CH 23

“Do not insult my mother. How do you think the imperial family, who values bloodlines above all else, will react when they find out that I was made empress despite not being the Duke’s biological daughter?”

Duke Bledel’s eyes narrowed as if he was thinking about something, and then the corners of his mouth slowly turned into a meaningful smile.

“Well, you’ve figured it out nicely.”

“I am no longer a child, and I will not be taken advantage of without knowing anything.”

“I guess the emperor’s safety doesn’t matter to you now.”

“I’m sick and tired of constantly threatening the Emperor. I hear the Bledel family isn’t as good as they used to be, so why don’t you kill him if you can?”

Lethenia had a very unhappy childhood, and it began with the tragedy of her mother, Mary Carlus.

Mary, unable to resist her parents’ pressure, reluctantly engaged Edward Bledel but had another man whom she truly loved.

That man was a wandering foreigner who briefly stayed with Asha. They promised each other an eternal future.

Soon after, she became pregnant. But the man who promised to return soon never did.

Eventually, her parents found out that their maiden daughter had a child from a man of unknown origin.

Fearing rumors, they forced their daughter to marry Duke Bledel before her stomach grew big.

A loveless marriage could not bring happiness. Sadly, she could not forget the man who abandoned her and kept her husband at arm’s length.

Edward Bledel found it an insult: At a certain point, he began to suspect that Lethenia was not his biological daughter, and from the moment that suspicion turned into certainty, he lost his reason in anger.

Once he obtained absolute power, he exterminated the Carlus family members and directed his hatred and contempt towards young Lethenia after Mary’s death.

“I do have one thing to thank you for. The dignified position you gave me meant I no longer had to live in misery at the Duke’s house.”

The Duke gave me a curious look, as if he found Lethenia’s defiance refreshing, and his gaze slowly swept up and down me.

Who is he looking at now? Is it Lethenia or his dead wife? As I looked into his eerie, crimson eyes, I felt sick as I recalled all the evil things he had done to her.

My emotional state became uneasy, unlike when facing the protagonist. Fragments of Lethenia’s emotions stirred inside me.

However, the color of the emotions I felt towards Duke Bledel was closer to despair and suffering than anger and hatred. This left a bitter taste in my mouth.

‘You’re the reason why Lethenia’s broken.’

Duke Bledel sighed softly, shook his head, and muttered to himself.

“I taught you to live with blinded eyes and closed ears… but once you entered the palace, you became useless. It would have been better if you had died then and there. You’re just like your mother, ungrateful for the grace I bestowed upon you, rampaging without even appreciating the favor I granted you.”

His eyes were filled with disgust, as if he were dealing with a lowly insect. In that moment, I remembered the way my father had always looked at me, pathetically. My pent-up anger stirred.

That damn grace he provided, raising me like a beggar. I despised that word.

<All this time, I fed you, sheltered you. How much money did I spend on you? Ignorant of the grace I granted you, tsk. I raised a child in vain.>

It was a phrase my father often said as a habit. It became so familiar that it almost stuck to my ears, but sometimes it angered me to the point of flipping my insides. The reason he mumbled about such trivial “grace” was also absurd.

Because I didn’t make seaweed soup for my stepmother’s birthday, or because I didn’t calm my crying sibling while my dad was playing a game, etc.

For such an annoying reason, I became a bad child who didn’t even know “grace.” Even blaming my mother when he wasn’t pleased with my actions was just like Duke Bledel.

Something hot stirred within me at the unpleasant memory. Lethenia’s fear and despair, Kim Sejin’s anger and resentment, all mixed together, made my heart burn.

I spoke to him with all the contempt in the world.

“I suppose you raised me not because I was your daughter but because of the marriage agreement with the imperial family. Thanks to that, Duke Bledel is enjoying many benefits now. I wonder who doesn’t appreciate the favor?”

“…….”

“Now that the world has changed, always watch your language, or you’ll be in for a real treat if you don’t live with blinded eyes and closed ears.”

I sent him a mocking gaze with a hint of pity in my tone. One of Duke Bledel’s eyebrows twitched.

“Where do you think that filthy blood of yours will go? Remember, the moment you stain the Bledel family, your life is over.”

