I Won’t Pick Up The T*ash I Threw Away Again - Chapter 147
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
#147
The next day, late morning.
After finishing the work report, I handed Kalian the envelope that the Duchess had given me yesterday.
“What’s this?”
Kalian asked as he took the envelope and picked up a letter opener.
“Duchess Cloud asked me to deliver this to Your Majesty.”
“Duchess Cloud?”
“Yes. The Duchess said it’s a list of princesses she believes are qualified to become Empress.”
“What?”
The hand holding the letter opener froze.
Kalian looked at me with surprised eyes.
“What did you just say?”
“It’s something Duchess Cloud gave me…”
“Not that.”
I was about to repeat the same words like a parrot when Kalian cut me off firmly.
“Are you saying the Duchess came to see you directly?”
When I nodded, his handsome brow furrowed.
“What a pointless thing to do.”
Kalian clicked his tongue in annoyance and tossed the envelope aside without opening it.
He doesn’t look pleased. What should I do? I still have more to say.
I carefully observed Kalian’s mood and spoke cautiously.
“The Duchess was very worried that His Majesty the Emperor still has no heir.”
Kalian leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms, and looked at me.
His expression said to continue.
I couldn’t look directly at Kalian’s face and kept my gaze on the desk as I continued.
“That’s something I… feel the same way about.”
The sound of wind blowing through the window scattered bleakly in the air.
“I also… hope Your Majesty will welcome an Empress as soon as possible.”
“Really?”
A heavy voice echoed in the study.
When I raised my head, I saw Kalian looking at me with slightly angry eyes.
“Do you really want me to take an Empress?”
My mouth felt dry as if I had chewed sand.
“…Yes.”
I clasped my hands together neatly and answered a beat late.
“That’s what I wish for as well.”
Empress.
The Empire’s First Lady, who would stand shoulder to shoulder with the Emperor and manage the Empire’s domestic affairs.
There was nothing good about leaving such a position vacant for long.
Even for the upcoming New Year celebration, there was no one to oversee it, so they had to borrow Duchess Cloud’s help.
“Please welcome an Empress as soon as possible.”
This wasn’t just what I wanted, but what everyone hoped for.
The fact that the people of the Empire were saying they wished I would become Empress said it all.
‘Me become Empress?’
Me, who had nothing proper in terms of wealth, family, power, or status?
It was absurd.
It was a position I shouldn’t dare aspire to, and didn’t want to aspire to either.
At my words, Kalian stared at me for a moment, then let out a deep sigh and said,
“Leilah, you weren’t there when I ascended the throne, so you wouldn’t know.”
His cold voice was filled with barely concealed irritation.
“I declared that I wouldn’t take an Empress or Imperial Consort until the Empire was stabilized. So I’d prefer if there were no more discussions about this matter.”
He won’t take an Empress or Imperial Consort until the Empire is stabilized?
That’s…
“That doesn’t… make sense.”
“What?”
Perhaps because of my unexpected response.
An angry gaze pierced down at my face fiercely.
Kalian looked at me as if telling me not to say another word, but I couldn’t do that.
For Kalian’s sake, and furthermore for the Empire’s sake, I had to speak.
“How can the Empire be stabilized when there’s no Empress to manage the Empire’s domestic affairs?”
I said while looking at my reflection in his blue eyes.
“If you truly want the Empire to be stabilized… I think you should take an Empress even more, Your Majesty.”
While looking at myself, who seemed ready to collapse at any moment.
* * *
Ber, who had returned to the Imperial Palace Office after completing external schedules, tilted his head when he discovered administrators trembling in front of the door.
“What are you all doing here?”
“Oh, Baron Delrond.”
The faces that had looked pale as if they hadn’t gotten a bowl of soup suddenly brightened.
“Welcome back, Baron Delrond.”
“We’ve been waiting for you, Baron.”
What’s this ominous welcome?
Ber stepped back hesitantly, experiencing firsthand that even a welcome could feel unpleasant.
He was thinking of running away, but couldn’t because the administrators caught him.
The administrators carefully placed the documents they had brought into Ber’s arms.
“Please get His Majesty’s approval for us.”
“I’m asking you too.”
So there was a reason for the sudden welcome after all.
Ber’s face crumpled.
Ber returned the documents to the administrators and firmly refused.
“No. I have enough work of my own to be overwhelmed, how can I handle your work too? Do it yourselves.”
“We want to do it ourselves too, but…”
“His Majesty the Emperor seems to be in such a bad mood that we can’t go in.”
Kalian is in a bad mood?
He didn’t seem that bad this morning.
Ber glanced toward the study with its door firmly shut.
