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Episode 3
Jenaden returned to his office and immediately called for his aide.
Lenin Delaine.
He had been working alongside Jenaden since they were young to bring down Duke Bronar.
“Salubia told me she’s alive.”
The moment Jenaden entered the office and casually dropped those words, Lenin’s mind went blank for a moment.
“What? What do you mean……?”
“I mean the Count Costel family.”
Lenin blinked twice, clearly unable to understand.
“She said that she didn’t die. It’s sudden, but do you think Salubia is lying?”
Jenaden asked with a frown.
Lenin, who was sitting across from him, thought carefully before speaking.
“Your Majesty, the Costel family had already been wiped out back then. And more importantly, there’s no way Duke Bronar would have let her live.”
“Yeah. The count and countess were executed, and the count’s estate caught fire the next day.”
“Yes, and she also…… back then…….”
Lenin’s voice trailed off.
He was thinking about the young Jenaden who had cried in front of the completely burned-down Costel estate, where nothing remained but ashes.
Jenaden had shouted that she would be alive, that he would save her.
Lenin was the one who stopped him.
He still couldn’t forget that sight.
Jenaden leaned back against the sofa and looked up at the ceiling.
“But, Your Majesty. Her Majesty the Empress isn’t the kind of person who would lie.”
Jenaden turned his head and looked at Lenin.
“……She isn’t the kind of woman who would lie…….”
In Jenaden’s memories, Salubia had always been a woman who tried to show him only her good side.
Even when she was sick, she never showed it.
She was completely different from her father, who was filled with endless greed.
“I’ll investigate it myself.”
Lenin said as he organized the papers scattered across the desk.
“……It happened a long time ago, so it might be difficult to investigate.”
He added that:
Duke Bronar had obviously gotten rid of all the evidence by now.
When Lenin pictured the despicable duke’s face, he quietly shook his head.
Just thinking about that man gave him chills.
“Can you find her as quickly as possible?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I understand. Is there anything else you wanted to say?”
At Lenin’s question, Jenaden hesitated.
He wasn’t sure whether he should ask him or not.
The sudden change in Salubia’s attitude was bothering him.
“Lenin.”
“Yes……?”
“From your point of view, does Salubia look like she loves me?”
Lenin’s expression became strange, as if Jenaden had just asked the most ridiculous question imaginable.
“If you asked anyone in this palace, they would all say that Her Majesty the Empress obviously loves Your Majesty.”
“There’s something I haven’t told you.”
“Did something else happen, Your Majesty?”
“Salubia told me that after we bring down Duke Bronar together, she wants a divorce.”
“What……?!”
The papers in Lenin’s hands slipped and fell to the floor.
“……She even told me to marry her.”
“No…… Her Majesty the Empress said that……?”
Jenaden nodded.
He couldn’t stop thinking about the way Salubia had coldly smiled when he asked whether she loved him.
He had never seen her smile that coldly before.
“She even knew I was pretending.”
“You managed to fool her perfectly for years, but she finally found out.”
“Of course, I tried to deny it…… but she didn’t even get angry with me. She simply asked me to work with her to bring down Duke Bronar and then divorce her.”
“……Are you going to accept her proposal?”
“Duke Bronar might have set a trap.”
“I don’t know…… But from what I’ve seen, Her Majesty the Empress is the kind of person who could even oppose her own family if it were for Your Majesty.”
She loved Your Majesty that much. It was obvious.
Lenin let out a small sigh.
He knew it too.
If Salubia hadn’t been Duke Bronar’s daughter, she could have become a good empress.
But as long as she was his daughter, she had no choice but to become their enemy.
Lenin did feel guilty about deceiving her, but Jenaden was more important to him than anything else, so he had no choice but to pretend he didn’t know.
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to accept her proposal.”
“You’re willing to divorce her too?”
“Once Duke Bronar is removed, she won’t be able to remain empress anyway.”
“In many ways, that’s a proposal that benefits you.”
“Yeah.”
It really was a proposal that benefited him far more.
But Jenaden couldn’t stop thinking about Salubia asking for a divorce.
It felt strange.
When she was little, though Salubia couldn’t remember exactly when, she had once cried and asked her cold mother, who had never given her even a little affection:
“Why don’t you love me?”
Her mother gave a short, mocking laugh and looked at young Salubia with contempt.
‘Do you really think you’re our real child?’
Salubia had been crying with her big eyes overflowing with tears.
At her mother’s words, she stopped crying and looked up at her.
‘Mother……?’
‘We needed a child because we didn’t have one. A child we could send to the imperial palace. And luckily, you came into our family around that time.’
It was the first time Salubia had ever heard this.
Her eyes widened in shock.
Her tiny, adorable hand had been reaching for the hem of the duchess’s skirt, but it stopped in midair.
‘Salubia…… How could we possibly love someone like you when we don’t even know where you came from?’
‘……Because I’m not your real daughter? Is that why you don’t love me?’
At Salubia’s tearful question, her mother let out a deep sigh as if she were annoyed and spoke.
‘Yes. All you have to do is grow up as a young lady of the Bronar family, just like you have been doing, and become the empress of this empire, just as your father wishes.’
That is your job.
Her mother glanced at Salubia once, then coldly turned around and walked out of the room.
From that day on, Salubia never begged anyone for anything.
No matter what anyone asked of her, she simply smiled and did it.
That was how she lived.
“……I had a bad dream.”
