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(3rd Person POV)
The carriage drove along the bumpy road for a very long time, until it finally reached the Imperial Palace just a little past midnight.
Anastasia had the knights to transport the criminals to the dungeon. After everything was settled, she returned to the Empress’s Palace together with her maids.
“Your Majesty, are you okay?”
The news must have already been delivered as Madame Rochester hurriedly approached Anastasia once she entered the Empress Palace.
“I just heard the news from the Central Palace. One of the knights told me about what had happened today. And as soon as I heard it, (*)I thought that the sky was  yellow. Just what kind of misfortune is this?”
(T/N: Korean Idiom means: Someone who becomes heartbroken/devastated.)
“I’m fine and fortunately no one got hurt…thanks to His Majesty.”
“As expected, we really should had increased your escorts.”
Madame Rochester said with a hardened face.
“In the future, we need to double or even triple the number of escorts that will accompany you when you go out, Your Majesty. Please….”
Please do not repost our translation. Read only at Pink Muffin Translations.
“Okay, Madame Rochester. By any chance were you worried because of me? I’m so sorry.”
“No words can express how much I……!”
From the moment that she saw Anastasia, Madame Rochester was already on the verge of crying. When she was able to confirm that everything was okay, she finally burst into tears.
Her reaction had startled Anastasia.
“Madame Rochester…”
“I-I was…I was so afraid that something might have happened to Your Majesty. I was shocked, I was…..”
She herself was surprised about her sudden outburst. Of course, Anastasia had already proved a couple of times now that she is a new person, but there was still a thread of anxiety that lingered in her heart.
Thinking that, perhaps all these moments would pass like a midsummer night’s dream, and that the same nightmare will come again.
That’s why Madame Rochester tried not to give her whole heart to Anastasia.
Thinking that this would be the last defense mechanism that she had…..
‘But it was all in vain.’
As soon as she heard from the knights about what happened at Viscount Santoro’s residence, that’s when she realized it.
That she had already established Anastasia as her one and only master in her heart.
As soon as she saw that Anastasia was unharmed, she felt so relieved. As if her legs were about to give out, right there and then. That’s when she knew she couldn’t deny it any more.
Please do not repost our translation. Read only at Pink Muffin Translations.
“I was very worried and I am so glad that you came back uninjured.”
“I’m sorry for making you worry, Madame Rochester, and…thank you so much for your concerns.”
“It is only natural that I worry. Since I’m one of the people who takes care of you.”
Madame Rochester also continued, as she wiped her tears.
“And His Majesty, the Emperor was also so worried about you.”
At that, Anastasia looked at Madame Rochester with a puzzled expression.
“He hasn’t gone to bed yet.”
ThumpThumpThump!
The moment she heard those words, Anastasia’s heart began to beat rapidly.
But the heartbeat dance was short-lived.
‘….Calm down, Anastasia.’
Anastasia immediately took control of her heart.
‘Don’t assume anything. He usually does an all-nighter. This isn’t new’
‘With all the work that he had, it is no surprise that he was still awake at this hour.’
Anastasia responded as calmly as possible.
“I see…”
“You need to go now to the Central Palace and meet His Majesty.”
“At this  time….but it’s already too late.”
Since it was now midnight, Anastasia became more reluctant.
“I will see him tomorrow. I don’t think that it was polite to visit at this hour.”
“It is more rude if you would not see him right away, Your Majesty.”
[pr/n: I agree. Your husband is anxiously waiting to see you unharmed with his own eyes.]
“…….”
Of course, it was. It would make no sense not to report the situation immediately after experiencing such a big disaster.
Eventually, Anastasia let out a short sigh and said.
“Okay, I will go to the Central Palace now.”
She realized that she needed to better separate her emotions between public and private matters. While Anastasia was muttering to herself, she suddenly remembered what she had forgotten.
Please do not repost our translation. Read only at Pink Muffin Translations.
“Oh, Melina.”
Anastasia called Melina, as if she had almost forgotten about her.
“I will send a messenger to the Marquis, so you can sleep here for tonight.”
“Really? Can I really sleep here?”
“Of course. It’s already very late to travel back to your mansion. It’s also quite dangerous, and you’re already tired, so please spend the night here.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I will.”
“And Madame Rochester, please take care of the Empress Palace in my absence.”
“Don’t worry about this place, Your Majesty.”
Anastasia then headed to the Central Palace.
With every step that she took, her heart beat faster and her mouth dried out from tension, yet still she had to keep walking.
-ˏˋ ━━━━━━ ʚɞ ━━━━━━ ˊˎ-
(3rd Person POV)
“I see Her Majesty the Empress, the moon of the Empire.”
As she entered the Central Palace, Colton was waiting to meet her.
“I heard that you did something big on your way back from charity work. I’m so glad that you’re safe, Your Majesty.”
“….Ah.”
Anastasia felt a little awkward but she still greeted him.
“Thank you, Sir Colton.”
“Unlike before, Her Majesty the Empress has become so wonderful and that’s why I had to stay up all night for the last three consecutive days…”
Please do not repost our translation. Read only at Pink Muffin Translations.
“Oops, just forget about what I said. I didn’t have enough sleep and dared to say some nonsense in front of Her Majesty the Empress.”
[pr/n: *clap clap* Well, well Colton. Sarcasm delivered on point.]
Anastasia looked strangely at Colton, who was chattering in front of me.
‘It’s been a while, Sir Colton.’
This was probably the first time that she had seen him since her return.
