36 - The Bride of the Great Lord is a Warrior from Hell
The Grand Duke's Bride is a Warrior of Hell 36
Among the Imperials, her biggest fan was the then 24-year-old Crown Prince, the current Emperor.
The Crown Prince proposed to Eleanor, who was 18 years old.
Eleanor, Ishtearn's best prima donna with fans all over the five continents, gently rejected the Crown Prince's proposal.
She had been negatively speaking about marriage since she was young in order to continue her free artistic activities.
The Crown Prince sent Eleanor a proposal every New Year.
Eleanor greeted the Crown Prince, who followed her all the way to the Southern Continent to see her performance, with a smile, but refused, saying that she wanted a life on stage more than marriage.
The Crown Prince did not give up.
He became Emperor from Crown Prince, and he proposed to Eleanor again.
Eleanor rejected the Emperor's first proposal with tears.
However, Eleanor, who had left the Imperial Concubine empty for a year and received love letters from the Emperor, accepted his second proposal with a smile and stepped down from the stage.
And nine years passed.
Numerous beauties from various countries and families entered the Imperial Palace, Imperial Concubine.
Among the splendid beauties, Empress Eleanor was praised as the most beautiful.
The Emperor respected the women who filled the Imperial Concubine, but he regarded the Empress as the most precious.
Even on days when he slept with the Imperial Concubine, he slept in the Empress's room, which initially turned the Imperial Palace upside down.
After that, the Imperial Concubine and their families accepted the Emperor's actions as natural.
The Emperor's attitude towards Empress Eleanor has been consistently maintained until now.
Until just ten days ago.
The Emperor, who had loved the Empress so much, had a child outside the Imperial Palace, not with the Empress or the Imperial Concubine.
The atmosphere of the Imperial Palace was chaotic itself.
The Empress Palace was shrouded in abnormal silence.
"Lady Alisha, please eat."
A court lady guarding the front of the Empress Palace Audience Chamber opened the door.
Alisha greeted her lightly with a nod and went inside.
As she entered the Audience Chamber, a dazzling scenery unfolded as if her eyes were blinded for a moment.
In the luxurious scenery, a woman like the incarnation of a sea fairy smiled gracefully.
"Lady Alisha."
Despite the passage of a short time, the Empress's beauty was still dazzling.
Alisha moved calmly without being swept away by the beautiful face nearby.
Alisha, who approached the Empress, bowed neatly.
"Your Majesty, Empress, I greet the noble one."
"Sit down."
"I am honored."
Alisha thanked her and sat on the prepared chair.
Soon, the Empress's maid brought tea.
Unlike the solemn atmosphere of the Empress Palace, both the Empress and the Empress's maid seemed calm.
Empress Eleanor, sitting in a classic chair wrapped in velvet, was flawless like a painting.
The Empress smiled neither too much nor too little and offered tea.
"Shall we have some?"
Alisha smiled faintly and reached for the teacup.
The characteristics of the Northern Grand Duchess were evident in the smile that was almost non-existent.
「I pity you.」
Alisha said in Ishtearn Language, spreading a slightly darker smile.
The Empress's face crumbled for a moment.
But it was only for a very short time.
The Empress quickly spread a smile as bright as Alisha's and replied.
「What?」
Alisha smiled like a bright child.
「I feel sorry for you.」
「You.」
The Empress's smile was subtly twisted.
But to someone who couldn't understand the language, it seemed like a friendly conversation was going on.
「You have no tact.」
Alisha put down the teacup and gave her gaze next to the Empress with a smiling face.
"Everyone, step back."
The Empress did not let go of her smile until the end.
At her gentle command, the maids bowed their heads in unison and stepped back.
The moment the sound of the door closing rang out, the Empress's smile turned murderous.
The smile had disappeared from Alisha's face as if it had been washed away.
It was a face that had never even smiled.
"Your Majesty, Empress, please forgive my rudeness. I was rude because I couldn't think of a proper way to clear the surroundings."
Alisha, who changed her expression, asked for forgiveness.
"Lady is good at Ishtearn Language."
The Empress's face was never without a savage smile.
It was a word and a smile that meant why bother saying unpleasant things when you could have asked for a private conversation in Ishtearn Language.
"If I were a maid of the Empress Palace, I think I would have learned that much."
"Maybe..."
The Empress whispered gloomily at Alisha's words.
A bitter gloom rose on her beautiful face.
"Your Majesty, Empress."
"Thank you for coming to see me, the ridiculous me that everyone in the Imperial Palace is laughing at behind my back, Lady Alisha. You have paid enough respect, so go see Lady Mode. Now it's not Lady, but Lady Goggins."
A twisted pain filled the Empress's face.
"Lady Goggins..."
"His Majesty has already made a decision. Who can oppose his will? It's his first child."
"Your Majesty, Empress."
Alisha hesitated, looking at the slender hand clenching her fist.
"It's ridiculous. Many wives of one man all have different positions. I knew this day would come someday. That's why I rejected Crown Prince's proposal. Because I knew the Emperor was collecting all kinds of women in the world by bringing in Imperial Concubine...!"
Her bitter cry was full of anger.
"..."
Alisha got up from her seat and knelt at the Empress's feet.
The beautiful woman with trembling shoulders was not angry that Alisha did not agree with her.
