Chapter 13

Alesto looked at the Emperor, who was waiting for his answer, and asked pleasantly,

“Is there somewhere you wish to go?”

The Emperor’s anxious face brightened.

“I was thinking of visiting the temple to pray. My body has not been the same lately and I keep having weak thoughts…”

“I see.”

Alesto clicked his tongue softly.

“Then go with Mother. I will inform the High Priest in advance.”

He turned his eyes toward the Empress.

For a brief moment, disgust flashed across her face, but she said nothing.

“Very well.”

The Emperor did not notice her expression. Looking content, he took one bite of the well-cooked snail dish, set down his fork, and spoke.

“Well, then, I will…”

“Yes, go ahead.”

After a short hesitation, the Emperor rose from his seat with Alesto’s permission.

Whenever meals were held in the Forest Palace, the Emperor was always the first to leave.

The Crown Prince would sit at the highest seat looking down at him, while the Empress displayed open contempt.

Sharing the same room with them must have been torment.

When the Emperor left and the door closed, the Empress set down her wineglass with a sharp clink and asked,

“Why did you let him go to the temple?”

Her tone carried certainty that he must have a reason.

“What other reason could there be? He wants to see if there is any way to save himself. He is going to beg for help.”

Hearing Alesto’s indifferent reply, the Empress pictured the scene in her head.

He would struggle to survive, only to realize that the hole he found to crawl into was useless after all.

What kind of face would the Emperor make then?

Would he tear at his own hair in despair?

The Empress let out a soft chuckle.

Feeling slightly better, she changed the subject.

“By the way, I heard you signed a marriage contract with the Herman family.”

Alesto nodded without a trace of emotion. When he did not respond further, the Empress’s voice hardened with irritation.

“Must I hear of my son’s marriage from someone else?”

Alesto brushed off the heavy air with ease.

“Indeed. How is it that you always know my news before I tell you anything? Sometimes it feels as if you learn about me faster than I do.”

Ignoring his jab, the Empress took another sip of wine instead of touching her food.

“What kind of girl is she?”

When she asked about the Saintess, Alesto rinsed his mouth with water as if he had lost his appetite.

“Weak.”

After his brief answer, he wiped his mouth with a napkin. The Empress frowned.

“You are not marrying her because she is weak, are you? Leaving already? I am still your mother. Is it so wrong for me to ask what kind of child my future daughter-in-law is?”

Alesto met her gaze and warned quietly,

“Be careful. The Owls have been obsessed with hunting badgers lately.”

If the Owls were his people, then the badgers were hers.

“I already heard about Lady Sheila,” she said coolly. “She was one of my favorites.”

“Then why do you keep sending your favorites into the Blossom Palace? Should I release a few Owls into the Rose Palace for you?”

Provoked by her son’s words, the Empress slammed down her glass.

“Do you think I would be so impatient if there were any progress catching that snake?”

Hearing the same old complaint, Alesto suppressed a sigh.

“You said yourself his death would be useful in many ways. If we wait a little longer, we can make his death worth a high price. Would you rather ruin it out of impatience and throw it away for nothing? After all your years in the palace, have you still not learned patience?”

“You do not understand me. What else do I have left to do here? All I do is wait to see when you will catch the snake. Can you blame me for feeling restless?”

“Then why not catch him yourself?”

The Empress’s eyes turned sharp.

Catch him herself?

“If I had the nerve for that, do you think I would still be here like this? I want to, but I cannot.”

Her fierce eyes began to glisten, and Alesto’s firm tone softened slightly.

He was not a particularly filial son, yet it was hard to ignore his mother’s tears.

“Then spend the time arranging flowers, as you like.”

“Flower arranging is fun for a day or two. Do you know how long I have been doing that to calm my mind? Over twenty years. How can that still be interesting?”

Realizing there was no reasoning with her, Alesto spoke bluntly,

“Then try falling in love.”

The Empress’s face immediately turned prim.

“I have no one but your late father. You know that.”

“I only meant you should turn your attention elsewhere.”

“For example? Are you suggesting I take an interest in some frail little girl from the Herman family?”

Alesto shook his head with a look that said he had given up.

He wiped his hands with a handkerchief, stood from his seat, and left a final remark before exiting the room.

“Just remember one thing. She is a woman I chose because I wanted to.”

After he left, the Empress poured herself another glass of wine and murmured with a leisurely smile,

“What could I possibly do? Always worrying…”

Alesto stepped out of the Forest Palace and climbed into the carriage waiting for him.

He did not state a destination, yet the carriage naturally turned toward the Blossom Palace.

He opened the window.

The pleasant breeze brushed against his cheek, and for no reason, he suddenly thought of that messy little woman.

He remembered the frightened eyes that had looked up at him when the door of the Almond Chamber had closed.

* * *

Day one of confinement.

Asha lay sprawled across the sofa in the parlor, staring up at the sky outside the window.

The sky was blue again today.

‘Maybe this is all I will do from now on. Think meaningless thoughts.’

She was not exactly unhappy about being confined.

It was only a little disappointing that she was limited to the Almond Chamber.

‘When will he start trusting me?’

If she could at least take a walk or go out once in a while, she would be perfectly content.

When Ruby came over to straighten the wrinkles in her skirt, Asha waved her hand.

“It’s fine. Leave it. I’ll be lying down again soon anyway, so it will just wrinkle again.”

Ruby smiled warmly, looking more relaxed than before.

“Lying down all day? What do you mean? You are not going to the ball?”

“The ball?”

“Yes.”

Ruby, unaware of Asha’s current situation, nodded eagerly, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

There was a reason she looked so thrilled.

The palace maids known as the Owls were ranked in different tiers. The higher the rank, the more information they could access and the more important missions they received.

In short, high-ranking Owls were valuable and well-treated.

But Ruby was different.

She was at the very bottom of the hierarchy, a gray Owl.

To rise in rank, an Owl had to complete a mission marked with the difficulty label [Risk].

However, such missions were rarely assigned to gray Owls, and when they were, every single one of them ended up dead.

That meant Ruby had almost no chance to rise in status.

At least, until she applied for this current assignment.

Now she had a new hope.

That hope was to become the maid whom Lady Asha adored and to stay by her side for a long time.

Of course, even after Lady Asha became Empress, she planned to keep serving her then too.

Thankfully, it did not seem difficult for Lady Asha to become Empress.

The Crown Prince already seemed completely captivated by her.

But staying in that position would be another matter.

History was full of women who had become empresses through an emperor’s love.

Yet all of them had faced one fatal weakness.

Their family’s power had been too small.

In fact, the Emperor’s former wife, Camilla, had been divorced for exactly that reason.