He had been the object of her lifelong admiration. He seemed so great as the hero of this country that she would have gladly accepted just watching his back for the rest of her life.
But that didn’t mean it was okay for someone other than her to be by Kalaian’s side.
‘What a fool I was to have such expectations.’
Aris left his office. She told the waiting attendants that she wanted to walk alone and started heading towards the Empress’s palace.
It was rare in Belvaiden for the Emperor to take a second wife. That fact weighed heavily on Aris’s heart.
It was just then that she was about to sigh,
“Your Majesty the Empress?”
Aris stopped at the sound of someone calling her. It was a voice from behind. Aris knew the owner of that voice very well.
‘Why of all times…’
Aris reluctantly turned around. She saw a woman with deep green hair reminiscent of a night forest. The woman who approached in one breath bowed politely, gently curving her kind eyes.
“It’s been a while, Your Majesty the Empress. It’s an honor to meet you like this.”
She was originally a woman who always smiled first. Aris always followed her smile, but this time she couldn’t easily lift the corners of her mouth.
“…Lady Frencia. It’s nice to see you.”
Because she was the very woman who would become her husband’s other wife, the one she least wanted to meet right now.
“Your Majesty the Empress, is something the matter? It may be presumptuous of me to say, but you look deeply troubled.”
Serena Frencia approached Aris with light steps. Aris had to look up at Serena who came close to her face.
She saw a worried gaze. She also felt the extreme height difference between them.
It should have been proper for her, the Emperor’s wife, to look down on a count’s daughter. It was also strange to step back and raise her head to the one who approached with a worried face.
‘The difference between the East and West…’
Even physically, the difference was clear.
Western people were generally well-built. Thanks to that, Serena gave the impression of an elegant woman with a tall, slender figure and beautiful curves and healthy lines.
On the other hand, Aris, being from the East, had a frail appearance with bird-like thin limbs and a small frame.
Aris forced a smile.
“It’s nothing, Lady Frencia. Thank you for your concern.”
“I’m glad there seems to be nothing wrong with the esteemed Empress.”
Serena smiled brightly with a kind tone. Aris suddenly wondered. Why is this woman acting as if she knows nothing? Was the matter of the Empress a decision His Majesty made on his own?
As she was sizing her up, Serena continued.
“I apologize, but I was worried about Your Majesty the Empress. I wondered if you might be feeling anxious about me becoming the Empress Consort.”
Aris’s eyes flinched. Serena was still smiling with an innocent face, her eyes narrowed gently. She spoke softly, as if she had seen right through Aris.
“I am merely someone who will take care of the tasks that Your Majesty the Empress cannot handle. Whatever they may be.”
Thump thump. Aris’s heart suddenly beat violently as she met Serena’s eyes. If she felt a strange sense of disdain from her despite her kind attitude, was it just her imagination?
Aris suddenly recalled the maids’ chatter from earlier in the day. The talk about the ‘imperial heir’ that Aris had never even been given a chance to address.
Serena silently observed Aris’s silence, then after hearing the time from her attendant behind her, she said,
“Your Majesty the Empress, it’s time for the meeting to convene, so I shall take my leave now. I hope you will be in good health when we meet next time as well.”
As the only daughter of the Frencia count family, she was an excellent mage and also a sub-commander who followed the Emperor to the battlefield. Aris composed herself and nodded.
“Yes. See you next time.”
After a brief greeting, Serena walked past Aris. She, with her hands clasped together, watched Serena’s retreating figure. The confident strides and her signature elegant red attire lingered long in Aris’s eyes.
Having been born and raised in the East, Aris, who always pursued subtle nobility, always found it difficult to take her eyes off Serena.
‘To think she could be so visually striking. How frivolous.’
However, when she looked at her own neat and modest attire after seeing her, strangely, many things seemed lacking. In fact, if Aris were to dress like that, she would look ridiculous as if she had stolen someone else’s clothes.
Aris let out a hollow laugh.
‘I’m envying that person.’
Aris turned and headed towards the Empress’s palace.
She felt like a misshapen stone that had rolled in alone from a foreign land to this world where so many things were different.
* * *
“Your Majesty the Empress. You have a fever, aren’t you overworking yourself?”
“I’m fine.”
Seeing her flushed face, the maid who brought the tea spoke worriedly. When Aris smiled and shook her head, the maid withdrew.
‘I must do my duties… If I don’t do them, who knows where these tasks will end up.’
Aris let out a small sigh. Though she tried not to mind, Serena’s words kept heightening her anxiety.
“I am merely someone who will take care of the tasks that Your Majesty the Empress cannot handle. Whatever they may be.”
…No. It’s okay, Aristena. These tasks are solely the responsibility of the Empress–me. If I just do well… if I just put in the effort, they won’t be taken away.
Aris continued her work silently, comforting herself. She didn’t want to lose her only excuse to meet Kalaian.
But mercilessly, the heavens were not on Aris’s side. Her earnest efforts instead turned into poison for her.
“H-Her Majesty the Empress has collapsed!”
“Quickly, call the imperial physician!”
Aris’s vision suddenly blurred and distorted after focusing on work for several days.
‘No, this can’t be…’
It was on her way to meet Kalaian, which she had longed for so much. The document files she had been stubbornly carrying in her arms, not wanting to entrust them to others, spilled onto the floor.
When Aris, who had lost consciousness and collapsed, regained her senses, she saw a familiar ceiling. It was the bedroom of the Empress’s palace.
As Aris let out a low groan and opened her eyes, the doctor responded.
“Have you awakened?”
“Yes…”
“Do you remember collapsing?”
Aris nodded slowly. The physician pushed up his glasses, which gave a cold impression, with his fingertip and sighed.
“It’s overwork. This is rare here… I’ve heard that the physical strength of Easterners is not as good as that of Westerners. You know your body better than anyone, Your Majesty the Empress. You should always work within your limits.”
“…Yes, thank you for your concern.”
Aris smiled awkwardly as she listened to the physician’s nagging. Then, with a knock and an announcing voice, she quickly sat up.
“His Majesty has come to visit.”
Though flustered at first, Aris’s lips curled up at the news of his arrival, forgetting her pain. Could it be that he came to visit her after hearing that she was sick?
The physician said he would withdraw and leave the bedroom, and Kalaian soon entered. Aris’s heart was overwhelmed just by the fact of seeing him. Really… so foolishly.
Kalaian approached Aris. She hurriedly tried to get up from the bed, but he stopped her.
“Please stay seated comfortably.”
“Yes, Your Majesty…”
Kalaian stared at Aris, who was leaning against the bed’s headboard. It was a gaze that made it impossible to know what he was thinking.
Aris, not knowing how to react to his steady gaze, finally opened her mouth after much consideration.
“Your Majesty, thank you so much for coming to visit…”
“If you didn’t want to work, why didn’t you just say so?”
“…Pardon?”
Aris asked back blankly, as if she had been hit on the head. A pair of cold violet eyes were staring directly at Aris.
Only after feeling like she had been doused with cold water could Aris discern the emotions hidden in his dry gaze.
Contempt, irritation. And disdain. There was no sign of concern anywhere.
Seeing her mouth open and close without understanding his words, Kalaian sighed.
“Collapsing because of work. I’ve lived to see such a strange sight, and I can only laugh at how absurd it is. It’s novel, but if you’re going to feign illness, couldn’t you have done it more convincingly?”
Feigning illness?
Aris drew in a breath. He must have misunderstood something.
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SHSJSSKSSKSKSK WHAT. she literally collapsed from overworking herself. how does it make sense that she doesn’t even want to work? 😭 he literally doesn’t trust her im so 😔