The Empress Tames the Tyrant - Chapter 3

Alicia, who knew nothing about the Emperor’s return, blushed like a sunset in embarrassment. Though no longer a child, she barely resisted the urge to hide behind the curtains at the sound of the trumpets announcing the Emperor’s arrival.

“…Thankfully, it seems he passed by the Empress’s Palace.”

“Are you sure?”

Alicia’s eyes widened like a girl’s. Agnes peeked out through the curtains and nodded vigorously.

“It seems he’s heading to His Majesty’s chambers now. He definitely passed the Empress’s Palace.”

“Haa…”

Just moments ago, Alicia had sworn the Emperor would never come, yet she sighed in relief and leaned back against the sofa.

“This is so strange.”

“That His Majesty has returned?”

“Yes. There’s no way he would…”

He only returned in the spring to commemorate his mother. At first, Alicia was able to join him a few times or attend banquets, but after relaying Lucan’s words verbatim, she was no longer able to see his face.

…Yes, not even until the day she died.

“I don’t think it’s strange. Originally, it’s only natural for His Majesty to be in the Imperial Palace. Rather, it was unusual for him to go to the Rubeo territory immediately after the wedding with Her Majesty.”

For a normal emperor, that would be right. However, Alicia knew from her past life that Cayenne was a man who defied the world’s norms.

“But… Agnes, you know too, right?”

At first, she was briefly fooled by Cayenne’s handsome face when he lifted her veil at the wedding, but he was a cruelly indifferent husband throughout her life.

“Our marriage wasn’t normal from the start.”

Cayenne, who had perfunctorily kissed her forehead to end the wedding, trampled on the dignity of his new bride and left on horseback as soon as the ceremony was over.

He left without even a wedding night or a reception, so no one sought out or flattered the Empress, who was nothing more than a figurehead.

As time passed, there was a brief surge of interest in the Empress’s Palace after the Emperor returned to the Imperial Palace a few times, but that was short-lived. Alicia had to fall ill and die alone, unnoticed by anyone.

“Still, Her Majesty must pay her respects.”

“It’s the middle of the night now, so it’s not the right time.”

Alicia cut her off with a dignity unbefitting her twenty years.

“Yes. Early tomorrow morning would be best.”

Agnes was reluctant to push her, but it was important to do what was right to avoid gossip. Especially in Alicia’s position, where there was no one to take her side.

“Agnes, I’ll dress as plainly as possible when I meet His Majesty. This is fine as it is.”

“Yes? As it is now?”

“Yes, without any decorations at all, the simpler, the better.”

Suddenly, a certain banquet from her past life came to mind.

A very long table separated the couple, so far apart that they could barely see each other’s faces, and there was no conversation. At that time, the diamond necklace around Alicia’s neck must have sparkled in the dim candlelight.

-How extravagant.

Cayenne’s scathing voice was colder than silence.

-Do you know how much that stone, meant to adorn the Empress’s neck, is worth to the people of the barren lands?

Looking back slowly, Alicia felt wronged. Lucan had always forbidden extravagance, and she naturally had no jewels of her own. She had only worn a necklace that had been passed down in the Imperial Family for generations because it was a banquet with the Emperor. Even that was made with small, inexpensive colored gemstones.

I am honored, Your Majesty, but this necklace is decorated with small gems.

Ah, so it’s not extravagance, but simplicity.

Alicia was too naive at the time and didn’t imagine that it would further enrage Cayenne.

-Small gems, you say. Small… yes, it must be insignificant in the Empress’s eyes.

Cayenne didn’t know. Alicia had only dressed up at the recommendation of the head maid, and it was just one of the items passed down in the Empress’s Palace.

-In the desert, people risk their lives to find water to drink. Have you ever seen a land where water doesn’t flow?

-No… I haven’t.

-So, you can wear such a necklace and take it lightly.

At the time, Alicia didn’t dare to interrupt the Emperor’s words.

-With the value of that one small stone that shines even from this distance, water could be brought to an entire village. Does the Empress know what that means?

Alicia, who grew up in Lucan, the repository of wisdom, didn’t know the right answer either. Perhaps, no matter what she said, it wouldn’t have pleased Cayenne. At that time, he already regarded Alicia as nothing more than a Lucan parrot.

-If a waterway were built with the value of that one small stone, more than 100 people could live their lives instead of risking them to find water.

How could she forget? The distance between them was great, but Cayenne’s voice was filled with contempt. Even then, it was before she had heard in detail that Cayenne had been made the Duke of the desolate desert territory of Rubeo by the late Emperor as if he were being exiled.

