I Will Surrender My Position as the Empress - Chapter 38
Lionel was taken aback by the words of the Empress, who spoke without filtering her thoughts.
“Your Majesty, what I mean is, well…”
“Well?” she asked.
“…I want to say that you don’t need to worry excessively about my honor.”
“Lionel.”
“Yes, please speak.”
“A Minister of Defense should not disregard their own honor. That’s not humility.”
“…”
“Well, it’s not like I’m the one who suddenly chose the Minister of Defense as my aide, but…”
Adele laughed with a faint smile, as if finding his words amusing. Lionel felt a chill run down his spine from her laughter. Adele slowly brushed her temple and spoke.
“So, what I mean is, you are the Minister of Defense, and I am the Empress of this country. Although we may appear to others as having no honor or anything, at the very least, we should respect each other’s honor when we’re together; that’s what I’m saying right now.”
Adele reconsidered her words and let out a deep sigh, shaking her head slightly.
“That’s nonsense.”
Lionel lowered his gaze with a stern face at her words. Adele tilted her head and looked at his face.
A straight forehead, beautiful eyebrows, sharp and long eyes, a straight and prominent nose, slightly parted red lips. Adele suddenly thought that Lionel was quite handsome.
However, perhaps due to the effects of alcohol, her gaze kept being drawn to his tightly pressed lips. As her gaze lingered on his red lips, it slid down along his sharp jawline and rose again along his cheek, and at that moment, his jet-black eyes and hers met.
Their gazes entwined. The golden-red light reflected in their pupils, as if possessing a captivating power that could not be averted.
The two of them even forgot to breathe. Just as the strange and cold sensation abruptly settled, as if spreading from the depth of her being, and her face began to heat up, Adele’s instincts warned her.
Adele snapped back to her senses and turned her gaze away first, and Lionel, who had been staring at her as if spellbound, took a deep breath and lowered his eyes. An indiscernible, suppressed breath filled the dark and enclosed space.
As the atmosphere subtly changed with the sudden stillness, Adele felt a sense of crisis. She took a deep breath on purpose and put on a bright expression before reaching out her hand toward Lionel.
When her white hand suddenly extended, Lionel lifted his head. His clean face was gently curved as he stared at her. The tense atmosphere evaporated like dew. Adele opened her mouth in a light voice.
“I understand. You didn’t come all this way just to become my lover. That’s why I’m saying the same thing.”
“…”
“I said I would help with whatever you want, right?”
“Yes.”
“That was very reassuring. I won’t betray you either.”
Lionel blinked his eyes slowly as he looked at Adele, and cautiously held her outstretched white hand with his own. It was a small and cold hand.
“I will never betray Your Majesty either.” A low, locked voice flowed into Adele’s ears.
***
At this moment, the Empress is probably spending the night with Lionel Baldr.”
Diane’s whisper stuck to Karl’s ears like sticky mud, refusing to let go. Karl looked down at Diane, who leaned against his shoulder, with a cold gaze, then slowly pushed her shoulder back. Dian’s face turned desolate.
“Your Majesty?”
Diane’s face turned pale as she noticed the Emperor furrowing his brow. Her heart raced loudly. Karl immediately stood up and walked towards the bed, leaving her behind. Dian’s heart grew cold, and without realizing it, she reached out her hand.
“Get out.”
Despite Karl’s displeasure, he felt annoyed that Diane didn’t go to her room. Eventually, after raising his sharp voice, he sensed her movement as she finally stood up from her seat. Karl closed his eyes.
****
Diane hurriedly left the Emperor’s bedroom, holding onto her pounding chest. The Emperor had always been an unpredictable man. He could be cold, then grant your wishes, or ruthless, then throw in a tender word.
“Don’t be surprised. There’s no other reason. He has always been like this.”
Diane walked quickly through the dark corridor, constantly repeating herself. She returned to the guest room, but the anxiety didn’t dissipate. Diane chewed her lip as she wandered around the room.
“What should I do?”
Her body trembled like a withered tree. The home she thought she had, the title of Empress was taken away. And today, even the Emperor pushed her away. It felt as if the despair of a crumbling castle she had painstakingly built had swallowed her up. Dian drank cold water and took a deep breath to organize her thoughts.
“Your Majesty, it’s because you dislike seeing the Empress holding hands with Duke Baldr. You’re worried that Duke Baldr’s influence will grow. It’s not that you care about that woman.”
Right. How could that woman’s gaze, so cold and sharp, change in an instant? Dian instinctively took out a mirror and examined her face.
“Tomorrow, he will come looking for me again, as if nothing happened. I will never step down from this position.”
“If I don’t step down from this position, if I want to have control over the world, what should I do?”
There was only one conclusion. A child. No, better yet, a son. There had to be a son who carried the Emperor’s blood. Diane pleaded and pleaded. Begging with each grain of sand, she counted the night away.
Please let me have a child.
After Diane left, Karl couldn’t sleep properly either. He spent a sleepless night, on edge throughout his official duties. His nerves were on edge, constantly tuned to any news brought by the messengers. It happened when a messenger cautiously opened the door.
“Any news?!”
“Yes?!”
Startled by the sudden outburst, the messenger spilled the hot tea.
“I apologize!”
