Translator: Aura / Editor: SaWarren

  Duke Elgy said decisively with a smile,

  “I’m sorry, but it sounds like you’re just saying that on impulse.”
However, his voice was not as cold as before.

  Rashta realized this and was filled with hope.

  “Rashta, I think you’re confused right now because your relationship with His Majesty is not good. Or are you pretending to be confused on purpose?”
“I’m serious. Really serious. Just the thought of Duke Elgy leaving is so painful, how could this not be love?”
Rashta spoke hurriedly and hugged Duke Elgy from behind.

  “Please be my lover, Duke.”
Duke Elgy was surprised.

  Lover?

  It was not uncommon for a member of the royal family of another country to become a lover of the empress or the emperor.

  However, this case was a little different.

  “I also have feelings for Rashta, so becoming your lover is not the problem.”
“Then what is?”
“You have no power as empress. Unfortunately… you are now an empress in name only.”
“!”
“If I, a member of the royal family of another country, become your lover, I will lose my reputation in my home country.”
“I’ll not always be an empress in name only. I can promise you that.”
“That is out of Rashta’s reach.”
Rashta’s pride was wounded.

  Duke Elgy had always given her strength, so she did not want to hear this from him.

  But Duke Elgy finally removed his hand from the doorknob and turned around, so she stopped thinking about it and looked at him anxiously.

  “But people might laugh less if Rashta gives me a gift of great value by signing the lover contract.”
“A gift?”
Remembering the enormous amount of jewelry and dresses she received from Sovieshu after signing the concubine contract, Rashta was quick to ask,

  “What do you want? Money? Jewelry?”
“Of that I have a lot. So much I’d never finish counting.”
“Then…”
Duke Elgy pretended to reflect and exclaimed, “Ah! A territory. Give me a territory near the coast.”
Rashta was surprised. He wanted a territory?

  “As you know, my country is a maritime kingdom, so it’s convenient near the coast.”
“Hmm, but Rashta doesn’t have that power…”
“If not, you can’t have me, a member of another country’s royal family, as a lover.”
Duke Elgy said firmly, and looked at Rashta with great regret.

  “It’s better not to go any further for both our sakes.”
“I’ll find a way!”
Rashta hastily clung to Duke Elgy and shouted.

  “Rashta will find a way!”
* * *

  “There’s much talk that the Empress held Duke Elgy back when he was about to leave.”
Marquis Karl reported with a grim face.

  Sovieshu’s expression wavered for a moment.

  “Were they seen publicly?”
“It is said that while Duke Elgy was loading his luggage into the carriage, Rashta rushed over to him. After that, the two went into his room and had a long conversation. In the end, Duke Elgy brought down his luggage, deciding to stay.”
Marquis Karl was very worried.

  People thought that the empress of poor origin only damaged the image of the imperial family.

  There were many empresses who had lovers, but none went around playing the couple in love.

  The more malicious ones scoffed, saying that they did not know whether Rashta entered the room with Duke Elgy and detained him with her mouth or with her body.

  Of course, those who said that belonged to the sort of person that others would look down on for their rude words, but there was inevitably a point where the worse the rumor, the more attractive it was to hear it.

  “It seems that the more innocent a person is, the faster it darkens.”
Sovieshu lamented.

  Although she had a clever side and sometimes showed behavior out of common sense, Sovieshu thought Rashta was truly innocent.

  Surrounded by calculating people, Rashta looked like a wildflower bearing the strong wind alone.

  He believed that Rashta’s purity had to be protected.

  All people are influenced by their environment, so I knew Rashta would one day change.

  But he didn’t expect it to be so fast…
“Your Majesty, shouldn’t we stop the Empress? I’m afraid if she continues like this, the Imperial Family will become a laughingstock.”
“The laughing stock started from the time she showed up at the wedding in that dress that looked like it was covered in seaweed, and we didn’t stop her.”
Sovieshu muttered coldly, and shook his head.

  “Let’s leave her for the moment. What’s more important now is the baby in her belly. Do you have anything else to report?”
“It’s not about the Eastern Empire…”
“?”
Sovieshu frowned at Marquis Karl’s hesitation.

  However, he quickly realized what Marquis Karl wanted to talk about. It was about the Western Empire.

  The sensitive issues of allied, enemy, and powerful countries, Sovieshu read directly through the newspapers or was informed by his secretaries. Even if they were not important to the Eastern Empire at the moment, one never knew whether one could profit from such information later on.

  So it was not unusual for Marquis Karl to talk about the Western Empire.

  “Don’t worry, it’s fine. Just say it.”
Sovieshu spoke casually, he didn’t seem uncomfortable.

  “It’s a scandal between former Queen Christa and Emperor Heinley.”
However, as soon as he heard Marquis Karl’s words, Sovieshu’s expression became rigid.

  “What?”
Marquis Karl spoke of when the scandal took place, how it came about, how it was resolved, and so on.

  “It turns out that at the time former Queen Christa claimed to have been with Emperor Heinley, she was with Grand Duke Kapmen. In the end it was proven that she had lied, and left as if she was fleeing to Compshire Mansion.”
Sovieshu smiled bitterly as he remembered that Grand Duke Kapmen had been with Rashta that night.

  He couldn’t believe the Grand Duke would lie like that.

  “Grand Duke Kapmen must have done it to help Emperor Heinley, or to help Navier.”
“Huh?”
Sovieshu laughed coldly.

  “I knew it, that shameless playboy, he was just pretending to be a man deeply in love.”
Marquis Karl shut his mouth when he realized that Sovieshu spoke with hatred towards Emperor Heinley.

  Sovieshu sent Marquis Karl to go and rest.

  However, feeling as if the inside of his stomach was boiling, Sovieshu stood up and then sat down repeatedly on the couch, not being able to stay still.

  Navier looked happy, she thought she had met someone who loved only her. But did he cheat on her right after the wedding?

  Sovieshu was furious and wanted to punch Heinley in the face.

  He wanted to make sure that Navier was not suffering. However, he wondered if it would be appropriate to give a letter, or a gift, to Navier as comfort.

  Navier had strong pride. She would definitely not accept comfort from her ex-husband.

  After some pondering, Sovieshu came up with a good idea.

  ***