Page 126 of Remarried Empress

“Do you want me to help her with her baby?”

Koshar burst out into mocking laughter.

“Is that your sincere plea? Why don’t you say your sentence correctly?”

Viscount Roteschu shouted suddenly.

“No, I mean Rashta has had a baby before!”

“Huh?”

Koshar stared at him for a moment and then gave him a languid hum of satisfaction.

“Really?”

Koshar suspected that Viscount Roteschu held the key to destroying Rashta. He didn’t expect there would be a baby.

“Who is the father?”

“I don’t know.”

“Don’t know? Why don’t you know?”

“Even though my estate is small, I have more than one or two slaves. I can’t watch every one of them!”

“Hmmm.”

“Since it was a miracle at the time, maybe it was a passing traveler...”

Out of fear, Viscount Roteschu did not reveal that Rashta’s lover was his son Alan. He couldn’t risk dragging his son into it. Fortunately for Viscount Roteschu, Koshar was not interested in who the father was.

“Where is the baby?”

“I don’t know who the father is, and the mother abandoned the child and ran away. I had to raise it myself.”

Koshar roared a triumphant laugh. He had intended to hunt down Rashta’s weakness, and this was the treasure that he was rewarded with!

Viscount Roteschu swallowed nervously as he watched Koshar celebrate. Would this destroy Rashta? Viscount Roteschu turned his head around, trying to find a way to escape.

Koshar’s laughter faded away, and he gave Viscount Roteschu a pleasant smile.

“Good. What else?”

“There’s nothing else, really!”

“Think carefully. There has to be.”

“No, there isn’t!”

Koshar bent down in front of Viscount Roteschu and stared into his eyes, as if he was boring into his inner thoughts. Viscount Roteschu gulped and endured the piercing gaze. He was as vulnerable as if he were thrown naked in front of a tiger. Luckily, Koshar seemed to believe in his words.

“Is there any evidence that Rashta was a slave?”

“Evidence?”

“Evidence enough to convince people that it’s true.”

“If I come forward and say it”

“You’ve already done that, and then reversed your words. Your testimony lacks credibility.”

Koshar spoke in a casual tone, but his fingers danced at the hilt of his sword. Viscount Roteschu did not have to have the threat explained to him, and he shouted quickly.

“I have a certificate of sale!”

“A certificate of sale?”

“It’s a slave trade certificate! It contains a description of Rashta’s appearance.”

***

Viscount Roteschu and Koshar were not alone in the abandoned mansion. While Koshar was an excellent warrior with sharpened senses, he could not detect every minute sound, especially over Viscount Roteschu’s screams. One did not have to be extraordinarily talented to hide.

‘How can this be?’

The other man who had snuck in was an investigator sent by the Emperor’s chief secretary, Marquis Karl. He had been ordered to tail Viscount Roteschu, and had come to witness the scene. It was difficult to make out Viscount Roteschu’s words from his swollen face, but the investigator knew that they spoke of Rashta.

Apparently, she was a slave and had given birth to a baby before...

The emperors’ concubines were not always single, however. Some were married to another partner and even had children with them. Lying about it was not common though, and it appeared that Viscount Roteschu and Rashta had been actively deceiving Sovieshu.

The man held his breath and listened for more, but the conversation had gone quiet. He swallowed. Marquis Karl had instructed him to find out what was being used to blackmail Rashta, and his task was accomplished. However, he was unsure what to do with the dire situation.

‘Should I save Viscount Roteschu?’

He was not confident he could beat the notorious beast that was Koshar. He had also snuck in under the shelter of Viscount Roteschu’s screams, but the manor was silent now. The man continued to hold his breath for a long time, relying on his body clock to tell the passage of time. He saw Koshar smile and wave to Viscount Roteschu.

“Bye.”

Koshar turned around. He seemed to be leaving by himself.

“W-wait! What about me?!”

Viscount Roteschu cried out. He was terrified he would be abandoned in this empty, decrepit manor alone.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be gone. Someone else will rescue you soon.”

Koshar threw out the remark casually. The man who was hiding was alarmed for a moment, but he soon dismissed it as a coincidence. If Koshar knew where he was, he would have caught him and dragged him out already. Many villainess men probably came and went at this mansion, so it was likely Koshar meant that one of them would come by Viscount Roteschu.

‘Wait, isn’t that more dangerous?’

The man discreetly wiped his sweaty palms across his shirt. Viscount Roteschu’s cries for release pierced his eardrums, but he did not save the viscount. He escaped and went straight to Marquis Karl to deliver his report.

“My Lord, I found out what Viscount Roteschu is blackmailing Rashta with.”

Marquis Karl quickly pulled the man into a room.

“Tell me quickly.”

The man told Marquis Karl everything he saw and heard, and the marquis’ eyes widened at the information. Some of the Emperor’s secretaries knew or were convinced that Rashta was a runaway slave, including Marquis Karl, so that wasn’t a surprise. But a baby...

“Well.”

Marquis Karl paced the room nervously, and the man spoke up carefully.

“What will you do?”

It was a difficult question for the marquis to answer. He looked out the window and murmured to himself.

“The Emperor is absent.”

After half an hour of thought, he went to his desk to write a letter to the Emperor, then summoned a servant.

“His Majesty has gone to Greenram. It’s an official visit, and it won’t be difficult to find his location. Deliver this letter to him at once.”

“Yes, My Lord.”

When the servant left, Marquis Karl dropped into his seat and gave a weak laugh.

“Baby...”