The Empress Tames the Tyrant - Chapter 36

After Emma left, Agnes sought Alicia out, unable to hide her delight. However, Alicia’s mind had suddenly become so cluttered that she dismissed everyone and remained alone.

“Was this truly what I wanted?”

She muttered to the empty air, but no answer came.

“Living somewhere with beautiful mountains and clean water, growing flowers far away from this prison of a palace.”

When she first realized she had a second chance, her heart was set on leaving the Imperial Palace immediately. It was a place where she had not a single good memory, the very place where she had died miserably. It was only natural to want to flee.

“Hah, was that even realistic?”

At first, she thought it would be easy because Cayenne had no interest in her. But Alicia knew too little about what kind of man her husband was.

If you fail to look after the Empress properly, I will execute you.

When she had lied about having a cold to avoid meeting him, she narrowly escaped a crisis through quick wit. That was when she realized the truth. Now that she had even a fraction of his attention, the moment she dared to say she was leaving, Agnes’s head would likely be the first to roll.

“Besides, I cannot return to Lucan. I would rather stay here.”

Just looking at their letters made her feel suffocated and gave her a headache. Going back to live in a Lucan filled with such people was definitely not a good idea.

“Living peacefully in a forgotten detached palace. Was that just an unrealistic dream from the start?”

She even doubted whether she had the ability to realize such a naive idea.

“Lucan preaches the virtue of integrity, yet they sent me away to marry into another country without a single cent. It might have been arrogant of me to think I could stand on my own in this world.”

She had read various books and retraced history to understand this world, but she could find no stories of an Empress or a Queen who left her position to live a life of leisure alone.

“No Empress has ever survived after a marriage officiated by the Pope was broken.”

A concubine or a mistress could disappear or be discarded at any time, but once a wedding was held in the name of God, freedom was literally impossible until the day of death.

“A book once said that an Empress or a Queen is a part of the Imperial family left behind forever.”

Furthermore, Alicia was not just a noblewoman; she was the Empress. In every historical precedent Alicia found, there was only one way an Empress lost her status: death.

“But, as Madame Emma said, this marriage cannot yet be called a perfect finalization.”

It was clear that both Emma and Agnes were secretly anticipating when the wedding night would finally take place. They knew well that only then would the marriage be truly established.

“In my previous life, why didn’t I claim an annulment? Sigh, no.”

Alicia shook her head. Back then, for reasons unknown in the modern world, she had become Alicia. After enduring the Great Sage’s nagging, she suddenly became the Empress and held a wedding.

“I knew nothing.”

At that time, Alicia had hopes and dreams. Like in a novel, she dreamed of entering a story, becoming the protagonist, and living happily ever after.

“I was powerless and ignorant.”

She truly knew nothing then. She did not know that once you become the protagonist of a story, this place becomes your reality and your life. She did not know that a person who lived a normal life would suddenly be placed under the spotlight and have to struggle just to survive.

“No media has ever shown how to live happily after falling into a world inside a story.”

Perhaps because she had experienced both possession and regression, her memories of who she originally was were faint, but the media and food she used to love were vivid. Since her regression, she had put that knowledge to good use.

“Then again, there was never a guide on how to tame an Emperor.”

Suddenly, Alicia recalled the moment she had shouted at him to stop.

Enough!

Thinking back, it was an insane thing to do, but Cayenne had frozen in his tracks.

“It actually worked.”

Perhaps it was because it was the first time Cayenne had experienced such a shock. He had been cast out by the previous Emperor as a child and raised by a subject, so he had likely never heard anyone speak to him like that.

“Will it continue to work?”

No one knew the answer to that. Even if she summoned all the famous doctors from modern media, they wouldn’t know.

“What is certain is that I need to realign my goals starting now.”

Everyone knew how to live a wonderful life, but practicing it was the hard part. That was just as true in this unfamiliar world.

Cayenne, who had been buried in his study, ran into Emma as she was returning from the Empress’s Palace.

“I greet Your Imperial Majesty.”

As Emma offered a graceful bow, Cayenne gestured for her to rise. Previously, he hadn’t even known to tell those bowing to stand; it was a small but significant change.

“Are you on your way back from the Empress’s Palace?”

“I am, Sire.”

Cayenne’s dark eyes sparkled with slight anticipation. He was curious about the reaction of Alicia, who had received the journals and heirlooms of his mother—the only things he considered meaningful in this palace.

“And?”

