I Won’t Accept Your Regrets

I replied, slightly lifting the corners of my mouth.

"Right. It was a gift to me from His Majesty."

"Wow…"

"Black diamond. I have seen it only in pictures , but it's the first time I've seen it in person like this."

The noble ladies expressed their admiration, but the young girls still couldn’t take their eyes off.

"It seems that the black diamond has found a worthy owner. And it suits you, Your Majesty," said the Countess with an easy laugh.

I gave her a polite smile and turned to the others.

When I wanted to speak to the other noblewomen, a harsh voice came across me:

"His Majesty appreciates you so dearly, so why are those strange rumors spreading?"

Brown hair, curled up. A grumpy wrinkled face and familiar green eyes.

This is Countess Vishtein.

She was the mother of the young Lady Vishtein, who had become entangled with Lisa, and the cousin of Marquis Sios.

The sin of Marquis Sios was great, but the punishment in the form of the destruction of three generations didn’t fall on their house, so the sister, who lived with another family, remained safe.

But I didn't expect her to come to the party.

Since this was the first appearance of the new Empress and crown prince, invitations would have been given to all the nobles in the capital. But if she had any sense, she wouldn't have come to the party now that the Sios family has collapsed.

I smiled softly at the green eyes of Countess Vishtein, which reminded me of the disgraced Marquis and Lisa.

She tried to maintain her composure, but there was a gap in her defense.

Would you risk your life just to take me away, to avenge Sios? Of course not.

Seeing that he mentioned the word rumor, I felt like I heard something.

"These rumors… Tell me them."

At first glance, her words were just small talk, but it was easy to see them as a deliberate attack.

"This is just what I heard from others… How can I know if Her Majesty is angry?"

Countess Vishtein stared down at the floor and fell silent.

As if something had been splashed in her face.

But now my curiosity was flaring up.

What the hell is this talk about the Empress's name?

"Countess Vishtein."

"Yes, Empress."

"I won't get angry, so tell me what rumors have touched your ears."

"If Your Majesty orders so, then I will not hide anything."

The Countess couldn’t help laughing.

"There are rumors that the Empress and His Majesty are deliberately postponing their first night at the Imperial Palace."

I hoped that hearing would be a trifling matter.

‘How they dare…'

I became an Empress, but not for the sake of living together with Raymond. It was close to a fictitious marriage, to which I only went to take revenge on Lisa.

‘My dear, of course, we would not share a room together.'

And in the end, the Empress and Emperor didn’t always share the same bedroom.

Meanwhile, the ladies spoke out one after the other:

"Well, of course, should they be in a hurry?"

"And in general, isn't this the couple's personal life? Sounds like stupidity, a trifling rumor."

"But aren't they the two who have already been married in the past?"

Everyone was talking like it was nonsense, but I was reading faces. As if the rumors were real.

‘You said that the relationship between the Emperor and the Empress is strange'

…I raised the corners of my mouth looking at them.

"It's true that we haven't set our reunion date yet."

"Yes?" Surprised, the ladies' eyes widened.

"As you know, I got into an unpleasant story shortly before I was crowned Empress again."

I glanced at the Countess and spoke.

"It will take longer to heal my injuries. Therefore, His Majesty is deliberately delaying the date of the union."

When I spoke calmly, the surprised ladies' expressions changed.

"Oh, that's it. In recent days, so much has happened that we have forgotten about Her Majesty's injuries. How do you feel?"

In an instant, the noble ladies gave me looks full of concern.

"I'm getting better."

" Glad to hear it. But it seems to me that some people won’t stop fluttering their tongues anyway."

Someone laughed and glanced at Countess Vishtein.

As a result, the face of the latter flushed.

"I… I just said what I heard."

"But take a look yourself. His Majesty's gift to his Empress leaves no room for doubt. Another time, when you hear such ridiculous nonsense, think twice before spreading it."

"Yes. It was rough."

"I… I'm sorry. Your Majesty."

"No. I'm the one who told you to tell me, so it doesn't matter."

When I put on a sympathetic smile, the ladies laughed even colder at Countess Vishtein.

"Your Majesty the Empress. I don't feel well, so I'll go first."

