Page 249 of Remarried Empress

Joanson paced worriedly around his room.

Then through the small drawing room, through his sister’s bedroom, through the kitchen, through the dining room, through the bathroom, through the garden and back through the drawing room... He moved from place to place, unable to stay still for a moment.

It was the only thing he could do.

It had been a long time since he had last heard from his sister who regularly sent him letters.

Although his sister lived in the imperial palace, she was not far away.

His sister lived close enough to get in contact within a few hours at most through a messenger.

‘So why haven’t I heard from her?’

It was the first time he had not heard from his sister since she entered the imperial palace as a maid.

‘It’s worrying. Damn, is she really all right?’

At first, he thought that his sister had attended the wedding of the Emperor and the Empress of the Western Empire.

Because his sister had told him that the new Empress, Rashta, had only two maids, herself included.

At the time Joanson had admired the new Empress, “What a simple woman, she is truly humble!” That memory was still vivid in his mind.

The Empress would not go alone to a distant country, so she must have taken all her maids on her journey.

Joanson thinking this way calmed his anxiety a little.

But days after the arrival of the Empress and the Emperor, he still had no news of his sister.

Only rumors of a second concubine of the Emperor.

At this point, Joanson began to seriously worry about his sister’s whereabouts.

Eventually, Joanson decided to go to the imperial palace to find out the whereabouts of his sister.

Since he had come to the palace several times as a journalist, the guard recognized Joanson’s face and let him in immediately.

Joanson went through a complicated process to be able to talk to the palace’s internal affairs official.

“I haven’t heard from my sister, Delise, in a month. Ah, my sister works here.”

“Your sister?”

“Yes, she is a maid of the Empress.”

“Are you sure you haven’t heard from her in a month?”

“It’s... It’s about a month, not exactly. Maybe a little more or a little less...”

The palace internal affairs official clicked his tongue as if in annoyance and said casually.

“If she was a pretty-faced maid, she probably ran away with some knight who fell in love with her.”

Joanson clenched his fist tightly as he resisted the urge to shout, ‘How dare you talk about my sister like that?!’

After all, he was in no position to make a fuss.

“Still, you can check it out.”

When Joanson handed him some silver coins, the official asked condescendingly,

“Yes, where does your sister work?”

It was a question he had already cleared up. The official had not even paid attention to Joanson’s words earlier.

Joanson became angry, but quickly responded before the official could change his mind.

“In the West Palace, where Her Majesty the Empress resides.”

Joanson said exactly what he had heard from his sister.

The palace internal affairs official nodded and looked at the list of employees in his hands.

However, the answer the journalist received was totally unexpected.

“You said your sister’s name is Delise, right? That girl seems to have quit the job.”

Joanson objected even more confused,

“How can that be?! Take a closer look!”

The official responded sullenly.

“I don’t know, but your sister is no longer here.”

Joanson, who retreated without much success, decided to head straight for the Empress’ palace.

She had only two maids in her close circle, but many officials had to help her in various tasks. Someone had to know the whereabouts of his sister.

But he couldn’t find his sister either.

‘Something is going on.’

Concerned, Joanson began to pace around his room again.

‘I’m sure something is going on... what should I do?’

The last place his sister had been was in the palace, so he needed to search there.

Even if he could access it, he could not casually search the western palace, the Empress’ palace.

‘I need to find a way...’

After racking his brains, Joanson came up with a brilliant idea.

Empress Rashta.

He could personally ask the Empress who loved commoners.

That would be much easier than trying to search the western palace.

As soon as he had made up his mind, Joanson applied for an audience.

“How long will I have to wait?”

“There’s a long waiting list. You’ll have to wait at least a week.”

After that, he tried to find someone who would agree to swap their audience’s turn.

Everyone had been waiting a long time to make their case before the Emperor and Empress, so no one wanted to swap their turn for one near the bottom.

But Joanson did not stop insisting and managed to change his position on the waiting list with someone else further ahead.

Now he only needed to wait two days.

... And on the day when it was his turn to go to the audience chamber, which was located in the main palace, Joanson was elegantly dressed.

In the audience hall, the thrones of the Emperor and Empress stood side by side in the background, with a long carpet stretched out in front of them.

People were lined up in order on the carpet, waiting their turn to come forward and state their case.

Joanson immediately got in line to wait his turn. However, the line did not move as quickly as he expected. After a while, his legs even began to ache.

He felt increasingly worried, he had no idea where, or how, his sister was.

“Ahn, aren’t you a good boy? Shh... be a good boy, my baby.”

Still, Joanson, who was waiting alone, was in a better position.

In fact, there were many people who had brought their babies, just like the man in front of him in line.

Also, the baby kept waving his arms and legs while making sounds that were difficult to understand.

Every time the baby started to whine, the man would say, “Ahn, aren’t you a good boy? Ahn, what’s wrong with you?” He looked busy trying to soothe him.

‘If he took that bonnet off the baby, he’d cry less.’

Joanson clicked his tongue when he saw that baby with such an annoying bonnet. However, he opted not to give the stranger any advice.

Meanwhile, the line gradually thinned out, until finally it was the turn of the father holding the baby.

“Come forward and pay your respects to His Majesty, the Emperor and Her Majesty, the Empress.”

When the emperor’s secretary announced, the father with the baby in his arms stepped forward and courteously greeted Emperor Sovieshu and Empress Rashta.

At that moment.

Joanson noticed that the Empress’ expression became extremely rigid.

He did not know why, but the Empress’ expression was as terrifying as the edge of a sword.

‘What’s wrong?’

As he wondered this, the father with the baby in his arms asked the Empress in a desperate voice.

“Your Majesty the Empress, this baby has never been in his mother’s arms. The Empress is like the mother of all the citizens of the Eastern Empire, so please take the baby in your arms and bless him as a mother would.”

But the Empress remained motionless.

Murmurs began to spread.