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Chapter 240




Chapter 240
Proofreader: somnium
Winter was deepening while she was busy with work.
The air inside the carriage was stuffy, so when she opened the window, white breath came out.
Artizea regretted for a moment that she had decided to come out in this cold weather.
They should have moved a few months earlier to avoid this.
It didn’t matter much. The excuse was to avoid the cold, but everyone knew that it was actually to postpone the problem of entering the Imperial Palace.
No one could have thought that the Empress’ descent to the Southern Palace with Artizea and Leticia was purely escaping the weather.
The Empress said,
“The northern sea must have already frozen.”
“Yes. It is said that the sea route was blocked from two months ago.”
Artizea straightened her posture and answered.
“Even if it is a port in the south, they say that it will have to be warmer than it is now before it can be used.”
The subject was not spoken, but it was referring to Grand Duchess Roygar and her three children.
The Empress looked at Artizea. Artizea bowed her head to her.
“Thank you very much.”
 
“I guess that’s what Cedric wanted anyway. So, it’s done. I am not in a position to turn down Cedric if he asks for help with this.”
The Empress turned her gaze out of the window.
“It makes me feel rather grateful.”
Artizea couldn’t open her mouth recklessly because she didn’t know what happened in the past. Instead, Countess Martha spoke cautiously,
“The Empress did her best even then. And then

 Didn’t Grand Duke Evron survive?”
“What good is all that? All that was left for those who survived was a harsh fate.”
The Empress murmured.
There was silence inside the carriage.
Artizea threw her gaze out the window again.
Grand Duchy Evron will be covered in snow falling down to her thighs by now.
Last winter she was stuck in front of a fireplace in a room surrounded by fur on all sides.
It felt like a long time ago when she went down a frozen river and traversed the snowfield, feeling the pain from the cold that was seeping down to her bones.
It was as if she had cut that part of her life with a sharp knife, immersed it in a dream, and removed it out.
Artizea was able to vividly recall the touch of the lips, touching the tip of her head.
Nevertheless, it still felt unrealistic.
 
