37 - The Bride of the Great Lord is a Warrior from Hell
The Grand Duke's Bride is a Warrior of Hell 37
Since I couldn't know the problem between the Emperor and Empress, I couldn't just say positive things.
There was a rumor that everything went well after the Emperor saw Empress Eleanor, who had a strong pride, struggling with the birth of the Imperial Prince, revealing her true feelings aggressively and crying.
"Lady Alicia. Have you ever felt like your pride is so hurt that you could die?"
Eleanor eventually shed tears.
"Is that how Your Majesty feels now?"
"Yes."
"When you agreed to become Empress, you said you knew this situation would come. But His Majesty loved the Empress the most, and since this is the first time this has happened, I think he will be very heartbroken. In the future, His Majesty will have more children."
Alicia's consolation contained an unpleasant prediction.
"I know everything, but I hate it so much."
Eleanor said, sobbing.
"Your Majesty is beautiful."
"……."
"There's no need to feel like your pride is hurt to death, to show an ugly appearance by comparing yourself to others, or to show the bottom of your heart."
Alicia's praise of her appearance was out of the blue.
The Empress gave her a bewildered look.
As Alicia continued to speak, Eleanor seemed to be both puzzled and persuaded.
"If I don't show everything?"
"I think this is good enough. The Emperor will visit the Empress Palace today as well. Just cry like you are now. Why would the Empress cry? His Majesty won't even be able to guess that much. Even just crying like this will break his heart."
Alicia spoke in an exaggerated tone, but at the end, she babbled insincerely.
"That's very useful advice."
Eleanor wiped away her tears and grumbled elegantly.
"Your Majesty is really beautiful. Your tearful appearance is just like a sea fairy grieving. If I were a man, I would have fallen in love at first sight. According to the information I have obtained, His Majesty really likes Your Majesty. Just like His Majesty is Your Majesty's first love."
Alicia rose and smiled faintly.
"……!"
The Empress's eyes widened as she spread a dry laugh at the blatant flattery.
Her bewildered gaze looked up at Alicia's face.
Alicia was wearing a smile that was impossible to read.
"According to the information I have obtained, Lady Goggins's due date is not in April. The child will be born around the end of this month. But don't get involved in it. You'll know if the child Lady Goggins gives birth to is His Majesty's own child if you just wait and see. Take care of Your Majesty's own body. The painful time will eventually pass."
At Alicia's words, the Empress just nodded with a surprised face.
"I'm not going to visit Lady Goggins to say hello. But I won't just bet on Your Majesty. Don't trust me too much. I'll step back now. I'll come to greet you again next time."
Empress Eleanor couldn't show any reaction.
Alicia Lane, who was paying her respects without any disarray in front of her eyes, didn't seem like a person.
She looked like an existence that would scatter and disappear like smoke.
She just stared blankly at her retreating figure, not making a single footstep sound.
Soon, silence fell.
Alicia's face was expressionless as she left the Empress Palace.
Alicia didn't stop by the Imperial Concubine Palace as she had told the Empress, and left the Imperial Palace as it was.
The Emperor could have Imperial Concubines.
The Empress, who was the most precious in the world, lived with her rivals in the Imperial Concubine Palace.
Aristocrats didn't recognize illegitimate children, but they weren't always faithful to their spouses for life.
They met partners other than their spouses without being recognized.
It wasn't just one or two stories of high-ranking aristocratic men having several mistresses in addition to their spouses.
The Empress, who had to officially live with her rivals, and the aristocrats who openly had mistresses even though they didn't show it on the outside.
It was impossible to know which one was more painful and who was better off.
Alicia chewed over her existence anew.
Then, suddenly, the face of the man who told her not to marry him came to mind.
Even if the Grand Duke had a hidden mistress now, there was nothing Alicia could do.
Unpleasant imaginations continued to follow one after another.
If the Grand Duke's partner was unmarried, she couldn't understand why she was betrothed to him.
Perhaps they were of a status that couldn't marry into the Imperial Family, but Reikart didn't seem like he would care about the other person's status.
There was a high probability that the other person was married or someone the Imperial Family couldn't accept.
But in the first place, his engagement with her was a deal.
Even if Reikart had dozens of mistresses, Alicia couldn't say anything.
"Alicia."
Reikart spoke to her face, which was lost in thought.
Alicia blinked her eyes urgently, as if forcibly waking up from a dream.
"Your Highness."
Alicia almost asked without realizing it.
Do you have a mistress?
But that question was wrong.
Alicia and Reikart weren't married yet.
Since they weren't married yet, she shouldn't call any existence a mistress.
She didn't have the right to question him about it.
He and she were just business partners.
Reikart stared blankly at Alicia, who seemed a little dazed.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes, of course."
Alicia answered smoothly even in her daze.
"How is the Empress?"
"She is at peace."
"She has a great deal of pride, so it won't be obvious on the outside, but she must be upset."
Worry rarely clouded Reikart's indifferent face.
"……."
Alicia stared blankly at his worried face.
Only the Emperor was allowed to have concubines, but there wasn't a single man in the Imperial Family who was faithful to his spouse.
It wasn't for nothing that the Imperial Family Bloodline Management Office tenaciously tracked the actions of the Imperial Family members.
"The Imperial Concubine Palace is worse than a battlefield without knives. Sometimes they really use knives."
Reikart showed strange kindness to Alicia's blankly looking gaze.
"Knives?"
"Power is a scary thing."
Reikart shook his head as if he had remembered something.
