I’m Sorry I’m Not Qualified to Be Empress - Chapter 13

Chapter 13

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Tulio glanced at Rose while walking as fast as he could, and suddenly, he smacked into something.

“You got the right person, deputy director.” Spoke a voice from behind Tulio, and when he turned around, he saw Rishar looking at Rose with his arms folded.

Tulio and Rishar had been close since they were young, now, Rishar was in charge of the knights, and Tulio in charge of the deputy.

Rishar’s sword skills were flimsy, resembling a sheet paper, but his hot temper naturally gave him the position of chief engineer. He was well aware that his personality was eccentric with added lunatic qualities, so he had readily accepted the position.

Rishar stared at Rose’s back, squinting his eyes before slowing his pace to fall behind with Tulio.

“It’s time you had a successor. In fact, you’re a little late.”
“That’s funny!” Tulio snorted.
“Why do you hate Solstern women so much? Rather than marry you, she’ll run away without a trace in a few days.” Rishar responded.
“Think of the women whose legs collapsed just from the sight of your evil face. She’s not the kind of woman to run away like that.”

“I think she looks like the former madame. If you want to be comfortable in your country you need a woman who came from outside, never a Solstern woman though.”

When the story of the former madame came out, Tulio and Lishar were speechless, even when the memories were old, gloomy, and confusing.

Tulio opened his mouth first, seeming annoyed by the gloomy atmosphere.

“But the Southern women are so small that I can wrap them in my arms.”
“You cheap bastard. Mind your own business. Which crazy woman would sleep with you? The look on your face is always crap, it even makes my face crumble with despair.”

Tulio was furious with Rishar’s Pinzan.

“Why are you arguing about my face again? You know I hate judging people by their looks the most!”

Tulio frowned and attacked Rishar turned to face him, too afraid to avoid because of what the uncultured nincompoop beside him would do.

“There we go. There we go. Let’s not talk.”

Tulio strode after Rishar, not seeming to be leaving any time soon.

How much longer would this hellish scene go on for?

* * *

Maxim climbed the winding stone steps, stopping once he found a space where he could see all the execution sites at a glance.

“Your Highness, I’ve found you.”

At Freddie’s words, Maxim turned around.

He looked over to Rose, who stood next to Freddie, Rose stepped towards a chair.

However, instead of her, Maxim sat down leisurely leaning back in the chair. He swung his long legs up, crossing them on top of the table, slowly cutting an apple with a jeweled dagger eating it little by little.

Every time the sharp blue-billed blade touched the prisoner’s mouth, Rose’s heart sank. One wrong move would cut off Lord Si Kyung’s tongue.

‘ Like a wild man.’

In Solstern, anyone from a royal or noble family would wince, closing their eyes and biting their tongue.

Rose cursed at him for being so barbaric, but he was too provocative to open his eyes. Maxim finally opened his mouth, showing no interest in her presence.

“It happens every 15 days. Like you said, it’s a savage land, and there are countless barbaric crimes. What did you think about on the way here?”

Rose paused for a moment then answered.

“You called me here to scare me away.”

He grinned at her honest remark.

“So you feel like running away now?”
“No, but I was relieved that I didn’t hate myself too much. ”
He turned his head to the side and looked at her. ‘What does that mean?’
“If you really don’t like me, just kill me or send me back to Solstern. You don’t have to call me to this place for a test.”

She’d already seen him walk through hell with his hands tied.
Compared to then Maxim now looked cute when she pretended to be calm in front of him.

“You don’t ask them to show mercy? It could end up being your brother or father.”
“Because there’s no stupid saying that tells you ‘to show mercy to the brutalist criminals.’ It’s a more dangerous place because it’s bordered by immigrants from the north. I think we can’t do much about security.”

As he spoke calmly, Maxim rose from his seat, smiling silently.

“That’s quite reasonable.” Rose replied.

Slowly approaching her, he stood behind Rose’s back and looked down at her quietly. Rose kept her eyes on the ground, watching his shadow.

‘What’s wrong with him all of a sudden?’

She bit her lips slightly, nervous about Maxim standing behind her.

“Hik!”

Maxim’s dagger crept along her white neck. A cool feeling rose, making her hairs stand on edge, as she knew he could slit her throat at any time.