Karl furrowed his brow and let out a sigh. This continued throughout the day. However, despite the messengers coming and going dozens of times, there was no news from the Empress. When night fell and Karl returned to his bedroom, he furrowed his brow and took a rough breath.
“What on earth? Why hasn’t she returned yet?”
Diane’s words, stating that the Empress was probably spending the night with Lionel Baldr, continued to echo in Karl’s mind.
And the next day, Karl was awakened from his restless sleep by a faint knock. He forcefully opened his eyes and sat up in bed. At that moment, a servant cautiously knocked on the door and entered the bedroom. Karl glanced at the servant and asked in a half-hearted voice.
“What’s the matter?”
“Your Majesty, the Empress, has returned.”
In that instant, Karl sprang out of bed as if he had been thrown off it. And as if eagerly waiting for that news alone, he hurriedly left the room.
The Empress’s Palace had a subtly different atmosphere. Adele immediately grasped the reason behind it. It was the maids. Up until now, the maids had cautiously kept their distance from Adele, approaching only when they had to attend to certain tasks, then swiftly retreating like frightened rabbits. But within a few days, it seemed that they had assessed the situation and all came forward to greet Adele. Adele intuitively realized that Dian Poiters had withdrawn from the Ivory Palace during her absence.
“You have arrived, Your Majesty?”
One maid approached, struggling to offer a respectful greeting, and other maids joined in, asking.
“Shall we prepare warm water? Would you like to freshen up?”
Adele glanced at them discreetly, then tilted her head and smiled. Startled by the Empress’s smile, the maids quickly bowed their heads and took a step back. This was the extent of Adele’s relationship with them.
“Yes, that’s right. Please go ahead and prepare warm water.”
After giving the order in a slow tone, Adele turned around neatly. Lady Giggs rushed forward with Adele’s luggage in her hands. She glanced briefly at the luggage and respectfully bowed her head.
“Thanks to you, I was able to pass the time comfortably.”
“I’m glad to hear that. Each of you, go about your tasks. Don’t follow me.”
Adele pushed past the maids and entered her room with Lady Giggs. As Lady Giggs handed her the outer robe, she whispered softly in Adele’s ear.
“Diane Poitier, the Countess of Ivory, has moved from the Ivory Palace to the guest rooms in the Imperial Palace.”
The eyes of the Empress and Lady Giggs met.
“I have arranged the staff accordingly for the guest rooms. Please confirm.”
As Lady Giggs fully removed the robe and took a step back, Adele removed her gloves and placed them on the table.
“As I expected. Very well, for now. That should suffice.”
“I have also corrected the address issue.”
“Thank you. Was there anything else of note?”
“There was nothing particularly significant, but a direct attendant of His Majesty the Emperor persistently asked about Your Majesty’s whereabouts.”
Before Lady Giggs could finish speaking, hurried footsteps were heard. Lady Giggs quickly looked towards the door and slightly opened it. The maid, who was about to knock, let out a startled gasp, but Lady Giggs scolded her with a stern face.
“What are you running around for?!”
However, the maid couldn’t respond to the scolding because the Emperor, with a fierce expression on his face, revealed himself from behind the maid. The Emperor forcefully pushed open the door. Adele thought to herself how many times she had already seen such a terrifying sight.
“Please come in, Your Majesty. The rest of you, leave.”
As Lady Giggs closed the door and exited, the Emperor approached as if he had been waiting. Adele sensed the reason for his visit in his rough appearance.
“So, you came because of the Ivory Palace matter, Diane Poitier.”
At the same time, the countless houses in the slums, which had been like underground tunnels, came to mind. For several days now, Adele hasn’t been able to get rid of the thoughts of those many graves. In that brief moment, she prepared herself for the Emperor’s questioning.
“Where were you?”
However, his low growling question, as he approached closely, was slightly different from what she expected. Adele furrowed her brow slightly as she looked up at the Emperor.
“Where were you?”
His deep purple eyes examined every corner of Adelaide without missing a single detail. Adelaide couldn’t figure out how much importance he placed on her.
“I have already given my answer to that.”
As Adele turned away from him, Karl grabbed her shoulder and pushed her against the desk. Adele instinctively pushed him away forcefully with her shoulder and became angry.
“What are you doing?!”
“Were you with Lionel Baldr?”
Adele was speechless in the face of his relentless obsession. From such a close distance, Karl stared into Adele’s eyes. Under the golden light, there were faint lines, densely packed. The transparent and brilliant golden color beneath the long and tidy black eyebrows was like the sun itself. Karl was momentarily captivated by the brilliant light. At the same time, dark and ominous thoughts that had plagued him throughout the time Adelaide was absent from the palace emerged. The golden eyes that would have sparkled during the nights spent away from the palace, the arrogant and beautiful face distorted with passion, And Lionel, who would have been there witnessing it. A violent urge to pluck out his azure eyes surged within him.
“Were you with Lionel Baldr?”
Suddenly, Adele was filled with intense anger towards the Emperor, who had come uninvited and treated her like a criminal.
“And what if I was? What does it matter?! Haven’t we agreed not to care about each other?”
As the impulse surged through the Emperor’s reddening chest, Adelaide’s ice-cold voice spread like winter frost.
“What does it matter? Because you, who should be the mother of my child, might end up having Baldrs’ child. Behave yourself. What will you do if I don’t recognize your child as mine?”
At his heated words, Adele chuckled sarcastically.
