Chapter 166 - Sovieshu’s Shock (1)

What was he going to say? Would he give me words of anger, or would he wish me well? He certainly wouldn’t say he was happy that I was remarried. Sparks seemed to fly from his eyes, so it couldn’t be good.

“Empress. No, Navier. What is wrong with you?”

Surprisingly, his voice was relatively calm. While the fire in his eyes was undeniable, his tone was so steady that he didn’t seem angry at all.

“This marriage proposal, explain it.”

I relaxed in front of him, then replied with a nod.

“I know the answer you want.”

He wanted to know why I got married right after our divorce, and why it was with Heinley. However…

“I know, but I won’t answer.”

I kept my voice as level as possible.

“It’s none of my ex-husband’s business.”

Sovieshu almost staggered backwards at my response.

“Ex-husband?”

He stared at me with an incredulous look.

“Ex-husband?”

He opened his mouth, and sharp bark of laughter escaped from his lips.

“Yes, ex-husband. I’m your ex-husband…”

Sovieshu’s composure broke. A blue vein pulsed on his forehead and he smiled in defiance. He took one step closer to me, his voice was dangerously low as he spoke.

“I am still your emperor. And I won’t allow my ex-wife to get married.”

So it came to this. I suspected this would happen, so I did well in getting the High Priest to approve the remarriage in front of him…

The High Priest stepped back into the conversation and clicked his tongue disapprovingly.

“Emperor Sovieshu. This falls under my authority.”

Someone nearby laughed. It was rather loud, and Sovieshu’s face hardened and his ears turned even redder. Didn’t this situation look like a ridiculous play now?

Sovieshu’s glare swung between me and Heinley, and then he turned his heel and stormed out the hall through a side door. I wanted to say thank you to the High Priest, but he also turned away to follow Sovieshu out the exit.

With both the Emperor and High Priest gone, the room suddenly burst into a cacophony of noise, much like a whole host of instruments playing at once. My parents, the ladies-in-waiting and Marquis Farang ran towards me and bombarded me with questions.

“Navier, what’s going on?”

“Navier, suddenly remarrying—”

“What happened, Navier—”

They noticed Heinley, but he was not just a foreign prince, but a king now, and so they targeted me instead.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you all in advance.”

I apologized to them in my embarrassment. The plan had to be kept secret to eliminate any chance of it going wrong. These people who cared about me must have been upset…but fortunately, the ladies-in-waiting did not lay blame on me. Rather, they held me and cried joyfully.

“No, this is wonderful.”

“You don’t know how gratifying this is.”

“I almost broke my teeth grinding them when the divorce was approved!”

Laura clenched her fists and made a vow.

“I just made up my mind! I will go abroad and follow Navier!”

“Laura, that’s—”

“You’ll need a lady-in-waiting after you become queen there anyway!”

Laura, unlike the other women, initially became my lady-in-waiting to learn court etiquette. However, I was hesitant to take Laura to a foreign country. Then, Countess Jubel spoke up.

“Then Laura and I will follow you, Navier.”

“Countess Jubel?”

Laura didn’t expect Countess Jubel to volunteer, and she looked up in surprise. Countess Jubel continued to speak.

“Countess Eliza may find it difficult to follow you abroad, since she is on good terms with her husband. However, my husband and I have been separate for a long time. It will take him a year to notice that I haven’t gone home.”

“…”

I stared at Countess Jubel, and she gave a sly chuckle.

“He doesn’t even know if I was home last night.”

Her humorous demeanor made me smile.

“I’d be glad if you could accompany me, Countess Jubel…”

I was still somewhat hesitant. Heinley, who had been quietly watching from the side, stepped in and nodded in greeting to Laura and Countess Jubel.

“On behalf of my wife, thank you. She will be treated better there, so please feel free to come with her.”

Laura made a choking sound at the word “wife”, and my parents blinked dazedly. They still seemed to be having a hard time accepting this new situation.

“Ah, Mother-In-Law, Father-In-Law.”

When Heinley addressed my parents, they seemed even more taken aback, and they gave each other uncertain glances. Sensing their hesitation, Heinley leaned his head towards them and said in a quiet voice, “Your son is in the Western Kingdom.” My parents’ eyes widened in surprise, and my father burst into tears. My mother didn’t cry, but she looked extremely relieved. She would have been happy enough that I wouldn’t be abandoned as an ex-empress, but she was even more grateful that her exiled son was alright.

As I watched the scene, I stood a little straighter. My heart no longer felt empty, or angry, or grieved. Even though I underwent the shame of divorce and deposition, everyone around me was smiling and rejoicing in my approval for remarriage. Happiness swelled inside my bosom, crowding out the sorrow and anger that had so haunted me for so long.

I was especially grateful towards Heinley.

Without him…I would be standing here listening to the ladies-in-waiting attempt to comfort me. My parents would blame themselves for sending me to become crown princess, and everyone would look at me in pity.

However, even if I found myself in an occasion that called for tears of joy, I did not want to cry in front of people, either. I took a deep breath, and smiled at Heinley to calm my eyes.

***

Rashta followed Sovieshu, thinking about how cruel the Empress was.

‘Ah. But I’m the empress now.’

Rashta knew that Navier only stood by Sovieshu to become empress, and that the woman did not love her husband. That was enough to consider Navier as snobbish and power-hungry. But for her to marry another king as soon as she got divorced? She truly was greedy for power! In the process, Navier never thought at all about the ridicule Sovieshu would face.

‘No. He’s a strong man.’

Rashta clicked her tongue sympathetically and trailed behind Sovieshu as he went straight to his chambers. When she entered his room, she saw him leaning against a table with one arm and breathing hard. His eyes looked lifeless, as if he were still thoroughly shocked by what happened earlier.

“Your Majesty…”

The sight brought tears to Rashta’s eyes.

‘Poor thing.’

She pressed a hand against her mouth and approached Sovieshu. He was still breathing hard, and his brow furrowed when he glanced up at Rashta. A stiff smile spread on his lips.

“I’m sorry, Rashta. I want to be alone for now.”

“Your Majesty…”

She stifled a sob, then covered his hand on the table with both of her own. Her voice quavered as she spoke.

“Your Majesty. Prince Heinley’s letter friend…is actually the deposed empress.”

Sovieshu turned his eyes towards Rashta. He already knew that. He also knew that Rashta pretended to be the letter friend. However, he couldn’t help but wonder why she would bring this up.

Rashta cast her large eyes downwards, looking like a sad angel.

“Since then, the deposed empress has been having an affair with Prince Heinley.”

“!”

“Rashta wanted to protect the empress…so Rashta pretended to be the letter friend.”

Sovieshu stared sharply at her. She looked at him with clear eyes, wiping away the dripping tears with the back of her hand.

“But if I knew she would back stab you like that…I would have told you earlier. Rashta made the wrong decision, Your Majesty.”

As Sovieshu stared at her weeping form, his expression became strange.