The Deposed Empress and Her New Husband (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 5
Renev grasped the Empress’s hand with a resolute expression. Her hand was warm.
‘If only this person were Lucius’s mother…’
Renev briefly entertained that thought before quickly shaking her head.
This time, it was merely a coincidence that their interests aligned. She must not forget that fact.
Though admittedly, she did feel a slight kinship toward the Empress, who bore such a heavy burden alone with admirable strength.
The corridor leading into the Great Hall.
Before it stood the Empress Consort, squinting as she stared in their direction.
“I was told you’d be stepping away briefly, but I never imagined you’d return arm in arm with Her Imperial Majesty, Lady Renev of House Seiren.”
The Empress Consort sneered, as if challenging her to explain herself if she dared.
Outwardly, the Empress and the Empress Consort maintained a relationship that appeared perfectly cordial.
Yet everyone who mattered knew just how desperately each wished the other dead.
The Empress Consort had never been promised Renev’s allegiance—yet she’d unilaterally decided Renev was on her side. To her, this moment was nothing short of outright betrayal.
“It seems she lost her way while heading to the powder room. She was even on the verge of tears—so pitiful…”
The Empress cast a sympathetic glance at Renev and played along with the charade, and Renev joined in this trivial performance.
“Thank you once again, Your Imperial Majesty, for extending your hand to me in my moment of distress.”
The Empress Consort, momentarily at a loss for words and furrowing her brow, suddenly seized Renev’s hand.
“Well, considering you’ve been cooped up in the western frontier all this time, even your escort wouldn’t know the palace layout well enough to guide you properly.”
Her barb struck Sir Zen, who stood behind Renev.
Feeling a pang of sympathy for Zen, who’d been unfairly scolded out of nowhere, Renev gave him a subtle nod.
Zen, whose face had flushed crimson at the Empress Consort’s slight against House Seiren, quickly apologized upon catching Renev’s signal.
“My apologies, Your Highness.”
The Empress gently released Renev’s hand and offered a faint smile.
“Then enjoy your time, my lady.”
Renev also dipped into a slight curtsy.
“May Your Imperial Majesty have an enjoyable time as well.”
At that, the Empress Consort—who had been watching them with clear displeasure—yanked Renev’s hand.
Renev allowed herself to be dragged along like a dog on a leash, mentally replaying their earlier conversation.
‘I shall send you a signal when the time comes, Your Imperial Majesty.’
‘Very well. I don’t know what form it will take, but I shall await it with pleasure.’
“You must have gone quite far, judging by how long you were gone.”
As they entered the Great Hall, the Empress Consort’s attendants approached.
“Indeed! You said you’d only be gone a moment, yet you vanished for so long we nearly turned the entire palace upside down searching for you!”
The attendants showered Renev with reproaches, clearly trying to curry favor with the Empress Consort.
Renev responded only with a faint smile. She harbored too many old grudges against them to even exchange words.
“So she claims she got lost on her way to the powder room—our Lady Renev of House Seiren.”
“Perhaps we ought to put up a signpost pointing the way from the Great Hall to the powder room from now on?”
One of the maids echoed the Empress Consort’s words.
A cheerful atmosphere soon settled among them, and Renev simply endured it, anticipating the sweet thrill of her coming revenge.
“Oh, right—please gather the noble ladies. There’s news I couldn’t share earlier that I’d like to announce now.”
At the Empress Consort’s command, the maids scattered throughout the Great Hall. Meanwhile, as the Empress Consort led Renev toward the center of the hall, she glanced around.
“By the way, Prince Lucius is nowhere to be seen. Where on earth has the main character disappeared to?”
“Indeed. It’s not as if he could have gotten lost inside the palace…”
At Renev’s offhand remark, the Empress Consort turned to look at her.
Her expression clearly conveyed: however vast the palace might be, how absurd to think Lucius could lose his way in his own home.
“When he was younger, His Highness mentioned he sometimes got lost himself.”
Renev returned the earlier jab with a serene smile.
“I really should hold my tongue.”
Shaking her head as if conversation with Renev were hopeless, the Empress Consort turned to a nearby maid.
“Go fetch His Highness.”
“If I may ask, Your Highness—are you referring to the Third Prince?”
At the maid’s question, the Empress Consort’s lips twisted upward—a familiar sign she was on the verge of anger.
Third Prince.
It was the title for Lucius that the Empress Consort loathed most, as if it measured his distance from the throne.
“Your Highness, the noble ladies are arriving.”
Renev deliberately pointed toward the approaching group of ladies.
“Go find Prince Lucius at once!”
The Empress Consort snapped at the maid, then softened her expression to greet the noblewomen.
“You said you had an announcement for us, Your Highness? We’re truly curious what good tidings you bring.”
Several noblewomen’s eyes drifted to the hands clasped between the Empress Consort and Renev.
They likely already guessed what the Empress Consort intended to say—but they remained silent, waiting for her to speak first.
“As you all know, it’s been quite some time since Prince Lucius came of age, hasn’t it?”
At the Empress Consort’s opening remark, the noblewomen nodded in agreement.
Renev lowered her lashes and pretended to listen attentively to the Empress Consort’s speech.
After building up with maternal pride, the Empress Consort finally revealed the crucial matter.
“So, before it’s too late, we intend to proceed with his engagement—and the young lady in question is none other than…”
She turned her head toward Renev as she spoke.
