STE 02

Chapter 02

It was the Imperial Palace she had returned to after six months, having sent off her father, her mother, and her elder brother Theodore—who had been given the unfamiliar name of “traitor.”

The Imperial Garden, filled with memories of leisurely conversations over tea with her mother, was still beautifully decorated with lush trees and all kinds of rare flowers.

But even as Tethys looked down upon it, she no longer smiled.

Unable to bear the Imperial Palace, which had once been warm but was now nothing but desolate, Tethys fled almost immediately after the coronation ceremony.

To the monastery in Armus, where the winters were particularly harsh.

“Your Majesty, please lower your head for a moment.”

Tethys nodded with a dry expression and accepted the cold touch of metal against her neck.

Once the necklace, delicately crafted and set with peridots, had been fastened around her slender neck, all the hands that had been adorning her withdrew.

“My goodness, Your Majesty, you look absolutely beautiful! Beautiful enough that His Majesty might even ask for the consummation he never got to have.”

Baroness Aegis said this with a bright smile.

The ladies-in-waiting of the Empress’s Palace, who had newly begun serving her after the coronation, casually threw such insolent remarks at their mistress, whom they were seeing again after such a long time.

There was no reason to become angry over something so worthless, so Tethys silently examined her reflection in the mirror.

Wearing only the necklace passed down by the former Empress, her appearance was certainly modest.

In truth, she had no choice.

Tethys had only just arrived at the Imperial Palace, and this was the only dress that had been prepared for her—and it was just as plain.

She immediately noticed something suspicious about the budget allocated to the Empress’s Palace, but for the moment, Tethys did not make an issue of it.

“That will do. Let us go.”

In any case, today was not an occasion for her to show off her appearance.

Whatever she wore could hardly be that important.

“I will escort you, Your Majesty.”

Leaving the other ladies-in-waiting behind, Tethys headed toward the banquet hall accompanied only by Dalia, the junior lady-in-waiting who had followed her all the way to the monastery and continued to attend to her there.

The corridor leading to the main hall was decorated as beautifully as ever.

The master of the palace had changed, but the scenery itself remained exactly the same.

The only thing that had changed was Tethys’s heart.

It had been a little over half a year since she had been left completely alone.

In that short span of time, the Princess who had desperately yearned for a man’s love had disappeared, leaving behind only an Empress who could accept anything with calm indifference.

Whether fortunately or unfortunately, Romain had also stopped seeking her out after the coronation.

Everyone in Carnes knew the reason.

She had served her purpose.

And Tethys knew it as well.

‘When someone is no longer needed and you stop looking for them… eventually, you start wanting to get rid of them completely. That’s simply human nature.’

Especially when there was a lovely favorite by your side who wanted the place occupied by that useless person.

“Let us hurry.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

As Tethys quickened her steps to face her husband for the first time in six months, she thought:

A predictable ending was terribly dull.

Romain Yanulis Carnes, the thirty-second Emperor of the Carnes Empire.

Everyone had gathered for his birthday banquet, the first one held since his accession to the throne.

Since the master of the Imperial Family had changed, even envoys from distant border regions who normally had little contact with the capital had gathered, looking for an opportunity to make themselves known to the new ruler.

Yet the central aristocrats of Carnes were preoccupied with an entirely different topic.

The news of the Empress’s return had filled the front pages of every newspaper since the previous day.

“She ran away to a monastery, and now she has finally returned after only six months.”

“My goodness, she ought to be ashamed of herself. It hasn’t even been that long since she abandoned all the household affairs of the Imperial Palace and fled in such a hurry….”

Kya-ha-ha—

Loud laughter erupted among the young noblewomen.

“I suppose that shameless woman who abandoned her own family was afraid of what people would think after all?”

“Perhaps she regrets it now. They say there’s a rumor going around Armus that the insane Empress cries out every dawn, searching for her parents and her elder brother.”

“How dreadful! I wonder what she did to end up like that.”

Gossiping about others was certainly not elegant.

Unfortunately, however, slandering the Empress was the hottest topic in the room.

People hated Tethys, who had sided with Romain and handed the throne over to him, even more than Romain himself, the man who had usurped the Imperial throne.

Furthermore, although six months was a short period of time in some respects, it had been more than enough for Romain to strengthen his imperial authority and for someone else to take control of an Imperial Palace without a mistress.

It was far too easy to slander a woman who had no power to retaliate.

And there was the added advantage of being able to do so without worrying about repercussions.

