Welcome To The Imperial Palace (5)

Since she couldn’t know what was truly going on between the Emperor and the Empress, Alicia couldn’t blindly offer comforting words.

One rumor said that during the birth of the prince, Empress Eleanor—proud as ever—had broken down and shown her raw emotions, and that the Emperor saw her cry, and only then did everything fall into place.

“Lady Alicia, have you ever felt like your pride was so hurt, you might die?”

Eleanor eventually shed tears.

“Is that how Your Majesty feels now?”

“Yes.”

“You said when you accepted the position of Empress, you knew this might happen. But His Majesty did love you the most, and this is the first time anything like this has occurred, so I imagine the heartbreak must be immense. Going forward, His Majesty will likely have many more children.”

At the end of Alicia’s comfort was an unpleasant prediction.

“I know, but I still hate it.”

Eleanor said through sobs.

“Your Majesty is beautiful.”

“……”

“There’s no need to act as though your pride is shattered or to show an unseemly side by comparing yourself to someone else, or to bare your entire soul.”

Alicia’s compliment seemed to come out of nowhere.

The Empress cast her a puzzled glance.

As Alicia continued, Eleanor seemed both confused and gradually persuaded.

“And if I don’t show everything?”

“This amount is just right. His Majesty will likely visit your quarters today, just as always. Cry just like this. Why would the Empress cry? His Majesty won’t be so dense as to not understand. Just crying like this may already be enough to tear at his heart.”

Alicia exaggerated at first, then spoke the last part in a nonchalant tone.

“What an incredibly helpful piece of advice.”

Eleanor wiped her tears and murmured with elegant sarcasm.

“Your Majesty is truly beautiful. When you cry, it’s like watching a sea fairy mourn. If I were a man, I would have fallen for you instantly. According to the information I’ve acquired, His Majesty truly does love Your Majesty. As though you were his first love.”

Alicia stood and gave a faint smile.

“……!”

The Empress, smiling awkwardly at such blatant flattery, suddenly widened her eyes.

Her startled gaze lifted to meet Alicia’s face.

Alicia returned it with an unreadable smile.

“According to the information I have, the Baroness of Goggins is not due in April. The child may be born by the end of this month. But please don’t get involved. Whether or not the Baroness’s child is truly His Majesty’s will become clear with time. Your Majesty, please take care of yourself. These painful days will pass.”

The Empress only nodded with a shocked expression at Alicia’s words.

“I won’t be going to greet the Baroness of Goggins. But I won’t rely solely on Your Majesty either. Please don’t trust me too much. I’ll take my leave. I’ll come again to pay my respects next time.”

Empress Eleanor couldn’t respond.

Alicia Rain, bowing with perfect form before her, didn’t seem human.

She looked like a being that would disappear like mist.

All Eleanor could do was blankly watch her retreating figure, silent even in her footsteps.

Soon, the room was filled with stillness.

Alicia’s face was expressionless as she exited the Empress’s quarters.

Just as she had told the Empress, she didn’t stop by the concubine’s quarters and left the palace altogether.

The Emperor was allowed concubines.

The Empress, considered the most noble in the world, had to live alongside her rivals.

While nobles did not officially recognize illegitimate children, it wasn’t uncommon for them to have lovers beyond their spouses.

Many high-ranking noblemen kept multiple lovers, despite having a formal spouse.

Some Empresses had to live publicly with rivals in love, while nobles kept their affairs discreet but widely known.

It was hard to say which of them suffered more, or who had it better.

Alicia suddenly reflected on her own existence.

Then, unbidden, the face of a man who once told her not to marry him appeared in her mind.

Even if the Grand Duke had a secret lover now, there was nothing Alicia could do.

Unpleasant thoughts spiraled without end.

If his lover were unmarried, it made little sense for him to be engaged to her.

Maybe the woman’s status was too low to marry into royalty, but Reichardt didn’t seem like the type to care about status.

More likely, the lover was already married, or simply someone the royal family could never accept.

But from the beginning, their engagement had been a transaction.

Even if Reichardt had dozens of lovers, Alicia had no right to object.

“Alicia.”

Reichardt spoke to her dazed face.

Alicia blinked rapidly, as if forcing herself awake.

“Your Grace.”

She almost asked before she could stop herself.

‘Do you have a lover?’

But that question was wrong.

Alicia and Reichardt weren’t married yet.

Until they were, she couldn’t call anyone in his life a “lover.”

She didn’t have the right to ask.

They were simply partners in a deal.

Reichardt silently gazed at Alicia, who looked a little out of it.

“Are you all right?”

“Yes, of course.”

Alicia responded smoothly despite her dazed state.

“How is the Empress?”

“She is well.”

“She’s a proud woman. She may seem fine outwardly, but I’m sure she’s deeply upset.”

Reichardt’s usually indifferent face briefly showed concern.

“……”

Alicia stared at him blankly, surprised to see that expression.

Only the Emperor was allowed concubines, but no male member of the royal family had ever been faithful to just one spouse.

There was a reason the Royal Bloodline Authority tracked the actions of royal family members so obsessively.

