Chapter 168 – Shocked Together With Heinley (1)

“Please stay here a moment.”

Marquis Farang walked out towards the gate and spoke to a guard, but the guard gave no sign that he acknowledged him. Marquis Farang then climbed up a large rock near the wall and peered over it. He came back inside, clicking his tongue.

“Not only have the knights surrounded the front gate, but the entire mansion as well.”

No, no. Sovieshu, are you trying to lock me up? I rushed to the front gate. When the knights saw me, they exchanged embarrassed glances with each other. They seemed to pity me, but they did not step aside.

“Why are you here?”

“Sorry, Your Ma—Navier.”

“How long are you going to keep standing there?”

“As long as His Majesty orders.”

The knight’s voice was firm.

“I’m going to see His Majesty in person. Get out of the way.”

I angrily tried to open the gate, but the knights blocked my way.

“!”

I stared up at them in amazement, but they kept their positions while refusing eye contact with me. I was about to go back inside, when I heard Heinley’s cold voice approach.

“Keeping the King and Queen of the Western Kingdom in custody. Don’t you know this will turn into an international incident?”

I thought he was talking to himself at first, but it sounded like he was giving a threat. The knights pressed their lips together, but it was a different person who answered.

“Who cares about international affairs when someone takes another person’s wife?”

It was Sovieshu. I didn’t see him arrive in his carriage behind the line of knights, but he soon walked forward, and the knights parted to allow him access. The white bars of the iron gate served as a barrier between us. Sovieshu looked at me and Heinley.

“I’ve never taken ‘another person’s wife’.”

“My my, King Heinley. You shouldn’t have caused such a disturbance yesterday if you were going to tell a lie.”

“You had nothing to do with Navier the moment you were divorced. And she’s not just ‘another person’s wife’.”

Sovieshu’s gazed sharpened at Heinley’s words.

Did Sovieshu not have enough sleep? I noticed dark bags under his eyes. He held himself with dignity as usual, but he looked tired. I thought he would be celebrating with champagne after the divorce. Maybe he didn’t want to have a toast after I remarried? I felt like gloating, but I kept a calm face to avoid giving too much attention.

However, when it came to Sovieshu, his control slipped when he was fatigued. He grabbed a gate bar roughly with one hand and rattled it threateningly as he sneered at Heinley.

King Heinley, the playboy king. You seduced the innocent Navier, didn’t you?”

That was unfair to Heinley, as I was the one that proposed to him. Probably for my sake, however, Heinley kept his calm and gave no answer. Eventually I stepped forward and said, “I proposed.” Sovieshu stared at me as if I had just smacked him.

“Do you want to side with him that much?”

Despite my confession of truth, he still seemed to believe that Heinley tempted me to his side.

“Yes.”

There was a pause, and then Sovieshu let out a delirious laugh.

“Are you doing this to get revenge on me?”

“Revenge?”

“Did you choose him to make me angry?”

“No.”

“Don’t you know that he’s an immature womanizer? You don’t have to ruin your life to get revenge.”

“I’m not ruining it.”

“Navier. He’s only using you.”

“We’re using each other.”

“!”

“!”

Sovieshu looked startled by my answer. The strange thing was that Heinley, who had been smiling by my side, had widened his eyes in shock at the same time.

Oh…alas.

Under these circumstances, it was probably best that I didn’t announce that our marriage was of political convenience. It was awkward to correct it here, so I decided to apologize to Heinley later, then turned back towards Sovieshu.

His black eyes burned with fury. The look on his face made it seem like I had taken away his throne.

“With the path you were going, and with who you were walking it with, you shouldn’t be surprised, Your Majesty.”

“I want to be with you, Navier!”

“And yet, yesterday you annulled our relationship at the divorce court.”

“That was…”

Sovieshu opened and closed his mouth a few times, then shot Heinley a glare again.

“I didn’t mean to send you to this novice who knows nothing about you.”

Heinley still seemed numb after hearing my answer earlier. He didn’t respond immediately, even though Sovieshu was shooting arrowheads at him.

‘Is he still in shock?’

I gently tugged the hem of his sleeve and waved my hand in front of him, and he blinked into awareness and smiled.

“But now I have plenty of time to learn about Navier, Your Majesty.”

“King Heinley…!”

Sovieshu lunged forward and grabbed the bars with both his hands. This time, however, he didn’t have the chance to speak further.

“Your Majesty.”

Marquis Karl, who had been standing next to Sovieshu, addressed him in a small voice.

“There are too many eyes around here.”

Sovieshu blinked and finally looked around.

‘This.’

Indeed, there were many eyes. Many people had gathered to watch, curious about the knights surrounding the mansion and the loud argument taking place at the front gate.

Sovieshu gritted his teeth and shot a glare and Heinley and me, but he quickly turned his heel and climbed back into his carriage. It soon disappeared. The knights, however, remained, and they did not move an inch.

There was no longer any reason to stay out here, so Heinley and I returned inside the mansion. I explained the situation to my parents, and my mother vowed that the Emperor would not be able to contain her entire family. She asked me if I would disguise myself as a maid. I really would be trapped here if I stayed for fifteen days.

We sent a maid out as a trial, and soon found out that that plan would be completely useless. Though the maids were allowed to enter and exit the grounds, they were thoroughly checked. When a servant climbed over a wall, he was tossed back over. My family went out one-by-one to see exactly who was confined, and it soon became clear that the guards only had two targets—me and Heinley.

The next day, my parents tried to meet with Sovieshu to plead for my release, but he refused to see them. By this point I became nervous.

‘The longer I’m held here, the worse it will be for Heinley…’

He was a solitary king in a foreign nation, and he had remarried the former empress. I worried that Heinley’s reputation would be tarnished, even in the Western Kingdom.

“It’s alright.”

Were my feelings written on my face? Heinley stood with me by the window and looked over at the barrier of knights. He took my hand carefully.

“It’s best to leave quietly and without creating a disturbance. However, I prepared for the worst.”

“You mean Sir McKenna?”

“Yes. In a few days, the Western Kingdom will lodge a formal protest.”

The corner of Heinley’s mouth tilted upwards.

“Your ex-husband is a cowardly man, but he is a good emperor. He’ll be forced to withdraw his guards.”

“Yes…”

I was glad to hear that…

“Rather, Queen. I’d like to ask you something.”

“Anything.”

“About…what you said yesterday.”

“?”

“I…”

There were so many things I said yesterday, and I don’t know what he was talking about. When I looked over at him, Heinley dropped his gaze, then shook his head with a smile.

“Never mind.”

‘What is he thinking?’

Ah! By any chance?

“Is it about what I said about a political marriage?”

“What?”

“I’m sorry. I said it without thinking.”

Heinley stared at me blankly, then scratched his cheek and smiled.

“Not that…”

No? Heinley sighed. He gripped my hand tight, and spoke to me in a soft tone.

“I don’t merely think of you as a political partner.”

“?”

“I just wanted to say that.”