“The Empress has arrived!”

When the appointed time came, the chamberlain’s voice announcing the Empress’s arrival rang throughout the hall.

Silence.

Not only did the conversations cease, but even the soft music stopped.

Yet this was not some special arrangement intended to highlight the Empress’s entrance after such a long absence.

“…….”

The atmosphere was silent.

There were no cheers.

No applause.

Yet she was not being completely ignored, either.

The gazes piercing Tethys’s delicate body were harsher than those directed at the Emperor, the supposed traitor.

“Oh? She has finally appeared.”

Someone muttered sarcastically, prompting a brief burst of suppressed laughter before it disappeared.

However, Tethys’s appearance beneath the light of the crystal chandeliers was hardly shabby enough for them to mock her so freely.

Moreover, Tethys, appearing before them after six months, seemed somehow different.

It was as though she had transformed from the immature young lady they remembered into a woman displaying a mature and graceful bearing.

“…A beauty capable of bringing a country to ruin.”

An elderly count, overwhelmed by her picture-perfect appearance, barely managed to utter those words.

Only then did everyone remember that ever since Tethys was a child, people had always said that she would become an extraordinary beauty once she grew up.

Indeed.

Tethys, who had grown remarkably in only half a year, possessed such radiant beauty that even calling her a striking beauty seemed inadequate.

Her golden hair glittered like gold spun into fine threads upon a loom.

Her long, deer-like neck and straight, delicate shoulders accentuated the graceful balance of her posture.

Her flawless skin was so clear and smooth that it seemed almost translucent from within, gleaming with a polished radiance.

And finally, her beautiful golden eyes, shining like jewels, revealed that unlike the usurper Romain, she was a true direct descendant of the Carnes Imperial Family.

“My, you have finally arrived. His Majesty has already taken his seat….”

A coquettish voice cut across the suddenly quiet hall.

It belonged to Countess Penelope Troia, who had seized the position in Tethys’s absence.

As though declaring war upon Tethys, she was sitting on Romain’s lap.

The atmosphere surrounding the two was so suggestive that it seemed they might engage in something indecent at any moment.

But Tethys maintained a doll-like expressionless face and simply proceeded toward her seat.

“Your Majesty, look over there.”

As Tethys drew closer, Penelope whispered into his ear.

“She has arrived.”

It was hardly a whisper, however, as her voice was loud enough to be clearly heard.

‘That woman.’

It was an insolent way to refer to the Empress, but there was no one here who could object to it.

At that moment, Romain happened to turn his indifferent gaze toward the path Tethys was walking along.

“Ah, she’s here.”

Apparently pleased by his apathetic reaction, Penelope smiled brightly and pointed at Tethys with her index finger.

“Yes. Her clothes are so shabby—no, so modest—that you probably can’t see her very well.”

Her curved amethyst-colored eyes were filled with hostility toward Tethys.

“Come to think of it, even though she is the Empress, how could she arrive later than the guest of honor? With envoys from foreign nations present, this is practically a challenge to His Majesty’s authority.”

“…….”

“If she has even the slightest sense of shame, surely she will apologize to His Majesty?”

Her gentle, deliberately audible voice caused those nearby to grow even more tense as they watched the pair.

But Tethys did not even spare Penelope a glance.

She did not offer the embarrassing excuse that she had been informed of the banquet an entire hour late.

Nor did she explain that the ladies-in-waiting of the Empress’s Palace had deliberately sided with Penelope.

She simply looked up at Romain.

The man she had not seen for six months.

A man who was now less than a stranger to her.

“Tethys.”

Just as she expected.

The voice calling her name no longer sounded beautiful.

“You are late.”

His first words to her officially were an accusation over her lateness.

But Tethys was neither hurt nor disappointed anymore.

“I apologize, Your Majesty.”

“Tsk.”

He clicked his tongue and casually nodded, as though even arguing with her was bothersome.

“It has been a long time since we last met, so naturally, I should receive your greeting.”

“If you mean a greeting….”

“Kneel.”

It was a cold command.

There was no custom between husband and wife that required one to kneel before the other.

So what he was demanding was the courtesy owed by a subject.

This was the first birthday banquet of Romain, the thirty-second Emperor of the Carnes Empire, attended not only by domestic bourgeoisie and merchants, but also by foreign nobles and royalty.

Here, his obvious intention was to make her—or rather, the symbol of the former Carnes Imperial Family—officially kneel before him.

A derisive smile curled at the corner of Tethys’s lips.