Chapter 115

Kaizen stopped by the empress’ palace, met Astelle, and returned to his own palace.

Shortly before he returned, he came to see Theor too, play with him and have dinner.

His mood was a little nuanced when Theor proudly wrote a few sentences that he had just learned today.

Kaizen hid his sad feelings and praised Theor to the fullest.

It felt good to see young Theor gradually adjusting to life here.

On the other hand, his relationship with Astelle remained unchanged.

All they did was do their own thing every day, chat for a bit in the evening, and then go to bed.

The topic of the conversation ended with a brief description of what happened that day.

These days, he seemed to talk more with Vellian and other ministers than Astelle.

This is what contract marriage is supposed to look like.

I had a hard time figuring out how long I had to live like this.

“Your Majesty, I brought you a tea.”

He turned his eyes to an unfamiliar voice and saw a maid standing there.

She was a young maid with red hair.

‘Did she say she was a new maid?’

I don’t know if it’s just my feeling but I saw this maid very often recently.

The red-haired maid looked at Kaizen with sparkling blue eyes.

She has a pretty face.

‘I don’t think she’s a cautious person.’

Did the butler say he brought the maid himself?

He brought a new maid all of a sudden.

A young maid who looks so young and inexperienced.

Kaizen would be an idiot if he didn’t notice what this meant.

‘I didn’t know my servants were this sincere.’

Everyone seems to be short of work. He kicked the maid out while thinking of increasing the workload from tomorrow.

“Yeah, leave it there.”

“Yes……?”

The maid looked up in surprise.

“I told you to leave it there.”

At his annoyed tone, the maid bowed her back with a sullen face and walked out slowly.

After a while, a servant approached him and bowed his head.

“Your Majesty, the Prince has sent you a present.”

“Present?”

The servant handed him a small box.

“It was brought by the servant of the Marquis of Carlenberg. It seems that the Crown Prince has asked to give it to Your Majesty.”

What the servant brought was a wooden box the size of a palm.

It must have been the toy box in Theor’s playroom.

Kaizen opened it and found a picture folded in half.

“The picture was drawn by the prince himself. He wanted to give it to Your Majesty.”

The servant explained with a smile.

As he said, a lot of things were drawn on a small piece of paper.

The first ones he saw were Theor and Astelle.

And a dog, a doll, and a man who looks like the marquis.

In one corner is a young man who looks like Kaizen.

It was a clumsy drawing drawn by a child, but it was cute.

Kaizen smiled and gave an order to the servant, “Bring me a frame.”

The servant was a little surprised when he asked to bring a picture frame, but he obediently agreed and left.

Kaizen put the picture on the desk and tried to put the box aside, but he saw something inside the box.

When he looked closely, there was a bunch of finger-sized grass stuck in the corner.

‘What is this?’

Kaizen took it out.

The dried grass was cut into small pieces and tied together.

‘Why is this in here?’

Did Theor leave it behind while playing with it in the garden?

Since it’s a toy box, it looks like he just left it here while playing.

He thought so and picked it up to throw it away, but for a moment an unfamiliar scent struck his nose.

‘Well?’

He put a bunch of grass to his nose and smelled its scent.

A unique scent was faintly smelled in the bitter smell of grass.

Kaizen instantly realized the identity of the grass.

It was an herb.

An herb commonly used by young ladies.

“Your Majesty? What’s going on?”

The servant, who returned with a small picture frame, asked with a puzzled face.

Kaizen stood up without answering.

“I will go to the empress’ palace right now.”

Kaizen headed back to the empress’ palace to meet Astelle.

***

“Your Majesty, are you going to sleep here tonight?”

Theor asked, clinging to Kaizen’s arm. Kaizen turned to Astelle and replied, “……yes.”

“That’s great,” Theor rejoiced.

The quick-witted Astelle said quickly, “Theor, go to your room first. I’ll follow you in a little while.”

“Yes……”

Theor frowned and grabbed Kaizen’s hand.

“Your Majesty has to come, too.”

“Yes, of course.”

The maid, who received Astelle’s gaze, approached Kaizen and took Theor from his arms.

After the maid left with Theor, the servant who came with Kaizen also left.

In the garden pavilion, Astelle and Kaizen were the only two left.

