She wasn’t ‘Charlize’ right now, she was the Crown Prince’s fiancee.
Also, rather embarrassingly…
‘….a Saintess.’
But if the title could give the people of Lebane hope, she could tolerate a little embarrassment.
Charlize glanced up and looked at the people.
Those eyes radiated trust toward her and Damian.
‘Countless people that believed in Damian and I are following us.’
It was the first time I had such an experience.
Filled with gratitude, Charlize bowed deeply toward the crowd.
“There must have been a lot of things we lacked, but everyone followed our instructions really well. Thank you.”
“I also express my deepest gratitude.”
Damian also erased the smile from his face and bowed deeply to the people.
The minds and hearts of the people were amazed and moved at the same time.
“No, how are you two bowing down to us!”
“If it weren’t for you two, Lebane would have suffered tremendously!”
“His Majesty may have turned from us but you two came to our aid.”
People scrambled to express their thanks.
There was not a single lie in the voices expressing gratitude.
Listening to the countless people, Damian and Charlize smiled heartfeltly.
I was jubilant.
****
As the crowd watched the two of them leave, they started whispering among themselves.
“Come to think of it, you said that Lady Charlize is his Highness’s fiancee, right?”
“Yes, what of it?”
“It’s a bit strange, I mean.”
The middle-aged man tilted his head and continued.
“Isn’t it common sense for the saintess who saved the south with the power of the divine beast to be crowned as the Crown Princess?”
“…I guess so?”
“In fact, isn’t it even stranger that she hasn’t been crowned as the Crown Princess till now? Don’t you think so?”
“Perhaps if someone wasn’t interfering in between…”
The people couldn’t hide their suspicious expressions.
They couldn’t say it out loud, but of course, there was only one person to be suspicious of.
It was the Emperor.
****
A few days later, at the Imperial palace.
The Empress was sitting alone in the large dining room.
It was because the Emperor had requested to hold dinner together for the first time in a long time.
But…
The Empress glanced up and looked at the clock hanging on the wall.
It is already eight o’clock in the evening.
It was quite late to have dinner.
Moreover, the appointed hour the Emperor and the Empress had originally scheduled for was seven o’clock in the evening.
That meant that the Emperor was already an hour late for this appointment.
“….er, Your Majesty, the Empress. Shall I send someone to the Imperial palace?”
“It’s all right.”
Head maid Hayden was restless and so she asked the Empress.
However, the Empress merely shook her head with a nonchalant expression.
“It’s not like the Emperor hasn’t done this once or twice.”
“But…”
Head maid Hayden, who was aggrieved for the Empress, was about to give a remark but refrained from doing so, biting her lip.
Because what the Empress said was true.
The alliance that was previously solid, was long gone after the passing of the former Duke of Rochester, the Empress’s father.
The current relationship between the Duke of Rochester and the Emperor was a far cry from the relationship the Empress had when she first got married.
It was now quite common for the Duke and the Emperor to bare their teeth and growl at each other during meetings.
And naturally, the gap between the Emperor and the Empress also widened.
Not only did they live separately, they had not even spoken a single word of kindness to each other for several years.
However, with the obligation to leave behind an heir, the martial duty would be scheduled for and they did so indifferently.
Yet, the two still had no children.
Everyone knew very well that the Emperor and Empress did not have conjugal affection for each other.
But…
‘The Empress is the mother of the empire, I didn’t expect the Emperor to make her wait this long.’
Any disrespect toward her Lady would not be welcomed.
Even more so when said Lady was someone she cherished as she had raised the Empress from a very young age.
Just when Head maid Hayden barely managed to stifle the bubbling rage inside her-
BOOM!!
There was the sound of a strong kick on the door.
Startled, Head maid Hayden lifted her gaze.
After a while, the Emperor appeared with thumping footsteps.
He was holding a crumpled evening newspaper in his hand.
“Empress, what the hell is the meaning of this?!”
The Emperor glared at the empress with eyes full of anger.
In contrast, the Empress had a composed expression throughout.
“I must return that question. Why are you incandescent?”
“Did you hear the commotion this article caused?!”
The Emperor slammed the newspaper down before the Empress’s face, making a loud banging noise.
The Empress looked down at the newspaper with an expressionless face.
In large letters, the headline read, {Saintess of the South Saves the City of Lebane!}.
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