After the first princess Chelsea and the second prince Joshua visited the Richter ducal family, the emperor summoned the two and asked how the duke and duchess were doing.
How was the atmosphere between the two, when they might have a child, and so on…
It was a question that blatantly revealed that the purpose of this visit was ‘surveillance’.
Chelsea answered with her usual gentle smile.
“Contrary to your concerns, the atmosphere was good.”
“Oh, is that so?”
“Yes. I was worried because both of their faces were so dark at the wedding, but it seems time has resolved it.”
“That’s a relief then. Ho ho.”
Chelsea gently continued as the emperor looked pleased.
“It seems the duchess has decided to properly take on the role of mistress of the house. She also looked very harmonious with the duke. They were always arm in arm, and there was no hesitation in skinship or calling each other… They looked like a quite happily married couple, so there should be no worries about the issue of an heir.”
However, as Chelsea’s words lengthened, the emperor’s pleased expression changed strangely.
The faint wrinkle between his brows and eyebrows that slightly raised then lowered.
It meant it wasn’t a positive signal.
Why is he acting like that?
Did I make a mistake in my words?
While not showing it, Chelsea quickly reviewed if there had been any errors in her words.
But no matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t find anything strange.
It was only reports that her father would like.
‘Do you know something?’
She sent a signal to Joshua with a side glance, but Joshua, with his mouth tightly shut, only shook his head slightly.
After pondering for a moment, Chelsea decided to just ask.
“Your expression doesn’t look good. Is there perhaps something that bothers you?”
“No. No, that’s not it…”
The emperor trailed off, resting his hand on his temple as he leaned back in his chair.
“…Instead of useless love games, they should hurry up and have a child.”
Tsk.
The sound of clicking his tongue was heard louder than the muttering.
Chelsea and Joshua quietly bowed their heads instead of adding any words.
The two left the audience chamber with the words to leave now.
The two walking side by side opened their mouths when there was no one around.
“He was a bit strange, wasn’t he? I thought he would be pleased, but he seemed disgruntled.”
“Indeed. I too was certain he would be delighted.”
“Hmm. Useless love games, he said.”
Somehow, it seemed the answer might lie in these words.
Come to think of it, father’s expression started to darken around the time I said ‘the two looked harmonious and like a happily married couple.’
He was pleased when I just said ‘the atmosphere was good.’
Which means…
“He wants the atmosphere to be good enough to have a child, but not excessively harmonious… No, that’s not it. He dislikes them playing at love with each other?”
Oh. That sounds plausible.
It sounded even more plausible after saying it out loud.
Still, the question of ‘but why?’ remains.
There is something that father knows and I don’t.
Chelsea’s eyes narrowed.
[This is the timeline separator]“Mmm. The weather is nice.”
I had already adapted to the cool early autumn weather, to the point where it felt comfortable.
The annoying guests had left, and I had made Dante’s gift as planned.
After finishing the urgent matters, I once again had time to spare like before.
In the regained leisure, I sat by the window sipping tea.
It was lavender tea.
It was brewed with the leftover lavender from making the sachet I gave to Dante last time.
It’s good I dried a lot of it then.
It’s better to use it up early since it will all wither when winter comes anyway.
The fragrant scent of lavender lingered in my nose and mouth.
Hmm. Smelling this scent reminds me of that.
That is, that thing.
Dante.
After I gifted him the lavender sachet, Dante always carried it with him.
Because of that, there was always the scent of lavender when passing by him.
The same scent as this tea.
Oh. Goodness.
Cough, cough!
In an instant, images of Dante smiling at me flashed by in rapid succession.
The scenes were so vivid that I choked involuntarily. Unfortunately, there was still tea in my mouth.
Oh. Goodness.
I fumbled for a handkerchief, but for some reason couldn’t find one today.
Oh, forget it.
I dashed into the bathroom.
The chair toppled over with a clatter from the force of me standing up suddenly.
Covered by that noise, I didn’t even hear the knocking sound from outside.
“My lady, are you alright? I heard a loud noise. Oh, never mind! I’m coming in!”
It was just as I was coming out of the bathroom, wiping my mouth after barely managing to deal with the tea in my mouth.
Siena burst into the room with a pale expression.
I greeted her while wiping my mouth with the handkerchief I had belatedly found.
“Mmm. You’re here.”
“…I heard a loud noise and came in worried…”
She trailed off, scanning the surroundings with bewildered eyes.
