I’m Sorry I’m Not Qualified to Be Empress - Chapter 5

Chapter 5: You’ve screwed up.

Rosé and Cassiax went out to one of the terraces surrounding the ballroom.

“If you were trying to grab my attention, you’ve succeeded. This kind of reaction is also refreshing.”

Cassiax appeared a little different than his usual self. He tried to hide his impatience and pulled up the corner of his lips. Rosé silently stared at the roses swaying in the garden below.

With an expression that said he forgave her for her rude behavior, Cassiax slowly stepped towards her. He planned to hug her shoulders from behind, and the second she was surprised and turned around, get down on his knees and propose to her. He approached her, running through the process step by step in his mind.

The Crown Prince’s marriage proposal. He was sure she would soon be jumping for joy. But the moment he was only one step away from her.

“Heu heu heuk!”1

Rosé’s shoulders shook and she covered her face with both hands.

“Rosé. Why are you crying?”

The flustered Cassiax, who had been about to propose, turned Rosé around to face him and asked her, but she only sobbed harder.

“Exactly what the hell is going on?”

“Lady Muriel is so pitiful. Why…why is it Muriel? She’s so nice and sweet. Heu-heu-heuk!”

“What are you talking about?”

“That she has to go to Helavant. Heu heuk. It’s the same as a death sentence.”

Realizing what she was talking about, Cassiax held his forehead in irritation. A crying woman was the worst to deal with. She clung to his arm as she sobbed.

“Why should our great Solstern Empire have to send women to such barbarians? Answer me, please, Your Majesty!”

“That’s…it can’t be helped. It’s been like this for centuries to maintain the alliance. Don’t worry over this political thing.”

“But Your Majesty will become Emperor. If it’s about just those barbarians, you can deal with it. Right? Your Majesty!”

Cassiax stared at her, taken aback.

“To spit out such thoughtless words when there’s an emperor on the throne. Watch your mouth, Rosé.”

Cassiax’s voice was freezing cold. Rosé didn’t miss the opportunity and clung onto him even more.

“Then if your Majesty is a true man, please persuade His Highness the Emperor to declare war now. Please protect Lady Muriel!”

“Stop saying these things when you don’t properly understand the situation!”

There was inexplicably intricate relationship between the Solstern and Helavant Empires.

Of course Rosé knew. To be royalty yet unable to even touch the other empire was a painful weakness. She deliberately angered Cassiax, repeatedly poking at this sore spot.

“Such a barbarian dares to challenge the imperial authority! Your Majesty should step on them and show your dignity and might!”

“Shut up!”

“I’m sure they are gloating at our plight. Your Majesty! How can we be called an empire if we can’t even protect our women?”

Looking at Cassiax’s face, Rosé could see that all plans to propose to her today had utterly fled his mind.

“Don’t speak of such matters when you don’t know anything, Rosé.”

“No. I know. I clearly know how helpless our Solstern Empire is in this situation.”

“Shut your mouth unless you want to go instead!”

There were thick blood vessels protuding on Cassiax’s neck and he harshly growled at her. Seeing a glimpse at how much anger he had been suppressing, Rosé laughed at him inside.

More. I need to make him implode even more.

“Then I will go instead.”

“What did you say?”

Cassiax looked at her in amazement.

“If someone has to be sacrificed, I’ll go instead.”

“What..! Such an immature and stupid woman!”

His eyes looked at Rosé with contempt. Today he was going to propose to her. Why did he have to listen to such things that made him upset and irritable.

[t/n: oooh can’t take criticism? Oooh who’s the immature one here. Oooh]

In his anger, Cassiax barely managed to catch the swear words that almost burst from his mouth and squeezed his lips together.

He struggled to calm down, thinking that if Rosé wasn’t the Etoile family’s daughter, he would have already smashed her mouth.

“Rosé. My love. Let’s not waste time. Let’s talk about us.”

Composing himself, he hugged Rosé’s waist and tried to change the topic. Even if he had to kiss her to stop her noisy mouth. So, he bent down to kiss her.

“Let me go! I don’t want to!”

As Rosé struggled, he squeezed her against him and pressed down on her lips.

As soon as his cold, snake-like tongue was entering her mouth, everything in front of her turned white. The terrible things caused by the imperial family in her past life ran through her head like lightning.

Slap!

Rosé struck his cheek. The loud sound rang in their ears, and it seemed as though all the movement in the world had come to a stop.