Seeing Cayenne’s somewhat hurried tone, Emma felt certain her hopes were nearly realized. Alicia seemed to be wandering a bit, but considering Cayenne’s straightforward nature, it was only a matter of time.

“The Empress asked me to convey that she is deeply grateful and honored.”

“And?”

When Emma hesitated to say more, disappointment immediately clouded Cayenne’s face.

“Did she not say anything else?”

Even his eyebrows furrowed. For a man who rarely showed emotion in the palace, he seemed quite anxious.

“She surely wished to express more gratitude to Your Majesty, but she likely could not put it all into words.”

“Why?”

In moments like this, the twenty-five-year-old young man hidden behind the Emperor’s majesty became visible.

“In truth, according to protocol, this procedure should have taken place the morning after your marriage was finalized. Therefore, she was likely hesitant to speak today.”

Emma was already a fervent supporter of the couple. She was old enough to have grandchildren, yet she had been aging alone and lonely in the palace. Seeing this fresh couple seemed to light a gentle fire in her heart.

“Hmm, is that so?”

“How could it be otherwise? Though she is young, she is a very prudent person.”

Only then did the disappointment fade slightly from Cayenne’s face.

“Still, I thought she would be a bit more pleased.”

Last night, immediately after his conversation with Glenn, Cayenne had summoned Emma to ask a few questions. The reason was simple: it bothered him that even Glenn seemed to think lightly of the words of Alicia, who had already become an important existence to him.

“Did you not also say it would be good to grant the Empress more authority, Madame?”

Alicia had acted humble since her fever, saying she had become lacking, but in Cayenne’s eyes, the current Alicia seemed far more thoughtful and wise. Thus, he wanted to see her reaction by granting her some of the Empress’s authority.

“The Empress is the rightful mistress of this Imperial Palace. However, because she knows better than anyone how important that position is, I believe she was sparing with her words.”

There was no greater fortune in the palace than earning Emma’s favor.

“I suppose so. The Empress is always modest and cautious.”

Cayenne had momentarily forgotten the image of Alicia shouting “Enough!” at him.

“Still, I sent my mother’s heirlooms. I expected some sort of sentiment.”

To a man’s eyes, all jewels looked similar, but because they had belonged to his mother, they were always precious and special items to him. The moment Emma brought it up, his decision to give the heirlooms to Alicia was not unrelated to the lingering memory of their kiss.

“Your Majesty, how could she convey such precious words to someone like me?”

“Then to whom would she convey them?”

Emma gave a gentle, knowing smile. “To relay such valuable words?”

Cayenne blinked.

“Could we, the palace servants, dare to intervene in the precious stories shared between a husband and wife?”

Emma’s subtle encouragement was effective. Cayenne thought for a moment and then gave a satisfied nod. This was as far as Emma’s role went. The rest would continue at the Empress’s Palace this evening.

“You may withdraw.”

“Yes, Sire.”

If they were lucky, tonight Cayenne might learn that there was a key to the Dowager Empress’s journals and the conditions for handing it over. Emma only regretted that she wouldn’t be there to witness the scene.

Agnes mentioned that she had placed the Dowager Empress’s heirlooms in the second-floor parlor, but Alicia did not feel ready to look at them just yet. While she was grateful for Cayenne’s gesture of sending his mother’s jewels, it also felt like a burden. Her attention was more focused on the journals right in front of her.

“Even without the key, there is something to read.”

Alicia pushed aside the red leather-bound journals and reached for the black notebooks Emma had recorded herself.

“Agnes, I’ll leave this evening’s banquet to you. I have something to read for a moment.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I shall have Nancy bring you some tea.”

As she turned the cover, she saw Emma’s neat handwriting. Alicia was unable to take her eyes off it, as if she were falling into a novel. After finishing one notebook, she reached for the next.

“It is a warm piece of writing.”

Alicia’s white fingers moved gently along Madame Emma’s script. However, a shadow of sadness and a forced smile appeared on her beautiful face.

“To be able to view such a tragedy so calmly.”

Emma’s records began when the health of Diane, the Dowager Empress, took a turn for the worse. Alicia’s eyes eventually welled with tears as she glimpsed Emma’s feelings through the calm prose, recording the final moments of Diane, who was dying from a miscarriage that was almost a premature birth after being attacked by assassins while out with the young prince.

Ten days have passed since the Emperor has not left his bedchamber after the solemn funeral was held.

Having heard the stories before, she could intuitively understand. The subsequent records chronicled the downward spiral of Cayenne’s life, who was only seven years old at the time.