Page 450 of Remarried Empress

— I wish Your Majesty happiness, wherever you are.

— I wanted to request an audience with Your Majesty just to meet you once. It’s a pity that in the end I couldn’t do it.

— If Your Majesty does not feel at home in the Western Empire because its people treat you poorly, you are welcome back at any time.

“My Queen? What are you doing?”

Heinley walked into the room as he dried his damp hair with a towel. He lay down next to me and watched me take the letters out of the basket one by one. I was engrossed as I read them, which seemed to arouse Heinley’s curiosity.

He naturally slipped his arm under my neck.

“I’m reading letters.”

I rested my head on his arm, then handed him one of the letters.

“These are letters written to you by people of the Eastern Empire?”

As he read, he began to caress me with his hand. Although he spoke casually about mundane matters, his hand seemed to have naughty intentions.

When I tapped the back of his hand with an envelope, Heinley let out a regretful chuckle.

“Have mercy on me, my wife. Since I can’t embrace you, at least let me touch you. Please?”

“What are you pouting about? You’re embracing me right now.”

“I had a different sort of embrace in mind… An embrace that brings me even closer to you.”

I raised my head to glare at him, then I bit and tugged gently on his lower lip. Pleased, he played along and kissed me passionately as he caressed my body.

Afterwards, I rested my head against his chest and listened to his heartbeat, which was pounding. At that moment, Heinley stretched his leg and kicked the basket, making it fall off the bed. He grinned brazenly at me.

“I’m sorry. I don’t like the owner of that basket, but I didn’t mean to kick its contents.”

He was clearly acting innocent… but I let it pass and buried my head back into his chest. It was certainly better for Heinley to openly express his hatred towards Sovieshu than for him to isolate himself in the nest with a blank expression.

“By the way, My Queen. How are things going between my brother Koshar and Princess Charlotte? What does my brother think of marrying her?”

“Although he wouldn’t mind, I think he’s still not sure.. However, I heard that he has met with Princess Charlotte a few times, so we may soon know his honest answer.”

My feelings about Koshar marrying out of obligation were still ambiguous. Although most nobles were forced into arranged marriages, I knew how much my brother loved his freedom. I didn’t know what would be best…

***

Viscount Langdel showed up the next day around two o’clock in the afternoon. Although he had only been away for a few days, he seemed very exhausted due to the dark circles under his eyes.

“Viscount Langdel, are you all right?”

I asked with concern, not intending to pry, to which Viscount Langdel answered with a tired voice,

“I feared that Commander Angel was the one who released Grand Duke Lilteang, so I hardly slept while I searched for him.”

“But Grand Duke Lilteang…”

“Yes, Commander Angel managed to elude me. He left the Grand Duke in front of the embassy.”

I recalled the Viscount’s soaked shoulders on the day with heavy rain. So he had been in search of the Grand Duke ever since.

To my surprise, Heinley quietly allowed the Grand Duke to leave with Sovieshu to the Eastern Empire.

More importantly, if it really had been Commander Angel who released the Grand Duke, why had he turned him over to Sovieshu so quickly when I knew he had no issues resorting to blackmail…

“Are you sure it was Commander Angel who took the Grand Duke to the embassy?”

“I’m not sure, but I suspect so. Forgive me for not telling you in advance, Your Majesty.”

Viscount Langdel pressed his hands together in apology. Rather than reassure him that it didn’t matter, I asked him more questions.

“Why did you ask me to refuse the 4th Commander’s request? And why didn’t you tell me that he was the one who would visit?”

“I didn’t trust that my messenger could convey my words properly, or that something could happen to him… Commander Angel was adamantly opposed when I decided to become Your Majesty’s personal knight.”

Viscount Langdel’s answers were straightforward but gave me much to think about. Like the fact that the 4th Commander has a powerful influence, and the fact that Viscount Langdel managed to keep the 4th Commander somewhat at bay.

In any case, it was a relief that Commander Angel left without causing more trouble. I was worried that his sudden appearance was related to the mana decline phenomenon.

Maybe things will be quiet for some time now that both Commander Angel and Sovieshu left.

“By the way, Your Majesty. Do you remember that you asked me to bring Miss Rivetti here? Well, my subordinate informed me that she accepted the invitation and is on her way.”