Chapter 68
Chapter 68. Secret Under the Full Moon
It was a night with a bright full moon. A night where much could be seen even without artificial lighting.
The Emperor Emeritus, unable to have lunch with ‘Agasha’ due to a particularly busy schedule today, suggested an evening walk to her.
Though it was called a “suggestion”, she had no right of refusal. Agasha slowly walked towards the Empress’s Palace garden with the Emperor Emeritus, listening to the tinkling bell sound from her ankle, which was locked with a clasp that could neither be cut nor loosened.
The walk was the same as always. She had to listen until her ears ached about how much ‘you’ loved this place, cherished it, what the beloved Baloua flowers looked like, and how the wicked woman from Veshnu had ruined ‘our’ memory-filled garden.
Even though the ‘she’ he spoke of was not herself.
She was not meant to be in a place like this. This place didn’t suit her. Such an excessively splendid, dazzling, dark, and madness-tinged place.
“That’s…”
Agasha’s eyes widened slightly as she noticed a table set up in one corner of the garden. Tea and refreshments had been prepared.
However, unlike her, the Emperor Emeritus wore a wary expression. Although there had been no problems so far, this was still the Empress’s Palace garden. He couldn’t know what tricks that woman married to his son might have set up.
Before he could stop her, Agasha walked towards the table.
“Agasha, if you need refreshments, I’ll have them prepared in the palace. We should go back now.”
“…No. I prepared this because I heard you were coming out for an evening walk, Your Majesty.”
Agasha’s eyes fixed on the small spire-shaped decoration placed on the table.
That spire, which could be seen in the capital of the Veshnu Empire, was all too familiar to her as someone from Veshnu.
‘Her Majesty the Empress hasn’t abandoned me after all…’
Agasha sat down at the table, holding back the tears welling up. She looked at the Emperor Emeritus.
The Emperor Emeritus, who had approached to take her away with a wary look, parted his lips in surprise when he saw the refreshments on the table.
“This is…”
Chocolates made with raspberry jam, éclairs topped with lemon cream, apple and peach layered pies… Every single one was a dessert his ‘Agasha’ had loved.
The Emperor Emeritus, seemingly lost in memories for a moment, sat down across from her with sunken eyes gazing at the table.
When he sat down like this, it was entirely her role to pour the tea. How much effort she had put into imitating the real ‘Agasha’s’ demeanor.
Even now, her back bore clear whip marks left by the man before her just before dawn.
Ssss—
The tea poured smoothly, filling the empty cup. The Emperor Emeritus lifted the cup to his lips but stopped, his expression hardening.
“…This isn’t the tea you used to enjoy.”
At his words, Agasha smiled slightly and poured tea into the cup in front of her.
However, the teapot emptied before she could pour much. While the Emperor Emeritus didn’t notice as he was raising his guard again, Agasha clenched her fist under the table when she saw that her teacup was only about one-third full.
A noticeably smaller amount than usual tea. Since she had poured the tea as practiced, the strange thing wasn’t the amount of tea poured, but the amount of tea prepared.
Could Her Majesty the Empress have possibly poisoned this tea? Considering the sharply confrontational conversation between the two when they first met in this garden, it wouldn’t be too surprising.
Agasha swallowed her tense breath with effort.
Even if she were to be beheaded for the crime of poisoning the Emperor Emeritus, it would be better than living like this, imitating someone else’s role, never able to return to her homeland where her beloved family was.
Agasha’s eyes curved gently. It was a smile very similar to the one worn by the woman in the portrait in the Emperor Emeritus’s bedroom.
“Wouldn’t it be nice to try something different? I might discover a taste I didn’t know I had.”
Agasha lifted the cup and swallowed the insufficient tea. The Emperor Emeritus, watching her, slowly drank his tea.
Fortunately or unfortunately, there was nothing wrong with the tea.
Only after emptying half the cups and the prepared refreshments could she finally stand up.
When she returned to the palace, she woke up again the next day. The morning in Tessibania that she had hoped wouldn’t come arrived without fail.
Another identical day, identical hours. Sitting quietly in the separate palace, having no contact with anyone except two or three servants, just reading and re-reading the ‘Agasha’s’ diary given to her by the Emperor Emeritus.
Her daily routine changed during her solitary breakfast.
As ‘Agasha’ enjoyed light sandwiches and tea, she sat down habitually and lifted her teacup.
Her crimson eyes widened slightly.
“This is…”
The rich floral scent that tickled her nose. The bitter first taste that coated her mouth and the smooth swallow, the clean aftertaste that disappeared as if she had never drunk it.
Wasn’t this the tea she had drunk in the Empress’s Palace last night? She immediately called a servant.
“When did this tea arrive?”
“It’s a gift that arrived this morning for His Majesty the Emperor Emeritus. Since the tea leaves you usually enjoy haven’t arrived at the palace yet. Would you like me to change it if it’s inconvenient?”
The sudden unfamiliar refreshment table set up in the Empress’s Palace. It couldn’t be a coincidence that the tea she tasted there for the first time had arrived as a gift this morning.
‘The tea was insufficient. If there’s not enough tea… I should call a servant to refill it. Plenty.’
