Chapter 419 – 36. Temporary Return to the Empire

The first time Han Si-woo met the second empress was when he was asleep for a long time.

Knock.

“Hmm…?”

Siwoo wakes up to the sound of a knock.

Needless to say, it was one of the second empress’s maids who came to visit him.

“Excuse me, Han Si-woo. Her Majesty the Second Empress is looking for you, but could you please come with me?”

A maid who humbles herself extremely and shows a polite attitude.

No, an elite unit directly under the Second Empress disguised as a maid.

It was a shadow evil spirit.

Although he hides it well, just by looking at his energy that can be felt at first glance, he seems to be stronger than most knights.

“… Good.”

Even though I just woke up, I answered quickly without thinking for a long time.

Not just a high-ranking noble, but the only empress of the three in Glazer.

She asked to meet first, so there is no reason to refuse.

Siwoo told her to wait a moment as he would prepare, and soon got ready to go out.

Although she doesn’t have anything to prepare, you can’t go there with her face that just woke up.

After roughly washing my face and grooming myself, I opened the door again.

“Let’s go.”

“Thank you.”

As I was following the maid, I somehow remembered the time I met the mother of the Third Empress and her fiancee, Helena.

Unlike the other two empresses, two of her children entered the race for the throne.

Perhaps that’s why the 3rd Empress seemed very relaxed when we met her.

Of course, she did not think that the existence of an empress would be possible, so she supported her eldest son, the 2nd prince.

She ended up making a bet.

Based on that time, it was about 8 months, that is, if her second prince could not win Helena within this year, she would raise her daughter’s hand.

There is already not much left in this year, but the power of the Iron Blood Princess is strong.

On the other hand, her 2nd prince’s faction is experiencing problems every day.

‘Still, it would be better to put an end to it quickly and clearly.’

If the 2nd prince is eliminated like that, there are two remaining competitors.

One of them is already on the verge of elimination.

In other words, the first prince, who was incompetent but led the largest faction and was holding on with the help of those around her, was the opponent that Helena had to overcome.

‘No, I guess I don’t know that yet either.’

At this moment, the Second Empress called her.

The 2nd Empress, the mother of the 1st Princess Nestra Glazer, boasts unrivaled talent and brains among the three empresses.

She was born into a Korean-American count family with no fiefdom, and was a heroine who achieved the position of second empress on her own.

Rumor has it that she is the embodiment of greed for power and is also called a cool-headed witch, but there are many questions about that.

Even though her only child is the first princess, she does not actively contribute to the competition for the throne.

1 Among the plans being carried out by the princess’s faction, there are many strange aspects that do not seem to have received advice from the 2 empress.

There are a few more.

‘I’m not sure what kind of person he is.’

Maybe that’s why I was looking forward to meeting.

Basically, you can only understand a person by meeting them in person and talking to them.

The place where I came face to face with the Second Empress was at the pavilion in her garden.

“Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too, Second Empress.”

“The story might be long, so sit down.”

“Yes.”

“Here’s the car.”

“Thank you. But…”

Freshly brewed hot black tea, which had been prepared in advance, fills the teacup in front of it.

Siwoo enjoyed the tea, cookies, and looked around the garden, then made eye contact with the Second Empress again.

“I don’t see any maids.”

“Everyone stepped aside. I have to talk about something important.”

She poured all of her tea into Siu’s cup and then poured her tea into her own cup as well.

“At least there won’t be anyone in the garden.”

“…”

Siwoo felt cold for no reason at the words of the 2nd Empress.

She saw it on the way, but the garden was quite large.

‘What kind of story are you talking about?’

“There’s nothing to be too nervous about. It won’t cause any harm to Mr. Siwoo.”

“Is that so?”

I am not worried about physical threats.

Even if she knows how to use magic and has divine protection, she is just an empress.

If she were to fight with just her body, there was nothing she couldn’t overpower.

What he is concerned about is other means.

Siwoo took a sip of tea to relieve his tension.

“To put it bluntly, I want Mr. Siwoo to accept my daughter, Nestra, her first princess.”

“Eup, keheuk. Cough…!”

“Oh? Umm. I’m sorry. Are you okay?”

“Huh? Ah, yes, sigh. It’s okay.”

I said it was okay, but I was so embarrassed that it made me laugh.

There is nothing that cannot be understood in terms of the meaning of the words themselves, but the content is the problem.

Siwoo collected his thoughts in his head while touching the spilled tea.

Rather than arguing pointlessly with her second empress, he decided to ask her directly.

“Doesn’t the Empress covet the throne?”

“Hehe, you said it too openly.”

“Yes? … Ah.”

“It’s a shame there’s only two of us here. It might sound dangerous.”

“Well, that’s a mistake. But it’s just the two of us, isn’t it?”

The Second Empress smiled meaningfully.

However, Siwoo was confident that at least there was no one around the pavilion.

No matter how well the shadow evil spirit hid, he was confident that it was within this range.

“Is it the throne?”

“Yes. The 1st princess…”

“It’s such a pity. I’m not really greedy for power.”

“…?”

“The rumor going around is that I got to this position by defeating all my competitors for some kind of power, but that’s not true at all.”

“Is that so?”

It’s embarrassing.

The 2nd Empress says she is sad with a little air blowing into her cheek.

There is something strange about an adult woman who passed on to her daughter a voluptuous figure, and it is no exaggeration to say that she is voluptuous.

However, she looked strangely good, and her expression and eyes seemed genuine, denying the rumors.

