Chapter 44

Lisbeth's hands trembled visibly. She couldn't hide the fact that her eyes were quickly filling up with tears. The dowager empress was watching the emperor and I with annoyance when she noticed Lisbeth.

The dowager empress looked at her with interest.

Then suddenly, a commotion was heard from outside the reception room.

Crash!

I heard something breaking sharply.

What's happening?

The noise became louder.

"Nooooo! My Cuuup!"

"… a!"

"Plea…. calm d…!"

"The dowa… is…!"

I couldn't hear clearly, but I did hear a young child crying.

"No!"

The emperor and I looked at each other in confusion. When I turned around, I noticed the dowager empress' face crumpling in anger and frustration.

"M, mother!"

The child outside was crying out desperately. It was clear the dowager empress's daughter was outside.

What I found most disturbing was the fact that her own child was crying out for her, yet the dowager empress looked annoyed.

It was such a cruel expression I almost screamed in shock.

The dowager empress ordered sharply, "What are the maids and the nannies doing!? Can't they even take care of one child!?"

At her anger, the maids bowed apologetically. None of the maids seemed surprised at how the dowager empress was reacting to her own child's distress.

The dowager empress said coldly, "Make it go away!"

I could still hear the child crying. Any mother would feel heartbroken hearing a child's suffering, but not the dowager empress.

"Yes, your highness."

One of the maids bowed and quickly walked towards the door. When she opened it, something unexpected happened.

A small girl about seven or eight stormed in before anyone could stop her. Her hair was beautifully red, just like her mother's.

When she entered the room, the child looked around and brightened after spotting the dowager empress. She ran towards her mother.

The little girl grabbed onto the dowager empress's yellow dress and looked up with tear-filled eyes.

"Mother!" The child explained, "I brought a cup of raspberry juice for you… But I dropped it and broke the cup. It was so delicious…! I brought it for you because sis said you like raspberries!"

The child's hopeful face clearly wanted to be either praised or consoled by her mother, but when she saw the dowager empress's face, she became pale with fear.

I felt cold. The maids were watching nervously at the mother and the daughter.

The dowager empress was looking down at her own child as if she was looking at an annoying bug. She looked resentful at her daughter.

The dowager empress raised her hand. And…

SLAP!

She pushed her daughter away angrily.

The little girl fell backward on her butt. She looked up at her mother and finally started to cry.

The dowager empress didn't even blink an eye. She ordered her maids again.

"Get her out of here. Punish the maids and the nannies responsible for this shenanigan."

"Yes, your highness."

When the principle maid in waiting waved, the maids from the outside ran inside.

A middle-aged woman who looked like the child's nanny tried to lift the girl, but the young princess wasn't quite done yet. As soon as she realized what was happening, the princess stood up quickly and grabbed onto the dowager empress's dress again.

"MOTHER!"

"Princess!"

"Princess Roselia!"

The maids exclaimed anxiously. The dowager empress looked like she was about to lose it.

This was the first time I had ever seen the dowager empress showing such a strong emotion. She looked hysterical.

She screamed uncontrollably, "Let it go!"

She raised her hand.

Was she going to hit a child? Her own daughter?

Without thinking, my body moved.

The dowager empress' hand never reached the princess.

"What do you think you are doing, Lady Bina?!"

"…"

I was grabbing onto the dowager empress' hand in midair. When she screamed at me, I let her hand go slowly and backed away.

Thankfully, the dowager empress didn't try to slap her daughter again, but unfortunately, her anger was now directed at me.

She looked like she wanted to kill me. I felt goosebumps. I started to sweat in fear.

Perhaps I made a huge mistake.

She accused me in a distant voice.

"Answer me! What do you mean by this?! Who gave you the right to stop me when I am about to reprimand my own daughter?"

The dowager empress couldn't seem to calm down.

It was a little strange. This woman has always been collected. She had never shown such an outright emotion before. This was an over-the-top reaction.

This must have been personal. She was yelling at me, but I could see her original source of anger came from her daughter Princess Roselia.

I couldn't believe it. How could you hate your own daughter so much?

I tried to think of a good answer. I knew that my 21st-century logic wouldn't work. No one here would understand if I claimed it was wrong to hit a child.

Even in modern Korea, it was difficult to intervene when someone hit his or her own child or spouse.

I had to come up with another reason.

"Please, you need to calm down. It is bad for your health."

"… What?"

"Extreme anger is not good for your body. And most of all… It may hurt your highness's baby. Please calm down."

I tried to look calm. I even smiled. The dowager empress became speechless. She continued to glare at me angrily, but my logic couldn't be denied.

Thank god!

I smiled again and stepped back. I returned to my husband's side, who had been acting useless this whole time.

When I glanced at him, he grinned at me. He looked at me like I was his hunting dog who brought him a prey. I hated this guy!

I leaned against him and secretly pinched him hard. His shoulder flinched, but it was of such small movement no one noticed.

I was feeling grateful the dowager empress seemed to be calming down when another red-haired girl ran into the room. The dowager empress frowned again.

"Rose!"

This time, the girl was in her mid-teens. She looked beautiful and resembled the dowager empress greatly except for her eyes.

So the girls I saw on my first day at the castle were here in this room.

The older sister Liliana grabbed her younger sister, who was still sitting on the floor in shock.

"Rose! I told you not to be like this…!"

Princess Liliana couldn't finish her sentence, because the dowager empress's sharp words cut her off. It wasn't directed at me, but it still gave me chills.

"Liliana!"

Princess Liliana trembled as she turned towards the dowager empress. I could see she was genuinely fearful of her own mother. I became speechless at the tragedy of it.

It wasn't the first time I saw bad mother-daughter relationsh.i.p.s. In Korea, I had seen it a few times, but I didn't expect to see it here.

I was naïve in thinking that. This world valued men over women overtly. Things like this must have happened all the time here. I realized I made a wrong assumption because of what I saw at Aeal. There, Duke and the Duchess treated their only daughter like a treasure.

The dowager empress was abusive towards her eldest daughter. Her shrill voice filled the room.

"How many times have I told you to watch Roselia? You and your sister have shamed me in front of the emperor and his wife!"

"I, I apologize… M… mother…"

"Take her away from here immediately. I will punish you later."

"Yes, mother…"

Punishment? Really?

I couldn't believe it.

Liliana bowed to me and the emperor shakily and took her sister out.

"I'm sorry, your highness."

After the girls left, the dowager empress quickly returned to being herself.

She looked calm and elegant as she apologized, "I'm sorry for my daughters' rudeness."

Her smile was scaring me very badly. She patted her belly lovingly.

"…"

"…"