The Empress Tames the Tyrant - Chapter 16
Cayenne, surprisingly, took the luncheon without complaint and left the Empress’s Palace with light steps.
“I’ll let it slide this time.”
Cayenne said, wiping his mouth with a napkin.
His attitude was so relaxed that it was hard to believe he had killed someone this morning.
“However, the Empress should focus on her own health.”
It was as good as saying he wouldn’t allow any more interference.
“I will keep that in mind.”
Cayenne didn’t press further after hearing Alicia’s obedient reply. It was a relief for everyone in the Empress’s Palace.
❖ ❖ ❖
A satisfying meal naturally brings about a good mood.
Cayenne had forgotten that fact for a long time.
No matter how much of an Emperor he was, stuffing down food in the barracks or on the battlefield after cutting down barbarians was different from a real meal.
“Interesting.”
“.Yes?”
Glenn asked involuntarily.
“Everything is different from Rubeo. The same day of cutting down people, seeing their corpses, and eating. I didn’t know it could be so different.”
Glenn still couldn’t understand what Cayenne was saying.
“Yes, in Rubeo, we sometimes had to eat while looking at the corpses of our enemies.”
Glen’s tactless answer echoed emptily, and Cayenne stared blankly out the window. Unlike Rubeo, the clear autumn sky was very bright, and it was nice to see the white clouds slowly drifting by.
“Ah, Your Majesty must want to return to Rubeo soon!”
Cayenne had always found the Imperial Palace stifling and thought of the battlefield of Rubeo as his place. After the Grand Council in a fortnight, it was naturally the place he would return to.
“The Knights are there, aren’t they?”
“Yes, everyone will be waiting for Your Majesty.”
“The conquest of the barbarians is almost over too.”
Glen, still lacking in tact, wore a determined expression.
“That’s right. A brilliant era for Rubeo will come!”
Glen’s thoughts were usually Cayenne’s thoughts, but today was different. However, Cayenne didn’t even know the reason, so he simply closed his mouth to express his mood.
Because he could never say that he didn’t want to leave the Imperial Palace right now.
❖ ❖ ❖
Alicia, having already lived through a past life, realized exactly what she needed to know. It wasn’t just about the relationship between the Emperor and Empress, but about understanding the relationship between Cayenne and Alicia now.
“Difficult, difficult…”
Why did they think everything was natural between husband and wife?
The two were already husband and wife, but they were living a life worse than strangers. And in her past life, she couldn’t cross that line until the day she died.
“He’s too much for me.”
Recalling Cayenne’s black eyes, momentarily tinged with anger, still sent shivers down her spine. It wasn’t just an angry husband in a political marriage without affection; it proved that her life was literally in danger.
“But to live properly, it’s a wall I must overcome.”
When Alicia first became Alicia, it was difficult to adapt to the era and its ideologies. But this was her second time turning twenty as Alicia. She already knew that she couldn’t change the world alone.
“Hmm.”
Alicia pondered and rang the bell on the table. Soon, Agnes came and bowed.
“Did you call for me?”
“Yes, were their bodies recovered safely?”
“Yes. As Her Majesty the Empress ordered, they will be cremated and respectfully sent to their hometowns.”
Alicia nodded at the reassuring news.
“But, today’s actions were too hasty. It’s fortunate that the result was good, but there’s no need to incur His Majesty the Emperor’s wrath because of such people.”
“I know.”
In her past life, Cayenne was scary and unfamiliar. Naturally, Alicia’s only support was her family, the Lucan, and she didn’t even realize that it was ruining her life.
“But I have to do something.”
“Yes? Her Majesty the Empress is already the mistress of the inner palace and the Emperor’s consort.”
Agnes asked back with a puzzled expression, as if she couldn’t understand. An Empress’s role was fulfilled just by existing, but she couldn’t know how far Alicia’s thoughts, who had just turned twenty, reached.
“Living in silence in the Empress’s Palace is something anyone, not just me, can do.”
“If you say that.”
“It’s the truth.”
Alicia’s blue eyes stared straight at Agnes.
“I’m not foolish enough to ask His Majesty for a divorce.”
Even if she was lucky today, she didn’t know what would happen the moment she offended Cayenne or crossed the line he had set.
“I would like to humbly suggest that you erase the incident itself from your mind.”
“Divorce?”
“Yes.”
Agnes now wouldn’t know why Alicia was suddenly thinking about divorce. It had only been a year since they got married, so she would believe that if she waited longer, her relationship with the Emperor would gradually get closer, and she would be able to have children.
