How the Abandoned Queen Made That Man Kneel - Chapter 10
“Rather than entrusting her to a petty man who won’t even lend a hand to an injured woman, it would be better if I took her myself. Everyone, move aside.”
Charlen, unable to believe the insulting words he had just heard, completely lost his sociable smile and his face hardened.
He wasn’t the only one surprised.
Rose, of course, and the following knight escorts all showed clear signs of bewilderment.
In fact, it wasn’t so surprising that Farnese used insulting language towards Charlen.
The real reason they were shocked was why Emperor Farnese was protecting a mere maid of all people.
National affairs and the people.
Wasn’t he an indifferent man who never interfered with or even cared about anything other than those?
“Your Majesty. You really don’t have to do this.”
“Stay still.”
As Charlen, Rose, and the attendants hesitantly retreated to the side of the road, Farnese lightly adjusted his hold on Katharine and hurried his steps towards the nearest palace.
Katharine, her white ankles dangling down, looked back over her shoulder as she was carried by Farnese.
Whether from humiliation or some other emotion, Charlen was glaring fiercely in this direction with a reddened face.
He remained that way, without moving an inch, until the afterimage faded into the distance.
.
.
.
“Light a fire in the guest room and prepare bath water, a change of clothes, and towels.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Farnese instructed the following maids in a stiff voice as he walked down the corridor.
He didn’t seem to find her heavy at all, despite carrying her soaked from head to toe.
It felt strange.
If he hadn’t helped, she would have fallen clumsily several times while enduring Charlen’s scolding.
At this moment, the fact that his strong arms were tightly embracing her body was unbelievable, yet so reassuring.
‘To feel such a sense of security beside the emperor of a neighboring country I’ve barely become acquainted with. How absurd of me…’
Farnese entered a bedroom that showed no signs of ever being used, though it was spotlessly clean.
Contrary to her expectation that he would say something perfunctory, he left without a word as soon as he set Katharine down on the floor, as if his business was done.
That’s only natural.
An inexplicable sense of regret settled heavily on her shoulders, mixed with the thick air.
“We’ve drawn the bath water. And here’s a new dress.”
The kind maids said as they brought various things.
“Thank you.”
“Do you need anything else?”
Wanting to be alone for a while, she said she would take care of the rest herself.
After the maids left the room, Katharine took off her wet clothes and immersed herself in the fragrant bathtub.
“Katharine, it’s your fault. You should have taken proper care of the queen as a maid.”
She tried not to think about Charlen and Rose, but the dagger once lodged in her heart did not easily disappear and only made the wound fester more.
As the water cooled, her body began to shiver.
Getting out of the tub and changing into new clothes, she coughed dryly.
“Cold…”
Crouched in front of the crackling fireplace, Katharine massaged her slightly swollen ankle.
There’s a grand ball for the festival tomorrow.
Will she be able to attend the social gathering wearing high heels in this state?
She was sighing worriedly into the flames when:
“Hey.”
A large shadow fell across the floor, tinted crimson by the firelight.
Startled by Farnese’s voice, who had entered without a sound, Katharine turned around.
“Your Majesty?”
He looked down at her silently, as if something displeased him, then tossed something he was holding.
A white medicine bottle rolled over and bumped against Katharine’s knee.
“Aren’t you going to treat your wound?”
“It’s fine. I just got scratched a little by some gravel.”
“Hah…”
He let out a long sigh.
Katharine fiddled with the medicine bottle, from which a sour smell was rising, while peeking up at him.
“Um, are you worried about me?”
“Me? Worried about you?”
I can’t even find the words, it’s so absurd.
He muttered as if to himself.
“Aren’t you? Otherwise, why did you just…”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t care if you get hurt, fall, or drown. I just can’t stand owing debts.”
“Debts?”
“Stop with these baseless delusions and listen carefully.”
Farnese knelt down on one knee with a rather reluctant expression, then abruptly grabbed Katharine’s ankle.
And he began treating the wound.
His hands were rough with calluses from wielding a sword, but surprisingly delicate.
