The Evil Empress Adores Me - Chapter 61

“…….mind your manners, Your Majesty, Empress.” 

The Duke who seemed to have a buzzing headache, pressed his temple with his index finger to numb the secondhand embarrassment.  

Then. Damian took a step forward, greeting the Duke with caution. 

“Thank you so much for celebrating with me, Your Grace. And…..”

Damian took a deep breath and spoke clearly. 

“It’s a great pleasure to meet you, Duke of Rochester.” 

The Duke who looked down at Damian with an intense gaze, politely greeted him as he bowed. 

“It is a pleasure for me as well, crown prince.” 

“I didn’t expect Your Grace to come all the way here. I’m really happy.”

“Well, that’s because I could and did too. That’s why he’s here,” I said internally.

I casually nodded my head till my eyes locked gazes with the Duke’s.

The Duke scrunched his eyebrows.

“Kid, why are you staring at me?”

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

No, what’s the point of me making eye contact? 

The Empress then shook her head and scolded the Duke. 

“My brother, the Duke, also came all the way here because he felt sorry for Charlize. Don’t you think should be nicer to her?”

“No, when did I say that?!” the Duke exclaimed. 

“Is that so? When you two first met, you felt you were mean to Charlize…..”

“Your Majesty, Empress!”

The Duke further raised his voice. 

Wow, is the Duke’s face….it’s like a ripe tomato?

Was it really true? Did the Duke feel bad?

Puzzled, I paused and waited for him to say something.

The Duke instead turned his attention away from me, speaking to Damian. 

“Happy birthday, Your Highness, crown prince. Please take a seat.”

“Ah, okay…..”

Damian nodded with an awkward look. 

And that’s how Damian’s surprise birthday started. 

 

* * *

 

All the food served from one end of the table to the other looked appetizing.

My mouth was starting to water!

“Your Highness, come here and sit down!” 

I pulled out a chair and pulled Damian onto his seat. 

Damian tried to control his expressions as much as possible. 

However, he couldn’t completely hide his boyish excitement in front of everyone present at the birthday table. 

“What’s wrong with you? You’re really that impressed…..”

Startled by my mean question, Damian shot back at me with a retort. 

“I-It’s not like that!” 

“Really? Then what is it like?” I said with a smug smile. 

My smirk caused Damian’s cheeks to redden. 

Oh my, dear Damian! He’s so cute!

But I still have one more secret weapon left!

I placed the beautifully wrapped cake box on the table. 

“Voila!”

“…..what’s this?”

“It’s a birthday cake!”

 

Damian upon hearing my answer wasted no time and began examining the cake box with curious intent. 

I added to my words in a proud voice. 

“This is what Her Majesty, the Empress dowager, and I baked together.”

“……grandma?”

For a brief moment, Damian’s shoulders stiffened. 

‘Grandma….this is from her.’

I smiled brightly. 

I could see how much this meant for him. It was the first gift he had received from his grandmother in ages.

“Yes. Her Majesty asked me to deliver it to you, Your Highness.”

Damian bit his lips.

With trembling fingertips, he caressed the surface of the box and undid the loosely tied ribbon bow.  

Seeing his reaction and expression almost drove me to tears, I felt pity.

‘Do I dare? It’s been so long…’

Sensing his hesitation, I encouraged him.

“Open it.”

“……um, yes. I should.”

Damian listened to me and slowly opened the cake box. 

The cake was covered in whipped cream and topped with fruits and chocolate decorations that weren’t particularly pretty. 

But…..

“…..thank you.”

Damian who didn’t take his eyes off the cake muttered in a soft but strained voice. 

It was fortunate that Damian liked the cake. 

But then. 

“Lize.”

“Yes?”

“Come to think of it, I’ve never baked a cake with you……”

The Empress murmured with a gloomy expression. 

‘Oh no.’

I’m at a loss for words to answer her.

Think, think. What should I say?

……what response should I give?

“Well, let’s bake a cake together next time.”

“‘Next time’, let’s not use vague words like that.”

The Empress resolutely shook her head at the simple answer I desperately squeezed out and supplemented her own. 

“Tomorrow.”

“Pardon?”

“Bake. With me. Tomorrow.”

“O-Okay….”

Well, if that’s what the Empress wants…..

I nodded my head, trembling. 

My gaze subsequently fell onto the Duke standing across from me. 

The Duke was staring at the Empress with an astonished expression. 

