I Became the Master of the Empress - Chapter 202
202 – 206
Thus ends the day’s work, and I head to the bridal chamber.
“Have you arrived?”
“Yes. Nothing happened, right?”
The guard nods at my question.
“Haha, there wouldn’t be any issues.”
“Good to hear.”
-Creak.
As the guard opens the door, I enter the bedroom and catch Theodora’s eye as she lies on the sofa.
What’s this?
Her gaze is slightly different than usual, and it intimidates me a bit.
“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Hmph. Never mind.”
Theodora seems to have a lot to say. She turns her head and heads to the bed.
What’s with her?
With that thought, I head to the bed.
“You sleep on the sofa.”
Her voice is sharp with coldness, and I ask with a puzzled face.
“Why are you acting like this?”
“You really have to ask?!”
I shake my head in disbelief at her shrill accusations.
“I’m asking because I don’t know.”
Lately, the tech investment fund and the territory development fund are dwindling. I’m exhausted from preparing to secure new resources and from the dealings with the demon worshipers.
“Really, when did you install eavesdropping magic in my office?”
Ah! It must have been Lucius who told her.
It’s pointless even if I’m caught, but I feign surprise and deliberately show my teeth as I say,
“Lucius told you?”
She nods her head, her expression turning angry.
“Is that what’s important right now? Using such cowardly magic, and why do you have so many tea times with that woman, Sena?”
“Well, that’s…”
Did she find out about my tea times with Sena?
Though I call it tea time to others, in reality, it’s a treatment to alleviate the pain in my eyes.
If the truth about my potential blindness spreads, it would cause a tremendous backlash.
Her face contorts with emotion as she presses me.
“You’re the consort, aren’t you? It’s true, isn’t it?”
“Why would you even think that?”
I’m honestly flabbergasted.
Why is she more upset about this than the eavesdropping magic?
It’s nonsensical to think that I, a candidate for sainthood, would share a bed with Sena.
I remember from the original work that losing purity was out of the question.
To think they’re linking me, of all people, with such a pervert…
This is an insult to me.
“If not, then what’s the reason for having tea time alone together so often?”
“No… It’s really a misunderstanding!”
I’ve never felt so wronged in the nearly two years since I married Theodora.
“When men cheat, they always claim it’s a misunderstanding.”
“No, really, I’m wronged here.”
Theodora is right beside me, but it’s killing me to keep up this pretense of innocence.
Would I choose to go through this ordeal again?
Yet Theodora seems unconvinced as she takes a deep breath through her nose.
“So, tell me why!”
“Why…?”
I wrack my brain, searching for an excuse, but I can’t find one.
“Look! You’re a bad kid. Get lost, you green-haired brat!”
I think about Theodora, who has just said those words, with a mix of emotions.
It seems I’ve misunderstood something big.
If I explain our relationship, during the day we’re in a conflicting situation, but at night it’s not that bad.
In fact, before Theodora’s period, her body would often start to heat up, and she would ask me to kiss her and hold her close, making sweet nothings. That’s kind of cute.
But, despite the complexity of our relationship during the day, I don’t want to make it that complicated at night.
As I think about how to clear up her misunderstanding, a good idea suddenly pops into my head.
“Or maybe I can prove my purity and make her believe me?”
Theodora’s eyes flicker slightly at my words.
She turns her face slightly, looking at me with a hesitant expression.
“Can you really prove it?”
I nod my head at her words.
“Yes, I have no relationship with Senna. There was no such incident either.”
My words make Theodora’s face turn red, and she looks away slightly.
“Ah.”
And then she starts to get agitated again.
But, surprisingly, the earl’s magic doesn’t seem to be getting angry?
***
“Lukius, big brother… this is too hard.”
As Lukius has become the emperor’s advisor, his duties include mentoring the next heir.
Originally, he would have had to have a separate tutor, but since Joie often sees Lukius, she wants to learn from him, and Theodora has agreed.
“This is an order, Your Highness.”
Lukius explains each point to Joie, who’s eyes start to glaze over.
“Ahh… it’s too hard. I don’t want to study anyway.”
Joie can’t help but feel frustrated. She’s never had to study anything except etiquette, which she learned as a noble, and she’s never had any interest in it.
As the fourth in line to the throne, the possibility of becoming the emperor is low, and Joie doesn’t even like studying.
Moreover, as the youngest daughter who wouldn’t hurt even if she were in the eyes of the former emperor, he allowed her to pursue her passion for writing rather than studying. Thus, it’s unbearably sad that she must study.
Of course, she has only ever written BL novels or risqué stories…
With that thought, Joy buries her head in her desk.
Seeing this, Lucius sighs.
“Your Highness, you still need to study.”
Joy doesn’t respond to Lucius’s words.
“Ugh… I already have to write my novel. Why do I have to do this?”
