CH 10

“Thank you so much for the compliment, Madame Rochester….”

After a very long time, Anastasia was finally able to speak while looking very exhausted.

“But I feel so embarrassed because you praised me too much. Anyone who can hear you, would definitely know that I did a great job.”

“Of course you did a great job! You don’t need to be embarrassed at all. This is something that deserves to be spread throughout the whole capital.”

‘Oh no… Is it starting again?’

Anastasia looked flustered because it seemed that she was misunderstood somehow.

“Oh, speaking about that. I think I should immediately instruct someone to complete it right away.”

“Please don’t do that….”

It would be as if I’m telling the whole world that for the past two years, all I did was just play and eat…..

Anastasia hurriedly tried to dissuade Madame Rochester because it would bring her a step closer to be under the guillotine.

“Hah? But I cannot be the only one who knows the greatness of Your Majesty!”

“No! It’s really okay!”

Anastasia was almost begging now.

“Even if you don’t tell the public, everyone will know about it eventually.”

“Oh…is that so?”

“Yes, I’m sure of it.”

Anastasia smiled awkwardly and nodded.

“From tomorrow onwards, you and I will work in the palace. Then it would not be difficult for them not to see it and know.”

“Oh that’s right Your Majesty. Then, how should I divide the palace work?”

“Give me half of your workload, please.”

At those words, Madame Rochester looked at Anastasia with a surprised look.

Seeing her reaction, Anastasia asked in concern while thinking about what she said.

“….Is it too little?”

“No, Your Majesty. It’s not about that…”

As Madame Rochester contemplated, as if she didn’t know what to say, she finally spoke up after being quiet for a while. 

“Would it really be okay with you?”

“Yes? What do you mean?”

“I just thought that it was maybe too much… Oh no, of course I wouldn’t dare to underestimate Her Majesty’s capabilities again.”

‘Oh, she was just worried about me…’    

After she realized what Madame Rochester’s intentions were, Anastasia then blankly looked at her as she continued her words.

“Okay, Your Majesty. I will follow what you said. In my personal opinion, you would definitely complete all of your tasks in no time. no time!”

“Ah? Oh no. Not to that extent. I’m still..”

“No. Your Majesty, I know that you can do it!”

‘….Did she just shout out at me?’

Anastasia then recalled the time when she had been in hell just right after her regression, she suddenly felt a moment of regret. Because it seems like she overdoes her actions, due to the pressure of changing her reputation right away.

“Well then Madame Rochester. Please help me as well, since I’m still a beginner at this kind of thing.”

She might have reacted a bit late, because it looked like Madame Rochester wouldn’t believe her words now.

‘….I don’t know what to do now.’

Anastasia decided to just think positively.

-ˏˋ ━━━━━━ ʚɞ ━━━━━━ ˊˎ-

For quite some time, the only thing that Anastasia did was to stay inside her office and monitor the palace affairs.

That’s the only thing that she did so far after her regression. No walks, no tea time, and she never called a tailor out to fit on a new dress.

She no longer requested a fancy meal as if it was prepared for a banquet, but rather chose a lightly stuffed salad to be delivered to her desk at her office.

This was like a revolution in the Empress’s Palace.

That playful and extravagant Empress was now locked up in her office all day working!

As for her meals, she only requested a vegetable dish rather than the usual meat ones!

Naturally, there were no words of criticism or protest from the palace’s staff.

In fact, it was safe to say that there was no time for that under the current circumstances.

Thanks to this, Madame Rochester felt like she was taking a breather after two years.

But apart from herself, everyone else had been living a suffocating life for the past few days.

“Her Majesty must have gone crazy?! I feel like I’m walking on thin ice these past few days.”

“I know. I just can’t believe that a day would come when the Empress Palace, which used to be too noisy due to different circumstances, would suddenly become so quiet.”

“Of course it’s much better now, but…I don’t know why I feel anxious in a different way than before.”

“It’s like a calm before the storm.”

“I just hope that she really did change. I hope it’s not like the Empress is accumulating her anger…”

“Oh…if that was to happen, I would immediately resign and run away.”

“I just hope that it will not be the case because I would be really scared if that happens.”

“Do you really think that Her Majesty had come to her senses? Or did she have some other reasons?”

“Do you think it’s true? About Her Majesty acquiring some deadly disease?”

“What? Is that really true? Is she dying?”

“Well it would make sense. They say that people only change when they’re about to die.”

