Abandoned Empress's Survival Manual Beside the Male Lead - Chapter 22

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 22
“Sister?”
“Sister, you say?”
“Well, you see. The First Princess, who was given as a concubine to Emperor Fasa…….”
“That princess is still alive?”
“I thought she died during the war.”
Ayu suddenly rushed toward me, her voice trembling as she cried out.
“Loreltianna! You’re here! I thought you were dead. You were alive all this time—why didn’t you come to the Northern Kingdom? Father was so worried, so worried about you……!”
Before I could react, a broad back filled my vision.
Sherkan had pulled me behind him.
No matter how I craned my neck, I couldn’t see Ayu, so I peeked sideways instead.
“This princess is already married to me.”
“……Married?”
“What are you, exactly, charging at my wife like some beast?”
In that instant, Ayu’s face flushed crimson. But the high priests around us had gone pale.
“Holy Maiden. This is the Grand Duke of Gonet.”
“The Grand Duke of Gonet?”
Ayu’s expression turned bewildered. Then, clenching her small fists, she spoke with frustration.
“I know that sister became the Grand Duchess of Gonet!”
‘……She knows?’
The situation crystallized in an instant.
‘I see.’
Sherkan had lied to me.
He had already sent word to the Northern Kingdom about our marriage.
“I ought to send a letter tomorrow. I’ve been so busy I forgot.”
My throat suddenly felt raw, as though I’d swallowed a handful of sand.
I couldn’t fathom why Sherkan would tell me such a lie.
He had been considerate toward me.
Sherkan had already sent word to the Northern Kingdom about our marriage, yet there was no reply—which could only mean one thing: the Northern Kingdom held no interest in me whatsoever.
That I was the legitimate bloodline of the queen and the First Princess of the royal house meant nothing.
At least not to my father, the ruler of the Northern Kingdom.
The king had only eyes for Ayu; for the rest of his daughters, he had not a fingernail’s worth of attention to spare.
A bitter taste lingered in my mouth, and yet strangely, I felt something warm bloom in my chest.
Anyone who learned of such tender consideration would feel the quiet comfort of being cherished.
“Sister, your mother was of the Direct Lineage of Larunde!”
Ayu’s following plea scattered my thoughts.
“Surely you can grasp the Spirit Stone and form a new contract with a spirit?”
The people around us, who had been listening with held breath, began to stir.
The nobles had been amazed by my existence, then perplexed by my status as Grand Duchess, and finally elated to learn that Direct Lineage of Larunde stood among them.
But…….
The Emperor approached me with hopeful eyes.
“Loreltianna, Grand Duchess of Gonet. How delightful to meet you. Might I entreat you to become the new master of the spirit?”
I offered an awkward smile and bowed my head gently.
“I am deeply honored, Your Majesty. Though I am indeed the bloodline of the queen, I have not received Recognition from the head of Larunde.”
The Emperor’s expression shifted slightly.
“You have not received Recognition?”
“No, Your Majesty.”
“Hmm……. This is quite troublesome indeed.”
While the Emperor grasped my meaning at once, many of the nobles present were not versed in the ways of Larunde.
Whispers erupted immediately.
“What does that even mean?”
“I’ve heard of it before. They say the Direct Lineage of Larunde can only wield true power if the head grants them Recognition.”
“So she’s legitimate or not?”
“No one knows. Since the Grand Duchess herself doesn’t seem confident, isn’t she just refusing the Emperor’s request indirectly?”
“Well, they say if unrecognized blood touches the Spirit Stone of the Sun, the spirit’s wrath will strike them dead on the spot.”
The nobles’ murmuring filled the hall.
“The Grand Duchess is afraid of dying, that’s all.”
“Who wouldn’t be afraid of dying? I’m afraid too.”
“But it seems the rumors are all true. That Grand Duchess never manifested the abilities of the Northern royal house properly, or so they say.”
“Right! That’s why even the head of Larunde refused to grant that princess Recognition in the end.”
“Tsk, tsk. Then what exactly can the Grand Duchess do?”
“With such excellent parents, and yet…….”
“Well, even when you breed horses with excellent bloodlines, you occasionally get a deformed foal. That’s all this is…….”
“Hush! Regardless, she is the Grand Duchess now!”
The hushed murmur burrowed into my eardrums, but I remained perfectly composed, only letting my eyelashes flutter slightly.
My chin stayed level, and I allowed not a shadow to cross my face.
The only thing trembling on my body was the ruby earrings hanging from my ears.
Had Sherkan not suddenly pushed me forward, I could have maintained my detached expression all the way through.
My heart lurched downward in the same instant, reflexively.
“Eek!”
Sherkan hurled the glass cup he’d been holding with brutal force.
