It felt like a poisonous snake had bitten my heart. The joyous eyes of Princess Resilia were squeezing my throat.
“What should I do? His Majesty must be secretly waiting for the Prince...”
That's why you came here in the end. To enjoy the sight of me collapsing. To see me tremble in shock.
“Doesn’t it make sense? Or do you think I’m doing something wrong?”
Princess Resilia seemed disappointed by my unexpectedly calm appearance and fired another shot to confirm my death.
“Unfortunately, I couldn’t believe it either, so I asked my brother several times.”
"I see."
“I see... ?! Don’t you understand what I’m saying? I’m saying you can’t get pregnant?”
Princess Resilia raised her voice in an annoyed tone, making the words she had whispered to me in a pitiful voice just a moment ago seem meaningless.
“You can’t carry a child in that stomach for the rest of your life! No matter how shocking it is, you have to listen to what I say.”
Bonis, who hadn't heard the whisper that Princess Resilia had just given me, looked like she was going to faint instead of me.
"Ha!"
A sound almost like a scream came out of Bonis' mouth.
“The person involved is quiet, so why are you making a fuss?”
Princess Resilia scolded Bonis for glaring at her.
“What exactly did Prince Tesla say?”
I asked Princess Resilia to find out the exact situation. My face crumpled as if I were shocked on purpose. Princess Resilia seemed to like this expression of mine and opened her mouth again with a look of sympathy in her eyes.
“They say that if you drink just two of the four magic potions you received from the clinic, you will never be able to get pregnant again.”
“It was planned from the beginning..."
I looked down at the marble floor and muttered quietly, not knowing whether to laugh and curse or cry and curse.
“My brother installed a safety device just in case.”
“What? It’s not a contraceptive, but a drug that prevents pregnancy if you exceed a certain amount. How is that a safety device?”
I tried not to raise my voice, but it didn't work as I wanted.
“If you had understood the subject and been obedient, my brother would have changed it to a new magic potion long ago.”
Princess Resilia rolled her eyes and spoke with even more anger than I did.
“What did I do? It was Prince Tesla who first provoked me by using Bonis.”
“So why did you make Emperor Linel interested in someone like you? Why! Your sin begins there.”
“...Haa, are you talking about that now?”
There was no such thing as unreasonableness. Since we couldn't communicate, the conversation would end here. If I continued to look into the eyes of Princess Resilia, who was half-turned, I felt like I was going to lose my mind.
“Zelda, you’re lucky.”
What kind of crazy nonsense is this?
“What are you talking about?”
“I’ve lost interest in being the Empress of the Lapion Empire. So you can continue to be there.”
Princess Resilia looked around the bedroom as if she were doing me a great favor.
“Well, you might eventually be kicked out as a foreign Empress who cannot continue the lineage, but since His Majesty loves you so much, he will stick with you for the time being, right?”
Princess Resilia had a face that was barely holding back from laughing at my situation.
“That’s life. If you gain something, you lose something.”
“Ha, hahaha.”
As I listened to Princess Resilia's story, I burst out laughing. The Princess immediately narrowed her eyes at my laughter, and her expression crumpled. When I stopped laughing, Princess Resilia was about to open her mouth again, as if she still had something to say, but Bonis pushed her shoulders with both hands and shouted.
“How shameless! You lured Her Majesty into the position of Empress, which she didn’t want, with a magic potion, and then you played a trick on her? Not a contraceptive, but a drug that prevents her from getting pregnant?! You devils, you’re a bunch of devils!”
“Huh? You drank the Lapion Imperial water, and now you’re really crazy?”
Princess Resilia raised her hand and mercilessly struck Bonis’ cheek. At that moment, I quickly pushed Bonis aside. The palm of the Princess’s hand clung to my cheek with a “slap.”
“What, what is it... Why are you here?”
Princess Resilia looked at my hand and my face, which had been hit, with surprised eyes.
“The Princess of the kingdom slapped the Empress of the empire.”
I tilted my head to the side, caressing the side of my face that had been slapped by Princess Resilia. While Princess Resilia was flustered, I turned my body toward Bonis, showed my face, and asked.
"Is it red?"
