Saved Him, Now I'm Obsessed - Chapter 18

Then why doesn’t Ian trust the Emperor and Empress? Usually, when a couple is close, their relationship with their children is good too.

However, Ian gave the impression of being neglected despite being the Crown Prince in name and reality. It couldn’t be helped, as when the 6-year-old child was sick, his mother and father were not by his side.

Even after that, while he was taking medicine, his parents didn’t seem to care. Rather, Ian seemed to want to hide his symptoms from them very much.

Even to the point of worrying about his own life. Although the Emperor was said to have an aversion to the prophets of the Stefan Kingdom, I doubted whether he would have shown that aversion to his own son if he had known the truth.

“There was also this incident in the past.”

“What was it?”

“When Her Majesty the Empress first appeared in high society, everyone ignored her.”

“The Empress was ignored?”

“Well, she came from a family so humble it was hard to even call them nobility, to marry His Majesty the Emperor. There was a lot of talk that His Majesty would soon tire of her and take another lover.”

“That’s terrible.”

“Anyway, as that kind of atmosphere spread, Her Majesty the Empress received subtle contempt. Moreover, the contempt worsened when…”

Suddenly, Ileana looked around. As if something terrible would happen if someone heard. Even though it was just the two of us in the garden. She lowered her voice as much as possible and whispered.

“A rumor spread that Crown Prince Ian and Prince Daniel were not His Majesty the Emperor’s children, but another man’s.”

It was a story I knew to some extent. I had even suspected that one of the reasons Ian was sensitive about his eye color was because of the issue of his birth.

“Apparently, it was partly because Her Majesty the Empress didn’t show her pregnant appearance in public, and roughly calculating, His Majesty the Emperor was away from the palace when Her Majesty would have been pregnant, so the logic was that the two couldn’t be His Majesty’s children.”

“…That’s nonsense.”

“It really is nonsense. Both Crown Prince Ian and Prince Daniel look exactly like His Majesty the Emperor rather than Her Majesty the Empress. But at that time, that rumor circulated as if it were true. So there was widespread talk that His Majesty the Emperor would soon drive out Her Majesty the Empress and bring in a new empress to have real children.”

“Who on earth would spread such rumors…”

“Thinking that Her Majesty the Empress would soon be abandoned by His Majesty the Emperor, people openly disrespected Her Majesty. Even when the Empress appeared at banquets, they wouldn’t greet her, wouldn’t answer when she spoke first, and some people even openly criticized Her Majesty the Empress.”

“Was that tolerated? Even though she’s Her Majesty the Empress…”

“Everyone thought she would soon be driven from the position of Empress. They thought it was better than falling out of His Majesty the Emperor’s favor by showing a friendly attitude.”

“So what happened?”

Of course, that misunderstanding must have been cleared up since Her Majesty the Empress still holds her position, but I asked out of concern.

“Far from falling out of His Majesty the Emperor’s favor, His Majesty became furious about the nobles disrespecting Her Majesty the Empress. He directly witnessed Her Majesty being disrespected by the nobles.”

“That’s understandable to be angry about. Regardless of affection, disrespecting his wife is the same as disrespecting him. So did His Majesty the Emperor get really angry? Did someone receive a severe punishment?”

Ileana shook her head. As if it didn’t end with just scolding one or two people.

“That day, he didn’t say anything and quietly left the banquet with Her Majesty the Empress. Instead, there was another banquet the next day. They say that His Majesty the Emperor, appearing hand in hand with Her Majesty the Empress, said one thing as soon as the banquet started.”

“What did he say?”

I asked, looking at Ileana with eyes full of interest. I was very curious about what punishment the nobles who disrespected Her Majesty the Empress received.

“‘According to the etiquette of the Calovanian Empire, at a banquet attended by members of the royal family, no one can speak to anyone before they receive greetings from them,’ he said.”

“Is there really such a law?”

“Rather than a law… such etiquette did exist. But it was an extremely old custom, practically obsolete long before Calovanian became an empire. Even for non-royals, it’s polite to greet the host first and then enjoy the banquet… but for large-scale royal banquets, it was almost always omitted. It would be difficult to receive greetings from over a thousand nobles even if you stayed up all night.”

“I see. With that scale, you’d really spend the whole night just receiving greetings. So did they receive greetings from all those nobles that day?”

Ileana shook her head at my question.

“No. Whenever someone tried to greet them, His Majesty the Emperor would speak to Her Majesty the Empress, so no one could greet them. From the start to the end of the banquet, the nobles couldn’t say a word and just stood in line before going home.”

“Aren’t banquets quite long? For that entire time?”

“Until Her Majesty the Empress said she was bored and left the banquet hall. They say for almost 3 hours, only music could be heard. It must have been banquet music, but even the performance was said to be intense.”

“It must have felt like real torture. Especially while being conscious of His Majesty the Emperor…”

At my words, Ileana shuddered as if the mere thought was horrifying and said.

