The Former Empress Roughly Hides Her Abilities - Chapter 151

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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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【Chapter 151】

“How shall I arrange your hair?”

“Put it up, but don’t make it too puffy. It would be troublesome if the crown gets buried.”

Today was Yuna’s wedding day, and the day she would be crowned as Empress.

Marriage among royalty, especially for crown princesses or empresses, was special. A position was granted simultaneously with marriage.

There was a ceremony of wearing a crown to symbolize this, and Yuna wanted everyone to see that moment clearly.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Her shoulders naturally rose at the resonant response.

Yuna was wearing a pure white dress.

In her original world, weddings and white dresses were easily connected, but here they didn’t insist on white as wedding attire.

Nevertheless, Yuna wanted to follow the customs familiar to her.

‘If wearing white dresses at weddings becomes fashionable from now on, I might remain as the pioneer, right?’

Yuna gestured to the maid who was applying powder.

“Could you make the makeup a little heavier?”

She had been losing sleep for the past few days.

Dreams of becoming Shin Yuna and receiving rejection notices from companies, or Head Maid Susan chasing her with a knife saying ‘Since you killed me, I’ll kill you too,’ or while fleeing and hiding in a cabin, the commoner siblings asking ‘Our parents disappeared, do you know where they are?’

The traces of wandering through contextless short dreams, waking up every night and falling asleep again repeatedly, remained clearly on Yuna’s face.

Her pale lips and gaunt cheeks didn’t suit a bride who should be happy.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The maid knew that Yuna’s lips curved upward every time she heard that title, and used it without hesitation.

Finally, the preparations were complete.

The maids made final adjustments to the dress’s wrinkles.

Yuna looked at the mirror.

The shabby woman who had lost sleep was gone, and there stood a figure so lavishly adorned that even her original complexion was erased.

“You look truly beautiful, Your Majesty.”

“You’ll stand out more than anyone today.”

“Thank you all. You’ve worked hard today.”

Then the Head Servant bowed his head and announced.

“You must now move to where the main ceremony will be held.”

“Yes, I should go.”

Even after saying that, her anxiety wouldn’t easily subside, so Yuna took a deep breath.

“Hoo…”

The air that rushed to the bottom of her lungs inflated her chest.

Anticipation and tension rose simultaneously, tensing her entire body.

‘Let’s not think strange thoughts.’

Nightmares are just nightmares.

Yuna pulled up the corners of her mouth as if pushing away the seeping anxiety.

‘Right, what does it matter if the protagonist is alive?’

The person who will become Empress, the person who will occupy that position, is ultimately me.

‘I’m the one who will stand at the highest place.’

Today is the day when Shin Yuna, who was nothing, gets everything in her hands.

Yuna touched the note she was holding hidden in her bouquet.

The Pope had said he would leave an object that could return to the beginning of the story at the promised location.

That promised day was today, but.

‘Is there really a need to go?’

After repeated consideration, Yuna soon reached an answer.

‘Let’s observe a little more and then decide.’

Regression was an attractive option, but right now the fruit placed right before her eyes was more appealing.

Soon Yuna would become the second most powerful person in the Empire.

A position where she could grasp and wield power comparable to the Emperor.

‘A position where no matter how many times the protagonist comes back to life, I can eliminate her each time.’

Whatever the present situation, Yuna believed without doubt that the future would be on her side.

When her thoughts were organized, the entrance to the Central Hall came into view.

“Announce me.”

Yuna instructed the servant at the door while forcing an artificial smile.

Because that’s what a protagonist should do.

* * *

The Central Hall was a space that generously reflected Yuna’s tastes.

Tapestries embroidered with imperial emblems in gold thread hung on every wall, and a red virgin road stretched long.

The Emperor was positioned on the dais, and below him, nobles who had gathered to witness the ceremony were densely seated.

Among them were those who had come up from their territories to attend this rarely seen state event. Thanks to this, the Central Hall was more bustling than ever.

There were those who didn’t like social events, and elderly nobles who had passed their positions to their children and were spending leisurely retirement years could be spotted here and there.

They wandered around the hall looking for familiar faces, then loudly inquired about each other’s well-being or burst into hearty laughter.

“Have you been alive all this time?”

“Yes, I haven’t stopped breathing yet, you bastard.”

“But why no reply letters? This rotten fellow. I thought I’d have to hold a funeral.”

“I was busy watching my grandson’s antics. Why!”

“What? Then you should have brought a portrait of your grandson! How dare you try to monopolize that cuteness alone? What a cruel fellow.”

Those who saw the elderly bickering like immature boys clicked their tongues.

Some of them said “He was always like that” and became lost in memories.

“It’s been a long time for you too.”

Former Duke Piolren, who was one of that group, approached Asil.

“Didn’t Hulbert come? I thought we could drink heavily together after a long time.”

“Grandfather is staying at the frontier, and he said travel would take time. Unfortunately, he said attendance would be difficult this time.”

“Really? I thought I’d be able to see his face this time. That’s disappointing.”

The noisy liveliness didn’t last long.

“Her Majesty the Empress enters.”

