I Married a Sick Husband - Chapter 46

The evening dinner was an important occasion attended by members of the Valtejain family, ministers, and the entire Partille delegation, including the queen.

 

To make no mistake at such a meeting, Meredith took a nap before dinner.

 

There was also Theodore’s worrying words.

 

Meredith stepped into the banquet hall in a green dress that came up to her neck.

 

“The Imperial moon, Her Majesty is entering.”

 

Most of the people from the Valtejain side had already arrived.

 

Meredith gracefully walked over to the table and greeted Theodore and Blair.

 

“I greet Your Majesty, the Emperor, and Your Highness, Empress Dowager.”

 

“Oh my god, dear. You are so beautiful today!”

 

Seeing Meredith’s appearance, Blair let out an exaggerated exclamation.

 

“Very elegant. After all, you never disappoint my expectations.”

 

“Mother is also very beautiful.”

 

Meredith responded humbly.

 

“The decorations on the dress are so luxurious. Where did you get it from?”

 

“I placed an order with the designer myself.”

 

“Well, as expected, mother has great sense. It would be nice if I had a refined sense like mother.”

 

“You do too. It seems to me that your sense is formidably sophisticated.”

 

And while the two chatted happily, Theodore was silently sipping wine.

 

“Your Majesty, the envoys have arrived.”

 

At some point, the guests arrived.

 

All the people she saw in the waiting room gathered here.

 

Except for one person, they were all faces she had seen before.

 

“I’ve only heard it by word of mouth, Your Majesty the Empress of Valtejain.”

 

It was Kaylee, the queen of Partille.

 

“I give my first greetings. I am Kaylee Partille, the Queen of Partille.”

 

Although she was unusual.

 

It was rare for the queen to visit a foreign country alone as part of a delegation.

 

Although she was occasionally accompanied by her husband, the king, she did not usually follow.

 

She was curious about the details, but Meredith didn’t bother to ask for now.

 

“Greetings for the first time, Her Highness the Queen. This is Meredith Valtejain. I hope you did not face any trouble in your journey arriving here.”

 

“It wasn’t much. Thank you for caring.”

 

After answering that, Queen Kaylee looked around the banquet hall and spoke formally.

 

“This beautiful banquet hall today must also be the work of Her Majesty.”

 

“I’m not sure if it suits your taste.”

 

“It’s really beautiful. It must have been a lot of hard work.”

 

“I’ve done my best, but I’m worried that there might be some shortcomings.”

 

“Not enough! It doesn’t matter.”

 

Queen Kaylee quickly shook her head.

 

“It’s great. You are too modest.”

 

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

 

“Besides, I’ve heard that you had just become empress. But still, it’s like this…”

 

Queen Kaylee smiled and said to Theodore.

 

“The emperor has welcomed a capable and clever empress.”

 

“I have the same opinion.”

 

Theodore smiled faintly and took Meredith’s hand.

 

Meredith was taken aback by the sudden action.

 

But she didn’t show her surprise and returned back the same smile.

 

Theodore looked at her in the eyes and spoke pleasant words.

 

“She’s meticulous, thoughtful, and smart.”

 

“….”

 

“The most beautiful in the empire.”

 

It was an official position.

 

Therefore, this too would be a ceremonial compliment.

 

‘Don’t panic for nothing, Meredith.’

 

As she kept repeating the thought, Meredith calmed her heart from beating fast again.

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

The dinner continued in a friendly atmosphere.

 

Theodore and Valtejain’s ministers talked with the diplomatic envoys.

 

On the other hand, it was mainly Meredith and Blair who Queen Kaylee spoke to.

 

“I don’t know if the food will suit Your Highness the Queen. I’m worried.”

 

“You’re too worried, Your Majesty. That’s great. All the dishes so far have been great.”

 

“I am very proud to hear you say that. Fortunately.”

 

So far, there seemed to be no problem with the dinner. The atmosphere was so good.

 

And finally, it was time for dessert.

 

“Looks like the main course is finally done. I can’t wait for the dessert too.”

 

“Could you tell me if there is something missing?”

 

“Oh, no. I am quite full.”

 

Meanwhile, Queen Kaylee gracefully crossed her own hands and placed them on her belly.

 

“I’m even happy that dessert came out. You shouldn’t overeat until you’ve tasted the sweet dessert, right?”

 

After a while, attendants brought a plate of dessert.

 

Dessert, like the previous dishes, was covered with a cloche.

 

So until you open it, you have no idea what’s inside.

 

Everyone’s eyes were filled with anticipation for the contents hidden in the cloche.

 

“Now, let’s enjoy dessert, everyone.”

 

As soon as Theodore finished speaking, the attendants opened the cloche at the same time.