Salubia sighed and slowly got out of bed.
After the tea time in the Empress’s Palace, Jenaden became busy with state affairs and no longer had time to see Salubia.
“When am I ever going to get his answer?”
As the memories she wanted to forget came back to her mind, she suddenly became anxious.
What if I end up being abandoned like before?
She immediately got up and sat down at her desk.
Then she began writing familiar names one by one on a sheet of paper with a quill.
“Asta!”
“Yes!”
At Salubia’s call, Asta opened the door and entered.
Salubia smiled and handed her the paper.
“What is this?”
“Could you deliver invitations to the countesses and marquises’ wives written on this list? Tell them I’m inviting them to a tea party.”
Asta looked at the names on the list and stared at Salubia with wide eyes.
The women on the list were the wives of marquises and counts who stood against Salubia’s father.
Of course, Asta was surprised.
“The Puppet Empress.”
That was what people had secretly called Salubia before her regression, mocking her behind her back.
As empress, she never socialized with noblewomen or even attended ordinary tea parties.
She was nothing more than a doll who sat quietly in her room every day, reading books or waiting for Jenaden.
Since no one ever complained about her living that way, she had thought it was a good thing.
But things are different now.
This was the time for her to act.
“Make sure they receive them.”
“Yes.”
Asta nodded.
“Welcome.”
A few days later, a tea party hosted by Salubia was held in the outer garden of the Empress’s Palace.
She welcomed the noblewomen who had gathered for the tea party with a smile as bright as sunlight.
They looked somewhat confused at first, but when they saw Salubia’s warm and friendly smile, they soon relaxed and smiled brightly as well.
“This is flower tea made from marigolds that grow in the western forest. It smells wonderful.”
The noblewoman glanced at Salubia as she lifted her teacup to her lips.
Then, one after another, they picked up their own teacups and savored the aroma of the tea.
They were probably worried that Salubia, who belonged to the faction opposed to them, might have put poison in the tea.
Knowing that they were worried, Salubia deliberately drank the tea first.
The tea party went wonderfully.
Salubia laughed and responded warmly to whatever they said.
Looking at them from the corner of her eye, Salubia could tell that the noblewomen were beginning to lower their guard around her.
Her elegant appearance, which was both glamorous and gentle, along with the shy smiles she occasionally showed, was enough to win the noblewomen’s favor.
“Come to think of it, His Majesty the Emperor’s birthday is coming up soon.”
Countess Renel happily started the conversation.
On the emperor’s birthday, almost every noble family was invited to the imperial palace for a grand ball.
The invited nobles would bring the most luxurious and expensive gifts and present them to the emperor near the end of the ball.
‘His Majesty and I have been together since his birthday.’
A familiar voice suddenly echoed in Salubia’s mind.
Crash!
Salubia’s teacup struck the saucer with a sharp sound.
“Your Majesty?”
At the sound of someone calling her, Salubia was startled and raised her head.
Everyone was looking at her.
“Oh my, I got distracted thinking about what gift I should give His Majesty the Emperor and missed what you said.”
She quickly hid her expression and smiled.
“May I ask what kind of gift you’ve prepared?”
At Countess Renel’s question, Salubia gave her a bright smile and lightly placed her index finger against her lips.
“It’s a secret.”
Everyone burst into giggles at her gesture.
“Phew…….”
Salubia sat down on the sofa in the sitting room beside her bedroom and let out a sigh.
“You are truly amazing, Your Majesty.”
Stella gently handed her a warm towel.
When Salubia raised her left arm, Stella immediately wrapped the towel around her hand and slowly massaged it.
As she did so, she kept chatting and praising Salubia.
“I didn’t know having a tea party could be this exhausting.”
She had kept a smile on her face the entire time, so now it felt like the muscles around her mouth were about to cramp.
She needed a break.
“Stella, I’m going to rest for a while, so go take care of your work.”
At Salubia’s gesture, Stella immediately left the room.
Left alone, Salubia leaned back against the sofa.
She stared at the ceiling for a moment before turning her head to look at the sunlight coming through the window.
She could faintly hear birds chirping outside.
The leaves on the trees outside the window swayed gently in the breeze.
The peaceful scenery outside was so different from the complicated feelings in her heart that a bitter smile spread across her face.
‘His Majesty the Emperor’s birthday is coming up soon.’
The words from the tea party suddenly came back to her.
Jenaden’s birthday…….
She turned her head and looked at the chest of drawers in the corner of the room.
She had always given Jenaden expensive jewelry as gifts.
She had also embroidered handkerchiefs herself, stitch by stitch, wishing for his safety and love.
Every time, Jenaden would thank her and answer with a bright smile.
And Salubia had been happy just because of that one smile.
“I was such an idiot.”
She suddenly stood up from the sofa and slowly walked toward the chest of drawers.
When she opened it, she found the handkerchief she had started making but never finished, neatly folded inside.
Without saying anything, Salubia picked it up and looked at it.
A dimorphotheca flower was embroidered in the center of the handkerchief.
Eternal love.
Just like the meaning of the flower, Salubia had embroidered it while dreaming of eternal love with Jenaden.
What use was any of that now?
It had all been nothing but a dream.
“His Majesty the Emperor!”
Stella’s voice came from outside the door.
The door suddenly flew open, and Jenaden entered Salubia’s room with a frown on his face.
Salubia looked at Jenaden with a cold, hardened expression.
