That Piece Of Trash Was Me - Chapter 282
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Epilogue Chapter 5
* * *
[I sent everything to the Crown Princess’s Palace as you said. So please don’t send just a knight back tomorrow with some strange answer.]
Ferdinand was finally able to receive Tulia’s permission to visit the day after he wrote that letter.
“I was worried Prince Leon Frazier would appear again today, but he didn’t.”
“Of course not? I don’t tell lies.”
Tulia smiled brightly. Before she could pour the tea, Ferdinand personally filled Tulia’s cup.
A warm fragrance gently filled the table.
“There’s no need to summon them to the Crown Princess’s Palace. Tulia.”
“Why not? I need to use them to the fullest.”
Tulia took a sip of tea and her eyes sparkled.
“You know what the Deposed Empress did before she left, right?”
The words “Deposed Empress” struck Ferdinand’s heart heavily. While others couldn’t even dare mention Carmi’s name, Tulia was different.
She alone disparaged his abusers without hesitation.
“The Deposed Empress left without passing anything on to me. Even though she was exiled as a criminal, she could have at least organized and left behind matters concerning the Inner Palace.”
Both Tulia and Ferdinand only learned after Empress Carmi was exiled to the borderlands.
She had deliberately destroyed documents related to imperial rituals, ceremonies, and banquets that the Briyang Empresses absolutely needed to know before leaving.
“It’s like she was being reckless.”
Tulia’s eyelashes fluttered.
“But if I call the Deposed Empress back, it would only make me look foolish. Besides, how arrogant would the Deposed Empress be? She’d probably act pitiful too, and I… no, I can’t stand to see that.”
Ferdinand had witnessed Tulia referring to herself as “this deity” before changing her words quite a few times.
And each time, he found it hard to suppress his laughter. He spoke with a faint smile like a halo around the moon.
“I can handle it.”
“You’re doing it again? Do you really want to die from overwork?”
The Crown Prince’s duties, the Emperor’s duties, and now the Empress’s duties all by yourself?
How was that different from shouting that you wanted your body to break apart?
Tulia glared coldly at Ferdinand.
“Tulia.”
But he didn’t mind.
“From the beginning, there was only one thing you needed to do for me.”
“What would that be?”
“Well.”
Ferdinand wore a faint smile.
“Accept my marriage proposal.”
“…”
Tulia unconsciously closed her mouth. Similar to how her cheeks were heating up, Ferdinand’s face also subtly reddened.
“That one thing is enough for me.”
“…”
“You don’t need to worry about anything else. I’m serious.”
Ferdinand lifted Tulia’s hand. His lips lightly bit each finger joint before slowly stopping on the back of her hand.
“I love you terribly.”
“…”
“Truly. Tulia.”
Tulia’s face slowly turned red. Like a sentence hidden in a diary, his breath lingered for a long time.
Ferdinand didn’t lift his face from her hand for a long while. It was a deep emotion he had cultivated since childhood. Sometimes it was a heart so overwhelming it hurt below his throat.
Ferdinand kissed Tulia’s hand once more and raised his head.
His eyes looking at her were much warmer than usual. They always were.
“So don’t worry.”
“…”
A brief silence flowed. Tulia cleared her throat and turned her head.
“Well, fine. Anyway, I’ll handle them. There are many pains in the world worse than death. You know that, right?”
Just from her words, she sounded as sinister as a top torture technician from a torture chamber.
Her green eyes sparkled in the darkness enough to make Ferdinand burst into brief laughter.
“What are you planning to do?”
“I’ll tell you later. For now, they’re working themselves to death for my Crown Princess’s Palace, so I’ll squeeze every drop out of them.”
Tulia asked sinisterly, no. contentedly.
“How’s that? Efficient, right? I am a businesswoman, you know.”
“Tulia.”
Ferdinand asked with genuine curiosity.
“Didn’t rumors spread that you’re an evil boss?”
“Why would such rumors spread? I pay the salon staff so much in weekly wages.”
“A lot?”
“Yes.”
Tulia calculated for a moment then whispered.
“I guarantee about twice the standard rate.”
“Everything comes down to money.”
“Isn’t that fine? Everyone likes it.”
“If you like it, then it’s fine.”
Ferdinand returned to the Imperial Palace only after emptying the teapot twice.
The Crown Prince’s Palace, from which people had receded like a low tide, was quiet in a different sense.
Just the day before, there had been a murderous silence due to tension, but now it was simply quietude from the absence of people.
At least it was peaceful, so Ferdinand felt much more at ease with this.
He returned to his bedroom only after finishing his work late into the night again today. When he opened the window with his half-wet hair, the cool night breeze characteristic of early spring blew in.
Perhaps because he had spent too long in a boy’s form, sometimes this suddenly elevated view felt unfamiliar to him.
Ferdinand gazed up at the pure white moon.
“The night is quite bright.”
Tulia had said she went to bed late due to matters concerning Baektul Salon. She was probably looking at a similarly bright moonlit night.
Soon they would be able to look at the moon together.
If she wanted, he could hang crystal lamps throughout the entire Imperial Palace to make night as bright as day.
Since she was his light, what would be too precious to give?
Ferdinand turned away from the window.
The bedroom he turned to see was serene and dark. Such peaceful and gentle darkness was actually unfamiliar to him.
The darkness that had devoured his childhood was more cruel and harsh than this.
While lotus flowers bloom in black mud, young Ferdinand was merely a withered seed abandoned deep underground.
A Crown Prince whose bloodline was too remarkable to be called a weed, yet whose circumstances were too humble to be called a great tree.
The boy suffering from Divine Power Excess Syndrome had killed his mother and earned his father’s wrath.
Ferdinand had been alone since before he knew what being alone meant.
And he had been loving someone since before he understood what love meant.
Ferdinand didn’t have time to be immersed in sentiment all night.
He was literally handling the Emperor’s duties, the Crown Prince’s duties, and even the Empress’s duties.
Sleeping three to four hours a day had become his routine, but he had no particular complaints.
Just.
After a long time, he entered the study in the interior of the bedroom and opened the golden box where the Crown Prince’s crown was stored.
A luxurious crown that emitted a faint light even in the darkness. However, Ferdinand’s eyes lingered only on the small folded handkerchief beside it.
“Please wipe the blood.”
He took out that handkerchief after a long time and briefly held it against his cheek.
Though he put it back down with a chuckle, realizing he was acting childishly.
He recalled those words that couldn’t be heard due to the rain, so he had meticulously memorized the shape of the girl’s lips moving to understand them.
“Have a comfortable evening.”
Ferdinand returned to the bedroom with a faint smile.
That Trash Was Me
Epilogue Fin.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————