“Under the flower tree, you unnecessarily meddled and draped your dirty skirt hem around me. As an emperor, my pride wouldn’t allow me to leave that debt unpaid, that’s all.”
“Um, I’m sorry, but I can’t tell if that’s meant to be gratitude or an insult.”
“And one more thing.”
Farnese continued as he wrapped a bandage around Katharine’s ankle to secure it.
“I simply couldn’t bear to watch you cower and shrink away without any resistance while being rebuked by Charlen Riche.”
“Did it seem to you that His Majesty the King was rebuking me?”
“If that wasn’t a rebuke, then what was it?”
Katharine blinked her round eyes and parted her lips.
It seemed that no one else there thought there was anything wrong with Charlen’s attitude.
Why did he think she was being unfairly scolded?
“Since it came up, let me ask you something. You boldly shine your eyes at me, the ruler of the Empire, without fear, yet why do you make that wounded expression whenever you stand before those two?”
“Wounded… expression?”
“Yes. You always do that when you’re with Charlen Riche. You make an expression as if your heart is being torn to shreds, but you’re desperately trying to endure it.”
It’s unbearable to watch, it makes me so irritated.
Farnese muttered in a barely audible voice.
Feeling as if her innermost thoughts had been completely exposed, Katharine fumbled with the bandage, unable to string words together.
She couldn’t understand why her chest, which had been frozen solid until just moments ago, was now melting softly.
“If you have a mouth, use it to answer. Why did you make that face?”
There was no way she could answer honestly.
That she had been abandoned overnight by Charlen and had no choice but to become the maid of her sister who became queen instead.
If he knew, he would surely think it pathetic. She didn’t want to receive that kind of pity from him.
“I simply didn’t want to cause a commotion over trivial matters in a foreign country. That’s really all there is to it.”
It was quite a plausible excuse, even to her own ears.
Her voice didn’t waver, and her expression remained composed.
However, Farnese seemed to possess some strange ability to see through others’ true feelings.
“You dare lie when the emperor is asking?”
His face, visible through her narrowing vision, flickered with a red glow.
He looked just like a greedy demon and tyrant come to claim her heart.
“I beg your pardon, but I do not understand why Your Majesty would make such an inquiry. Whatever Your Majesty may have read in my expression, it is not something for Your Majesty to be concerned about.”
Katharine continued her response as politely as possible.
It was an answer that some might perceive as erecting a solid wall, but it was sufficient for the relationship between him, an emperor, and herself, a maid from another country.
Just that kind of relationship – where he accidentally discovered her, wrapped cloth around her wound, and showed a bit of kindness, saying he couldn’t stand owing debts.
He remained silent for a long time.
She could feel his golden eyes, hidden between long, slender eyelashes, coldly scanning her injured ankle.
“Very well. It’s your business.”
Farnese replied indifferently, as if he no longer wanted to bother with it, or as if awakening himself from some kind of trance, and stood up.
His long shadow, backlit by the lamp, fell darkly over Katharine’s head.
“Are you leaving?”
As Katharine struggled to stand up to see him off, he clicked his tongue.
“Don’t come out. It’s unnecessary.”
“Thank you.”
He paused with his hand on the doorknob.
“For bringing me here, and applying medicine too. I will surely repay the kindness you’ve shown me today someday.”
“I told you not to misunderstand on your own. It wasn’t for your sake.”
“Even if it wasn’t for my sake, it was a ray of salvation for me. So please allow me to express my gratitude at least.”
His hand gripping the doorknob tightened, making a dull metallic sound.
After a long while, he left the room without any reply.
* * *
“It may be that I’m overthinking, but those three people, Your Majesty. Don’t they seem to have a strange atmosphere about them?”
On a particularly dark night with no moon.
In a slightly dim office with only a few old-fashioned candles lit, Duke Ludwig spoke up while organizing reports.
Farnese did not respond, sitting askew in his chair with his eyes closed.
“King Charlen. Queen Rose. And Miss Katharine Roberfon. It seems they don’t have an ordinary relationship. Perhaps there are some internal circumstances not well known to the outside…”
“Why are you so interested in people from the neighboring country?”
