Page 336 of Remarried Empress

‘I should have paid attention to Heinley when he showed interest in me.’

Rashta waited for the nobles to move away before she emerged from the bushes and headed for Duke Elgy’s room.

Every time she heard the crunch of grass as she stepped down, her anger rose.

“Don’t you look well?”

Duke Elgy asked, immediately noticing Rashta’s deep anger.

“I heard bad news.”

Once Rashta confirmed that no one was around, she closed the door.

“Bad news?”

“How would the Duke feel if someone you have a bad relationship with became happy?”

“Not very well. It would be a little unpleasant.”

“It’s the same for Rashta. A woman Rashta hates is living happily. Rashta doesn’t like that. That woman dumped her misfortunes on Rashta and left to be happy.”

“Who are you talking about?”

“... There is such a woman.”

Rashta spoke vaguely and pointed to the large suitcase behind Duke Elgy.

“By the way, where are you going?”

“Ah. I’m going to visit the Western Empire for a while.”

“The Western Empire? Why?”

Rashta worriedly approached Duke Elgy. Gently gripping a corner of his suit with both hands.

“Will you abandon Rashta?”

“I’ll just be gone for a while. I want to see Heinley.”

“Why him...”

“I’ll congratulate him on his first child.”

Rashta’s expression darkened. She was in a bad mood about it. Her insides seemed to twist when she heard that Duke Elgy would be going to congratulate him.

“Oh, right. The Duke is a close friend of His Majesty Heinley.”

“Your Majesty Rashta isn’t going?”

“Why would Rashta go there?”

“You should have received a formal invitation. Don’t you want to go?”

“She should have received a formal invitation, doesn’t she want to go?”

Rashta whispered in a depressed voice.

“It’s not that I don’t want to. Rashta recently hasn’t been treated like an Empress even in the Eastern Empire. Would Rashta be treated well in another country?”

“Every country should treat its distinguished guests with the utmost courtesy. You are the Empress of the Eastern Empire, so you will certainly be treated well.”

Truth be told, Rashta did not want to see Navier flaunt her happiness. She didn’t want to see the woman who pushed her into a well and left to be happy.

However, she wanted to see Emperor Heinley one more time.

Rashta believed that Heinley had interest in her back then, but she was so obsessed with Emperor Sovieshu that she pretended not to notice. In the end, Heinley married Navier.

Now that her situation had changed, she thought the outcome might be different.

Whether he was still interested in her or not, she wanted to test the waters. Besides, Duke Elgy would also go to the Western Empire...

“On second thought, there’s no special reason not to go.”

“Shall we go together?”

“I would like to, but I don’t think His Majesty would allow it...”

Rashta sighed with regret.

Although she unexpectedly wanted to visit the Western Empire, Sovieshu immediately granted permission when she asked him.

Rashta was glad, she didn’t even have to try to convince him.

“Can I really go?”

“You seem depressed lately. It will do you good to go on a trip.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty!”

“Watch Navier while you’re there and learn how an empress behaves.”

Although his naive attitude seemed suspicious, since it was a request from herself, Rashta eventually confirmed her visit to the Western Empire and began to prepare for the trip.

After a few days, Rashta left for the Western Empire, accompanied by Grand Duke Lilteang. Duke Elgy left separately, by a different route from the rest of the group.

The next day, Marquis Farang left to meet his friend Koshar, and Sovieshu sent Evely, whom he had intended to send for Heinley’s birthday.

Many other nobles also went to visit the Western Empire on their own, so the bustling imperial palace suddenly seemed to fall silent.

At this time, people’s attention was focused on the Western Empire. Sovieshu took the opportunity to send his close knights to Rashta’s maids.

***

Meanwhile, old Duke Zemensia called his grandchildren to tell them about their aunt Christa.

“Your aunt committed suicide for the sake of the family, for the sake of your future. So you have to study hard and be great people, to strengthen our family and avenge your aunt. Do you understand?”

Although Christa did not voluntarily sacrifice herself for these children, it was for the sake of these children that old Duke Zemensia abandoned Christa.

