If I became the Empress, I could eliminate all those who mock me!
Helene clenched her fists tightly, not forgetting to pretend to be pitiable.
“Do you realize what you’ve done? With your thoughtless behavior, you endangered the health of our guests. Will you pay for your crime with your life?”
“Please spare us!”
“Holy woman! Please save us. Tell them we didn’t do it with bad intentions…!”
Frightened by the Empress’s icy outcry, the maids crawled towards Helene.
Helene almost kicked one of the maids clutching at her hem and took a deep breath inside. She began to pant heavily.
‘I will never apologize. I won’t submit to the Empress’s words.’
Helene had a few tricks up her sleeve to get out of such situations.
One of them was this.
Hyperventilation.
“Ha, hah…!”
“Helene, calm down. Helene!”
“Enri… me….”
As she stiffened and trembled, Enrique immediately rushed to embrace her.
‘To think it’s come to this.’
While the Empress might take everything else, she couldn’t take Enrique away.
Enrique was Helene’s greatest asset.
Something the Empress could never have, even if she were resurrected.
Helene clutched at Enrique’s coat and shed tears.
“Everyone back off. I’m taking the holy woman to another room.”
“Are you leaving without finishing this discussion?”
“If there’s a discussion to finish… the Empress can take care of it.”
With the Emperor’s cold command, the banquet dissolved completely.
The nobles hurried to secret meetings, eager to share what they had seen and heard, so no one stayed in the banquet hall any longer.
Helene buried her face in Enrique’s chest and forced a smile.
The Empress may have won the battle, but not the war.
She consoled herself.
But she didn’t feel good about it.
“How did it go, Your Majesty?”
After the banquet ended not so pleasantly, I returned to the Empress’s palace. I was warmly greeted by Lady Bertolt.
I couldn’t help but embrace the loyal and capable lady.
“You’ve worked hard.”
“Ah, it seems things went well!”
“There are things I’d like to talk about, but first, I need to introduce someone who will be staying in the Empress’s palace starting today.”
Indeed.
“The ones who whispered to the lily court maids that ‘the theme of this banquet is fruits.’
The person who bribed Sophia, a maid of the Emperor’s court.
The one who never revealed herself but orchestrated everything from behind.
That was none other than my housekeeper, Susan Bertolt.
I held the hand of the immensely capable Lady Bertolt tightly and spoke to the boy.
“Meruem. This is the person I trust the most. This is Susan, my housekeeper. From now on, you can call her Lady Bertolt.”
Meruem walked silently beside me as we returned to the Empress’s palace. He discreetly supported me whenever I slightly stumbled, helping me to return safely.
“And Susan. Meruem is the only remaining brother of the Emperor of Kwan. Treat him with the respect befitting his royal status. Assign him a sunny room and arrange for a tailor and shoemaker tomorrow to fit him with clothes from Nyx.”
“I will do so.”
Susan looked quite perplexed but refrained from asking any questions.
She probably thought it was late and that we could talk tomorrow.
‘Honestly… I feel like I might collapse any moment.’
I was at my limit.
Exhaustion was weighing heavily on my eyelids.
If I took a bath now, I probably wouldn’t be able to get out of the bathtub.
“Your Majesty, you’re back.”
“Ah, Derek…”
Just then, a knight with ash-grey eyes appeared.
Someone to catch me if I fell.
Seeing a trustworthy knight, I let go of the tension I was holding.
“Your Majesty!”
As I staggered greatly, Derek moved to catch me… Wait, this doesn’t feel like Derek’s hold.
“……You’ve been unsteady since earlier.”
“……?”
“Stupid or what. If you felt like losing consciousness, you should have asked to be carried earlier. Why bother walking on your own?”
This blunt sarcasm was obviously not Derek.
Staring blankly at Meruem, who was now speaking informally, unlike at the banquet, I burst into laughter.
“Ah, this suits you much better. Pretending to be polite doesn’t suit you at all.”
Derek’s expression was flustered.
It was usually his job, but now he felt as if it had been snatched away.
I knew I had to consider Derek’s feelings, but right now, I was just too, too tired. I couldn’t even muster the strength to speak anymore.
“Where’s the bedroom?”
“I’ll lead you. Please hand her over to me.”
“Where is the bedroom? Don’t make me repeat myself.”
Lady Bertolt’s whisper, ‘He is royalty from Kwan,’ faintly reached me from afar.
And that was it.
I lost consciousness.
In my dream, I held a dagger, preparing to stab Meruem’s heart.
And he, now fully grown, opened his arms, willingly accepting death.
After Being Cheated On, She Picked Up a Treasure (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The husband I married on a whim had been secretly in love with me for a long time.
On the day when Jun Shao finally obtained the imperial decree for her marriage, Lan Qu, the person she had admired for six years, defied the decree and ran away.
Her gentleness and devotion, her promise of a lifetime together, were all disregarded by him. Instead, he dreamed of entering the palace to serve the Emperor’s sister as a sixth-rank attendant.
News of this incident spread throughout the capital, and the alleys in front of and behind the Lan mansion were crowded with people who came to watch the commotion.
Jun Shao should have been embarrassed and angry.
But someone stepped in to protect her dignity.
The figure was in a miserable state, yet still possessed an undeniable elegance and handsomeness.
The young lord struggled to climb the wall of the Lan mansion and shouted to her, “If he won’t marry you, I will!”
So, Jun Shao took advantage of the situation and married the person.
She thought the young lord did it to save the Lan family from the crime of defying the imperial decree, but never imagined that from beginning to end, what he coveted was her.
*
After the wedding, Jun Shao felt like she was living in a dream.
Her Wife-master was as beautiful as a fairy in a painting, skilled in the six arts, well-versed in poetry and literature, capable of being gentle and attentive, and also grand and dignified. Most importantly, she was the only one in his heart and eyes.
Jun Shao didn’t know how Lan Shiwu, as a illegitimate son without a father and blessed with beauty, had managed to preserve his purity, recklessly escape, and use his last ounce of strength to ruin his own reputation, all because of his love for her, just to stand before her.
She could only see him gazing at her with eyes full of love, and when she bestowed a name upon him, his eyes shone like stars.
“You have come to me like a weary bird perching on a branch. I shall call you A Qi.”