“What’s your purpose for coming here?” Maxim whispered close to Rose’s neck. He could feel a slight tremor in her neck, as he held it in one hand.
“Purpose? What do you mean by that?” Rose responded calmly.
“If you dare lie, you’ll lose your pretty neck”
Maxim gestured by sweeping Rose’s soft, slender neck with his palm.

Rose noticed Maxim doing this and shivered.

In times like this, it’s best not to lie.
It was better to be honest than to avoid the truth.

“I came here because I didn’t want to marry Cassiax, my fiance.
I’m sure you know that much since you’ve done some research.”
“You want me to believe that?”
“You’ve seen it, you solved the problem. He tried to kill me in the woods. I’d rather you kill me than be with…that man.”

In fact, it wasn’t that Maxim didn’t have any doubts.
He knew Cassiax tried to kill her on purpose after sending her here.

I thought that if the rat-like Cassiax had deceived Maxim perfectly, then he would kill me.

“If the devil were only after me, he wouldn’t have come this far.”
“What are you talking about?” Questioned Maxim.
“I’ll be honest with you because I think you know something about me. I knew what he was after was the property of my family. He’ll try to destroy my family whether I marry him or not.”
“What does that have to do with me?”
“I’ve decided that you’re the only one who can compete against him in the future. The old emperor is already a scarecrow.” Declared Rose.

“So you volunteered to take advantage of me and came all the way here.”
Maxim’s nerves were on edge learning of her sly plan.
“To be honest, I can’t say no. But is that just for me?”
Maxim tightened his hold on her neck. “Don’t play with words.”
“I’m not playing with words. No one knows Cassiax better than I do. You already know that I was his lover, and a strong candidate for Crown Princess.”

“I could be your spy.”
“Don’t make me laugh, even without you he couldn’t even dare to oppose me.”

“Then consider me a spy and take me hostage. Get his information from me.”
When he tightened his hand on the knife, a solid red line formed between her neck and the blade, and blood seeped out.
Rose closed her eyes quietly without resisting. She was not afraid of death, and Maxim had finally put a blade to her neck.
“Whether you send me back, or kill me here, you’ll still have trouble. If you remove Cassiax, I won’t have any regrets either. I won’t ask for love or alimony from you, so our end will be clean.”

They were not even married yet, but he was stunned to see Rose already talking about the end between them.

“So you’re going to marry me on a contract?”
“Yes, that’s right. Consider me a comrade dealing with the same enemy. I swear I’ll risk my life to help you get rid of Cassiax.”
“What kind of power do you have? Do you think it’s worth risking it?”
“I don’t think it’s worth a damn if Cassiax couldn’t prevent me from coming here, or succeed in killing me.”
“So what do you really want? Why are you doing this?” Maxim asked questioningly.
“There’s only one thing I want. The disappearance of Cassiax from this world. That way my family is not threatened by anyone. Just let me help you until then.”

Maxim snorted. Gently lowering his eyes he whispered stealthily in her ear.

“I repeat, I don’t need your help getting rid of Cassiax. I need a real wife to warm my bed. What about that kind of role?”
Rose didn’t answer because she knew he was deliberately provoking her.
“You didn’t even determine that on your way here, did you? The scene of a beast and a backflip in bed.” Maxim asked mockingly.
“If you think so, I won’t deny my duty as a wife, but I don’t think you have that much in mind with me.”

***

Rose was ashamed to bring this up herself and wanted to die.

‘It’s not that I didn’t take this situation into consideration before coming here. You can’t insist on not fulfilling your wife’s duties when you’re being taken to the bride like a tribute.’

Of course, I was determined.

But when Maxim brought it up right in front of my eyes, I panicked and couldn’t look him in the eye. Rather, I thought I would be able to clench my teeth and bear it, even if I had to abandon myself to him, or had a hideous old monster to sleep with.

When I thought of those moments when my family died and collapsed, I thought there was nothing I couldn’t do to prevent their deaths from occurring again.

Nevertheless, I couldn’t imagine doing it with that wolf-like man. It seemed like she was dealing with a beast, not a human being.

Rose recounted once again why she had come this far at the risk of all sorts of dangers, despite her fear.

“If I was asked to do my duty as a wife, I believe you will leave your authority to me as the hostess of this castle. I don’t want to mess with your life.”

Maxim took a look at Rose’s neck, listening to her.

A slight scratch to frighten her, but it was such a sharp knife. The blood dripping down from the wound soaked her throat.