Chapter 2: Early Signs Of An Affair

"Other things to talk about? Your Majesty, I did not suggest anything unusual. As the owner of the Imperial Palace, I am only asking if you brought in an injured woman. It's never happened before."

Was I overdoing it? I had my usual tone and gentle smile on my lips. I spoke casually in order not to appear overbearing, as if discussing the New Year's Day preparations.

Sovieshu looked markedly uneasy, however. He seemed to want to avoid the topic as much as possible, and the atmosphere became increasingly uncomfortable.

"Are you asking because you're only curious?"

Sovieshu looked at me suspiciously, and I blinked at him.

"I wouldn't be asking if I wasn't curious."

"She was accidentally caught in one of my traps, and I brought her here so she could be treated. She's not too injured, so I've had her put in a room with a maid to look after her."

"…I see."

"Don't worry. I won't call your ladies-in-waiting again."

Sovieshu resumed cutting his steak, the knife cracking like a woodpecker and echoing in the dining room. He usually had so much to talk about, but this time he remained silent.

* * *

"What did His Majesty say?"

When I returned to the west palace after dinner, a group of my ladies-in-waiting who were gathered in my room anxiously approached me.

"He…he didn't say much."

Countess Eliza's eyebrows lifted at my lukewarm answer. She didn't seem to believe me.

"Then you would not be so sullen."

"…"

"It's alright. Talk to us, Your Majesty. That way we can be prepared."

"He said the woman was accidentally caught in one of his traps. There was no mention of her being a runaway slave or anything like that…"

Come to think of it, I didn't even get a name.

"He said he was taking care of her, and he seemed unhappy to keep talking about it."

As soon as I finished, Laura stamped her foot with a resounding thud. The other more genteel ladies gave her a look, but Laura was already pouting and not paying attention to them.

"Your Majesty, do you know that's exactly what my father was doing at the beginning of his affair?"

Laura raised her voice and Countess Eliza said her name in warning. Laura, however, had already gone this far and wouldn't stop.

"That's what it looks like. Those are exactly the early signs of an affair. Why wouldn't he want to talk about it?"

The ladies scolded Laura for talking too bluntly, but they did not deny her words.

Countess Eliza finally took it upon herself to shoo the ladies out when I was looking depressed, then sat me in front of the dressing table and started combing my hair.

"The Emperor is a man who likes to hunt. He is doing this because it must seem like a miracle to him to find a beautiful woman caught in his trap."

"Countess."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Before…my mother told me. Even if the Emperor takes another woman as his lover, I should not let myself be hurt. There are so many cases like that, and I shouldn't expect it to be any different."

The middle of Countess Eliza's forehead creased. Countess Eliza had a rare marriage of love to her husband, and to such a person, my mother's advice might sound ridiculous.

I continued.

"I didn't say this in front of the other ladies, but I am a little prepared. Even if the Emperor welcomes a slave woman as his concubine."

"Your Majesty…"

"But when he doesn't speak to me…I feel a little down."

Countess Eliza set the comb down on the dresser. I looked up at her and asked her honestly.

"Whether he has ten or a hundred concubines, they're still concubines and I'm the empress. He and I never loved each other to the point that we would die for each other…so theoretically, we should still be fine. Yet why do I feel so empty?"

Countess Eliza reached out to embrace my head and shoulders. She held me still for a moment, then withdrew before speaking.

"Even though yours is a political marriage, you've been together since you were children up until marriage. It's no surprise that you're upset. I would feel the same if my child were to bring someone else in as their foster parent. I would feel upset if my parents took another child and favored them because they were more beautiful. And I would feel upset if my best friend brought someone else in and was more friendly to them. It's a natural emotion."

"Then would the Emperor feel that way if I had another man next to me?"

Countess Eliza picked up the comb and started brushing my hair again, and I took her silence as a "no." After a moment, she finally spoke.

"To be honest, I don't know, Your Majesty. The more powerful your love is, the harder it is to look around."

So I had no choice but to deal with my heartbreak by myself. I forced myself to smile.

"I see. I'm sure I'll feel better soon. She and I won't have to meet each other…"

"Yes. Even if the slave becomes a concubine, she still cannot enter into high society."

Being a slave didn't mean one couldn't rise in status. It was also the case for the innocent who became slaves due to collective punishment caused by their family members. Every year, the country restored a certain number of slaves to commoner status, but it was never the case for a runaway slave.