“Agnes, the gloves should be plain and unglossy. The color shouldn’t be too flashy either. The length of the gloves…”

Agnes felt sorry for Alicia, who was suddenly speaking anxiously.

“Your Majesty, you can take your time. And since His Majesty has returned to the palace after a long time, you could dress up a little more beautifully.”

“No! It has to be simple, and simple again! Anything even slightly flashy. I don’t want…”

Alicia, who grew up as a daughter of Lucan, would never be extravagant.

“I understand. I happen to have a pair of white gloves that are unglossy and reach up to the elbows. How about those?”

Alicia unconsciously bit her lip.

“Exactly what length are they?”

“They are below the elbows.”

Gloves worn by women of noble status symbolized distance from the other person. Originally, for a natural couple, gloves that reached the wrist or bare hands would be fine, but the distance between Cayenne and her heart was not so close.

“Good.”

However, if she wore long gloves that went past her elbows, it would look like an official occasion, and she was worried that he would say she was being extravagant again.

“Since it’s autumn, a fan isn’t necessary. The shoes should also be plain.”

Originally, a fan was an essential item for a noblewoman and was carried regardless of the season, but she didn’t want to give Cayenne any reason to find fault with her now.

“I am honored, but it is not right for Her Majesty to go to the audience chamber without any jewelry. Even a pearl necklace without any shine…”

Despite Agnes’s sincere advice, Alicia shook her head vigorously. The criticism about the necklace was still deeply etched in her memory.

“Not wearing a necklace at all is impolite.”

“…Then, I’ll wear the necklace my mother left me.”

Alicia opened a drawer in the dressing table with her white, slender fingers and pointed to a simple necklace containing her mother’s keepsake.

“But, this is just a plain necklace made of platinum and it’s too… ordinary…”

“That’s why I like it.”

Agnes still didn’t know Cayenne’s nature well. Alicia herself didn’t either, but she knew that she shouldn’t wear a necklace that was too shiny.

“It’s my mother’s keepsake. If they criticize me for being too low-class, I’ll answer that. His Majesty will understand.”

At Alicia’s reasonable words, Agnes carefully placed the necklace around her white, fair neck. The necklace, wrapped around Alicia’s fair skin, shone much more beautifully than expected.

“I’ll tell Nancy to prepare the gloves and shoes. Have a sip of tea and calm down.”

Alicia nodded. A little later, after confirming the plain gloves and shoes to be worn at the audience, the Emperor’s attendant came to pay his respects as if he had timed it.

“Your Majesty, the Emperor has returned to the palace, so you must have an audience early tomorrow morning.”

Unlike her earlier anxious demeanor, Alicia’s face was calm.

“Understood.”

Alicia dismissed the attendant with an elegant gesture and stared straight ahead.

“Agnes.”

“I’ll prepare the carriage in advance. I, the head chamberlain Howard, and the maid Maren will accompany you to the audience.”

“Leave Maren behind. It won’t take long anyway.”

Alicia slowly rose to her feet.

Although she was meeting her husband for the first time in less than a year in this life, she hadn’t seen him for as long as eight years in her past life.

Although he had come at an unexpected time… it could be an opportunity in another way.

“Agnes, what did they say about me in the Imperial Palace?”

“Yes? …Ah, they said that Her Majesty is from Lucan, so she must have suffered from wisdom fever…”

Suddenly, it was said that a child who suffered from a high fever would come to know truth and wisdom, so it didn’t suit Alicia now. She had occasionally seen those who claimed to have suffered from wisdom fever in Lucan, but there was nothing special about them.

“That doesn’t exist.”

Soon, Cayenne would know that too.

“You may leave now. I have to wake up early tomorrow, so don’t forget to wake me up.”

“Yes.”

As Agnes left, Alicia let out a thin breath.

“This is an opportunity.”

If the Empress from Lucan had forgotten everything and lost her intellect, let alone the truth, Cayenne would surely lose interest completely. Lucan would not leave Alicia, who was not fulfilling her role, alone.

“There are enough reasons to get a divorce.”

At first, she had lived as a perfectly ordinary person for over twenty years. Then, she came to a strange world and spent 10 years as Empress Alicia.

“I want to go back to the beginning again…”

When she faced death as Alicia, she secretly hoped that it would all end. Or, at least, that she would wake up in her original world.

“If that’s not possible, I have to avoid the worst myself.”

Before becoming Alicia, her wish was very simple. She couldn’t dream of jewels or the service of others, she just wanted to build a house with a yard someday and raise a few dogs. That was a very difficult thing in that world, but thinking about it now…

“Even a deposed empress can have a house with a yard.”

Her decision was already made.

Alicia would quit this pretentious role.