Whose Child Belongs to the Emperor - Chapter 10 - Part 6

Chapter 10 – Part 6

When they returned to the Rose Palace, Laura was reading a book in the study.
 
She expected her to be taking a nap, but she looked a little puzzled.
 
“Laura?”
 
“Ah, Your Majesty.”
 
She called out softly, and she jumped to her feet and bowed. Tenere’s eyes swept over the desk in the study.
“You must like to read.”
 
“Well, not really, but…….”
 
Laura stammered.
 
“I’m His Highness’ nanny, and I thought it would be a good idea for me to learn a little something…….”
 
Her words were unexpected. The book she was reading was not only tightly written, but the annotations took up half the page.
Next to it were books on developmental theories and a North Continent language dictionary.
 
Tenere was more than a little impressed by this unexpected sight.
 
“You’re the one who chose me to be the prince’s nanny, after all. ……You shouldn’t regret it.”
 
“Thank you, Laura.”
 
Laura’s cheeks flushed red with embarrassment.
 
Joshua waved his hand at her and said, ‘nanny, nanny, nanny’, in a clumsy pronunciation. Tenere soothed him.
 
“Shhh, Josie. Nanny is working hard right now, so why don’t we go to your room and play?”
 
“Uh, no, it’s my job.”
 
Laura stood up quickly and picked Joshua up, then glanced at Tenere.
 
“The Empress has a…… date with His Majesty later.”
 
“He’s just showing me around the palace.”
 
“Well, that’s a date, then. I’ll take good care of the crown prince, so don’t pay too much attention to the strange rumors.”
 
“Strange rumors?”
 
Tenere’s brow narrowed slightly. Laura, who had been closing her book, looked up, puzzled.
 
“Don’t you know…?”
 
“Are there any bad rumors going around about the prince? ”
 
She asked again, and she quickly looked away.
 
“No, not about the crown prince, but about… His Majesty the Emperor. No, should I say about Her Majesty the Empress Dowager….”
 
“Tell me more.”
 
Laura hesitated a moment, but then slowly began to recount the conversation she had overheard in the library.
 
Tenere was shocked to hear such a rumor that the Emperor was not the son of the late Emperor and that the man who claimed to be his father was none other than Marquis Salvatore.
 
“How dare anyone say such a thing?”
 
“Henry Winchester, Shalmon Taylor, Adrian Forbes, I have them all memorized.”
 
Of course, she said she would keep quiet around them, but Laura didn’t care about such a trivial promise.
 
Who told you to go around talking nonsense like that?

“I don’t think I’m going to say much more since I’ve been warned to watch my mouth, but it turns out that Marquis Salvatore screamed during his detention, so I guess that’s why the rumor is spreading all over the… capital.”
 
“Such…….”
 
Tenere trailed off.
 
Maybe that’s why Alaina had said she had no intention of becoming Empress and why the handmaidens were acting a little strange.
 
That was why Leonard seemed to be hiding something.
 
However, the tangled thoughts did not last long. It was because of the belief that Beatrice could not have done that.
 
She was a person who loved the emperor, who treated her coldly.
 
A person who visited the imperial temple every day cleaned the urn and vase and placed new flowers.
 
She was the one who nodded tearfully when asked if she loved him.
 
Such a person couldn’t have loved anyone other than the Emperor.
 
Besides, if that were true, she wouldn’t have betrothed Leonard to Alaina in the first place.
 
“…The Marquis must be resorting to tricks to buy time since he’s cornered.”
 
Tenere concluded. Marquis Salvatore is playing a mean trick because he fears he will be executed for high treason.
 
If he hastened to execute the man who claimed to be the Emperor’s father, he would arouse suspicion, and he would not be able to carry out the sentence until he could prove that his story was false.
 
‘But why has he said nothing to me…….’
 
If the Marquis had said such a thing when he was detained and the news had spread throughout the capital, there was no way it hadn’t been reported to Leonard.
 
But why did she only find out about that fact now?
 
“I think the Emperor didn’t tell you because he didn’t want ……to worry you.”
 
Seeing her dark expression, Laura spoke cautiously.
 
“You know how much His Majesty cares about you, Empress, and you’ve only been at the palace for a day, and you might not be able to rest easy knowing that rumors like that are circulating…….”
 
“…I see.”
 
Tenere tried to suppress her displeasure.
 
It wasn’t pleasant to hear these things from someone other than him, but perhaps he had a reason for not telling her.
 
It may be a consideration.
 