He seemed to be thinking of someone he despised, even though she didn't know who it was.
"That's... right."
"It's getting cold. Shall we go?"
"Yes."
Alicia was so curious as to why they actually used knives in the Imperial Concubine Palace, but she didn't ask.
She was curious about the stories of the Imperial Palace and the Imperial Concubine Palace where Reikart had spent his childhood, but she kept her mouth shut.
For the past six days, she had been fiercely arguing with Reikart in the carriage about how he should act regarding the birth of the princess.
Reikart was like a wall of iron, a king of suspicion, and a king of worry, finding fault with everything Alicia said.
Then, when he saw a gap, he would throw out trap questions like, "Do you know how many Imperial Palace nephews I have?"
Each time, Alicia gave the Imperial Family an impious look.
Her face, which looked like she had seen a wicked being, was filled with annoyance and fatigue.
It was three weeks before Lady Mode, Lady Goggins's childbirth.
Soon, turmoil would arise in the Imperial Palace.
A subtle turmoil arose in the Imperial Palace.
Alicia Reine, the prospective Grand Duchess who had gone to Tessen, had returned to Imperial Capital Baden.
On the day she arrived in the Imperial Capital, Alicia paid her respects to the Empress.
It was the seventh day since Alicia arrived in the Imperial Capital.
She requested an audience at the Empress Palace every single day without fail.
When word spread that Alicia had paid her respects to the Empress on the first day, everyone understood.
The Empress was still a precious existence.
The fact that she didn't go straight to Lady Goggins, who would give birth to the heir, and didn't pay her respects to the other Imperial Concubines, was interpreted differently.
It was understandable that she didn't go straight to Lady Goggins because she had the dignity of a great noble from the North.
If she went to see Lady Goggins immediately after seeing the Empress, when the trend had already tilted, anyone would see that paying her respects to the Empress was just because of etiquette and formality.
However, the fact that she only saw the Empress and didn't pay her respects to the other Imperial Concubines was read as the self-righteous attitude of a stubborn and arrogant young lady from a great noble family in the North.
When Alicia would pay her respects to Lady Goggins was an interesting point of interest.
Which Imperial Concubine she would pay her respects to after the Empress also stimulated people's curiosity.
On the second day, the third day, and the fourth day, Alicia only requested an audience at the Empress Palace and left the Imperial Palace immediately.
The third and fourth days attracted great attention because the third day was the day Lady Goggins entered the palace.
People had expected that she would see the Empress on the first day of Lady Goggins's entry into the palace and then request an audience with Lady Goggins.
However, Alicia only saw the Empress and returned on the third day as well.
Was it too obvious to pay her respects on the first day of Lady Goggins's entry into the palace? Then maybe it would be the next day, but she only saw the Empress and left on the fourth day as well.
The Imperial Concubines were inwardly displeased when Alicia only went to see the Empress until the third day.
Then, when she only went to see the Empress on the fourth and fifth days, they laughed in vain.
No matter how precious the Empress was, she couldn't rely on just one person in social life.
A foolish woman from the North.
Moreover, the Empress was now in the greatest crisis of her life.
She looked ridiculous for blindly believing in a rotten carriage running off a cliff without considering the consequences.
On the other hand, some people said that Alicia Reine had been raised too preciously in the Marquis family and was hard of hearing.
There were not a few people who suspected that she was acting like that because she was ignorant of information and couldn't grasp the situation.
It had been 7 days since Alicia returned to the Imperial Capital.
It had been 5 days since Lady Mode, Lady Goggins, entered the palace.
Alicia's single-minded devotion to the Empress remained unchanged.
On the other hand, Grand Duke Tessen, who usually didn't know how to handle things, was showing remarkable behavior.
Approving Lady Goggins's entry into the palace was just the beginning.
The Emperor dealt with major agenda items at the Imperial Council, and then lightly informed them of matters related to the Imperial Family in the form of a notification.
Recently, almost all of the content was related to Lady Goggins's entry into the palace.
The day after announcing the decision to allow Lady Goggins to enter the palace, her residence was decided.
Compared to the fact that the decision to enter the palace was made so quickly that it felt futile, Lady Goggins's residence was a very remote place.
It took tremendous courage to object to something the Emperor had already decided.
Only the Imperial Family could do such a dangerous thing.
Anyone would, but if it was unrelated to them, the Imperial Family wouldn't step in unless it was absolutely necessary.
The face of the Prime Minister, who was Lady Goggins's father, hardened, but no one opened their mouth.
The Emperor's words were just a notification.
But Grand Duke Tessen stopped the Emperor's words and stepped forward.
"Your Majesty."
"Grand Duke Tessen."
The Emperor replied with a bright smile.
There was no sign of embarrassment on his face as he sat on the head seat, but his sky-blue eyes, looking at the Grand Duke, were full of bewilderment.
"Lady Goggins is carrying an Imperial grandchild. Since Arno Palace is a remote place even within the Imperial Palace, how about Corinth House? Corinth's size is small, but it is a form that guarantees independence, and the distance from the main castle and other Imperial Concubines is appropriate. After the birth, it will be much easier for Your Majesty to visit your nephew."
Lady Goggins, whose entry into the palace was suddenly decided, was currently staying in a detached building in front of the southernmost garden of the Imperial Palace.
It was inside the Imperial Palace, but it wasn't the main castle or the Imperial Concubine Palace.
It was located just one step further from where the Emperor and ministers conducted state affairs.