Agasha lifted her head.
“Please replace all the tea in the separate palace with the one that arrived as a gift.”
* * *
The imperial palace had been noisy lately. As a place where many people gathered, words inevitably spread widely through the mouths of the servants.
‘I heard Her Majesty the Empress instructed the servants to prepare for His Majesty the Emperor Emeritus’s wedding!’
‘I heard they made an appointment. With the Emperor Emeritus’s fiery temper… I hope nothing bad happens. You know how famous his hatred for Veshnu is.’
‘That woman, she does resemble the late Empress Emeritus, but isn’t she a bit different?’
‘Shh, do you think His Majesty the Emperor Emeritus cares about such things? I heard he’s almost equating them. Still, it’s a bit eerie. How even the name… Ugh. It’s creepy, even if he cherishes her.’
‘Strange, what I heard is a bit different. They say that His Majesty the Emperor Emeritus at dawn…’
Despite surely being aware of the various rumors circulating, the Empress’s Palace, which was one axis of this incident, was busily going about its business as if too busy to care.
Today was the day Her Majesty the Empress was to visit the separate palace where His Majesty the Emperor Emeritus resided.
Although it was unknown how the commotion in the garden that day had leaked out, rumors that the relationship between the two was at its worst had spread quietly.
Nevertheless, not a single person dared to curse Her Majesty the Empress who had stood up to the Emperor Emeritus.
How could anyone criticize Her Majesty the Empress, who had given her heart to the people of the Tessibania Empire under the title ‘Radiance of Blessing’?
Those who had seen the image of the ‘Empress willingly kneeling before a commoner child’, described through interviews with the Dawn Knight Order knights and published in newspapers, couldn’t do so.
It was different from the times when she had been killed after being branded a witch, or a spy, or a villainess in other regressions.
On the way to the separate palace where the Emperor Emeritus stayed, the knights patrolling the imperial palace watched Vinea’s surroundings even more strictly.
While the imperial couple’s marriage was an unbreakable promise as a symbol of the end of the war, things could change if the Emperor Emeritus were to have a new heir.
‘If His Majesty the Emperor Emeritus has a new heir, he’ll surely make a new engagement with Veshnu and drive out the current Empress!’
Although it had quieted down recently, how much had His Majesty crushed the Emperor Emeritus’s forces? As truths and exaggerations mixed and gathered, even such rumors eventually circulated.
Although it hadn’t yet crossed the palace walls, at least the majority within the imperial palace supported Vinea. Her Veshnu origin no longer mattered.
The kind-hearted Empress, the ‘Radiance of Blessing’ truly caring for the empire, a gift sent by God for the reconciliation of the two empires.
It was the result of not only resolving the epidemic in Haksya village but also the widely known charitable activities at temples donated in Vinea’s name.
Vinea arrived in front of the separate palace where the Emperor Emeritus stayed. As if the rumors that he would soon move back to the main palace were true, faint sounds of orders to move belongings to the main palace could be heard from outside.
“…I greet Your Majesty the Emperor Emeritus.”
The Emperor Emeritus who greeted Vinea did not acknowledge her greeting.
The reason he had called her today was solely because there were unavoidable discussions to be had for his marriage to Agasha. Even if a child were to be born, the marriage needed to happen first to create a legitimate justification for ascending to the throne in the future.
As all the power to oversee imperial events lay with the Empress, he had to face her like this even though he detested it terribly. He hadn’t expected her to accept the request so readily, but perhaps she had sensed her husband’s waning interest and was being cautious on her own.
‘If only the assassination had succeeded, things wouldn’t have become so troublesome…’
The Emperor Emeritus clicked his tongue inwardly.
He had frequently sent assassins to the Empress’s Palace using the men handed over by Gartan Aktavil, but they had all failed. More than half of them had died, leaving only about five good personnel to use recklessly now.
Unlike the surveillance of the separate palace that had disappeared, the number of knights guarding the Empress’s Palace remained the same.
‘I thought his interest had completely faded, was I mistaken?’
It would be troublesome if Tatar still had interest in the Empress. But considering that the Empress had moved back to the Empress’s Palace, and reliable news that the two hadn’t even brushed past each other recently, it probably wasn’t something to worry about.
The Emperor Emeritus intended to solidify Agasha’s position and hurry to have an heir before Tatar could make any foolish moves again. He also planned to gather forces to protect the child and Agasha.
Even if Tatar was friendly to him now, who knew when he might change his mind as easily as flipping his palm. There was already a precedent right before his eyes.
Until then, he had to somehow place the child on the throne. Even if it was just a blood lump that couldn’t speak, it wouldn’t be a big problem if he backed it up. After all, in the war he was going to start again, when death covered the sky and earth, his empire would have no choice but to revere him again.
Maxiul and Vinea sat facing each other across a table. Papers listing various items to be prepared for the wedding were placed on the table.
Right on cue, a servant entered with prepared refreshments.
Soon, the teacup in front of Vinea was filled. The rich floral scent that tickled her nose had been missed for a long time.
Vinea lifted the filled teacup and brought it to her lips.