 

With a sigh, he spoke. 

“My sister is so childish…..”

……It seemed like any impression or image of the Empress the Duke had of her initially, shattered before him. 

Instead of meddling in the affairs of those two siblings, I decided to pay more attention to Damian. 

“You get first serve, Your Highness.”

I cut a large piece from the cake and placed it in front of Damian. 

“Also, there. Strawberry for your cake. It’s the best part, trust me.”

“Ah, thanks.”

Damian following my advice stuck his fork into the strawberry. 

Mmmm.

With that, the strawberry entered his mouth.

“Isn’t it good?”

“Mmm-hmm.”

Damian’s cheeks were cherry red. 

He was munching on the strawberry with a pleased expression when I looked at him. 

Oh, Damian, you’re so cute!

But right then. 

I felt a piercing gaze sting the side of my face. 

“Lize.”

“…..Yes?”

The Empress’s unhappy tone had me perplexed. 

What could it be?

Is something wrong? 

The Empress, who had been looking at me with a sullen face, turned her head away. 

“Well, it is the crown prince’s birthday today….”

I’m speechless. 

Is the Empress upset at me for taking care of Damian first? 

Gosh, I can’t have a moment to breathe. 

I pushed the next plate towards the Empress and deliberately made a fuss about it. 

“Your Majesty, try this cake!”

“You know, Lize.”

The Empress looked at me with an envious but also pitiful expression on her face. 

“I want Charlize to feed me herself.”

“……What?”

“I must have signed too many documents today, my hands are so sore.”

That’s ridiculous. There’s no way I do that. 

Unfortunately, there was one teeny problem. The Empress with her long eyelashes and her hand cupping her face….

‘She’s so beautiful!’

Enthralled by the Empress’s beauty, I cut a large slice of cake without a second thought.

The Empress ate the cake from my hand without hesitation. 

Haa, how can the Empress be so pretty?

I grabbed my chest so I wouldn’t squeal and calmed down. 

It was then I felt another fierce gaze. When I turned back, this time it was both the Duke and Damian squinting at me.

Argh, what now?

“Feed me too,” Damian boldly demanded. 

I looked at Damian with a cold gaze.

“Your Highness, you’re not a baby. Why are you….”

“In that case, did you feed Her Majesty because she’s a baby?”

Damian replied with a fixed expression. 

Well, I can’t say anything to refute him. 

But then, the Duke reached out and cut for himself a slice of cake.

“I can eat well by myself.”

He proceeded to further cut the cake with his fork and eat. 

The atmosphere grew silent. 

It was like there was an intrusion just begging to happen at any moment and sure enough…

No, Duke!

You looked at the Empress pitifully just now, didn’t you?

Where’s that cool-headed and intelligent Duke you showed us earlier go?

At the same time, Her Majesty frowned as if she were dying of pity.

“Hey, that’s enough,” said the Empress. 

“Your Majesty, I don’t think you should say anything.”

The Duke shot at her as he raised his chin, his posture slightly more upright.

The way they stared at each other with scowls. It was brutal like hawks or tigers fighting. 

I ended up getting frustrated. 

Hmph, apparently they were friendly at first? And to think they were siblings that got along well with each other…

 

****

 

Eventually, after so many twists and turns, lunch was finally over. 

……I had just finished eating but somehow I felt tired. 

Slouching on a chair, I overheard the Empress call for Damian. 

“By the way, what kind of gift would his Highness like to receive?”

“A gift?”

Damian blinked his eyes, unsure of what to say. 

The Empress rested her chin in a casual position and added.

“Of course. As the Empress, I have a reputation to maintain, how could I leave without passing on a gift?”

“I would…..”

Damian licking his lips, spoke out with a determined voice.

“……I want a book.”

“A book?”

At the unexpected answer, the Empress’s eyes widened.

It’s somewhat surprising. 

Usually, kids his age want toys or something like that, what could have inspired this?

Damian continued with a strained face. 

“Yes. I’m ashamed, I haven’t had a chance to properly study since I was imprisoned.”

Those words made the atmosphere solemn. 

Not only was the Empress caught off guard but the Duke who had been indifferent the whole time shared the same reaction. He wore a slightly shocked face. 

After all, the Emperor is always anxious about not being able to completely contain Damian.  

At a time when Damian was deliberately quarantined, it was impossible to give him the opportunity to receive an education.