CH 6

‘….I should have prepared my heart before coming in.’

Working with his glasses on gives off an intelligent and attractive aura that Colton would often be surprised by whenever he walked into the office unprepared.

More than 10 years had passed since he started working as a servant for Wilhelm Rosenberg.

However, even after more than a decade had passed, he still couldn’t adapt to that merciless beauty.

Thinking that this would always be the case, Colton approached Wilhelm with loud footsteps. 

Only after hearing his footsteps did Wilhelm raise his head. Showing an expressionless look as if saying “What is it this time?”.

“It would be better for you to have some sleep, Your Majesty.”

“It’s still bearable.”

“Tomorrow… No, I mean, you still have to attend the memorial service of His Majesty the Sun Emperor that will be held tomorrow.”

‘Well even if he had no sleep, his face would still be the same. Still, he has to sleep.’

Knowing that Wilhelm had slept less than ten hours this week, Colton was very concerned about the health of His Majesty.

“Well it doesn’t mean that it’s bad to show that you’re weak sometimes.

“Yes, it does.”

Wilhelm responded dryly and set down the fountain pen on his desk. At that moment Colton said.

“Oh…and today, something absurd happened at the Empress’s Palace.”

Wilhelm’s forehead furrowed upon hearing the news.

“I have no interest in hearing any information that is related to the Empress.”

It was obvious that Colton was about to mention Anastasia’s name.

Knowing that he mentioned an absurd thing happened, it would mean that the Empress had committed another inappropriate act.

So there is no need to torment his tired self with such nonsense.

“It’s a good thing to hear though. More like amazing to hear.”

“What the hell did the Empress do now? Did she kill anyone?”

“I think that would have been less surprising if she did.”

Wilhelm frowned at Colton’s response.

“She called all of her courtiers and apologized personally to them.”

“…What did you say?”

“During the day, Her Majesty slapped Lady Duphort’s cheek but then she suddenly apologized to her in the afternoon. Aside from that, she also asked for the dress tailor to be sent back and that she won’t be fitting any more dresses.”

“….You mean to tell me that the Empress apologized? To the courtiers?”

Wilhelm couldn’t help but focus on the word ‘Apologize’ that Colton mentioned.

Because knowing the Empress, even if it is her unknown whim, an apology was absolutely ridiculous.

‘Did that proud woman really know how to apologize?’

For the past two years, never was there a moment in their relationship where she had spoken a single word or even said sorry to him for all of the incidents that she has caused.

“It’s true! I couldn’t believe it myself as well. That is why I checked it several times..”

“There must be a reason for that.”

“I’m not sure if there is a reason, but judging from the fact that Duke Barantes came to visit her, it seems that he could be the reason for her sudden change….”

No way. Wilhelm shook his head.

The Duke of Barantes admonished Anastasia for more than a dozen times already. Even after she had become the Empress.

‘She wouldn’t even listen to him for the past two years, so why would she now?’

“You never know. Maybe she has gone crazy?”

“I think there is a lot of potential there.”

Colton nodded seriously and then asked.

“What should we do? I don’t think this is normal.”

“What do you mean?”

Wilhelm replied indifferently.

“You don’t have to take it seriously. Perhaps because tomorrow will be Emperor Seon’s death anniversary, so that’s why she’s acting on impulse for a while. Even if she’s really crazy, there’s really nothing that we could do.”

“…….”

“From now on, there is no need to report to me anything relating to the Empress. Unless she committed a murder, I don’t want to hear any information about her.”

He ended the conversation with annoyance in his voice.

-ˏˋ ━━━━━━ ʚɞ ━━━━━━ ˊˎ-

(3rd Person POV)

The next morning Madame Rochester, who was fully prepared for the event, entered Anastasia’s bedroom.

Once she got in front of Anastasia, whose eyes were still closed, she cried out loudly.

“Your Majesty, please stand…!”

But at that very moment, Madame Rochester was so startled that she failed to finish her speech because Anastasia immediately opened her eyes.

‘….What? I was just about to wake her up.’

Anastasia wasn’t the type of person that could get out of the bed easily. She was a person who only woke up after she was called multiple times until that person’s voice became hoarse.

While Madame Rochester was astonished by the impossibility, frozen like a statue, Anastasia made eye contact with Madame Rochester and smiled brightly.

“Good morning, Madame Rochester.”

“Oh, yes….”

Then Madame Rochester asked in a bewildered voice.

“Since when…did you wake up?”

“Just now.”

Anastasia laughed and lied.

In fact, she didn’t sleep at all last night.

‘I was so nervous that I couldn’t sleep.’

‘Because this is the day that I’ll be seeing Wilhelm again.’

Of course, she continued to pull herself together, so that her decision will not be nullified.

Since it will be their first reunion, her inner voice kept whispering to her to let it slide this time.

How excited her heart was just by the thought of seeing Wilhelm alive again. She ended up staying up all night because of it. 

