“I’ll just stay n*ked. I only need to wear it when Jenkins is around, right?”

It was a harem with only women anyway. What was there to show off by wearing such underwear? 

At Evelyn’s words, the maids looked troubled.

“…But we don’t know when His Majesty the Emperor might arrive. And if Lady Evelyn disrespects His Majesty, we might die for failing to serve you properly…”

At the maid’s dejected words, Evelyn reluctantly extended her hand.

“Give it to me. I’ll wear it.”

“Yes! Lady Evelyn. It will look really good on you.”

Blue veins popped out on Evelyn’s forehead.

‘…What would look good?’

Holding the scraps of cloth that couldn’t even be called clothing, Evelyn frowned. After driving all the maids out of the room, she put on the underwear and stood in front of the large mirror.

“Ha…”

It would have been better not to wear anything at all. However, every time she walked, her chest and below felt constricted. Was it because it was lewd or because of the shame? She broke out in cold sweat, worried that love juices might drip down.

The maid had just said she would become empress because she received so much love, but Evelyn could only laugh.

‘What kind of slave becomes an empress?’

The tattoo on her neck and underwear that looked like something a pr*stitute would wear – this could never happen in the Astia Empire.

In Astia, if it became known that the emperor’s concubine wore such attire, she would be criticized and confined to the Cold Palace. The higher the nobility, the more they valued dignity, and this was treating her thoroughly like a slave.

Then she heard a knock on the door.

“Lady Evelyn? Are you dressed? I’m sorry, but Her Majesty the Empress Dowager is calling for you…”

“…Her Majesty the Empress Dowager?”

“Yes.”

Evelyn immediately took off the strange underwear. Since seeing her at the coronation ceremony, she had never met her personally. Even at the party, the Empress Dowager hadn’t spoken to her. She hadn’t received cold looks either, making her a mysterious figure.

“I’ll go now.”

Since she couldn’t avoid the Empress Dowager forever, Evelyn opened the door. The maid was disappointed seeing Evelyn had taken off the underwear the Crown Prince had personally given her, but there was nothing she could do.

Entering the Empress Dowager’s palace, Evelyn was surprised. She had never been to the Empress’s palace so she couldn’t compare, but the Empress Dowager’s palace was very luxurious. A woman wearing clothes that revealed her chest completely bowed her head.

“Are you Lady Evelyn?”

“Yes.”

“Please come this way.”

She looked like the Empress Dowager’s maid, wearing something similar to the rags the emperor had given her earlier. Well, all the maids in the harem would be the emperor’s women too, wouldn’t they?

But she had heard that the maids who had served the Empress Dowager for a long time were the previous emperor’s women.

Passing through a long corridor, she encountered someone. It was Louisa Harper. She stood wearing quite modest clothing. Unlike herself who was n*ked, Evelyn’s face burned with embarrassment.

One of Louisa’s eyebrows rose slightly as she covered her mouth with one hand. From the giggling sounds, it was clearly mockery.

The maid who had gone inside came back out and said.

“Her Majesty the Empress Dowager says both of you should come in together.”

“…?”

Why had she called them both together? Evelyn hesitated, but Louisa entered with her head bowed. From behind, she looked like the perfect picture of a gentle lady.

Hallie King Peshar, Jenkins’ mother and the Empress Dowager, sat languidly on the sofa. Even now in middle age, her beauty was stunning.

“Evelyn, Louisa. Please sit.”

There was inevitably a difference between clothed Louisa and n*ked Evelyn. Both knelt on the prepared cushions.

“I greet Her Majesty the Empress Dowager.”

“It is an honor to meet Her Majesty the Empress Dowager.”

The Empress Dowager, holding wine to her lips, stated her business.

“The reason I called you both is because you currently have the highest status in the harem.”

“…”

Jenkins treated Evelyn as a slave, but those here treated her as a princess. And Louisa was still treated as a marquis’s daughter.

When Hallie gestured, a maid brought medicine.

“Drink it all.”

“…”

Looking at the black medicine, Louisa flinched wondering if it might be poison, but Evelyn drank it all.

She frowned at the bitter taste, but the Empress Dowager had no reason to kill her. Seeing Evelyn was fine, Louisa finally drank the medicine too. She coughed and looked for candy.

“…That medicine helps with pregnancy. As you know, since Jenkins became emperor, he needs an heir. It would be even better if you two could provide that heir.”

“An heir? You mean a successor?”

Louisa’s eyes sparkled. She seemed very pleased as she poured out words to the Empress Dowager.

“Then if I bear an heir, can I become empress?”

“…No.”

“What?”

