The Empress' Scandalous Paramour - Chapter 4

They said the saint was the emperor’s mistress.

From the saint’s perspective, it must have been a mockery of the fact that I wasn’t loved by my husband, but from my standpoint, I couldn’t have been more grateful.

“We must send them back immediately. It’s a ploy to create malicious rumors.”

“Hm? Why send them back? That would be a waste.”

“Yes, I’ll chase them out right away, even if I have to beat them with a sti- What?”

Madame Berthold was aghast. The maids lined up beside her were equally dumbfounded.

“Forgive me, Your Majesty, but they can’t be real doctors. They must be imposters pretending or apprentices at best. They’ve sent young men to tarnish Your Majesty’s reputation.”

As the head lady-in-waiting, Madame Berthold was the first to regain her composure. I glanced at her face, overflowing with concern, and shrugged.

“I know that too.”

“!”

“It’s just… I feel like I’ve been living too foolishly all this time. They say I jumped because the emperor promised to come but didn’t show up.”

As I mentioned the incident, Madame Berthold’s eyes reddened again. Tired of the crying, I hastily added:

“So I’m going to stop doing things to please the emperor.”

To be honest, I didn’t even know what the emperor looked like, but I spouted nonsense anyway.

Where in the world is there a lion that just lets its prey go?

Especially when it’s a beautifully packaged lunch that’s been delivered, why give it up?

And a moment later.

“We’ve come to bring joy to Her Majesty the Empress!”

I couldn’t hide my disappointment as I looked at the men lined up before me.

‘They’re all just chaff.’

Their exteriors were pretty enough. But that didn’t stir any emotion in me. Faces age and wither eventually, don’t they?

And humans age so quickly.

‘What I need is yang energy!’

But sucking the yang energy from those things would barely extend my lifespan by an hour or two at most.

Feeling irritated, I gestured towards Derek, who looked just as displeased as I was.

“Lord Noert.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Those things, how should we drive them out to upset the saint?”

Since I was in a bad mood, I needed to make the saint who sent such things as a ‘gift’ feel unpleasant too.

I thought devilishly and tilted my chin in displeasure. As I did so, the fox fur shawl draped over my shoulders slipped down.

Derek, standing behind me, calmly pulled the shawl back up before quietly speaking.

“How about beating them and driving them out?”

“Hmm, well. That’s not very interesting.”

I had just said I would try to forget the emperor and let men in, but now I was being capricious and ordering them to be driven out. Yet none of the confidants in this room showed any sign that this was strange.

They would simply do as I wished.

As I pondered, my eyes sparkled mischievously.

“Strip them all.”

“Y-Your Majesty! What are you doing?!”

The fake doctors cried out in alarm, but that was none of my concern.

“Hm, and we should decorate them prettily too. Put ribbons in their hair.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“When it’s all done…”

I was giving orders in a soft voice, but then I suddenly wiped the smile from my face.

“Send them to the Imperial Palace. Politely convey that I’m sharing the saint’s gift because it’s too precious to keep to myself.”

Let’s see both of you eat crow!

* * *

“What did Her Majesty the Empress send?”

“M-men, Your Excellency. Exactly seven of them… but their attire is most peculiar. They’re wearing colorful dresses, with ribbons tied in their hair…”

A moment later, at the Imperial Palace.

Elbert, the head chamberlain who was having another perfect day as always, encountered bizarrely strange news.

It was a common occurrence for the Empress to send messages to the Imperial Palace almost daily, and it could be ignored easily enough. Whether she sent letters with messengers or medicines and gifts, His Majesty the Emperor had given strict orders not to accept them and to send them back.

Therefore, Elbert’s duty was to ignore any contact from the Empress, pretending not to have heard it.

However, he had never received instructions on how to handle ‘people’ sent as ‘gifts’.

‘The Empress has cleverly found a loophole.’

Wiping his shiny forehead with a lavender-scented handkerchief, Elbert pondered for a moment.

His Majesty had just finished his official duties and was taking a short rest. If he brought up the Empress’s matter now, it would surely give him a headache…

But his deliberation was brief.

The person who brought the ‘gift’ from the Empress’s palace bowed politely and relayed the Empress’s message.

“Her Majesty the Empress said she couldn’t monopolize the precious talents sent by the Saint. Deeply concerned for His Majesty’s health, who must be very tired from attending to state affairs, she said she wanted to share the gift, even knowing that the Imperial Palace already has excellent court physicians.”

In essence, it meant, ‘Look what your mistress has done.’

‘The Empress has never done anything like this before…’

The Empress had a bad temper, but it was confined to her own palace. She had been desperate to gain the Emperor’s favor, so she had turned a blind eye to everything related to the Saint.

Until now, that is.

‘This is beyond my ability to handle.’

Elbert, breaking out in a cold sweat, had no choice but to knock on the door of the study.

* * *

Inside the brightly sunlit study.

The young Emperor of the Great Holy Nix Empire was having a brief tea time with his advisory board, consisting of eight outstanding talents.

