The Abandoned Empress

As it was already dark, I saw them off after promising to see them tomorrow. Then I came back to the room and wrote down a gist of my discussion with them until late at night.

After writing for a while, I stretched because I felt stiff in my back. At that moment I noticed something on the other side of the desk.

Three gold-colored envelopes.

I sighed, looking at them stacked side by side. They were the letters from the crown prince after I was examined by the royal doctor. As I was so busy that I couldn’t reply, he inquired after me in each of the letters.

Was it because I felt jammed up inside? Although I had so much work to do, I couldn’t finish writing it down quickly because I couldn’t recall all the details of my discussion. I sighed again.

I had no time to idle away like this.

At that moment, I felt something tapping my feet. Now, the silver cat, much bigger than before, was looking at me with her golden eyes sparkling.

“Do you want me to play with you, Luna?”

After hesitating for a moment, I leaned forward and hugged Luna. As I was less and less efficient, it was not a bad idea for me to take a little rest.

While rubbing my blurry eyes, I was surprised that my room was already bright, so I looked out the window. The sun was starting to rise.

‘Gosh, if my father knew, I’ll be scolded again.’

That’s why I looked so blank. When I realized that I stayed up all night, I suddenly felt very tired. I jumped into the bed with Luna in my arms.

“Let’s sleep together, Luna.”

The silver cat running on the bed excitedly looked at me ruefully when I buried my face in the pillow. I pulled her into my arm with a smile as she began to tap me again. Even though she was much bigger than before, she was still small enough to be held in my arms. I pushed my face into her soft hair. Starting tomorrow, I’ve got stacks of work to do.

“Hey, you are looking more and more pale these days, Tia. What’s wrong?”

“Hi, Sein.”

“You looked okay for a while, then why? Take it easy. ”

“Well, three more days to go. I’m going to have a good rest after the festival.”

When I blinked my stiff eyes several times, a young man who was anxiously looking at me came into my view clearly. I got up with a sigh when Carsein walked toward me and took away the files I was reviewing.

Was it because I worked without letting up for the past 15 days? I felt exhausted again.

Pounding my chest as I felt dull and gloomy, I headed for the cupboard.

I think I overworked myself because I was preoccupied with handling my job perfectly.

I called a maid to bring me some hot water, then took out the rose flower, rose hip, and hibiscus box from the cupboard. I had six cups of tea per day these days.

“Do you want to have tea, too?”

“No thanks. You know, it’s still hot outside.”

“Really? Okay.”

When I put the box down and reclined on a soft chair, Carsein, who came next to me and sat down, put his hand on my forehead. At that moment, a sword and a rose embroidered on white gloves came into my view, so I unwittingly smiled.

“What? Why are you looking at my gloves?”

“Do you like them?”

“Um? Of course.”

“Really? I’m glad to hear that. Let me make another one for you later.”

“Really? My little girl, you’re making my day today.”

He brightly smiled at me, stroking my hair.

Shortly afterwards, the maid put down a cheesecake and a kettle with hot water.

She came back much faster this time. Obviously, my scolding the other day paid off.

I mixed the rosehip fruit, rose flower and hibiscus well and brewed it for a long time. Then, I poured it into the mug. When I sipped tea blended with the sweet and sour taste of rosehip and the sour taste of hibiscus, my mouth was watering before I knew it.

I cut a slice of delicious cake and handed it to Carsein. I cut a small piece with a fork and put it in my mouth. When I was enjoying the taste of the cake melting in my mouth, I suddenly felt nauseated.

What’s the matter with me?

I hurriedly lifted the mug and filled my mouth with red tea. Even though I drank a cup, my stomach turned, so I poured tea again into the empty cup. Only after I had the second cup did I stop feeling nauseous.

‘Strange. Was the cheese too greasy?’

When I looked at Carsein to see if he was reacting the same way, he already emptied a plate of cake and put it down. Staring at me for a long time, he looked puzzled.

“Were you so thirsty? Why did you drink it so quickly?”

“Oh, well…”

I hurriedly stopped speaking.

I had only three days to go before the festival banquet. If I say I don’t feel well when I have so much work to do, my father or Carsein will obviously force me to take a rest.

“Huh? I didn’t know why I drank tea so fast.”

“It’s because you are knocking yourself out preparing the banquet and doing other things.”

“Maybe.”

My head was pounding. As I slowly blinked my heavy eyelids, Carsein giggled and pulled me, so I could lean my head on his shoulder.

“Sein?”

“Take a nap for a minute. Let me wake you up a little later.”

“Really? Oh thanks. Please wake me up,” I nodded and closed my eyes.

No matter how hot it was, he should wear a uniform and he was not supposed to spray any perfume as a knight, so I could not smell any fragrance from him, but I could find warmth that always made me relaxed and comfortable.

How much time passed? I opened my eyes in surprise.

‘How long have I been sleeping? When did I lie down?’

When I got up from the bench, my black jacket fell off. The red-haired young man who was sitting across me, laughed when I picked up my jacket and looked around.

His sparkling blue eyes stared at me.

“Did you have a good sleep, Tia?”

“How long have I been sleeping?”

“Well, about four hours.”

“Really? Oh my god! I have a lot of work to do. Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“Don’t worry. I took care of your work.”

“Ugh?”

When I looked at him curiously, He rose from his seat and came to me, presenting a bunch of documents.

‘You were done handling all this? No way.’

I double checked each of them, just in case. However, as I handed over the papers one by one, I was more and more surprised. After confirming that he processed the last page of the document, my eyes jumped up. Chuckling at me, he sat down next to me and snapped his fingers lightly on my forehead.

“Are you surprised? You must have underestimated me, given your strange look. Right?”

“Well, sorry. I thought you were not interested in paperwork. ”

“Did you already forget which family I am from? I learned the basic administrative work of the knights’ groups. Of course, I didn’t dig into that too much because of my brother. I don’t like paperwork, but that doesn’t mean I can’t do it at all.”

“Oh, I see.”

Well, in the case of my family, I’m the only one who has to learn everything including the administrative work. But it’s customary in most noble families to educate other immediate descendants of their families to a certain level just in case. Given that Carsein was an immediate member of Duke Lars, who took the commander post of the knights division from generation to generation, he must have gone through that process, and as a result, it was natural that he mastered the administrative work of the knights division.

Nonetheless, I found his excellent job amazing. Carsein and documents? What a mismatch!

“Do you still think I’m weird because I’ve made short work of it?”

“Well, I just feel this kind of paperwork seems unsuitable for you.”

Only

“Are you messing with me now?” He smiled playfully and waved his fists.

“I think your job today is done. Shall we go back? I think my sister-in-law Frincia must be waiting for you earnestly.”

“Okay.

When I was getting up, I stopped for a moment because I felt dizzy again. At the moment, my legs were wobbly.

When I was keeping my balance by holding the chair back, he looked back at me and asked curiously, “What’s wrong? Are you sick?”

“Oh, nothing. I think I’ve been sitting too long. I think my legs were wobbly for a moment.”

“I prayed you could be an adult as quickly as possible, but you are regressing? Do I have to teach you to toddle from the beginning?”

“… ”