The Abandoned Empress

“I’m sure the late emperor must have loved you, just like all parents in the world. I don’t think there are any parents who don’t love and care about their children, even though they don’t express it.”

But he was still silent. I thought I might need to back up my story, so I sighed low and traced my memory to tell him some episodes about the late emperor.

“Your Majesty, do you remember you inspected the border area in autumn a few years ago?”

“Of course, I remember. I stopped by the estate of the Monique family and saw you at that time.”

“Yes, you did. At that time, I returned to the capital shortly after you stopped by. And I had a chance to have tea with the late emperor. At that time, the late emperor asked me in passing whether the crown prince visited my estate, and he also asked me if I liked winter. ”

“Hummm… Why did he suddenly ask that? ”

“I was also curious, but I said yes. Then he said the crown prince was the opposite.”

So, I asked with a smile as I couldn’t understand, “I understand you hate the cold very much. The late emperor asked me how you were doing, saying the winter was around the corner. Wasn’t he worried about you because you hated winter?”

“… Really?”

I nodded at him, who was looking at me as if I was serious. I told him another episode.

“You said a moment ago that the late emperor didn’t trust you all the time, right? That’s not true. He really trusted you and felt proud of you.”

“… ”

“You remember the time when he invited the princesses as candidates for your bride, right?

At that time, when I met him, he told me he would honor your decision because he trusted you. In fact, when I asked him why he let go of Princess Lua, he said he respected your decision because he trusted you.”

“…Oh, I didn’t know that.”

“Yeah. And… ”

Can I tell him about this? I hesitated for a moment, but when I noticed his serious expression, I didn’t hesitate anymore. As someone who heard what the later emperor had candidly told me about the crown prince, I had a duty to convey it.

“I’m sorry to say this, but you didn’t look very good when I saw you coming out of the late emperor’s room. I was bothered, so I dared to ask him why he was so strict to you when he trusted you very much.”

“…So, what did he say? ”

“He said although he felt heartbroken, you were the only one to take his place. He said if you had been born into a noble family, he would have loved you so much, but as you would rule the empire as the next ruler, he could not have done so. He also said he scolded you even when you did a nice job because you might get lazy if he praised you.”

“… Oh, I see.”

After hearing me out, he got lost in thought silently. I walked cautiously in order not to disturb him, with my mouth shut.

How long did I walk?

I saw the garden of Ver Palace at a distance. I noticed a silver flower tree shining in the middle of the beautifully decorated garden.

I approached the tree carefully, tilted my head and looked up at the top. But no matter how hard I tried to look carefully, standing on tiptoes, the buds on its branches didn’t bloom yet.

I sighed somehow. It’s been a few years since the tree survived the fire. It formed new buds, which never bloomed.

It’s about time the sprouting buds bloomed into flowers. Why don’t they bloom?

He said, staring silently at me when my shoulders drooped.

“It looks like you are still very much interested in those flowers.”

“Ah yes. Of course, you already explained to me about it the other day, but I was wondering what it looked like…”

“When I asked the gardener, he said that the tree wasn’t dead or anything like that. Let’s wait a little longer. ”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“By the way, I think we walked for some time. Why don’t we sit down and take a break?”

Sitting first under a tree, he pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and spread it on the ground. Surprised, I looked at him. Regardless of whether it’s dirty ground or not, how dare I sit on his handkerchief?

“Sit down.”

“Your Majesty, how dare I …”

“That’s fine. Please sit down. Do you want me to say it’s the emperor’s order?”

“… I’m much grateful to you, Your Majesty”

I thanked him in a small voice, and I sat cautiously on the handkerchief he had spread out.

With his back against the tree, he raised his head and looked up at the sky. I did, too.

I saw sparkling stars reflected in his dark eyes. The white petals fluttered off in the wind.

The gentle scent of flowers and the scent of the earthy secent tickled the tip of my nose.

The sound of unknown grass bugs was heard from everywhere. I felt very peaceful and calm as if I was freed from the troubled world.

When I got carried away with the atmosphere for a moment, his cold voice broke the silence.

“Come to think of it, I think I had many memories about you in this place.”

“I guess so, Your Majesty.”

“… Thanks to that, I’ve changed my perception of you a lot.”

“Pardon, Your Majesty?”

“Well…”

He hesitated for a moment, then turned his eyes away from me and stared into the air.

“You may have already noticed, but in fact I hated you until a few years ago.”

“…Yes, Your Majesty. I know that.”

He certainly did. In the past, he hated me very much, and even after my return, it was evident that he shunned me for the first few years. But then and now I didn’t know why he hated me so much.

I was curious why he didn’t like me.

His hatred of me was so severe that I could not think it was related to my political engagement to him. He hated me more after I found out about his association with my mother.

As I didn’t have the nerve to ask him, I just kept it to myself until now. Can I know the answer finally?

I put my hand on my pounding heart and listened to his low voice.

“There are not many people who know this. In fact, my mother was not the late empress.”

“Pardon? What do you mean…”

“Because I was the only successor and born late, I was called the son of the emperor as soon as I was born. My biological mother was a different woman.”

“If that’s true…”

“My biological mother was a low-level maid working in the Imperial Palace.”

“Really?”

My eyes opened wide at that. His mother was a low-level maid? Was the biological mother of the empire’s ruler a low-level maid, the lowest position of the palace positions? Wasn’t a low-level maid a woman who served the nobles, who was even lower than the middle-level maids who did chores such as washing, cleaning, and cooking?

Only

“As soon as I was born, I was left in the hands of the late empress because there would be some people who would question the legitimacy of my birth. As someone who was cold-tempered, she was not kind to me, of course, because I was not her baby. At first I craved her love, but gave up when I learned that my biological mother was someone else.”

“… ”

“Then I met your mother. I didn’t see her often because she was not in good health, but she treated me very kindly, sometimes smiling at me and sometimes scolding me. Back then I thought she was the type of mother that fitted the name. I now know why he called the late empress just an empress, not mother empress.

I felt his calling of the late empress strange at that time. When I talked about my mother, he missed her greatly.

“One day when the late emperor was quarrelling with the noble faction, assassins entered the Imperial Palace. There were four of us there: the empress, your mother, you and me. The moment dozens of assassins pulled their swords to kill us, your mother instinctively hugged you and fell on her face, leaving me standing right next to her.”

“… ”

“Well, logically I could understand. The empress coldly ordered a royal knight to protect me while your mother hugged you in her arms. What a contrast! I got upset because I felt like I was abandoned by someone who I regarded as my mother.”

“Your Majesty…”