“…Your Highness, I am not in uniform now. You know why, right? If we dress and act like others, it will eventually be for the sake of the children.”
If people had already heard Robina call her Commander in public places, it might have been exposed.
But the Empress didn’t.
Perhaps because she was raising a child of similar age, she understood Lucia’s situation…
“Huh? I’m also wearing a dress, aren’t I?”
“… ”
The Empress blinked with eyes so pure that it seemed like a joyful flower garden had opened behind her.
‘…It was a coincidence.’
Lucia had never been confident in persuading others, but seeing that even Vernon’s words hadn’t worked, she thought she had to say it outright.
“What if you show the gift you just gave to the children?”
‘Frankly, they probably still don’t know what it is, but they’ll understand from the shock.’
Even after saying this, if she doesn’t get it, then just give up.
“Oh my! That to the children? Maybe I should sew instead? What a vicious question, Commander… Ah! That’s it! This is a gathering of parents! What should I do, giving such a risqué Shimizu!”
Luckily, or so it seemed, Empress Robina’s face flushed, and she looked restless.
“Commander! What should I do going forward? If Charl hates me more because of today, then…sniff…”
Empress Robina started to cry again.
Although she had been a bad mother at one point and was now regretfully trying her best for her daughter…
Still, she had chosen the wrong counselor.
The only answer in Lucia’s head was to just let it be.
“Just let it be…”
“It’s an open palace, Mother.”
As Lucia was about to spit out the cruel words unconsciously, suddenly a young man’s voice rang out.
There was only one person who could call her mother, Crown Prince Airen, so Lucia wasn’t all that surprised at his identity.
“An open palace? Crown Prince, what are you talking about…?”
“Yes, Mother. Isn’t this a gathering about the children’s first outing?”
“Oh, so you mean…”
“Exactly. No parent would object to showing the children around the palace and guiding them.”
The Crown Prince explained as if talking to a child, smiling brightly.
Watching this, Lucia was observing the two with their ageless beauty, despite their motherson relationship.
Once the Crown Prince finished, color suddenly returned to the Empress’s face.
Then, she patted her son with a cottonlike touch, as if she were a little child throwing a tantrum.
“Crown Prince! Why didn’t you tell me such a solution existed!”
Even though I told you, you didn’t listen. Mother. Was that fleeting, weary face she glimpsed a figment of her imagination?
“Alright, alright, let’s go inside together. Team Leader Lucia! No, Mrs. Lucia, right? We’re fellow parents!”
‘Ah, so that’s why she called me Mrs.’
In any case, she was fortunate.
When the Empress pulled Lucia’s hand with a flowery smile, Aileen observed the two of them from behind and gave a small smile.
Back to the luxurious banquet hall.
Despite her dramatic exit, Lucia noticed the women already prepping for departure as she returned like a boomerang to the hall.
The Empress hastily said, observing these women,
“Wait, sit down for a moment. I’ll apologize for the gifts. But the effects are as remarkable as those sachets…!”
“Your Majesty Empress Robina, please proceed.”
Lucia had a knack for steering the Empress back on track whenever she tried to go off course.
“Ah, yes! Thank you, Mrs. Lucia? Then I will suggest a picnic location.”
No one reacted to her statement.
Rather, they looked at Empress Robina with skeptical faces, wondering what she would say this time.
But then,
“The location is the Imperial Palace!”
Their indifferent faces lit up one by one at the unexpected location.
The nouveau riche noblewomen were extremely excited, clapping their hands.
Among them, Mera raised her hand and asked,
“Your Majesty Empress! I am Countess Mera Literin. Pardon my impudence, but does that mean our children can also enter the legendary garden, usually reserved for the imperial family?”
The eyes of the parents widened at her question.
The place had been rumored to be a secret garden only the imperial family had used since the kingdom era.
“You asked a great question. Absolutely! Not only that, I’ll also arrange introductions to various facilities within the palace! Any other suggestions?”
Only now had a proper conversation occurred, and the Empress’s face was innocently clear and radiant.
While the highranking noblewomen still frowned, they couldn’t hide the curiosity appearing on their faces.
“Lady Serdin here. How about inviting a trending theater actor for the children?”
“Trending theater…?”
The Empress blinked her eyes, clearly unaware.
However, Countess Mera agreed with Lady Serdin.
“Oh my! Lady Serdin, your children like them too? It’s a craze among our kids. The tickets are so hard to get.”
“True. So it’s… impossible?”
While overhearing their conversation, the Empress then gestured grandly toward her lavishly staged area,
“Lady Serdin. Though I’ve taken a break lately, nothing is impossible for me in that realm.”
She was once the unmatched star of the stage, after all.
The ongoing flow of suggestions concerning theater, palace architecture, and departmental introductions led to a much more congenial atmosphere than before.
However, a highranking noblewoman who had been silently observing finally spoke.
“I am Aileen of the House of Terin. Your Majesty, the theater is fine, but the rest could inconvenience everyone working in the palace. You also can’t leave this palace.”
Her point was whether the Empress had the authority to suggest such things while in her current state of seclusion.
At this clear provocation and fact, the noblewomen who had been lively in conversation began to cautiously look away.
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.”
