Chapter 96
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 96
I was dying of curiosity, but I stayed still and waited.
Grandfather, who had been glaring at the letter with a furrowed brow, finally made a gesture.
When Luc, who had been waiting nearby, approached, Grandfather spoke in a cold tone.
“Send a reply stating that I refuse.”
“Yes, Your Grace. What reason should I provide?”
“Add that Sophia Frezier has already departed for the Academy.”
“I will draft it immediately.”
As expected of an aide who had worked in perfect harmony with him for a long time, Luc seemed to understand immediately without any further questions.
Of course, my ears were perked.
‘If Sophia not being in the Grand Duchy is the reason for the refusal...’
Ah!
Could it be?
Did he just reject Crown Prince Ferdinand’s request to stop by the Grand Duchy?
In the game, there was an event where the Crown Prince visited the Grand Duchy to meet his fiancée. According to the game, the visit happened after he returned from the battlefield, but since the timing of the engagement acceptance had been moved up, perhaps the timing of the visit had shifted as well.
‘I wonder if he’s doing okay?’
The image of the Crown Prince being slapped as a child occasionally, yet persistently, flickered through my mind. Well, anyone would feel troubled after seeing a child get hit like that.
I shook my head to disperse the scene of that day, which I kept ruminating on whenever it surfaced.
‘But can Grandfather really be in that bad of a mood?’
Grandfather shouldn't have had any particular conflicts with Ferdinand until now...
While I wondered to myself, the drawing room was soon left with just the two of us.
The orange fire in the hearth was hot, and the marshmallows melting into the sweet cocoa were soft. Surrounded by plush blankets and cushions, I waited for Grandfather to finish organizing his thoughts.
He was staring out the window at the falling white snow, lost in thought.
“Hmm...”
After a moment.
“Tulia. You aren’t asking about the contents of the letter. Aren’t you curious?”
Grandfather asked, turning his gaze toward me.
At that moment, I was silently pouring my fourth cup of cocoa.
“Ahem.”
Clearing my throat, I slightly pushed the teapot away and spoke.
“I stayed quiet because I thought you’d tell me if I waited.”
Grandfather burst into a hearty laugh.
“That’s just like you. A good answer, Tulia.”
‘Ooh.’
Actually, even when I played The Milk Bread, Grand Duke Asis Frezier had a startling visual from the very first encounter. His tall stature, large frame, and silver-white hair made him look like a fierce white tiger, and his eyes glittered coldly just like Tulia’s.
‘That’s why I thought Grand Duke Asis Frezier was a villain at first!’
However, the Grand Duke in the game—my grandfather—ultimately became someone who helped Corico. He was the quintessential "cold on the outside, warm on the inside" Duke.
It felt strangely new and pleasant to experience the real Asis Frezier as such a warm and boisterous grandfather to me.
“Empress Carmi said she wishes to stop by the Grand Duchy.”
“Pardon? The Empress?”
Not Ferdinand, but Empress Carmi? Why was her name coming up all of a sudden? Why would the Empress insist on coming here?
The relationship between Grandfather and Empress Carmi was...
‘The absolute worst, isn’t it?’
Grandfather, his brow furrowing deeper as he looked at my puzzled face, continued.
“She claims the reason is that she wants to meet Sophia, who has become the Crown Prince’s fiancée, but that is merely an excuse.”
‘Right. It makes no sense.’
The knowledge in Tulia’s head naturally included Imperial etiquette. There was no custom where the Emperor or Empress would personally travel to see a noble who was to become their daughter-in-law or son-in-law. Rather, etiquette dictated that the noble be summoned to the palace.
Grandfather spoke in a low voice.
“To dare use such a ridiculous excuse to try and enter my domain... Empress Carmi has certainly grown bold.”
I knew the reason Grandfather hated Empress Carmi—and even the current Emperor, Alexander—because I had seen it countless times in The Milk Bread.
It was because their marriage was not a normal one.
“Especially Dave. In the case of that Second Prince, I will not allow him to step foot on the Grand Duke’s lands even in death.”
‘Then there isn’t much land left for that prince to step on, is there?’ I thought to myself.
‘Serves you right, you jerk.’
Who told him to kick me in the solar plexus? The Grand Duchy covered a third of the Empire. If he were forbidden from stepping on all that land, the Second Prince’s range of movement would be severely restricted.
‘Having backing is truly a wonderful thing.’
As expected, my strategy was correct. Now, if I just steadily raise my stats and build up the male leads' favorability, I should be able to reach A-Rank without a hitch, right?
‘Hehe.’
It was then.
[SYSTEM] Sudden Quest Manifested!