‘Don’t tell me Duke Williot came again?’
Ber knew from Kalian that Fillen had come to apply for reinstatement yesterday.
Kalian had said he firmly refused, but you never know.
‘This is troublesome.’
I have a lot to report today, but he’s in a bad mood.
It was bad news for Ber as well.
“Then please help us. I’ll definitely repay you for today’s work later.”
“Thank you, Baron Delrond.”
Moreover, Ber’s troubles increased as the administrators, who feared Kalian, dumped all their work on him and ran away.
“Sigh, really.”
They need to either replace the administrators quickly or hire more assistants.
Ber entered the study, letting out deep sighs that bubbled up from the depths of his heart.
Kalian was sprawled lazily on the sofa.
One hand was placed over his eyes, while the other was carelessly draped over the sofa.
He certainly looked to be in a bad mood.
Still, it didn’t seem bad enough for the administrators to flee.
“Your Majesty.”
Ber, who had been puzzled, immediately changed his mind the moment he made eye contact with Kalian.
The administrators had good reason to flee!
Kalian’s expression was that terrible. His gaze was so murderous that if looks could kill, he would have killed someone dozens of times over.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen a face like that.
Actually, it hadn’t been that long. It had only been about a year.
In any case, it was clear that something very unpleasant had happened, so Ber asked cautiously.
“What happened?”
“…”
Kalian closed his eyes without a word. It meant he didn’t want to answer.
Though curious, Ber swallowed his curiosity and took a seat, knowing that prying too much might cause trouble to splash onto him.
He tried to focus on work, but he couldn’t manage it at all because Kalian was on his mind.
It was also because his body trembled from the murderous aura Kalian was emitting.
Good grief, my arms are shaking so much I can’t write properly.
“Your Majesty, if you have something to say to me, please say it. If not, would you please leave?”
What returned from his words, spoken out of frustration, was a gaze as sharp as needles.
…Maybe I should have just endured it.
Ber regretted speaking out in irritation and avoided Kalian’s gaze.
Kalian, who had been staring daggers at the back of Ber’s head, opened his mouth.
“Insolent.”
Is he saying I’m insolent?
That doesn’t seem right though.
“Are you perhaps referring to Duke Williot?”
Ber asked, recalling how Kalian’s mood had been somewhat low due to Fillen’s sudden appearance.
Then deep wrinkles formed between Kalian’s brows.
“Duke Williot isn’t insolent, he’s annoying.”
Ah, so it’s not that.
Then what is it?
“Come to think of it, I forgot to tell Leilah that Duke Williot came.”
“What? You forgot that?”
This morning, when he told me that fact, Kalian had acted like he would immediately rush to tell Leilah.
How much I had sweated trying to stop him.
I had to change my sweat-soaked shirt in the middle of winter.
But he forgot. It was absurd and ridiculous.
It also meant something very unpleasant had happened, which was worrying.
“What happened?”
Kalian rubbed his face roughly with his hands.
“Leilah told me to take an empress.”
“And?”
“That’s it.”
I thought there would be some other big problem, but that’s all it was.
Ber laughed helplessly.
“Why is that insolent? From Baron Aster’s position, she was giving you sound advice.”
“How is that sound advice?”
“Well, Baron Aster doesn’t know Your Majesty’s secret.”
Ber shrugged and continued.
“Everyone wants Your Majesty to take an empress, they just can’t say it directly because they’re afraid of you. Even Countess Cloud held tea parties to find princesses suitable for the empress position.”
Kalian waved his hand dismissively as if annoyed.
“Don’t talk about Esramel. She’s the one who put ideas in Leilah’s head.”
“The Countess did? But then why are you angry at Baron Aster?”
“Because Leilah is saying insolent things.”
Kalian frowned and repeated to Ber exactly what he had heard from Leilah.
Then Ber looked at Kalian with an even more bewildered expression.
“Why are you making that face?”
“…Your Majesty, do you like Baron Aster?”
What kind of nonsense is this now?
No, more than that, I think he asked something similar before.
“What exactly are you seeing that makes you think that?”
“Don’t you?”
“No.”
Kalian denied it flatly.
“But what Your Majesty is saying and doing right now seems like you like Baron Aster.”
“So what exactly are you seeing?”
“Well…”
How should I explain this?
It was difficult to explain something that was obvious to anyone, when asked to explain it.
It was like being asked to explain how fish breathe underwater.
…Then should I make him feel it directly?
Sometimes experiencing something firsthand was more effective than a hundred words.
“You really don’t?”
“No.”
Having received confirmation once again, Ber smiled mysteriously and asked.
“Then would it be alright if I confessed to Baron Aster?”
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