“What should I do? His Majesty must be secretly waiting for the Prince...”
That's why you came here in the end. To enjoy the sight of me collapsing. To see me tremble in shock.
“Doesn’t it make sense? Or do you think I’m doing something wrong?”
Princess Resilia seemed disappointed by my unexpectedly calm appearance and fired another shot to confirm my death.
“Unfortunately, I couldn’t believe it either, so I asked my brother several times.”
"I see."
“I see... ?! Don’t you understand what I’m saying? I’m saying you can’t get pregnant?”
Princess Resilia raised her voice in an annoyed tone, making the words she had whispered to me in a pitiful voice just a moment ago seem meaningless.
“You can’t carry a child in that stomach for the rest of your life! No matter how shocking it is, you have to listen to what I say.”
Bonis, who hadn't heard the whisper that Princess Resilia had just given me, looked like she was going to faint instead of me.
"Ha!"
A sound almost like a scream came out of Bonis' mouth.
“The person involved is quiet, so why are you making a fuss?”
Princess Resilia scolded Bonis for glaring at her.
“What exactly did Prince Tesla say?”
I asked Princess Resilia to find out the exact situation. My face crumpled as if I were shocked on purpose. Princess Resilia seemed to like this expression of mine and opened her mouth again with a look of sympathy in her eyes.
“They say that if you drink just two of the four magic potions you received from the clinic, you will never be able to get pregnant again.”
“It was planned from the beginning..."
I looked down at the marble floor and muttered quietly, not knowing whether to laugh and curse or cry and curse.
“My brother installed a safety device just in case.”
“What? It’s not a contraceptive, but a drug that prevents pregnancy if you exceed a certain amount. How is that a safety device?”
I tried not to raise my voice, but it didn't work as I wanted.
“If you had understood the subject and been obedient, my brother would have changed it to a new magic potion long ago.”
Princess Resilia rolled her eyes and spoke with even more anger than I did.
“What did I do? It was Prince Tesla who first provoked me by using Bonis.”
“So why did you make Emperor Linel interested in someone like you? Why! Your sin begins there.”
“...Haa, are you talking about that now?”
There was no such thing as unreasonableness. Since we couldn't communicate, the conversation would end here. If I continued to look into the eyes of Princess Resilia, who was half-turned, I felt like I was going to lose my mind.
“Zelda, you’re lucky.”
What kind of crazy nonsense is this?
“What are you talking about?”
“I’ve lost interest in being the Empress of the Lapion Empire. So you can continue to be there.”
Princess Resilia looked around the bedroom as if she were doing me a great favor.
“Well, you might eventually be kicked out as a foreign Empress who cannot continue the lineage, but since His Majesty loves you so much, he will stick with you for the time being, right?”
Princess Resilia had a face that was barely holding back from laughing at my situation.
“That’s life. If you gain something, you lose something.”
“Ha, hahaha.”
As I listened to Princess Resilia's story, I burst out laughing. The Princess immediately narrowed her eyes at my laughter, and her expression crumpled. When I stopped laughing, Princess Resilia was about to open her mouth again, as if she still had something to say, but Bonis pushed her shoulders with both hands and shouted.
“How shameless! You lured Her Majesty into the position of Empress, which she didn’t want, with a magic potion, and then you played a trick on her? Not a contraceptive, but a drug that prevents her from getting pregnant?! You devils, you’re a bunch of devils!”
“Huh? You drank the Lapion Imperial water, and now you’re really crazy?”
Princess Resilia raised her hand and mercilessly struck Bonis’ cheek. At that moment, I quickly pushed Bonis aside. The palm of the Princess’s hand clung to my cheek with a “slap.”
“What, what is it... Why are you here?”
Princess Resilia looked at my hand and my face, which had been hit, with surprised eyes.
“The Princess of the kingdom slapped the Empress of the empire.”
I tilted my head to the side, caressing the side of my face that had been slapped by Princess Resilia. While Princess Resilia was flustered, I turned my body toward Bonis, showed my face, and asked.
"Is it red?"
“Yes... Your Majesty, the Empress.”
I was wondering what to do if it was fine, but it turns out that sensitive skin helps in times like this.
