Chapter 70

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Chapter 70

Thalia frankly confessed that she had not been able to properly do what she was commanded to, and knelt on the floor to ask for forgiveness. At that moment, the Empress, who was stroking her chin with one hand, narrowed her eyes and looked at Thalia, she asked sharply.

“Wait, what happened there? Your messy attire is unusual.”

“Ah…!”

Thalia momentarily patted her sleeves.

Her clothes were wrinkled as she was dragged out by the attendants in the VIP room earlier, and even though she straightened it up again, the keen eyes of the Empress seemed to catch it. Thalia dropped her head to the floor and started banging her forehead.

“Your Majesty, actually, that commoner accidentally fell down on the floor and cried out, because of that… I couldn’t fulfill the mission that was given to me.”

Thalia believed that Shuelina fell on her own, but lied so she could get away with the situation. It was because it was a situation where no one can testify since it was only her and the child inside the room.

She tried to talk to Shuelina with a tongue dripping in honey but in fact, she already knew that she was an orphaned commoner, so she was looking down at her.

(e/n: a honey dripping tongue means she was saying sweet and kind words to trick her)

‘How dare you! If you hadn’t been as lucky to become a Grand Princess, you would’ve been the one washing my feet.’

She felt annoyed when Shuelina’s legs weakened and she fell to the floor, and at her form when she started to cry and made it obvious she was upset. Shuelina also showed signs of being wary from the beginning.

She wasn’t born with noble blood, but she kept getting angry because it seemed like that child, who had a lot of luck, ignored her. Unfortunately, she was the Grand Princess so she couldn’t lay a hand on her.

At Thalia’s words, the smile on the Empress’ face somewhat faded.

“So, you just came here to say that?”

“…….Yes.”

“It’s not like I sent an untrusted maid to do the task… or sent you without letting you know anything beforehand….”

The Empress’ green eyes flashed at Thalia’s words. It was only then that Thalia knew what a stupid mistake she had made. It was unavoidable that she would be kicked out.

However, even the maid who was summoned afterward had to be dealt with somehow. She should have brought the other maid and then asked for forgiveness again.

“Please f-forgive me, My Empress! Please!”

“Of all things, it would attract too much attention to insist on a maid sent by the Grand Chamberlain.”

The Empress tilted her head quietly as if thinking about something. Even as she thought deeply, there was no change in her elegant expression.

‘If the Grand Chamberlain came out… Maybe it was because of the Emperor’s influence.’

The Empress tapped the armrest of the chair and motioned for Thalia to step away. Thalia, who certainly wanted to be forgiven, looked up eagerly, but the Empress never looked back. Thalia was eventually forced to retreat.

As soon as Thalia, who bowed politely again, carefully closed the door and left, the Empress murmured into the air.

“Are things going well?”

“Of course, My Empress. I was informed that there was no problem. Now is the time to release it.”

The air shook slightly, and a man wearing a cloak appeared and answered. Even though a person suddenly appeared from behind her, the Empress slowly nodded her head without showing any signs of surprise.

“Yes, that should be fine. We can proceed without a hitch.”

The Empress did not look back, but raised her hand lightly and gave instructions.

She was nervous by what was happening inside the Grand Duchy. She felt like everything had started to really go wrong when she tried to get her hands on Shuelina, who now suddenly appeared in the Imperial Palace.

Her red lips twisted as she looked straight at the door where Thalia disappeared after thinking of something.

“Ah, about that kid that just left, deal with her like before.”

In the beginning, Thalia was quick to notice and earned the Empress’s trust. But that trust seems to have ended as of today. The Empress was not one to give more than two chances. Sadly, even if it was a simple mistake, she did not have the kind heart to understand.

“Yes.”

The man was very familiar with that command, so he bowed his head without saying a word. This is because it was very common for the Empress to ‘dispose’ of people that had lost their usefulness.

Satisfied by the docile man’s attitude, the Empress extended her hand. The man lightly kissed the back of her hand and disappeared into thin air again.

I sat down next to Wyndert and finished eating the crunchy cookies while listening to the conversation between the Grand Duke and Cahill.

It was suddenly impossible to return to the mansion, so Cahill had gone to investigate the situation in the mansion instead of the Grand Duke.

“The damage is about the size of a mansion’s garden. No one was injured, but the garden was destroyed.”

“What about the Intruder?”

“Their status is currently unknown. My apologies.”

The Grand Duke’s eyebrows twitched slightly at Cahill’s answer. He didn’t seem to like his answer. It just so happened to be the Grand Duke’s mansion that was damaged, but it was still unknown who broke inside and they had not been found yet.

“It must be one of the Royals… that did it. Even so, we can’t do too much about it.”

The Grand Duke glanced at me and muttered a little. I looked up and asked Cahill.

“Excuse me. How are Miya and Kaiden? I’m worried about Nina and Franc too……”

“Of course. The maids are cleaning out the lady’s room, and Miya and Kaiden are probably wandering around the mansion.”

“Oh, really!”

