Chapter 37: Chapter 37

***

Shed, staring at Raha’s long lashes, answered simply.

“I just wanted to.” (*he answered to the question “why he does he want to caress her so much.”)

Shed said as he swept Raha’s chest with one hand.

‘”You need to realize how weak you are. If it’s torn, do you want Oliver to see it?”

Raha opened her eyes wide and burst into laughter.

“No, I’ve never thought about that.”

Raha answered with a smile and hugged Shed’s neck. These were exactly the two arms that hugged his waist tightly. When did this happen? She began to bury her in Shed’s arms often, even when they were not having s*x…. When did she start to get a sense of stability from his body warmth?

* * *

The fact that Raha had left Duke Winston and his daughter with the task of preparing the New Year’s banquet was quickly spread throughout the palace.

She wanted Duke Winston to take all her work but of course this was not possible.

Rather, “The Lady is full of desire to take on the Princess’s work in the subject of a betrothed,” and public opinion worsened. This may have been natural, since there were more than one or two nobles who wanted to shove a woman e next to Karzen.

It was something that Duke Winston had attempted without knowing that Raha left everything to him.

Anyway, after Raha’s return, the New Year’s party was well prepared. It was so easy that “banquet preparation” became a habit for Raha, who always had to take on and prepare for Karzen’s victory banquets.

“After all, they received a lot of help from the Princess this time as well.”

“I think Duke Winston and his daughter helped too.”

“Well……..I don’t think so.”

The palace’s officials spoke in a secretive manner. These were the people who had been preparing for major palace events under Raha’s direction, as Raha ordered, and led by Raha.

When the Princess suddenly left her seat, things naturally did not go smoothly. Duke Winston took the initiative, but the greatest credit was due to the returning Princess.

Raha looked up at the ceiling and moved on.

The New Year banquet was different from the victory banquets that were usually held. There were designated decorations, the color of the thick damask fabric on the walls was decided, and above all, it was very rich and festive.

Thanks to Karzen, the victory banquets held a few times a year were always similar, and all the guests had to enjoy themselves for the sake of the young tyrant, but not for the New Year banquet. It was also a court banquet where people could participate as much as possible in the buoyant atmosphere of starting the year anew.

“Princess. Please wait a moment.”

Raha paused at the chamberlain’s words.

And then there was the special royal family that could only be seen once a year at the annual New Year’s party.

“The emperor has been granted an audience.”

Karzen moved on at the words the old chamberlain announced. He was dressed more formally than at any other time. Raha quietly watched as Karzen disappeared into the huge palace where the previous emperor stayed.

Behind him was a line of attendants, chambermaids, and guards, all similarly dressed in formal attire.

All of them followed Karzen.

Rah del Harsa was the only imperial Princess and did not have to pay a visit to the previous emperor. To be precise, she was not qualified. Instead, she gazed at the beautiful walls with their several layers of ornate columns and jeweled inlays.

The walls, made of rose-colored marble, were splattered with pearl dust and grains of pure gold, and were a feast for the eyes on their own.

At the far end of this beautiful wall was the bedroom of the previous Emperor.

The previous Emperor. Raha’s father.

He was the emperor of the Delo empire who abdicated for some reason.

“It was inevitable.”

He had lost one leg, so it was impossible for him to move properly any more.

Her father, who had given everything to the young crown prince and was guaranteed the peace of his old age until his death as a ‘blood oath,’ retired to the inner room.

It would be better if he lost his leg while standing at the forefront of an honorable battle. The previous emperor lost one of his legs for a very dishonorable reason.

It was because of Raha.

For she took the eyes of the heir in place of Karzen.

“Both of them.”

The love for their children. Raha murmured.

The Empress (Raha’s mother) hated Raha because of the Empress’s great affection for Karzen, and the previous Emperor hated Raha for destroying the “perfect rich man” in history.

So the previous emperor strangled Raha. Since he was also the emperor with the eyes of the heir, he calculated that the imperial princess, who also inherited the same eyes of the heir, could be harmed.

However, the previous Emperor and the Empress were wrong in their calculations.

As a price for trying to kill the imperial princess who had the eyes of the heir, the emperor lost one leg completely. Since the previous emperor was also the holder of the eyes of the heir, that was the extent of the damage.

Anyway, after that day, the previous emperor decided not to carry out any more state affairs, and the emperor’s crown was transferred to Karzen. That was the truth of the “abdication,” which had never happened in the entire Delo Empire.

