Side Story 1: Yun-ah’s Story. My Own Drama Begins Again (1)

It had been three months since she returned to the empire, and today she was again exhausted, unable to handle the night.

It was hard to endure, having exceeded the limits of her physical strength.

Though she was eating well, Charte looked at her with concern as she was visibly losing weight day by day.

“Do you have any worries? I’m concerned because you seem to be getting thinner since we returned.”

“There’s nothing like that.”

After hesitating for a while, he carefully asked.

“Could it be that you miss your parents or the world you used to live in? Something like homesickness.”

With a pitiful expression, he caressed her cheek with a touch softer than a feather.

“That’s not……”

But her answer couldn’t be completed.

Clearly, Charte had been genuinely concerned until just now, but suddenly his sweet lips overlapped with hers.

When Charte gently bit her lower lip, his moist tongue entered through her reflexively parted lips.

It was a very careful start, as if handling something precious and fragile.

But the moment their heat met, a thrill quickly spread from her back throughout her entire body.

It was a kiss they had shared continuously until just a few tens of minutes ago.

Yet her whole body tensed as if it were their first kiss, and because of his forwardness, she curled up to her toes.

After being entangled for a while with a desire that seemed like he would never let go and intense possessiveness, his tongue withdrew without warning.

But there was no time to feel emptiness.

His tongue moved from her red lips to her neckline, and then down to her chest.

Her white skin was already full of his marks, but he filled in even the smallest gaps as if not tolerating even the tiniest space.

A ticklish sensation spread wherever his lips touched.

Her body, which had been languid for a moment, was now sensitive and responding to pleasure.

“Haah.”

The m*an that escaped without her realizing became a catalyst, and we became one again.

And then she couldn’t remember.

When she opened her eyes, Charte was looking at her.

“Did you sleep well? Yun-ah.”

“Did you sleep well? When did you wake up?”

“About an hour ago?”

“Why did you wake up so early instead of sleeping more?”

He spoke again with a worried face.

“I’m worried because your face is getting thinner. I can’t sleep. I can do anything for Yun-ah, but if your parents are the reason, there’s nothing I can do. I’m very sorry. Instead, I’ll do better in the future. If there’s anything you need or want to do, do whatever you want, as you wish.”

It seemed like she couldn’t take it anymore.

It was her limit.

No, she had already passed her limit.

“Um, Charte.”

Knock, knock.

At that moment, the Grand Chamberlain’s voice was heard along with the knocking sound.

“Your Majesty the Emperor, Viscount Catano requests an audience.”

Charte looked at her with an embarrassed face.

“It’s okay. He must have come for something urgent. Go ahead.”

After a light kiss, Charte got up, and when she tried to help him, he stopped her.

“You should rest, Yun-ah. I can do this much on my own.”

He wanted to adapt everything to the standards of the world she had lived in.

When they were together, he didn’t let others in, dressed himself, brewed his own tea, and spoke comfortably.

He said he wanted her to be comfortable too.

She briefly considered speaking informally but thought it might be dangerous.

Having experienced a lot since coming to the empire, she wanted to be careful.

No matter how much they were people who served them, she didn’t want to make the mistake of speaking informally to the emperor in front of them.

She lay down and watched Charte getting dressed.

Though he was her husband, he was truly a perfect man.

His delicate face, clearly meticulously crafted, and his sculptured physique without any excess, were always mesmerizing.

Charte, who had returned from being her husband to being the empire’s emperor, approached her side.

After a kiss, as if it wasn’t enough, he lightly licked the corner of her lips.

Feeling the heat rising again, she pushed him away.

“Viscount Catano is waiting. Go quickly.”

He glared at the door with a slightly angry face.

“I want to go somewhere where no one will disturb us.”

She laughed, imagining Catano’s face as he waited anxiously for Charte.

“Go quickly. See you in the evening, Charte.”

“I’ll be back, Yun-ah.”

Charte, who had been walking toward the door, suddenly turned back.

“Make sure you eat breakfast, lunch, and even snacks well. I’ll check.”

She nodded with a smile.

After he left, she let out a deep sigh filled with worry.

“The reason I’m getting thinner like this is because of you, Charte.”

Then she fell asleep without realizing it.

* * *

“Your Majesty the Empress, Your Majesty the Empress.”

She opened her eyes with difficulty at the sound of Judith’s voice waking her.

“You need to get up now. You have a morning schedule.”

“I want to sleep more.”

“You need to have breakfast.”

“I don’t want to eat, I just want to sleep, Judith.”

“That won’t do. His Majesty the Emperor has instructed us to report how much you eat at every meal. If we don’t increase Your Majesty the Empress’s weight by three kilograms within this week, the cooks at the Empress’s palace will be fired.”

Judith, who spoke firmly, forcibly made her sit up.

She had breakfast in a daze, sitting on the bed in her chemise with her eyes closed.

‘By the way, this man, this really won’t work.’

After forcibly finishing her meal, the maids took her to the bathroom and washed her thoroughly.

While sitting at the toilette applying makeup to her haggard face, the maids in charge of dressing brought three dresses.

All were stifling dresses with long sleeves that came up to the neck.

They had selected ones that could hide the marks on her body, which the maids had noticed while she was bathing.

‘This really won’t work.’

* * *

In the morning, there was a meeting with the newly established Education Department.

