Chapter 2.2 - [Part 2]

Chapter 2 – [Part 2]

At imperial events where they were forced to endure each other’s existence, the Emperor always brought a new woman and ignored the Empress.

“Karloi.”

The whispers of the woman Karloi brought reached the ears of Yvonne and her handmaidens.

The royal attendant Gorten covered his mouth in shock. She just called the Emperor by his name!

Fortunately, it wasn’t a nickname. If she had called him by a nickname, Gorten would have never allowed it.

In Croisen, even the commoners didn’t give out their nicknames to random strangers. There is a legend in Croisen that if you secretly repeat the nickname of your crush for 100 days, your love will come true.

Gorten wondered if he should be grateful that the Emperor did not cross the line, and glared as if to finish off that woman.

However, Karloi looked at the woman with a gentle expression that would never exist again.

“Is there anything you want to have?”

“If I did, would you give it to me?”

Yvonne Delois wasn’t particularly responsive, even when she saw the Emperor and the women whispering in front of her.

Seeing the Empress, who seemed to be suffocated with boredom by her yawning, people thought that the Emperor wasn’t the only one who ignored the Empress.

“Wouldn’t it be nice if I could see the ‘Wolf’s Tears’ once!”

The woman shouted innocently from the side.

All of the attendants, including the royal attendant Gorten, were shocked and gasped, but the Empress made no movement.

‘Wolf’s Tears’ was an imperial necklace that had been handed down to the empress from generation to generation, but Karloi didn’t give it to Yvonne, even though it had been quite a while after their wedding.

Gorten stared at the woman with a reddish face as if he was about to explode, but Karloi laughed as if it was amusing.

“Well, I’d rather you wear it than have it collect dust. I don’t have anyone who would wear it anyway!”

Was he saying he’d give it to the person next to him?

“Your Majesty!”

An unheard-of nobleman called out to him, but Karloi ignored him and tilted his beautiful face.

“Why? The Empress wouldn’t want to wear that anyway. Isn’t that so?”

When Karloi asked the last question, he turned his head slightly and looked at the Empress. Yvonne’s face, with her chin elegantly resting on one hand, remained unchanged and her gaze remained unfazed.

The people around him were quiet for a moment. They wanted to hear the Empress’ answer, but the answer never came.

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, a maid next to her whispered to the unbothered Empress, and Yvonne blinked as if she had just awoken from a dream.

“Why?”

She seemed to have never listened to Karloi’s question. In the first place, it was rather questionable whether she was aware of Karloi’s existence or not.

Caught off guard, Karloi laughed weakly and left the banquet hall with the girl he brought.

Despite the subsequent scoldings of the maids, the Empress fell into her own thoughts with her chin folded again.

As their routine remained unchanged, it was impossible to expect any improvement between the Emperor and the Empress.

In addition to the imperial event, the Emperor had a meal with the Empress once or twice a month.

During those moments, the middlemen would always freeze to death. It was because the Emperor and the Empress never share a single word with each other.

Anything similar to dialogue would always bring about catastrophic consequences.

“I hope you refrain from making personal contact with the Duke.”

After a bitter confrontation with the Duke of Delois at a political meeting, Karloi spoke in a low voice.

Yvonne replied late, as she was not sure what he was thinking. It seemed that she had just realized that Karloi was eating in front of her.

“Yes.”

It wasn’t clear whether she understood what he said or not, but she answered with her head down.

“Please refrain from calling it the Empress’ Palace.”

“Yes.”

“In public, your father always—”

“Yeah.”

“….what is wrong with you? I haven’t finished talking yet.”

Only then did Yvonne raise her head. Seeing as she felt a subtle embarrassment creep up on her impregnable face, she knew she had made a mistake.

Karloi, who found out for the first time that the Empress also had facial expressions, instead of being upset, was just dumbfounded.

In a different way from Duke Delois, his empress was ignoring him.

“I’m sick of your father attacking me over marital affairs. I even have to report to the Duke how many times I have dinner with the Empress.”

“…It was just a conversation between men.”

“I’m sure it’s surveillance.”

“But it’s not a secret. Everyone in the Palace knows that Your Majesty hates me.”

Contrary to the content of the words, Yvonne’s face and voice showed no signs of resentment. She spoke with a calm tone as if only stating the facts.

Her lack of regret or dissatisfaction made him even angrier.

However, there was also something strange with what she said. Was it only Karloi who hated Yvonne? Yvonne didn’t seem to like Karloi either.

Suddenly, the image of the Duke of Delois at the political meeting came to mind, and Karloi lost his appetite.

He stopped eating, throwing the tableware, and ended up leaving the table.

He didn’t even want to look back.