The glass flew true, aimed at a single point, and struck a man’s forehead with a crystalline crash.
The man who took the direct hit to his forehead let out a single sharp cry and collapsed, his eyes rolling back.
Blood streamed down from the broken flesh of his brow.
“Sherkan of Gonet, Grand Duke! What is the meaning of this?!”
The Emperor, standing directly before us, erupted in anger.
His personal guard rushed forward to block the way, but the Emperor commanded them back with a voice sharp with fury.
Sherkan’s expression, however, remained unmoved.
“My house was insulted, so I have responded with rightful anger.”
“What did you say?”
The chamberlain quickly leaned in and whispered something to the Emperor. The Emperor’s eyes widened and narrowed in quick succession.
Since I stood close to the Emperor, I was able to catch the chamberlain’s whispered words.
I too could not help but be astonished.
“Even when you breed horses with excellent bloodlines, you occasionally get a deformed foal. That’s all this is…….”
He had broken the forehead of the man who said that?
Hearing only a voice from behind him, he had struck the exact person in that crowd of so many.
Even as I studied his broad, inverted-triangular shoulders, the sense of wonder would not fade, and I found myself coming to understand it, piece by piece.
That Sherkan was strong enough to leave one speechless.
“Grand Duke of Gonet.”
The Emperor dismissed the chamberlain and cleared his throat.
“I will overlook it this time. But next time, throw your glove formally.”
In other words, he was telling Sherkan to issue a proper duel challenge.
Sherkan accepted without protest.
“Understood.”
It was going to pass just like that?
Without further reprimand?
The eyes of all present were filled with questions.
Yet the attendants skillfully removed the unconscious man, and swiftly wiped away the blood and glass shards.
“Um, sister…….”
At the thin, fearful voice, I came to myself.
Only then did I remember Ayu.
If I thought about it, she was the beginning of all this.
‘Could Ayu not have known?’
There was no way.
There was not a soul in the Northern Kingdom’s royal family who did not know that I had not been recognized as Direct Lineage of Larunde.
Or perhaps she had experienced so much happiness and goodness in her life that she had simply forgotten my struggles just as quickly?
Indeed, Ayu was sometimes like that.
There had been many times when her innocent words had put me in difficult positions.
Of course, whenever such a thing happened, Ayu would always come find me and weep, saying she was sorry. The trinkets she would press into my hands then were, to be honest, no small source of income for me.
But now.
‘Not now.’
I wanted to ask her once. Did you really not know what you were doing?
I gently pushed my hand free from Sherkan’s grip.
Then I stepped forward on my own and smiled at Ayu.
“Ayu.”
“Sister……!”
I brushed the fallen strand of hair back from her face and spoke in a concerned tone.
“Father and Mother have told you often that you shouldn’t be like this, haven’t they?”
It was a soft murmur, but those nearby who had pricked up their ears could hear it well enough.
“People might think you’re deliberately trying to put me in difficult situations.”
“I beg your pardon?”
Ayu fell silent, her thoughts scattering.
“That wasn’t my intention at all!”
“Well then. I understand you perfectly.”
My voice was tender enough, yet my eyes—fixed on Ayu—held not a trace of warmth.
“But Ayu, we’re not in the Northern Kingdom anymore, are we? If you keep behaving in ways that invite misunderstanding, won’t it tarnish your reputation as a Holy Maiden?”
“…….”
Ayu stumbled backward, her body trembling visibly. It was almost pitiful to see.
If I were to steady her now, she would flinch away as though I were something loathsome clinging to her skin.
I could tell just by looking at her eyes, already glistening with tears.
So I took a step back and offered only a sympathetic smile.
Ayu’s face hardened by degrees.
In the Northern Kingdom, I could never have spoken to her this way.
Even words this pointed would have been enough for the king to strip me of my title.
Of course, my expression and tone could only strike Ayu as utterly foreign shocks.
She was the most precious flower in a glass greenhouse—one that had never felt even a single autumn breeze.
“Everyone, please. Compose yourselves!”
The emperor cleared his throat again, drawing all eyes back to him.
We had only just managed to settle the hall.
“……?”
It was like watching a film play in slow motion.
Suddenly, impossibly, Ayu reached toward the Spirit Stone.
Her pale fingers stretched unhesitatingly through the air toward the blue stone.
The sight unfolded with such terrible slowness.
Like watching a child step onto thin ice.
“No, stop!”
“Holy Maiden!”
“Seize her!”
The high priests who cried out rushed toward her to stop her, but the Spirit Stone was closer to Ayu than they were.
I, too, had reflexively grabbed her arm to pull her back—in that instant.
Someone shoved me from behind.
‘……?!’
The force of the push sent my body careening forward without resistance.
“Loreltianna!”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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