The Evil Empress Adores Me - Chapter 92

The nobles were birds of a feather. 

The emperor confirmed the engagement between Damian and me, sending shockwaves to all those present. 

His Majesty then looked at me with a warm gaze. 

“Then at the upcoming victory banquet, we shall introduce the crown prince’s fiancee.”

…..I swear to Aurelia, today was the first time the emperor looked at me warmly. 

My pupils quivered as if an earthquake had taken place.

There were only two people here who seemed pleased with this decision. 

The emperor, and Damian. 

In such a situation, I could only turn to the empress. 

‘Empress, what should I do?’

I slowly moved closer to the empress’s side. 

At that moment. 

I saw her. 

“Prince, how could you surprise me like this…”

….that was the only thing the empress said as her voice grew fainter. 

I simply wanted to cry. 

No, Empress what’s the matter with you!

* * *

The audience with the emperor came to a close. 

I needed to talk with Damian right away. 

Damian must have realized he did something wrong, judging by how he was constantly looking into my eyes with a concerned expression.  

“Lize, are you mad?”

Before answering him, I checked our surroundings, holding back my anger. 

Okay. All the doors and windows are shut. 

The empress said she would keep those who stayed around occupied to give us privacy. Still, it doesn’t hurt to double check…

After being completely certain no one was around, I let it rip. 

“Your Majesty, are you crazy?!”

I yelled at Damian for the first time. 

Damian dropped to his knees, falling flat on his face.  

“I’m sorry, Lize!”

“What are you sorry for?!” I exclaimed, needing to make sure we were on the same page. 

“Well, I asked for an engagement in a crowded place…..come to think of it, that was the problem?! But you didn’t refuse!”

Asking for an engagement in a place with so many people watching, wasn’t exactly an environment where I could just refuse! 

I felt my blood boiling. 

But that was a secondary issue. 

What I need to ask Damian now is…

“Your Highness, you want to be Emperor, don’t you?”

“Well, yes but…”

“So to do that you should have chosen to be betrothed to a woman from a powerful family! For example…”

“….for example?” Damian asked, surprised I would say something like that. 

I paused at that moment, struggling to get the name out. 

‘Unsurprisingly…Damian looks quite frustrated now.’

Darkened scarlet eyes looked straight at me with a cold gaze. 

The embarrassed look he had before all but dissipated. 

Damian put on an irked look as he asked me. 

“Were you going to talk about Sienna again?”

“….Viscountess Antes is a good match.”

My heart began to pound. I tried my best to maintain a calm facade, preventing any changes in my facial expression. 

It was then Damian’s expression changed, becoming colder. 

….why do you have that look on your face?

It’s not like I said anything offensive.  

“Lize.”

Damian asked me in a low and suppressed voice. 

“Why are you deciding who’s good for me to marry?”

“Well, I…”

“I decide whom I want to marry.”

Damian declared adamantly. 

I pursed my lips and glared back at Damian. 

No matter how much I hate to say it, Sienna will be of more help to Damian, more than I ever could be. 

But….

“That’s ridiculous. What could I as a maid do for you?”

I shook my head back and forth. 

Am I not right?

Sienna is the current viscountess of the North and will later inherit the title of Marquess. 

Compared to me, a maid of the Empress’s palace. 

It’s clear which one of us can be of help to Damian. 

“No, it’s not like that.”

“…Your Highness.”

“Just having you by my side is enough, that’s already of great help to me.”

At his firm voice, I closed my eyes shut. 

No. 

If you keep saying that….

‘I’ll be looking forward to it.’

Once again, I tried to look as calm as possible. 

Otherwise, Damian might have figured me out. 

“Then please convince me.”

“Good, I will.”

Damian responded in a way that seemed like he had been waiting for me to say that.  

“With this engagement, the Emperor will be less wary of me.”

“Ah.”

I blinked my eyes at his unexpected answer. 

I see now. Come to think of it, Damian said before…

‘Don’t worry too much, I’ve already thought of a way to lower the Emperor’s vigilance.’

….I’m positive he said that.  

But why do it this way? Surely, a noblewoman would have been better suited. 

I widened my eyes. 

