Chapter 30
Nancy soon brought out the dress. Anna and Nancy helped Rosalyn into it, and the gown brought her beauty to even greater life. She looked nothing short of enchanting.
“How does it look?”
Rosalyn turned this way and that as she spoke. For now, her only thought was to make a good impression on Lucian.
“Truly magnificent, Your Majesty.”
“Yes, it is.”
Rosalyn immediately felt a surge of pride. She was, after all, the woman hailed as the most beautiful on the continent. Whatever charms the Saintess might possess, she was confident Lucian’s interest would wane before long.
When it did, only the beautiful Rosalyn would remain. She wanted nothing more than for Lucian to devote himself to their marriage.
“What time is dinner?”
“Seven o’clock.”
Little time remained. Rosalyn checked her appearance one last time and tried to still her racing heart.
* * *
Seven o’clock.
Rosalyn entered the dining hall. Lucian was already seated at the head of the table.
“I greet Your Majesty.”
She curtsied gracefully and took her seat at the one diagonal from his.
“Thank you for allowing me to attend this dinner tonight.”
“Had I refused, I would have heard an earful from the Empress Dowager.”
Contrary to her hopes, Lucian’s mood did not seem pleasant at all. Rosalyn had to fight the urge to bite down on her lip.
Just then, the head chamberlain brought out the dishes and set them on the table.
“Don’t bring them out one at a time. Serve everything at once.”
That was a declaration that he wished to end the dinner early.
Rosalyn felt a sharp pang in her chest. Lucian’s profile was so cold, and he seemed to have not an ounce of interest in her. To think this was the state of a newly married empress. Nothing short of miserable.
“How was Your Majesty’s day?”
She refused to give up and tried to engage him in even one more exchange. But Lucian found her nothing but tiresome.
“I attended to state affairs.”
“Ah… I see.”
The flow of conversation came to an abrupt halt. Lucian was elegantly continuing his meal with his fork and knife.
Rosalyn took in the sight. When she had been betrothed to him, she had thought no woman alive was luckier, and yet here was the reality of her married life.
“The full moon is approaching… You will come to the Empress’s Palace, won’t you?”
There was a custom requiring the Emperor to stay at the Empress’s Palace on the first and fifteenth of each month. Rosalyn appeared well aware of this.
“It is imperial law, therefore I have no choice.”
Every word from Lucian stung, but Rosalyn could not bring herself to show it. She was too afraid of inviting his displeasure.
She had done nothing wrong, she had merely become Empress, and yet she was already being treated with cold indifference. It was incredibly unfair.
“Then I shall wait for you with all my heart.”
“The Empress seems to expect far too much of me.”
“Pardon…?”
“Even on the night of the full moon, nothing between us will change. My heart will not waver.”
“But… why…?”
“It is simple. You do not move my heart.”
Rosalyn’s blue eyes trembled.
“Have I done something wrong?”
“No.”
It was true. Rosalyn had done nothing wrong. Even less so as a new bride.
“My heart is simply unmoved. That is all.”
“But I am your wife, and I must bear your heir.”
“I am not a stud horse.”
Lucian said flatly.
“But… That is… my duty as Empress.”
“Such things are of no importance to me.”
“These were duties set the moment the imperial wedding took place. They cannot be neglected.”
Lucian was weary of a conversation that kept circling back to the same point.
When he was with Asteria, he felt as though their hearts communed without a single word spoken. The woman before him was nothing like that. Every time Rosalyn opened her mouth, he felt only tedium. This dinner was truly insufferable.
“Is it… because of the Saintess in the White Tower?”
“Who told you that?”
Lucian shot back sharply.
“Everyone… says so. That Your Majesty visits the White Tower far too often.”
Rosalyn had summoned her courage to speak, but Lucian responded with a scornful laugh.
“If you’re already so certain, why bother asking me?”
Rosalyn swallowed hard.
Discussion
0 CommentsNo comments yet.