The table soaked with overflowing tea. The overturned chair.
It looked like a mess even to me.
Siena would have to clean all this up. Oh, I feel so sorry.
Sure enough, Siena’s eyes were trembling, apparently shocked by the unexpected mess.
“…I choked, ahem. I choked while drinking tea.”
As I casually offered the truth that wasn’t quite an excuse, my voice came out cracked.
It was from coughing too much.
Siena silently began cleaning. Feeling sorry and embarrassed, I hovered around until she said, “Just sit down and rest!” and led me to sit on the sofa.
Well, I suppose I’d be in the way if I lingered while she’s cleaning.
I gazed out the window vaguely. Embarrassed, sorry, and awkward.
Ahem.
I’m never drinking lavender tea again.
That was all I could resolve to do.
[This is the timeline separator]While scrubbing the tea that had soaked the table and floor, Siena had to hold back tears that threatened to well up several times.
But when she righted the fallen chair, she finally had to turn away and wipe her eyes.
She must have coughed up blood.
It’s clear she rushed to the bathroom, startled by the sudden gush of blood.
The tea overflowing everywhere and the fallen chair spoke of how urgent the situation had been.
When she went to the bathroom, the sink was wet all over.
As if something had just been wiped clean.
This, too, was evidence for her suspicion.
What must the madam have felt as she cleaned the sink alone?
The image of her trying to act nonchalant while her voice was completely hoarse came to mind.
Tears kept welling up, and Siena had to press her eyes with the back of her hand several times.
‘I’m such a fool.’
She had unwittingly let her guard down because the madam had seemed quite alright recently.
Originally, the madam had just been hiding her illness.
How stupid to think the madam had gotten better just because it wasn’t noticeable.
Thinking of the madam suffering alone made her heart feel like it was being torn apart.
They might not know, but this kind of thing probably happened often. Being sick, startled, and hiding it alone.
Siena glanced at Serpina.
A faint, somehow sad smile hung on her face, which looked whiter than ever today.
[This is the timeline separator]After the choking incident.
I quietly slipped Siena some healthy cookies.
Siena, receiving the cookies, looked at me with teary eyes just like before.
Fortunately, it seemed her feelings weren’t hurt. Moreover, her professional spirit had strangely intensified.
I wonder if she had some kind of burnout?
She had been seriously contemplating her job, and then I went and made a complete mess of the room for Siena to find.
But in the end, after a few days of worry, she overcame the burnout and gained an even stronger professional spirit… is that too much of a happy ending?
Whatever the case, I was glad that Siena seemed to have regained her spirit.
After taking care of Siena’s matter as well, leisure time came to me again.
Now, let’s not drink tea or anything like that, and do something else.
The first thing that came to mind was the Hosan fruit. It seemed I should slowly start the research I had postponed due to the esophagitis issue.
By the way, there’s still no contact from Heterson.
Is there still no progress?
…Ah, come to think of it, Heterson doesn’t have any Hosan fruit either.
I meant to write a letter telling him to visit when I had free time, but I forgot because I was busy with this and that.
“I should tell him to drop by soon.”
I immediately wrote a letter to Heterson.
The contents were to roughly match stories and visit under the pretext that ‘the nutritional supplement I ate before seemed effective, so I asked for more.’
Not long after sending the letter, a positive reply arrived.
After roughly confirming the appointment date and time, I decided to do what I needed to do in advance.
“Now then, the first thing to do is…”
__________
Male Lead, The Black-Hearted Lotus (Female-dominant)
Short intro by Yuushi L:
At first, the male lead despised the female lead. Later, he misunderstood that she liked him, so he condescendingly and reluctantly reciprocated her feelings.
Then, he suddenly discovered that she was kind to everyone in the same way, and there was already someone she cherished in her heart, and that person was not him.
The male lead couldn’t believe it, he became angry and crazy. He was determined to capture her body and heart by any means necessary.
Synopsis:
Want to see how a green tea bitch male lead falls in love with the female lead?
Want to see how he flirtatiously pursues the female lead?
Want to see how he gets slapped in the face repeatedly?
The male lead is a green tea bitch, a poisonous lotus, jealous, ruthless, unscrupulous, with a venomous heart, and he’s also a delusional maniac.
The female lead is righteous, positive energy-filled, kind, a holy mother.
Let’s see how two people with extreme personalities come together~
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