Even though he had to give up his daughter, he wanted his grandchildren to honor and remember Christa’s sacrifice with dignity.

Or rather he did it because his daughter had been too pitiful in the end.

However, the two children had an annoyed expression.

“Why do you guys have that face?”

Once Duke Zemensia asked sternly with some suspicion, his grandson answered sullenly,

“My friends make fun of me because of my aunt, they say she was a liar.”

“What?!”

“I heard that my aunt was so crazy about the emperor that she tried to disgrace the Empress, that’s the reason she ended up in Compshire. What sacrifice did she make for us?”

“Do you believe such nonsense?”

“Yes. What do we care if my aunt committed suicide? My aunt is my father’s sister, not mine.”

“Child...rude child!”

Angry at his grandson’s words, old Duke Zemensia slapped him across the cheek.

As soon as he burst into tears, his granddaughter, who was by her brother’s side, shouted angrily,

“Grandpa, why did you hit him! My brother didn’t say anything wrong! Even if it’s true that my aunt died for us, that was her choice, we didn’t ask her to do it!”

“You are heartless!”

Old Duke Zemensia cried out in horror.

“Your aunt held birthday parties for you at the imperial palace, invited your friends over to play, organized events just for children, and gave you all kinds of gifts! What need did your aunt have to do all that? How can you be so cruel?!”

Just then, a sharp cry was heard through the open door,

“Oh my! Father-in-law!”

When he turned around, he saw Duchess Zemensia approaching in disgust.

The Duchess, who was soon at her children’s side, exclaimed as she embraced her crying son.

“You hit him just because you didn’t like what he said?!”

“Nirhia!”

“He’s right! Because of Christa we are in a terrible position! There will be a banquet in celebration of the first child of the imperial family, and neither my husband nor I were invited! The other nobles make fun of us every time they see us! It’s all because of Christa!”

“Nonsense! Thanks to my daughter you held your head high with pride for years, but now that she’s dead you’re not on her side because others make fun of you?”

“Isn’t it natural to be on someone’s side only when it’s useful?”

“Nirhia!”

Old Duke Zemensia shouted angrily, his eyes bloodshot.

The butler, who approached the room after hearing the raised voices, paced back and forth while thinking that his master’s blood vessels might burst at any moment, so he eventually went in to assist the old Duke.

Duchess Zemensia coldly glared at the old Duke and walked out with the two children.

“Those children... those children, how can they be like that...”

Certainly, Christa definitely did not sacrifice herself voluntarily. However, he sacrificed his daughter for the sake of his grandchildren, and his daughter died desolate from abandonment.

Her body brought from Compshire couldn’t even close her eyes from the resentment inside her.

“How could I choose to save them instead of my daughter?!”

The old Duke gasped for breath and clutched his chest.

“Master!”

The butler hurried to seat the old Duke in a nearby armchair. The old Duke gripped the armrests of the armchair tightly and gasped repeatedly.

“Butler... Butler.”

“Yes, master. Here, here I am.”

“If I hadn’t given in to that damned emperor’s demands for the sake of those two children, I would have managed to keep my daughter here. Even if the family collapsed, I would have been able to protect her!”

Tears streamed down the old Duke’s cheeks.

“But those heartless children... when Christa was the queen, those children always followed her and said that their aunt was the best...”

The old Duke, who remembered his two grandchildren, his son, and daughter-in-law, going to Christa every time they needed something, especially money, felt that his heart would burst and he kept pounding the armrests.

“Master...”

The butler, who had watched Christa grow up since she was born, also had tears in his eyes and wiped them away with his sleeves.

“My daughter. My Christa. My baby.”

The old Duke burst into tears and covered his face with both hands.

At the thought that his daughter had died without being able to close her eyes because of what he himself had done to her, his heart ached as if it were being crushed.

What’s worse is that he couldn’t kick them out even though he was so angry. If he kicked them out, his daughter’s death would be in vain.

Besides that he would be left without a family.

He had not heard from his nephew, Marquis Ketron, these days, and Duke Liberty, for some reason, was trying to approach the Empress through his two children.

“Master...”

The sobs of the old Duke and the butler filled the gloomy mansion.