The Empress' Scandalous Paramour - Chapter 10
“… It’s still strange, this kind of thing.”
As he approached closer, a subtle yet pleasant fragrance emanated from the woman.
Feeling his heart sink, Mereum hastily pulled away and roughly rubbed his lips.
“Eldaim. Maintain the subspace until that woman wakes up.”
– I will. Are you going back right away?
“I have to.”
To a place where no one welcomes him.
Mereum removed the bracelet he was wearing and placed it next to the woman. And that was the end of it.
He took a step forward without looking back.
It didn’t matter who the woman was.
After all, he was destined to return here soon anyway.
‘We’ll meet again.’
At that time, he would have to ask for her name.
For the sole reason that there was at least one person in this world who wished for him to live, Mereum, for the first time in his life, was not afraid of living.
* * *
“Gasp.”
How many times had I repeated falling asleep and waking up, tossing and turning?
Unable to overcome the drowsiness that seemed to grip my consciousness and pull it down, I floundered in the dream for quite some time.
When I finally came to my senses, the boy had already disappeared.
All that remained was my now clean fur coat and a golden bracelet.
“What? Looking closely, this is a magic tool, isn’t it?”
There was once a time when magic was as natural as breathing in the human world. During the era of the Great Magic Empire when the entire continent was unified as one country.
Back then, various magic tools were developed and distributed, and magic was so common that even street urchins could use magic tools.
But not anymore.
‘This must be at least 1000 years old.’
As I examined the bracelet, turning it this way and that, I muttered the ancient characters inscribed on the inside. Then, with a hum, the bracelet began to glow, fulfilling its duty as a magic tool.
“Oh. It’s a holy power barrier.”
Ordinary barriers were used to block physical force, magical attacks, or elemental attacks. But this one prevents holy power from touching the wearer.
Unless it’s holy power strong enough to destroy this magic tool, most holy power wouldn’t be able to threaten me.
“To leave such a precious thing behind. He could have used it himself.”
I clicked my tongue, but I had no intention of refusing it. A item that prevents holy power from touching me? Coincidentally, it’s exactly what I need.
‘As long as I live as the Empress, I’ll have to visit that damned temple once or twice. To pray for the peace of the empire or whatever. Plus, I’ll have to meet the priests.’
The only holy power that could surpass this item would be Enrique’s.
But what are the chances that Enrique would notice that the bracelet is a magic tool and destroy it?
‘None. In this era, the concept of magic tools doesn’t even exist.’
Since I received something precious, I should treat him well if we meet again.
Humming a tune, I stretched. As I did so, I stepped out of the elemental king’s subspace and came to an abrupt halt.
‘Huh, why is it dawn already?’
How much time has passed?!
* * *
The cold sweat running down my spine proved my senses weren’t wrong.
“Your Majesty the Empress!!!”
The soldiers of the Achillo family guarding the Empress’s palace were frantically searching for me.
Discovered by them, I was escorted back to the palace with utmost care, where Madame Berthold was waiting for me with a face that hadn’t slept a wink.
“Your… Majesty.”
Derek, who had gone out to search for me even in the forest around the imperial palace, returned late after receiving the news, looking absolutely terrible.
“I’m sorry, everyone.”
I definitely asked to be woken up in an hour, right? But that damn elemental ignored my words. I shouldn’t have trusted elementals after all.
Such words should only be said internally. Unless I want to be suspected of being mentally unsound.
I awkwardly smiled as I received a doctor’s examination, and afterwards, I had to listen to all sorts of worried scolding from the people of the Empress’s palace surrounding me.
“Where on earth were you? I was so… so worried…!”
“Well, I fell asleep. I don’t know where, but I cried in some empty room and then…”
“You cried? What, what made you cry! Who made our Majesty cry!!!”
The maid, Charlotte, raised her voice in indignation. Only then did I recall how I came to meet that boy.
‘My goodness, I completely forgot about Enrique.’
Seeing the bloodline of the Sun God here was so shocking that I forgot about it.
