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Chapter 60. 1




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Although tea time didn’t end well, it was….
‘Because the Emperor’s brash and conceited.’
The Duke’s eyes narrowed.
Even if I regard the first dinner as a coincidence, I can’t say the same for the second.
In the end, it would be more accurate to say that the little kid overcame difficulty through her own abilities.
‘……If she continues to improve well into the future, she might become quite helpful to Rose.’
Thus the Duke raised his evaluation of Charlize by just a bit.
But then, the Empress spoke to the Duke with a soft voice.
“Come on, brother. You can be honest with me.”
“….What are you talking about?”
The Empress poked the Duke’s side with her elbow, smiling mischievously.
“Brother, you’ve fallen for Charlize’s charms, haven’t you?
“Pardon?”
The Duke stopped in his tracks, his face now bearing a grimace.
The Empress, who was already engrossed in her affection for Charlize, looked past that and continued.
“Well, it’s about time you admit it.”
“What?”
The Empress looked back at the Duke with a sheer look of determination in her eyes and exclaimed.
“Charlize is the cutest child in the world!”
The Duke remained silent, appearing unfazed.
But the Empress was undaunted by the Duke’s silence, she wasn’t going to back down without an answer from her brother.
Finally, the Duke responded with a reluctant expression.
“Well….she is cute.”
“Right? Isn’t she so cute? She’s so adorable that you just want to gobble her up!”
“……Not to that extent.”
“Hey, what’s wrong with that?!”
Watching his younger sister fuss on and on, the Duke thought about Charlize.
In her bleak imperial palace life, Charlize is the only girl who can make Rose happy.
A smile crept across the Duke’s face.
It was a small but obvious smile.
****
“Charlize.”
“Yes?”
I was cleaning beneath a table when I heard a call and raised my head.
“Go inside. Her Majesty, the Empress dowager is waiting for you.”
“Huh, me?”
My eyes were wide open.
Why me all of a sudden?
The handmaiden, however, only pulled me up from under the table and told me I would hear the details from the Empress dowager herself.
‘Oh, no.’
I swallowed my saliva.
It’s probably because the tea time didn’t end fairly well and I had problems of my own.
With faltering steps, I made my way to the living room where Her Majesty currently resided in.
“Your Majesty, you called for me?” I announced before entering.
“Come here, Charlize.”
Her Majesty with a light gesture, beckoned me to enter.
She offered me a seat.
“Sit across from me.”
I faltered to my seat, hesitantly sitting down.
Unlike the time we had baked a cake together, I felt nauseous from the prevailing tension.
‘I feel like throwing up.’
After a while, her Majesty spoke.
“The juice earlier.”
“J-Juice?”
My entire body stiffened.
……Are you going to reprimand me for provoking the Emperor’s wrath earlier during tea time?
‘She going to, isn’t she?’
However, the Empress dowager who had been staring at me for a long time asked a question, completely different from what I had expected.
“You prepared it because you knew my teeth were weak. Correct?”
“…..yes, that’s right.”
I said so with a timid voice while nodding.
I glanced at the Empress dowager’s countenance.
She sat across from me in a casual way, it was neither imposing or threatening.
Her soft gaze should have made me feel at ease but I just couldn’t shake off how I felt and so-
“I-I’m sorry for being so presumptuous.”
“What? What do you mean?”
“I made the juice but you didn’t ask for it, tea time was ruined because of me….”
Because of me, the Emperor got angry. Because of me, the Empress had to intervene. Because of me….I-I wasn’t of any help to her Majesty.
I felt so bad, I blurted out what was on my mind without control.
But just then.
“No, why would you say that?”
Huh?
The Empress dowager was truly genuine when she asked that.
I was taken aback.
“I just wanted to say thank you to you.”
Her wrinkled hand gently wrapped around my little hand.
A bitter voice reached me.
“Rather, I’m the reason you got into trouble. If anything, I should be the one saying ‘sorry.’”
“What? No, what are you talking about?” Charlize said, denying Her Majesty to be at fault.
“No, we…I have to be aware of our relationship, set boundaries, that’s what-”
Her Majesty, the Empress dowager shook her head and held my hand. She placed one hand on top of my hand and the other cupping mine.
“Listen Charlize. It’s not your fault at all that the Emperor was so angry.”
“But Your Majesty, Empress dowager…..”
“His Majesty can’t be angry with me, he saw an opportunity and so took it all out on you.”
Her voice was unusually firm.
After a while, the Empress dowager strengthened her voice and reassured me by repeating what she had said.
“So there is nothing to apologize for. Understand?” said Her Majesty as she caressed my head.
Her warm explanation made me feel better, I stretched out my shrunken shoulders a bit.
“Above all, I’m very grateful to you.”
“…….to me?”
“Yes, to you. By the way, how did you know that my teeth were uncomfortable, moreover, do something so considerate? I’ll be honest I was very touched by what you did.”
“You’ve been of great help to me Charlize. Don’t forget that.”
Her Majesty said so with a kind face.
Then she looked at me with a sad look.
“I wish you had been a maid of the Empress dowager’s palace.”
…..Well, wouldn’t the Empress be furious if that happened?
Our Empress has a lot more personality than she lets on.
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