“His Majesty the Emperor will continue to spend his life in Rubeo. He only returns to commemorate his late mother in early spring.”
“But now that Her Majesty the Empress is here.”
“No. I have no power.”
Cayenne’s obsession with Rubeo used to be frustrating, but now she knew the reason. In the wilderness where he was exiled by his father at a young age, he saw the future.
“Rubeo is everything to His Majesty.”
In fact, the harsh land of Rubeo, where even the common people couldn’t live, was now almost completely reclaimed and would become the first city built under a perfect plan by the Darius Imperial Family.
“Unfortunately.”
Considering that the result would eventually return as a rebellion, Cayenne wasn’t a perfect human either.
“All widows in the world are pitiful, but if you’re no different from a widow even though your husband is alive, wouldn’t that be more cruel? Especially if that person is the Emperor of the Empire, the whole world will know that fact.”
“It’s only been a year since you got married, why are you saying such ominous things?”
Alicia hesitated for a moment. If she couldn’t even persuade her close aide, it would be even more difficult to persuade Cayenne.
“Think about why I became Empress in the first place. The Lucan and the nobles conspired to blame His Majesty, the only heir to the throne, for lacking qualifications and sent me as his assistant and supervisor.”
This wasn’t a lie either. Cayenne hated the Lucan and the nobles of the capital.
“That must have been very humiliating for His Majesty. Also, His Majesty’s hatred for the Lucan is deep, so nothing will change in the future.”
“Hasn’t Her Majesty the Empress changed?”
Alicia shook her head.
“At the same time, I’ve turned the Lucan into enemies.”
She was nominally the Empress of the Empire, but since she had even abandoned her origin, the Lucan, it had to be said that she had almost no power.
“However, the blood of the Lucan still flows in my body.”
Alicia didn’t choose any of it.
“His Majesty the Emperor will never have an heir mixed with the blood of the Lucan.”
At Alicia’s resolute voice, Agnes lowered her head without realizing it. She couldn’t refute that reason.
“Still, if His Majesty’s heart changes after seeing Her Majesty the Empress.”
“Agnes, do you want me to bet my whole life on such uncertain things?”
At Alicia’s clear voice, Agnes raised her head.
“I’m not being greedy. I want to leave this prison-like Imperial Palace and freely tend the garden, cook, spend leisurely days, and see the world.”
“That’s…”
“I want to spend my life doing something more meaningful than just living quietly in the Empress’s Palace.”
It might be a simple wish for someone, but it was a desperate and precious wish for Alicia now.
“The opportunity to meet His Majesty the Emperor in person will become increasingly rare.”
Now, when she could move Cayenne’s heart, she had to get his permission to reduce the waste of her life. Besides, the opportunity to meet the Emperor alone would disappear as the years went by, so she had to pour everything in now.
“It doesn’t have to be a divorce. If he says it’s okay for me to leave here and live in a separate palace that’s enough.”
She didn’t want to live a lonely and futile life anymore. Especially if the end was an empire ignited by the flames of rebellion.
“I understand that Her Majesty the Empress’s will is firm.”
In the end, Agnes gave in.
“I will follow and protect Her Majesty the Empress in any way.”
“Thank you, Agnes.”
“But please promise me. That you won’t do anything dangerous like today again, okay?”
Even Alicia felt fear at Cayenne’s anger, so how much more would Agnes? With a bit of remorse, Alicia nodded, and Agnes finally wore a faint smile.
“I’m sorry!”
At that moment, the Chief of Staff’s urgent voice was heard from outside the door. Alicia, with a puzzled expression, gestured, and Agnes opened the door and let him in.
“What’s going on?”
“Well, that’s…”
What on earth was going on that Chief of Staff Howard’s face was still dazed?
“His Majesty the Emperor says he will have dinner at the Empress’s Palace as well.”
For a moment, the three people just blinked.
Others might say that this was nothing special between a married couple, but this was the Imperial Palace. Even if the husband wasn’t as indifferent as Cayenne, having every meal at the Empress’s Palace was against the rules.
“Why?”
Alicia barely managed to utter the question.
“I don’t know either. Miller, His Majesty the Emperor’s attendant, just told me that.”
As expected, there was no way to refuse. Alicia, well aware of her situation, quickly accepted reality and got up from her seat.
“Then, shall we go check the kitchen?”
“Yes? Her Majesty the Empress?”
“This must be my duty too. And while I’m cooking dinner, there’s something I want to do in the kitchen too.”
Alicia’s eyes, which had been powerless until just now, shone with life again. Whenever she thought of anything, even a small thing she could do, her heart felt hot and excited from somewhere.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
