Chapter 31
Chapter 31. A Love Fallen
“Your Majesty!”
Megina clutched her dress tightly with trembling hands.
They say everyone lives with a secret or two they can’t even tell their children, but was that really the better choice?
“Despite those rumors, you kept me by your side to the end for the sake of the ideal family you wanted.”
“It was what you rightfully deserved! How can you not understand that it was to apologize on behalf of the Emperor who turned his back on you!”
“There was nothing I rightfully deserved, Your Majesty. My mother’s past, which even you were ashamed of and rushed to hide, brought me into this world. My original fate would have been to live silently as a maid in a corner of the palace or to barely make a living outside the palace walls.”
“How can you be so foolish? Do you truly think that life would have been happy? You must think of your children!”
“Yes. That’s why I regret it. After suffering so much from the scandal, I foolishly answered Your Majesty’s summons to visit the palace even after having a child.”
If Tetar and Eurene hadn’t played together, if the Empress Dowager, who knew the whole truth, hadn’t treated Eurene with the same pity as her husband, what would have happened?
If only the Empress Dowager hadn’t whispered to Eurene each time that she should have been by Tetar’s side originally, making the innocent child misunderstand—things wouldn’t have come to this.
“When vicious rumors started circulating that Eurene, who resembles Your Majesty, might be a child born between Your Majesty and me, I finally came to my senses.”
From that moment on, she ignored the Emperor’s repeated summons. She stood firm even in the face of pressure from the Imperial Family on the duchy.
“The best way to stop rumors that had already spread was to hide from people’s eyes and lay low. Because of that, I had to raise my daughter confined in the duchy for her entire life.”
Yet there were times when she had to go out into society unavoidably.
What should she have said to her daughter with her expectant expression? Don’t stand out. Lower yourself. Don’t do anything.
Taking pity on their circumstances, the Empress Dowager sent Tetar to the duchy whenever she had the chance. It was only natural that Eurene, unaware of the truth, would take Tetar to heart, which is why she chastised the child even more.
Just as the Emperor had done to her.
“I no longer intend to comply with your wishes, Your Majesty. I’ve lived long enough fitting into the role of sister you wanted. I’m sick of it now. I’ll spend the rest of my life protecting my children.”
“Is that why you bowed to Veshnu’s people? Because you couldn’t endure a mere scandal!”
“I would have knelt before her if that’s what she wanted.”
“Fine, have it your way. If that’s how you want it, let’s reveal the truth instead. I have the power to change your mother’s background to that of a lowly provincial noble. So let’s reveal that you and I were family—”
“—Please, stop!”
Megina cried out as if screaming.
“Stop it, Your Majesty! Enough! Whether it’s the truth or not, I just want no more rumors to cling to my family!”
The anxiety deeply buried in her heart. Would her children really be unbothered if they knew about their mother’s background?
She had lived her whole life condemning her mother who had been a prostitute.
Would her children be any different? Would they still want to be with her as they are now if they knew their mother was the daughter of a prostitute, born from a one-night mistake when the Emperor happened to notice her during an inspection?
No, that couldn’t be.
Megina spoke clearly to the Emperor with a pale face.
“Please don’t seek me out again. I have no desire to live as your concubine or as your sister any longer.”
* * *
Eurene bit her lip.
Her mother had brought her to the palace, saying they should kneel before the Empress if necessary, but she couldn’t leave the carriage due to the coachman’s watchful eye. It was just like being confined in the mansion.
Despite her pleas that she had done nothing to the Empress, her mother still doubted her and brought her here. Eurene felt suffocated.
“My brother is right in front of me…”
What might he be doing now? Working in his office, or perhaps training with his sword?
Although it had been years since she’d seen him, she could always recognize him at a glance from the portraits occasionally published in the articles.
“Even if not now, there will be other opportunities. I just need to meet my brother once. If only that could happen…”
Would he truly choose her over that Empress?
Eurene flinched and removed her hand from the window as anxiety reared its head. She had never once doubted their future together, so why was she feeling this unease now?
To avoid the unpleasant thoughts that were spreading uncontrollably once they began, Eurene blankly stared at the palace visible through the window.
After some time had passed, she saw her mother approaching the carriage from afar. Her mother’s complexion was indescribably pale as she boarded the carriage.
“Mother, are you alright?”
“It’s nothing. Let’s depart.”
