Chapter 29
Lucian was still intoxicated by the lingering afterglow of having tasted Asteria. How satisfied must he have been to bestow treasure upon the Lumines clan?
Of course, he did not know that the Lumines clan regarded gold and jewels as no different from stones. Then again, since Lydia had been so delighted, the gesture had not been entirely in vain.
“I still can’t forget what happened that day.”
In the end, Lucian had not gone so far as to violate Asteria. He feared that doing so would cause her to lose her precious sacred power.
Her existence as the one who dreamed dreams and read the star was both mystical and reassuring to him. Listening to Asteria’s words calmed his heart and gave him clarity on what he must do.
“Why must it be such a woman who is the Saintess?”
Had Asteria not been the Saintess, Lucian would have taken her without hesitation. He would have brought her to the imperial palace to live with him, no matter what the Empress had to say about it.
Of course, Asteria already lived within the Sanctuary inside the palace grounds, but she was not someone who could be treated as casually as a mistress.
“Your Majesty.”
The head chamberlain entered with a bowed head.
“What is it?”
“Her Majesty the Empress has requested a dinner together.”
Lucian’s expression immediately soured.
“The Empress Dowager has many concerns of late, so it would be wise to attend.”
“…Very well.”
Isadora was Lucian’s mother, yet having spent his entire upbringing at House Tristan, he shared no bond with her whatsoever.
Still, Isadora’s existence was a considerable nuisance. As Empress Dowager, she wielded enough authority to be the one person who could lecture the Emperor.
Rather than endure another scolding from Isadora, he had no choice but to suffer through the dinner.
* * *
Anna returned to the Empress’s Palace, unable to contain her delight.
“Your Majesty, His Majesty the Emperor has agreed to the dinner.”
“Truly?”
“Yes.”
At the news, Rosalyn’s blue eyes lit up.
She had been agonizing over the possibility that the invitation would be refused, yet Lucian had accepted with surprising ease.
Had she known it would be this simple, she would have extended the invitation long ago.
They could not yet be called husband and wife in any real sense, but she believed that if she opened his heart little by little, better days would come.
“Shall you wear the blue dress today? The one you brought as part of your trousseau.”
“Yes, let’s.”
The blue dress complemented Rosalyn’s eyes beautifully. She was, after all, a woman renowned across the continent as the greatest beauty of her age.
All the more reason she could not comprehend what had happened on the wedding night. What kind of beauty could this Saintess possibly possess, to have so bewitched Lucian?
“Your Majesty, allow me to do your hair.”
“Please.”
Rosalyn seated herself before the vanity. As Anna carefully arranged her hair, Rosalyn gazed at her own beautiful reflection in the mirror.
There were still many opportunities ahead. She too would soon fulfill her proper role as Empress, and one day she would carry Lucian’s child. When that happened, the blood of the Bellotien Royal Family would flow in the veins of the Orbien Empire’s heir, and the bond between the two nations would grow stronger.
And if she safely rose to become Empress Dowager, she would wield the same power that Isadora now held.
“Did His Majesty visit the White Tower today?”
“I’m told he did not.”
“As expected, even novelty has its season.”
The Saintess was certainly the sort of existence one might be curious about. But that was all she was. From the beginning, the Saintess was a position that could never amount to anything. Moreover, she was destined to be quietly killed when the reigning Emperor died.
There was no way Rosalyn could lose to something like that. She was Lucian’s lawful wife. That was an enormously solid fact.
“His Majesty will come to appreciate Your Majesty’s beauty soon enough.”
“I hope so.”
Her pride was still wounded from being rejected on the wedding night, but she could not simply sit idle. That was why she had mustered the courage to request this dinner.
“Nancy, please fetch the blue dress.”
“Yes, my lady.”
Discussion
0 CommentsNo comments yet.