Chapter 53: Chapter 53

Chapter 53

“Is that the promise between you and the Previous Empress?”

“Exactly, it was the promise of the Previous Empress of Larchen and Emperor of Khalifa, so I will do it. If you hadn’t come into my eyes, I would have tried to avoid the imperial wedding by any means, but since you came into my eyes, I have no intention of avoiding it.”

“Usman Khalifa. I have no intention of using my imperial wedding politically.”

“Don’t be foolish. This is the first time I’ve heard that the Empress’s national wedding is not used politically.”

Usman, who was gradually moving away from her face, exaggeratedly spread his arms.

“You mean to use the opportunity Berthas Hillenton gave you properly.”

“There’s no way I can refuse.”

“After a year? What do you think will happen after that?”

“That…”

“It’s not all about delaying. It doesn’t make sense that the Empress wouldn’t marry.”

“Why?”

“The highest-ranking person in the empire does not marry, isn’t it strange? I’m sure it will always be looked down upon by other empires though I can’t afford Larchen to be treated like that in Larchen. Besides…”

“Besides?”

“Right now, even the Imperial Family is missing. Without the Imperial Family, there would be no successor. What would you do in this situation?”

Isilis closed her eyes as Usman pinpointed the problem she was thinking about… the Princess’s disappearance. According to Berthas’ words, although the imperial wedding was postponed for a year, the Princess who would sit in the successor’s seat disappeared. Her fate was unknown.

‘By any chance…’

She wondered if Berthas knew something. If he knew anything about the other part of the necklace and the protective magic it had, it could be a clue to finding the Princess.

‘…I’ll have to send a reliable messenger.’

While she could have used magic, she couldn’t find his coordinates, so letters were the only way she could contact him unless she were certain where he was.

“I’ll think about it after finding the Princess.”

“What if a year passes in the meantime?”

“I’ll think about it then.”

Usman, who watched Isilis avoiding answering with sunken eyes, finally spoke.

“…Good. I will wait for you.”

“What?”

“In the meantime, I will stay and wait in the Imperial Palace of Larchen.”

“Usman Khalifa. You’re joking…”

“You think it’s a joke? What do you see me as, Isilis?”

The moment she tried to avoid his lips that were approaching. The door to the audience room opened, and a voice came from behind Usman.

“Isilis.”

“…Previous Empress!”

“I heard it on the way that something happened.”

Was the appearance of the Previous Empress a benefit or a loss to her? Isilis did not know. When she saw Usman and the Previous Empress talking casually in front of her, she felt all the more so.

“How…”

“Duke Verus made a contact.”

“What is this.”

Even though she had said something like that to the Duke before, she thought it was overdone with Berthas’ help. However, turned out it wasn’t, as Duke Verus had already contacted the Previous Empress. While hiding the oncoming sigh, Isilis spoke to the Previous Empress.

“Why are you here?”

“Because of your marriage.”

“You transferred the throne as if you were abandoning it to me.”

Usman glanced at them alternately as the temperature dropped in an instant. Sensing a strange atmosphere, he left the place, saying he would come back later.

‘It’s good that he noticed it quickly.’

She felt like her stomach was twisted at the Previous Empress, who smiled as she watched Usman run away.

“Previous Empress…”

“I heard that my granddaughter is missing.”

“The news travels fast.”

“I don’t know if I should call it fast, but I’ve heard stories about Marquis Cykra related to it.”

“I’m not going to show tolerance.”

“As you should? If you’re the Empress, you should. Even if blood is stained on the throne, the Empress must not lose her authority.”

“I always keep that in mind.”

The Previous Empress was always like that. Rather than showing motherly benevolence, she adhered to her with an attitude of educating the heir to the throne.

She still remembered.

The figure of her father and the Previous Empress who quarreled when she was a child. The Previous Empress always fought with her father, but nothing changed. From a certain moment on, Isilis, too, also called her using the title of Her Majesty, or Previous Empress, rather than Mother… since when?

‘…It was right after I was kidnapped.’

From the time she returned in her father’s arms, she called her mother that. Although she should have noticed the change in title, the Previous Empress didn’t seem to mind. Even then, her mother took care of her father’s safety rather than worrying about Isilis.

She was upset, but she couldn’t show it. If she exposed it on the outside, all that came was a cold education.

Still, the Previous Empress was not very motherly.

That night, when she was tossing and turning, unable to sleep. There was a warm memory of the door slowly opening and someone holding her hand. Thanks to that warmth, she was able to sleep comfortably the day she returned from being kidnapped.

The hand, which was soft to say her father’s, belonged to the Previous Empress.

“It’s a pity that it would have been nice to have a granddaughter.”

“Why don’t you come back a little early?”

If there had been the Previous Empress, the child might not have disappeared. Although the Previous Empress’s magic power was less than Isilis’, she was still a member of the Larchen Imperial Family.