Given the Emperor’s strong dislike for idle chatter during work hours, the advisors didn’t even breathe loudly when reviewing documents.

The only time they could engage in small talk was at four o’clock in the afternoon.

But today, even though that precious time had arrived, the advisors couldn’t say a word.

The Emperor’s mood had plummeted after seeing the strange ‘gift’ sent by the Empress.

“What do you think this means?”

The Emperor spoke slowly, furrowing his brow.

The afternoon sunlight slid down his pale golden hair. His eyes, which appeared purple in the shade and amethyst in the light, flickered with clear anger.

“……”

The advisors remained silent together, as if honey had stuck to their mouths.

The Emperor’s appearance was so delicate that at first glance, one might mistake him for a noble lady, which had led to much teasing during his days as a prince. Many had speculated, based on his looks alone, that his personality must be gentle and weak.

However, the advisors present in this room knew better.

They knew how ruthless the Emperor could be.

Their Emperor, Yert Lu Nix, was by no means of a gentle disposition.

“Ahem, if I may speak. In my humble opinion… Isn’t the Empress unwell? She has been suffering from a fever for a long time… so…”

“She’s dissatisfied that I don’t visit? So she’s staging a protest?”

“I beg your pardon.”

After one advisor courageously spoke up, the study became even colder. Despite the fireplace being lit, goosebumps rose on their arms.

Noticing this, another advisor swallowed hard before opening his mouth.

“Her Majesty the Empress has a unique constitution that responds neither to holy power nor magic. She falls ill frequently, and since holy power cannot heal her, Duke Achil’s worries are great.”

At first, it seemed completely unrelated to the current situation.

But who were they if not the Emperor’s razor-sharp advisors?

The youngest among them, the 8th advisor Caleb, quickly picked up the thread.

“That’s why whenever the Saint goes on national dispatches, she always seeks out precious medicinal herbs and good doctors for the Empress’s health. Where else could we find someone with such a kind heart?”

They knew well how much the Emperor cherished the Saint.

As proof, in this Holy Nix Empire, no one dared to refer to the Saint as ‘the Emperor’s mistress’. The Saint was simply the Saint.

His Majesty the Emperor’s childhood friend. The one who saved him five years ago when His Majesty was still a prince, suffering from demonic temptation.

In reality, she was the Emperor’s advisor, influencing various policies.

She even attended political meetings in place of the frail Empress, offering all sorts of advice.

That’s why she even held the title of ‘Holy Compass’.

How could anyone dare use the derogatory term ‘mistress’ for such an esteemed person?

In fact, if it weren’t for the Saint’s birth as a ‘Quid’ – a minority race considered even lower than slaves and untouchables – she could have become the Empress herself.

“The Empress is being too dismissive of the Saint’s kindness.”

“I think so too.”

“With the summit approaching and the palace still in turmoil over unapprehended intruders, how could she…”

“Even if she’s completely unaware of the palace situation…”

Seeing the Emperor’s reaction wasn’t negative, the advisors began to defend the Saint and criticize the Empress one after another.

The Emperor listened silently before slowly raising his hand.

“How long has the Empress been suffering from this fever?”

“It’s been over a fortnight.”

“That’s quite long for a cold.”

“Yes. She might not… make it through this winter.”

The last words came from James, the chief among the advisors.

Until now, James had been observing the situation with a somewhat worried attitude.

It didn’t matter much how the Emperor and Empress got along.

After all, it would be more surprising to see a political marriage where the couple actually got along well.

However, as the First Advisor, James had a duty to offer counsel to maintain the balance of the country’s political structure.

“You must secure an heir through the Empress, Your Majesty.”

“……”

“If not, even for a Holy Empire, the power of the temple will become too strong. The balance will be upset. We all know the Saint is as close to an angel incarnate as one can be, but politics is a different matter, isn’t it?”

“…You’re right.”

After a long silence, the Emperor finally nodded, rubbing his forehead. There was nothing wrong with James’s words.

“Send word to the Empress that I will visit her tonight.”

However, a couple of hours later.

The Emperor and his advisors were once again shocked, even more so than before.

The Empress’s reply to the Emperor’s message was very short and concise:

It was a clear rejection, without any attempt at tactful phrasing.

*

Save yourself from story hunger — the novel below will blow your mind!

“I’ve given birth to two children for you, yet you still think about him.

Was I nothing but his substitute to you from beginning to end?”

Synopsis:

Meng Huan, a scumbag who has dated countless girlfriends,  transmigrates to a female-dominated country.

Day 1: Whether it’s female dominance or not doesn’t matter. The beauties here are passionate and amorous. Isn’t it easier to date them than in modern times?

Day 2: After a night, Meng Huan discovers the differences in the female-dominated world. Men here actually have chastity locks and menstrual cycles. This hinders his ability to perform, damn it!

Day 3: What’s wrong with sleeping around? I don’t want you to marry me. I’m meant to be a playboy. I don’t care about male virtues… What? You want to drown me in a pig cage? Marry, I’ll marry!

Day N: Meng Huan inexplicably vomits and receives the shocking news of his life… He’s pregnant.

_____

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