Page 189 of Remarried Empress

“Why are you two together...?”

“We just happened to meet at the door.”

After a brief explanation, Heinley quickly grasped the situation, “Ahh!”

Christa was quiet, but as soon as Heinley stepped out from behind his desk, she spoke her mind.

“Your Highness, I hear you plan to prepare the wedding yourself, is that true?”

Heinley stopped beside his desk and looked at her with a serious face.

“Yes. So you’ve heard, sister-in-law.”

I looked at Christa too.

‘She came here for the same reason I did.’

Christa looked a little tense.

When she caught Heinley’s gaze and mine, she looked even more tense. She smiled awkwardly and spoke cautiously,

“Your Highness, if I may. I would like you to leave the wedding preparations to me.”

Heinley’s eyebrows rose.

“To Sister-in-law?”

“It is rare for you to prepare your own wedding. As your sister-in-law and former queen, I am best suited to prepare the wedding on behalf of you two. That would be best.”

Heinley smiled awkwardly and opened his mouth.

He seemed to want to say no....

I said it first, before Heinley could speak.

“It’s a marriage that started differently than others, it’s also best to make the preparations differently. Do what you decided in the beginning, Heinley.”

Had I not intervened, Heinley would also have refused, but to him, Christa was the wife of his brother who died early.

It would be awkward for him to confront Christa directly. I thought it would be better if I did it.

Christa looked at me with a raised eyebrow, not imagining that I would object.

She didn’t look angry, but she did look a little surprised.

Instead of arguing, she lowered her gaze and muttered, “I see...” Then she apologized.

“I came here because it seemed right to take care of it as your sister-in-law and former queen. Apparently, I didn’t read the atmosphere properly. I’m sorry.”

She looked helpless and disappointed.

Her complexion was already pale.

When she apologized quietly, it felt strange.

Instead of speaking further, she left the office in silence.

I frowned as I stared at the door.

I felt as if I had intimidated her. As if I had pushed a weak animal that bared its teeth helplessly.

It was strange.

I never felt this way about Rashta, who was in a more pitiful position than Christa.

In a way, I felt particularly bad after confronting Christa, so I frowned.

On second thought, it seemed to me that it was due to a difference in etiquette.

Rashta often made remarks beyond my common sense.

She wanted to go places she shouldn’t, touch my things, and have me treat her like my sister.

There were even times when she imitated me so blatantly that I got goose bumps.

But Christa’s weak side was within my common sense.

Maybe that’s why I felt so bad.

Of course, the human mind is complex, so it’s hard to know clearly....

“Queen?”

I guess I was too deep in my thoughts. When Heinley approached and called out to me, I quickly looked at him in surprise.

Heinley looked at me with a worried expression.

“You have a grim expression, are you alright?”

“I’m alright.”

Heinley frowned at my words, as if I didn’t seem alright at all.

“You asked me to stay out of it... but in my opinion, Queen. I think I should tell my sister-in-law to refrain from coming to my office. Don’t you agree?”

Heinley asked me the question carefully.

“Don’t worry about it.”

I shook my head.

It wasn’t good for him to get involved in this matter in any way.

Instead of talking about Christa, I moved onto the subject I had come for.

“Ah. I came here for something too.”

“Queen, did you want to prepare for your own wedding?”

“Not exactly. I came to see if there was anything I could do to help.”

“Well, it’s for Queen, so I’d like to take care of it myself.”

“I understand...”

“Of course you’ll have to help me with your wedding dress. It can’t be done with my measurements.”

Heinley added playfully and smiled sweetly.

But the moment he mentioned ‘measurements,’ I remembered his naked body in the fountain, which I had forgotten for a moment when I saw Christa, and my face heated up.

I hurried to lower my head, but the angle was even worse. Finally, I lifted my head and turned to the side.

“Queen, are you angry?”

I just needed to stay this way for a moment.

Heinley walked over to the side I was facing, bending his knees.

He then looked me closely in the eyes.

As I looked directly into his purple eyes, my face heated up even more.

When I bit my lower lip and turned to the side again, Heinley was confused and moved to face me again.

“Queen? Are you really angry?”

“...”

“Queen?”

After circling around, I thought about how this wouldn’t solve anything.

That’s right. It’s not something to be ashamed of forever. I had decided to give him a chance to be honest.

I was ashamed, but I couldn’t let him keep deceiving me. To keep it up would be annoying and awkward for Heinley himself.

I finally decided to speak up,

“Heinley. By any chance-”

I was about to ask him if he was deceiving me on something.

But the moment I saw his expression full of concern. What came out of my mouth was completely different.

“Invite Grand Duke Kapmen.”

Heinley’s expression turned rigid.

“What?”

The Grand Duke’s name, coming out of nowhere, seemed to have puzzled him. I was puzzled, too.

I had intended to talk about Grand Duke Kapmen only after the wedding.

Why did I mention him all of a sudden?

I inwardly reproached myself, but I had already done it.

I appeared calm as if I had intended from the beginning to bring up this topic, and merely said what I had planned to say in a few weeks’ time.

“Do you remember the Grand Duke Kapmen? I’m sure you met during the New Year’s celebrations.”

“How could I not remember him?”

Heinley muttered with a strange smile. Maybe it’s because Heinley almost had a fight with him.

Although Heinley couldn’t get angry because he was in front of me, he couldn’t help his expression from distorting.

“Queen, do you want to invite him?”

“When I was in the Eastern Empire, we worked together to establish intercontinental trade between the two countries.”

“Intercontinental... trade?”

However, his distorted expression quickly turned serious when I mentioned trade.

“I hear you.”

I continued speaking.

“But it was ruined when he and His Majesty got into a fight.”

“Ah, I heard about that. Besides...”

Heinley’s eyes flickered to my fist.

“Is that true?”

Then, he touched a finger to his cheek.

He seemed to refer to the blow Grand Duke Kapmen gave Sovieshu.

“Yes.”

“Although I can understand him, that was too reckless.”

Grand Duke Kapmen, at the time, was under the effects of the love potion.

Come to think of it, has he been able to get rid of the effects?

As I reflected, Heinley took my hand.

“Sit down. Don’t stand.”

He then led me over to his desk and asked me to sit in the chair, leaning back against the edge of the desk as I sat down.

It may not have been intentional, but naturally Heinley’s lower body was lined up at my eye level.

“!”

I clenched my fists and turned the chair toward the window. Again, the angle had been the problem.

I asked, pretending to be looking out the window through a gap between the curtains.

” I want to finalize the trade. If you invite him, I’ll try to make the trade between Rift and the Western Kingdom successful.”

Heinley murmured in a slightly muffled voice.

“If Queen has worked on it, of course there will be a high probability of success...”

“This is the first state-led trade with this continent. Although direct trade will be beneficial in itself, if trade with this continent becomes popular, we will make Rift and the Western Kingdom trade intermediary countries.”

“...”

“Even merchants who have had difficulty getting involved in trade will feel more at ease getting involved in a state-led business, so it will be even better to get investments.”

I spoke with determination towards the window. The business viability had been thoroughly examined in the Eastern Empire.

At that point, Heinley murmured in a muffled voice.

“But Queen, do you have to look over there to speak?”

“!”

“Please look at me when you speak.”

“...”

“If you’re really not angry with me, it’s strange that you keep avoiding my gaze.”

“I... I’m not avoiding your gaze.”

“Really?”