His eyes didn’t smile, but the corners of his mouth lifted slightly. Like Ian’s doll-like smile.

“Your colorful accusations and threats are wearing thin, so don’t try to manipulate me anymore. Anyway, I’ll see you again when I’m ready to talk normally, Father.”

Father. At some point, Duke Bledel had forbidden her to use the word father.

Young Lethenia wondered why she had to address her own father as “Duke,” but she wasn’t allowed to question it.

Questioning anything would inevitably lead to even harsher punishment, so she had no choice but to obey.

Duke Bledel remained silent for some time, casting me a murderous glance, and then stormed out of the room.

As expected, the meeting with Duke Bledel was unpleasant. Lethenia’s subconscious mind had been traumatized by the memory of Duke Bledel, and the conversation with him had been unpleasantly replayed in my mind for some time.

For a change of scenery, I left the attendants and maids and headed to Vanessa’s palace alone.

I was adjusting well to life at the palace, except for one thing: I hadn’t gotten used to having dozens of entourage following me around. I didn’t like the idea of someone watching my every move.

Especially on days when I feel bad like today. I sat down on a bench in one of the gardens of the star palace. The weather was sunny enough to make even the dewy grass look vibrant.

It was when I closed my eyes and enjoyed the pleasant warmth of the sun on my skin. I sensed someone’s presence nearby.

“Your Majesty the Empress.”

It was Rosetin, and she curtsied as skillfully as she did in the banquet hall. There was still some time before she formally entered the palace as a maid.

However, I heard that Count Bedos made various excuses to send her to the Imperial Palace every day.

Ian did not show any particular refusal. The relationship between the two seemed to go as expected. Rosetin carried a handful of unknown white flowers.

It was a flower that bloomed throughout the palace, but was especially in Vanessa Palace.

“Do you like flowers?”

“I like the scent of peonies.”

“Peonies?”

So that’s the name of the flower. Now that I think about it, every time I come to Vanessa Palace, I smell a faintly sweet scent. It was probably because of the peonies.

“If you carry a pouch with peony petals for a thousand days, love will come to you. It’s quite a romantic superstition.”

Rosetine spoke as she gently touched the petals of the peony she was holding. Then she slowly looked around Vanessa’s Palace, her face full of appreciation.

“I’ve heard that this was originally a peony garden, and that the Good Emperor brought in the most famous architect in Delua to build it for his mistress……”

“…….”

“Although it may appear modest compared to the other splendid palaces, it seems a lot of care was put into the delicate details. It feels a bit of a waste to leave it like this.”

An air of dignity, and a calm yet elegant way of speaking. Rosetin seemed different from the image of the heroine I had in mind.

In particular, her pale smile, beautiful but seemingly forced, had a similar coldness to Ian’s.

Her innocent and fairy-like appearance made it clear that she was the heroine, Rosetin. But there was something subtly foreign about her speech and demeanor that I couldn’t place.

Rather than being a lovely woman who could melt Ian’s frozen heart as depicted in the original, she was more of a cold and heartless image that resembled…… Ian.

It was like Lethenia, who seemed to keep a distance from people’s hearts. I found it a bit strange, but I mustered the gentlest and most accommodating smile I could.

“When you become the owner of this place, decorate it beautifully.”

It was a way of saying that I wouldn’t mind if she became his mistress. Whatever the case, now that the heroine has appeared, it would be a continuous walk on thin ice from my perspective as the antagonist.

For now, I thought I need to create an amicable relationship with Rosetin so that I could avoid Ian’s wrath in the future. The corner of Rosetin’s mouth quirked up as if she recognized my meaning.

“It seems Your Majesty the Empress doesn’t mind my presence.”

Maybe it’s just me. But there was something provocative about her words that made me feel uneasy.

“Of course.”

Rosetin’s orange eyes lingered on me for a while. Her subtle gaze, as if trying to read my inner thoughts, made me feel slightly uncomfortable.

The smile at the corners of Rosetin’s mouth faded slightly again. Then, she asked me an unexpected question.

“Your Majesty the Empress, have we never met before?”

Rosetin’s sudden question plunged me into confusion. You’ve met me… No, Lethenia?