him on the shoulder and expressed her gratitude.
"You've worked hard."
When Sepia returned to the palace, the first thing she looked for was the stagnant work and the whereabouts of the charity department.
The charity department was the only department in the palace where work was not paralyzed.
The hard work of Elon and the administrative staff had an effect, but the most important thing was that the above business department had moved away from the Emperor's domain.
The palace's ambassadors were approved by the Emperor as the last procedure.
However, since the Emperor had let go of his work, the administrative departments that had not received approval were paralyzed.
However, since the charity business department was still owned by Sepia, it was possible to manage the funds without going through the above procedure.
She was welcomed and entered the business department.
Among those coming and going from the palace, there were some people she had never seen before.
'They're guards.'
At first glance, they seemed to be the ones managing the palace, but Sepia had personally selected and filled all the people here, so she could quickly weed out outsiders.
Sepia did not bother to poke at them.
She had already expected the Emperor's surveillance when she returned to the palace.
Even if she had a familiar face, she still had to be on guard.
Three days after receiving Elon's hospitality, Sepia took her seat in the office and began handling important matters.
She hardened her expression as she handed over the documents Elon had brought her.
'If I had arrived in the capital a little later...'
According to a separate investigation, the poorhouses related to the business department were also on the verge of being pressured by the Emperor.
Thinking about the burning poorhouse made her dizzy.
She had returned to the palace to protect everything she had been responsible for. Although she had been pushed out of the position of Empress, she was the one who had formed this department.
Sepia thought of the current Empress, Titie.
'I didn't know Demios would abandon Titie so easily.'
Was it really true that he had taken Titie only because of his name?
Although they had not slept together, they had lived together as a couple for over five years.
Demios was a man who valued usefulness.
An Emperor should value the usefulness of his subjects for the empire, but Demios was the opposite. Perhaps he only had two choices left: to abandon or to take.
What excuse could she make to cover up the situation?
Her sunken cheeks and prominent eyes rolled back in anxiety.
The Emperor kissed the inside of his wrist and pulled down his sleeve.
Titie hugged his leg and hung on.
“I did it because I loved you. Even without a name, I love Your Majesty.”
Her body of nothing but bones trembled pitifully.
Anxiety and fear of being abandoned.
However, her purple eyes still contained only Demios.
The Emperor asked the woman hanging at his feet.
“You did it because you loved me?”
Titie nodded desperately at that question.
“Yes. Your Majesty is like my god. Unlike the deposed Empress, I only want Your Majesty. Regardless of whether I have a name or not, I only want you.”
Her thick makeup was smudged by the tears that flowed ceaselessly.
I was wrong. Please forgive me.
But at the end of it all, there was love for you.
Isn’t there proof of that here? It was a moment of hope in Titie’s eyes as she stroked her stomach.
Demios raised his hand into the air.
Crack-!
With the sound of flesh being torn, his skinny body collapsed onto the carpet.
“How dare you deceive me.”
Titie trembled, covering her swollen cheeks.
There was not a single grain of affection left in the madman’s eyes looking down at her.
Just like Demios’s name, which had now become hazy.
Demios grabbed Titie by his dry white hair and dragged her into the hallway.
“Your Majesty... please!”
Her skinny body, with only her belly sticking out, struggled.
The Emperor headed to the hallway window.
The knights who realized what he was going to do were shocked.
Titie’s head stuck out the window.
She felt dizzy at the height where she could see the tops of the trees.
“Your Majesty, you can’t do this!”
It was at that moment when she was desperately trying to stop the Emperor. Titie, who was struggling, suddenly shouted.
“I am carrying Your Majesty’s baby!”
Standing tall.
Demios stopped walking as if he was thinking for a moment.
The madman’s eyes turned to his strangely swollen belly.
The knights expressed their discomfort at the current Empress’s condition, but the Emperor had no room to take it in.
“...A baby.”
Demios muttered to himself and let go of her hair.
Titie, who barely pushed the window frame open, slid down and fell to the floor.
“Sob, sob...”
The hand covering her mouth desperately suppressed her tears.
Demios, who was looking down at her with indifferent eyes, ordered the knight.
“Imprison that shameless woman who dared to deceive the Emperor in the west tower.”
Titie had only enjoyed absolute power as Empress for a little over a day.
However, the time when she had shared affection and given her bosom as a government had been at least a year.
The knights who witnessed all this spectacle barely suppressed their astonishment and lifted Titie.
The knight who held Titie was once again surprised by the strangely lightweight, but the Emperor was not looking at her at all.
His eyes were on the Empress’s bedroom.
The bedroom, covered in all sorts of filth and trash, was teeming with all sorts of bugs along with the summer temperature.
A bug with a shiny back was crawling in front of the Emperor.
Crunch.
Frowning, he trampled the bug and gave an order.
“Restore the Empress’s palace to its original state. The Star of Ishtar will return to its original place.”
The knights who heard this quietly murmured.
The deposed Empress, the Star of Ishtar, was now the Grand Duchess of Leopold.
And now she would return to being an Empress again.
With this, it became clear that the current Emperor was a madman.
The knights’ eyes filled with distrust, but Demios did not notice it.
The Emperor was staring intently at his own wrist.
***
The deposed Empress had returned.
The descendant of the Red King who returned as the Grand Duke and became her husband.
The imperial court, which had been in turmoil due to the madness of the Emperor, was faced with a new wave.
Along with the current Empress Titie, who was crowned the new Empress but was soon locked in a tower.
