Rather Than Be Taken, I Will Take - Chapter 20
During that brief moment when the Empress was reminiscing about the past, the face of Count Fernando’s daughter, who had mentioned Countess Tarel’s salon, turned bright red, then immediately paled.
“……”
Suddenly, tension filled the table where the young ladies were gathered.
Marchioness Ratse glanced slightly towards the Empress, as if that was enough.
When their eyes met, the Empress nodded as if to say that was sufficient.
“I hope you’ll always be careful with that mouth of yours, Count Fernando’s daughter.”
Only after adding a slight threat did Marchioness Ratse turn her back on Count Fernando’s daughter, who had begun to whimper.
“By the way, have you all heard that Duke Amaterasu’s daughter has recently started to show her face in social circles?”
Someone among the young ladies broke the silence.
Judging by the slight tremor in her voice, she too seemed to have been thoroughly frightened.
“Yes, I’ve heard about that too……”
Soon, another young lady chimed in to support the one who had bravely spoken up.
Marchioness Ratse slightly raised her red lips.
Expecting that at least two would survive this year’s debutante season.
Marchioness Ratse returned with triumphant steps and sat down again next to the Empress.
“Speaking of which, it’s truly a pity. Born into such an enviable high status that anyone would covet.”
And she brought up the topic that had just come from the young ladies’ table. Countess Minster then picked up on Marchioness Ratse’s words.
“……Are you referring to Duke Amaterasu’s daughter?”
“Yes. I heard she was bedridden and didn’t take a single step outside her bedroom, but now it seems she’s recovered her health quite well and has been staying in the capital recently.”
“I’ve heard that news too. They say she’s even frequenting that salon……”
Countess Minster trailed off, watching the Empress’s reaction.
And for good reason.
The social world was a battlefield without swords, and who one associated with was an extremely important factor.
The company one kept soon became their reputation.
And any high-ranking noble in their right mind would never visit the salon of a lowly woman like Countess Tarel.
Though she’s called a countess, isn’t she ultimately the Emperor’s mistress?
“It’s a pity. If Duke Amaterasu’s wife were still alive, she would have given a stern warning. That one should carefully consider who to associate with.”
“Indeed. Since both Duke Amaterasu and Grand Duke Mikhail are so reclusive in social circles……”
While they spoke as if sympathizing with Duke Amaterasu’s daughter, the faces of the Empress’s ladies-in-waiting, Marchioness Ratse and Countess Minster, were filled with smiles.
It was a joy to them that Duke Amaterasu’s daughter had no experienced person to advise her on the terrors of social circles.
Originally, if the daughter of a powerful family like the Amaterasu duchy were unmarried, only second-best options would remain for their daughters.
The Amaterasu duchy would have already picked and chosen the best grooms first.
But fortunately, God was on their side.
He had gifted Duke Amaterasu’s daughter with a good family and beautiful looks, but not a brilliant mind.
Moreover, judging by her frequenting Countess Tarel’s salon, which should be the number one place a young noble lady should never associate with, Duke Amaterasu’s daughter had no hope.
Noble marriages were business, and her deviation was something all noble ladies would welcome.
“……What should we do, Your Majesty?”
The list of nobles frequenting Countess Tarel’s salon was already obtained.
Most of them were from families that were regrettably inadequate to be of strength to Crown Prince Joshua.
That’s why they were left to pass time among themselves, unable to belong to the inner circle.
But it was a different matter for someone from the Amaterasu duchy to frequent that place.
“We have no choice. An experienced noble lady should guide her from the front, but Duke Amaterasu’s daughter has no such lady. I’m thinking of sending an invitation to the Amaterasu duchy soon, what do you think?”
Marchioness Ratse and Countess Minster nodded in full agreement with the Empress’s words.
“An excellent idea, Your Majesty.”
“Ah, that… earlier… was it Count Fernando’s daughter?”
The Empress asked, quietly setting down her teacup on the table.
“Yes, Your Majesty. Shall we remove her from the next invitation list?”
Countess Minster said, picking up the quill pen from the table.
“Please do so.”
As the Empress nodded, Countess Minster crossed out the name of Count Fernando’s daughter written on the parchment with the quill pen.
Thinking that this had taken care of one candidate for the Crown Prince’s bride.
[This is the timeline separator]After her first attendance, Countess Tarel’s gaze towards Jieselgrante, who visited the salon, definitely softened.
Though she still seemed wary, as if unsure when she might do something foolish, it was certain that she welcomed her.
It wasn’t easy to form connections with people from powerful families like the Amaterasu duchy, and thanks to Jieselgrante’s excellent eloquence, those attending the salon were delighted.
This quickly spread as rumors, greatly contributing to the increase in nobles hoping to be invited to Countess Tarel’s salon.
“Will everyone be attending the upcoming royal event?”
“Come to think of it, the Crown Prince’s investiture ceremony is soon, isn’t it?”
A noble lady took the bait that Jieselgrante had casually thrown out.
“Have you all decided on the dresses and accessories you’ll wear that day?”
Soon, an invisible battle of nerves broke out among the noble ladies.
The same dress, the same shoes, the same accessories.
There was nothing that made them look more foolish than appearing at an official event wearing even one identical item.
So the noble ladies tried to find out each other’s dressmakers and jewelers without carelessly revealing their own cards.
Jieselgrante observed this scene for a while, then casually dropped a word when she saw an opening.
“The Crown Prince’s investiture ceremony is not the end, but the beginning.”
At Jieselgrante’s words, Countess Tarel slightly furrowed her brow and asked back.
“What do you mean by that? The beginning?”
“There is only one sun in the sky, but isn’t there more than one rising sun in the empire?”
