I Married the Terminally Ill Emperor - Chapter 22
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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I Married a Terminally Ill Emperor
Chapter 22
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Lemon, like a yellow chick, fluttered up into the blue sky.
“Lemon.”
Chirp chirp.
Lemon circled around above Dahlia’s head as if asking why she was calling.
“You remember where we met Monet, right? Guide me there.”
Chirp chirp.
Lemon made a mocking expression as if to say she didn’t even know that, but Dahlia just smiled brightly and ignored the dismissal.
“Let’s go!”
Chirp chirp.
Dahlia diligently followed Lemon’s small wing beats.
After flying for a while, Lemon soon settled on a large tree branch.
Below, Monet in her maid uniform could be seen looking around, searching for someone.
Dahlia quickly approached Monet and waved her hand.
“Hello, Monet.”
“Hello, Miss. Thank you for coming again today.”
Monet bowed at the waist in greeting, her cheeks flushing red.
“Of course. I keep my promises once I make them.”
Dahlia took out a candy and placed it on Monet’s palm.
“Thank you, Miss.”
Monet carefully wrapped the candy with an excited face and put it in her pocket.
“Enjoy it.”
“Yes. But Miss… I don’t think we can meet anymore.”
Monet slightly lowered her head with an apologetic expression.
“Why? We haven’t even met that many times.”
“To focus more on the person I serve, I’m not going to take breaks anymore. I’m sorry, Miss.”
“That’s nothing to apologize to me for. More than that, Monet, you’re really amazing.”
Dahlia buried her disappointed feelings and praised the child.
“No, I’m not. I want to do better for the person I serve— no, I want to protect them, but…”
Monet trailed off weakly.
“Why?”
“I don’t really know what I should do.”
“With such a big heart for that person, aren’t you already doing well?”
Monet shook her head with a sad face.
Dahlia lowered herself and met Monet’s orange eyes.
“I don’t know who it is, but they must be a very good person. Right?”
“Yes! That person, for a maid like me…”
Monet couldn’t continue and started to tear up.
It seemed there was some secret she couldn’t tell.
She wants to protect the person she serves. What could be happening to that person? This child’s heart thinking of the person she serves was admirable.
Dahlia gently comforted the child.
“If Monet keeps this beautiful heart and grows up healthy, you’ll definitely be able to protect that person.”
“Could a maid like me really do that?”
Monet looked up at her with an earnest face.
“Of course. The desire to protect someone isn’t a matter of social status. What matters is the heart that cares for that person.”
“Thank you so much for saying that, Miss.”
Monet looked moved.
“Still, you should work while taking breaks sometimes.”
“Yes.”
“I only brought one candy thinking we’d meet again.”
At Dahlia’s regretful expression, Monet quickly shook her head.
“One is enough for me. Thank you.”
Chirp chirp chirp chirp.
Just then, Lemon, who had been sitting on the tree branch grooming his feathers, suddenly raised his head and chirped noisily.
When Dahlia looked around, the Emperor was standing there with his arms crossed, watching them—she didn’t know when he had arrived.
Monet, who spotted the Emperor, turned pale and hurriedly bowed.
“I greet Emperor Gray.”
Dahlia also followed Monet in greeting.
“You said you were feeling unwell?”
The Emperor asked with an indifferent gaze.
“Me? No, I’m not.”
He looked at her with an expression that said he knew it.
“Young Lady, should I say you’re quite good at diplomatic work?”
“I’m grateful for the compliment, but suddenly?”
Dahlia looked at him with a puzzled face.
“You’re trying so hard to become friendly with all the Imperial Family members.”
Dahlia frowned in thought, trying to understand his meaning.
“You look like you didn’t know.”
“Um, what should I know?”
When he took a step closer, the distance between them narrowed instantly.
“I mean it’s impressive how you approach the Imperial Family members one by one with that innocent expression.”
“When did I do that?”
Dahlia’s voice rose involuntarily in surprise.
Then the Emperor’s cold gaze moved down to her side. Monet was trembling with her small shoulders.
“What is the Imperial Princess’s maid doing with a stranger in a place like this?”
“I’m sorry, Emperor Gray.”
Startled, Monet knelt down and pressed her forehead to the ground.
Dahlia froze for a moment at the unexpected situation, then looked at the Emperor with a flustered face.
“Wait a minute. So Monet is the Imperial Princess’s maid? And Your Majesty thinks I used Monet to approach the Imperial Princess?”
The Emperor didn’t answer, but his ice-cold gaze was answering for him.
“If I had known Monet was the Imperial Princess’s maid, I would have approached her.”
At her honest confession, the Emperor’s gaze became even colder.
“Are you admitting it?”
“But I didn’t know.”
“Didn’t you just say you would have approached if you had known?”
“Yes. If I had known, I would have approached. But I didn’t know until Your Majesty told me.”
“Young Lady, don’t you think we’re repeating the same conversation?”
“The sequence is different. Since I didn’t know, I couldn’t have had the thought of approaching the Imperial Princess. Though I would have if I had known.”
She maintained her composed attitude. Getting scolded for something she hadn’t even done yet.
“Even if the circumstances are different, the result is the same. Now you know, and you’ll approach her.”
“Your Majesty, in the Empire, do people get punished for things that haven’t happened yet? In our Kingdom, they don’t.”
Dahlia faced the Emperor with confident eyes.
“The Empire has no such law either.”
The Emperor, who had been staring intently at her, took a step back.
“Oh my, what a relief.”
Dahlia deliberately let out a loud sigh of relief for all to see.
“So you won’t approach the Imperial Princess?”
“It’s not that I won’t, but that I can’t. Thanks to Your Majesty the Emperor.”
“My lady, you speak very well indeed.”
“Did I say such a thing—”
“That was a metaphorical jab.”
The Emperor cut off her words mid-sentence.
“Your Majesty certainly enjoys making metaphorical jabs.”
When Dahlia innocently repeated his words, one of his eyebrows rose in displeasure.
Oreon, who had been listening to their conversation from behind, covered his mouth to stop his laughter from escaping. It seemed to be the first time he’d seen the Emperor lose to someone in a verbal exchange.
Go Lady Hudran!
“Anyway, Monet did nothing wrong, so she can get up now, right?”
Dahlia gently grasped the shoulder of Monet, who was still prostrated on the ground. She could feel the small body trembling through her hand.
“Yes.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
Monet put strength into her trembling legs and rose from her position.
Dahlia looked pitifully at the child trembling with fear and gently patted her small shoulders.
“May I send Monet away first?”
Dahlia looked at the Emperor while protectively holding Monet close.
When the Emperor nodded as if giving permission, Monet hurriedly bowed.
“I shall take my leave now.”
Dahlia watched Monet’s retreating figure as she fled like she was escaping.
“The child was frightened.”
“It seems you should be as well.”
At his sarcastic tone, Dahlia suddenly realized what she had forgotten and hurriedly went behind the tree to hide herself.
“What are you doing?”
“This is our third meeting today, isn’t it? Coincidental meetings don’t count as a third, right?”
A deep sigh escaped from the Emperor’s lips.
“Your Majesty, it’s time for the meeting.”
At Oreon’s voice filled with laughter, the Emperor glanced back.
Dahlia remained crouched behind the tree and waved her hand at the Emperor.
“Farewell, Your Majesty.”
The Emperor observed her with displeased eyes, then turned around with a cold wind swirling.
Dahlia watched the Emperor’s retreating figure, then buried her face in her knees and murmured quietly.
“I wonder if Monet will be okay…”
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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