Being a slave meant that one had a life sentence for some crime they committed. Because a runaway slave escaped without paying the price, they were considered the same as an escaped prisoner. An extra charge of guilt was added, and a runaway slave was considered the dregs of society to aristocrats. No matter how much Sovieshu lavished the woman, there was no opportunity for her to debut in high society or for me to run into her. I nodded my head and gathered myself.

Yes, Countess Eliza. It was natural that I felt empty when someone who had been my husband for a long time had a sudden interest in another lover.

But I couldn't get more emotional now. No matter if he had another woman, he couldn't cut me off. There was only one Empress in this empire after all.

* * *

"The Emperor goes to see the slave day after day?"

"I heard he even brings her food himself."

"He's acting so calm too. The audacity."

"He even called a court doctor to treat her leg."

There were voices whispering between the bushes. Although the Imperial Palace gardens had flowering walls higher than one's head, I could still hear the gossip that filtered through. I designed this garden myself, and deliberately placed a nest-shaped swing chair in an area not frequented by many. It was like my secret place. I didn't bring my ladies-in-waiting here, and so people said things aloud without them noticing me.

'About a week has passed…'

I closed my book and placed it on my lap. As Sovieshu's interest in the slave woman grew, so did the stories. Everyone's attention was on the woman who managed to capture the Emperor's interest. Wasn't it fortunate that she and I never ran into each other?

The next time I had dinner with Sovieshu, I didn't ask about her. I instead I acted as if nothing had happened, and brought up the New Year's preparations.

I decided to compromise at this point in time. Ignorance. Pretend I didn't know.

But coincidence came out of nowhere and confronted me

It was the day all the officials and I gathered in the conference room to discuss the preparations for the upcoming New Year.

My throat felt clogged after speaking for so long, and after drinking a glass of warm water, I took a walk in the central palace garden to relax. Artina, the deputy commander of the knights, accompanied me, along with my ladies-in-waiting. As I discussed with Artina about whom to recommend for the ceremony, I heard a whisper from somewhere saying, "Is that her?"

I looked around, and saw a woman sitting in a wheelchair with two other women who appeared to be maids beside her. Our eyes met, and the woman in the wheelchair struggled stand. The two maids tried to stop her, but they dropped their hands when they saw my gaze.

The woman shakily gripped the handles of the wheelchair as she stood up to bow in greeting. I wasn't sure who she was. I thought she might be the slave the Emperor found, but we were near the central palace, and this was no place for a mistress to come. I didn't think there were any cases of one even working at a high position at the central palace.

Still, she greeted me even when her legs were hurt, and so I gave her a nod of acknowledgment. I turned to walk away when I heard a voice from behind me saying, "Hey."

'Hey?'

Was she calling me? This was the first time I heard someone say that to me in the palace after becoming empress. I turned back, flustered, and saw the woman in the wheelchair wheeling herself towards me. The maids were bewildered and called out "Rashta, don't," but she ignored them.

Did she have something to do with me? If she did, then surely she would know I was the empress. And yet she said "Hey" to me?

I stared at her with a perplexed expression on my face, and the woman named Rashta drew near and greeted me again.

"I'm Rashta."

What was I supposed to do?

"Yes…Rashta."

She smiled, as if pleased that I called her by her first name. Did she really want me to address her like that? I was struck by curiosity, but not enough to ask why.

The audience time had ended, and my brain was rotted having listened to the stories of strangers for three hours. If there was an emergency, then she would have pleaded for help as soon as she saw me. However, she was smiling cheerfully, so it didn't seem like she needed my urgent attention.

I turned around again, thinking there was nothing more to see. But as I did so, she reached out and grabbed the skirt of my dress. My ladies-in-waiting who were standing beside me were alarmed and beat away her hand as if she were a zoo monkey.

"How rude!"

"Do you not recognize this noble!"

Rashta flinched back in surprise, stammering.

"I-I'm sorry, I should've called out to you but I don't know your name…"

She really didn't know I was the empress? Didn't I hear her whisper to the maid "Is that her?"

Laura glared at Rashta and yelled at her.

"This is Her Majesty the Empress. Be careful of your actions!"

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Rashta's eyes widened.

