As Embro raised her voice, people around them looked at the two, wondering what was going on with them. Roy soothed her excitement.
“Calm down! It was a long time ago.”
“A long time ago? You almost died! How can I not get upset?!”
“I am alive like this. And if it’s fate, it can’t be helped…”
Even before Roy finished speaking, Embro’s palm hit the back of Roy’s head hard. There was a loud ‘BAM-‘ sound. Roy held the back of his head and groaned.
“Ugh! It really hurts.”
“I hit to hurt you, idiot! I can’t let you stay away from me. What do you even do with your eyes wide open? You’re almost hit by a wagon! It could’ve been a disaster.”
Embro nagged Roy for a while. Roy comforted her by repeating, “I’m sorry,” “it’s my fault,” and “I’ll be careful next time.”
It was only after a long time that she asked in a barely soothing voice.
“That’s why the empress saved you?”
“Yes. She really flew me out to save me. At first, I thought it was you. I thought, ‘oh, did Embro came from the Holy Empire to Leipsden to save me?’ When I thanked the empress and didn’t know what to do to compensate her, she said, ‘let’s be friends’.”
At his explanation, Embro reflected on the fact that she had a great prejudice toward Siena. She thought the empress annoyed Roy in many ways, but she was a lifesaver anyway. If so, Sienna was also a benefactor to Embro herself.
“She’s a lot like you, don’t you think?”
“Huh? What?”
Embro missed Roy’s words as she was organizing her thoughts on Sienna.
“She reminds me of you. Whenever I’m in danger, you come out like a hero and save me, and you asked me to be your friend without hesitation. That is just so much like you. So, I thought it would be great if the three of us became friends.”
Embro felt embarrassed that Roy regarded herself as a hero, so Embro coughed.
“By the way, the Holy Father said something funny about Sienna.”
“What did he say?”
“That by saving me from the carriage, Empress Sienna also saved her own life. Fate-tied people bring great winds through small encounters.”
At Roy’s explanation, Embro asked back, crumpling her face.
“What? You and the empress are destined to be? Then what’s the point? She’s married to someone else. You’re the only one who’s made a fool of yourself.”
Roy shook his head with a look of nonsense at her words.
“It’s not like that. It’s fate, but not love.”
“What’s that? You said it was fate.”
Asked by Embro, Roy pondered what the Holy Father had said to him and explained to Embro.
“People don’t live alone, so they live while exerting a big or small influence on someone else. Of course, it could be love, but it could be bad luck, and it could be parents’ or brothers’ love. Anyway, I think the Holy Father said that I and Sienna also had a lot of connections. Apparently, Empress Sienna gave me a new fate, and she got a life because of me.”
Embro still looked incomprehensible.
But Roy realized at once, through Holy Father’s explanation, his unique relationship with empress Sienna. In the presence of an agitated horse, she saved himself, and he saved her and the children in her belly while she was poisoned. Therefore, it was easy to understand what the Holy Father said, but Embro, who did not know this background, seemed confused with what the Holy Father said.
Roy said with a shrug.
“That’s what the Holy Father explained.”
“The Holy Father is so good at talking nonsense even though he has no sense. Whatever. My break time’s over, so I need to train again. You’re going to stay here, right?”
Roy nodded, and she said okay. Then she moved to the training ground. Roy smiled at her as she ran cheerfully down the high stairs.
“The Holy Father also told me about the relationship between you and me, but…I won’t tell you that yet.”
He was not yet ready to tell Embro. One day he will.
<ul>
</ul>
While Sienna and Carl went to Roman, Hain stayed in the castle and took care of the royal children. Of course, there was a nanny in charge of Sharillo and Leah, but Hain spent a lot of time with the cute children. When Sienna, the mother, was not there, Hain took care of them more warmly.
The children slept. Their sleeping time was still longer than being awake.
“They really sleep like angels.”
“They really seem to be gentle. They don’t cry, they don’t whimper.”
The nanny carefully laid the sleeping Sharillo on the bed. Hain carefully laid Leah beside him.
“He looks just like the Emperor”
At the nanny’s words, Hain nodded.
Sharillo and Leah inherited blond hair and light green eyes. Hain thought that it would have been nice if one of them had red hair or blue eyes like the Empress. However, because they look so much like the emperor, they shined even as babies.