“Your Majesty, what happened?”

Kaizen was momentarily speechless. He was surprised to find a medicinal herb in the toy box, and he ran to this place.

But when he finally faced Astelle, he didn’t understand why he had rushed to see her so urgently for this kind of thing.

“It’s not a big deal,” Kaizen answered awkwardly, hiding the dry grass in his fist.

Astelle became even more curious.

It’s not a big deal, but why did you come all the way here in the middle of the night?

Kaizen sighed and showed her what was in his hand.

“There was something like this in the box that Theor sent me.”

Astelle took the herb.

Astelle, accustomed to herbal medicine, noticed what it was as soon as she saw it.

“Angelica?”

Angelica is a medicinal herb that stimulates fertility.

Married women who want to get pregnant keep this herb and make a daily decoction.

Now, Astelle also looked puzzled.

“There must have been some mistake. There is no such herb in the empress’ palace.”

I guess so. Because there’s no way you can have something like this.

He almost immediately said that.

“I apologize, Your Majesty. I think my grandfather sent it without checking it. It was a mistake.”

“Well, I don’t know if it was a simple mistake.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Did your father visit you today?”

“……”

Astelle didn’t answer.

Kaizen let out a sigh and smirked.

“That’s exactly what your father would do.”

He must have been trying to make him think that Astelle desperately wanted a baby.

He seemed to guess that if he instilled such thoughts in him, the relationship between the two would improve again.

‘An ordinary aristocrat might find this interesting.’

Most nobles want to have many children even if they do not have a good relationship with their wives.

The family can prosper only if they have many children.

But he was no ordinary aristocrat, and this marriage was no ordinary marriage either.

There was no possibility that Astelle would want a child again now.

‘It will never happen.’

Until not long ago, there might have been a possibility. There was a ray of hope that their relationship would change in the future.

But now I know.

I don’t deserve that hope.

“My father did a useless thing and troubled Your Majesty. I apologize on his behalf.”

Astelle, who understood the situation, apologized with an embarrassed face.

“No worries. It’s not a day or two that your father does useless things.”

The garden was wet from the raindrops.

Kaizen sighed as he looked at the damp flower bed.

“People seem to misunderstand our relationship.”

“……I think so.”

He just avoided Astelle for a while so as not to bother her.

Within a few days, everyone misunderstands and makes up strange things.

Living as a married couple in the imperial palace was difficult.

“I will stay here tonight. I’ve come all the way here, but if I went back now, it would look even weirder.”

“I apologize, Your Majesty.”

Astelle was dressed in a thin shawl over her pajamas.

In a damp garden.

Astelle, standing in a pavilion lit by a soft light, wearing white muslin pajamas, looked elegant and delicate.

Kaizen quickly turned his gaze away to hide the burning sensation in his ears.

“If you don’t mind, can I stay here from time to time?”

Astelle looked up at him, a little surprised.

Kaizen quickly added, “Don’t worry. I’ll sleep outside like before.”

He turned away from Astelle and muttered bitterly.

“I know I don’t deserve anything from you.”

“……”

Astelle stared at Kaizen without saying a word. There was a shadow on his face that looked lonely.

Is it because we’re alone on a night like this?

Today, Kaizen looks a little pathetic.

She sighed and then said, “I do not mind. Do as Your Majesty pleases.”

***

“What did the empress say?”

Florin, who had been quiet in the mansion, was furious when she heard the maid’s words.

This morning Naeun delivered the news from the empress.

The empress invited her to the imperial banquet and offered to find her a prospective groom, in place of her mother, the marchioness.

“A prospective groom?”

Her anger soared.

‘So you want to take revenge on me like this?’

Florin noticed what Astelle was thinking.

She intended to force her into marriage as revenge for the past.

Although her father, the Marquis, was there, there was nothing he could do if his daughter was forced into marriage by the emperor.

Originally, marriages of nobles had to be officially approved by the emperor.

Astelle, who wanted to take revenge on her, was unlikely to find a suitable groom for her.

She will definitely force her to marry a terrible person.

‘I can’t be defeated like this.’

As soon as the marriage was mentioned, Florin lost her mind in anger.

She ordered the maid who broke the news without telling her nanny.

“Send a note to Naen again.”