“The harem is more brutal than a battlefield—just without the swords. Though sometimes, even real swords do appear.”

At Alicia’s vacant gaze, Reichardt offered a rare touch of gentleness.

“Swords?”

“Power is terrifying.”

Reichardt, as if recalling something, shook his head.

It seemed he was thinking of someone he despised.

“Y-yes, I suppose.”

“The air is getting cold. Shall we go?”

“Yes.”

Alicia was curious why swords were actually drawn in the harem, but she didn’t ask.

She was also curious about the palace and harem where Reichardt had spent his childhood, but she kept her lips sealed.

For the past six days in the carriage, Alicia had argued intensely, trying to persuade Reichardt on how to act regarding the upcoming birth of the princess.

Reichardt, like a “wall of iron,” “king of suspicion,” or “king of worry,” challenged every word she said.

Whenever he found a gap, he would throw out trap questions like, “Do you even know how many royal nieces and nephews there are?”

Alicia would glare at him as if he were an impudent scoundrel.

Her face often showed irritation and exhaustion, as though she’d seen something vile.

It was now three weeks before Lady Maude, the Baroness of Goggins, was due to give birth.

Soon, there would be a stir in the palace.

A subtle commotion arose in the palace.

Alicia Rain, the Grand Duchess-to-be, had returned to the imperial capital Baden from Tessen.

On the day of her arrival, Alicia paid her respects to the Empress.

By the seventh day after her arrival, Alicia had requested an audience with the Empress every single day.

When word spread that Alicia had first gone to the Empress to pay her respects, everyone understood.

The Empress was still the most noble figure in the palace.

However, the fact that Alicia hadn’t gone directly to the Baroness of Goggins, who would bear the heir, nor to any of the other concubines, was interpreted in various ways.

Some assumed she avoided the Baroness to maintain the dignity of a northern high noble.

If Alicia had gone to the Baroness immediately after visiting the Empress, it would have looked as though her visit to the Empress was merely out of formality and duty.

But visiting only the Empress and ignoring the other concubines was viewed as the stubborn, arrogant behavior of a self-righteous northern lady.

People became curious about when Alicia would finally pay her respects to the Baroness of Goggins.

They also wondered which concubine she would visit next after the Empress.

On the second, third, and fourth days, Alicia visited only the Empress and left the palace.

The third and fourth days caused quite a stir because the third day coincided with the Baroness of Goggins officially entering the palace.

People assumed Alicia would visit the Baroness after paying respects to the Empress on that first day of entry.

But even on the third day, Alicia only visited the Empress.

Some thought that paying respects on the Baroness’s first day might appear too calculated, so they guessed Alicia would go the next day—but on the fourth day, she again saw only the Empress.

By the third day, the concubines were already displeased with Alicia’s behavior.

When she did the same on the fourth and fifth days, they sneered.

Even though the Empress was noble, one could not survive high society relying on only one person.

What a foolish northern girl.

Moreover, the Empress was facing the greatest crisis of her life.

To blindly trust a sinking carriage racing toward a cliff seemed laughable.

Some whispered that Alicia Rain had been raised too delicately in the Marquess’s household, making her deaf to politics.

Others suspected she was simply too uninformed to grasp the situation.

Seven days had passed since Alicia’s return to the capital.

Five days had passed since Lady Maude, the Baroness of Goggins, had entered the palace.

Alicia’s loyalty to the Empress remained unshaken.

Meanwhile, the Grand Duke of Tessen—who usually ignored the rules of courtly conduct—was making remarkable moves.

His support for the Baroness’s entry was only the beginning.

In the imperial council, the Emperor usually addressed key state affairs first, then briefly mentioned palace matters as mere notifications.

Lately, nearly all those notices had concerned the Baroness’s entry.

The day after announcing her entry, her residence was decided.

Though her entry was arranged swiftly, the Baroness’s assigned quarters were in an extremely remote location.

To object to a decision already made by the Emperor required extraordinary courage.

Only a royal could dare such a thing.

Most royals wouldn’t intervene unless it directly concerned them.

Even as the Baroness’s father—the Chancellor—grew visibly tense, no one spoke up.

The Emperor’s words were merely announcements, not open to debate.

But then, the Grand Duke of Tessen stepped forward and interrupted him.

“Your Majesty.”

“Grand Duke of Tessen.”

The Emperor answered with a warm smile.

There was no sign of surprise on his face as he sat at the head of the table, but his sky-blue eyes were filled with curiosity as he looked at the Grand Duke.

“The Baroness of Goggins is carrying a royal heir. Arno Palace is far too secluded within the imperial grounds. What about Corinth House instead? Though smaller, Corinth is self-contained, and it’s at a reasonable distance from the main palace and the other concubines. It would also be far easier for Your Majesty to visit once the child is born.”

The Baroness of Goggins was currently staying in an annex in front of the southernmost garden of the palace.

Although technically within palace grounds, it was neither the main palace nor part of the concubines’ quarters.

It was only a step beyond where the Emperor and ministers handled state affairs.