Page 466 of Remarried Empress

After eating a hearty lunch, Heinley said he had business to attend to and left to meet with McKenna.

I urged him to rest today, since he had been so sick. But he replied that it couldn’t wait and left without heeding my advice.

‘Is this how it feels?’

Whenever people advised me to rest, I didn’t listen either, and threw myself into my work. Did these people feel the same helplessness I feel as I watch my husband walk away?

In any case, I couldn’t be the one to rest when my newly recovered husband is working so hard.

I instructed one of my assistants to deliver a healthy blue bird to Grand Duke Kapmen, then went to my office to deal with some business.

Later, I went to my room to have dinner with my ladies-in-waiting. Rivetti, who was busy with her studies and with exploring the palace, also joined.

“How are your studies progressing?”

“It has been harder than I expected. It’s a small estate, so I thought I would learn to handle it quickly. It seems I underestimated what managing an estate entails.”

And so, as we ate, we chatted about the Rivetti estate, about the nanny I needed to hire for my baby, about where to place the nursery, and how to decorate it.

It was then that the question I’d asked Heinley earlier, about Duke Elgy’s feelings toward Sovieshu, came to mind.

I asked Countess Jubel and Laura this question. I wanted to gather different points of view.

Countess Jubel cocked her head and said,

“I also wonder if Duke Elgy holds a grudge against His Majesty Sovieshu, but to tell the truth, Duke Elgy…”

What was she about to say? Countess Jubel stopped and examined my countenance.

“I brought it up, Countess, so you may answer truthfully.”

“…Duke Elgy is a mysterious man. I wonder why he betrayed Rashta.”

“Me too!”

Laura exclaimed and stuck her fork into her pudding.

“They were close, like a couple. Why did he do that?”

Then she turned her focus back to the pudding. Rose and Mastas didn’t know anything about Elgy and Rashta, so they just listened quietly while they ate.

It was Rivetti who had an unexpected reaction. Her eyes widened.

“What are you talking about?”

Laura was also surprised by Rivetti’s reaction.

“You don’t know?”

“No. Weren’t the two of them really close?”

Since Rivetti had suffered through a series of terrible experiences, including seclusion to keep her safe from Rashta, she must not have heard the full account of what happened at the paternity test.. Even after it was all over, she moved to a small town near her estate and didn’t pay attention to the gossip.

“During the blood test at the temple to find out if the princess was His Majesty Sovieshu’s daughter, Duke Elgy suddenly appeared with Rashta’s son. Or rather… with your nephew.”

At Laura’s explanation, Rivetti dropped her fork.

“Is this true?”

Laura fell silent, unsure whether to finish the story, but Countess Jubel took over.

“As a result of that incident, it was confirmed that Alan and Rashta were secretly lovers.”

Rivetti turned pale.

Rose elbowed Countess Jubel in the side and shook her head, but Countess Jubel maintained an innocent expression. She seemed to think it was better to tell Rivetti now, since she would eventually find out anyway because it wasn’t a secret.

But when Countess Jubel looked at Rivetti, her expression softened. Rivetti was biting her lips hard and glaring at the steak on her plate. Her expression was fierce.

Unaware that she had become the center of attention, Rivetti muttered absent-mindedly,

“So… does that mean that Duke Elgy is the one who ruined my family? Because of him, my father and brother… were falsely accused of colluding with Rashta?”

***

“Here.”

Koshar was standing by the main gate of the palace, and he waved to Mastas, who had just come out and was looking around.

Mastas smiled radiantly as soon as she saw him. Koshar didn’t have a name for what he felt at her cheerful smile.

Most nobles in the Eastern Empire frowned at the sight of him, or grimaced with fright. While this reaction was less common in the Western Empire, no one had ever reacted with so much happiness due to his presence.

Not even his family showed this degree of happiness when they saw him. He had always been a troublemaker, and although they loved him, there was an indelible worry in their eyes.

“Lord Koshar!”

Mastas, who came running up like a puppy, raised her hands awkwardly in the air as if she didn’t know where to put them, then hastily settled them on either side like a knight standing at attention and put on a straight face.

“How are you? Hello.”

She attempted to control her facial expressions and behavior too late. Koshar wanted to laugh, but held back.

The two headed to the tavern.

But once at their table, Mastas’ expression darkened. It wasn’t a forced expression of seriousness like before, but a truly gloomy expression.

“Miss Mastas. Are you all right?”

When Koshar asked with concern, Mastas shook her head quickly, as if she had suddenly stirred awake.

“I’m fine. I was just thinking about someone.”

“Is it a man?”

“No! I don’t think of any man other than Lord Koshar!”

“!”

“Well, that… that doesn’t mean I think about you all the time. I don’t even think about you. No, it’s not that I don’t think about you at all, but I don’t… not a lot.”

Mastas rambled, then held up her hand, her index finger and thumb close together to show Koshar just how little she thought of him.

“This much. Sometimes I think of you, very occasionally.”

Koshar reached out and gently lifted Mastas’ index finger, widening the space between her fingers.

“This is how much I think about Miss Mastas.”

Mastas stared at her fingers with wonder, her face as red as a tomato.

“That…that much…”

The distance between her fingers was less than an inch, but to her eyes, it was like the distance from the depths of the ocean to the highest part of the sky.