Unable to withstand the cold attitude of other noble ladies, Countess Vishtein galloped away, as if from a fire.

"If Your Majesty insists that it is getting easier for you, will it work out, the date of your reunion will be set in the near future? Even though you have a son, the crown prince, it would be great if a princess was born."

"Yes. With the birth of a daughter, the atmosphere in the family becomes more harmonious."

The noble ladies smiled happily at the sight of the imperial family.

‘A pretty daughter who looks like me.’

They think Raymond and I have a good relationship, so I said it to make them feel good, but my heart sank even more and I became more thoughtful about the match.

I’m reminded here and there of our ‘reunion’ date.

Maybe I'll have to throw something out for show.

As I held up a glass of champagne, I smiled at his words as if nothing had happened, a waltz began to play at the party.

The men then approached their partners and asked for a dance.

When the ladies left me one by one, my heart became much easier.

There was no need to make fake laughs anymore.

"You look more comfortable now, Your Majesty," Marchioness Paren told me smiling.

She just read everything I thought about.

After all, she was the one who supported me from my youth, so I didn’t want to play in front of her.

"I feel more comfortable this way because it has become quiet. There will be time to rest until the waltz ends."

I laughed and wanted to get closer to her.

“Oh my God, Your Majesty… I think you won’t be able to do that,” the Marquis's wife winked at me and laughed playfully.

Turning around, I saw Raymond approaching me.

Our gazes met. He smiled gracefully and reached out to me.

"Empress, will you join me at the first dance?"

Dance?

This wasn’t in my plans.

But I can't say no now.

Not only because of the nobility, but also because Carlisle was looking at us too.

"Of course, Your Majesty."

I grabbed his hand and walked to the center of the hall.

* * *

"Did you see what the Emperor did? I wasn't sure, but those diamonds are really black."

"Of course. Everything is now completely different from what it used to be. Rather, now His Imperial Majesty can’t take his eyes off the Empress."

"But he is the only one? You are staring at the Empress yourself."

"Well. Even if he had a first prince, he named the second prince as heir."

"Be that as it may, such a sight is really in the delight of my eyes. A strong imperial family means a strong Empire."

The nobles whispered as they watched the Emperor and Empress dance gently.

And Duke Drua stood in the distance of all, leaning his head against the wall.

Jeremy, looking at the Emperor and Empress dancing like a perfect couple, looked away to hide his bitterness.

In search of champagne, he stopped in front of a familiar face.

His gaze found the first prince, who was alone.

Thanks to the Empress's gesture, the atmosphere around him became less gloomy, but there were still no people around him.

This lonely figure was strangely feigning Jeremy's own past.

When he was a child, he remembers that he couldn’t go anywhere, and simply wandered here and there.

‘Why did I think about his childhood when I saw the first prince?’

He couldn’t understand the train of his thoughts. But to contemplate this boy, who with all his might puffs up false bravado, such was the bitter heart of Jeremy.

Perhaps this is because he guessed about the ending of the first prince, which will come very soon.

Or is it a feeling of guilt, because he gave that portrait to the Emperor with his own hand?

It was he who made the Emperor doubt the first prince.

‘His ending is probably… it must be terrible.’

‘He may not be able to stay alive.'

The waltz was reaching its end. Jeremy glanced at Ellie again.

‘I should talk to Ellie about the First Prince.'

He hasn’t done that yet, because the case may not break out weakly, and Ellie’s feelings for the first prince were previously unclear.

However, today Ellie showed everyone that she doesn’t plan to take revenge on the first prince because of Lisa.

It was a noble decision, considering Lisa's assassination attempt on Carlisle.

If you think about it…

With Ellie's light hand, can the first prince's life be saved?

Jeremy didn’t regret giving the message to the Emperor, but he didn’t want the innocent first prince to face a painful death.

When Jeremy confirmed his decision, the waltz song was over.

Ellie walked out of the center of the hall by the hand with the Emperor.

He wanted to talk to her, but today, it seems, such an opportunity won’t be presented.

The Emperor's tenacious eyes won’t miss such a gesture.

Jeremy put down his glass and quietly left the party, thinking that he should visit the palace tomorrow.