Page 252 of Remarried Empress

At that moment, I felt a sudden urge to tell him to send Christa to Compshire.

Heinley didn’t know how to deal with Christa in this situation, so if I said this to him, no doubt he would.

My mouth opened on its own.

Fortunately, the habit of thinking several times before acting suppressed the urge.

Calm down...

Although sending Christa to Compshire through an imperial order was a way out of the current awkward situation, it would not be good in the long run.

There were many nobles in the Western Empire who followed Christa.

Besides, Compshire was as large a city as the capital, and a splendid scene for high society where artists and minstrels gathered.

Even if she was forced to go there, Christa’s influence in high society would not diminish.

Rather, to comfort her lonely heart, she would invite more nobles to the mansion. Her influence in high society would be greater.

Heinley’s brother’s last will was that he would care for Christa here.

Heinley was already suspected of King Wharton III’s infertility and early death.

In such a scenario, people might become even more suspicious of Heinley if he forced Christa to go to Compshire.

Christa had to go to Compshire on her own, no matter what.

“My Queen?”

As I sat in silence, Heinley called out to me anxiously.

“You’re fine?”

“I’m fine.”

I replied with a smile.

I still felt a weight on my heart, but I also had the feeling that everything would be all right.

I remembered that the day after the wedding reception many ladies sent me letters.

At the time, I had wondered what it was about. Now that Heinley told me about the incident at the wedding reception, I think I knew the reason.

Maybe the situation was better than it seemed.

But...

Putting that aside, why did I feel so uncomfortable?

***

When I finished moving the account books and documents that were in my room to the office, it was time for lunch.

Having worked so hard, I thought about just eating with my ladies-in-waiting.

But in the middle of the meal, I heard some unexpected news.

“It’s about what Your Majesty asked me to investigate. I found out.”

The one who spoke was Rose.

I put down the spoon and stared at her.

I had asked Rose to investigate why the ladies suddenly sent me friendly letters.

I wanted to confirm with what intentions those letters were sent.

But I couldn’t believe she had the answer so soon.

“Well?”

“There’s a rumor circulating secretly...”

“A rumor?”

Why was Rose having trouble saying it?

“Miss Rose?”

When I called to her quizzically, she confessed with a very displeased expression.

“His Majesty the Emperor and Christa are rumored to be in a secret relationship.”

As soon as she finished speaking, there was a clink.

It was the sound of Laura’s fork dropping into her silver bowl.

When Laura’s expression became really fierce, Mastas silently took a knife from in front of her and put it in Laura’s hand.

Rose snorted and continued speaking,

“It is said that at the reception, His Majesty, the Emperor, allowed Christa to wipe his forehead while he stood still. It seems that several ladies witnessed it.”

Laura, who came to her senses, clenched the knife tightly and said in a stern voice.

“Did that really happen at the reception, at the wedding reception?!”

When Rose didn’t answer, Laura snorted, almost spitting fire.

Seeing me silent, Laura became even more enraged.

“Your Majesty! Send her to Compshire immediately! You can’t just wait for the Emperor! You know it, you can’t pass it up!”

“Miss Laura!”

When Countess Jubel called her name coldly, Laura closed her mouth.

However, she could not calm down and kept huffing angrily.

Heinley had already told me about this incident, so I deliberately said with a smile trying to sound as calm as possible.

“It’s a misunderstanding. His Majesty the Emperor already told me what happened that day.”

“Really?”

“Of course.”

“I’m glad if that’s the case...”

Laura and Countess Jubel still looked very worried.

When Rashta first appeared, I said everything would be fine. Laura and Countess Jubel looked distressed because of that memory.

“I’m alright.”

I smiled repeatedly, trying to reassure them.

“It’s definitely a misunderstanding. Besides, this incident could be a blessing in disguise.”

Truth be told, I was not well at all.

That strange, unpleasant discomfort I felt when Heinley told me about Christa still lingered.

But no doubt this incident would be a blessing in disguise.

“A blessing in disguise?”

Mastas asked, puzzled.

“All the ladies here felt sorry for Christa’s situation, so they didn’t even bother to look at me properly. But now they send me friendly letters.”

Laura nodded, but Rose rebutted with a worried expression,

“But Your Majesty, sympathy is not the same as respect.”

“That’s right.”

“In the end, the affection that arises from sympathy has a limit, right? Your Majesty is the highest status person in the empire, so eventually they will consider that you should not be the object of sympathy and will close their hearts again.”

“That’s fine. At least I’ll have a chance to be looked at without prejudice.”

“Ah!”

“They used to look down on me no matter what I did. It may be temporary, but the walls they had built in their hearts have come down. This is an opportunity, and it’s up to me to seize it.”