Chapter 32.
Robby’s Misunderstanding
After parting ways with Mik, my heart had been hollow, but the moment I saw Robby, I felt an immense wave of comfort.
“Robby, since you’re here, stay for a proper rest. I even made a training arena!”
“A training arena?”
“Yep! I need to build up my stamina and get used to this region’s winter. Oh, and let’s spar! You better be ready. I’m not letting you go until you surrender!”
I was thrilled to finally have a proper sparring partner.
“Alright. I’ll start sparring with you tomorrow.”
“Really? Aren’t you still jet-lagged or something?”
His easy agreement made me feel a little guilty, but I didn’t want to miss this opportunity.
“To face you, this kind of handicap is a nice bit of motivation—Oof!”
As he raised his chin smugly, I punched him in the stomach, and his face contorted in pain. It was so funny that I couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
At that moment, Millie entered the reception room.
“Your Majesty, a room has been prepared in the West Palace for Young Master Robby.”
“Really? Got it.”
I stood up and clasped Robby’s hand tightly.
“You must be tired. Get some rest today. I can’t tell you how happy I am that you came.”
When I spoke sincerely, Robby smiled warmly and replied.
“Me too, Lea. Honestly, I was hesitant to come, but I think it was the right decision.”
After entrusting Robby to Millie, I returned to my bedroom feeling much lighter.
Adele and Sophie, who had been waiting, took care of me with great attention. I let myself relax in their gentle care.
“Your Majesty, why are you crying?”
Adele, drying my hair after my bath, asked in surprise.
“Me?”
I looked up at the mirror. Tears were falling from my lifeless eyes like a broken faucet. Oh no!
Disgusted by the sight of my own weakness, I shut my eyes, and that was when the tears came pouring out.
The sorrow I had been suppressing burst forth. Covering my face with both hands, I stood up and threw myself onto the bed.
‘Mik… I miss you so much.’
Seeing me quietly sobbing, my shoulders trembling, Adele and Sophie silently left the room.
Once the room was silent, fear crept in. What was I supposed to do about this sudden healing ability? And how was I to fill this empty time without him?
Mik, who spent most of the year on the battlefield… without him, I might wither away from loneliness.
Even if it was the fate of every queen, I didn’t want to live my life just waiting.
While I lay there crying for a long time, a new thought occurred to me.
‘That’s right, if Mik can’t stay at Fritan Castle, then I’ll just go to him.’
Thinking about it, it didn’t seem impossible. I had trained in swordsmanship for over ten years, so I could protect myself.
And while still clumsy, my healing ability might be useful.
‘The problem is horseback riding. I’ll need to talk to Duke Zenon and start training right away!’
Having a new goal calmed my heart.
I wiped my tears and lay down again. For the first time since he left, I fell asleep with a clear mind.
As soon as he entered the guestroom of the West Palace, Robby quietly took Millie’s hand. Startled by the sudden gesture, Millie froze.
“Millie, thank you for taking care of Lea all this time.”
“O-Oh, it was nothing.”
Millie shyly pulled her hand away, lowering her head.
“Be honest with me. Is Lea okay? She’s not crying every day here, is she?”
“Of course not. Her Majesty is happier than ever.”
Robby tilted his head slightly, a bit confused by her immediate answer, but then nodded as if he understood.
“Well, she was so miserable at the Marquisate of Uzkal…”
“That’s not what I meant.”
Millie realized Robby had misunderstood and grew flustered again. She tried to find the right way to explain Lea’s current situation.
“Her Majesty is truly happy right now. I mean, um… she’s fallen in love.”
“What?”
Robby’s face crumpled in disbelief.
“You don’t mean Lea has fallen in love with King Miklok, do you?”
“Why wouldn’t she?”
Millie answered proudly.
“You have no idea how lovey-dovey they are lately. Just earlier, Their Majesties were clinging to each other like magnets, not wanting to be apart.”
“Don’t tell me… they’ve already consummated the marriage?”
“Of course!! They haven’t left the bedroom for the past three days. His Majesty won’t let Her Majesty out of his sight even for a second.”
Millie, who had brought their meals into the adjoining parlor of the royal bedchamber, blushed at the memory of the sweet, dove-like voices of the king and queen coming from inside.
In fact, ever since the banquet—where the king and queen had only briefly shown their faces before vanishing—people in the palace had been whispering.
It was a shock to everyone that King Miklok, who had been disinterested in women since ascending the throne at fifteen and obsessed only with war, had fallen so completely for the foreign queen from Harren.
But hearing all this, Robby’s face grew grim.
“I knew it. That man must’ve forced Lea…”
“No, no! Not at all!”