“Should I get up now and get ready?”

“What? Oh, yes.”

Madame Rochester nodded awkwardly since this was the first time it happened.

-ˏˋ ━━━━━━ ʚɞ ━━━━━━ ˊˎ-

(3rd Person POV)

“It’s done, Your Majesty.”

After three hours of preparations, Anastasia finally opened her eyes at someone talking to her.

“I must have fallen asleep.”

It seemed that she was fully relaxed while she was being groomed.

However, as soon as she saw her own reflection, she immediately panicked.

“This, this….!”

“Do you like it?”

‘Do I like it?’

Anastasia was momentarily speechless.

“… Some people might think that I’m going to a party.”

Anastasia said as she pulled off the splendid diamond ornaments on her head.

She could see the surprised look at her maids, as they looked at each other’s faces.

“It’s just too fancy for the event. Does everyone want me to be criticized?”

“Oh, no,no…Your Majesty!”

The maids hurriedly knelt down in front of Anastasia as if they were afraid.

“We swear we didn’t mean to do that!”

‘It seems that they are really innocent.’

Originally, Anastasia was dissatisfied if she could not stand out in splendor wherever she goes. That is why they tried to decorate her as modestly as possible considering that today is the memorial ceremony of the former Emperor.

Whenever Anastasia was dissatisfied, it was the people who served her who would see the brunt of her anger and so it was inevitable that it would fall to the maids.

“We’re just afraid that if we don’t decorate it like this, Her Majesty the Empress will not like it….”

It was then Anastasia realized that she made a big mistake.

It isn’t like the maid decorated her like this without a reason.

‘Just how can the original Anastasia think of dressing up like this. Especially at her father-in-law’s memorial…’

Anastasia sighed inwardly and told herself that no one is to blame for what happened.

“I’d like to wear a simple black dress without any decorations and a single pearl earring as my accessory.”

Everyone looked at each other with blank expressions at something so unprecedented.

“I’d also like to have my hair arranged in a neat and simple manner. Please move quickly because I don’t have much time.”

“Yes…Yes!”

At that moment, all the maids who were kneeling began to move diligently.

Madame Rochester who was looking at the scene suddenly felt proud.

‘She really did change!’

Originally, it was Anastasia who strongly insisted that she should look splendid no matter what the occasion was. Even if it was a memorial service with an excuse that her father-in-law would have also liked it.

No matter what Madame Rochester tried to say about manners, she wouldn’t listen at all.

‘But finally, she is now choosing a dress that is appropriate to the occasion and the environment….’

As expected, what happened yesterday was not a dream.

Madame Rochester was thrilled and slowly approached Anastasia.

“Don’t worry too much, Your Majesty. There is still plenty of time until the memorial service.”

“Oh really?”

“Yes. It’s all thanks to Her Majesty who woke up early today.”

“Haha…Then that’s a relief.”

A grown woman who was already married was praised for waking up early…

“I’ll fix your hair up.”

“Thank you.”

Madame Rochester then began to touch Anastasia’s hair with a pleasing look on her face.

At her skillful and gentle touch, Anastasia slowly fell asleep again.

-ˏˋ ━━━━━━ ʚɞ ━━━━━━ ˊˎ-

(3rd Person POV)

After getting ready, Anastasia rode a carriage that would bring them to the Great Hall of Rosenberg where the memorial service would be held.

Anastasia, wearing a hat with a black veil and wearing only white pearl earrings as her accessory, sat quietly in an unadorned black dress.

Madame Rochester, who was watching from the opposite side, simply admired Anastasia’s gentle look.

‘Was she always this elegant?’

It was her first time seeing her in such a dignified look after two years of serving her as the Empress.

Madame Rochester still felt like she was dreaming today as she did yesterday.

On the other hand, Anastasia was trembling on the inside, contrary to her calm demeanor.

‘Finally…I’m going to see Wilhelm.’

Thinking that the time to see him is getting closer, she became so nervous she felt like her throat was tightening up, and her heartbeat was going to explode on itself.

Even Madame Rochester, who was sitting nearby, couldn’t figure out what she’s feeling.

“We have arrived, Your Majesty.”

The carriage had stopped.

The grand chapel inside the Great Hall was the place where the memorial service of Seon II, Anastasia’s father-in-law and former Emperor, would be held today.

Anastasia got off the carriage while being escorted by the knights.

Since all the other nobles had already arrived, it was very quiet outside the chapel.

“Go up carefully, Your Majesty.”

The long stairs from where the carriage stood to the grand chapel were quite steep, so one would have to tread carefully in order not to fall. 

It was when Anastasia had finally reached the top of the stairs that someone else had arrived.

– Clip-clop-clip-clop-clip.

The sound of horseshoes grew louder and louder, and then silence.

Anastasia, who was about to enter the main chapel, turned around in reflex.

Among the escort of numerous knights, someone was disembarking from a large and colorful carriage similar to the one that she was riding on.