[SYSTEM] Sudden Quest: Accept ‘Empress Carmi’s’ Letter
Success Reward: ???
Failure Penalty: Reset ‘Personality’ Stat, Reset ‘Wealth’ Stat
(!Special Condition) You cannot change your stats until the quest is completed.
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(☆Tip: The riper the rice, the lower it bows its head!)
‘...Excuse me?’
* * *
Clang!
“Y-Your Majesty. Please, calm yourself...”
The maids prostrated themselves, trembling.
Empress Carmi’s face was pale with rage. Her beautiful face, with its clear and kind eyes, ripened dangerously like a flower filling with poison.
The reply that had come back from Grand Duke Asis Frezier was already torn to shreds beneath her feet.
“It has been a very long time since I have been insulted in such a manner. As expected of Asis Frezier. Truly.”
Empress Carmi laughed coldly.
She slumped down in front of her vanity. It was a vanity adorned with mirrors so large and brilliant they were incomparable to those of any ordinary household. Decorated with all sorts of jewels, pure gold, ivory, and ebony, this vanity was one of the Imperial heirlooms passed down through generations of Empresses of the Brillant Empire.
In other words, it originally belonged to Empress Olivia.
During her lifetime, Olivia rarely smiled. She always maintained a cold dignity befitting her noble epithet, the ‘Ice Empress.’ It was a chilling elegance that even made Emperor Alexander hesitate at times.
But Empress Carmi was different.
She practiced a smile while looking at her beautiful face reflected in the luxurious mirrors. A beauty like warm sunshine, the kind that had momentarily stolen Emperor Alexander’s gaze, smiled back like a painting.
Despite being the mother of a young man, Empress Carmi was still young and beautiful. Furthermore, she was dignified and confident, as befitted the Mother of the Empire.
Even though she was already part of the Imperial Family, the Grand Duke still dared to ignore her.
‘How dare he.’
Regardless of the past, she was now the legitimate Empress.
‘He doesn't even know his place.’
When the Empress gestured, the prostrated maids moved hurriedly to assist with her adornment. Among the maids handling her thick hair with practiced movements, a fresh face was visible.
The maid, who had recently joined, exuded a youthful vitality and was quite pretty. Her fingertips were nimble, but she was clearly terrified.
That exact spot.
That was originally Carmi’s spot.
The spot where she had stood, attending to Empress Olivia as she sat at the vanity to dress herself.
Olivia. That noble Empress probably never knew. She never knew what kind of ambitions Carmi had harbored in that spot for years, or how deeply they ran.
Carmi had always been renowned as a warm beauty. Because she was beautiful and possessed a gentle personality, everyone trusted her easily.
Olivia was no different.
Carmi had acted as sweet as honey to Olivia in particular. But that sweetness, which melted like grain syrup, was actually a shadow-like invader that rotted Olivia from the inside out.
“Leave my palace.”
When it was discovered that she was carrying Emperor Alexander’s child, Empress Olivia’s belly was already swollen as well.
“Leave. I have no need for a maid like you anymore.”
She didn't pour out boiling rage, nor did she slap her across the face. It was merely a cold dismissal. Even that felt like the dignity of a high-born noble, causing Carmi to unconsciously bite her tongue.
“Your Majesty, it is all my fault. It is my fault!”
“Yes. I know.”
Even Carmi, who was crying intentionally, had momentarily flinched at Olivia’s heartless and cold gaze.
“It is your fault for desiring a man who belongs to another. Leave.”
In an instant, Carmi’s face had flushed bright red.
How many years had it been? Years of painstakingly smiling harmlessly at the Emperor, and every time the Emperor fought with Empress Olivia, subtly following him to soothe him with warm words and open his heart.
It was an Imperial bloodline conceived after all sorts of calculations. She had naturally expected Empress Olivia’s anger.
Yet Olivia, with her characteristic nobility, had made Carmi’s face burn red. It was an involuntary reaction she couldn't control.
After standing dazed for a moment, Carmi bit the inside of her cheek hard, feeling an unknown sense of defeat and humiliation. The place where Olivia stood looked like a celestial realm where gods resided, while she, the daughter of a mere lower noble, felt as though she would never reach that position even while carrying the Imperial bloodline.
No.
That could not be.
After how far she had crawled to get here. She couldn't stop like this.
Carmi had struck her forehead against the floor several times more, crying out.
“Your Majesty, please forgive me and take care of your health...!”
Carmi was chased out of the Empress’s Palace in tears, but she wailed at the palace gates every single day.
Then, one day, upon hearing that priests renowned throughout the continent were coming to ensure the health of the Empress’s unborn child...
Carmi finally carried out a self-induced miscarriage.
Right in front of the Empress’s Palace.