‘If she had…’

Isilis straightened her back as she shook her head to shake off her continuing thoughts. That was a futile idea.

“The child wasn’t born with magical powers, right?”

As the attendant prepared a seat, the Previous Empress asked, and Isilis nodded her head.

“That’s right.”

“So that’s why it was a mess.”

“Did Duke Verus say that?”

“Rumors spread throughout the empire.”

“To the Empire…?

“There are many people who are worried that the Princess without magical powers will succeed to the throne.”

“….”

“I have nothing to say now that the child is gone. Didn’t you postpone the wedding?”

“That’s right.”

“For a year.”

“Yes.”

“That’s enough then.”

Seeing the Previous Empress rise from her seat, Isilis spoke hastily.

“Are you going?”

“I’m only stopping for a moment.”

“Are you just going to leave?”

The Previous Empress’s head turned at the somewhat biting words. Cold words fell as she watched Isilis tremble.

“You are still far away.”

“Mother.”

With her earnest voice, the Previous Empress sighed.

“I will stay and go. Someone!”

“Yes, Previous Empress.”

“Prepare my room.”

“Understood.”

“You seem to have a lot of complicated thoughts, so I’ll wait for you.”

Isilis stared at the Previous Empress back as she left the audience room with that remark.

“Have you come out?”

“You called me, why can’t I come?”

“You didn’t say something stern to Her Majesty again, did you?”

“What can I say, Duke?”

“You always scold her.”

“If she deserves to get scolded, she gets scolded.”

“She is leading the empire at a young age. That pressure was passed on by the Previous Empress, too. You are especially strict with Her Majesty.”

“It’s none of your business.”

“I want you to think about it.”

Even after hearing Duke Verus’ reproach, the Previous Empress’s hard expression did not lighten.

‘How can I say that I’m jealous of that child?’

Isilis resembled her personality, so she couldn’t hate her. However, when she saw a face that resembled hers, that child with that face and possessed powerful magical powers, she would continue to whip her.

‘She has strong magic, so I have to do this much… Even I, who don’t have strong magical powers, did that much, so she should do more.’

That was what her heart was like.

She tried to calm her mind of her weakness. It took her a lot of time to hold on to her heart to tell Isilis something weak.

Seeing the Previous Empress’ silent appearance, Duke Verus shook his head before speaking again.

“How long are you going to stay?”

“Don’t you think I will go?”

“I saw the attendants busy.”

“I see. That child seems to be shaking a little, so I’ll have to stay with her until the shaking ends.”

“Previous Empress.”

“Why are you calling?”

As the Previous Empress spoke while walking, Duke Verus hurriedly followed.

“Are you really going to have an imperial wedding with the Crown Prince of the Khalifa Empire?”

“There is no one better than him to keep the nobles in check.”

“It’s a matter on Her Majesty’s heart.”

“The Empress’s heart is not important.”

“Didn’t the Previous Empress get married to the person you wanted?”

“It’s tiring to work with someone who knows too much.”

Duke Verus smiled and spoke forcefully.

“Please give her strength.”

“I will just watch.”

“That alone will be of great help to Her Majesty.”

“You’re clearly playing the role of a guardian too well.”

“Did you notice?”

“How can I not know when you made it so obvious like that.”

Watching the Previous Empress laugh, Duke Verus also smiled brightly. She was like a daughter—the Empress to him—to him without a daughter, Isilis was like his own daughter… the birth of a new imperial family.

When he was first appointed as guardian, the moment he saw the Empress, she gently squeezed his finger. Hiding his chest overflowing with warmth, Duke Verus swore.

I promise to protect you.

His loyalty, which began from that time, has continued to this day.

After the Previous Empress left the audience room, Isilis, who was left alone, touched her head. After sitting in her seat for a long while, she stood up. It was because she had to send a messenger to Berthas.

Picking up her writing instrument to write a letter, when she finished reading it, she burned it with magic.

“I’m too…”

Nearly half of it said that she wanted to see him, so she wanted him to come back. Isilis’ head went blank when she wrote down her true feelings as if she was possessed without knowing it.

‘This is my feelings, Berthas…’

Would he know that she missed him when he was far away?

After giving birth, she thought about him several times, but she didn’t look for him on purpose. It was because she was afraid that this would happen. In the end, she shuddered at the sight of herself becoming what she had feared.

Isilis bowed her head at the image of herself that she hated the most.

Why was she doing this? Why was she so weak? Was it because she lost the princess? She couldn’t stop thinking about it. She didn’t know if she was writing something down on the white paper in front of her.

In an instant, she read the paper again and burned it again.

After the three papers were burned, she briefly wrote down the information about the Princess’s disappearance and called a messenger.

“Send this letter to Berthas Hillenton.”

“Berthas Hillenton?”

“Yes.”

“Where…”

“Where should you send it?”

She didn’t know.

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