Farnese interjected in a low voice, having had enough of listening.
“It’s none of our business. She’s an irrelevant woman.”
“You say that, but I really don’t understand why you went out of your way to carry her and even treat her wounds.”
“Try sneering one more time. I’ll personally cut off your head.”
Duke Ludwig secretly smiled in the darkness as he finished organizing the remaining documents.
“Ludwig.”
“Yes, Your Majesty?”
“We need to reschedule the events. Postpone the ball to next week, and instead move up the reading session.”
Duke Ludwig tilted his head.
“I will follow your orders, of course, but is there a special reason?”
“…”
“Ah, could it be that you’re worried about Miss Katharine’s ankle?”
Farnese silently furrowed his brow at Duke Ludwig, who was chuckling.
“I simply want to confirm something.”
“What is it you want to confirm?”
Farnese stood by the window, holding a cup of steaming coffee.
In the distance, across the forest, the palace where Katharine would be sleeping was visible.
“Rose Riche and Charlen Riche. I’m curious about what they’re doing to that maid.”
*
Save yourself from story hunger — the novel below will blow your mind!
One-line summary: Chasing the wife to the crematorium (making an effort to attract someone who has become indifferent), the female lead doesn’t look back, the second male lead takes the position.
Intro:
To repay the kindness of the older generation, Su Mu crossed into a female-dominated world and became a live-in daughter-in-law of the Yan family, single-handedly saving the Yan family from fire and water.
But her husband, Yan Jiyue, the eldest son of the Yan family, treated her with sarcasm and never showed her a good face.
It wasn’t until after Su Mu’s death that this pampered and arrogant young master shed a few fake tears and pretended to want to die for love.
This life’s kindness was enough. If there was a next life, she would definitely kick Yan Jiyue away.
Who knew that the heavens would be so kind as to allow her to be reborn, returning to the time when she had just married into the Yan family.
Su Mu glanced at the Yan eldest son, who still spoke coldly to her, and threw a divorce letter in front of him.
“Let’s divorce!”
***
Yan Jiyue never imagined that he would be reborn. He happily went to find Su Mu, wanting to make up for the mistakes he had made in his ignorant youth.
Wasn’t the reason the heavens allowed him to be reborn to let him reconcile with Su Mu?
But when he pushed open the door to Su Mu’s room, the person lying on the bed was another man.
Su Mu’s personal attendant, Xie Yi.
Yan Jiyue hated him so much that his teeth itched. In front of Su Mu, Xie Yi was a gentle and considerate whisperer of sweet nothings, but in reality, he was vicious-hearted and deliberately sabotaged their husband and wife relationship.
In the previous life, it was he who secretly hid in Su Mu’s coffin and committed suicide, stealing a step ahead of him to be buried with Su Mu.
Yan Jiyue’s eyes were filled with hatred as he cursed, “What kind of thing are you? Your background is lowly, what right do you have to occupy Su Mu?”
Xie Yi looked at the sleeping Su Mu and no longer pretended to be a whisperer of sweet nothings.
He proudly stuck out his belly, “I have the right because my belly is capable of giving the Wife-master a daughter.”
***
Yan Jiyue was consumed with jealousy. He spread rumors that Xie Yi had once been branded with the mark of a “harlot” on his chest.
But on the night Xie Yi cut off the flesh bearing that mark, Su Mu suddenly realized something was amiss.
“How did you know the exact moment I was poisoned? And why did you show up a month early?”
Xie Yi remained silent, blood from his wound soaking through his robes. His sapphire eyes brimmed with anguish – or was it just a flawless act?
Between a once-arrogant husband now seeking redemption, and a gentle soul willing to die for her – who truly held the darkest secrets? And could it be that Su Mu and Yan Jiyue weren’t the only ones given a second chance at life…?
[Reading Guide]
1. True divorce, chasing the wife to the crematorium, the female lead doesn’t look back, the male lead is Xie Yi.
2. The ex-husband did not cheat, he just realized too late and didn’t realize that he liked the female lead.
_____
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