Chapter 225. Kapmen’s Black Heart (2)

Translator: Aura / Editor: SaWarren

Kapmen had been so rude that he thought Christa would not seek him out again.

But around the evening of that same day, to his surprise, Christa, the former queen, came to visit him in person.

This time, Kapmen could not be so rude as to kick her out.

“Come in.”

Once Kapmen invited her into the room after exchanging greetings, Christa smiled quietly and entered.

Kapmen ordered the squire to bring coffee and other refreshments before asking Christa to sit at the tea table.

But instead of sitting in front of her, he remained standing and asked,

“To what do I owe your visit?”

“Since you are a distinguished guest, I considered it natural to come and greet you personally.”

[This man is Kapmen…]

Christa’s voice was calm. Her inner voice was the same.

Kapmen muttered coldly, “I see.”

He didn’t really like to interact with other people. It was no fun at all to converse and listen to other people’s thoughts at the same time. Besides, according to her lady-in-waiting’s thoughts, Christa and Queen Navier did not have a good relationship.

Kapmen resented that, so he wanted her to speak up quickly and leave.

However, no matter how blunt he was, he couldn’t suddenly tell her to ‘get out’ without a reason.

Kapmen instead just stared at Christa silently, as if telling her to get to the point.

Christa asked hesitantly.

“Do you have any inconveniences?”

[I must be polite.]

“If you have any inconveniences, let me know, Grand Duke.”

[I need to have him on my side.]

Kapmen frowned and replied firmly.

“If I have one.”

“Which one? Ah, I only ask because I want to help you.”

[Tell me anything… I’ll help you.]

“Thank you, but that’s not necessary.”

“?”

“I will get help from the right person.”

Christa’s eyes twitched at Kapmen’s response.

[Am I not the right person?…He means don’t meddle in his business?]

“Alright…”

At this point, Kapmen thought that Christa would leave. However, Christa hesitated to get up. Instead, he heard her anxious inner voice.

[How could I make this man my guest… He doesn’t seem to hate just Queen Navier, but everyone.]

Kapmen raised his eyebrows. He couldn’t understand why Christa, the former queen, was acting like this in front of him.

[What am I doing here?… Does this make any difference?]

Fortunately, Christa finally stood up, smiling helplessly as if she couldn’t do anything about it.

[I’ll talk to him again some other time as he seems to want to be alone at the moment].

Relieved, Kapmen walked her to the door.

However, Christa’s sad thoughts that followed caught his attention.

[There are so many handsome men like this. Why did she choose Heinley among so many men?]

Kapmen couldn’t help but call out to Christa, “Wait.”

The potion’s effects began to shoot up again. His heart was dyed black.

“Huh?”

Christa looked back, puzzled. Kapmen was still blunt, but he spoke with a softer manner,

“The coffee hasn’t been served yet. Let’s sit in the meantime.”

The voice of Navier, whom he met earlier, rang in his ear like an auditory hallucination.

— Can you make another bottle of that potion?

***

In the evening, Sovieshu, who visited Rashta, said in a stern voice,

“You want to manage the budget as the Empress?”

Baron Lant seemed to have informed him.

Rashta clasped her hands together and said, “Yes…” her voice barely audible. She only wanted what was due to her in her own right.

When Sovieshu asked her like this, Rashta became depressed. As Sovieshu looked down at her silently, Rashta hesitated and muttered,

“I know that managing the imperial budget is part of the empress’s role.”

“…”

“Rashta became the Empress, but still doesn’t know what to do… so Rashta thought it best to start with what one knows.”

Rashta said, looking at Sovieshu with frightened eyes.

“Rashta wants to be a good empress, Your Majesty.”

“Rashta.”

“Yes.”

“You will only be in the Empress’s position for one year, I had already told you.”

“Ah, I know, but… even for one year I truly want to be the Empress.”

Rashta looked at Sovieshu like a weak animal with big eyes.

“Rashta wants to fulfill those duties even for one year.”

“…”

“In the first place, you didn’t entrust Baron Lant to manage Rashta’s money because it was spent on strange things. It was because of Viscount Roteschu.”

Rashta reached out her hands slowly and said, grasping Sovieshu’s hands tightly.

“Rashta is no longer being blackmailed by him, Your Majesty.”

