The Evil Empress Adores Me - Chapter 70

After washing my face and body soaked in black tea, I was about to quickly change into a new set of clothes. 

But as I did, my hands slowed down. 

The Duke of Rochester adopting me…..hum.

‘If I take this opportunity, I’ll become family with the Empress right?’

Then I’ll be able to call her sister Rose, not just in front of Her Majesty but in front of everyone. 

Just picturing it made me happy. 

It felt like having a mouthful of sweet candy. 

However…..

‘If I do become a princess of Rochester, I won’t be able to live at the palace anymore. That means….’

Damian. 

My heart sank at the thought of it, him being alone all over again. 

Sure the maids of the Empress’s palace will take good care of him but….

‘Most likely, I won’t be able to visit Damian as often as I do now.’

The Empress has the duke and many relatives….

But for Damian currently, I’m all he has. 

I know that Sienna will eventually show up in the distant future. 

But until the two of them actually meet, there’s a lot of time left…

Just before leaving for the small banquet hall, the resigned gaze Damian had, came to mind again. 

Oh, Damian. What do I do with you?

“Huff….”

I unknowingly let out a long sigh. 

***

I went back to the small banquet hall with a brand new maid uniform. 

Upon opening the door, I was surprised. 

There was an unexpected visitor in the Empress’s palace. 

The unexpected visitor was the Emperor, right before my very eyes. 

Oh God, why is the Emperor here?

I started panicking. 

Just then, Weber came up to me and whispered. 

“Lize, Lady Bennett was first to leave.”

“Ah….”

I nodded as I looked at our guests. 

The Emperor’s abrupt visit left all the ladies frozen. 

I felt pity for them as they sat there with faces unsure of what to do or say. 

“Why is everyone so nervous?” The Emperor questioned, “Please be at ease.”

The Emperor had already taken a seat, smiling with a rather downcast smile. 

Then he greeted Damian. 

“It’s been a while, Damian.”

He said it in such a casual tone that it left me confused and offended. 

No, all the things you did to Damian. 

It’s been a while-how can you say that! 

How can someone be so brazen? 

The Emperor raised his eyebrows slightly, completely dismissing our astounded faces. 

He asked in that scratchy voice of his. 

“Now, Damian. Won’t you be polite as to set an example for the others?”

“…..salutations, Your Majesty. Damian, crown prince.”

Damian came to his senses. 

He quickly bowed his head as the ladies with tense faces followed suit. 

“Salutations, Your Majesty.”

“Salutations, Your Majesty.”

Sigh, it’s sad when you can’t do anything about it. 

After they finished, it was my turn. 

“Salutations, Your Majesty. Charlize, maid of the Empress’s palace.”

“Lize.”

At that moment, I heard a gentle voice call me from behind. 

Hold on, this voice?

My eyes lit up. 

“Salutations, Your Majesty, the Empress.”

“Yes, yes.”

The Empress having heard my polite greeting, smiled as she stroked my hair. 

The Emperor with an irked expression intervened. 

“Ah, I’ve heard that my Empress cares very much for that little maid.”

….The Emperor. Doesn’t he notice it?

Can’t he tell the Empress’s expression is getting colder by the second?

“However, the difference in status is drastic.”

“….a difference in status?”

“Yes. I prefer you keep some distance from that child for now.”

Oh, that’s right…I remember. 

The Empress cares for me like a little sister, I completely forgot that.

To be honest, the status of the Empress and mine are worlds apart, like heaven and earth. 

Embarrassed, I tried to take a little step back. 

But the Empress placed her hand over my shoulder, bringing me in closer. 

Huh? 

I widened my eyes as I looked at her arm over my shoulder and then at her. 

“No, Charlize is like my little sister.”

“I understand the affection one can have for a younger sibling, however, she is a maid. An Empress should not mingle with a maid.” 

“With all due respect that’s not your decision to make. It’s something for me to decide.” 

Drawing the line like that, the Empress ended her statement with her eyes closed. 

She smiled a magnificent smile like a rose in full bloom but a sharp thorn hidden underneath. 

The Empress continued. 

“And I understand that your Majesty has had multiple women of lower status many times.” 

“….Empress.”

“As far as I can remember there are much more than twenty….isn’t that right?”

