Chapter 25

25. Doesn't Feel Like It?

"......Your Majesty!"

Enrique returned to reality at the sharp voice calling him.

It was Helene calling him.

Her expression was full of wanting him to save her from this situation quickly, as she absolutely didn't want to apologize, but Enrique resolutely hardened his expression.

If an investigation revealed that the Lily Palace maids had indeed committed such an act, Helene would have too much to lose.

He had tried to protect her in every way he could, but it had come to this with just one stretch of the Empress's arms.

The aristocratic faction would surely drive this as Helene being uneducated, and he was very worried about what would happen.

Her origin was the biggest factor holding Helene back.

Of course, Helene had given a lot of advice on domestic affairs so far. She had gained public sentiment by making good use of her image as a Saintess, and she had moved the temple to benefit the Imperial Family.

So she wouldn't fall off with just this one incident, but….

The expressions of the Foreign Affairs ministers clearly showed that they were already fed up with Helene.

In short, their education was different.

It was just that the Empress had been too weak to do anything until now. If she started to get fully involved in politics, Helene would have no choice but to step down.

Especially in diplomacy, the depth of their learning was too different.

Helene had only lived with people who liked her under his protection.

So he had already expected that the diplomatic scene, where everyone hid a poisoned dagger under their tongue, would not be easy.

'But I didn't expect the Empress to be so outstanding either.'

The Empress attacked Helene's shortcomings as if she had a malicious heart, and eventually won.

"But did you see that the First Concubine used honorifics to the Empress but spoke informally to the Saintess?"

"I saw it very well. Isn't it natural? The First Concubine knows her place."

Soon, the Lily Palace maids came in one after another, heads bowed like criminals.

Glancing at them, the nobles exchanged opinions, but it was hard to find words to cover up for Helene.

"How could the Saintess try to host a banquet when she doesn't even know the desert culture deeply...?"

"If the Empress hadn't stepped in just now, it would have been a disaster. The good atmosphere would have been ruined."

"If it had been mistaken for an attempted poisoning, it would have been war. It's a relief that it was quickly revealed that it wasn't before misunderstandings piled up."

Enrique closed his eyes.

Ultimately, to protect Helene, he had no choice but to punish them directly here.

Knowing that made him very uncomfortable.

He had to scold her for just not knowing, and he didn't like the Empress for creating this situation.

The Empress had everything.

But did she have to make Helene, who had nothing, like this to feel better? She could have been more generous.

Enrique was deeply disappointed in the Empress and still felt a sense of unease.

It felt like she wasn't the woman he knew, the woman who loved him, the woman who clung to him, but it also felt like she was.

A whirlwind of emotions that could not be explained in words swept over him.

"Those maids! Those are the ones who brought the flower vases earlier!"

Meanwhile, starting with Sophia Evans's cry, the maids were questioned one after another.

As the frightened maids began to spill the beans one by one, Helene was dumbfounded.

'What are those things saying now?'

The outline of the incident was as follows.

The Lily Palace maids who followed Helene were very angry that 'the banquet that the Saintess should have hosted was taken away.' They felt that the things they had worked hard to prepare were a waste, and in the meantime, they overheard somewhere that the theme of this banquet was fruit.

"We thought that holly berries wouldn't be noticeable even if we decorated them secretly."

"We swear we didn't know they would eat it! We naturally thought it would only be used as a decoration, so we even put it in a vase and brought it..."

"We just wanted to decorate a corner of the banquet hall. We just felt that the things we prepared were too much of a waste."

So, the desert guys were uncivilized and didn't know to eat it.

That's what they were saying.

Helene wanted to grab the faces of the maids who were pouring oil on the already bad situation and tear them apart.

'Why! Why did you do something I didn't even ask you to do!'

She wanted to kill them. Helene, who had someone to vent her anger on, rolled her eyes.

This banquet was like a nightmare from the beginning.

Helene didn't have a family to support her for a banquet of this size.

That fact touched the inferiority complex in her heart.

Wasn't the Empress about to break down and disappear at any moment? So she didn't care, but today she didn't seem sick at all.

In addition, the Empress's ability to talk freely with foreign royalty and understand difficult words was the ideal that Helene wanted to be.

That also stimulated Helene's inferiority complex.

Ah, I want to stand in that position.

I wish that position was mine.

A feeling she had never felt before made Helene's dormant fangs protrude sharply.

And to top it off, she even received a person, a member of the royal family, as a tribute!

'The fact that a member of a foreign royal family is bowing down is... because that woman is the Empress.'

If I were the Empress, it would have been offered to me.

If I became the Empress, I could get rid of those who ridicule me!

Helene clenched her fists tightly, not forgetting to pretend to look pitiful on the outside.

