âThe lifespan of Lady Logias is one month. She will die of a heart attack on July 7.â
Evelina remembered that part of the original story very accurately. Besides, the fortune teller in front of her couldnât lie about this.
âYour Majesty the Empressâ¦â
The fortune teller looked at Kaiden as if she was in trouble, and then at once at Evelina.
âIf itâs uncomfortable, can the two of us talk alone?â
âWhy are you curious, Lina?â
âIâm curious. I want to live well with Your Majesty for a long time.â
âKaiden.â
âYes, with Kaiden.â
Evelina eased her arm from Kaiden, who was dropping her on the chair opposite the fortune teller. Then he sighed and let her sit down completely.
The fortune teller seemed to look down on purpose to avoid making eye contact with Kaiden.
âThen Iâll ask you a question.â
âYes, Your Majesty.â
Kaiden looked at the fortune teller crookedly, and then immediately looked at Evelina as if to check if she had sat down properly, and asked,
âWhen will I die?â
The fortune teller looked at Elsius as if she couldnât speak. Then Elsius tactfully said to Kaiden.
âThe fortune teller must be embarrassed because she is so scared of my brother.â
Elsius also sat nearby and gestured to the maid. Then the maid read the gesture and went out to prepare the tea cart.
âIf you decide to forgive me no matter what I say, I might be honest.â
âDonât you know that itâs illegal to bring a woman in the palace who does this kind of sorcery, Elsius?â
âOh, my brother is so⦠Donât be so strict.â
Elsius smiled at Kaiden, pretending to be nice. Then when she thought it wouldnât work, she said,
âI called my sister-in-law because I wanted to make it up to her because I did something wrong last time. I heard that her hobby is to call fortune tellers to her mansion.â
âAh.â
Evelina had something in her mind. She used to socialize a lot before her engagement. After the engagement though, she didnât go out on the pretext of getting engaged. She didnât like outside activities that much either, so she stopped going out as much as possible even though she often called people to her mansion. She didnât use that excuse to go out with fortune tellers.
âI heard it would be dangerous to go outside today.â
âOh, to whom?â
âThe fortune teller on Bain Street said,â
It was all a lie. Because Evelina could only say so by doing as such. Bain Street was a fortune teller alley, so there were more than 10 fortune tellers there.
âIâll forgive you for anything. What was said here.â
Kaiden crossed his legs saying so. Around that time, the maid brought tea and set up the teacups. Evelina looked at the teacup in front of her. Then she watched the clear black tea pour and said,
âIâm really curious, too.â
Then the fortune teller sighed as if in a cold sweat, looking as if waiting for the maid and others to leave. Then she opened her mouth when all the employees left and only the four remained under the patronage of Elsius.
âYour Majestyâ¦â
The fortune teller looked at Princess Elsius again, and closed her eyes tightly and said,
âYou were supposed to be deadâ¦â
ââ¦â
âThe second prince should have become the Emperorâ¦â
Evelina thought this fortune teller was really competent.
âWhat a load of crap. Isnât that right, Kaiden?â
However, she said quickly because she thought Kaiden would pull out another sword and take her life. Evelina said so because Kaiden seemed to listen to her more than she thought.
âYes, very, very much.â
He looked at Evelinaâs attitude and spoke sourly.
âHo-Ho. You got it right earlier, but youâre all wrong this time.â
âSorry, Your Highness.â
Elsius opened the fan, waved it as if it was hot, smiled with her eyes, and said,
âWhatâs the life expectancy under your vision?â
Elsius asked when the atmosphere became sluggish anyway. She didnât know anything else, but until Kaiden and Evelina came, there was nothing that fortune tellers couldnât predict.
âItâs due on July 7th.â
âWhen? 80 years later?â
âJuly 7th this year.â
Today was June 10th. Evelina sighed with relief at the words.
âWhat a quack. Yes, ah⦠Kaiden?â
â⦠Yes.â
She was relieved and bitter that somehow she felt like she was getting a definite answer to her life expectancy again. She really thought it would be over when that time comes.
âThen Iâll ask you something else. Iâm sure youâll get the rest right.â
When Elsius heard of Evelinaâs life, she said so with a sneer. Princess Elsius thought that even though the fortune teller was wrong about Kaiden, she would not have been wrong about Evelina.
Because what the fortune teller predicted before was the scale of Elsiusâ funds, the men she had secretly met with the imperial family, and how she betrayed the emperor. Nothing else, but it was a fact that no one knew that Princess Elsius worsened the Emperorâs disease. Only Kaiden predicted it to some extent.
âTell me when Iâm getting married.â
The conversation began again, as Elsius asked excitedly.