“What did you… discuss with Her Majesty the Empress?”
“Don’t worry about it. And as soon as we get back, have the servants prepare your room. We’re moving to the estate in the countryside.”
“Mother!”
“You won’t have to stay only in the mansion like now when we go there. You can move around freely and live as you wish.”
“No, I don’t want to!”
“Eurene Castallo!”
Ah, tears fell from Eurene’s eyes as she lowered her head.
What shocking words these were. Why so suddenly?
‘It must be the Empress, that woman must have done something to Mother again.’
Such a vile and frightening person. What had she done to deserve such cruelty?
As Eurene raised her head, she caught sight of someone’s face through the carriage window.
“Brother Tetar…?”
Tetar’s figure, hurriedly rushing somewhere, was much taller and more broadly built than in Eurene’s memories, the portraits in articles, or even the image she had drawn in her dreams every day.
Following Eurene’s gaze to look out the window, the Duchess urgently knocked on the carriage door.
“Start the carriage, quickly!”
However, Eurene opening the door was a step faster than the carriage’s departure. Shaking off the Duchess’s grasp, Eurene leapt from the carriage and immediately ran in the direction Tetar had disappeared.
‘Brother, Brother Tetar…!’
It’s me, I’ve come. After enduring all this time to see you.
Her heels quickly began to sting as she ran in the heavy dress and uncomfortable shoes. But Eurene ran on, focused only ahead, as if such things didn’t matter at all. Only forward, towards him who would be waiting for her.
‘If not now, it might never happen. I might never see Brother again!’
Her breath caught in her throat. Please, please. She couldn’t miss him again this time.
If only Brother hadn’t married someone else. No, if only she had been allowed to take “the place where you should have been” that the late Empress Dowager used to mention habitually.
The fate that kept eluding her mockingly was frustrating, but they said God always grants miracles to those who are pure and courageous.
Eurene was certain that this was that moment.
“Haa, haa…!”
Had she ever run this much except when playing with him as a child? Though her lungs felt like they might burst at any moment, she struggled forward, grasping the trees decorating the Empress’s palace.
At last, someone’s figure began to appear in the distance.
“Ah, finally…!”
Eurene stretched out a hand towards him.
‘Look at me. I’m here behind you, Brother Tetar!’
However, upon catching sight of another person’s face at an angle, Eurene instinctively hid herself behind a tree.
‘The Empress?’
The fact that this was the Empress’s palace didn’t matter to Eurene. She only wished for the unwelcome guest to leave quickly.
“Let’s wait just a little. They’ll move separately soon.”
Eurene began to spy on the two from behind the tree.
What could they be talking about? It seemed like they were having an ordinary conversation, or perhaps arguing. As she strained to listen more closely, faint voices reached her ears.
“You’re not the only one… receiving reports…”
“…want to keep you by my side.”
Tetar’s last words pierced Eurene’s ears clearly.
‘Who? Who does he want to keep by his side?’
A thread of hope blossomed in Eurene’s heart. So the rumors were just rumors after all. The Emperor falling head over heels for the Empress!
Brother Tetar was wiser than anyone. Since he was intelligent, perhaps he had vividly reminisced about their memories every day, just like her.
As certainty set in, Eurene was no longer afraid of the Empress’s presence. Just as she stepped out from behind the tree to approach him, her green eyes caught sight of the two people kissing.
A woman with closed eyes and a man unable to take his eyes off her. It was like a beautiful painting with the pond as a backdrop.
Eurene took a sharp breath. The foot she had stepped forward dragged back again.
“Why…”
Eurene’s cheeks, which had been flushed pink until moments ago, turned deathly pale. Hot tears streamed down over them.
Eurene staggered back, leaning against a tree. The Empress’s shining platinum hair fluttered like flower petals in the wind.
Her face, which had seemed nothing but wicked before, now looked as beautiful as a fairy tale princess.
Her flawless appearance would undoubtedly enchant anyone seeing her for the first time.
Is that why? Is that why Brother’s heart was stolen?
Because he hadn’t seen her for so long that he forgot her face, and thus was bewitched by the Empress’s face?
Even if that were the case, though she believed she could win back his heart, she couldn’t stop the pain in one corner of her heart.
Eurene sank to the ground, burying her face in her knees.
Until her tears completely soaked the skirt of her dress. Until they finished kissing, gazing at each other, whispering, and left her alone as they departed together.