The Empress Tames the Tyrant - Chapter 40

The Empress’s Palace was in a similar state of chaos. Just when it seemed the two were finally sharing a tender moment during their stroll, the Emperor had suddenly departed in a frantic daze. When Agnes and the maids reached Alicia, her beautiful face was stained with tears.

“It was all a delusion,” Alicia murmured, huddled on her bed with swollen eyes. “Nothing has changed. Isn’t it pathetic? I thought I could tame His Majesty, but to him, that is all I was.”

Agnes, who stayed by her side in silence, could not hide her aching heart. She knew better than anyone how much effort Alicia had put into preparing for the Emperor’s sudden return.

“I feel so small.”

As Alicia closed her eyes tightly, tears continued to spill over. Why did she have to return to this unfamiliar world and live through such sorrow even after regressing? Even if this were her destiny, she wanted to resent God for not letting her be a protagonist who was simply loved.

“But it isn’t like this is the first time I’ve felt this way.”

Alicia wiped her tears with the back of her hand and stared straight ahead. One didn’t have to look far; in her previous life, she had lived ten years as a neglected wife before dying young. She had already tasted enough despair back then.

“Your Majesty, if there is anything I can do to help. Shall I bring some tea? Or perhaps some warm milk?”

“No.”

She appreciated Agnes’s sentiment, but tea or milk was not what Alicia needed right now.

“Tell me the truth,” she said, her blue eyes turning toward Agnes. “Is what happened to me today, even possible?”

“Pardon?”

“Even if he is the Emperor, can he really demand a wedding night from me in such a manner? Without warning?”

Even if the wedding had been held and her position as Empress was clear, she truly wanted to know if a husband who had suddenly returned could treat a wedding night as if it were on the same level as a dessert.

“Forgive me, but… yes,” Agnes answered sorrowfully.

Alicia’s brow furrowed deeply at the reply.

“But that is too cruel! We have only just started dining together.”

“The two of you have already exchanged wedding vows under the name of God. That act grants the groom the right to a wedding night.”

“Yes, that is what I thought a year ago, before he rushed away from the palace.”

Though it happened in her previous life, the mockery Alicia had to endure back then was still vivid. In the end, Cayenne had never looked back at her, and he never held her once until the day she died.

“That is why I wanted to leave this place.”

From the beginning, continuing a proper married life with Cayenne had never been an option. However, having the small spark of expectation that had unknowingly bloomed in her heart trampled so ruthlessly made the wound throb with pain.

“In truth, I hoped you would not leave the Imperial Palace. Such a move is too reckless and unstable.”

Alicia had claimed she would tame the Emperor to achieve her goals, but those watching had begun to dream of a beautiful future as the two grew closer.

“I cannot dare to imagine the depth of your pain. However, I am not a person of Lucan, nor am I a person of this Empire.”

Agnes gently stroked Alicia’s fragile shoulders. Just as Cayenne was someone Emma had to protect, Alicia meant the same to Agnes.

“Looking at it now, what is the difference? I exchange vows with a groom chosen by Lucan, and I grant him the right to treat my body and soul however he pleases. Yes, just like a late-night dessert.”

Unexpected resentment kept pouring out. She had no expectations of Cayenne and her only goal was to leave him, yet she could not understand why she felt so angry and sorrowful.

“It is a regrettable and cruel truth, but this world is kind to selfish men.”

It wasn’t just because Cayenne was the Emperor; most marriages were like that. Becoming someone’s wife meant being subordinate to him for life, followed by the mission of producing an heir. Meanwhile, men could take other women as they pleased without facing much criticism.

“If I had a choice, I would never have married.”

“Yes. Fortunately, I was able to make that choice,” Agnes said somewhat bitterly, knowing how difficult it was for a single woman to live in this world. “Because of that, I can stay by your side now. I will not give up on anything until you find your happiness, Alicia.”

Evangeline, Alicia’s mother, was the only reason Agnes, a noblewoman from the small kingdom of Tristan, had followed Alicia to Lucan and eventually to the Darius Empire.

“I promised Evangeline over and over again before she passed. I swore that I would help you find your happiness.”

In Lucan, Alicia had been an outsider from a very young age. The Great Sage had been displeased that his favorite son had married a foreign woman, and he was even more disappointed when the son died young, leaving only a daughter who resembled her mother.

