I Married the Terminally Ill Emperor - Chapter 26
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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 26
“Alone without a single maid? Why did Diane let the Princess slip away?”
The Emperor’s voice carried a note of displeasure.
“She was about to follow Princess, but the Head Maid suddenly assigned her urgent work. The report says she’s been keeping a low profile lately because the Head Maid seems suspicious.”
The Emperor listened to his report with an expressionless face, saying nothing.
“How long has Diane been working in the Princess’s palace?”
The Emperor, with his excellent memory, wouldn’t be asking without knowing the answer.
Oreon quickly responded while inwardly trying to discern the Emperor’s intentions.
“Three years.”
The Emperor nodded silently and continued with his questions.
“Any rumors about the Princess?”
“None so far. However…”
When Oreon trailed off, the Emperor raised his gaze. Oreon flinched under the Emperor’s sharp stare and continued.
“Rumors about Your Majesty have begun to circulate.”
The Emperor gestured with his chin as if telling him to continue.
“Emperor Gray brought a young woman to the Main Palace. The rumors that His Majesty has no interest in women are all false. Things like that. It seems the nobles saw Your Majesty carrying Lady Hudran. Fortunately, Lady Hudran’s face was covered, so her name isn’t being mentioned.”
When the Emperor nodded as if understanding, Oreon’s eyes lit up.
“And we finally seem to have uncovered Lady Hudran’s identity. This also appears to be the identity of the love letter Hart reported.”
Oreon’s shoulders straightened proudly as he continued speaking while watching the Emperor’s reactions.
Emperor Gray’s eyes widened slightly as he unfolded the letter Oreon handed him.
[Dahlia come. Hurry come. Love you. Princess Rose.]
“Currently, there’s only one princess called Rose in the Kingdom of Foevern, and she’s four years old.”
“Where did this come from?”
“It was near the lakeside. At first, I thought it was a letter left by Princess and read it.”
Oreon’s voice grew more somber as he continued.
He must have been worried that the Princess might have harbored ill intentions.
Emperor Gray looked down at the letter again and recited the information he remembered.
“Ria… Dahlia. Princess Dahlia Foevern who lives in the Palace of Seclusion.”
“Yes.”
When he heard the name Ria, why hadn’t he made the connection sooner?
She was a princess so shrouded in mystery that even the nobles of the Kingdom of Foevern didn’t know her face. Yet that princess had left the Star Palace and was here in the Empire.
Now her behavior—showing no fear even before him, the Emperor—finally made sense.
But what was the princess’s reason for approaching him?
From the Kingdom of Foevern’s perspective, there was no reason to pursue a marriage between him and the princess. It would give other empires the impression that Foevern was a vassal state of Ruusephon, so they would actually try to avoid it.
So why had she approached him, even going so far as to hide her identity?
Why had she suggested going to a lake she’d never visited before?
How had she managed to rescue the child with such perfect timing, as if she knew Viviana would fall into the lake?
Though he’d peeled back one layer of her secrets, even more secrets lay hidden beneath.
* * *
Hart carefully approached Annie.
Annie had been sitting motionless by the bedside all day.
“Miss Annie, aren’t you going to eat?”
“I’m fine. I’ll eat with Ria when she wakes up.”
“Sir Cole said the same thing.”
Annie’s crimson eyes turned toward Hart.
“You’ve both been starving yourselves. I’ll take good care of Miss Ria while you two go eat.”
“I said I’m really fine.”
“Miss Ria will be upset when she finds out later.”
Only then did Annie’s eyes waver with emotion.
The Princess would surely be upset if she knew they had skipped meals all day because of her. She might even blame herself for not waking up sooner.
Because that’s the kind of person the Princess was.
Hart, keenly noticing Annie’s change, continued.
“I absolutely won’t take my eyes off Miss Ria.”
Annie stared intently at Hart.
With about 99% certainty, she was the Emperor’s person.
She didn’t know what reason brought her to approach them, but the Emperor’s person wouldn’t harm a member of the Goodwill Embassy.
“Can you swear on Emperor Gray?”
“What?!”
Hart’s eyes widened in surprise.
“You’re a maid of the Imperial Palace. The master of the Imperial Palace is Emperor Gray. Can you swear on your master that Ria will be safe even while we’re away?”
“Yes, I can… swear it!”
Hart nodded with an awkward smile.
“Alright.”
Annie checked the sleeping Princess’s peaceful face once more before rising from her seat.
Cole was leaning against the wall, dejected with his head hanging down.
Ever since learning that the Princess had collapsed, his deep amber eyes had been vacant, as if they’d lost focus.
This foolish bear of a man was probably punishing himself internally for failing to protect the Princess.
Was there anyone who could understand his current feelings as well as she could?
When they lived in the Star Palace, neither she as a maid nor he as a guard needed to follow the Princess’s every move.
They hadn’t thought anything particularly dangerous would happen in the Empire’s Imperial Palace either.
However, their consideration in allowing the Princess, who had only lived in the Star Palace, to fully enjoy the new place had backfired.
They were paying a harsh price for their complacency.
“Cole.”
“Yes.”
Cole answered without lifting his head.
“Let’s go eat together.”
“No. While you’re gone—”
Annie firmly cut off his words.
“Ria will be sad if she finds out we both starved ourselves. You know Ria’s personality, right?”
This bear would pretend to eat and come back without actually eating unless she dragged him along and fed him, so taking turns going one at a time was impossible.
“…Yes. She would be.”
The two people’s gazes met in the air. It was a sense of kinship that only the two people who had served the Princess closest could feel.
Both their gazes turned toward Hart simultaneously.
“Contact us immediately if she wakes up.”
“Yes. I will. Please go eat quickly!”
After seeing them off, Hart waited at the door until the sound of their footsteps disappeared, then blew a whistle the size of a finger joint.
It was a sound that ordinary people couldn’t hear—only Deck and the Emperor could hear it.
Shortly after, the door opened and the Emperor entered.
“I greet Emperor Gray.”
The Emperor whispered quietly while keeping his gaze fixed on the bed.
“There’s no need to investigate Lady Hudran any further. From now on, focus only on the duty of protecting her.”
“I will follow your orders.”
Hart quietly closed the door and left so the Emperor could spend time with the young lady.
Gray approached the Princess lying quietly on the wide bed.
Her face still looked pale. Her long eyelashes motionless. Her lips pressed firmly together.
As he gazed down at her quietly, an anxiety that something might go wrong surged up. Without realizing it, he placed his finger near her nose.
Only after confirming she was breathing well did the unfamiliar emotion subside.
Just as he was about to withdraw his hand, he noticed pink hair poking at her eyes.
When he gently brushed the hair away, she spoke in her sleep with a voice full of drowsiness.
“…I’ll save them.”
Was she talking about the Imperial Princess?
“You saved her. Princess Dahlia.”
Then her lips curved into a gentle arc.
To smile even while sleeping.
“I saved her…”
“Yes. You saved her, Princess.”
“Thank goodness, really thank goodness. This time I was able to save her…”
Clear dewdrops rolled down beside her tightly closed eyes.
This time? Did something like this happen before? Just what kind of person are you?
She continued to shed sorrowful tears.
Gray took out his handkerchief and carefully wiped away her tears.
“Don’t cry, Princess.”
After crying silently for a while, she began breathing peacefully again.
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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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