“……!”
Countess Tarel immediately understood the meaning of Duke Amaterasu’s daughter’s words.
The sun in the sky meant the Emperor, and the rising sun meant the Emperor’s son, that is, the prince.
But the Empress had only one son, Joshua.
If Countess Tarel’s interpretation was correct, Duke Amaterasu’s daughter had just compared the Emperor’s illegitimate son, her son Filippo, to a rising sun of the empire.
“But……”
Countess Tarel couldn’t continue her words and let out a sigh.
The Empress’s position was too strong to put forward Filippo as the next Emperor.
“If there were an Imperial Consort, the power might have been somewhat dispersed, but now the Empress holds absolute power in her hands.”
For that reason, Countess Tarel found it difficult to even enter the Imperial Palace unless it was to have an audience with the Emperor.
‘In such circumstances, to speak of a rising sun……’
It felt like a far too distant story for Countess Tarel.
“Recently, His Imperial Majesty lost a child he cherished dearly. Isn’t it Countess Tarel’s proper duty to fill that empty space?”
“……”
“Who else could comfort His Imperial Majesty’s heart, which must be greatly saddened?”
“……”
“His Highness Prince Filippo is quite skilled at chess, isn’t he?”
“Hi-His Highness the Prince?”
“I thought it was only proper to address Filippo as His Highness the Prince since he is His Imperial Majesty’s son, but perhaps I’ve gotten ahead of myself……?”
That one phrase uttered by Jieselgrante stimulated the ambition of Countess Tarel, which had been shrunk due to the Empress’s check.
‘Our Filippo, a prince, His Highness…… you say?’
People called Countess Tarel’s son Filippo the Emperor’s illegitimate child.
That’s why she couldn’t proudly present Filippo in public.
She worried that people might say hurtful things to Filippo.
Others also called Filippo, who wasn’t recognized as a member of the imperial family, Young Master Tarel.
But if he were called ‘prince’, things would be different.
‘That’s right! Filippo is clearly His Imperial Majesty’s son!’
In that moment, Countess Tarel’s eyes gleamed.
“……”
Jieselgrante caught that moment.
Even without words, she could almost see what the Countess was thinking right now.
In fact, the laws of the Peisis Empire stipulated that a mistress’s son couldn’t have succession rights to the throne, but such things weren’t important to Jieselgrante.
If only she could disrupt the upcoming Crown Prince’s investiture ceremony. If only she could drag the Empress’s heightened mood down into the mud.
[This is the timeline separator]“What? What nonsense is this!”
As an uncharacteristically harsh voice burst from the Empress’s mouth, silence fell in the Empress’s office, which had been filled with a cordial atmosphere until just moments ago.
“For-forgive me, Your Imperial Majesty. I thought it best to inform you quickly so that you might take timely action……”
The attendant who had reported that Filippo, Countess Tarel’s son and the Emperor’s illegitimate child, had come to the Imperial Palace and was having an audience with the Emperor, kept bowing while anxiously watching the Empress’s reaction.
“Your-Your Imperial Majesty. Perhaps it would be best to hurry to His Imperial Majesty?”
“Yes, Your Imperial Majesty! It seems right to act quickly in this situation.”
The Empress’s ladies-in-waiting, Marchioness Ratse and Countess Minster, spoke in unison.
“Haah……”
The Empress took a deep breath, her chest rising greatly, and then exhaled before looking at the attendant with her usual cold gaze.
“If he’s having a private audience with His Imperial Majesty, he would be in the audience chamber. Is that so?”
“Th-that is…… As he came during His Imperial Majesty’s rest time.”
It meant that the two were together not in the audience chamber, but in the Emperor’s private reception room.
“I must go there. Right now.”
Top Celebrity Younger Brother Bears Her Child (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: Forced to live stream romance with a top celebrity in a female-dominant world.
Yan Jin transmigrated into a brothel, with a fellow transmigrated junior beside her.
Hearing the obscene words coming from outside, the unfortunate junior covered his ears tightly, his cheeks flushed red, and whispered to comfort her, “Don’t worry, I will definitely help you escape.”
“Don’t worry, I will definitely defend your chastity.” Yan Jin looked at the flawless and delicate features of the unfortunate junior and gently comforted, “Because we have transmigrated into a female-dominant world.”
※※※
Top celebrity Yu Shu suddenly fell into a coma during a concert.
Research scientist Yan Jin fainted in the lab after working overtime.
Two people with no connection were rushed to the same hospital.
Three days later, neither of them had woken up.
Suddenly, the entire nation discovered that a live streaming app had been forcibly installed on their phones.
Upon opening it, they heard the two discussing how to escape from the brothel.
The entire internet was in an uproar.
After the two successfully escaped from the brothel, Yu Shu’s fan group rushed to make a banner and sent it to the hospital overnight.
“Big sister bravely took action to defend the chastity of our idol!”
※※※
When Yu Shu was diagnosed with pregnancy, Yan Jin stared at his belly for a long time.
Covering his stomach, he muttered gloomily, “If you don’t like it, I’ll go get an abortion.”
“It’s not that I don’t like it.” Yan Jin hugged Yu Shu and said softly, “I just feel like I’m not human.”
Yu Shu comforted Yan Jin, “I was already an adult when we got together.”
Yan Jin hesitated, “But you won’t be of legal marriageable age even after giving birth to the child.”
At the same time, a flood of bullet comments appeared in the live streaming room that the two couldn’t see.
[Although it’s inappropriate, I also want a young and handsome boyfriend to have my child.]
①Male pregnancy (highlighted)
The female lead is five years older than the male lead, and the male lead is already an adult when he appears.
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