At the Empress Dowager’s words, Louisa was flustered. The Empress Dowager was a beautiful black-haired woman, but her blue eyes resembled Jenkins and were cold.

“We simply need an heir. The empress will be a princess of the Peshar Empire.”

“That’s…!”

Louisa wanted to protest, but when she met the Empress Dowager’s eyes, she trembled.

“I-isn’t that too much? I may look like this, but I’m the daughter of a marquis family and was mentioned as an empress candidate in the Astia Empire!”

“…The Astia Empire no longer exists. So it’s difficult to expect backing from you. We only treat you well in the harem because of your excellent bloodline.”

“Sob…”

Louisa shed tears like chicken droppings, but the Empress Dowager didn’t sympathize with her. The Empress Dowager looked at Evelyn. Scanning her from top to bottom, the Empress Dowager saw Jenkins’ name carved on Evelyn’s wrist and smiled with amusement.

“…It seems you’re the one who can bear an heir.”

“No.”

Evelyn met the Empress Dowager’s eyes. She should have been scared, but strangely felt familiarity toward her who resembled Jenkins.

“Lord Jenkins has no intention of having an heir from me. If he planned to have an heir, he wouldn’t have made me take contraceptives.”

“He made you take contraceptives?”

The Empress Dowager clenched her fist and stood up.

“Are you certain?”

Evelyn met the Empress Dowager’s eyes. She wasn’t lying anyway.

“Yes.”

“I’m going to see Jenkins right now!”

The Empress Dowager stormed out angrily. Louisa left with reddened eyes, and Evelyn also couldn’t stay in a palace without its owner, so she returned to her own palace. This confirmed everything.

Even if she became pregnant, she could never become empress.

‘I never intended to anyway…’

Was it a side effect of the contraceptives? The nausea was gone, but she had been very depressed lately. Evelyn lay on the bed and closed her eyes. She was so sleepy. So much that she couldn’t move even a finger.

‘To have my stamina drop this much… I must have neglected training. From tomorrow, I need to do twice the intensity…’

Evelyn fell asleep again.

* * *

The next day, the Empress Dowager, who she thought would be angry, called for Evelyn again. This time she called only her, not Louisa, which puzzled Evelyn slightly. In front of Evelyn were precious foods along with the medicine from before.

“Your Majesty the Empress Dowager, this is…”

“To conceive a child, you must nourish your body.”

Even though she had told her that Jenkins made her take contraceptives, the Empress Dowager didn’t seem to care much. Evelyn, whose appetite had been good lately, ate the food hurriedly. 

Though it was too much for one person to eat, she finished almost everything before putting down her spoon.

“Ah… I’m sorry. It was so delicious.”

She wasn’t starving, but she wondered if she had eaten too greedily. The Empress Dowager smiled kindly watching her. Kindness from the young-looking Empress Dowager – she was definitely wearing a satisfied smile.

“I’ll order more food to be provided. Oh, the princess who will become empress is scheduled to enter the palace in six months.”

“I see…”

Evelyn was also curious about the princess who would enter the empress’s palace directly. Wasn’t she Jenkins’ official wife? Concubines were also called wives, but there was a world of difference from the one who would become empress.

“The Emperor of Astia is still targeting my son’s life.”

“…!”

At the Empress Dowager’s sudden words, Evelyn’s eyes widened. The Empress Dowager sighed and continued.

“Actually, I’m not that greedy for land. Jenkins also doesn’t resemble his father and isn’t very greedy either. He told me that the Peshar Empire is already so vast it’s hard to manage, so there’s no need to expand further.”

“…”

“It was unexpected when such a Jenkins stepped forward to conquer the Astia Empire. I think if Astia gave up being an empire and became a vassal state of Peshar, it wouldn’t be bad to spare the Emperor of Astia…”

Would such a thing be possible?

The Empress Dowager stared intently at Evelyn’s belly and said.

“If you’re carrying Jenkins’ child, we could do that much.”

“…!”

Her words shocked Evelyn.

‘…What did she just say?’

The Empress Dowager spoke with certainty. Not that she should conceive a child, but that she had conceived. Evelyn unconsciously touched her lower belly. Having eaten a lot lately, her belly protruded roundly.

‘Could it be…?’

“I’ll discuss that matter with Jenkins, so Evelyn, focus on giving birth to the child. Understood?”

“Ah… Yes.”

Perhaps she could reclaim her country without bloodshed. But a vassal state… She didn’t know if Hector would accept that. Today she learned that Hector was still alive. And…

‘Am I really carrying Jenkins’ child?’

If that were true, then Jenkins had lied to her.