“The interesting thing is that Her Majesty the Empress seemed unaware, saying, ‘Today’s banquet seems extremely quiet.'”

“She really didn’t know?”

“Well, for a while after that, there were rumors that she was manipulating His Majesty the Emperor behind the scenes like a fox, but knowing Her Majesty the Empress, she probably really didn’t know. She wasn’t from the capital nobility and wasn’t originally well-versed in etiquette. In fact, that’s why the nobles looked down on her even more… Anyway, Her Majesty the Empress probably just thought that’s how banquets were here.”

Ileana said that after that incident, there were hardly any who looked down on the Empress. Who would dare disrespect her when the Emperor was firmly backing her?

She added that occasionally, oblivious nobles would appear, but their outcomes were not good.

Various unfortunate events would coincidentally pile up and ruin them, and as coincidences repeated become inevitable, it only happened to those who were rude to the Empress, leading to suspicions that the Emperor was behind it all.

“You see, His Majesty the Emperor might tolerate rudeness towards himself, but he absolutely cannot stand it when someone is rude to Her Majesty the Empress. Quite a few court customs have been abolished because Her Majesty found them uncomfortable. As a result, now it’s firmly ingrained in the nobles’ minds that ‘Her Majesty the Empress’s behavior is the etiquette of the imperial court.'”

“Then has the etiquette been considerably simplified?”

I asked with anticipation. It was obvious that I would have to learn noble etiquette to attend banquets, but I didn’t want to learn complicated protocols.

I was just as ignorant of noble etiquette as Her Majesty the Empress, or rather, even more so. From what little I had learned so far, noble etiquette was complex and vast, impossible to study overnight.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“While Her Majesty the Empress’s etiquette has been simplified, the nobles’ etiquette has become more complex and intricate. Many new customs have even emerged just to curry favor with Her Majesty the Empress… In fact, it won’t be easy for Claire, who has lost her memories.”

“Ah…”

I was discouraged by her words. Ileana patted my shoulder and said,

“So you’ll be even busier from now on. There’s a lot to prepare for the banquet.”

“Even more than now?”

My days were already busy without a moment’s rest. It was even more tiring than when I worked as an apothecary. I had to pay attention to and learn every little action to adapt to noble life, so even when resting, it didn’t feel like rest.

Moreover, thanks to the strict pushing of Lady Caton, the home tutor Ileana had assigned me, there was no room for laziness.

“The banquet is right around the corner. I should ask Lady Caton to teach me social dancing first.”

The social dancing she mentioned must mean that dance where men and women hold hands and twirl around, right?

Just hearing about it made me feel embarrassed. But I didn’t say I disliked it. It was only natural that I should adapt to noble life as quickly as possible.

Although I had to undergo intense etiquette training for two weeks, I begged Ileana and managed to get one day of free time. It was out of worry that I might encounter Ian at the banquet and he might need medicine.

Of course, I had given Ian extra medicine shortly before my death, and counting the emergency supply I had given to Head Servant Simons, he should still have enough spare medicine, but my anxiety wouldn’t easily subside.

So I decided to prepare Ian’s medicine as an emergency measure and bring it to the banquet.

That’s why today is the day to buy the medicinal ingredients needed to make Ian’s medicine.

I barely managed to dissuade Ileana from coming along as a guardian. Fortunately, she had business at her family home today, so I was able to leave the house alone.

“I’m glad I could at least get out today.”

I headed to 17th Street by carriage. 17th Street was suitable for obtaining ingredients as it was where apothecaries and perfumers gathered.

An Indifferent Woman is the One Men Desire the Most

One-line summary: The female lead is actually cold-hearted and extremely rational. She has stage-by-stage relationships and won’t two-time, but there will always be someone who secretly likes her.

This novel has the following triggers, so if you’re sensitive to these, please don’t read:

1. The female lead has had many relationships, but she treated each one seriously and broke up properly.

It’s just that the men unilaterally pestered her incessantly. For the female lead, when she doesn’t like someone anymore, she simply doesn’t like them.

(This applies to her relationships with Male Lead 1, 2, 3, and 4 as well, but she’s loyal in each 1-on-1 relationship!)

2. In this novel, Male Lead 2 and the female lead kiss in a car, and Male Lead 1 sees it and beats up Male Lead 2.

The female lead calls the police and sends both Male Lead 1 and 2 to the police station! Male Lead 1 begs the female lead not to break up with him.

3. Male Lead 1 has a gentle appearance but an obsessive personality.

Male Lead 2 has a delicate and soft appearance, slightly green tea-like (two-faced).

Male Lead 3 is a youthful college student and a smart person who has secretly liked the female lead for a long time.

Male Lead 4 is the female lead’s father’s special assistant, a business elite with deep, hidden thoughts.

4. At the beginning of this novel, the female lead has already broken up with Male Lead 1 (Chapter 4) and gotten back together with Male Lead 2 (ex-boyfriend).

5. Enter with caution if you have triggers!!!