The Empire’s Sacrifice - Chapter 3

Rudis grabbed her arm with startled eyes and gazed at the drooping Viscountess Bale.

Unable to eat properly and see the sunlight, Rudis’ thin and slender arms trembled gently.

“Urk.”

Viscountess Bale suddenly let go.

But Rudis didn’t give up on holding her.

“Get out. Don’t do that.”

“……?”

“If the princess goes out, we’ll be reprimanded…..”

Viscountess Bale who was hasty in speaking turned pale and closed her mouth after receiving a terrifying gaze from Princess Ivana.

Rudis frowned.

What did Viscountess Bale mean by what she said just now?

When she gets out of here, she’ll be reprimanded?

Who the hell is it?

Only the emperor can reprimand the ladies in waiting of a high-ranking noble family.

‘Father?…….’

What the hell is going on?

What happened to him while he was out of his mind?

Did my father’s attitude change?

Rudis felt sick but also curious.

No matter what happened, Rudis didn’t want to get other people’s attention anymore.

“Viscountess Bale, what are you……”

It was the moment when Rudis tried to ask a question to Viscountess Bale.

Suddenly there was a commotion outside the door.

“You can’t do this!”

“It’s Peha’s order not to let anyone into the room.”

The maids and servants could be heard desperately stopping someone, followed by a sound of being ridiculed.

The eyes of Rudis and the ladies in waiting turned to the door.

The door opened with a hard kick and a familiar person came in.

It was Selena.

Selena’s condition was nothing like usual.

The splendid blonde hair, a symbol of the Amarilis royal family, was disheveled, and the eyes, which were praised for being as green as a lake, were murky.

The white work, like a ceramic doll, was full of fire, and her charm was ruined because she pushed the servant who tried to stop her.

“What’s going on here!”

Selena cried out in a nervous tone.

“Why are you in my room?”

Selena shouted at Rudis.

Selena’s eyes were filled with anxiety.

“Get her out of here! Why can’t I get into my room because of that?”

Selena huffed and ordered the maids.

However, the ladies in waiting did not budge as if they were stones.

Selena, who couldn’t stand it, walked directly to Rudis’ bed.

“Come on out.”

Selena pulled Rudis roughly on the shoulder.

Rudis, who fainted and just woke up, could not resist and stumbled helplessly.

“I don’t know what he was thinking of doing this, but it’s not your place.”

Selena clenched her teeth as she said it.

Selena’s eyes were burning with anger as she looked at Rudis.

Strangely, however, Rudis was not afraid of Selena at all.

I was calm as when I heard the threat of Princess Ivana.

‘I just gave up, but I can’t believe I’m feeling so comfortable.’

Rudis’ mind was as still as the sea.

When there was no response from Rudis, Selena’s face heated up with anger.

“……what are you, are you ignoring me?”

Rudis remained silent. She no longer felt the need to answer Selena’s words.

With Rudis’s consistent attitude, Selena became confused and nervous.

‘It can’t be like this.…’

That was the first thought that came into Selena’s mind when she saw the changed Rudis.

Rudis always obeyed her and used to shiver at every word Selena said. Selena couldn’t believe she suddenly changed like this……

Come to think of it, everything was weird today.

Despite the success of the ritual held three days ago, her father did not give any impression at all, and the embassy also had a complicated look.

Selena smiled and asked for tea time after a long time to relieve her father’s feelings.

However, unlike usual, my father ignored her request to buy new jewelry and clothes but instead was lost in his thoughts throughout teatime.

In frustration, she visited Prince Arctus, but he didn’t even meet Selena.

Then, I heard that Rudis, who had fallen unconscious in the temple, was brought to the palace for an emergency stop.

It was said that the ‘Jewellery Room’ had been chosen as the room for Rudis to stay in for the time being.

Selena was shocked at the news.

She thought there was some mistake.

Selena ran to her father’s office right away, but he just turned his head and looked away.

Eventually, Selena had come all the way here, pushing her servants who tried to stop her.

“Can’t you answer me?”

Selena shouted, but Rudis was still silent.

“…… you!”

Eventually, Selena, angry to the top of her head, raised her hand.

She wanted to bring Rudis to her senses by hitting her hard on the cheek.

It was that moment when Rudis closed her eyes reflexively and crouched her shoulders.

“Lady Selena!”

Princess Ivana grabbed Selena’s hand in a hurry.

“Stop it.”

And spoke in a firm tone toward Selena.

“…… Esther?”

Selena called Princess Ivana’s name in an incredible, trembling voice.

“What, what is this?”

“It is what it seems.”

Princess Ivana’s tone was unwavering.

“She is also the successor to the blood of the Amarilis royal family, like Lady Selena. Please refrain from frivolous behavior.”

“What? Frivolous behavior?”

“…… I’m saying this for the sake of you and all of us.”

Princess Ivana spoke in a burning tone as if to do this.