Since this happened in the process of arresting the Marquis for high treason, he may have deliberately not told her for fear of feeling unnecessary guilt.
 
Or perhaps he simply hadn’t found the right time to tell her yet…… and was planning to do so today, when they toured the palace together.
 
“It’s just a rumor that will soon die down; don’t worry too much.”
 
It was unclear whether those words were directed at Laura or Tenere herself.
 
Laura nodded in agreement, and the child squirmed as if trying to lift a heavy book.
 
* * *
 
It wasn’t long after lunch that Leonard found his way to the Rose Palace.
 
He looked a little excited.
 
“Are you feeling well?”
 
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
 
She was obviously in a lot of emotional turmoil, but she couldn’t help but be reminded of the night before. Tenere’s cheeks flushed slightly with renewed embarrassment.
 
“Last night… I must have looked quite unsightly.”
 
“No, I didn’t realize I’d gotten a little carried away.”
 
Leonard smiled and held out his hand. Tenere gingerly placed her hand over it.
 
He didn’t look like a man plagued by bad rumors, though she sneakily studied his complexion.
 
Whether he really didn’t care or was just pretending to be okay, she couldn’t tell.
 
After a brief visit to Eric’s chambers, the two strolled through the palace.
 
Staterooms and ceremonial chambers, galleries, theaters for opera performances and council chambers for political meetings, stables and hunting grounds, offices for administrative officials, and the main palace’s residences and drawing rooms for the Emperor and Empress.
 
The palace looked the same as it had before Tenere left: the soaring blue-gray spires, the panels on the walls.
 
“……Nothing’s changed.”
 
It was almost surprising how unchanged it was, to the point where it was odd to be guided around again.
 
Leonard nodded and squeezed her hand.
 
“The palace felt lonely without you. Walking together like this feels nice.”
 
“…….”
 
“Do you remember that we ran into each other here briefly the day after you came to the palace?”
 
Leonard paused in the hallway and opened his mouth to speak. Tenere looked around at the familiar scenery and smiled faintly.
 
“The day His Majesty asked us to embroider together?”
 
“The day you tried to get permission to embroider with Mother.”
 
The day after the wedding, he was walking back to his office after a meeting. He remembered Tenere walking toward him with a somewhat excited expression.
 
He was pleased to see that she seemed more relaxed, so he spoke to her, and he wondered if she was uncomfortable when she told him that she had come to see his mother.
 
“And how surprised my father was when I told him that the Emperor had decided to embroider with me.”
 
“…….”
 
“I, too…… actually didn’t expect you to come.”
 
“That’s because my embroidery skills are terrible, but I’m a man of my word.”
 
He joked, and a small chuckle escaped her. Leonard gave her hand a light squeeze.
 
“……I wish we could have toured the palace together then.”
 
“…….”
 
“I wish we could have walked and talked together like this.”
 
His voice was thick with regret. Tenere did not answer.
 
“There are many things I have done wrong to you.”
 
The frankness of his voice and his bitter smile seemed genuine.
 
But this was how he acted when he whispered false love.
 
No matter how sweet he was, no matter how many sweet words he whispered, he was capable of this without love.
 
Every time the sweet voice shook her heart, past events came to mind. The cold voice saying it was merely to take the crown prince away, the heartache that followed each word.
 
“You have nothing to apologize for, Your Majesty, you have always treated me well.”
 
Tenere spoke as if it were nothing.
 
She shouldn’t have expected anything. She didn’t need to expect his love, just toe the line as she always had.
 
‘If he tells me anything, I listen, and if he doesn’t tell me anything, I’ll pretend not to know.’
 
“Tenere.”
 
Leonard called her name, and she looked up at him.
 
As she waited for him to speak, she realized they were in front of the Empress’s bedroom.
 
“…… Shall we go in?”
 
Tenere nodded slowly, and Leonard opened the door.
 
Through the open door, she saw familiar furniture and bedding.
 
An ornate canopy embroidered with gold thread, a large bed, a large window with a rounded top, a sofa long enough to stretch out on, and a tea table made of mahogany wood.
 
Tenere walked slowly into the room. A familiar air greeted her.
 
The room hadn’t changed in the two years she’d been away.
 
“This is the room you will use after the ceremony.”
 
It was then that she noticed the sachet at the foot of the bed.
 
Tenere sat on the bed and picked it up. Dried herbs rustled inside the embroidered fabric.
 
She cringed at the thought of leaving something like this behind.
 
“You didn’t throw anything away.”
 
“Because I wanted you to come back.”