She hadn’t expected it to feel so empty when Lorisha quietly backed off. Duke Rocard wore a dumbfounded expression.
Having returned from the shop, Lorisha handed him a hefty book wrapped in cloth.
As Duke Rocard received it with a faint smile, Lorisha turned away with a blank face and went inside.
“Be careful on your way!”
Duke Rocard sent the horse off with a soft chuckle, scratching his throat.
Upon arriving at the imperial palace, he unwrapped the cloth.
“Happy Life of the Empress[Dash]Queen Na’s Autobiography”
Duke Rocard also stopped by Phinid’s laboratory. Phinid did not surrender as meekly as Lorisha.
He was embracing a book in which the last illness of a former emperor, whose name was being gossiped about, was recorded. He gave it up with a face about to cry, his hands trembling as they clutched the book.
“A few more days…”
“Tsk.”
“Ugh.”
Finally, Duke Rocard headed to the imperial library, carrying both books.
He planned to return home and rest immediately after returning the books to their proper places. After waging guerrilla warfare through several days of final exams, he was, in fact, tired.
However, he sat at the reading desk as soon as he opened Queen Na’s autobiography in the library. It was only late at night that he left the palace.
Queen Na had been an empress of a previous generation. The former emperor’s death had raised various suspicions in later generations, but under his rule, the empire had flourished.
The reason she titled her autobiography ‘Happy Empress’ was not to flaunt her personal happiness, but to reveal the former emperor’s achievements.
Parts of the autobiography inadvertently revealed emotional cracks between the former emperor and the imperial children. Perhaps this autobiography remained in the imperial library without being disclosed to the public for that reason.
Duke Rocard slowly drove his horse, rubbing his stiff eyes.
‘Why did Lorisha choose that book?’
Duke Rocard thought that question was foolish.
Just as he had to live fiercely, trapped in the mold of being the heir to the Kaidel family, Lorisha had fiercely fought, trapped by her birth as a foundling from Tunbar Mountain.
Even if he never asked and she never said, it was evident.
Her bluster at Jeborn Beach that he should not mistake himself for a foundling was not a pride in herself, but a threat not to hurt her.
It was her choice to glimpse the life of a divine woman wanting to know what happiness, something she had never possessed, was like. It was a pitiful sight to watch.
If she knew he pitied her, she would have cursed.
‘If she had been Roarga’s enemy woman…’
Duke Rocard clicked his tongue. Spending time on impossible assumptions or fantasies was a disgrace for the one who would lead the Kaidel family.
He hoped that Lorisha would continue delivering herbs. That shop was conveniently located for him to kidnap her as needed.
In the upcoming battles, mental and emotional bloodshed would be prodigious. To win there, he needed the help of a competent person.
Also, she was pleasant to look at, so it was even more perfect.
(This is a time separator.)
The Countess sprang up from her seat at her husband’s words after returning from the imperial palace.
“Misha? As the Imperial Princess’s maid?”
“Lower your voice. It’s not yet time to expose it.”
“The Imperial Princess has no footing in the imperial palace, not even near the 1st Crown Prince. How could they send our Misha to such a place? Moreover, she has just found her place in the Academy. Absolutely not, Count.”
“The 1st Crown Prince specifically requested it. You cannot deny that his request is also Her Majesty’s wish.”
“Such…!”
The Countess bit her lip. It was a bolt from the blue just when they were happy that Misha miraculously avoided entering the Academy!
With a choked voice, she said,
“Why, why is he picking on our family?”
“He doesn’t want Misha to be Princess Milliora’s maid. He’s testing whether I’ll comply with his request.”
“…….”
The Countess, understanding the meaning of those words, trembled and bit her lip.
The competition to be held now is not a rivalry between the imperial princes and princesses. It is an event that causes all the nobles to fiercely watch each other, and quietly shakes the entire empire.
The power structure of the next generation is determined from this competition.
The Countess lowered her head.
“But it’s not Misha. Once she becomes a maid of the royal family, a stigma of faction will be attached to you, Count.”
“No one will care about Misha’s faction, so there’s no need to consider that part.”
The Countess looked at her husband with eyes filled with resentment, to the point of tearing up.
Though she had sent her to the Academy, the Count still did not recognize Misha. He did not believe that his daughter would carry on the prestige of Roar by mastering politics and social circles.
But since she herself had raised Misha beautifully with the goal of marrying her into a powerful family in mind, she could not bring herself to speak words of resentment to her husband.
When scheming men desperately battle for her favor in the male harem
This one’s also on my reread list! The rivalry, scheming between the men in the imperial harem are just as intense and thrilling as in classic palace drama novels, where concubines fight to the death. Give it a read, girls! I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Synopsis:
“I am not worthy of her… but I still want to be by her side, even if only as a loyal dog…”
Those were the painful whispers of Yue Guanyi – the proud Crown Prince of the Great Qi, who was torn between deep love and a guilty conscience. Despite holding the supreme power of the Imperial Guard, he still could not forget the dark past when he was sold into a brothel.
Fate played a cruel twist when Qiu Shuzhi – a young female official who had just passed the imperial examinations with top honors – stepped into his life. She did not know that she was the one who had saved him from a tragic fate many years ago. And now, her heart was the target of pursuit for both Yue Guanyi and the powerful Empress Dowager Qin Qing.
While Yue Guanyi only dared to silently care for and protect the one he loved from afar, the Empress Dowager Qin Qing openly expressed his feelings and did not hesitate to take advantage of his power to approach Qiu Shuzhi. The covert struggle between the two most powerful forces in the imperial court began…
Trigger warning: All men in this novel are yandere style.
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