She knew it wasn’t a dream. Leticia remained as evidence. Unlike having a baby in her womb, giving birth to her made it disappear like a fantasy.
Still, Artizea used to be startled when she felt the passage of time.
She had originally planned that she would have been preparing for the divorce by now.
The Emperor would not have decided his heir so quickly. Marquis Luden would have been alive, and Grand Duke Roygar would still have been the first heir to the throne.
Artizea tapped her fingertips.
Although there was a growing number of returners, it has never acted badly. All the variables acted as surprising luck.
‘As if the world was helping.’
Artizea thought of that, and then she trembled.
Is it really just a coincidence?
It was useless for her to think. It would be better to push it to one side.
But it complicated her mind for no reason.
The meaning of the oracle was still not understood.
The letter, which she was trying to write to Lysia, has not yet been properly sentenced, and it has been burned several times.
She had too much to say before asking about the oracle.
Digging up the words would not have been possible without digging up all the ground where the roots were buried, and ripping out her heart.
In the end, Artizea could only write one word to her.
[Thank you.]
The long-awaited reply she received was also short.
[May God’s blessing be with Your Grace and the Princess.]
She couldn’t even hope that Lysia might not have regained her memory.
Because Lysia must have understood all the meanings in the letter she sent.
The Empress spoke to her,
“What are you thinking so deeply about?”
“It’s nothing. I just have a lot of things going on in my mind.”
“It is not easy to enter the Prince’s Palace.”
“I am going to rely on Your Majesty.”
“What strength do you think I have?”
said the Empress. About half of those words were a joke, Countess Martha laughed.
Artizea said with a smile as well,
“This is not a flattering remark. The Northerners are loyal, but they don’t have a character that suits the Imperial Palace, so I was thinking about what to do.”
“Hmm.”
The Empress groaned briefly.
This was no longer something that had nothing to do with the Empress.
She received an interim settlement.
Fernando Riagan was destroyed, and the household left by her parents was returned to the Empress’ hands.
And her honor will return.
From now on, it was time for her to act as an ally and not as a political background to Artizea.
“I will send you Viscount Juven.”
Artizea was a little surprised at the words of the Empress.
“Are you talking about the young Viscount? I know he is a man.”
“It’s through the mother’s side. Your maids are probably too young, and even if they were brought from Evron, they don’t have the temperament that suits the Imperial Palace as you said.”
said the Empress.
“He’s one of my old friends.”
“I see.”
Artizea answered in the affirmative even after hearing those words. She had an attitude without hesitation that surprised the Empress.
“Don’t you need to look at the person?”
“The Empress is the one who says he is your old friend. It is enough to know that he is a man whose heart is not swayed by power and money.”
The Empress nodded her head with a happy face.
“By the way, Cedric must be very disappointed.”
“It’s not like I’m going to stay in the villa for months.”
“Aren’t you the only one who said that?”
Artizea’s face turned red. Countess Martha laughed.
“I must go back before the flowers bloom.”
It was then.
The carriage stopped.
Artizea tried to hide the tension that spread behind her neck.
She wondered if the information leaked for the next step has already had an impact?
There was no way that a response could come so quickly, and there is no way they could even attack the Empress’ carriage.
The escort knight came over next to the carriage. It wasn’t a tense atmosphere.
Countess Martha opened the window slightly and asked,
“What’s going on?”
“Madam Marquisate Camellia’s Heir Apparent is asking for an audience.”
“In the middle of this road?”
The escort knight said with a perplexed face,
“Yes.”
Countess Martha looked at the Empress with her perplexed look.
The Empress gave Artizea a gaze.
“I will leave and meet her.”
“Yes.”
The Empress agreed.
The knight opened the carriage door. Artizea was escorted by the knight and got off the carriage.
The frozen road became mud as it melted by the hoofs and wagon wheels that had gone before. Artizea lifted the hem of her skirt.
As they watched her get off, Hayley and Hazel tried to get off the ladies-in-waiting’s carriage.
Artizea beckoned them not to.
Skyla had her carriage parked in front of the guard. She was dressed in pure white fox fur, but she looked haggard.
Artizea said to the escort knight.
“I will go.”
“Your Grace.”
“No worries. Madam Camellia is my friend.”
The knight was a little more hesitant.
However, it seemed that Skyla could not harm Artizea. In his view, Skyla and Artizena were equally fragile ladies.
The knight took the other guards and retreated to a reasonable distance.
Artizea said as she approached Skyla,
“Shall we go for a walk, Madam?”
“Whoo.”
Skyla laughed out loud. It was more of a groan than a laugh.
“You haven’t listened to my request to meet up until now, so are you a ‘friend’ this time?”
“As I said before, that’s a pretty convenient excuse. Especially at this age.”
Artizea answered in a calm voice without any mixed emotions.
Skyla replied sharply,
“That would mean that I am someone that has no obligations to Your Grace.”
Artizea didn’t have to answer.
She might have felt a friendship if she had met Skyla and formed an acquaintance when she was really 18.
If so, it may have also become a chain that binds Artizea’s heart.
But not now.
She looked at Skyla well and appreciated it. But her obligations under Terry Ford’s life-debt came first to her.
“Follow me. Madam will fulfill your purpose of coming here.”
Artizea moved her steps lightly.
Skyla stared at her back for a moment. She then solidified her resolve and she followed Artizea’s footsteps.
Artizea passed four carriages.
One of them was the Empress’ carriage, two were the ladies-in-waiting’s carriage, and the other was Leticia’s carriage.
Then there was a carriage for servants and maids. Of course, as it was the carriage of the Empress’ Palace, it had its own dignity, but even so, it was a luggage carriage without a single window.
Skyla looked at the carriage and grabbed her chest as if choked.
Artizea knocked on the door of the carriage.
There was hardly any answer from within.
Skyla got anxious and approached. Then she spoke earnestly towards the carriage,
“Please open it, Mother. My preparations are not ready yet.”
Eventually, the carriage door opened.
Marchioness Camellia came down, with a hood pressed over her cut short hair.
She was wearing a maid outfit.