I scratched my cheek, feeling a bit embarrassed.
“I saw the Emperor.”
“……!”
“He was with the Saint.”
“Your Majesty……”
Charlotte’s eyes immediately welled up with tears. Madame Berthold also wore a devastated expression.
Looking around at them, I remembered that there was something I needed to say.
“Why didn’t you report to me about the summit meeting?”
As I asked calmly, Madame Berthold fell to her knees before me. The other maids also lowered their bodies, following the head maid’s lead.
“We apologize, Your Majesty. It was one of the reasons for that… incident, so we couldn’t bring ourselves to… tell you. After Your Majesty lost your memories and seemed happy, we thought we should tell you, but we kept our mouths shut, thinking just one more day…”
“Indeed, the Empress’s palace is not at all prepared to welcome distinguished guests.”
“……Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Has the Saint always presided over the court banquets?”
Madame Berthold answered with silence.
I let out a low sigh and extended my hand.
“Stand up, Susan. I understand well enough that you didn’t speak for my sake. But if this happens again, I won’t be able to trust you, Susan.”
“I’m deeply, deeply sorry.”
“So, will you tell me? How strong is the Saint’s influence in the imperial palace now? What is the position of the Empress’s palace? What are the future duties of the Empress? How much of what I should do has the Saint taken away? Tell me everything.”
Lifespan and vitality are the same thing.
Someone with little time left to live cannot be energetic, can they?
Until yesterday, I struggled even to walk, but today I was different.
Thanks to absorbing a lot of that boy’s yang energy, there was strength in my voice and my movements were quick.
‘I should resolve this now.’
After hearing the story, I learned that the summit meeting would be held in about 31 days.
Because the Empress had been bedridden with a “heat cold” for a long time, the paperwork hadn’t been completed, so it hadn’t been decided who would take charge of preparing the banquet.
No matter how much the Saint had presided over all the banquets until now, it was proper to contact the Empress’s palace for permission.
“We received an inquiry from the Saint’s side about how to handle the banquet, but I pretended not to see it.”
“Well done, Susan. Thanks to that, we’ll be able to preside over the banquet.”
“Yes, that’s… Pardon?”
Madame Berthold’s eyes widened. I giggled and continued kindly.
“Why are you so surprised? It’s the principle for the Empress’s palace to preside over the banquet, isn’t it?”
“That’s true, but…”
“Of course, we shouldn’t overdo it, Susan. You’ll help a lot, won’t you?”
“I will help with all my heart, Your Majesty!”
Madame Berthold cried out, overcome with emotion.
Honestly, being the head maid of the Empress’s palace meant she was at the center of immense power. Yet, until now, she probably lived quietly without ever being able to assert herself.
But from now on, things will be different.
I have always been a generous ruler to loyal subjects.
It was only right that my loyal subjects should enjoy as much as I do.
“I’ll have to attend the royal council meeting tomorrow. Father will be at the meeting too, won’t he?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“It’s certain that the fact that I’ve lost some of my memories hasn’t leaked out to anyone except those who can be trusted, right?”
“That’s correct. The Duke doesn’t know either.”
“Good. Keep it that way from now on.”
Madame Berthold looked at me with eyes that mixed joy and confusion. It must seem quite strange that I disappeared and came back, and now I’m saying I’ll preside over the banquet.
To prevent her from suspecting me for changing too suddenly, I collapsed my rigidly straight back and sank into the sofa. Then, in a much more relaxed tone, I whispered.
“I won’t give up my rights anymore. Let the Saint have the Emperor’s love. But I can’t lose my authority as the Empress. Because this is all I have left now……”
I made my voice tremble slightly, creating an utterly sorrowful atmosphere. Maids sniffled here and there, and I held Madame Berthold’s hand tightly, patting it.
And the next day.
I went to the royal council meeting.
I planned to arrive about an hour before the meeting started, take my seat early, and create an atmosphere to gain the upper hand.
“Ah, Enri!”
However, I had to stop in front of the meeting room door.
The wheedling voice flowing through the crack in the door made its intention clear.
