They say she was strong and capable despite the Empress Dowager’s extremely strict teachings. Unlike the Marchioness of Toulouse, who entered the palace later as a concubine and was evaluated as a cheerful and witty beauty, the empress consort was evaluated as introverted but precocious and gentle.

The woman who was careful and prudent in everything had an impression as delicate and serene as a white wildflower. Although she was a more splendid and dazzling beauty than the Marchioness of Toulouse, who was known as the most beautiful woman in the rear palace and considered the most classically beautiful among the concubines in terms of features alone.

Her wavy, abundant hair was pure and luscious, and her pupils were a vivid pink that sometimes appeared rose-colored depending on the angle of sunlight. She was a beautiful woman like a miniature painting that a painter had meticulously worked on for a long time.

A beauty clearly compared to Toulouse, who had jet-black hair and aristocratic features despite her lively personality….

Even those surrounding Toulouse couldn’t deny her absolute beauty, saying that they were beauties of different types so their superiority couldn’t be determined, but when the two were placed side by side, it was clearly distinguishable. However….

‘You must be the Countess of Ortlen. Martha, was it?’

A woman walking from a distance wearing a white parasol extended her hand. Martha, standing in line neatly with the other concubines, nodded hesitantly.

She thought the emperor, whom she had glimpsed from a distance a few days ago, also possessed an immoderate beauty. Truly, such immoderate beauty was no different from violence…. But how should she describe the empress consort?

She had met many beautiful women and men, but the empress consort was somehow different. Should she call it alien? It wasn’t simply about beauty.

Although the beauties of the concubines were remarkable, the words soaked in defeat like “she’s on a different level” or “she’s overwhelming”…. The reason such words circulated was because her beauty was so alien.

‘I’m pleased to meet you for the first time, Your Highness the Empress Consort. I am Martha de Hortense.’

‘Yes. If there’s any inconvenience in your life in the rear palace, feel free to tell me anytime. I’ll help sincerely if it’s something I can do.’

The empress consort smiled. Only then did she realize what that sense of alienation was. The empress consort wasn’t the kind of beauty one would expect to see in the imperial palace. That is, she wasn’t a woman who seemed like she would move among people and live with them. She was like something one would only see in mythology….

She was a beauty who would only move and live in the songs of bards from distant ages. Like a beauty from a story that an old man leaning on a wooden staff, who had learned songs from bards, would gather chestnut-like children under an old tree and tell them, ‘When I was young, there was such a remarkable beauty trapped in a tower guarded by a dragon, waiting for a prince….’

So she didn’t seem human at all. If she hadn’t been the emperor’s wife, she would have been a woman surrounded by suitors every day, receiving flowers or jewels.

So perhaps her inferior status didn’t matter. Surely Count Spetunia could have made quite a profit with his daughter…. No. Since he married her into the imperial family, could there be a more profitable business?

Originally, a concubine should add the imperial family name ‘Riscaltheon’ after her family name. However, the emperor didn’t give his surname to any concubine.

Although it was said that the emperor’s personal feelings couldn’t be involved in such an official procedure, since the concubine system itself was a revived system in his generation, there weren’t actually clear rules or laws.

So each practice was being recreated at the level of his decisions. Since the last concubine before the Marchioness of Toulouse was the concubine of his great-grandfather, Richard II….

‘I don’t see Her Highness the princess today. I heard she often comes out for walks with Your Highness the Empress Consort….’

Martha asked with a bright smile. The empress consort often took young princesses or princes out for walks. Martha was curious about the emperor and her young children. In fact, she wasn’t the only one curious.

Since they were children the emperor so protectively cherished…. But it was said that even nobles, let alone concubines, found it difficult to see the imperial children. Martha wasn’t satisfied with this. Were the imperial children only their children? The concubines were also ‘stepmothers’ to the imperial children. But the emperor acted as if the imperial children were only his and the empress consort’s children.

‘Mona is with her tutor now. She started learning piano yesterday.’

