How the Abandoned Queen Made That Man Kneel - Chapter 69

“My daughter Isabella has been saying she would really like to meet Miss Roberfon.”

Would it be alright if we visit together sometime soon?

The Duchess Ludwig asked for permission in an extremely polite but somehow pressuring tone.

Perhaps it was because her manner of addressing superiors had become ingrained as a long-standing habit.

Katharine lightly pulled at the corners of her mouth.

The answer she had to give was already decided anyway.

“Is there any reason why not? Let’s have tea together soon. I’ll host.”

“I’m glad you’ve agreed so readily. Then, I’ll look forward to the day we meet with my daughter.”

Duchess Ludwig bowed politely and then went back the way she had come.

Katharine unhesitatingly removed her gaze from the duchess’s retreating figure and hurried towards the main gate of the Empress’s Palace.

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“Pleased to meet you. I am Dawson, the head maid and facility manager of the Empress’s Palace. I will guide you from here.”

The head maid named Dawson, who had come out to greet her, only approached and bowed after seeing Duchess Ludwig disappear in the distance.

She seemed to be of similar age to Duchess Ludwig, and it was obvious at a glance that she hadn’t worked in the palace for just a day or two.

As it would be convenient in many ways to be on good terms with someone who knew the inner workings so well, Katharine offered a friendly handshake.

“Nice to meet you. We’ll be seeing each other often from now on. I’m still unfamiliar with life here so I may be lacking in many ways, but I hope you’ll help me a lot. Mrs. Dawson.”

Nobles rarely offer handshakes to those in servant positions.

It means they don’t view them as equal humans, and also because they consider hands that do labor to be lowly and unclean.

But Katharine didn’t care about such things at all.

She needed someone who could give her even a little useful information and advice that would become her flesh and bones, in short, someone experienced and skilled.

“Ah… It’s my pleasure, Miss Roberfon.”

“Please just call me Katharine.”

Mrs. Dawson seemed quite surprised by Katharine’s kind greeting, which lacked the haughtiness or coldness typical of nobles.

She responded to the handshake very carefully, bowing to her knees.

One wondered how rarely she must have been treated humanely to be so surprised by such a small kindness.

“From here to over there, all of this belongs to the Empress’s Palace. It’s a very sacred and historic place where empresses have resided since the founding of the Renel Empire.”

Mrs. Dawson explained as she guided Katharine inside.

Katharine looked around the Empress’s Palace, which would soon become her home, with an unfamiliar expression.

It had a distinctly different atmosphere from the Emperor’s Palace.

While the Emperor’s Palace represented the emperor’s absolute power with its gleaming marble gardens and massive pillars supporting the ceiling, the Empress’s Palace had a more nature-friendly and cozy feel.

“I quite like the tulip garden and the pond with koi fish. The previous empress… that is, the Empress Dowager, must have had particularly refined tastes.”

“No. The garden you see now was all newly created under His Majesty the Emperor’s orders. Until a month ago, this place was quite desolate due to being without an owner for a long time.”

“His Majesty did that?”

“Actually, I was told not to tell you this, but…”

Mrs. Dawson, her wariness towards Katharine having eased somewhat, continued with a slight smile.

“His Majesty said that the woman who would soon become the new owner of this place loves viewing flowers and fish, so he ordered it to be decorated as beautifully and comfortably as possible to suit her. He also specially permitted the interior to be decorated in the style of the Kan Kingdom, saying she would likely miss her homeland.”

“I really had no idea. I didn’t expect His Majesty to be so thoughtful.”

Katharine touched her cheek with a slightly dumbfounded feeling.

For some reason, the spot where he had stroked with his rough hand earlier seemed to be tingling.

“It’s truly something to see in a lifetime. Even Duke Ludwig, who is close to him, wouldn’t have known he had such a delicate side, given that he only knew about work and training since his days as crown prince.”

“Mrs. Dawson, you’ve been in the imperial palace for a long time, right?”

“Yes. I came when I was twelve or thirteen, so it’s been forty years already.”

“In your opinion, what kind of person is Emperor Farnese?”

Mrs. Dawson wore a cautious expression and hesitated to continue speaking.

“Well… I don’t know much since I’m not part of the Emperor’s Palace, but he always seemed somehow lonely.”

“His Majesty, who has everything, is lonely?”

“His Majesty has everything, but he has also lost many things. His father’s life, his mother’s health, his family’s peace, trust with friends, countless subjects who died on the battlefield. That emptiness in his heart won’t be easily filled.”

Having arrived at the entrance of the sleeping quarters, Mrs. Dawson turned to Katharine and said,

“But somehow I feel you might be different, Miss Katharine.”

“How am I different?”

