Whose Child Belongs to the Emperor - Chapter 5 - Part 9

Chapter 5 – Part 9

She felt indignant and angry. Wasn’t he a different person? At least he wasn’t the kind of person who would recklessly deceive someone else’s sincerity.

Tenere pulled her hand away gently from his warm touch.

“Why didn’t you just tell me the truth from the beginning, that you knew I had run off with your son, that you’d grant me my reinstatement as the mother of your child, and that we’d go back together? If only you had been honest from the beginning. If you had said so, I might have been hurt, but… I wouldn’t have been so disappointed in His Majesty.”

Tenere bit her lower lip as if to keep from crying. But the redness of her face and the wetness of her eyes suggested that she might burst into tears at any moment.

She still couldn’t believe she’d been fooled by him all this time. He had deceived her heart.

“Why do you speak of a love you don’t have? Why did you deceive me? Why did you make me feel so ridiculous?”

This was not the man Tenere loved. He had tried to create an heir as soon as possible to protect her, but he had never used her heart to gain it.

A dizzying mix of betrayal, shame, and humiliation. Leonard said nothing. He didn’t assure her that he loved her or say he was sorry for deceiving her all this time.

There was only confusion on his face, as if he hadn’t expected to be found out. No, I didn’t think he would resent me this much, even if he did.

Though he deserved to look that way since he’d given her to her without question when he’d said he loved her,.

Tenere opened her mouth in a small, self-deprecating voice.

“I won’t go to the palace.”

In a subdued declaration, Leonard raised his head in surprise. Tenere looked at him with bewildered eyes.

“I’ll go back to the village with my child.”

A brief silence followed. Leonard opened his mouth, not understanding her words.

“What nonsense are you talking about? Josie is the Crown Prince. Of course, he should go to the palace with you.”

“He is not Your Majesty’s child.”

Teneer said it indifferently. Leonard’s face twisted, but he didn’t seem to care.

“The greedy empress, blinded by power, dared to lie to the Emperor.”

He knew it was nonsense.

With black hair streaked with red highlights when exposed to light, clear gold eyes that softened when smiling, distinct facial features, and a gentle demeanor, the child closely resembled him.

But he knew that, and yet she insisted because she was truly angry. She didn’t want to hand Josie over to the man she’d heard was trying to use her love to get him. She wanted to put up a fight, even if she couldn’t win in the end.

“If I dare deceive the Emperor by claiming this child is Your Majesty’s child, I will surely receive severe punishment. Please punish me strictly and send me back to where I originally belonged.”

Tenere bowed deeply. It was the most rebellion she could muster. Leonard stared at her for a while and then wiped his face with annoyance.

“You will return to the palace. I know you’re upset, and so is Josie, but…”

“In the first place, I’m not the empress, and my child was born after I abdicated, so he’s not a prince, and I have no reason to go to the imperial palace.”

“No matter when you gave birth, it’s my child, and you have no right to be so insistent.”

“It is my child, carried by me and born by me. You didn’t give birth to it yourself, and you’re so sure it’s yours just because of how it looks?

He was at a loss for words in the face of her blatant lies without even blinking. Tenere shamelessly continued her words.

“If the child resembles Your Majesty… then it must be because I carried the seed of someone who looks like you because I was trying to ease my longing for you”

“…”

“After our last night together, even the maids in the palace knew. To be prepared, the palace physician examined me the day before I left. If this child were Your Majesty’s, they would have known back then.”

It was an absurd persistence, but it wasn’t entirely untrue. The problem was that their last night occurred after the palace physician’s examination, but since no one in the palace knew about that night, Leonard couldn’t easily accept her words.

If she continued making such claims publicly, and if some sympathized with this absurdity, he couldn’t help but think about the consequences.

While it wasn’t uncommon for high-ranking nobles and women who spent a night together to later bring a child, denying the child born to the Emperor was unprecedented.