Anastasia pondered over her memories and decided that must be the case.
‘I never thought that there would be a day that you would be treating me so kindly.’
It wasn’t surprising to find that Colton was more supportive of Avelin than anyone else, once it was revealed that Anastasia wasn’t the real woman that was blessed by the oracle.
‘Of course I never hated him. Not then and not now.’
It was unavoidable. Since it is said that the one chosen by the Goddess was not actually herself, but Avelin in the end.
Moreover, Colton was a man of considerable loyalty to Wilhelm, even though he was sometimes oblivious to it.
‘Besides, he was right in the end…’
Anastasia remembered what Colton had told her, right before her regression, once it was revealed that the first oracle was wrong.
‘If you truly love His Majesty, the Empress should leave on your own will because the Emperor would never ever abandon Her Majesty, the Empress.”
His shock was evident, since he did not expect for the oracle to be wronged. Just moments before, he had been laughing and chatting like normal before they received the news.
When Anastasia expressed her disappointment towards him, with tears in his eyes he said:
‘I’m not telling you this because I don’t like you, Your Majesty, but it’s because I cared about the both of you.’
Anastasia felt embarrassed by his determination and sincerity that she had only witnessed for the first time. He was always smiling to everyone.
Please do not repost our translation. Read only at Pink Muffin Translations.
‘I’m sorry, Sir…but I don’t understand the logic behind the words ‘If you love someone, set them free’.’
‘Your Majesty, please!’
‘I’m going to change my destiny and I will change my future. If I do well, won’t the goddess above feel pity for me?’
Despite his desperate pleas, Anastasia wouldn’t listen to him, and that eventually led their friendship to end.
Nevertheless, he had done all those things for the sake of the man that she loved, that’s why she couldn’t blame him until the end.
“Your Majesty the Empress….?”
‘Was it because the memories that she had from her past were from a long time ago?’
Anastasia finally came to her senses and woke up from her thoughts, when she heard Colton’s worried voice calling her.
“Are you okay, Your Majesty? Should I call the royal physician?”
“…No, that is not needed. I was just thinking about something else for a moment.”
Anastasia then asked calmly.
“Is His Majesty the Emperor inside?”
“He is waiting for you.”
At those words, Anastasia’s heart hopelessly raced once again.
Anastasia tried hard not to smile and only nodded. Then she took a deep breath just before entering the room.
As she walked into the room, his back was slowly revealed as he was looking outside the dark window. Anastasia’s heart beat rapidly increased.
[pr/n: MEDIC! MEDIC! ASSISTANCE FOR HEART PALPITATIONS. Solution? Hug from her husband.]
“…….”
It wasn’t long before he slowly turned around.
Please do not repost our translation. Read only at Pink Muffin Translations.
She did not know why but Anastasia closed her eyes without realizing it. Suddenly, she lost her confidence to see his face. Even though she hasn’t done anything wrong.
“Empress.”
Anastasia could barely open her eyes after hearing his emotionless voice calling her.
There was nothing on his face…
Anastasia was really nervous about his reaction, but as she looked at him, nothing could be seen.
That’s why she couldn’t figure out if he was hiding his emotions or if he truly doesn’t feel anything at all.
“…The Imperial moon greets the Empire’s sun. May the blessing of the goddess fill your reign.”
“…….”
“I heard that you have not gone to bed yet.”
Anastasia continued her words.
“I’m here to report on what had happened today.”
“…Report?”
“Yes.”
“….Okay.”
There was an unknown anger mixed with that insignificant response.
“Go ahead with your report.”
Anastasia calmly recited all of their encounters regarding today’s event.
On how she happened to stop by at Viscount Santoro’s residence, and how he had behaved after being suspected on connections to human trafficking.
Then it was time to explain about what had happened after Viscount Santoro attempted to stop them from leaving.
“……..”
Anastasia took a brief pause before she continued.
“I had already suspected that Viscount Santoro might be connected with the slave trader….but then my reaction was immature. It was the reason why we got caught.”
Please do not repost our translation. Read only at Pink Muffin Translations.
“……..”
“I tried to get out as safely as possible, but Viscount Santoro soon attempted to kill me so that his secrets would not be revealed. With the help of the knights that were sent by you, Your Majesty, the matter has been safely settled.”
Anastasia summarized the evening’s situation as briefly as possible, and immediately expressed her gratitude.
“Thank you, Your Majesty. I regret not taking into account the advice that you have given me last time.”
“……”
“In the future, I will always think about my position and act more carefully in every situation I am in. I’ll make sure not to trouble you about these types of events, and…”
“If anyone had heard you just now, they would think that it wasn’t you but another person who had experienced what you had gone through today.”
Anastasia was taken aback by the unexpected interruption from Wilhelm.
She looked directly at Wilhelm, unable to hide her emotions.
She didn’t know why, but displeasure was evident on his face.
[pr/n: First, we thank Kyesha for all of her hard work and quickness in translating. SHE THE REAL MVP. love you lots, love you lotssss.]
[second: thank you readers for all of your support…also in pushing hlms out for this novel. On one hand, I thank you because I also got to read ahead and the other hand (a much larger part) goes ‘Curse you AP’.]
[third: Regardless if you celebrate this holiday or not, please be easy on yourself. Take some time to hang out with your family/friends (physically or virtually) and celebrate. All the excuses for food and drinks.]
[4th: Also also…history be dark people, history be daaarrrrk so be kind but also have your actions back up your words and have it last. Like glitters around the holidays.]