"Do you know what you've done? You have harmed the health of a distinguished guest with your reckless attitude. Will you pay for your sins with your death?"

"P, please save us!"

"Saintess! Saintess, please save us. Please tell them that we didn't do it with bad intentions...!"

The maids, terrified by the Empress's frosty cry, crawled towards Helene.

Helene almost kicked the maid who grabbed her skirt without realizing it, and took a deep breath inside. Then she started panting heavily.

'Never! I will never apologize. I will not obey the Empress's words.'

Helene had several tricks to get through the situation.

One of them was this.

Hyperventilation.

"Huk, huff...!"

"Helene, get a grip. Helene!"

"En, Enrique... I..."

As she stiffened her whole body and trembled, Enrique immediately ran over and hugged her.

'Even though you're going to do this.'

The Empress could take everything else, but she couldn't take Enrique.

Enrique was Helene's greatest asset.

Something the Empress could never have, even if she died and came back to life.

Helene clutched Enrique's collar tightly and shed tears.

"Everyone, step aside. I will move the Saintess to another room."

"Are you saying that you are going without finishing the story you were telling?"

"If it's the story we were telling... I guess the Empress will finish it well."

With the Emperor's cold command, the banquet was completely over.

The nobles were eager to gather in secret places and share the stories they had seen and heard today, so no one wanted to stay in the banquet hall.

Helene buried her face in Enrique's chest and forced a smile.

Even if the Empress had won, she hadn't won everything.

She comforted herself like that.

But she didn't feel particularly good.

* * *

"How did it go, Your Majesty?"

After the banquet ended with a refreshing aftertaste. It was none other than Mrs. Bertolt who greeted me happily when I returned to the Empress Palace.

I couldn't help but hug the wife, who was loyal and good at her job.

"You've worked hard."

"Ah, it seems to have worked out well!"

"I want to tell you all sorts of stories, but before that, I have to introduce the person who will be staying in the Empress Palace from today."

That's right.

The person who leaked to the Lily Palace maids that 'the theme of this banquet is fruit.'

The person who bribed Sophia, a maid belonging to the Imperial Palace.

The person who never appeared on the outside but manipulated and encouraged everything from behind.

That was my Head Maid, Susan Bertolt.

I held the hand of the very capable Mrs. Bertolt tightly and spoke to the boy.

"Meriem. This is the person I trust the most. Her name is Susan, the Head Maid. From now on, call her Mrs. Bertolt."

Meriem walked silently with me as I returned to the Empress Palace. And every time I staggered slightly, he would subtly catch me, and thanks to that, I was able to return here safely.

"And Susan. Meriem is the only remaining brother of the Emperor of Quan. He is a member of the royal family, so treat him accordingly. Give him a good room with plenty of sunlight, and call a tailor and shoemaker tomorrow so that Nix's clothes can be made."

"I will do so."

Susan had a very puzzled look on her face, but she didn't ask questions recklessly.

She must have judged that it was too late and we could talk tomorrow after sleeping.

'Actually... I feel like I'm about to collapse right now.'

This is the limit.

Fatigue was rushing in, making me feel like my eyelids were being stepped on.

If I took a bath like this, I wouldn't be able to get up from the tub.

"Your Majesty, have you arrived?"

"Ah, Derek..."

Just in time, a knight with gray eyes appeared.

The person who would roughly hug me and lay me on the bed if I collapsed.

As soon as I saw the knight I could trust, I let go of the string of tension I was holding.

"Your Majesty!"

As I staggered greatly, Derek hugged me... Huh?

This doesn't feel like when Derek hugs me?

"...I've been feeling uneasy since earlier."

"......?"

"I don't know if you're stupid or what. If you felt like you were about to lose consciousness, you should have told me to hug you and move you in advance. Why are you stubbornly walking on your own feet?"

This prickly rant was obviously not Derek.

I stared blankly at Meriem, who was casually speaking informally, unlike at the banquet, and then burst out laughing.

"Ah, this is much better. It doesn't suit you to be quiet while killing yourself."

Derek's expression was bewildered.

I wondered if he felt like he had been robbed of the work he always did.

I knew that I had to look after Derek's heart, but I was too, too tired for now. I didn't have the strength to say anything more.

"Where is the bedroom?"

"I will escort you. Please hand her over to me."

"I asked where the bedroom is. Don't make me say it twice."

I faintly heard Mrs. Bertolt whispering, 'He is a member of the Quan royal family.'

And that was the end.

I lost consciousness as it was.

In my dream, I was holding a dagger in my hand and trying to stab Meriem's heart.

And he, who had grown into a fully grown male, was spreading his arms and willingly accepting death.