Millie laughed and waved both arms.
From what she saw, Lea was incredibly flustered by Miklok’s shameless displays of affection, but she never pushed him away. Sometimes, she even seemed to encourage it.
Thinking of the way King Miklok looked at Lea like he wanted to devour her whole regardless of who was watching, Millie felt a sudden flutter in her chest and brought her hands to her heart.
“His Majesty looks at Her Majesty with such sweetness, it’s like being covered in sugar just by standing near them. Sometimes my heart races so fast, I think it might explode.”
“Enough!”
Robby suddenly shouted, startling Millie.
“I’m tired. Leave me.”
“Y-Yes… of course. Please rest, Young Master Robby.”
Millie backed away awkwardly, flustered by Robby’s cold tone.
Though his golden blond hair, honey-colored eyes, balanced figure, and handsome face were unchanged, for some reason, she no longer felt the excitement she once did around him.
She couldn’t understand why he was acting like a sulking child.
As Millie left the West Palace guestroom and headed back to the queen’s residence, a cold wind brushed against her cheeks.
Shivering at the bitter air, she put her hands in her coat pocket and gripped the enchanted warming stone William had given her.
Holding it made her heart feel warm, as if it carried his warmth too.
Though it was deep in the night and darkness cloaked the palace, a faint light flickered from the residence of the Empress Hailey.
Waiting quietly in her room for the emperor, Hailey checked the time and discreetly summoned her closest maid.
“Have you confirmed where His Majesty is tonight?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. He entered the ninth consort’s palace not long ago.”
As expected, the emperor had gone to visit the ninth consort on her birthday. Confirming he wouldn’t come to her tonight, Hailey began preparing to go out.
Click, clack, click, clack.
A short while later, under the cover of moonless darkness, a black carriage silently slipped out of Hailey’s palace.
It was small, without any decorations—no one would guess a high-ranking consort was inside.
After traveling swiftly for about half an hour, the carriage arrived at the Marquessate of Uzkal—Hailey’s family home.
As it arrived, the front gate opened just slightly, as if someone had been expecting her.
When the carriage stopped at the entrance, Hailey and Yulan stepped out.
The two of them quietly entered the mansion. The lighting inside was so dim, it was hard to see even a step ahead.
“Your Majesty, you really came.”
At the bottom of the grand staircase, the Marchioness of Uzkal stood with a nervous expression. She ignored Yulan entirely and addressed only Hailey.
“Where’s Father?”
Removing her cloak, Hailey quickly climbed the stairs.
“He’s out looking into estates. He won’t be back until tomorrow night.”
“Hah. And he has money to buy estates now?”
Hailey sneered with contempt. The Marchioness fell silent in embarrassment.
She had been desperately borrowing money from her own family to stop the Marquis of Uzkal from begging the emperor for more funds by pimping out Hailey. If she didn’t, she feared her beloved daughter would be ruined.
But even borrowing from family had reached its limit.
“Mother, you’re gravely ill tonight. That’s why your poor daughter has come to check on you so late. Make sure the servants keep quiet.”
The Marchioness looked at her daughter anxiously.
“Must you go this far, Your Majesty?”
She made one last attempt to talk her daughter out of it. But Hailey’s icy glare silenced her.
“Tonight, you’re sleeping in a different bedroom.”
Hailey walked past her and headed for the master bedroom on the second floor. Yulan followed quietly.
Standing before the master bedroom, Hailey pointed to a side door.
Yulan opened it and slipped in silently like water. It was the Marchioness’s dressing room and connected directly to the bedroom.
After Yulan disappeared inside, Hailey opened the bedroom door. A dark figure was stretched across the bed.
“Hailey?”
As Hailey approached the bed, the large shadow sat up.
“My God, it was real. I wasn’t sure even after I got the letter. But the noble Empress herself really summoned me here because she missed my body??”
The man tilted his chin arrogantly and pulled her roughly into his arms.
His thick, inconsiderate lips crushed against hers in a rough kiss.
“…Wilhelm, still the same as ever?”
Hailey gasped and wrapped her arms around his neck. He scooped her up and threw her onto the bed, hastily pulling down the top of her dress.
“Damn, why are you wearing so many layers?”
Muttering irritably, he stripped her clothes in a hurry and began removing his own.
“You must’ve been bored with that old emperor. I’ll show you heaven tonight.”
As he eagerly climbed onto her, Hailey gently stopped him.
“No. The one going to heaven tonight… is you.”
With a meaningful smile, she pulled him into a kiss. Moments later, Wilhelm’s eyes widened in shock.
And from the Marquis’s bedroom, the only sounds that echoed for a long while were heated, suggestive moans.