Page 345 of Remarried Empress

Heinley flinched and spoke softly as well.

“You’re not angry?”

“You decided to not go to war for me.”

“Even though I was the one who hurt Evely?”

“It was also you who returned the mana to her.”

“If I hadn’t taken it from her in the first place, she would have been stronger than she is now.”

It seemed that her mana still hadn’t fully returned. This was about Evely, so I couldn’t speak on her behalf.

“Aren’t you disappointed in me, My Queen?”

I first answered to myself, ‘I’ve known for a long time that you are a very cunning person.’ Then I shook my head.

“I’m not disappointed.”

“My Queen...”

If Heinley had simply acknowledged it and apologized, perhaps I would have felt differently than I do now.

Or even if he had said that he loved me, but that the war was absolutely necessary for his country, I would have reacted differently. However, he said that he would not continue with what I feared most.

What could I say to the man who had given up his ambitions for me?

Then, I remembered his confession that he loved me.

“Heinley.”

This man meant it. He really did love me.

In the midst of my daze, my attention was caught by Sovieshu’s gift still on the desk.

Suddenly, I was curious. How would Sovieshu have acted in this situation?

“...”

Well, I don’t know. Now I did not understand how he acted. When I was in the Eastern Empire, I never imagined that the proud Sovieshu would continue to send me such gifts after the divorce.

“By the way, My Queen. You wanted to tell me two things. What’s the other...?”

Heinley asked in a nervous voice, while I was deep in thought.

The muscles in his shoulders and arms stiffened as if he was worried once again, he didn’t know it was about Sovieshu.

“It’s not about you.”

“?”

“Sovieshu sent me a very precious gift.”

“You mean the handicrafts the delegation brought?”

“No, a personal gift.”

“A personal gift...”

Heinley muttered with his gaze on the dented box on the desk.

“Is it that by any chance?”

I nodded.

“I’d like to return it because it’s a heavy burden to receive this from Sovieshu. But if I send it personally, it might cause misunderstanding. Can you do it for me?”

Heinley’s expression darkened. Then he glanced at me several times, while he bit his lower lip in discomfort.

He seemed about to get jealous like when I said that Sovieshu was cautious.

However, he didn’t behave as usual, in the end he sighed and rested his forehead on my shoulder.

“My Queen. Did you deliberately choose this order to speak?”

“Are you disappointed?”

When I asked Heinley in his own words, he laughed sweetly and lifted his head to look into my eyes. Then we kissed, uniting our hearts.

***

‘He’s not the kind of person who would leave just because I asked him to. He’ll hold on to my ankle for the rest of his life!’

At first, Rashta was going to ask him to please disappear from her life, even if it meant giving him an important part of her possessions. She thought that even an upright person would not hesitate.

It seemed that her real father knew the journalist Joanson well, so he should know her situation better than anyone else.

But he didn’t care. Rashta realized that she had been wrong.

Unless she died, her father would always hold on to her. No, maybe even after her death he would still hold on to her. Through Glorym!

‘I have to get rid of him.’

Rashta ground her teeth.

Despite how her real father had treated her, she hadn’t thought of getting rid of him until now. Harming her real father was like destroying a shrine.

‘Come to think of it, he is the cause of all my misfortunes, not a shrine. The rotten roots must be cut off.’

Firmly determined, Rashta fixed her hair as she looked at herself in the mirror, took off the ring that had sunk into her flesh and placed it on the table.

Blood fell from the bloody ring and drew a scarlet line.

Rashta took her red gloves, put them on and went straight into the drawing room.

In the drawing room, the maid sent by her father was sitting on the couch, chatting with other maids about how well she lived now.

She burst into laughter after saying that perhaps she could become the Empress’ stepmother.

When the maid belatedly noticed Rashta’s presence, she hurriedly stood up, clasped her hands together and bowed her head.

The maid thought that Rashta would be angry, so she looked at the Empress in fear. But on the contrary, Rashta smiled and said in a sad tone,

“I’d like to send a present to my father, but I think it’s too heavy for you to carry alone.”

“Your Majesty, don’t worry. I have strength.”

“Even if you have strength, you won’t be able to carry it. This might be the last present, so Rashta put in a lot of things.”

“The last present?”

“I’m currently in a very difficult position. It’s impossible for you not to know.”

“...”

“Besides, I want to see my father’s face one last time. So I would like him to come in person, can you tell him?”

The maid answered ‘yes’ nervously.

“Ah. I almost forgot.”

“What?”

The present is very big, so it will attract attention. If a rumor spread that he received a precious present from Rashta, it wouldn’t be good for my father either. So make sure you tell him not to let anyone see him on his way here. He can come through the back entrance.

Rashta then went back into her room and picked up the ring she had left on the table.

She didn’t wipe the blood off the ring, but deliberately covered it with more blood from her own finger.

To finish, she put on a light black cloak, kept the ring in a small pocket and concealed a dagger inside her wide right sleeve.

Eventually, Rashta said she would take a walk and left the West Palace. She headed for the back entrance.

There was no special scenery to see, and down this road one would take more turns to get anywhere else, so neither those who liked to appreciate the scenery nor those who were busy with work used this road.

Her real father wouldn’t want to expose himself either, so Rashta was sure he would come this way.

After waiting for a while, her real father appeared.

He walked with his head held high, arms outstretched and a cocky smile on his face.

Rashta was hiding in the bushes as she waited for her real father to approach. But suddenly she saw a knight behind her real father.

‘Who is it?’ Rashta frowned, ‘Did he come with my father?’

That didn’t seem to be the case. Her real father was startled when the knight called to him from behind.

The knight spoke politely for a moment. Then her real father nodded a couple of times and followed him with a greedy smile.

Rashta followed them through the bushes, but in the end she returned to her room because she didn’t want to be caught.

Rashta was so nervous that she couldn’t even sit on the couch.

‘What happened? Who took my father? Was it His Majesty?’

As she pondered, she saw a glimmer of hope.

‘Yes. It was His Majesty! He definitely intervened for my sake and the princess’. Although her relationship with Empress Navier at the masquerade ball was already distant, Emperor Sovieshu took her side when she attended in a dress almost identical to mine. Because Navier was the Empress. Even now that our relationship has turned cold, he will naturally take my side in this critical situation. Because now Rashta is the Empress.’

***

Rashta’s assumption was half true.

“What did you do with him?”

In response to Sovieshu’s question, the knight bowed his head and said,

“I broke his face, and locked him in the depths of the dungeon.”

Sovieshu had ordered to secretly deal with Rashta’s real father once people lost interest. However, Sovieshu dared to deal with him now because the situation became extremely delicate.

If it were discovered that Rashta was not the daughter of the Isqua Family, it would not only be Rashta who would be in trouble.

Even if the paternity test concluded that Glorym was his daughter, the princess’ future would be compromised by Rashta’s real father.

So he had no choice but to end the problem beforehand.

Besides, since he took care of this man when Rashta called him to the imperial palace, he could use this to his advantage in the future.

“Your Majesty, what do you intend to do with Viscount and Viscountess Isqua?”

The corners of Sovieshu’s lips twisted. The couple thought Sovieshu didn’t know that they were actually Rashta’s fake parents.

So maybe...

“If they agree to take a paternity test, they can stay in the imperial palace, if not, tell them to leave the palace. They won’t want to get caught up in this and lose the rest of their honor, so they will probably flee immediately.”