Leonard looked at Tenere with a confused expression. Her expressionless face was still unfamiliar.

“I will take the child and return to the village.”

Tenere spoke again. The eyes that used to look at him with a smile now seemed to avoid his gaze, as if she disliked it.

‘She wanted to leave again. Go back to that worn-out foreign village, to a house no bigger than a matchbox.’

He couldn’t allow it. He couldn’t let her, whom he had finally found again, go. But her stubbornness was so unlike anything he’d ever known that he didn’t even know how to appease her.

No, he was angry that she would return to such a place as if it were her home.

“You’re going to raise a child who’s supposed to be growing up in the palace.”

Her voice trembled at the mention of the child. Leonard didn’t miss the slight twitch of her hand. At that moment, he realized her hesitation.

“Can you protect Josie alone?”

Tenere remained silent. Surely, she must be recalling the incident when the people of the Marquis stormed her house. Leonard approached her a step closer.

“And what about your brother?”

Tenere tried to step back, but there was a baby crib behind her, limiting her movement. Seeing her slightly weakened posture, Leonard opened his mouth gently.

“Exonerating Evan Marquis will happen because you are the Empress who bore the Crown Prince. If you don’t return to the imperial palace and Josie won’t be the Crown Prince, there’s no reason to absolve the traitorous family.”

Leonard’s voice was extremely calm. Tenere was silent for a long moment, then spoke.

“Are you threatening me with…… now?”

“I am merely stating the facts, preventing you from making a foolish choice.”

Leonard’s voice was extremely calm. Tenere noticed her grabbing the edge of her skirt tightly. Not that she had ever insisted on unnecessary stubbornness or angered anyone. It felt bitter to know that she, who never showed anger, was now angry at him.

Her tightly pressed lips trembled slightly. Leonard saw Tenere clutch at the hem of her skirt. She was never stubborn about anything and never angry with anyone. It was bittersweet to realize that she was angry with him.

“Why don’t you just order a marriage by imperial decree?”

A gentleman’s marriage did not take place without the consent of the other party. It was considered barbaric to force a marriage by order or coercion, even if the relationship was one of master and servant.

The emperor was no different. If you wanted to marry someone, you sent them a proposal, and if they didn’t say yes, there was no marriage or engagement. It’s just that no one has ever rejected an emperor’s proposal before.

“I can’t force you to marry me if you don’t want to, but I can order you to accompany me.”

He didn’t mention that he might punish her for running away from the system. The mere mention of the child and her brother had softened Tenere.

“How can I refuse the order of the Emperor, the master of the Empire?”

The words slipped from her tightly pressed lips, but they were not pleasant. Whether it was her lifeless expression or the wetness in her eyes, he couldn’t tell.

Leonard reached out to soothe her, even if belatedly.

“It’s just…….”

Tenere opened her mouth in a small voice. Leonard’s hand froze in place.

“From now on… can I have a separate room?”

“…”

“Even though you have permitted me, I am now a widow. I don’t see any reason why I should have to share a room with His Majesty.”

Or, perhaps more bluntly, she meant that she did not wish to be with him. Leonard did not answer. Tenere tried not to distort her face and bit her lips as if avoiding his gaze.

“… Please.”

Her pleading voice made his chest tighten as if he had lumped it. But he knew he had to step back a bit at this point.

Leonard nodded slowly.

Tenere gave him a quick bow, then gently picked Josie up. She was just about to turn away.

“Tenere.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Tenere stopped dead in her tracks, but Leonard couldn’t bring himself to speak.

He knew she hadn’t said his name since earlier.

“Do you hate me……?”

The words came out impulsively. Why he asked the question, he didn’t know, not even to himself. But he waited for her answer with some trepidation.

“……How dare I speak to the Emperor in such a manner?”

She answered quickly, but it was clear she meant it in the affirmative. When Leonard did not answer, Tenere waited a moment and then left the room.

Leonard could only stand there, staring at the closed door.