A Marriage Alliance for Revenge - Chapter 1

Baby. Stay safe wherever you are now.

Forget the father who turned you away and the mother who couldn’t protect you.

Find a father who will welcome you more than anyone else in the world, and a mother who will cherish you more than anyone else in the world, and live like a flower, like a butterfly.

Baby.                          

The five months you were in my arms were the most glorious moments of my life.

So, my darling, forget that I carried you and failed to protect you.

Leave me here and fly, fly away.

Your sorrow is mine.

Your pain is mine.

Your pain is mine.

Leave all the bad here and take only the good.

So forget it.

Forget your mother, who was happy to carry you, and your father, who hated you.

Baby.

Leave slowly.

When you meet a stream, watch the fish dance, and when you encounter a flower garden, smell the fragrant flowers.

When it rains, listen to the sound of rain under the eaves.

When it rains, listen to the sound of rain beneath the roof.

This is the beautiful world I wanted to show you.

Be grateful for good food and say hello.

Be the first person to reach out to someone in need.

This is the kind of heart I wanted to teach you.

So you can play in the flower garden, by the stream, in the fields, and in the mountains, and a new mother who will love you, will call you.

Run to her and don’t look back.

That’s all I can give you.

Baby.

I love you, my baby.

Please come back to me‥‥‥.

* * *

“Your Majesty!”

A bright smile appeared on the doctor’s face when he finished his examination.

The doctor’s expression was a far cry from when he was summoned to the banquet hall unannounced and examined the Empress.

“What does his smile mean?”

She had been lethargic for several days.

She hadn’t been feeling well, but she didn’t call a doctor.

Finally, it all unraveled at a dinner party.

Duke Lucas Viterpan was being welcomed back to the capital after slaying the barbarians on the border.

The Emperor himself had gathered his ministers and dragged along his Empress, Olivia, to sit down.

Just sitting still was hard; the seat itself felt thorny. 

It was supposed to be a joyous occasion, and now she’s the reason it’s ruined because a physician was called to the dinner party for her. 

A mild bout of nausea was the cause.

The Emperor, who usually avoids eye contact, had his eyes on Olivia today.

“The Empress isn’t her usual self; is she seriously ill?”

Emperor Gusto frowned and questioned the doctor immediately. 

At Gusto’s gaze, the party’s atmosphere, which had paused momentarily, resumed. 

Seriously ill.

There was no concern for the Empress in the Emperor’s tone when he said that. 

All he wanted was for this dinner to be ‘ruined’ by her.

So, despite her repeated refusals, Gusto still summoned the physician.

It didn’t take long for the dinner’s focus to shift from Duke Viterpan to the Empress.

“Has she caught some sort of disease?”

“Your Majesty.”

Gusto glanced at Olivia at the sound of her voice.

“Of course, it’s unlikely that the Empress, with all her cleanliness, would contract such a disease, but we can never know about human affairs, can we?”

“‥‥‥.”

The ministers attending all remained silent at the Emperor’s words.

No one, not the Emperor, not the nobles, not one, took Olivia’s side.

“Spending long nights alone, she might be enjoying some strange activities we’re not aware of.”

The physician’s face flushed red at the Emperor’s allegation.

The other ministers present at the table simply coughed and turned a blind eye to the Emperor’s words.

It did not matter whether it was a simple cold or a serious illness.

All that mattered to the Emperor, was that Olivia was humiliated in front of the ministers.

Not to mention, tarnishing Lucas Viterpan’s reputation.

“Am I as terribly ill as His Majesty says?”

She wasn’t fond of the fact that he ignored her and called a physician even after she refused.

It wasn’t her health that he cared about; she was a puppet to him, intended to both display and maintain his position.

Olivia knew that better than anyone.

“I’m pregnant, Your Majesty.”

The hand holding the teacup trembled slightly.

Her usually stoic expression cracked in an instant, as if she were wearing a mask.

Although her expression quickly hardened again at the sight of so many eyes, Gusto didn’t miss the momentary change.

Moreover, the hand holding the teacup was still trembling slightly.

“Congratulations. Empress.”

Despite Olivia’s stony expression, the physician’s voice was as cheerful as ever.

His face was plastered with a smile, as if he didn’t feel the cold stares of the dinner party.

The Empress of the Empire was pregnant.

But none of the people in the room offered her congratulations.

Rather, it was as quiet as if cold water had been doused all over.

With the exception of the physician who examined her, they were all occupied exchanging glances and scanning the atmosphere.

‘The imperial physician was the quintessential neutral party in the room.’

Olivia sighed, wondering how to handle this situation.

She felt her skin tingle at the piercing stare he was giving her.

“Pregnant?”

The Emperor, who’d been sipping on a strong drink since noon, chuckled in amusement.

Olivia’s gaze snapped to the Emperor.

“Congratulations. Emperor.”

The physician was genuinely congratulating Olivia on her pregnancy, perhaps as he was neither a noble nor an emperor, he was paid no attention to.

His dusky eyes crinkled.

The Emperor was unimpressed by the heartfelt congratulations from the imperial physician and merely looked around at the people.

“Hah.”

Hearing the news of the Empress’s pregnancy directly, the Emperor downed the liquor in his hand in one quick gulp.

His brow furrowed as if he detested the current situation.

In order to humiliate the Empress for her arrogant behavior before him, he called a physician.

Now this, a pregnancy out of nowhere.

“Pregnant. There’s been no news of you conceiving in four years, and now that Duke Viterpan returns to the capital, you’ve fallen pregnant on a whim,” said the Emperor as golden liquor poured into his goblet. 

No one else spoke.