“And Esther, you too. How could you do this to me?”

Selena’s eyes were stained with anger and betrayal.

To be rejected by someone, to be prevented from doing something, to be betrayed by someone you believed in.

It was Selena’s first time in her life to experience it.

Rejection was more familiar to Rudis than to eat and sleep, but it seemed to be a big blow to Selena.

There was no room for Rudis to laugh at the irony.

“I’ll call my father!”

Selena sat on the ground and began to cry.

“I’ll call my father and tell him to reprimand you all!”

The faces of Princess Ivana and the ladies in waiting were stained with embarrassment.

Selena often acted childishly, but not this much.

The women exchanged glances with perplexed expressions.

No one willingly stepped forward to stop Selena.

“What do I do?”

“But Peha’s order comes first. Besides, the minister……”

“Shh, it’s still a secret to Lady Rudis.”

They were busily whispering about something.

It was when Selena’s crying grew louder and louder, but she couldn’t ignore it.

“Stop, Peha is eating!”

As soon as the door opened, an urgent cry from the crowd was heard.

When the emperor was mentioned, Selena’s crying stopped as if she were lying.

The women were tense, heated up, and eventually bowed down.

The emperor revealed himself through the open door.

Rudis stared silently at the rumpled sheets on the bed.

Rudis didn’t know how many days had passed since the day of the memorial service, but the emperor looked terrible. He looked worse than Selena.

Under the Emperor’s eyes were dark circles, and his face looked drained.

“Selena.”

He called the name of his second daughter, whom he loved in a heavy tone.

“Father!”

Selena’s face turned bright.

“Why is Princess Ivana saying nonsense? She said my father is giving my room to Rudis!”

Selena still believed that it was a mistake for the emperor to give Rudis the room.

“Go ahead and tell me that’s wrong. Please chase Rudis out of my room!”

Selena turned her eyes towards her attackers as if to ask her to scold those who bullied her.

“What the hell are you doing?”

But what came out of the emperor’s mouth was the complete opposite of Selena’s expectations.

There was a long silence in the room.

No one had the courage to interrupt the silence.

“Father……?”

A long time later, Selena’s quiet voice came.

Selena looked at the emperor with a look that she didn’t know what was going on now.

Selena stood still for a while as if she had forgotten how to speak.

“What are you saying……”

Selena barely opened her mouth long afterward, but her words were blocked by the Emperor’s gesture, which seemed to be showing his annoyance.

“No, there’s no room to soothe you right now.”

“What do you mean, soothe? It’s not……”

“Be quiet!”

The emperor raised his voice.

Selena turned pale.

The emperor sighed deeply when he saw Selena’s face, which seemed to shed tears again.

“This is not the right time, dear.”

“All right, Father. This is the only time I’m moving on quietly.”

Selena clenched her teeth and said.

The emperor turned to Rudis.

“You’re up.”

The emperor’s expression when he looked at Rudis was more complicated.

His eyes contained agony, hesitation, and a hint of contempt.

There was no concern or affection for his daughter, who was sacrificed and woke up in three days.

Rudis was lonely in his mind.

She had little memory of her mother.

From the time she was able to distinguish between people and things, her father was the only one who despised her.

There was no one approaching her half-hearted but fair-minded.

A small number of people who approached with sympathy were blocked by the emperor.

Whenever the emperor saw Rudis, he would speak with contempt and shame.

– You’re shameful.

A father who despises, shames, graces, and hates his daughter.

That was the world of Rudis.

‘Now……’

Rudis still glanced at her father’s face.

Her father, who abandoned all expectations, was not what she had thought.

“Get up and follow me right away.”

As he strode to the bed, he grabbed Rudis by the shoulder.

Rudis groaned weakly, but he didn’t care about the resistance at all.

Rudis’s pain had never been his concern.

“Didn’t you hear me? Get up.”

The emperor had no doubt that Rudis would follow his orders.

Rudis raised her trembling hand and removed the emperor’s arm, and the emperor’s eyebrows scrunched.

Rudis looked at the Emperor.

The blue eyes of the emperor, the symbol of Amarilis, and the purple eyes of Rudis, the evidence of unclean blood.

‘What?’

The emperor, who made eye contact with Rudis, paused for a moment.

Rudis’s eyes were different than usual.

She was always intimidated and obedient.

The emperor immediately felt as if there was a creepy cold air in Rudis’ purple eyes.

The cold air emanating from the stone walls of an incredibly old temple……

‘What nonsense am I thinking?’

The emperor shook his head and tried to shake off his thoughts.

‘What’s in front of you is Rudis, an illegitimate and shameful child.’

The emperor was unable to see the changed Rudis because of his prejudice.

“Rudis, get up!”

The Emperor ordered for the third time.

Rudis blinked at the Emperor.

“……why would I?”

And she asked him back.

It wasn’t a very rebellious tone.

There was no anger or intense emotion.

However, it was a clear expression of rejection.