"What? I…I know the Empress."

She knows the Empress?

I frowned at her strange words, and she looked into my eyes and spoke softly.

"I…I'm Rashta."

Who was Rashta? My ladies-in-waiting and I were terribly confused. Did we know each other enough to share our names? In my mind I tried to recall the women of her age that visited this country with foreign dignitaries. I did not meet with every single guest. There were the guests that were welcomed by me, guests that were welcomed by the foreign ministers, guests that met with Sovieshu directly…

She had never been one of my mine. Had the foreign minister ever met a Rashta? It couldn't be. If she were from a great noble family, even the ladies-in-waiting would know about her even if I didn't.

"Do you know me?"

I decided to be straightforward with her, and she looked surprised.

"You don't know me?"

"I'm not sure."

"Ah…"

Rashta looked at a loss, and she whispered to the maids, "What do I do?" I could hear her, of course.

But I was tired. I didn't even know who she was. I was about to ignore her and leave, when Rashta called out again.

"I am living in the eastern palace by the kindness of His Majesty the Emperor."

The kindness of Sovieshu?

The eastern palace. The wounded legs. The woman. Ah.

"The slave?"

Then why was she near the central palace? Before I could ask, Rashta's face paled.

"Your Majesty, forgive me for my rudeness. Miss Rashta is not a slave."

A maid beside Rasta came forward and corrected me. Not a slave? But my ladies-in-waiting told me she was a runaway slave. If they were false rumors, then they would have informed me it was not a credible story, but there was no such statement.

The slave…was more than what I expected. I didn't expect to meet her this way. I didn't care about the gossip, but she was as beautiful as the rumors suggested. Her kind of beauty wasn't like the glamour and elegance of a noble like Duchess Tuania, rather, Rashta's image was soft and ethereal. Her large, dark eyes stirred one's protective instincts, and her hair was a light silver that made her pure and innocent charm even more mysterious.

Wait. My ladies-in-waiting bathed her, so why didn't they recognize her? I glanced around and saw some weren't with me. Unfortunately, the missing ladies were the ones that washed Rashta.

"Yes. Now I know who you are."

I nodded, and Rashta beamed.

"Thank goodness. Actually, I've been wondering when we'd meet each other."

"Meet?"

"I asked the Emperor, but he kept telling me that I didn't have to bother…but I thought we should still do so."

Meet each other? Why?

"What should I call you, Your Majesty?"

"…Just call me 'Your Majesty.'"

"Huh?"

"That's it."

I didn't know why I was having such a friendly conversation with this girl of all people.

Rashta seemed to feel tired and wanted to turn around, and she grunted in exertion as she moved her wheelchair.

Sensing that my mood was spoiled, my ladies-in-waiting grabbed onto the handles of the wheelchair and pulled her slightly backwards.

"Stay away."

"Just who are you to act so friendly towards her?"

Laura's hands were trembling in anger as she pulled the other woman back.

"Filthy."

It was then.

"What do you mean, filthy?"

Sovieshu appeared, his voice like shards of ice.

* * *

It was the day all the officials and I gathered in the conference room to discuss the preparations for the upcoming New Year.

My throat felt clogged after speaking for so long, and after drinking a glass of warm water, I took a walk in the central palace garden to relax. Artina, the deputy commander of the knights, accompanied me, along with my ladies-in-waiting. As I discussed with Artina about whom to recommend for the ceremony, I heard a whisper from somewhere saying, "Is that her?"

I looked around, and saw a woman sitting in a wheelchair with two other women who appeared to be maids beside her. Our eyes met, and the woman in the wheelchair struggled stand. The two maids tried to stop her, but they dropped their hands when they saw my gaze.

The woman shakily gripped the handles of the wheelchair as she stood up to bow in greeting. I wasn't sure who she was. I thought she might be the slave the Emperor found, but we were near the central palace, and this was no place for a mistress to come. I didn't think there were any cases of one even working at a high position at the central palace.

Still, she greeted me even when her legs were hurt, and so I gave her a nod of acknowledgment. I turned to walk away when I heard a voice from behind me saying, "Hey."

'Hey?'

Was she calling me? This was the first time I heard someone say that to me in the palace after becoming empress. I turned back, flustered, and saw the woman in the wheelchair wheeling herself towards me. The maids were bewildered and called out "Rashta, don't," but she ignored them.