It was a banquet meant to honor Duke Viterpan, who had returned to the capital after vanquishing the barbarian, and yet…

The Emperor, who had dared to bring a physician to the banquet to examine Olivia, clicked his tongue as his eyes darted back and forth between Lucas Viterpan and the Empress.

‘Wretched things.’

Gusto’s stomach twisted as he glared at the two nobles, who seemingly had nothing to do with the current predicament.

His gaze was especially fierce on Lucas, who stood at his post, his dark hair fluttering in the breeze.

Despite his slow posture, the Emperor’s eyes narrowed, and he studied the two of them keenly.

“I’m sure His Majesty jests,” responded an unmoved Lucas Viterpan.

He didn’t even give the Empress a glance, only answering the Emperor’s sarcasm.

“You have a way with words, Empress, and I’m not surprised you’re holding on so tightly to the mistakes of one night. Isn’t that right, Empress?”

The Emperor’s words hardened Olivia’s countenance.

It was difficult enough to deal with the unexpected revelation of her pregnancy, but the Emperor’s insults made it more difficult to bear.

The hem of her red silk dress crumpled in Olivia’s impatient hands.

“Ah! I fear the seed in your womb may not be mine.”

“Your Majesty!”

“Just joking. I am familiar with the Empress’s temperament, but it is rather suspicious that you’d get so angry over a joke.”

“Your joke went too far.”

“Too far?”

“Well, it remains to be seen whether it is too far or not. Is it not said that women never forget their first man?”

“‥‥‥.”

“Well, since you haven’t seen your old flame in a long time, I should give you time to get reacquainted.”

Unlike the pale-complexioned Empress, the Emperor rose from his seat with a smirk.

The appetizers had barely been served.

“I must leave now. I’ve lost my appetite after hearing this shocking news.”

All of the attendees around the long table rose in unison.

The Emperor proceeded to storm out of the room, followed by several of the attendees.

Half were nobles, while the other half were ministers.

The rest stayed behind to keep an eye on Olivia and Lucas.

Lucas, who had risen from his seat to see off the Emperor, glanced back at Olivia, who remained seated and motionless, before leaving the banquet hall.

It was a harsh welcome to return to the empire after four years.

“Pregnant.”

Olivia remained alone in the empty banquet hall, mulling over the physician’s diagnosis.

It had been four years since their marriage.

That horrible night.

It was a remnant of a terrible night she didn’t want to remember.

The mocking touches, the harsh breathing, as if he were treating something insignificant.

A cackling voice that said he couldn’t come onto her unless he was drunk.

The moonless night.

No one was there to help her in the pitch blackness.

There was nothing she could do but grit her teeth and endure.

It was the night the Emperor fought with his concubine.

She didn’t expect that the horrible night she tried so hard to forget would leave a mark. 

She shuddered as the memories of that night flashed through her mind.

As much as she wanted to forget, the horrors her body remembered ran deeper than she thought.

“Stay back.”

Her voice was lower than usual, as if she’d been straining.

But even so, Olivia didn’t realize it.

There were still people in the hall, which she thought was empty earlier.

The nobles glaring at her, and the Emperor’s ministers with unhappy expressions, were arguing among themselves with Olivia at the center.

Olivia gritted her teeth at the insensitive demeanor of those in the Empress’s presence.

“You’ll have to start taking yourself seriously today.”

“I needn’t worry; there are always those who value my body more than I do.”

They exchanged glances, and instead of staring daggers at each other, she simply glanced at them.

‘Wretched things.’

Olivia picked up her teacup with a hand that had finally calmed down and sipped the warm tea.

She couldn’t tell what it tasted like or what flavor it was as she drank.

Despite her calm face, her mind was in a fog.

The corners of her eyes throbbed as her habitual headache reappeared.

‘I can’t take the medication anymore,’ she thought.

Subconsciously reaching for a headache pill, Olivia placed a hand on her still-flat stomach.

It was then.

“Congratulations, Empress.” 

A clique of nobles who had fawned over Olivia’s pregnancy, quickly came to her side.

“Congratulations. Your Majesty.”

The rest of the attendees, who had been bickering among themselves at the news of Olivia’s pregnancy, followed suit, bowing their heads.

Like parrots, they chorused their congratulations. 

Only then did Olivia have to admit that a new life had sprouted in her womb.

“Okay. Thank you all.”

The ministers and nobles didn’t seem to mind the mechanical tone of her voice.

All they did was maintain common courtesy, with Olivia in the middle.

“I’m sure His Majesty is equally surprised and will soon welcome the Empress’s pregnancy.”

Olivia stroked her belly as she listened to their words.

It was an unimaginably flat belly, yet it was where life was being conceived.

‘There’s a child in here?’

Nervously, she pulled the shawl tighter around her shoulders.

‘My baby.’

A faint smile broke out on the previously hardened face.

It didn’t matter if they saw her expression change. She didn’t hear the voices of the ministers urging her to give birth to a son.

Olivia closed her eyes tightly at the prospect of having someone on her side in the world.

The body aches and fatigue that had been plaguing her for days melted away like snow in the spring sun.

Olivia glanced at Duke Viterpan’s empty seat.

He had just returned from defeating the barbarians who had threatened the empire for years.

Naturally, he should be by the side of the Emperor, not the Empress.

It was clear that even this strange seating arrangement had the Emperor’s stamp of approval.

‘It’s the same thing again.’

Olivia’s eyes filled with regret as she stared at the empty seats.

It had been like this the night before, when everyone had closed their doors and held their breath.

In the arms of her nanny, her singing drowned out her cries throughout the night.

Even as the sun rose and the world around her changed, Olivia turned her back on her family in favor of a new world.

A position where she would turn her back on him to fulfill her noble duty to protect her family.

Olivia slowly rose from her seat.

She was the only one left in the already emptied banquet hall.

“I must return to the palace.”