Sovieshu held Rashta’s hands tightly. But the answer was a firm refusal,

“You still haven’t learned enough to manage the budget, Rashta.”

“I have studied hard…”

Rashta had a sad face.

“You want me to be a pretend empress?”

“It’s not that you can’t fully play the Empress’s role.”

“But it sounds like this…”

“You will attend audiences with me every day from now on. Let’s do that first.”

Rashta pursed her lips feeling annoyed.

She needed to manage the budget on her own as soon as possible to be able to repay Duke Elgy. Besides, she also needed money to give to Viscount Roteschu.

Although she had joined hands with Viscount Roteschu, Rashta knew he wouldn’t do anything for free.

She didn’t want to waste money. However, it was important to use the money on these two things.

“You have to take it easy. It’s barely just the start.”

Sovieshu lightly pet Rashta’s back, who was stiff,

“Even for the baby’s sake you should take it easy.”

“… Yes.”

Rashta replied helplessly.

Sovieshu stroked her hair soothingly, but she wasn’t very happy.

“Um… Your Majesty.”

“What is it?”

“So, what about punishment?”

“Punishment?”

“If a noble looks down on Rashta, can that noble be punished?”

“Why? Who looked down on you?”

“Marquis Farang looked down on Rashta at the first tea party as the Empress.”

“Ah. Marquis Farang.”

Sovieshu clicked his tongue.

“He’s a good friend of Koshar. Besides, the Troby’s and the Farang’s are close families. You won’t get him to get close to you, so forget it.”

The Empress’s position should not be looked down upon by anyone, Your Majesty.”

“He openly insulted you?”

“Rashta felt insulted.”

“I was informed of what he said.”

Rashta was surprised by Sovieshu’s words.

Did someone inform him? Who did?

Was it one of the nobles present at the tea party? Or was it someone from the Imperial Guard who was there?

Viscountess Verdi? the maids? the servants?

She was displeased that Sovieshu had found out from someone else’s mouth what he said.

“Although you might have felt insulted in that situation, he didn’t say enough to be punished.”

“He was sarcastic in front of everyone present, Your Majesty!”

“But in the end he didn’t do what you ordered him to do?”

“!”

As Rashta muttered, Sovieshu kissed her forehead gently.

“I don’t know why you’re so agitated.”

“Well…”

‘Because it is obvious that the nobles look down on me. Also, I have become the Empress, but nothing has changed yet except my place of residence.’

Rashta replied in her mind. Suddenly, she remembered to ask,

“More importantly, Your Majesty. Are we going to the Western Kingdom wedding?”

Sovieshu’s expression turned cold, as if it was a topic he did not wish to discuss.

However, to Rashta this topic was important.

“Since they came all this way first, I think it’s only appropriate to go too.”

“You really think so?”

“I would like to congratulate Queen Navier on her new start.”

“…”

“Of course, I’m afraid she’ll harass me again, but…”

Sovieshu sighed.

“You’re pregnant, traveling there will be very hard.”

“I still can.”

When Rashta spoke firmly, Sovieshu stood up and said, “I’ll think about it.”

Rashta also stood up, following Sovieshu, and asked him in surprise as he was about to leave the bedroom.

“Where are you going, Your Majesty?”

But Sovieshu simply left.

Stepping out into the corridor, Sovieshu almost bumped into Rashta’s maid, Delise.

Delise bowed to Sovieshu in astonishment and apologized,

“Pardon me, Your Majesty.”

“It’s all right.”

Sovieshu waved his hand to dissuade Delise, and left the Western Palace immediately.

Delise stared at Sovieshu’s back as he walked away, but quickly came to her senses and walked through the drawing room to Rashta’s bedroom.

Rashta was sitting in an armchair, frowning with her hands on her belly. Her beautiful angelic face looked very sad.

”Only such a person can be loved by His Majesty.’

Admiring her inwardly, Delise said to Rashta,

“May I arrange your bed, Your Majesty?”

“Yes.”

It was normal after marriage to continue using the same sheets and pillowcases from before marriage for a few days.

Now that that period of time had passed, Delise was going to replace the pillowcases and sheets with new ones.

After changing the sheets, she placed a small warm stone inside. Then she began to change the pillowcases for new ones.

Then Delise pulled out the case of a large, soft pillow that Rashta had used in the East Palace. At that moment. A handful of blue feathers came out from inside.