“If I was betrothed to a high-ranking noblewoman, the Emperor would undoubtedly keep a close eye on everything I do.”

As if to strengthen his previous statement, Damian shrugged his shoulders and added. 

“So from my perspective, this is better.”

“So to just avoid the Emperor from keeping a tab on you….you’re taking me as your fiancee?”

I asked back in a skeptical tone. 

“But that’s so much trouble to put yourself through. Even if you’re being watched, it would be wiser to have the help of high-ranking aristocrats….”

“Lize.”

Damian interrupted me, shaking his head. 

“Come on, did you think I would get engaged to you just to lower the Emperor’s guard?”

Damian’s intonation suggested a hint of sadness when he asked me.  

“I mean, I….”

I?

I haven’t the faintest idea about Damian’s reasons for doing this, so I just tilted my head. 

Damian looked at me for a long while and then sighed deeply. 

“….haaa, you’re clueless.”

“Well, out with it. Why did you do it?”

He’ll explain it to me, won’t he?

But Damian turned the other way with a sulky face. 

He’s treating me like a fool!

I’m feeling so embarrassed for not knowing. 

“No, it’s nothing,” said Damian, less irked now. 

Hey, does that look like it was ‘nothing’? 

However, I didn’t get a chance to plead my case to Damian. 

It was because Damian had made up his mind to pour out his words. 

“Back to what we were previously discussing, there are two upsides to this engagement.”

“I understand wanting to avoid the Emperor’s watchful gaze. But what comes after?”

“The support of the Imperial people.”

Surprised, I swallowed my breath. 

Damian casually followed up with an explanation. 

“The biggest ace I have up my sleeve right now is neither legitimacy nor divine power.”

“Then…”

“It’s the people’s support.”

Hearing those words, I suddenly remembered what I had seen during the triumphant return. 

People voluntarily running out into the streets and chanting Damian’s title over and over again.  

‘Hero of the Empire’ they proclaimed. 

The envious eyes of the Emperor staring at the ‘Hero of the Empire.’

And Damian who stood there in their adoration. 

Driving a wedge into that thought, Damian gave me a question. 

“In this situation, what would it be like if I formed a relationship with someone who represents the people?”

“….Your Highness.”

“Think about it. The vast majority of the denizens of the Empire are common folk.”

Damian concluded his speech on that. 

I pondered about it. 

Damian had a point. 

The reason Damian was enjoying unrivaled popularity now was that he had taken a completely different course from the current aristocracy. 

As the crown prince, who would inherit the throne, he spent eight grueling years isolated in the northern parts of the empire. 

And after battling numerous beasts, he dramatically reduced their numbers. 

‘The overwhelming trust placed in Damian had not been placed in vain.’

Someone who had performed the hardest of tasks in the most treacherous of places. 

Someone who had dedicated himself to protecting the people of the empire with all his might. 

That was the public perception. 

‘In that situation, if Damian chose a commoner maid instead of someone from a more sedentary background…’

It would lead to a setting where the people of the empire will have a greater more favorable impression of Damian. 

I swallowed my saliva. 

Damian softly added. 

“This engagement is also for me.”

“Ha, but.”

“And…most of all.”

I stared at Damian as if entranced. 

His unwavering scarlet eyes had a clear and jewel-like luster to them which contained a mirror image of me. 

“Didn’t I promise you?”

Damian said that in such a soothing voice, it was as if his words became as sweet as honey. 

“That I would place you in a more honorable position than a princess of Rochester.”

At that moment, I froze up on the spot. 

Memories of the past came rushing in an instant. 

It was a promise from eight years ago. 

Maybe it was after I turned down the adoption offer to become a Rochester. 

‘There’s nothing I can do for you now, but one day surely I will…’

I can clearly remember the look on Damian’s face. 

The determined glint he had in his eyes. 

His bleeding lips on the account of him biting them, trying to hold back from crying.

How he spoke to me in a hushed voice…

I remembered everything. 

‘I’ll raise you to a higher rank than a princess of Rochester.’

I asked Damian in a moved voice. 

“….that promise, you remembered it?”

“Of course. I’ve been meaning to fulfill that promise ever since I was in the North.”

Damian smiled mischievously. 

Then he asked softly. 

“So, are you less angry now?”