In that instant, Renev—who had been swaying unsteadily—suddenly collapsed.
“…!”
“Oh my goodness! My lady, are you alright?”
“She was perfectly fine just a moment ago—why did she suddenly…? Could she have some chronic illness?”
“Someone call the palace physician!”
As the noblewomen panicked in confusion—
“My lady! Please wake up, Lady Seiren!”
Renev kept her eyes tightly shut, enduring even the Empress Consort’s sharp slaps to her cheeks.
“…Renev?”
Just then, Patrick, drawn by the commotion, spotted Renev.
“Renev! Wake up!”
Flustered, Patrick raised his voice, then subtly shoved the Empress Consort aside as if by accident and lifted Renev into his arms.
Renev, eyes half-lidded, barely suppressed a laugh.
“What’s all this commotion about?”
And then, at last, the Empress arrived. She stepped directly in front of Patrick, who held Renev in his arms.
“Has Lady Seiren collapsed?”
In the urgency of the moment, Patrick’s voice carried a hint of irritation as the Empress blocked his path.
“There’s no time to lose—please step aside.”
“Please forgive my son’s rudeness, Your Imperial Majesty.”
It was just as the Duke and Viscount Seiren moved to take care of Renev and hurried past the Empress.
“Hmm…”
Renev stirred slightly and slowly opened her eyes.
“Renev! Are you alright?”
“Daughter, are you okay?”
Ignoring her loudly worried family, Renev looked toward the Empress and gave her a subtle wink.
‘Now, Your Imperial Majesty.’
“You claimed it was nothing serious… Yet clearly, the young lady has been weighing heavily on your mind.”
Fortunately, the Empress caught Renev’s eye signal and spoke meaningfully.
“Your Imperial Majesty, what exactly has been troubling our daughter?”
The Duke Seiren asked with a puzzled look, and the Empress covered her mouth as if she’d made a slip.
“Oh dear… It seems Duke Seiren hasn’t heard the news yet.”
The Duke turned to Renev with an expression demanding to know what had happened.
Renev stepped down from Patrick’s arms, stood firmly on both feet, and replied.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t inform you sooner…”
She glanced briefly at the nobles who had gathered due to her sudden fainting, then continued.
“It seems the Emperor of Vaschker has suggested that Her Highness the Imperial Princess study abroad in Vaschker.”
The eyes of the assembled nobles—including Duke Seiren and Patrick—widened in shock.
They clearly had no idea that Vaschker’s imperial army was secretly stationed in both the south and the north.
“Having accidentally learned of Her Imperial Majesty’s private concern—that Her Highness, being frail, might fall ill on such a long journey…”
Renev paused there and observed the Empress Consort’s expression.
The Empress Consort looked utterly anxious, as if wondering what nonsense Renev was about to spout.
Suppressing a smirk, Renev’s eyes sought out another person who needed to hear this crucial revelation.
Just then, her gaze met Lucius, who was walking toward them. Renev gave him a wistful smile and continued.
“I volunteered to go in Her Highness’s stead.”
“…!”
The Duke and Viscount Seiren’s jaws dropped open.
The Empress Consort’s shoulders stiffened, her eyes bulging in disbelief.
Lucius, unaware of the prior context, frowned deeply in confusion.
But then a sudden thought struck her.
‘Could it be that the Empress Consort and Lucius already…’
Had they known all along that the Imperial Princess would be taken to Vaschker as a hostage?
If it were the Empress Consort, she surely had at least one spy planted beside the Empress.
Renev gave a silent nod to herself and quickly calculated her next move.
Outwardly, however, she maintained the pitiful expression of a devoted maiden sacrificing herself like Shim Cheong, who threw herself into the Indangsu river for three hundred sacks of rice.
“Renev Seiren. That you would go to such lengths for our frail Imperial Princess—I, as Empress of Paradium, shall never forget this kindness.”
The Empress sealed the performance with a light embrace of Renev.
Renev stole a glance at the Empress Consort, who was glaring at her with such intensity she could kill with her eyes alone.
The Empress Consort despised nothing more than plans unraveling beyond her control.
Merely ruining her scheme like this already counted as partial revenge.
But it wasn’t enough—not nearly enough to repay what she’d suffered.
And this incident soon reached the Emperor’s ears as well, just as he was urgently convening a council to address Vaschker’s proposal.
Inside the carriage returning to the Seiren manor, Renev felt as though she were sitting on a bed of thorns.
After all, the two Seiren men seated opposite her were glaring at her fiercely.
“Renev. That isn’t something you should have decided on your own.”
“Renev. Why?”
Even in the original story, before her regression, the First Imperial Princess had returned to the Paradium Empire in glory after three years of study abroad.
Of course, most nobles did not view her return favorably.
This was because she had stayed in the garden where the consorts of past Vaschker emperors resided.
Naturally, they assumed she must have served the notoriously promiscuous emperor during the night.
But the truth was different.
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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MANGA DISCUSSION
1 Comment
Chapter Comments (87)
Margrave!!!! That scoundrel barged into your house!!
Ikar, you should have waited until she kneed that scum
She is only interested in staying rich, happy and single
Inline Comments (1)
It felt familiar yet warm—somehow.
How an already 30 chapters in without anything significant happening?!
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VKotaku28
So is Reneb’s father a Marquis or a Duke? My understanding is that he is a margrave.