Hain felt happier just by watching the royal children, and a smile spread around her mouth. The sight of deep sleeping babies was very peaceful.
Then a maid called her.
“The Chancellor has come.”
Hain asked back with a surprised face.
“Lord Pavenik?”
Since the birth of the royal children, Pavenik has been so busy that he couldn’t take a moment out of his time. It’s been a while since Hain saw his face. Because most of the documents handled by the emperor were filtered from his hands.
The title was still Baron, but it was just for the present. It was everyone’s opinion that even the title ‘Count’ would be nothing if he remained in his position for only ten years from now. Even now, his influence has surpassed that of a duke or a marquis.
Before ascending to the throne, Pavenik was treated less than a rock rolling along the road by other aristocrats. The low title of baron was also a problem, but most of all, his father was framed in the past and his family was destroyed.
Soon it turned out that it was a misunderstanding, but that was useless. It was after the forfeiture of his family’s private property, and his father could not bear the situation that he died of anger.
Pavenik had joined the military early to feed his mother and sisters, and was able to get to the current position when he caught Carl’s eye.
He was a close aide to the emperor, and a young, unmarried man—he was an ideal son-in-law candidate coveted by all aristocrats with a child of the right age for marriage. As his family had collapsed, there was an existing marriage agreement, so he was more attractive.
So, Hain didn’t believe hastily even if he expressed his favor to her. It seemed like a lie that such a prominent person was interested in her. Apart from her ability, she was not confident in her background.
Of course, Hain was also from a noble family. Only a woman from a noble family could ascend to the position of a chief maid.
But most maids were all women of fallen families. If the family were in good status, they would have chosen the direction of raising the power of the family through marriage, not making themselves as a maid of the imperial family.
The same was true of Hain. While she was proud of her job, she felt insignificant compared to Pavenik.
-I’ve heard that Lord Pavenik and the Cozeco family’s daughter are in a very deep relationship these days. Well, the two look pretty good together. Lord Pavenik is a close aide to the Emperor, and the Cozeco family is so rich that they will give anything to the Chancellor. Oh, Hain… I’m sorry.
Hain was reminded of what she heard from a colleague’s gossip a few days ago. There’s no need to apologize to her because she and Pavenik were not in any relationship. She said so, but her stomach felt pretty sore.
She knew well that Pavenik was a kind man to everyone. He was a strict man while working, but he usually smiled and greeted everyone softly. No matter who the other person he faced was. That’s why Hain had no choice but to be warier of Pavenik approaching her.
Still, she hasn’t doubted his mind much because she’s seen him often—but her doubts have grown as she wasn’t able to see him for a month. As a man famous for his flirtation among maids, Hain could hear his past that she had not known.
-The delivery man in the castle said Lord Pavenik was very famous in the market. That everyone knew.
-He even smiled at the women in the brothel. Apparently, there were a lot of women who rushed to give him service even if he didn’t pay them.
Hain was quite disappointed with him when she heard other maids talking about such things.
‘He’s not been coming lately. Maybe his interest in me has cooled down because things were going well with the daughter of the Cozeco family… This must be why my father told me not to get along with a flirty man who can’t control his lower body properly. That kind of man will just hurt me.’
Because she has just decided to give up her feelings for him, she reluctantly received the news of Pavenik’s visit.
“Is he here to see if the two royal children are doing well?”
She asked the nanny to look after the children and stood up. Even if she said so bluntly, she checked her reflection on the glass bottle not wanting to look shabby.
After nearly touching the messy hair with her hands, she patted the skirt with her hands until the wrinkles were straightened. After that, she checked herself a couple more times before heading out into the hallway.
“I’m here because Miss Hain is misunderstanding me!”
He was gasping for breath with a flushed face. He seemed to have come in quite a hurry. But because her feelings of sadness and hatred had not been resolved, Hain said coldly.
“Why would I have any misunderstanding about Lord Pavenik?”
“I’m not a womanizer!”
“What? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Hain asked back with a coy face. Pavenik studied her face and put on a startled look. He must be trying to see if Hain knew the rumor or not. Disgusted by Pavenik’s look, Hain added.
“Please tell me why a busy man came here. You probably don’t even have enough time to meet the daughter of Cozeco.”