The empress consort pulled her lips. The faint smile was clear and beautiful like glass, but it was dim and sharp. Martha stared at the woman who was white like the moon at noon. She must have noticed the thorn hidden in her words…. She didn’t like the way she smiled with a good-natured face.

Instead of twisting her mouth, she lowered her gaze slightly and replied.

‘I see. Should I say the timing is coincidentally well-matched.’

Martha looked up again, smiling round and round. The empress consort was still smiling, but the stiffened energy was evident. Martha continued speaking with a crooked face toward such a woman.

‘Like the morning of the rear palace last time. It seems Your Highness the Empress Consort doesn’t like even a shadow of His Majesty the Emperor or Her Highness the princess being cast in the rear palace.’

She stared at her while fluttering the fan she had folded. The concubines standing in line around her looked at her with surprised eyes.

Martha raised her chin more defiantly at those gazes. She felt twisted about the woman who, despite receiving the emperor’s full affection, didn’t know satisfaction and made him like an itchy dog. What was she? Just a woman born with a slave as her mother….

‘Countess Ortlen. This is before Your Highness the Empress Consort. Refrain from disrespectful remarks.’

One of the concubines who had been carefully watching her from behind opened her mouth. Martha glared at that woman with all her might and muttered softly.

‘Can I be more respectful? There are protocols in the court, but if I were more respectful, I would have to lower my posture as if serving Her Highness the Empress….’

Martha turned her head. The empress consort had no particular expression. Her white face without any emotion showing was like a doll. Martha stared at her arrogantly.

She wanted to tell her that no matter how much she was the mother of young imperial children, she was just a woman who couldn’t become an empress. Isn’t that right? It wasn’t wrong.

There were as many as six, and the emperor’s favor toward the princes in particular was extreme. However, her eldest son was still not the crown prince, and considering that none of the concubines had heirs, this was a very unusual situation. It meant that the emperor’s favor toward her and the imperial children might be hollow.

So Martha thought she had a chance. No matter how faithful a man the emperor was, he was also a man and a male. It meant that he would get tired of a woman. Especially when pushing and pulling should be done moderately.

According to a maid known as the information hub of the imperial palace and knowing even the intimate circumstances of the imperial family, the empress consort was an arrogantly insufferable woman. They say she frequently scolded and nagged the emperor as if he were not even a commoner.

She snorted at the words that she would glare at him and push him out of the bedroom whenever she felt like it, even though her husband wasn’t just any man. At first, she thought it was nonsense from a maid without substance or a baseless rumor.

She couldn’t believe that the emperor, of all people, would be so helpless before one woman. But from what she felt while staying in the imperial palace, the emperor was such a man and more.

She didn’t want to accept it, but looking back on the past time, she couldn’t help but come to that conclusion. But the emperor would eventually get tired.

He would eventually get tired of this cold woman. Martha could wait until then. She was young and also an attractive virgin.

‘The Countess’s words are right. Your manners are sufficiently proper now. But you are a concubine, and I am the empress consort. Even if I’m not an empress.’

The empress consort, who had been watching her with a calm gaze, parted her red lips. Martha slightly narrowed her brow. She wanted to refute immediately, but somehow it was difficult.

Her neatly folded hands and calm expression were no different from before, but somehow there was a coldness that made it difficult to speak to her. Martha only bit her lip and glared at her.

She wanted to trample her somehow. She was her father’s legitimate daughter, and both her parents were children of noble families with distinguished names. But this woman…. Imperial ancestor. That is, if it weren’t for the deceased Emperor Maximilian, she would be of too lowly status to be connected with the emperor.

‘You seem very interested in my babies. If there’s an opportunity, I’ll invite you to the villa.’

The empress consort said that and turned around. Martha was about to part her lips to stop her when she saw the emperor walking from a distance and stiffened.

‘Your Majesty.’

The empress consort, who belatedly noticed his procession, called him softly. The concubines, who didn’t know the emperor would step into the rear palace, turned pale and bent their knees.