Did she have something to do with me? If she did, then surely she would know I was the empress. And yet she said "Hey" to me?

I stared at her with a perplexed expression on my face, and the woman named Rashta drew near and greeted me again.

"I'm Rashta."

What was I supposed to do?

"Yes…Rashta."

She smiled, as if pleased that I called her by her first name. Did she really want me to address her like that? I was struck by curiosity, but not enough to ask why.

The audience time had ended, and my brain was rotted having listened to the stories of strangers for three hours. If there was an emergency, then she would have pleaded for help as soon as she saw me. However, she was smiling cheerfully, so it didn't seem like she needed my urgent attention.

I turned around again, thinking there was nothing more to see. But as I did so, she reached out and grabbed the skirt of my dress. My ladies-in-waiting who were standing beside me were alarmed and beat away her hand as if she were a zoo monkey.

"How rude!"

"Do you not recognize this noble!"

Rashta flinched back in surprise, stammering.

"I-I'm sorry, I should've called out to you but I don't know your name…"

She really didn't know I was the empress? Didn't I hear her whisper to the maid "Is that her?"

Laura glared at Rashta and yelled at her.

"This is Her Majesty the Empress. Be careful of your actions!"

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Rashta's eyes widened.

"What? I…I know the Empress."

She knows the Empress?

I frowned at her strange words, and she looked into my eyes and spoke softly.

"I…I'm Rashta."

Who was Rashta? My ladies-in-waiting and I were terribly confused. Did we know each other enough to share our names? In my mind I tried to recall the women of her age that visited this country with foreign dignitaries. I did not meet with every single guest. There were the guests that were welcomed by me, guests that were welcomed by the foreign ministers, guests that met with Sovieshu directly…

She had never been one of my mine. Had the foreign minister ever met a Rashta? It couldn't be. If she were from a great noble family, even the ladies-in-waiting would know about her even if I didn't.

"Do you know me?"

I decided to be straightforward with her, and she looked surprised.

"You don't know me?"

"I'm not sure."

"Ah…"

Rashta looked at a loss, and she whispered to the maids, "What do I do?" I could hear her, of course.

But I was tired. I didn't even know who she was. I was about to ignore her and leave, when Rashta called out again.

"I am living in the eastern palace by the kindness of His Majesty the Emperor."

The kindness of Sovieshu?

The eastern palace. The wounded legs. The woman. Ah.

"The slave?"

Then why was she near the central palace? Before I could ask, Rashta's face paled.

"Your Majesty, forgive me for my rudeness. Miss Rashta is not a slave."

A maid beside Rasta came forward and corrected me. Not a slave? But my ladies-in-waiting told me she was a runaway slave. If they were false rumors, then they would have informed me it was not a credible story, but there was no such statement.

The slave…was more than what I expected. I didn't expect to meet her this way. I didn't care about the gossip, but she was as beautiful as the rumors suggested. Her kind of beauty wasn't like the glamour and elegance of a noble like Duchess Tuania, rather, Rashta's image was soft and ethereal. Her large, dark eyes stirred one's protective instincts, and her hair was a light silver that made her pure and innocent charm even more mysterious.

Wait. My ladies-in-waiting bathed her, so why didn't they recognize her? I glanced around and saw some weren't with me. Unfortunately, the missing ladies were the ones that washed Rashta.

"Yes. Now I know who you are."

I nodded, and Rashta beamed.

"Thank goodness. Actually, I've been wondering when we'd meet each other."

"Meet?"

"I asked the Emperor, but he kept telling me that I didn't have to bother…but I thought we should still do so."

Meet each other? Why?

"What should I call you, Your Majesty?"

"…Just call me 'Your Majesty.'"

"Huh?"

"That's it."

I didn't know why I was having such a friendly conversation with this girl of all people.

Rashta seemed to feel tired and wanted to turn around, and she grunted in exertion as she moved her wheelchair.

Sensing that my mood was spoiled, my ladies-in-waiting grabbed onto the handles of the wheelchair and pulled her slightly backwards.

"Stay away."

"Just who are you to act so friendly towards her?"

Laura's hands were trembling in anger as she pulled the other woman back.

"Filthy."

It was then.

"What do you mean, filthy?"

Sovieshu appeared, his voice like shards of ice.