“That is why I was so happy for you to leave Lucan.”

Like most noble ladies, a daughter of Lucan could not choose her own life. If the Great Sage chose a suitable monarch or noble as a groom, she simply went there to live the rest of her life as a parrot for Lucan. Naturally, no man welcomed such a bride, so it was obvious what kind of treatment the daughters of Lucan received.

“I know. If it hadn’t been this position, the marriage proposal I would have received would have been from some old Duke with children older than me.”

Originally, the Great Sage intended to send another granddaughter as the Empress, one who was the model of Lucan’s values and perfectly obedient. However, Duke Nigel worried about Lucan gaining too much power, and Alicia, who was only half Lucan by blood, was chosen as a final compromise.

“To think a man who treats me like a late-night dessert was the better choice.”

Alicia had dreamed of happiness while looking at the handsome portrait of the young Emperor, who was five years her senior. That dream had shattered quickly, but it had been dazzlingly bright.

“In truth, perhaps it is not too late,” Agnes said, voicing a thought she had been hesitant to share.

“I rejected His Majesty today. But can I do it next time?”

She could reject him, of course, but she would have to stake her life and the rest of her days on it.

“Even if I am lucky enough to survive a rejection, he will never listen to me again. No, he will forget my very existence.”

Just as Cayenne had done in her previous life. Alicia knew better than anyone how wretched and lonely her life would become after that.

“No, what if it isn’t a rejection? What if it is an annulment?”

“I’ve thought of that, but I have already become the Empress.”

“That is only because you held the investiture ceremony.”

Alicia bit her lip. The fact that this conflict over a wedding night was happening a year after the wedding was firm proof that this marriage was not yet complete.

“Certainly. Both the laws of the Papacy and the Empire only recognize a marriage as finalized after the wedding night has been consummated.”

It was a bit ridiculous that they had lived quietly for a year after such a grand wedding, but by the letter of the law, they were not yet truly a couple.

“And too many people know that fact.”

Rumors had spread across the continent about the Emperor who left coldly as soon as the wedding ended. Back then, that fact was humiliating, but now it could serve as powerful evidence that Alicia’s marriage had not been established.

“Agnes, can you find the documents where the Papacy and the Empire define the finalization of a marriage for me?”

“Of course.”

Alicia, having finally stopped crying, nodded. She couldn’t define exactly what expectations she had harbored for Cayenne, but she was already accustomed to disappointment and despair.

“My plan is not over yet.”

The result of handing over her life to the ways of this world and the standards of others had been horrific. This time, at the very least, she would choose for herself.

“I will never, ever be something like a late-night dessert.”

Alicia’s blue eyes sparkled with clarity once more. She was entirely unaware that Cayenne was spending the night awake, consumed by self-reproach, regret, and bewilderment.

Early the next morning, Glenn, who had come to assist Cayenne as usual, could not believe his eyes. Cayenne was sitting blankly on his bed with hollow eyes and a pale complexion.

“Your Majesty, are you alright?”

Cayenne seemed to have stayed up all night; he reacted to Glenn’s voice only after a long pause, shifting his gaze slowly.

“No,” a low, gravelly voice answered.

“Shall I call the physician?”

Cayenne shook his head weakly. In keeping with his habit of messing up his hair whenever he was deep in thought, his hair was as disheveled as a bird’s nest.

You must resolve the concerns you hold now on your own, Your Majesty.

Emma’s strict voice was still vivid in his mind.

I mean that you must not intervene under any circumstances, Sir Glenn.

Glenn respected Emma, but his loyalty to Cayenne naturally came first. Emma, as if reading Glenn’s mind, had left him with a very significant warning.

If you intervene, His Majesty will never be able to find the answer. Perhaps not even his happiness.

Glenn, who had grown up in Rubeo with Cayenne since childhood, could not possibly understand the delicate heart of a woman. If he intervened, it would simply result in two versions of an indifferent Cayenne, so Emma’s advice was quite appropriate.

“Where is Emma? And the Chief Attendant?”

Surprisingly, Cayenne was the one looking for the servants first. Surely, he hadn’t suddenly decided he needed their attendance now.

“They should be outside. Shall I bring them in?”

Cayenne merely nodded in response. Finally, he was realizing that this was not the blood-soaked Rubeo, but the Imperial Palace where his wife resided.