Is that why?

Raha had wondered about this from time to time. This was the day before the annual New Year’s party. What would the previous Emperor and Karzen talk about in that glamorous and quiet separate palace?

Maybe they would talk about something cliché like that……. Other than that kind of talk, Raha couldn’t think of anything in particular. The father and son were not that close to begin with. It was then that Raha was blinking lazily.

The sound of high shoes approaching from behind, silver soles clashing with marble floor, was strangely provocative.

The sound of the shoes stopped precisely behind Raha. A seductive voice was heard in her ears.

“Hello, Raha.”

Raha spoke without turning around.

“You have to call me Princess, Mother.”

For the legitimate Princess of this empire, the designation “mother” was a derogatory one.

So every word Raha said was a perfect taunt.

However, the woman standing behind Raha was also a woman who had spent a long time in the imperial palace of the Delo empire. She said in a gentle voice that did not waver in the slightest.

“How dare I blaspheme the dead mother of the imperial Princess?”

Finally, Raha turned around. An older woman, about the same age as the previous emperor, was looking at her and smiling very virtuously and kindly.

The woman was the second imperial empress of the previous emperor. She was the only woman among the many concubines and the only member of the royal family to take care of the previous emperor. The reason for her effective acceptance by Karzen was her tearful advocacy of the need to care for the previous emperor, who had regrettably lost his leg.

Still, for a time she was a social butterfly. The previous Empress died early, and she was a side woman who pretty much issued an internal order about her vacancy. …….

Now she was in a position where she could not even show her face in social circles. Raha didn’t feel too sorry for her. She had a gorgeous appearance.

She was gorgeous from the outside. The second Empress dressed in luxurious clothes, as if she was the only remaining concubine of the previous emperor.

Of course, even that was nothing compared to Raha.

The second Empress lifted her mouth and smiled at the imperial Princess, who was dressed in only the most expensive things, not in the empire, but in the entire continent.

“Still.”

Tak.

“Have you still been beaten by Karzen?”

Tak. Tak.

The second Empress walked two more steps and reached out her hands to Raha’s forehead. It did not reach. It was just that graceful hand that roamed in close proximity.

“There was a scar around here that Karzen made from his beating. It’s all gone. The imperial attendants and palace officials are especially skilled.”

Gorgeous fingertips follow the line of Raha’s face all the way down. Then they squeezed the top of Raha’s dress that covered her up to her neck.

The second Empress smiled darkly and said softly.

“The black bruise caused by the strangling would, of course, have already disappeared. I have learned from watching you that bruises fade slower than you think.”

This was true.

When there was a dark hand mark on a thin neck, a black bruise with blood smeared on it turned into purple bruise, then sinking to a blue bruise, and finally a yellow bruise, that you will return to your original skin color.

The second Empress knew this when she saw Raha’s neck.

“Because of the eyes of the great heir.”

She laughed elegantly.

“Beating you would have caused a vivid wound to Karzen himself, but even so, he managed to beat you brutally, didn’t he? In fact, I thought the previous Emperor was the one who was crazy.”

“…….”

“What do you think, Raha?

Raha blinked slowly and replied.

“Yes. That was a long time ago.”

“A long time ago? It sounds like he’s not hitting you now.”

“Karzen lives with me now.”

The second Empress laughed gracefully. She leaned forward and asked Raha.

“Why? Do you sleep together?”

“Yes.”

Raha replied with an unchanging smile.

“We’ll sleep together in front of you.”

The second Empress covered her mouth with her hand and smiled gracefully.

“Truly, you are the most vile twin I have ever seen.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, really. Raha del Harsa.”

A brief silence fell. Raha’s smile was as gentle as ever.

“If you say so…”

In a very gentle voice, Raha trailed off.

“I’ll sleep with the second Prince too.”

“…… what?”

“He’s mother’s son. Have you forgotten already?”

“…….”

“I, he, and Karzen, will sleep together in front of mother.”

The second Empress’s graceful smile cracked completely. It had been a few years since the second Prince was driven out to a wasteland in the Delo empire as soon as Karzen was appointed emperor.

He was the only son of a concubine.

He did not have the eyes of an heir like Raha, and was just an ordinary member of the imperial family. He was not even part of the battle for succession.

Like the end of all such royalty, he would live a life of laying low and die a life of coming and going when the emperor told him to.