Lady to Queen (Webnovel) - Chapter 220

[Side Story: The Second Episode]

That was when she heard a voice that she had listened to countless times during the night. Perhaps it was because she had been thinking about the future child and listened to his voice right after that because his voice came across to her more lovely than usual. -The man who will be the father of my child!-

Rosemond replied by speaking heavily through her nose, “Your Majesty. Are you up now?”

“You have woken up early.”

“I have also just woken up,” Rosemond replied, as she habitually left a small kiss on his thin eyelids out of habit.

Lucio’s expression showed that he did not hate the notion of receiving a kiss as soon as he was up in the morning. His voice sounded rough and thick from having just awakened at such an early time, “You seem to be in a good mood.”

“I had spent a night such as that yesterday, so would there be a woman out there that would not be in such a good mood?” She laughed and began to prod around Lucio’s bare chest with her lips. “And because the other person I was with was none other than Your Majesty, I liked it that much better.”

“How does it feel to have finally become the Empress?”

“How I feel about that.” She pondered on this for a short while, and soon gave a clear answer, “I feel really good.”

“Really?”

“It feels thrilling.”

“You do not need to go so far as being thrilled.”

“Oh. No, Your Majesty. I feel so beyond thrilled right now.” She could not help but feel that way. How much effort had she spent to finally reach her position? It was not only exciting for her, but beyond that, she thought it was shocking. It was a slight exaggeration, but that was close to how she felt. Rosemond continued with a beautiful smile, “I can finally stand confidently next to Your Majesty.”

-Not as an open mistress, but as the upright and official wife. How much happiness this has been bestowed on me, someone like you who had always been in a high position your whole life would never know such a feeling. Even those very moments you were being abused by Alyssa, you were someone who remained the supreme Crown Prince of this Marvinus Empire. How can you possibly understand the feelings that only an illegitimate child of a lesser noble like myself would experience?-

Rosemond added, “Now no one will be able to interfere with our love.”

“That should be the case.”

“I am also the only one for Your Majesty, right?”

“Indeed,” he whispered in an affectionate voice, “Now, I really only have you by my side.”

Being the only one remaining provided her the ultimate haven. Rosemond was confident that there would be no more perfect result than this. What it meant was that he truly only had her now. If she disappeared, he would also collapse in ruin. She whispered in a joyful voice, “I love you, Your Majesty.”

-I really do!-

—–

Rosemond was not a foolish woman.

She had never been in charge of the affairs of the Inner Palace, but with the help of the Duchess of Efreni, she was managing everything smoothly enough. Anyway, this was because she was quite a wise and intelligent woman.

The problem was something personal. Rosemond’s childhood had been a rough and deprived one, to say the least, and it was not a stretch to say that her desire for power was actually due to her poor upbringing. The problem was that the desire for power, more often than not, worked in conjunction with materialistic greed.

“Glara, look at this,” Rosemond said in a low tone, “It is a diamond in the shape of a drop of water. Is it not absolutely beautiful?”

“Yes. It really is.” Glara continued to dance to her tune by asking, “Where did you bring that in from, Your Majesty?”

“It is a gemstone that has crossed the sea to get to me. It is extremely rare and valuable!” Rosemond replied while humming a tune, and immediately placed the diamond necklace she had in her hand down before she informed Glara, “Alright then, I have to change out of my dress now.”

“I am sorry?” Glara, who was by her side, was startled at her words. It had been less than five hours since Rosemond had changed into a new dress. She immediately brought forth her observation, “But Your Majesty, you had changed into a new dress less than five hours ago…?”

“Yes, I did.” Rosemond made excuses for herself with a clear voice, “But I went out earlier.”

“Even so, that would be a waste to completely change your attire again…”

“Are you talking back to me now?”

When Rosemond’s voice exposed her irritation, Glara naturally shrank back.

Not too long ago, there had been a maid who objected to her words and died as a result. To be precise, it had happened a total of twelve times this month alone. Rosemond had rationalized it by saying that it was governing with discipline in the Inner Palace, but there was no one that did not know that her actions were merely blowing off steam from her rage.

No matter how close she was to Rosemond as a maid, Glara thought that she could not count on being excluded from being condemned, given Rosemond’s villainous character and short fuse. She immediately withdrew her stance on the subject, “Not at all, Your Majesty. What do you mean? Your Majesty’s words are all right. Anyhow, does it even make sense that the most dignified woman in the Marvinus Empire would wear the same dress for a ‘straight’ five hours at a time?”

“Now you are beginning to speak the same language.” Only then did Rosemond call for the other maids with a satisfied expression, “Come then, would you all help me choose a dress to change into?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

After a short time passed since Rosemond said those words, her expression changed as if she had just remembered something. She called right away, “Lorraine!”

The maid whose name was called quickly approached her, “Yes, Your Majesty?”

“Regarding the document that the Duchess of Efreni told me about. How is that going?”

“Are you talking about the plans for the celebration of His Majesty’s birthday, Your Majesty?”

“Indeed.”

“Do not worry, Your Majesty,” Lorraine replied with a smile, “Everything is coming along well.”

“Alright.” After hearing the response, Rosemond’s face melted into an expression that was more reassured. Nevertheless, she still felt uneasy about the whole thing, and after a while ordered the maid back with another command.

“Bring over the completed documents to me. I feel like I have to read them myself.”

“Of course, you must do so, Your Majesty. Please wait a moment,” Without losing her smile to the very end, Lorraine bowed her head to Rosemond, then slowly turned around. As she turned her back on Rosemond, there was no trace of a smile left on her face…

==============

Translated by Haeli

Edited by RED