“It’ll probably be like this for an hour or so. What should I do? I have to go to His Majesty’s office for a bit.”
I muttered with an embarrassed expression.
“T-That’s because you pushed Bonis away on purpose... No, why are you standing there? Why didn’t you just dodge to the side?”
Princess Resilia spoke as if making excuses, but then changed her mind and started blaming me instead.
“Well, that makes sense.”
I nodded and stretched out my leg, taking off the shoe I was wearing. My leg, stretched out forward, touched Princess Resilia’s abdomen.
“Aaah!!”
Even though I deliberately stretched out my legs with as little strength as possible, Princess Resilia's body was pushed back to the pillar one meter behind her. She hit her back against the pillar and collapsed.
“You know, you don’t even have the consideration to hit places that aren’t noticeable like mine.”
I said, putting my shoes back on and straightening my dress.
“Your Majesty, the Empress, are you alright?”
The one who fell out was Princess Resilia, and Bonis examined my body and asked.
“My feet are so ticklish.”
I replied, turning my ankle.
“Oh, my stomach... Are you crazy? The baby almost fell!”
Princess Resilia cried out in pain, holding her stomach with both hands.
“Why are you standing there? You could have just stepped aside.”
I repeated back to the Princess exactly what she had just said to me. Princess Resilia's eyes grew wide in rage, and she gasped.
“And, you said the baby almost fell? Who would think you were pregnant if they heard that?”
I approached her, bowed slightly, and spoke in a low voice.
“Or, a body that had a child...”
“You, you?!”
Princess Resilia glanced down at her stomach without realizing it and glared at me again.
“Your waist was originally very thin, right? But when I looked at it recently, it seemed like you’d gained some weight. So I was wondering.”
Princess Resilia's face became tense at my casual remark. Her eyes seemed to be wondering if I knew anything about Rams. I shook my head and burst out laughing.
“But that can’t be true... I guess you’ve been neglecting your body care these days? Still, your waist is thinner than that of most women.”
I reached out my hand to her as she sat on the floor. Princess Resilia pushed my hand aside and stood up on her own.
“I’ll just let it go today since you received some shocking news, but if you touch my body again next time! Then I really won’t stay still!”
Princess Resilia ground her teeth.
“Stop making that ticklish noise and get out.”
“...What, what is it?”
“You are the one who should not touch me recklessly. Especially not with my people and in my space.”
“Huh? Your space? Well said. Who is the one who is enjoying all this right now, and why are you treating me like this?”
Princess Resilia looked around my bedroom and shouted.
“Your virtue is that you ran off with Prince Norton in the middle of the night, and I came here as the acting Empress. That’s it.”
I said this while pushing Princess Lesilia against the wall. The Princess shrugged her shoulders in fear, and when I walked back to the bedroom door and opened it, she glared at me as if she was going to kill me. Princess Resilia expressed her embarrassment at the fact that I knew about her relationship with Prince Norton.
“No, Prince Norton...”
“I am not interested. Princess, it is time for you to go to the palace greenhouse and purify your body and mind.”
I cut her off and said sarcastically,
“Yes! Her Majesty the Empress must be in shock, too. Please get some rest!”
Princess Resilia also left the bedroom, reminding me again that I cannot have children.
“Are you alright, Your Majesty the Empress...?”
As soon as Princess Resilia left, Sharon came straight into the bedroom with a thoughtful face. It seemed as if she had heard everything that Princess Resilia had said in the bedroom waiting room.
“Don’t worry, everyone. Let’s go to Rosie’s place. I’ll talk to you when I get there.”
I spoke calmly to Sharon and Bonis, who seemed about to cry.
“Before you go, Sharon, can I have a glass of ice water?”
“Yes, Your Majesty, the Empress.”
Since yesterday, the fire inside me has definitely grown stronger. Whenever I feel angry, the fire feels stronger. Just now, I felt like I could burn Princess Resilia right away if I just stretched out my hand.
***
As I was leaving the bedroom and going down the central staircase, I met Commander Macrom on the landing.
“Your Majesty, the Empress, where are you going?”
“I’m going to Rosie. What’s going on?”
