Even if it was a child she had lost sadly, Charlotte’s expression momentarily seemed sad, but she quickly controlled it. As if asking when she had made a sad expression, she soon became excited to talk about her work and aspirations.

As Ines spent time with Charlotte, the sun had gradually set outside the window. Due to the radiant cheeks and sparkling eyes, Charlotte looked even younger than when she was at Landhill.

“I should be going now.”

“Stay a bit longer.”

“If I stay here any longer, I’ll be scolded by Casey.”

Casey eventually became a administrative maid. It was a process to become a secretary maid. She also had a big dream of becoming a chief maid of the palace after becoming a secretary maid.

“Yeah, that’s right. It would be better for you to rest a bit quickly.”

“Yeah, Charlotte. I’ll come again next time. Until then, take care.”

With Charlotte’s farewell, a refreshing breeze blew when Ines left the school. As the smell of dry land wafted in the gentle wind, Ines stood still for a moment and looked around.

The place where poor people once gathered and lived burned down and turned into a casino, and now a school was built in that place. The miraculous change was not only limited to the land.

Everyone surrounding Ines now had their own dreams and faced the world head-on.

Before knowing Carson, this world was filled with contempt and malice towards Ines. The once naive woman trapped in a giant trap, Ines Sweden, had ruined not only herself but everything around her.

But now, such a world and such a woman no longer existed.

Ines gently stroked her protruding belly and stood up straight.

As she walked home, her steps were firm.

Carson postponed his dinner and wandered around the garden in front of the Empress’s palace. There was a time when entering this garden was so unpleasant, but now it felt like a comfortable home. A wry smile appeared at his changing self.

When he tried wiping the sweat on his waistband, a carriage carrying Ines crossed the garden. Even though it was a carriage he always saw, it felt a bit special when Ines was on it.

The low shoes first appeared outside the door that soon opened. The Emperor stopped the gardener and reached out his hand directly. Ines recognized him just by seeing his hand and smiled lightly.

“You’re out.”
Carson silently gazed at the landscape where Ines stood for a moment. The sun was setting behind her sun-like hair.

“You don’t need to become more beautiful like this…”

At the sudden and awkward comment, Ines couldn’t hide her embarrassment.

“Have you been waiting long?”

“Waiting for a long time?”

Suddenly, a resentful look flashed in his eyes. He sometimes made such expressions. The words spoken without context resembled a secret code only the two of them could understand.

“Since meeting the Empress, it feels like I’ve done nothing but wait.”

With a forced comment, Ines made a fresh expression.

“Think about it. You must have done many other things besides waiting.”

“Ah…”

As if recalling something, he pulled out an item from within himself.

“For example… something like this?”

As Carson unfolded the item for Ines to see clearly, her face turned completely red. She thought the consequence for his subtly provocative words was too excessive.

Ines tried to reach out to take the embarrassing item he had unfolded. However, Carson casually lifted his hand and chuckled.

“No, you can’t. This is mine. Can’t you see my name here, Empress?”

He shook the item playfully, revealing a handkerchief with Carson’s name embroidered in gold thread.

It was the token he took from her during the Monstera Water Festival, representing their affection and the constant flow of emotions between them.

However, as of yesterday, the meaning of that token had changed a bit.

Upon hearing the news from the palace physician that Ines’s body was entering a stable state, Carson immediately took out the handkerchief as if announcing the presentation of a formidable weapon.

The alluring item that had first covered Ines’s eyes was now covering Carson’s eyes. Then, the item tied Carson’s hands.

Believing Carson’s excuse that he was afraid to pounce on his pregnant wife like a beast, Ines innocently accepted it, and that night, she fully realized the new purpose of the handkerchief throughout her body.

In the past, it was an unexpected development that she could not have imagined, even when laying down stitches with a sincere heart.

“I-I don’t know.”

As Ines tightly bit her lower lip and took a step forward, Carson quickly approached her with large strides, firmly grasping Ines’s hand. When he gently brushed past, the caught hand was docile.

“What about Louis?”

“He went to the palace since the cats were worried.”

In response to the question about Louis, a faint smile spread across Ines’s face.

“The Emperor sent a letter.”

It was truly an unusual event. With a touch of longing in the last sentence, Ines continued.

“For me?”

“Yeah. I thought you wouldn’t be the type to write letters, but you’ve been sending them so often.”