Kaiden stared at the fortune teller and soon smiled when his eyes met Evelina. Evelina didnât know that his smile was fake.
~~~~
They returned to the Imperial Palace bedroom. While Kaiden went to the office because of a person looking for him, Evelina ran away from the bedroom of the Imperial Palace and returned to her palace.
It was also burdensome to enter the Empressâ Palace, which became her Palace.
Evelina was strongly convinced that her life would really end on July 7th because of the fortune teller in the original novel, and because of the premonitory symptoms of the heart attack she felt now and the heart disease she had since childhood.
Most of the original work of âDonât Cry, Your Majesty,â which she read, had changed, but there were some things that could never change.
âYour Majesty asked you to stay in the bedroom.â
âI know when heâll be back. Iâm going to work, too.â
Evelina made an excuse to head to her office. Since the Empressâ seat was vacant, she must make up for the work of the Empress.
However, the Empressâ work was divided between the Empress and Princess Elsius. All that was assigned to Evelina were tiny things. However, if she didnât do it properly, she didnât know what kind of spark she would ignite for Marquis of Logias.
She thought she had a month left before her life ended, and she thought she had to work harder. If she worked really hard for that month and endured it without being caught. Then her family wouldnât suffer as much as now.
So she headed to the office.
~~~
When she arrived at the office, Evelina sighed and touched her forehead.
âSo youâre saying everyone refused?â
Evelina said, looking at the Viscount Belenin, who was appointed as her aide.
âSorry, Your Majesty.â
Before entering the palace, Evelina had sent a letter asking for help to find someone who could be her maid, directed to a socialite who was quite close to her.
âAre you sure no one is coming?â
âYes, everyone says itâs difficult because of circumstances.â
Evelina looked at the rejection letter that arrived. Most of them had plausible excuses, but they were openly avoided.
âShe has smallpox?â
âIf itâs Lady Barvis, yes. Thatâs what they said.â
âShe sprained her legâ¦.â
âIf itâs Lady Melrose, yes. Thatâs what they said.â
âShe canât go out because her hair is burnt.â
âOh, that seemed real. There were a few people who saw a fire on the ladyâs head and all the wigs burned.â
âItâs June now.â
âShe said she caught a cold.â
Evelina thought it could be true if it was Lady Ranien. Since it was her best friend.
âBring her good medicine for burns.â
âYes, Your Majesty.â
Evelina guessed why she couldnât get a low-cost maid. Everyone was afraid of the new Emperor, and it was clear that it was because they were afraid of the Dowager Empress and Princess Elsius who controlled the new Emperor from behind.
Evelina had to pick her side between the Dowager Empress and the Princess. Serena in the original had a hard time choosing neither.
To be honest, she didnât want to choose either. The Dowager Empress was a gaslighting genius, and Elsius was a sociopath, perhaps because she was the younger sister of the psychopath Emperor.
â Knock knock.
âWho is it?â
âItâs me.â
Evelina was embarrassed by a voice outside the office and could not tell him not to come in. Because the owner of the voice opened the door and came in.
âWhy are you coming here?â
âIâm here because youâre in charge of the military dance.â
Ianathas came in with a bright smile, and Evelina sighed because his natural smile was ridiculous.
âWhy are you here?â
âI came here with an escort for Your Majesty.â
âYes, I see.â
She didnât want to have a deeper conversation with him, but she wondered. She wondered if her father and mother were doing well. It wasnât easy to go outside when she got married to the Imperial Palace.
âEveryone else, leave. I want to talk to you alone.â
âNo. Talk to me now.â
âWhy?â
âYou opposed my marriage with His Majesty.â
Evelina cherished Ianathas. It wasnât good for him if he was caught in a useless scandal because of her who was about to die. More than anything, it was even more important when she thought of his close relationship with her parents.
She was the one who was about to die, and Ianathas was the one who could fill her vacancy.
When Evelina suddenly saw his smiling face, it became difficult to make eye contact. Itâs hard to imagine her parentsâ and Ianathasâ faces seeing her dead body.
âIf youâre done with your business, leave. Thank you for the escort. But I ask you to be a decent person without standing out too much.â
She said that and looked at him as if asking him to leave. Then Ianathas looked at her with a bright smile. Evelina kept looking at him without saying anything, hoping he would get out quickly. Then he laughed the same way and kept looking at Evelina.
âNow go.â
He said with a brighter smile when she told him to go.
âIâm the escort knight. What do you mean?â
Evelina looked at him suspiciously at the words.
âWhat?â
In response to her question, Ianathas went to Evelinaâs side.