Cassiax stared at Rosé as if he couldn’t believe what had just happened.

[t/n: damn straight it did.]

A drop of red blood soon appeared on his tingling cheek. Rosé’s large ruby ​​ring had made a deep cut in his cheek when she had slapped him.

“Your…Your Majesty!”

“Ha! You’re insane. How dare you lay your hands on me, the crown prince?”

Even Rosé had just realized what she had done. She had meant to anger him to make him lose his mind, but she hadn’t planned this. Injury to the crown prince could result in decapitation. Unless you’re insane, this was something that would never ever happen.

Well then.

Rosé thought it was actually better it happened this way.

Cassiax was a man who went insane once he saw even a hint of blood. She remembered that once while he was emperor, after seeing blood, he had committed a massacre.

Then, as in this case, if it was his own blood he saw…!

“Your…Your Majesty. I have committed a crime worthy of death. I was too worried about Lady Muriel.”

Rosé knelt in front of Cassiax.

Drops of blood fell from the long cut mark on his face.

Cassias wiped the flowing blood with his hand. His snow white gloves were stained with red blood.

He grinded his teeth and asked Rosé.

“Do you know what it means to hurt the crown prince?”

“I…I deserve to die.”

“So you want to go to the northern kingdom instead? Since you really want to, alright then!”

“!”

He turned around and walked away, leaving a paled-faced Rosé, her head lowered and her body trembling. But a few moments later, Rosé slowly raised her head, revealing a calm face as if nothing had happened.

She had slapped him so hard that her hand was still smarting.

Rosé had just committed the unforgivable deed of laying a hand on the crown prince, but instead of trembling in fear, she wanted to burst into laughter. Her heart felt refreshed as she felt the many grievances that had been rotting in her heart subside.

She stared at Cassiax as he left, mumbling to herself.

“I’ll even go to hell to get away from you.”

She hadn’t meant to see blood, but at any rate, she’d accomplished her goal. A small smile of satisfaction appeared on her lips.

**

As soon as Cassiax entered the banquet hall, the party erupted into murmurs.

“Your…Your Majesty. Blood is…!”

The chamberlains waiting for him next to the terrace exclaimed.

All eyes in the ballroom immediately turned to the crown prince. Blood trickled down from his cheek and stained his collar, and it looked as if his neck had been cut with a knife.

Many amongst the nobles in the crowd shrieked in shock. The musicians stopped their playing and the dancing came to an abrupt halt. The atmosphere was chilly, as if one had poured ice cold water into the hall.

“Your Majesty! We must hurry and treat your wound!”

Even at this kind of delicately tense moment, Eliza quickly used her head and approached him, trying to appear on his good side. She ran to him, offering her lace handkerchief.

Cassiax pushed her away with a tremendous force.

Eliza was nearly flung into the air and landed horribly on the floor. Though it was unclear whether she really fainted or was too ashamed to get back up, she lay collapsed on the ground, seemingly unconscious.

Everyone who saw this was astonished.

Cassiax’s eyes burned, upset with anger.

The crowd in the hall made way for him as he passed, parting to make a clear path for him to walk.

“Good God.”

“Honey, honey! What happened? Why is His Highness’s face…”

Audrey grabbed her chest and held onto her husband. Count Jared reassured her, grasping her hand.

“But where could Rosé be? Have you seen her?” Count Jared asked, an ominous feeling instinctively rising as he looked for his daughter. Rosé was nowhere in sight.

Cassiax, who had been about to leave the ballroom, suddenly stopped in front of someone. It was Marquis Montenegro, who had been in tears throughout the ball with a bereaved expression on his face.

The Marquis stepped back when the prince approached him with a murderous look.

“Your…Your Majesty.”

“I have very good news for your family”

“Yes..? What do you-”

“The brave lady of the Etoile Family has volunteered to go to the northern kingdom in your daughter’s stead. Congratulations.”

“Ye-yes?!”2

Murmur.

The hall became noisy again.

As soon as Cassiax’s words fell, there was the sound of shattering glass to the side.

“Audrey!”

The glass in Countess Audrey’s hand had fallen and shattered on the floor. Count Jared supported his wife, who had fainted from shock. Cassiax coldly gazed at the Count and then turned and left the ballroom.

As he watched Cassiax leave, Hans murmured, “I think you’ve really screwed up, Rosé.”

***