Page 470 of Remarried Empress

The ‘guest’ sent by Navier was waiting in a small room close to the White Rose Room. When Sovieshu entered, the ‘guest’, who had not expected to be welcomed in person by the Emperor, suddenly jumped up, dropping their bag to the floor.

“Your Majesty, it’s an honor to meet you. I am Rivetti Rimwell.”

Rivetti Rimwell?

The name sounded familiar to Sovieshu.

“You are—”

“Do you not remember? Oh, well, we only met briefly that time. I am Ahn’s aunt, whom Your Majesty saved…”

Sovieshu finally remembered it. It was a name he had seen in court records. She was the daughter of Viscount Roteschu Rimwell, who was sentenced to death once his collusion with Rashta was revealed.

Attempting to pass off one’s own flesh and blood as the Emperor’s was an extremely serious crime. It was so serious that entire families could be punished. But oddly enough, in this case only the two men directly involved with the scheme were punished— Roteschu Rimwell and Alan Rimwell.

The first child born to Alan Rimwell and Rashta was sold into slavery, but his sentence was unrelated to this particular crime.

Ahn was the child of a slave, and his father, who was a noble, became a felon along with his mother, so he was treated in accordance with the law.

What surprised Sovieshu the most was that Rivetti Rimwell and Viscountess Rimwell were spared from any punishment. When Sovieshu read that in the court records, he wondered why, but the answer was not in his diary either.

The fact that it wasn’t in the diary meant that his night self had decided not to write about it for some reason. Sovieshu guessed that he made some sort of deal with Viscount Roteschu. But now, one of these people appeared before his eyes, sent by no other than Navier.

‘It seems like a twisted story involving many tangled relationships. No…’

Sovieshu frowned slightly. He didn’t want to dwell on such complicated thoughts.

‘This young lady named Rivetti— no, she’s no longer simply the daughter of a noble family. She’s the mistress of an estate. I received the document in which her father bequeathed his estate to her.’

The Night Sovieshu made sure to approve it. The day Sovieshu had wondered why, but since he couldn’t remember and was unaware of any connection to Navier, he didn’t think much of it.

In any case, he believed that if he delved into the relationship between this Lady Rimwell, Navier, and Rashta, he would find clues to his lost memories…

***

We decided that the room across from mine and Heinley’s would be the nursery because that way we could check on the baby at any time. With this resolved, we began to set it up.

“What design would you like for the cradle, Your Majesty?”

“Why not make the cradle out of spruce?”

“A mobile made of the moon and stars would be pretty!”

“Ah, Miss Rose! His Majesty said he has plans for a bejeweled mobile, so we’d better not interfere.”

“The baby’s clothes should be soft, right?”

“The baby will also need formal wear for the parties.”

The palace had been in a constant bustle lately, getting the nursery, toys and accessories ready.

Perhaps due to the new life on the way, the dim shadows that hovered over the palace had faded. In addition to setting up the nursery, the palace also needed a slight renovation so that the baby could meander around without getting hurt…

There was more work than expected. Fluffy rugs were laid in the corridors, small chairs were made so the baby could sit when his little feet hurt, more knights were posted throughout the palace, and decorations were hung close to the floor, where a child’s eyes could appreciate them.

As I wrapped my hands around my prominent belly, I carefully prepared for my first baby. However, while the dim shadows had faded from around the palace, a dark cloud remained around my head that would not dissipate no matter how bright the environment was.

‘I wonder if there’s a way to secretly remove the nest Heinley is making.’

The more I learned about babies as I prepared everything for my child, the more I realized how fragile and tiny babies are. A nest was not at all suitable! The more I thought about it, the less I wanted to leave my baby in Heinley’s sloppy nest of twigs.

The problem was…

“My Queen, My Queen. Between this yellow jewel and this purple jewel, which one is prettier?”

“…”

“My Queen?”

Heinley was busy decorating his nest. McKenna also hurried to and fro, collecting silk from somewhere for his own nest.

Since they had to build their nests in their bird forms, lately I often saw a large golden bird and a small blue bird flapping their wings through my office windows.

“Can’t we put the baby in the nest after he grows up a bit?”

“Well, Your Majesty. The tribe’s babies need to spend several hours a day in their bird form.”

“I know that, McKenna. What I mean is, babies don’t necessarily have to be in a nest when they’re turned into birds, right?”

“When you’re a bird, the nest is the most comfortable place to be.”

I wanted to disagree. But I’ve never been a bird, so I couldn’t refute McKenna’s statement.

In the end, I met Heinley and McKenna in my drawing room to help pick out the silk and other decorations for the nests.

Heinley and McKenna turned into birds to feel the silks, while I, as the sole human, only had to wrap the silks around their bird bodies.

“Your Majesty.”

Just then, Viscount Langdel called. Since I had asked my ladies-in-waiting to leave so that we could carry out this task, I went to the door myself and asked what was the matter. I had told them not to disturb me as much as possible, as I had a difficult job to do.

“A man named Dolshi is here.”

Ah, Dolshi. I asked them to alert me if he came. But now…

When I looked back, McKenna was frozen while holding a twig in his beak. Queen seemed to laugh as he flapped his wings as if he found the situation enormously funny, then he rolled under the table.

Sometimes they seem a little dumb. Or is it that their brains shrink to the size of a bird’s?

“Viscount Langdel, my belly feels very heavy right now. Could you tell him to come another time? I don’t feel well.”

“Yes.”

Once I closed the door and returned to the couch, McKenna’s legs gave way and he fell flat on the table. It was so cute to see a little bird lying face-down.

But the adorable scene didn’t last more than two seconds, as Heinley kicked McKenna as soon as I burst into laughter. Heinley then lay down exactly as McKenna had done and looked up at me with a twinkle in his eye.

It was obvious what he wanted to ask, ‘I’m cuter, aren’t I?’

… Yes there can be no doubt. Whoever named them the Birdheaded Tribe chose a suitable name.

***