Page 438 of Remarried Empress

“Why are you coming in here like this?”

I asked coldly to hide how embarrassed I was after he caught me smelling the book.

“Aren’t you working? You know you don’t have time to play these games.”

Heinley, still in Queen form, pretended to laugh by shaking his wings, then he closed the curtains with his beak, and returned to his human form.

“I came here because I want to show you something. Besides, there’s a matter we need to talk about.”

“What is it?”

“You have to come with me to see.”

Heinley walked over to the window and grabbed the curtains with a wide smile.

“I’ll wait for you outside. Will you join me, My Queen?”

Once I nodded, Heinley turned into a bird again, opened the curtains with his beak, and flew through the window. He hovered by the window, flapping his large wings as he stared at me, as if to urge me to hurry. What could it be? I couldn’t guess, but I went outside and circled the building to meet Queen.

He was flying in circles while he waited. When he saw me, he signaled for me to follow and flew off somewhere.

I followed him down a narrow path behind the palace. After a while, the path opened up to a flat area.

This area showed signs of former glory, but now only the old columns that once supported an ancient building remained.

‘Why did he bring me here?’

Although I’m open-minded, I didn’t understand why he brought me to see some ruins. As I looked around in bewilderment, Queen flew to the top of one of the columns.

I stared at it, wondering what I was looking at…

“Is it… is it a nest?”

It looked like a nest made of intertwined branches. As if he had heard my murmur, Queen nodded and perched on the nest. From the distance, I thought I saw a smile spread across his face.

‘It can’t be. Did you bring me all the way here just to show off your nest?’

I couldn’t even see the nest properly from the ground. All I could see was the jewels encrusted in the column, surrounding the nest.

Queen flew into the bushes nearby. After a while, Heinley emerged in his human form, wearing clothes.

“It’s a nest for our baby, My Queen.”

“…”

“What do you think? Do you like it?”

Heinley’s smile shined with pride, so I couldn’t ask whether he had lost his mind.

However, I had to find a way to make him understand that I didn’t like it.

“Isn’t it too… high?”

I didn’t like it at all! Does he want our baby to sleep on some twigs?!

“It’s normal. Babies belonging to our tribe love high places, My Queen. The bravest babies throw tantrums and demand to have their nests built in the highest places.”

“If our baby falls—”

“It will fly.”

“… If the baby falls from up there, it will die. Even birds can’t fly when they are babies.”

“The birds in our tribe learn to fly earlier than normal birds, My Queen. They learn to fly before they even learn to talk, so you don’t have to worry.”

How can he ask me not to worry when he built a nest for our baby in such a tall column? It’s absurd!

So should I accept that our baby will sleep in such a place? I didn’t want that. Not only would my baby sleep in a dangerously high place, but despite the pretty jewels, did Heinley seriously think that my baby could sleep on a bunch of dirty twigs?

But if I get angry, he might think that I don’t care about his tribe’s customs.

As I pondered, Heinley’s proud expression faded and his mood became serious.

“My Queen. There’s another matter requiring a serious discussion.”

“I think this also requires a serious discussion!”

“Do you think we should add more jewels?”

“The problem is not the decorations…”

It’s how high it is! It’s too high!

I had a headache. Thanks to this, the discomfort I felt about my confrontation with Sovieshu disappeared.

I sighed, sat down on a rock, and asked.

“What is it that we must discuss?”

‘I doubt that any matter he wants to discuss would be as serious as the matter of the nest.’

“It’s related to the phenomenon of mana decline.”

The matter was more serious than I expected.

Heinley had avoided this topic as much as possible, even after I discovered his involvement. He admitted that he was responsible, but that was all he said. I didn’t ask any more questions either.

It was the first time he brought it up on his own, so I naturally became nervous.

“What happened?”

“My Queen, as you know, I didn’t cause the phenomenon. All I did was speed it up a little.”

I don’t think he sped it up just a ‘little’.

“I know.”

However, I just nodded. I decided to let his excuse slide. It no longer matters whether he sped it up a little or a lot.

“Mana stones are used to cause mana decline. As soon as I gave up on the war, I began to retrieve all the mana stones that were easy to obtain with the help of my tribe and the Underground Knights.”

“I see.”

“But not all the mana stones have been recovered. It’s impossible to do this in just a few days, as they have been hidden in many places, and it took years to place them all.”

“I see…”

“Emperor Sovieshu seems to have deduced that the mana stones have something to do with this phenomenon ever since the incident of the mana necklace. He has temporarily prohibited the use of mana stones in his country and at the Magical Academy.”

“How serious is it?”

“Since he has suspicions, he has continued the investigation into mana stones. The scholars from the Academy are cooperating.”

The situation was not good. I had unconsciously clasped my hands, so Heinley raised his eyebrows and placed a hand over mine.

“You don’t have to worry so much, My Queen.”

“But if you get caught…”

“That’s the reason I am telling you now, My Queen.”

“Huh?”

“I need to retrieve the mana stones to avoid getting caught.”

“Ah.”

“So I…”

Heinley seemed to hesitate.

“It’s alright. Tell me.”

“I may have to leave for a few days.”

He’ll leave? I won’t see him for a few days?

“Won’t it be dangerous?”

“I’ll be fine.”

As I looked at him with concern, Heinley placed his other hand on mine and squeezed them.

“I’m sorry, My Queen. I didn’t want you to be affected by being on my side.”

I shook my head. I should be the one who was most sorry. I didn’t know what to say, so I looked at the ground. My throat felt tight.

If Heinley hadn’t given up the war for me, he wouldn’t need to retrieve the mana stones now. Because of me, he had no other choice.

“I’m so truly sorry, My Queen. I’ll work it out. Also, while Emperor Sovieshu is here, I won’t be gone for long.”

***

When Heinley told me about the problem related to the mana decline, I felt so sorry that I didn’t consider the practical implications of his absence.

Once I returned to my office and sat down at my desk, I considered that the chancellor and I would have to divide Heinley’s duties during his absences.

Heinley would certainly not want me to take on his duties due to my pregnancy, but what if that was the only option?

Thanks to my training and experience in the Eastern Empire, I was able to adapt without difficulty to my duties in the Western Empire.

Back then, whenever Sovieshu was away, I had to work a little more than usual. However, his absences were planned and typically short, so he was able to take care of important tasks in advance.

But Heinley’s absences would be different, so it was difficult to plan in advance. Although he didn’t specify how many more mana stones he would need to retrieve, I could tell that he would take multiple trips of uncertain duration…

“Your Majesty.”

“…”

“Your Majesty Navier.”

How long was I lost in my thoughts? My attendant called me repeatedly multiple times before I noticed.

As I rang the little bell on the desk to signal that he could enter, my attendant came in. His expression was uncomfortable, and he held a pretty golden box in his hands.

“Your Majesty. Emperor Sovieshu asked me to deliver this to the Empress.”

Sovieshu sent this?

While I kept an expressionless face to hide my bewilderment, my attendant placed the box on my desk. I signaled to him to leave and he bowed awkwardly.

Once I was alone again, I tore off the shiny wrapping paper. An elegant wooden box was revealed.

I removed the lid and saw three plump peaches placed on a cream-colored cloth. A note had been tucked into the inner edge of the box.

— I bought them while thinking of you.

I put the lid back on and put my hand to my forehead. I knew he had gone crazy, but I was shocked to discover that it was worse than I thought.

I had been needlessly worried about my harsh words. He acted like he was deeply remorseful, but now he sent peaches? The very next day? He is definitely mocking me.

Furious, I tore a sheet of paper from the first notebook within reach and poured out my anger in crude penmanship.