Originally, the empire didn’t have a separate Education Department.

Special matters were handled by the Welfare Department, but upon returning, she had suggested to Charte.

To create schools that poor children could also attend.

Although the nobles opposed it, he readily agreed.

Now even her father, Prime Minister Whyman, liked it, considering it an excellent system.

Since it was a divisive issue, it seemed that someone without prejudice should lead it, so Ivester became the Minister of Education.

She had thought a lot when she returned and took her seat as empress again.

Before, she had been cautious, feeling it wasn’t her place, but not anymore.

Until death, no, even after death, she would be recorded as the empress of the empire.

If so, she wanted to be an active empress, not one who just did what was expected.

She wanted her small efforts to help the empire’s development.

After much deliberation, her decision was to invest in future generations.

There were many areas she could have started with more easily, but she wanted to give children, the future of the empire, the opportunity to dream and live the lives they wanted, regardless of gender.

With the emperor’s full support behind her, she decided to try creating the world Leila had wanted.

She wanted to repay Leila somehow for the gift of a new life.

* * *

When she entered the Education Department’s meeting room, everyone stood up and greeted her.

Ivester began his report with a troubled face.

“Budget is the biggest problem. I’m very concerned because there are only expenses that will continuously require money, like land and construction.”

“I don’t think we necessarily need to build new structures. Could there be buildings near the square that could be expanded?”

They agreed on expansion, which could save money and time compared to constructing new buildings.

As they discussed various methods, such as business plans through school foundations, scholarships from guilds or administrative departments wanting to recruit talent, and student loans, it grew dark.

After everyone withdrew, only she and Ivester remained.

“You’re working hard, Ivester.”

“No. It’s rewarding work, so it’s not difficult.”

“Aren’t you too busy for dating?”

Ivester was currently in love.

With an awkward expression, he scratched his head and then spoke with a face that couldn’t hide his happiness.

“These days, I finish so late that it’s hard to even see her face. So……”

She looked at Ivester, who stopped speaking with an embarrassed face.

“What were you going to say? Continue. Huh? Could it be you?”

She could guess what Ivester was about to say without hearing it.

He blushed like a radish and didn’t know what to do.

“I’m planning to propose. I can’t live without seeing her.”

“Congratulations! I’m so happy for you! Ivester.”

“So, I need to know what to do. How should I do it? His Majesty the Emperor told me to prepare something big and shiny, but what is that? Do women like chandeliers?”

She burst out laughing at Ivester’s imagination.

‘Big and shiny? My husband has watched and heard too many dramas.’

Ivester’s expression, as he worried for his loved one, looked genuinely happy.

“Big and shiny doesn’t mean a chandelier, it means a diamond. But does Lady Ariel like jewelry?”

“Well, she’s not materialistic.”

“Then prepare an event that Lady Ariel would enjoy.”

Ivester’s lover was a lady from a marquis family.

He said they met on a terrace during a party held while she was gone, both trying to escape the crowds.

She was also trying to avoid people, so she was displeased by Ivester’s appearance.

As they talked, they discovered they had similar tastes, but they parted without even asking each other’s names.

But then he met her again at a matchmaking meeting he was forced to attend by his mother.

She too had been dragged there by her mother, under the surveillance of knights.

The two, who had left grumbling and threatening to break off the meeting, eventually smiled at this recurring fate and began dating.

They were so passionate that their families tried to stop them, calling it embarrassing.

“I should prepare a wedding banquet now.”

“What do you mean?”

“I once boasted in front of the ladies that I would host Ivester’s wedding banquet.”

Ivester said with a surprised face.

“No. No matter how close we are, how could I dare ask Your Majesty the Empress?”

“It’s a gift because we’re friends. And if she accepts the proposal, I’ll invite you both to dinner.”

* * *

While having dinner alone with Charte, she told him about Ivester.

“Is Ivester still contemplating?”

“Yes. He thought the ‘big and shiny thing’ you mentioned was a chandelier.”

“A chandelier?”

He laughed almost to the point of fainting.

After finally stopping his laughter, Charte said seriously.

“I told him many times that men should be straightforward.”

She burst out laughing because he spoke more like a Korean than actual Koreans.

“Why are you suddenly laughing? Yun-ah.”

She couldn’t possibly say, ‘Because you’re funny.’

So she told a white lie based on truth.

“Because I’m happy.”

Pleased with her answer, Charte smiled so broadly that the corners of his eyes creased.

He cut the meat in front of him and put it in her mouth.

“I think I’ll be happy too if you eat well and become healthy like before, Yun-ah.”

“Ah!”

She wiped the smile from her face and looked at him with a cold gaze.

Charte suddenly changed to a tense expression.

“What? What’s wrong? You look upset.”

“It’s your fault that I’ve become like this.”

“My fault? What did I do? Did I do something wrong?”

When she just stared at him without answering, Charte’s eyes shook as if an earthquake had struck.

And she could see his mind working complexly.

After organizing his thoughts, he said firmly.

“I’m sorry. I apologize for everything that made you upset. I didn’t know you were losing weight because you were angry with me.”

“Then will you stop that behavior now?”

“Yes. Absolutely! I won’t do it.”

“You said absolutely, right?”

“Yes.”

She was curious about how he would react when he learned the truth.

“It’s because you don’t let me sleep at night that I’ve become like this. I already passed my limit long ago.”