The Abandoned Empress Will Not Return - Chapter 86

“If I return everything to its original state, what then?  Are you still not going to come back?”

“What do you mean?”

Rodelia looked at Kane with puzzled eyes.

“All the misunderstandings that you tried to poison me will be cleared. Your movements won’t be restricted, your status will be restored and sufficient compensation will be provided to offset the dishonor inflicted on your family. Of course, assuming you will go back, Rodelia Florence.”

Her calm mind became confused.

“Wait, wait. So… Now it’s been revealed that I’m not the culprit? Is that why you came to pick me up?”

“Yes.”

Rodelia blinked several times at the words she hadn’t expected and ruminated several times before she could properly accept the situation. As she staggered slightly, losing her balance, Cerdian hastily grabbed her arm.

After giving him a small thank you, she asked him a question again.

“Then who is the real culprit?”

“That….”

Kane’s gaze, hesitant and frowning as if in trouble, moved to Cerdian. A loud grinding of teeth was suddenly heard.

“I can’t tell you yet since it’s not been completely proven. Saying something inaccurate will only add to the confusion. Isn’t that right, Grand Duke Aizen?”

“Well, I don’t know why you’re asking me that.”

Cerdian shrugged his shoulders and gave a relaxed smile. Seeing that, Kane’s brow furrowed deeply, making him even more uncomfortable.

“Completely proven…”

Rodelia murmured faintly as she wore a complicated expression and ran her hand through her hair. Kane had always been a man who judged a situation based on his feelings alone. She knew it better than anyone else.

So let’s not get agitated. 

With her thoughts finally in order, she continued in a determined voice.

“If that’s the case then it’s all the more reason I can’t go back.”

“What? Do you know what kind of guy that b*st*rd is that you’re spitting out such st*p*d things? That b*st*rd Cerdian….”

“ Grand Duke Aizen hunts humans?”

“…..”

“Are you referring to the absurd rumors Your Majesty created? Just like how you made up rumors about me, this will be the same. I don’t believe in those anymore. I will make my own judgment.”

Kane’s mouth, which was about to retort, was shut tight by Rodelia’s determined voice. In fact, the current situation was very unfavorable for him.

For everything she said was true. The rumors about the Aizen family and the rumors that tarnished her reputation were all his doings.

So he had no excuse. Rodelia added, looking at the hesitant Kane with her cold eyes.

“And even if the rumors are true, they have no bearing on my decision to stay in Luvenia. So, put your unnecessary worries to rest.”

Kane’s body trembled at the sound of Rodelia’s voice, which contained no emotion.

“Grand Duke Aizen, what kind of nonsense did you feed to Rodelia?”

He tried to speak in a dignified voice but his voice trembled slightly, as the unexpected situation did not dissipate his embarrassment.

“What do you mean?”

Cerdian, who maintained a calm demeanor in any situation, was the same this time.

“Since meeting you, little by little, the empress has started to become annoying. The docile empress had changed. It’s all because of you…!”

“That’s enough.”

It was Rodelia who cut off Kane, who spoke like a rapid-fire cannon. When he showed an incredulous expression, she stretched out her arm in front of him as if to protect Cerdian.

“I don’t know why Your Majesty is bringing Grand Duke Aizen into this matter… I will not tolerate further disrespect to the Grand Duke.”

“……”

“I don’t want to cause any harm to the Grand Duke, so we’ll solve our problems alone in a quiet place. I think the conversation will be long.”

To be honest, she never imagined that she would be able to talk with Kane for this long. She tried to quickly send him away, but the tenacious Kane delayed too much time.

Since they couldn’t continue conversing in this place— she didn’t know if this was even a normal conversation, it was only right to move. It was a nuisance to bring Kane into the Grand Duke’s mansion, so she planned to finish talking elsewhere.

She let out a breath that she didn’t know if it was a laugh or a sigh, and looked at Cerdian as if asking for his permission. She was going to say that they will be going out for a while, but the answer from Cerdian came back a little faster.

“Then I’ll take you to the drawing room.”

He maintained a friendly demeanor as if he was treating an honored guest. Then, as if telling him to come inside quickly, he raised the corners of his mouth and stretched out his hand into the mansion.

Both of them answered almost simultaneously. Rodelia’s tone was embarrassed, and Kane’s tone conveyed that he found it absurd.

“I can’t cause such a nuisance.”

“No, I shall see the end here. I don’t want to take a single step inside that mansion.”

Cerdian shrugged his shoulders.

“As you wish.”

In fact, it was not in his plan for Rodelia and Kane to have a conversation alone, so Cerdian was very satisfied with the situation going as he intended.

It was his ultimate goal, to drive the relationship between these two people to an irretrievable catastrophe, right where they were. And the plan was running towards a successful end.

Now Kane seemed to have reached his breaking point.

“Rodelia, I’ll ask one last time. Are you really not going back to Thebes?”

Kane, who was showing signs of disapproval, opened his mouth with a willfully stern tone. It was the dignified emperor she hadn’t seen in a long time.

“Of course.”

Kane let out an empty laugh at Rodelia’s answer. Even his expression hardened coldly and he responded with a more powerful voice.

“Yes, I can’t help it if you don’t come back on your own two feet. You really have a knack for complicating things. If you follow me while I’m still saying nice things, no one would be harmed. Actually, I’m embarrassed because I didn’t expect this kind of situation to happen, but….”

“What…?”

His rather serious voice rang in Rodelia’s ears.

“Rodelia Florence, I command you as the emperor of Thebes. I am sending you, still a criminal, to your home country. If anyone interferes with this or if the criminal does not voluntarily obey the order, I will hold the Grand Duchy accountable….”

It was before he could even finish what he was saying. Pft, an airy sneer cut off the flow of his words. Kane stopped talking and turned his frowning gaze.

“Why are you laughing?”

“It’s funny.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

Nervously sweeping back his disheveled black hair, he glared at Cerdian.

“I feel sorry for His Majesty, who doesn’t know anything. Actually, since it’s between the two of you, I didn’t want to step in if possible… but I think I need to correct what you misunderstood.”

Cerdian crookedly laughed at Kane, who had a puzzled expression, and continued.

“Rodelia Florence, who Your Majesty wants to take back so much, is now a citizen of the Grand Duchy of Luvenia.”

There was a moment of silence after his words. Like a silence where you can hear a single drop of water. Kane tidied up his tousled hair as if trying to understand what he had heard, and replied st*p*dly.

“What…What do you mean?”

“Literally.  Lady Rodelia has no reason to return to Thebes.”

“What the hell… The asylum of sinners is impossible unless there is a special reason. You have to get permission from me, the emperor or marry a citizen of that country…”

As Kane lengthened his words, Cerdian’s lips drew an arc and went up.

“No way.”

Kane’s voice began to tremble unsteadily at the disbelief. He shifted his wildly shaking gaze to Rodelia, and then barely uttered a single word at a time.

“…Rodelia, answer. Are the words of that j*rk true?”

“That’s right. Cerdian and I are now a perfectly legal couple. So, Your Majesty has no reason left to take me.”

She answered without hesitation. Kane shook his head, feeling that his heart was being crushed even more painfully by the truth she had told him.