Chapter 41
The once dull, ashen hair now shimmered like strands of silver thread. Her cheeks, which had been sunken, were now filled out and fair from proper nourishment.
In short, seeing Lenasia looking even more beautiful made Hilderud’s blood boil. Moreover, unlike last time when she had looked like nothing but a w***e, the woman was now dressed as if she were some chaste noble lady, with maidservants flanking her on either side.
‘Ha!’
Just as one would expect from a vulgar woman, it seemed she had earned gifts from Godfrid by spreading her legs. Hilderud approached her with a combative stride.
“Hey.”
The distance was clearly close enough to hear, but Lenasia did not so much as acknowledge her and turned her steps away.
Hilderud went blank for a moment at being so openly ignored. There was no one who dared to disregard her, the emperor’s betrothed and the niece of the Margrave of Kärnten, in such a manner.
“You there!”
“…”
“You senseless, mad woman!”
Unaware that the hem of her dress was staining with grass, she sprinted over and caught up, but Lenasia merely glanced at Hilderud with the expression one might give a wild animal passing by.
“Princess…”
“Not that flower. Pick the one beside it.”
“Ah, yes.”
The maidservants, who had been stealing glances between the two women, seemed to belatedly gather their wits as they plucked the flower and handed it to Lena.
Lena placed it into the basket hanging from her arm and answered.
“What concern is it of yours how I am faring?”
“What did you say?”
“If you were truly the future empress, you could kill someone like me on a whim and suffer no consequences. For that is precisely what the seat of the rightful consort is.”
“…”
Lena’s blue eyes and Hilderud’s brown eyes exchanged a murderous gleam. And then, Lena smiled a slightly twisted smile.
The person she resented most was Godfrid, but there was no reason to look kindly upon this woman who kept trying to harm her at every turn.
The moment she opened her mouth, all that came out were vulgar insults.
The more that happened, the more Lena could vividly picture how countless other Taringians she had never even seen must think of her, and she grew weary of things she had never even done.
She was sick of those who forced so-called favor upon her when she had never wanted it, and then tormented her for possessing it.
When all she herself wished for was the happiness of just one person, Regnos.
Yes. Soon, she would be going to his side. Since running into this woman meant there was no hope of quietly getting through the day, she decided that even as she left this place, she would say what she had to say.
“Are you uneasy?”
“Wh-What?”
“When Taringia’s territory was nothing more than Loren and its surrounding borderlands, you and the emperor must have been a fine match.”
“…”
“But as nations fell one by one under his sword, and he gradually became the master of greater lands, you must have grown anxious. Compared to a Taringia that had become a far larger world, your standing only diminished, while the number of women worthy to stand beside the emperor only grew.”
“…”
“Is that not so? And so, in the end, you have come to envy even me, who has lost her house, her people, and her family.”
“Envy!”
As if she could endure it no longer, Hilderud shrieked.
“You mad wench, who would ever be jealous of something like you, you cheap w***e!”
Lena straightened her back and pressed her lips into a line. She raised her eyes as if nothing she could say mattered, and Hilderud, seething, lifted her hand.
“A wretch like you needs to be taught her place…!”
“Go ahead and strike me.”
“Oh, I will. Gladly!”
“If you are curious to see how much the emperor will come to despise you for that single gesture, then by all means, try it.”
Hilderud’s eyes flew wide open.
She was so enraged that the burst blood vessels in the whites of her eyes were visible.
Yet Lena’s single remark ultimately broke her will.
The hand raised in the air trembled and then eventually lowered.
“Tch. You are filthy, so I shall be the one to avoid you first.”
With a swish, the hem of Hilderud’s dress traced a semicircle in the air. Clutching the green skirt in both hands, she scurried away.
“P-Princess…”
“How did you chase away that ill-tempered Lady of Kärnten?”
The maidservants attending Lena voiced their admiration, half flattery and half sincerity.
Lena quietly clasped her hands together and answered.
“I came out for a rare stroll, and now my mood is spoiled. Let us stop picking flowers and head back.”
“Yes, yes…”
The girls, who had been scattered about, gathered around the small-framed Lena. Together, they returned to the emperor’s bedchamber.
That night, the emperor heard the full story of what happened and gave the Eastern Garden to the princess of the fallen nation. He wanted to keep those who caused trouble out of his front yard.
The Margrave of Kärnten and his niece were furious, but it didn’t matter. The princess walked through the garden every day with her maidservants, picking flowers.
Soon, everyone grew used to seeing her there.
Then one day, Lenasia told her maidservants to prepare the meal and went ahead to the garden alone.
And just like that, she vanished from the imperial palace.
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