“It was only after she had known that she was dying, that she decided to reflect on her past mistakes and that shows her sudden change.

“Then that means that the rumor is really true? That Her Majesty is dying?!”

“No wonder. She was now asking for a salad that she hadn’t eaten her whole life. The northeast drought was definitely just an excuse!”

Eventually rumors began to spread that the Empress was dying.

In reality, Anastasia was being buried by her workload for her to pay attention to such rumors.

‘I definitely took care of this in the past, but I can’t remember now.’

But to be fair, it had been a few years since it last happened.

Still, she was handling it quite skillfully with her numerous tasks on her workload.

“I never doubted that your Majesty the Empress wouldn’t be able to do it…!”

The moving tears of Madame Rochester were an added bonus.

It was clear that she had slept for a few more hours compared to the first few days after she returned. As a result, Anastasia was feeling more at ease even though her own body was exhausted.

‘How the hell did she manage to do all of this for two years?!’

‘Thank you and sorry again .’ 

It was when Anastasia was reading the papers, while scratching the back of her nose.

“Your Majesty.”

Madame Rochester approached her. Anastasia put down the documents that she was reading.

“What’s going on, Madame Rochester?”

“The Duke of Barantes has come.”

‘Father?’ Anastasia’s face was puzzled.

“He’s waiting right now at the drawing room… What would you like me to do, Your Majesty?”

“Let’s go now.”

Anastasia immediately got up and left the office.

Seeing her outside, the maids standing in the hallway were startled.

After all, it was her first time coming out after a few days.

Anastasia, who later recalled the rumor, felt very embarrassed.

‘It’s because I’ve been locked up in my office all the time these days.’

Before her regression, she hadn’t thought that it would be such a big deal because it had happened to her more often than not. But for the current Anastasia, it might have been a strange thing.

“Madame Rochester.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Can I ask you one thing?”

Curious about how her reputation had changed by this point, Anastasia asked Madame Rochester discreetly, who was following her.

“Do the court ladies still talk about me these days?”

“What?”

“No, what I mean is…words that I have changed, or that I’ve become more like an Empress. Words like that?”

“Ah….”

“Nothing? I thought that I had changed quite a bit these days. I also thought that I’m working hard now ….”

When Anastasia was about to die from embarrassment, Madame Rochester immediately opened her mouth.

“Oh no, Your Majesty! Everyone is talking about you, a lot.”

“Really? Specifically about…?”

“Everyone says that Your Majesty is working too hard, and that they are concerned about your health. They even said that you’ve become more gentle than before.”

The fact is that her personality hadn’t been mentioned since there were no incidents of her associating with her maids, since she’s been locked up in her office these past few days…..

Madame Rochester tried to condense the words floating around in the Empress’s Palace as much as possible and summarize only the good ones.

Strictly speaking, it was a matter of serious punishment to have talked about anything related to Her Majesty.

But neither of them have noticed it.

“I also talk to the maids whenever I run into them. That Your Majesty had really changed, that you’re hardworking, and kind! Most of all, the actions that Your Majesty is taking right now are real ones. I sincerely hope that everyone is thinking that way.”

“Then that’s a relief.”

‘Now I can relax.’

As Anastasia sighed in relief, Madame Rochester, who had been watching her, asked.

“Are you concerned about your reputation?”

In the word ‘concerned’, it was implied ‘Do you even care about those things?’

Anastasia’s actions up until now did not care about throwing away her reputation and image, so there was nothing to say when she asked such a question…..

Anastasia replied with embarrassment.

“I’ll do my best to pay attention to it from now on.”

“You thought well. Reputation management is also very important.”

“Previously my reputation was so bad that’s why I was worried.”

“You don’t have to worry too much.”

‘But why?’ 

When Anastasia looked at Madame Rochester with a face that showed that she couldn’t understand what she’s trying to say, Madame Rochester replied with a shrug.

“Because I’m also a professional at that.”

“A professional?”

“Yes. From now on, I will spread the greatness and mercy of the Empress in a more secret and passionate way.”

“Oh, thank you Madame Rochester.”

It was a little embarrassing for her to say this, but it was pretty reassuring to be able to receive some help. Anastasia smiled awkwardly and expressed her gratitude.

“You’re welcome. Well, there is one thing, Your Majesty.”

“Please speak.”

“That is…”

Madame Rochester could not ignore the conversation between the maids she had heard by chance earlier.