After hearing that there was an attack on the mansion, the thing I was most worried about was resolved, and it was very fortunate news. I started swinging my legs at my seat with a happy face and focused on my cookie again.

“Shushu, aren’t you bored?”

“Yes?”

Then Wyndert put his face close to my ear and spoke softly. We were sitting together in the Diamond Room’s parlor, and he seemed a little bored just listening to the conversation.

“I thought you would be bored if you stayed still. Should we go out?”

“Have you been to the Imperial Palace often?”

“No, I’m not an adult yet, and there’s no reason to come here because I would be away from the Grand Duchy.”

(e/n: basically he would be away from the duchy too often, where he has important tasks to do, if he was going to the imperial palace)

No, he wasn’t bored, he was worried about me!

It wasn’t particularly boring, but Wyndert said it was his first visit to the Imperial Palace, so somehow he wanted to go out and see it. My head was pounding for some reason, but I thought I’d go with him if he wanted me to.

“Daddy, I want to look around this area with my older brother.”

“Take care of yourself then.”

The Grand Duke looked at Wyndert with a meaningful look and said some words of caution.

He seemed to have become more alert because of the fact that the Empress almost got her hands on me through the maid assigned to me. Therefore, he can’t leave me by myself, even if I was listening to the adult’s conversation, he decided to let me play around.

Even when he saw the dressing room the emperor gave me, he was very angry…

“I can go around the Imperial Palace and brag about this outfit, right?”

Cahill went to the Grant Duke’s mansion in the capital to get me a special dress for going out – a luxurious dress embroidered with the family’s insignia. Wyndert seemed to be in a good mood at the thought of taking me around in the decorated clothes like this.

‘Childish…’

The clothes are alright, but my childish appearance made everything look very cute. I would also be recognized more easily as a family member of the Grand Duke and Wyndert. I grabbed Wyndert’s hand and opened the door.

“Oh?”

“Shuelina.”

I saw Lucas leaning slightly against the wall when we entered the hall. Another thing I noticed is that the servants around him looked very restless. I blinked and looked up blankly at Lucas.

“Do you have any business with us, my lord.”

Wyndert asked, moving his hand slightly in front of me as if protecting me. Lucas looked down at the hand and looked back at me.

“You looked like you’re going somewhere.”

“We are planning to take a tour around the Imperial Palace for now. You can go first if you don’t have any specific business here.”

Lucas’ eye lit up at Wyndert’s words.

“I see, it must be the first time for the both of you so I will guide you.”

“Yes?”

“Your Highness!”

Hearing his words, us and the servants who were standing next to him all questioned his actions with scornful faces. Why did you have to be a hindrance during a private outing with my brother?

I shook my head with tears in my eyes because it was absurd. I quietly refused and started to say no, but it didn’t work. Lucas began to stride ahead of us, not caring at all.

“Now, what would you like to see?”

Lucas asked me with a friendly smile. I hesitated and shook my head.

‘I want to go to a place where you’re not there…’

However, I did not have the courage to rudely reject the Crown Prince’s offer to guide us around the Imperial Palace.

It wasn’t even a difficult task for him in the first place, and it seemed more difficult to refuse because it seemed like it was only offered as a favor. Besides… For some reason, Lucas seemed a little more sad, so it would be troublesome to make a big fuss out of it.

“Oh, Is it because you don’t know which way to go so you can’t choose?”

It was Wyndert and my first time in the Imperial Palace so he was right that we didn’t know much about this place. But for some reason, some kind of place popped up in my head.

‘Is it because I read the original too hard?’

The place where Azuela stayed as the Imperial Princess and the place where Shuelina once stayed vividly came into my mind. I put my fingertips on my forehead and mumbled as I thought blankly.

“I want to go to the west.”

The west side of the imperial castle was really familiar to ‘Shuelina’.

『“This is your new room now. You should thank the merciful Empress for giving a sinner like you a room.”

Someone grabbed Shuelina’s arm and shoved her away. She collapsed in the middle of the room, and dust rose all around her.

She heard the dull sound of the lock after she had been pushed inside the room as if they had been touching something dirty. Shuelina blankly looked around the room where only a small amount of light was coming in.

‘There is such a place here.’

Although there was furniture inside, the bed looked like the legs would snap underneath it at any given moment, and it was fortunate enough that the chair hadn’t already broken. It felt like the only mercy given to her was the handful of rays of light that were coming inside.

While she was dragged here, the other people in the palace were moving around busily, but there were no people here. This place was the end among ends in the imperial palace. It was a place that no one cared about and left forgotten.

‘Before I was locked up in a luxurious room and then now I’m locked up in a dirty tower. There is no difference.’

Shuelina comforted herself and sighed. 』

To the west of the Imperial Castle, there is a room where Shuelina in the book stayed in until the end of her life. I don’t know what kind of impression it will leave on me if I see it myself.

My head had started to hurt already, but I knew I had to go to that place – because this Imperial Palace seemed to always want to show me something.

So, it was a rather impulsive decision.

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