‘I don’t think it’s a lie…’

The Second Empress may be deceiving him.

Although she is not active in the social world now, she was once the queen of the social world, leading countless ladies.

She also made a name for herself in politics, dealing with old and new nobles.

It would be easy for the Empress to deceive her foolish eyes.

The Empress continued speaking as she saw Siwoo groaning internally.

“Of course, the purpose is wrong, but most of the rest is correct. When I was young, I was quite rampant and swept through social and political circles. Sometimes cruelly, sometimes gently. I used all the talents I had to make allies and, conversely, defeat enemies. That’s how the Second Empress became. It could have been done.”

“Purpose…? Even if the reason she became empress was not for power or fame, there may be many candidates. For some reason, when she looks at Empress Mama, she is the only one that comes to mind.”

Actually, nothing comes to mind.

I just watched it to see her reaction.

But the Empress smiled brightly.

“Yes, that’s right. I truly loved His Majesty the Emperor♡”

“…”

How long has it been since I was surprised like this one after another?

It may have been surprisingly little, but it was so surprising and left me speechless.

There was no reason to suspect a lie, and the empress’ face could not be seen as smoke.

A face that reminds me of someone I truly like.

There is no doubt about this because there are women who look at them.

“Hehe. Are you very surprised?”

“Well…”

“Anyway, that’s it. I was lucky enough to get an invitation to a New Year’s party. I met His Majesty there and fell in love at first sight, and from then on, I put in a lot of hard work to add to my quietly dormant talent and came to this place.”

“…”

“But… Yes, as you probably know, there is only one woman His Majesty loves. She is the First Empress.”

The smile that had bloomed as she thought of her loved one suddenly turned bitter.

This is a widely known fact not only in the Glazer Empire but also in aristocratic society.

In a world where there are many men who dislike the female gender itself, the pure love between the emperor and his wife is famous.

How did the 2nd Empress feel as she watched it from the side?

‘It’s a shame.’

“I wanted my daughter Nessie to be with someone she loves, too. So I educated her a little… Strictly. It’s embarrassing to say this, but unfortunately, she didn’t inherit my talent… In this world, if a woman needs to be with someone she loves, she has to have the ability. There should be this.”

The Empress’s intentions were good.

Her only mistake is that when she was younger, she had a quite rigid personality and lacked communication with her daughter.

Thanks to this, the 1st Empress became afraid of her mother, but it wasn’t until much later that the 2nd Empress found out about it.

“Unlike me, Nessie prefers power rather than the happiness of being a woman. I don’t see that as a bad thing, but the problem is that she is average. And because of that, she is greedy and overdoes it, which is why she makes mistakes. Ha, maybe it looks like me.”

The story after that was nothing special.

Of course, it was important in its own way, but it was so shocking that I only half-read it.

In order to strengthen her position, the first princess Nestra becomes engaged to and marries S-class man Hero Michael.

They even had a child, but there was no love.

It’s just a little love that arose when our goals coincided.

That eventually created discord, which led us to where we are now.

“I beg you like this, Mr. Siwoo. Please accept my daughter.”

“No, that… I guess it’s not a matter I can decide on my own. First, I need to listen to Helena’s opinion. Also, the first princess’s thoughts.”

“That’s right. Helena, I can’t bear to tell that child, so I would appreciate it if Siu could tell you. And Nessie…”

2 Empress slowly raises her head to check the clock hanging on one side of the wall.

The bitter smile from earlier had already disappeared, and it was a gentle smile like when we first met.

“I guess it’s time to come soon.”

“Nessie, no, you called 1st Princess Nestra.”

“Yes. I asked Christina to call Siwoo about 30 minutes after he arrives.”

Siwoo answered awkwardly and nodded.

I’m embarrassed because it’s such an unexpected request, and it’s somewhat embarrassing to ask that of the person in question.

But the Second Empress said something strange.

“So, would you please hide here?”

“… Yes?”

2 The place the Empress was pointing was inside her own rich skirt.

“That boy, Nessie, will definitely not be able to answer properly if Siu is in front of him. So, if possible, please hide and eavesdrop on our conversation.”

“No, I understand that, but why in the skirt…?”

“That’s because there’s no time to hide around here.”

Siwoo hurriedly looked around, but there really wasn’t anything.

It is obvious that if you hide in a thin pillar or a low flower bed, you will be discovered quickly.

However, it was strange that he went out of his way to hide his true feelings.

The person in urgent need is not you, but the 2nd Empress and the 1st Princess.

“Empress.”

As she was about to say that, the quick-witted Empress smiled mischievously and loosened the chest of her dress.

“…?!”

“Now. If I don’t hide quickly, I’m going to scream?”

“Ha, why on earth do you have to wear a skirt…”

The Second Empress just smiled without answering.

And yet, the hand is slowly undoing the straps of the dress.

Siwoo had no choice but to hide under the empress’ skirt.

1st Princess Nestra appeared within a few minutes.

Si-woo, who was hiding in the dark and eavesdropping on her conversation, felt something unpleasant.

She wants to repay the Empress for her prank, but she can’t think of a way to do it.

Then, a faint female scent pierced my nose.

Acting not on reason but on instinct, Si-woo stretched out her hand toward the second empress’s flower, which only the emperor had touched.

“That means…”

“Yes, saint Han Si-woo’s huh…?!”

“Mother?”

The middle finger lightly brushed over underwear.

There was sticky water on the tip.