Yesterday, I ordered Command Macrom to devote himself solely to directing the supplies and weapons of the Imperial Knights before leaving for the Continental Hunting Tournament instead of escorting me.
“I came up for a moment because I have something to tell you.”
"Yes?"
“Yes, Count Ethan has completed the sword for Her Majesty the Empress. All that remains are the finishing touches.”
“I thought you’d only touch it right before you left, but you seem to have taken the time to do it. You must have been busy anyway...”
I said, thinking of Count Ethan and Catherine collapsing on the straw in the warehouse last night.
“Yes? Did anything else happen to Count Ethan?”
“No, nothing. The Count must have been busy with the hunting competition, but he seems to have finished his work early.”
“I heard that since there was not enough time to make a new sword, His Majesty had to reforge and reinforce the lightest and best sword in his possession.”
“Your Majesty, the Empress, where are you going?”
“I’m going to Rosie. What’s going on?”
Yesterday, I ordered Command Macrom to devote himself solely to directing the supplies and weapons of the Imperial Knights before leaving for the Continental Hunting Tournament instead of escorting me.
“I came up for a moment because I have something to tell you.”
"Yes?"
“Yes, Count Ethan has completed the sword for Her Majesty the Empress. All that remains are the finishing touches.”
“I thought you’d only touch it right before you left, but you seem to have taken the time to do it. You must have been busy anyway...”
I said, thinking of Count Ethan and Catherine collapsing on the straw in the warehouse last night.
“Yes? Did anything else happen to Count Ethan?”
“No, nothing. The Count must have been busy with the hunting competition, but he seems to have finished his work early.”
“I heard that since there was not enough time to make a new sword, His Majesty had to reforge and reinforce the lightest and best sword in his possession.”
“Ah, somehow.”
“Well then, I’ve delivered the news, so I’ll head back. There are quite a few matters I need to instruct the knights remaining in the palace.”
“The Commander has had a hard time.”
Commander Macrom's face looked extremely tired.
“Even if you lose your eyesight, it’s because you’re competent.”
“That’s right. Go ahead.”
I said with a smile.
“Your Majesty, is there something wrong?”
As Commander Macrom asked me, his gaze turned to Bonis and Sharon next to me. It seemed as if he sensed their depressed mood.
“No, nothing happened.”
“Yes, then... I will go first.”
Commander Macrom shrugged and hurried down the stairs. As I watched him go down, Bonis called out to me cautiously from behind.
“I... Your Majesty, the Empress.”
“Well then, I’ve delivered the news, so I’ll head back. There are quite a few matters I need to instruct the knights remaining in the palace.”
“The Commander has had a hard time.”
Commander Macrom's face looked extremely tired.
“Even if you lose your eyesight, it’s because you’re competent.”
“That’s right. Go ahead.”
I said with a smile.
“Your Majesty, is there something wrong?”
As Commander Macrom asked me, his gaze turned to Bonis and Sharon next to me. It seemed as if he sensed their depressed mood.
“No, nothing happened.”
“Yes, then... I will go first.”
Commander Macrom shrugged and hurried down the stairs. As I watched him go down, Bonis called out to me cautiously from behind.
“I... Your Majesty, the Empress.”
"Yes?"
“I think I have a stomachache. I think I need to go to the bathroom urgently...”
“Is it bad?”
“Yes, I’ll stop by the bathroom and follow you.”
Bonis spoke with both hands on her lower abdomen and her back slightly bent.
“No. Just go to your room and rest. And drink some tea that’s good for your stomach ache.”
"Sorry."
“What are you talking about? Can you go to the bathroom by yourself?”
"Sure."
“Yeah, it seems urgent, so go quickly.”
“Yes, take care on your way back...”
Bonis ran up the stairs.
***
Linel's lips, which had been tightly shut for several minutes due to the shock, finally opened again.
“Is that... true?”
But he asked her the same question he had asked a few minutes ago before he closed his mouth. He didn’t think he had misheard her. He just couldn’t believe it. His blue eyes were filling with anger as he asked her again.
“Yes, Your Majesty. I heard it clearly from the side.”
Bonis answered with a strong voice. The nib of the quill he was holding snapped with a snap. His reason had long since been broken.
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