🔊 TTS Settings
~Chapter 21~
You’re the Only One Allowed to Call My Name
Regina rolled her eyes as she buried her cheek against Conrad’s firm chest.
There would probably be a morning meeting hosted by the emperor in Fredericks, too.
The nobles attending that meeting would never imagine their emperor got married overnight in such a wild way.
So Conrad couldn’t just skip the meeting and blame it on his honeymoon. If he missed it, it would be pure neglect of duty.
Regina could already guess what people would say in a meeting without the emperor present.
As Regina tried to twist away and get out of his arms for real, he let her go easily.
She put on her gown, which had fallen to the floor, and tied the sash.
“I can’t have people calling me a wicked woman who dragged the emperor into the bedroom and won’t let him out, not on my first day as empress.”
“Hm. I don’t think that sounds so bad,” Conrad murmured, as if considering the idea.
“After all, history always understands an emperor who’s crazy about a woman. No matter what he does.”
“Then you remember how history recorded those kinds of emperors, don’t you?” Regina said with a small smile.
“What does it matter? History is written by the winner anyway. There’s no way bad things will be written about me if I win,” Conrad replied, full of confidence.
Regina smiled calmly at his certainty.
“That may be true, but if you’re an emperor, you should care a little about your reputation,” she said, handing him his robe as if not willing to let a single wrinkle slide.
“So stop making excuses and get up, Your Majesty.”
Conrad frowned hard at the title, clearly not happy about it.
He grabbed her slender wrist, and Regina lost her balance and tumbled onto Conrad.
Her red hair spilled down and their lips touched.
Surprised by the sudden closeness, Regina quickly tried to pull away, but his strong arms were already holding her around the waist.
“Your Majesty? That’s not the kind of nickname a passionate lover who just had a stolen wedding would use,” he teased.
“…But there’s no one listening…”
“Even if no one’s listening, the act has to be perfect. Didn’t I tell you to call me Conrad?” he said, sounding a little sulky.
Regina was surprised at his tone, which sounded genuinely disappointed.
‘Aren’t we just contractually married?’
If that was the case, she only needed to use his name when necessary. But why did he seem honestly hurt?
As Regina hesitated, she looked into Conrad’s blue eyes, which were staring at her intently, as if waiting for her answer.
She could tell that if she let herself get swept up by him, her life wouldn’t go the way she imagined.
But Conrad didn’t pressure her.
Here, with no one else around, if Regina called his name, it would mean admitting their relationship was real.
Royal names—especially an emperor’s—weren’t supposed to be spoken so casually.
But for some reason, he wanted it.
He knew she wasn’t serious, but it still made him upset.
Conrad decided to push her gently and whispered sweetly,
“You’re the only one I’ve ever allowed to call my name, Regina.”
“If it’s not you, then no one else can call me by my name.”
“So as empress, shouldn’t you take responsibility for the emperor’s name?”
Regina blinked in confusion, thinking about their contract and her new duties. Almost unconsciously, she nodded.
Conrad chuckled at her answer and didn’t hesitate to kiss her red lips.
Their long, deep kiss lasted until the palace attendant, who had been summoned, finally came to the bedroom looking for them.
At the Grand Empress’s palace, the lights stayed on late into the night.
They’d gotten the news of Conrad leaving the temple far too late. Chloe bit her lip hard.
“Did he really sign the marriage contract?”
“They say the high priest was with him, so it must be true.”
Chloe’s hands gripped the arms of her chair. She tried to keep calm, but her face only grew stiffer.
‘If that’s true, I’ll lose control of the finances…’
Controlling the palace’s treasury was a power always given to the empress, but since Conrad never had a consort before, Chloe held onto it and refused to let go.
Pro-emperor nobles protested, but Chloe always argued with tradition and law to keep control.
“I can’t hand it over now.”
Chloe started to plan how to keep the finances from slipping away.
‘First, I’ll need to break that girl’s spirit.’
Chloe remembered how bold Regina had seemed at the last council meeting.
“She really is too daring.”
With no parents, Regina couldn’t be bullied easily, especially in front of the other nobles.
‘But it’s different now.’
Conrad was too busy with Regina to pay attention to anything else. As soon as Chloe heard about their hasty marriage, she sent letters to the nobles—everyone but the emperor’s own faction would now head to the imperial palace. If they didn’t, she’d make them.
“Has Duke Messer arrived yet?”
The nervous maids shrank at her question.
“No word yet, ma’am.”
“Tell him he must stop by here, no matter how late it is.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Later, just as Conrad and Regina entered the bedroom, Chloe finally got to meet Duke Messer.
Their tense voices carried late into the night.
As soon as Conrad left the bedroom, the nobles’ complaints poured in.
He ignored them all and walked away without looking back.
Regina, however, reacted differently to the news.
“So many people are rude to His Majesty,” she murmured.
It was Conrad and his knights who had fought monsters at the border to protect the empire.
“If they understood who was really saving their sorry lives, they wouldn’t act so boldly…”
Maybe because she’d been treated the same way before, Regina felt a cold ache in her chest.
The attendant, who’d been reporting to her, hesitated at the icy edge in her voice.
Regina quickly regained her composure and asked,
“How about the Grand Empress’s palace?”
“Duke Messer visited there late last night.”
“Duke Messer… That’s the Grand Empress’s family, right?”
“Yes, he’s her older brother.”
“I see.”
The attendant was about to list the Grand Empress’s many wrongdoings, but stopped when he heard a voice outside.
“Your Majesty, the Grand Empress’s attendant is here.”
Sending an attendant to the emperor’s consort’s bedroom, especially right after the first night, was shockingly rude—even for royalty.
Regina made up her mind.
‘I won’t go easy on them anymore.’
She had wanted to treat them with at least a little respect, as the elders of Fredericks, but now that feeling was completely gone.
Smiling, Regina got out of bed and put on her robe. At her gesture, the maids bustled about and the attendant brought a chair.
“Sending someone at this hour—maybe the capital’s customs are different?”
She looked around at the maids and attendants, who all avoided her eyes like this had happened many times before.
Realizing her enemies had no problem disrespecting the emperor’s wife, Regina smiled even more.
“Let them in.”
Seeing her change, the imperial attendant shivered a little.
‘A beast’s mate is a beast, after all.’
He promised himself never to get on Regina’s bad side and quickly stepped away.