The Emperor narrowed his eyes, displeased at the stigmatizing question directed at him. 

I swallowed my saliva. 

Our Empress is saying what’s true. 

In fact, in the original novel, his lovers ranged from age twenty and lower, so I’m not sure what to think of him…

But Empress, should you speak so blatantly?

You’re here with the ladies who’ve been called to be possible candidates, remember? 

I glanced around and just like me, the ladies were visibly shaken, their eyes trembling. 

I sympathized with them. 

Yeah, the ladies are uncomfortable hearing this…

“That’s enough. I didn’t come here to talk about this.”

The Emperor angrily jerked his head.  

Oh, the Empress won!

I held my breath and giggled.

As I did so, my eyes met the Empress. 

Oh, was it too obvious?

The Empress, however, responded by slightly winking as I wiped the pleased look from my face. 

Oh, Empress. If you do that, I’m going to smile even more!

“Anyway, Damian.”

The Emperor turned his attention to the crown prince. 

Damian looked slightly nervous as the Emperor called him. 

“I came here today because of the upcoming harvest festival.” 

The harvest festival?

I was puzzled. 

He’s here because of that? 

He’s never even invited Damian to the harvest festival, so why now?

“I want you to be my candidate for the harvest festival. What do you say?”

“….Your Majesty, the Emperor!” The Empress gasped. 

A startled Empress looked at the Emperor. 

His candidate for the harvest festival?!

I looked at the Emperor in astonishment. 

No, did he really mean what he said? 

He’s going to let Damian be a candidate?!

Damian is the only crown prince of the empire!!

Damian’s position is supposed to accompany the Emperor and the Empress during the ancestral rite, not take part in them!

The Empress raised her voice. 

“Is there no one else? Offering such a proposal to the crown prince who’s supposed to attend, not part take in. This is nonsense!” 

“I’m not sure you understand. Whether it makes sense or not, that’s not for you to decide Empress!” The Emperor declared. 

At the Emperor’s cunning reversal, the Empress was left dismayed as she said with a sigh. 

“But your Majesty, the crown prince is the only heir in line for the throne.”

“Oh, Empress. You don’t think I know that?” The Emperor scoffed. 

…..oh God. 

I marveled at how thick-skinned Emperor was. 

Only a man that brazen would usurp his nephew’s throne without so much as batting an eye. 

The Empress felt the same way I did, lightly shaking her head. 

The Emperor though continued while waiting in earnest for Damian’s answer. 

“At the moment, the crown prince’s thoughts are more important than your objections….wouldn’t you say so?”

Damian was silent.  

Powerless to do anything, I clenched my fists. 

The thought of the crown prince becoming the Emperor’s candidate….

‘Doing this would effectively be announcing to everyone, that Damian is below or subservient to the Emperor.’

This hall was intended as a gathering for potential candidates. 

But making that kind of proposal in this place…

…..to put it in one way. 

‘The Emperor’s conveying that the crown prince ever becoming anything more is a fantasy, Damian and all the ladies here are in the same shoes.’ 

He gets to relish in humiliating Damian and to humiliate him in front of everyone is a bonus.

Damian…what are you going to do?

I stared at Damian intently. 

He raised his head and answered. 

“I’ll accept.”

That calm and collected reply echoed throughout the small banquet hall. 

I just shut my eyes tightly. 

The Emperor looked at Damian with an intrigued gaze. 

“Hmm, you’ll accept my offer?”

“Yes, I’m grateful to his Majesty, the Emperor.”

Damian replied as he bowed his head. 

The Emperor raised the tip of his lips and smiled. 

His voice mixed with laughter rang throughout the hall. 

“Yes, you should be.”

Seeing Damian’s composed face, I felt a burning sensation eating away at me. 

‘Grateful! That Emperor just makes my blood boil!’

The Emperor looked at Damian with a satisfied grin on his face as he leaned back in his chair. 

Few hours pass. 

The Emperor tilted his head. 

“Say, Damian.”

“Yes, your Majesty.”

“I hear you’re a natural at swordsmanship.”

“…..please you’re exaggerating, your Majesty.”

For a split second, a faint sense of vigilance flashed across Damian’s face.

I also felt my lips dry. 

There’s no way the Emperor would ever compliment Damian.