I Will Surrender My Position as the Empress - Chapter 35.2
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“When was this painting of yours? Is that cute little kid you? He seems full of mischief in the painting.”
In the painting, a smiling boy is sitting in front of the Duchess.
“I think it was before I turned ten.”
The Empress looked at the painting with a blooming smile.
“They seem harmonious. Indeed, the Duchess must have been a remarkable beauty. There must have been a reason why all her sons were handsome!”
As the compliments continued pouring out, Lionel tightly sealed his lips, suppressing a small cough. Adele chuckled and raised her glass again. Before Lionel could say anything, she swallowed it in one gulp. Adele extended an empty glass to Lionel, showed it to him, and spoke in a cheerful tone.
“This glass was for ‘the glory of your House of Baldr.'”
Lionel took the empty glass from the Empress and placed it on the table.
“Thank you.”
“There are still many toasts remaining, so if I start again, we have to match the count. Seven glasses, nine glasses, eleven glasses, like that.”
“What’s the significance of that?”
“It’s my mother’s influence. She was a superstitious believer.”
“Superstition, you say?”
“Yes. I heard those kinds of things so often that I found myself doing them unconsciously—guessing numbers, aligning the direction when sleeping. It’s just an unnecessary uneasiness.”
After saying that, Adele looked back at the large, framed painting. Such paintings often depict the ideal image of a family, so even families that are not actually harmonious tend to appear harmonious in paintings. Her own family would be laughing in the grand frames of the central wall of the Gottrov Palace, looking incredibly harmonious. She had no complaints. If they weren’t getting along, why would they bother putting on an impression for the painting? Intrigued by the Empress’s prolonged gaze at the painting, Lionel followed her lead and looked at the painting once again. Just as he turned his head without any particular sentiment, his eyes met directly with the Empress, who had been watching him.
The moon cast its dim light on the night. Like the night itself, strands of black hair cascaded, disheveled, and scattered. A faint blush rose on her flushed face, giving him a strange vitality. Her ruby-red lips glistened with the touch of alcohol, and his golden irises, trapped within long, twisted eyelashes, seemed devoid of the coldness brought by intoxication. Was it the intoxication of the untouched alcohol that emanated from the strong scent of illicit liquor? Lionel quickly averted his gaze, feeling the heat spreading from his throat.
“Lionel.”
At that moment, the Empress called his name once again, and Lionel couldn’t help but raise his eyes. Adele blinked slowly, looking at him, then pointed at the glass with her finger.
“If you have any questions you want to ask, ask them now. Even if it’s a question you think you can’t dare ask the Empress, it’s on the house.”
They asked as if those shimmering golden eyes were piercing into Lionel’s thoughts. He hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth.
“Your Majesty, as the Gottrov Tower Resistance Headquarters leader, may I ask why you willingly agreed to the marriage with Ehmont?”
It was undoubtedly a rude question. However, Adele tilted her head, narrowing her eyes as if she had expected it.
Oh, you’re getting your money’s worth, aren’t you?”
“If you find it difficult to answer, you don’t have to. Please forgive me.”
Adele chuckled and lowered her head.
“Well, it doesn’t matter. This isn’t Gottrov, after all.”
Then she pointed at the painting with her finger.
“In the Gottrov Palace, there’s a painting of my family, just like this one. It couldn’t look more harmonious.”
Adele looked at the painting and thought of Lucio.
“Lucio. Has he received my letter by now?”
Unable to face each other, she resorted to a cowardly method to deliver it.
“My father’s illness suddenly worsened, and he passed away. In the midst of Gottrov’s confusion, my mother suddenly showed me the proposal letter and told me to go to Ehmont. The Tower Resistance couldn’t find a reason to refuse. And in truth, I couldn’t refuse either.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“This is my apology.”
Lionel couldn’t understand her words, but he couldn’t bring himself to ask further. Sadness filled Adele’s face, and Lionel’s silent attitude pleased her.
“Well, the alcohol is just two glasses’ worth. The tab ends here. Let’s go back, Lionel.”
Lionel also stood up, following her lead.
“Leave the bottles and glasses. I’ll have someone take care of them tomorrow.”
“Thank you.”
In the late evening, this time it was Adele who took the lead. Since they had walked this path before, she confidently set the direction, and Lionel followed behind her. In the darkness, her hair, resembling the darkness itself, swayed slowly. Lionel once again realized something. The Empress’s stature was smaller than he had imagined.
****
Around that time, Karl Ulrich was sitting alone in his bedroom, drinking alcohol. He couldn’t remember why he had taken out the alcohol or what he was trying to relieve by drinking it. His heart was always empty. Strange things would emerge from the gaping hole that never seemed to fill it. Mostly, they were remnants of the past. Whenever those things emerged, the deep and dark sea would always roil, and Karl had to exert all his strength just to breathe. Suddenly, that day came to mind. The day he held the hand of Duke Despone and ascended to the throne, he stood next to the emperor’s seat and whispered like this:
“Now, you have become the most precious person in the world. I will bring the world to you. Enjoy it to your heart’s content.”
At that time, Karl Ulrich was only ten years old. That day, he had been vaguely fearful and cold, desperately hoping for the meal to end quickly. Another memory from his childhood came to mind. Why were the faint memories of his youth so vivid, driving him insane? And after wandering through that memory, Karl Ulrich returned to the present.
“Where did she go?”
It was a voice that roared like a wild beast. Everyone turned their heads at the command to find out where the Empress had gone. It was impossible to know. The empire’s Empress had disappeared, and nobody knew her whereabouts. The courtiers trembled and stuttered in response to the emperor’s enraged demand.