Even the imperial guards protecting the Emperor exchanged glances with a flustered look.
“The Emperor is truly busy with public and private affairs.”
As I muttered that expressionlessly, the imperial guard avoided my gaze as if ashamed.
“How… how could they in the meeting room.”
Derek, standing behind me, gritted his teeth bleakly.
I agreed with him as well.
“Judging by your reactions, this wasn’t the first or second time.”
Should I fling open this door right now and strangle those bastards?
My fists clenched tightly. Although I tried to be sarcastic, the feeling of the ground sinking beneath my feet wasn’t easy to shake off.
How should I express this complicated feeling?
I was Enrique’s wife who had married him. Even though I had become human, I was still his wife.
I felt sorry for Leonarda who had lived without receiving even the minimum respect as a wife, and I felt so wronged for my past self who had loved such a bastard that I could go mad.
Right at that moment.
“What is the Empress doing here?”
The door was flung open, and Enrique appeared with a disheveled appearance.
Over his shoulder, a woman with pink hair was staring with round eyes, just like before.
Ex-husband Wants Reconciliation
One-line summary: Chasing the wife to the crematorium (making an effort to attract someone who has become indifferent), the female lead doesn’t look back, the second male lead takes the position.
Intro:
To repay the kindness of the older generation, Su Mu crossed into a female-dominated world and became a live-in daughter-in-law of the Yan family, single-handedly saving the Yan family from fire and water.
But her husband, Yan Jiyue, the eldest son of the Yan family, treated her with sarcasm and never showed her a good face.
It wasn’t until after Su Mu’s death that this pampered and arrogant young master shed a few fake tears and pretended to want to die for love.
This life’s kindness was enough. If there was a next life, she would definitely kick Yan Jiyue away.
Who knew that the heavens would be so kind as to allow her to be reborn, returning to the time when she had just married into the Yan family.
Su Mu glanced at the Yan eldest son, who still spoke coldly to her, and threw a divorce letter in front of him.
“Let’s divorce!”
***
Yan Jiyue never imagined that he would be reborn. He happily went to find Su Mu, wanting to make up for the mistakes he had made in his ignorant youth.
Wasn’t the reason the heavens allowed him to be reborn to let him reconcile with Su Mu?
But when he pushed open the door to Su Mu’s room, the person lying on the bed was another man.
Su Mu’s personal attendant, Xie Yi.
Yan Jiyue hated him so much that his teeth itched. In front of Su Mu, Xie Yi was a gentle and considerate whisperer of sweet nothings, but in reality, he was vicious-hearted and deliberately sabotaged their husband and wife relationship.
In the previous life, it was he who secretly hid in Su Mu’s coffin and committed suicide, stealing a step ahead of him to be buried with Su Mu.
Yan Jiyue’s eyes were filled with hatred as he cursed, “What kind of thing are you? Your background is lowly, what right do you have to occupy Su Mu?”
Xie Yi looked at the sleeping Su Mu and no longer pretended to be a whisperer of sweet nothings.
He proudly stuck out his belly, “I have the right because my belly is capable of giving the Wife-master a daughter.”
***
Yan Jiyue was consumed with jealousy. He spread rumors that Xie Yi had once been branded with the mark of a “harlot” on his chest.
But on the night Xie Yi cut off the flesh bearing that mark, Su Mu suddenly realized something was amiss.
“How did you know the exact moment I was poisoned? And why did you show up a month early?”
Xie Yi remained silent, blood from his wound soaking through his robes. His sapphire eyes brimmed with anguish – or was it just a flawless act?
Between a once-arrogant husband now seeking redemption, and a gentle soul willing to die for her – who truly held the darkest secrets? And could it be that Su Mu and Yan Jiyue weren’t the only ones given a second chance at life…?
[Reading Guide]
1. True divorce, chasing the wife to the crematorium, the female lead doesn’t look back, the male lead is Xie Yi.
2. The ex-husband did not cheat, he just realized too late and didn’t realize that he liked the female lead.
_____
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