“I think that for His Majesty the Emperor, you might be, how should I say, a special and unique existence. I mean that you might be able to fill his emptiness.”

Mrs. Dawson said this while bowing respectfully.

“I humbly hope that you will become an excellent empress in the future.”

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According to protocol, Katharine, who had not yet been officially appointed as empress, should have been temporarily residing in a distant annex palace.

But as she later learned, Farnese had specifically ordered that Katharine be allowed to use the sleeping quarters of the Empress’s Palace immediately.

Katharine wanted to go to Farnese and express her gratitude.

But the situation did not flow as she wished.

Katharine was busy getting her new identification issued for the Renel Empire and preparing items and clothing she would use from now on.

Above all, the Emperor’s Palace and the Empress’s Palace were separated by a wide forest, so it took great resolve to visit once, and on top of that, she heard that Farnese was very busy dealing with the backlog of state affairs.

She hesitated to go, worried that she might be a disturbance if she went unnecessarily.

“Why are the Emperor’s Palace and Empress’s Palace so far apart? It feels like completely different cities divided by that forest.”

Katharine muttered, seemingly unable to understand, as she signed the final documents to acquire her new status.

Rogia, who had unexpectedly adapted to this place faster than Katharine, looked out the window upon hearing her words.

“I heard from the maids that it’s to respect the private lives of the emperor and empress.”

“Private lives? Wouldn’t it be better in many ways for them to see each other’s faces more often, given that they’re in a position to lead the country together?”

“Hmm… Most of the past emperors lived with concubines, so maybe that’s why? Besides, there weren’t many cases where the empress actively interfered in state affairs.”

Katharine looked at the barely visible roof of the Emperor’s Palace in the distance with a rather serious expression.

Would such a day come for her too?

A day when she would awkwardly encounter His Majesty Emperor Farnese walking side by side with a young and cute concubine on the street.

A day when she would nonchalantly condone his private life and not carelessly step into each other’s domains unless absolutely necessary.

‘It will come someday. Nothing in this world remains unchanged.’

Katharine handed over the signed documents to the officer in charge and crossed over to the adjacent room furnished like a small study.

This study, too, was prepared by Farnese, she heard.

She didn’t know how he knew her reading preferences and managed to bring only fascinatingly interesting books.

Katharine picked up “The Directory of Noble Families of the Renel Empire.”

She turned the pages and opened to the page about the Ludwig family.

[ On August 21, 820, when Miss Margarita Ludwig was officially appointed as empress and received the title ‘Her Majesty Empress Margarita Ludwig Escalo’, her older brother and the eldest son of the Ludwig family, Lord Marcelo Ludwig, was granted the title of duke. ] [ On May 1, 821, Duke Marcelo Ludwig, who became the owner of the Midland territory, married Miss Catarina Norris, from a cadet branch of the royal family of the Ram Kingdom. ]

From these few short sentences, Katharine learned several things she didn’t know before.

First, that the Duchess Ludwig was from no less than a cadet branch of the Ram royal family.

‘There’s no way a preciously raised princess would have fallen in love with a man from a merchant background who ran an inn, so in the end, it’s true that she came to marry seeing the advantage of being able to connect to the Renel imperial family.’

However, even after looking at the directory, there was one curiosity that remained unresolved.

Information about Isabella Ludwig, the duke’s daughter.

“Strange. Why isn’t there even a single line written about the duke and duchess’s children?”

“What are you reading so intently?”

While she was deeply lost in thought, suddenly a voice came from behind.

Farnese, who had been there who knows how long, was leaning one hand on the desk, intently examining the directory.

Somehow, Katharine found herself trapped between his two arms as he leaned his upper body diagonally.

“Your Majesty!”

“Hello.”

His lips curved into a gentle arc.

Was it because it had been a while?

For some reason, Katharine’s heart fluttered strangely at the greeting that felt more cheerful and intimate than when she had last seen him.

“I was passing by and thought to drop in, but I hope I’m not interrupting…”

“I’ve been waiting.”

Farnese blanked out for a moment like someone taking time to interpret an unfamiliar foreign language, then very slowly tilted his head.

As if asking again what she had just said.

“I was wondering when you might come to see me. I didn’t want to visit first since you’re so busy. I would surely be a disturbance.”

Katharine tried her best not to look foolish, but she increasingly couldn’t understand what she was saying herself.

Why was she saying such nonsense about meeting after a few days when they were in the same imperial family?

She was just about to scold herself for not simply saying “Welcome” when it happened.

“Me too.”

Gazing intently at Katharine’s face with gently downcast eyes, he murmured briefly.

He slowly wrapped his hand, which had been resting on the desk, around Katharine’s hair, then lightly kissed the ends.

“To tell the truth, it’s a lie that I just happened to drop by.”