When the new Empress’s entrance was announced, the commotion subsided like a wave.

Yuna moved her steps slowly.

Attendants followed behind her, holding their breath so the long dress train wouldn’t sweep the floor.

Imperial weddings were conducted in different ways for each emperor.

Some emperors held the wedding and coronation separately, while others had the crown placed during the ceremony.

The procedures varied slightly for each event, but the important thing was that the Emperor’s or Empress’s intentions were greatly reflected.

Since Yuna wanted to emphasize the ‘enthronement,’ she decided to proceed with the coronation together at the end of the wedding.

With each step she took, breathless silence settled along the floor.

People’s heads bowed one by one.

“Come closer.”

Finally, she reached the dais, the place where the Emperor stood.

Yuna tried to maintain a gentle smile, but her lips trembled and tried to rise on their own.

‘Finally.’

Really.

‘I.’

In this position.

Yuna’s heart beat loudly.

The Emperor was holding the Empress’s crown.

Though smaller than the Emperor’s, the sapphire at the front and the diamonds surrounding it reflected the chandelier’s light, announcing their presence to the surroundings.

‘Now if I just wear that.’

I become Empress.

As Yuna was about to bow her head to receive the crown.

The Emperor’s hand pulled back.

‘What?’

Before the question could fade, the Emperor opened his mouth.

“Regarding the enthronement of the new Empress, there is something I must announce.”

An ominous premonition gripped her throat.

“Yuna.”

The Emperor looked down at her.

“You cannot become Empress.”

“…?”

“No matter what, I cannot bring a murderer into the Imperial Family.”

The Emperor did not shout.

However, combined with the shocking content and thanks to the deathly quiet hall, his voice rang out clearly.

Murmurs spread from the dais, and Yuna forced strength into her toes to avoid staggering while maintaining a strained smile.

“Wh-what do you mean….”

But her voice was trembling.

‘Surely he’s not going to bring up killing Ensilen together?’

The moment Yuna’s pupils shook anxiously.

The Emperor’s lips slowly curled upward.

Like a boy tearing off dragonfly wings without even knowing it was cruel, it was a smile filled with innocent delight.

“Did you think the secret of your murdering Former Head Maid Susan and Maid Linda would remain hidden forever?”

“Th-that, no… I.”

“Don’t bother denying it. I’ve already secured testimony from the maids and physical evidence.”

The only reason Yuna hadn’t been named as a suspect in those two cases was because the Emperor had covered for her.

Afterward, Yuna had lived forgetting about those two deaths.

‘He collected evidence?’

“That’s ridicu….”

“Take her away. I will interrogate the criminal later.”

As soon as the command was given, the Imperial Knights moved.

“No, it wasn’t me. I said it wasn’t!”

With her arms seized by the knights, Yuna struggled and desperately turned her head to find someone who would help her.

However, the nobles stared at her with coldly hardened gazes.

The maids who had dressed her up either averted their eyes or glared at her with blatant contempt and disgust.

These were the ones who had witnessed Susan and Linda’s deaths and collected their bodies.

The silence that conveyed emotions through gazes alone, without a single word of reproach, was overwhelming.

“Hey, this isn’t what we agreed! You said you’d make me Empress! You promised to place the Empress’s crown on my head if I brought you the sacred relic!”

But no one answered.

Yuna looked at the Emperor.

At this moment. Standing alone in the highest place, watching her downfall with indifference was irritating.

‘Yes, I am a murderer.’

Yuna admitted it.

‘But am I the only murderer?’

Hadn’t the Emperor also participated in killing the Former Empress?

Even as she was being dragged away, Yuna reached out toward the Emperor.

“Cowardly bastard. What makes you so great? You’re just the same as me-.”

“The criminal is trying to bewitch those around her with nonsense. Silence that wicked mouth.”

“Mmph!”

Yuna was dragged away with her mouth gagged.

The air in the hall turned cold as ice.

“To think the Saint I believed to be faithful committed such vile crimes makes my teeth chatter at her wicked heart.”

“….”

“However, you need not be immersed in sorrow. Today is a joyous day.”

At these incomprehensible words, people looked puzzled.

“I have finally found my Empress.”

The Emperor’s excited voice rang out.

The Emperor, who had quieted the murmurs with a gesture, began to move.

Coming down from the dais and passing through the lined-up nobles, the Emperor pulled out the sacred relic from his chest.

The detection stone in his hand flickered several times, short and rapid.

The place where the Emperor stopped was in front of Rianel.

“You cannot marry Asil.”

He pulled out a paper from his chest and tore it lengthwise.

The moment Rianel realized it was the marriage proposal letter she had submitted to prove her engagement to Asil.

“Because it would be bigamy.”

Next, he grabbed Rianel’s hand, and her body was roughly pulled toward him.

The forceful touch wrapping around her waist made it feel like her breath was being cut off.

“You are my Empress, Ensilen.”

What whispered down near her ear was a secret she had hidden when she was Ensilen.

“You loved me.”

He was certainly a bastard who had mastered the textbook way of making people miserable.

Rianel’s lips twisted.

‘Son of a bitch.’

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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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