'It was really fake?'
'Then from now on, the Empress will be... '
The nobles living in the imperial palace whispered together.
The Empress's name was fake, and she should have been kicked out immediately, but since it was true that she had conceived a grandson, the prevailing opinion was that her abdication was postponed until after she gave birth.
In reality, the Empress's position was vacant.
What they were paying attention to was the newly returned Star of Ishtar, the Grand Duke, and the relationship between the Emperor.
However, the deposed Empress and the current Grand Duchess were busy fulfilling their responsibilities, ignoring the public's attention.
Charity Department.
The palace, which had been without its two heads, regained its vitality after a long time.
Elon's eyes filled with tears as he faced Sepia and Roxanne.
"Your Highness."
Elon's eyes were darkened.
Seeing the hardships of having to take care of the department alone all this time, she felt grateful and sorry at the same time.
Sepia patted him on the shoulder and expressed her gratitude.
"You've worked hard."
When Sepia returned to the palace, the first thing she looked for was the stagnant work and the whereabouts of the charity department.
The charity department was the only department in the palace where work was not paralyzed.
The hard work of Elon and the administrative staff had an effect, but the most important thing was that the above business department had moved away from the Emperor's domain.
The palace's ambassadors were approved by the Emperor as the last procedure.
However, since the Emperor had let go of his work, the administrative departments that had not received approval were paralyzed.
However, since the charity business department was still owned by Sepia, it was possible to manage the funds without going through the above procedure.
She was welcomed and entered the business department.
Among those coming and going from the palace, there were some people she had never seen before.
'They're guards.'
At first glance, they seemed to be the ones managing the palace, but Sepia had personally selected and filled all the people here, so she could quickly weed out outsiders.
Sepia did not bother to poke at them.
She had already expected the Emperor's surveillance when she returned to the palace.
Even if she had a familiar face, she still had to be on guard.
Three days after receiving Elon's hospitality, Sepia took her seat in the office and began handling important matters.
She hardened her expression as she handed over the documents Elon had brought her.
'If I had arrived in the capital a little later...'
According to a separate investigation, the poorhouses related to the business department were also on the verge of being pressured by the Emperor.
Thinking about the burning poorhouse made her dizzy.
She had returned to the palace to protect everything she had been responsible for. Although she had been pushed out of the position of Empress, she was the one who had formed this department.
Sepia thought of the current Empress, Titie.
'I didn't know Demios would abandon Titie so easily.'
Was it really true that he had taken Titie only because of his name?
Although they had not slept together, they had lived together as a couple for over five years.
Demios was a man who valued usefulness.
An Emperor should value the usefulness of his subjects for the empire, but Demios was the opposite. Perhaps he only had two choices left: to abandon or to take.
Sepia was looking into not only the work of the charity department but also the paralyzed administration. It was because of the ministers who had come to see her. When asked to persuade the Emperor, complaining about his paralyzed work, Sepia could only say that she was no longer the Empress. Ironically, they were the same forces that had ostracized Sepia when she was the Empress. The same was true when she was in the divorce trial. The nobles who sided with Sepia were very few, and some welcomed her dethronement.
She sent away the ministers who came to see her, but she could not turn her back completely. Even though she had lost her power as Empress, she wanted to extend a helping hand in any way she could.
'Is this also my arrogance?'
Sepia smiled bitterly as she looked over the documents. Sepia looked at Roxanne sitting across from her. It was a new feeling to be sitting in the same office with him again. Above all, what was different from before was.
'I'm nervous.'
His eyes were languidly downcast. The sharp bridge of his nose, visible from the side, tilted when he kissed, gently pressing against her cheek. His mouth and lips were coolly extended. She knew a lot about Roxanne. So much so that his mark was engraved on the nape of her neck. Sensing her gaze, Roxanne raised her head and faced Sepia.
“Sepia?”
“Nothing.”
Naturally, she calmed her expression and looked at the documents.
The two were able to leave work only at night.
The work continued and it wasn’t something that could be finished in just a few days.
Holding hands naturally.
The summer night air seemed to heat up with warmth.
After he bit her neck, she began to sense five senses that humans could not feel.
And that desire grew even bigger when she touched him.
A slightly more heated sensation.
They were already a couple recognized by the world, but it was still their first night together.
Today, his face looked calm.
As if she was the only one feeling anxious.
Roxanne kissed Sepia on the cheek.
It was a natural action, but Sepia bit her lip at the act that made her excited.
Sepia’s gaze, which had been looking up at him, shifted toward the building.
She looked around for a moment, but the palace covered in the quiet night had not changed.
‘It felt like the palace had shaken just now.’
Was it just her imagination?
The two were able to leave work only at night.
The work continued and it wasn’t something that could be finished in just a few days.
Holding hands naturally.
The summer night air seemed to heat up with warmth.
After he bit her neck, she began to sense five senses that humans could not feel.
And that desire grew even bigger when she touched him.
A slightly more heated sensation.
They were already a couple recognized by the world, but it was still their first night together.
Today, his face looked calm.
As if she was the only one feeling anxious.
Roxanne kissed Sepia on the cheek.
It was a natural action, but Sepia bit her lip at the act that made her excited.
Sepia’s gaze, which had been looking up at him, shifted toward the building.
She looked around for a moment, but the palace covered in the quiet night had not changed.
‘It felt like the palace had shaken just now.’
Was it just her imagination?
Support Novellate!
Comments
Post a Comment