 

 

 

-Clang!

 

 

 

And at about the same time, the metal cloche fell to the floor and made an unpleasant sound.

 

“How…”

 

It was Queen Kaylee.

 

Her lips trembled, her face white in shock.

 

As if what was on the plate was the work of a very terrible devil.

 

“No, how…!”

 

“How can this happen!”

 

And almost everyone in the room had the same reaction as Queen Kaylee.

 

‘What the hell is this…!’

 

Even Meredith.

 

She stared over her plate with her face in great bewilderment.

 

It was a pretty shaped strawberry cake.

 

There was no problem in itself.

 

The problem was, the rim of the plate was decorated with several gorgeous red roses.

 

“I think you should explain what the hell this rude action means.”

 

A stiff tone was heard.

 

It belonged to Duke Christon.

 

“Your Majesty the Empress.”

 

“… that is.”

 

The moment the embarrassed Meredith struggled to open her mouth, something more embarrassing happened.

 

“Whoops!”

 

Queen Kaylee stormed out of the banquet hall as if she couldn’t stand the situation any longer.

 

She looked at the food on the plate and clamped her mouth shut, as if her stomach had swelled up.

 

“H-Her Highness the Queen!”

 

“You should hurry up and follow Her Highness the Queen.”

 

The envoys from Partille were all confused.

 

The rest of the Valtejainians were all flustered and couldn’t move.

 

And it was only after a while that the messy situation seemed to register.

 

“…”

 

“…”

 

For a while, everyone was silent.

 

With a hardened face.

 

No one seemed to bother to touch the dessert on the plate.

 

“I don’t know what the hell this is all about.”

 

The first to speak was Duke Christon.

 

It was still a stiff tone.

 

“I know it was clearly requested from us.”

 

“….”

 

“I asked you to refrain from letting the queen see roses. Was it not delivered?”

 

“No. No, it was…”

 

Meredith shook her head with a darkened face.

 

“It was clearly delivered.”

 

“But why….”

 

“It was clearly ordered. Please avoid roses as well as dishes that might remind Her Highness of it.”

 

Meredith claimed innocence.

 

“I strictly instructed. It is an important matter.”

 

“….”

 

“But… I don’t know how this happened.”

 

There was a reason why Partille asked me to avoid roses in advance.

 

A few months ago, the one and only princess of Partille had died when she pricked her finger on a thorn of a rose.

 

It was tetanus.

 

Even as she was pregnant with her own child, the queen’s sorrow was all the greater.

 

Queen Kaylee had all the rose gardens at the Partille Palace dismantled and the rose bushes and saplings uprooted and discarded.

 

Through this incident, she was deeply traumatised by roses.

 

And such, today she saw a rose again in this spot.

 

This was completely unexpected.

 

“Your Majesty, are you saying that you are not responsible now?”

 

“Of course not. Whatever the circumstances, it is my responsibility.”

 

Meredith said firmly, as if she had no intention of avoiding the situation.

 

“Just to make one thing clear, this was absolutely not intentional.”

 

“How can we believe that?”

 

“This is a place where the two countries have gathered in the name of harmony. There’s no way I, the empress, would do something harmful to Valtejain openly like this. It must be common sense.”

 

Everyone agreed with Meredith’s explanation.

 

Unless she had gone insane, she couldn’t have, as an empress, dug her own grave, proudly disrespecting the delegation.

 

“It sounds like someone is doing Her Majesty wrong.”

 

At the words someone said, Meredith laughed viciously.

 

‘Someone whose only goal is to slander me.’

 

There were only two people like that.

 

‘Catarina. Or Blair.’

 

What kind of expression would Blair be making right now?

 

Meredith became curious.

 

But she never turned her head toward her first.

 

Wouldn’t that mean she openly admits that she doubts her?

 

“Well. Nothing has been revealed about that part yet, so I can’t make a judgement.”

 

“But…”

 

“Also, even if it is, it is within the Empire.”

 

Meredith drew the line so that the suspicions that she brought out, would not develop further to Partille.

 

“I will take responsibility for this matter and resolve it. As the Empress of the Empire.”

 

Meredith kept referring to the word ’empress’.

 

Whatever the case, she had to make it known that this situation had nothing to do with Theodore.

 

“Whatever the circumstances, I’m very sorry about what just happened.”

 

When Meredith said that she would tidy up the situation and take responsibility, the envoys from Partille couldn’t raise the issue any further.

 

“How do you mean to solve this situation?”

 

It was all that someone questioned.

 

“…”

 

After a moment of thought, Meredith came up with the simplest and most essential solution.

 

“I intend to visit Her Highness the Queen and apologise for this matter.”