If she had nodded at the Empress's words, her head would have been cut off as it was.
"He followed me for four years, but I knew this would happen someday... To me... To me..."
Empress Eleanor uttered as if she wanted to tell someone.
Tears welled up in Eleanor's eyes.
Alisha slowly shook her head at the face that looked like she was about to burst into tears.
"Don't cry here."
"What...?"
Her beautiful face, immersed in sadness, had a puzzled expression.
"Have you spoken to His Majesty?"
"Lady Alisha."
"Your Majesty, Empress. You are the Empress. Think about it. Until just before Lady Goggins' existence was known, His Majesty would have shown that he cherished and loved Your Majesty the most."
"What's the use..."
"That's right. Have you told His Majesty what's the use of all that?"
At Alisha's words, the Empress slowly shook her head.
Empress Eleanor's pride was great.
She was a woman who had more pride in her abilities than in her status as a princess.
She was fluent in six languages and won the youngest prima donna of the troupe with her skills.
When she was active as a prima donna, the royal families and nobles of each country always prepared the best stage and invited her.
Even now, among the ambassadors from various countries who visit the Empire, there are those who come a long way because they want to see Empress Eleanor more than the Emperor.
When the Emperor had no successor and was pushed by his ministers to bring in Imperial Concubine, the Empress retired from being a prima donna and stood on stage for the first time.
For the new friends who came to the Imperial Palace.
All of those new friends were her rivals, but the Empress sang them love songs.
The Empress's hairstyle, dress, shoes.
The jewelry she chose and the accessories she requested to be made.
Her makeup.
The places she visited, the things she ate, and the things she was interested in.
Everything the Empress did led the trend in the Imperial Palace.
The Empress's nickname is still Sea Fairy.
Later, there was talk that Empress Eleanor was actually a fairy of the winter sea.
As high as her pride was, the Empress never revealed her true feelings.
It was no different even if the other person was the Emperor.
"Why would I do that...!"
Eleanor flared up.
"You don't want to because you're ashamed."
Alisha rattled off the obvious like a tactless child.
"I don't care at all."
The Empress said with reddened eyes.
She acted like she had forgotten that she was about to cry just a moment ago.
"It doesn't seem like you don't care at all."
Alisha said again as if she were tactless.
If she had offended the Empress in another situation, it would have been a big problem.
After Lady Mode's pregnancy was announced, everyone was only looking at the Empress's mood.
They only said good things to the Empress.
They acted as if Lady Mode's matter was non-existent.
Eleanor was seething with anger inside, but she didn't want to show that she was jealous or shaken.
Those who served her closely knew what she wanted.
While she was thankful for the reactions around her, she knew that what she was doing was turning a blind eye to reality.
There was no one who dared to speak directly to the Empress.
The Empress didn't want it, and both the Empress and the maids knew that there was no point in saying things that had no solution.
"Lady Alisha."
The prospective Grand Duchess Alisha Reine was in a position to speak directly to the Empress.
However, there was a risk that it would be difficult to restore her relationship with the Empress for the rest of her life if she said such things.
The Empress would have felt grateful even if Alisha had only conveyed formal warm comfort.
She thought that it was okay for her to visit the Empress Palace according to etiquette.
The public sentiment in the Imperial Palace thoroughly pursued practicality.
There was no point in showing the Empress the wrong side of herself now.
But Alisha had come to the Empress Palace and was calmly saying things that scratched her heart.
The Empress was angry, but she wasn't just unpleasant.
"Your Majesty, Empress. What I'm saying will be unpleasant and make you angry. Please just listen to it and let it go. Do as you wish, Your Majesty. If you want to act as usual to His Majesty because you're ashamed, then do so."
"I'm already doing that."
"If you're angry and want to smash everything around you, then do so. If you want to show Lady Goggins the appearance of a dignified Empress, then do so. But everyone will know. It's Eleanor Ishtearn's first defeat."
The Empress's lips trembled.
"So!"
Eleanor's shoulders heaved urgently before calming down.
"A royal descendant was born outside the Imperial Palace, and the child will be born. Anyone with a head on their shoulders can expect the Empress, who has monopolized the Emperor's favor since he ascended the throne, to be sad, frustrated, and distressed. They may think it's real because of the Empress's calm appearance. But they won't be able to completely eliminate the endlessly suspicious and unbelieving mind."
Alisha's voice was warm and upright.
"I know it, but I can't even show that I know."
"Even if you maintain your pride and the dignity of the Empress in front of everyone, please show your true feelings to at least one person. His Majesty likes the Empress. People don't know well when it comes to their own affairs, do they? If you don't show that the Empress is having a hard time, His Majesty, who is the person involved, will only be dubious."
Alisha was not sure as she spoke.
The private stories about the Emperor and Empress did not flow out to the outside of the Imperial Palace.
All Alisha knew was that there was some problem between the Emperor and Empress, and they had not had children for a long time, and she could only guess that there were dramatic situations before and after the birth of Princess Dorothea.
In the flow, the Empress will become pregnant and a prince will be born if left as it is.
However, during this period, the Empress suffered greatly from mental illness, and later, postpartum sequelae overlapped, and she was unable to engage in external activities.
She could just pretend not to know, but she wanted to reduce the pain of one person even a little.
The problem was that she was worried that by interfering, the things that were supposed to happen would disappear.