Lucius is well aware that she is a famous erotic novelist in the imperial palace.
After all, Joy had shyly asked for his critique before…
Although he couldn’t get angry at her for writing such low-quality novels, nor could he praise her for writing well, Lucius thought to himself.
‘If… If the papacy knew that a princess wrote such things… they wouldn’t leave it be.’
Nevertheless, Lucius, of lower status, gently coaxes and consoles Joy.
“But you must. Currently, you are the first in line for the throne, aren’t you?”
At Lucius’s kind words, Joy shakes her head.
“I absolutely do not want to be the emperor.”
“You probably won’t be.”
Theodora has firmly established herself as the emperor.
Unless Theodora dies suddenly, the likelihood of Joy becoming the emperor is small, but…
With her head bowed, Joy takes Lucius’s hand beside her.
“Stroke my head like last time.”
At Joy’s brusque request, Lucius looks around…
“Cough… Just for a little bit, okay?”
And so, he strokes Joy’s head.
When a handsome man and a beautiful woman meet in a secluded place every day, feelings are bound to develop unknowingly.
Especially since Theodora, her sister, has strict thoughts about duty.
Although Devian influenced her, Theodora doesn’t want Joy to ascend to the throne unprepared if something happens to the empire…
Almost to the point of torture, she makes her take lessons. Lucius steps in to protect her, and Joy is grateful to him.
They became close without realizing it, even during the grand duke’s lessons.
Moreover, Lucius clearly feels affection for Joy.
The age difference is negligible, and being with Joy, with her pure thoughts, cute actions, and speech, under the pretext of teaching her for a long time… It would be stranger if he didn’t develop feelings.
Joy, lifting her head from the desk, speaks with a weary face.
“Lucius oppa, let’s take a break and then study. I feel like my head is going to explode.”
Seeing Joy struggle so much, even though there’s still a lot to cover, my heart softens.
‘There’s still so much to do…’
But it’s hard to be harsh and tell her to study more when she’s this exhausted.
“Shall we?”
After much consideration, Lucius agrees, and Joy’s face brightens.
“Yep yep! I’ll tell the servant to bring something delicious! Just wait a moment.”
***
A few days after proving my purity to Theodora, one morning.
As I open the door to the Grand Duke’s office…
“Huh? What are those letters?”
I ask, seeing a pile of letters stacked in a corner of the office. Sena makes an awkward face.
“I’m not sure either. They’re letters to His Grace the Grand Duke.”
“My… my letters?”
I feel a sense of bewilderment looking at the stack that must be hundreds of letters.
“Why would there be so many for me?”
I’m not a celebrity of the empire, and there’s no reason for me to receive so many letters, so curiosity arises.
“Hmm…”
I lift the top letter from the stack to see who sent it.
“The Count of Altai?”
I seem to recall hearing the name of the Count of Altai before.
Wasn’t it a count’s house in the northern plains of Yarl?
But as far as I know, it’s not a house that has any connection to me.
-Creeak-
I begin to open the letter and read.
Skipping the flowery preamble and moving on to the main point…
[I humbly propose to the radiant flower of the empire, Princess Joy.]
“Ah!”
And then I remember, Joy is soon to come of age.
This means she’s of legal age to marry.
“Could it be… these aren’t all marriage proposals, are they?”
I hastily open a few more letters, but…
“Ha ha…”
As beautiful as Joy is, to think so many letters are proposals to her…
Currently, she’s the child of Theodora and Devian, and while not as crucial as the conflict between the emperor’s faction and the anti-emperor faction, thus pushed to the back, Joy’s choice of husband cannot be taken lightly.
Joy, currently first in line for the throne.
Depending on who her husband is, many things could change.
“This is serious.”
She can’t marry someone of too high nobility. If we’re not careful, they might use Joy to claim the throne.
Of course, Joy probably doesn’t want to become empress, but civil war could break out due to her husband’s coercion.
There once was a woman named Yuria.
She was a member of the royal family, with a weak, but existent claim to the throne.
Her family tried to use this to persuade her to ascend to the throne, but she refused.
And for good reason; she didn’t want to be empress. Besides, there were other claimants to the throne who were very much alive.
However, her family subjected her to cruel beatings to force her to become empress, and although she eventually ascended, her life was not long.
In the end…
A viable heir deposed her, and she vanished like dew at the scaffold.
She was only 18 years old.
Such a tragedy could very well happen to Joy.
Right now, I firmly hold the empire, so it’s impossible, but once I step down, things will change.
Theodora will quickly take control of the political situation, but if Joy’s husband has other ideas, it could get quite troublesome.
So, we must prevent such movements from the start.
I should find time to meet with my sister-in-law.
As far as I know, she’s not seeing anyone, but she might have someone she likes.
I’ll have to give her a heads-up before her birthday.