Chapter 11
Ria, noticing that it was almost mealtime, closed the book she had been reading and got ready to go eat. But it wasn’t the emperor who came to see her—it was someone else.
Since she had never seen him before, Ria didn’t know how to react and just stared blankly at the man.
“Whew, Madam, you’re still as proud as ever, I see?”
The man spoke playfully at Ria, who was just staring at him without greeting him.
Ria frowned at the appearance of the carefree young man.
The handsome youth had messy hair and clothes that looked thrown on carelessly. A couple of buttons were undone, and his tie wasn’t properly knotted. He looked very free-spirited.
However, the clothes themselves looked expensive.
“You are truly strange.”
‘Strange’ didn’t fully capture it, but showing up out of the blue and saying something like that immediately wasn’t very welcome to Ria.
“Well, that’s my charm.”
“Charm frozen to death, maybe.”
Ria muttered.
The young man laughed at that.
To think the noble empress would say something like that.
“By the way, I forgot my manners. I am Yusian Keyan, and I pay my respects to Her Majesty the Empress.”
‘Yusian Keyan?’
Ria repeated his name in her mind and realized he was a close friend of the emperor and also the chancellor of this empire.
‘Well, this empire is something else.’
For a chancellor, he was quite… unusual. In manner and personality both.
“Yes.”
Ria nodded, showing she had a rough understanding.
‘But why would the chancellor come to see me?’
Liarna had no close friends in the imperial palace. Naturally, she was not on good terms with the chancellor either. There was no reason for him to visit her.
“You seem different somehow.”
The chancellor stroked his chin and hummed at Ria’s unusual reaction.
In truth, Yusian hadn’t come for any particular reason. He had just been curious after hearing that some events occurred at the palace while he was on leave.
He didn’t know the details, but apparently the empress had somehow hurt the emperor.
Yusian was one of the rare people who knew about Liarna’s feelings for the emperor.
That made him curious—what Liarna was thinking when she did it, and how she reacted afterward.
“So?”
Ria asked back confidently. Even if he noticed she was different, it didn’t matter. From that alone, he couldn’t guess that she wasn’t Liarna, but someone who had possessed her body.
She had no intention of pretending to be Liarna either.
“You remain as proud as ever.”
Yusian said with a smile at Ria’s cold reply.
“But what were you thinking?”
To have the audacity to harm the emperor… Was it because she longed for his love and, failing, tried to kill him?
Considering her pride, it made some sense.
But she must have known what would happen if she did that.
“Half-asleep.”
“Such a naughty habit. I never heard you had one.”
Yusian looked at Ria with a playful yet questioning expression, as if trying to read her hidden intentions.
“The emperor said he wouldn’t question that matter.”
So Ria replied coldly, as if saying he had no right to question her since the emperor had let it slide.
“I’m just curious.”
“I don’t think I need to satisfy that curiosity.”
To explain why she hit the emperor, she would have to reveal that she had possessed Liarna’s body—but she couldn’t.
Even though he looked like a carefree man, as the chancellor, he was no lighthearted person.
Even his jokes carried a sharp edge.
“You weren’t trying to kill him, were you?”
Yusian’s insistence on past events made Ria frown.
“I have no interest in murder.”
If she said she had tried to kill the emperor, Yusian would use it as an excuse to deal with her, even though the emperor had forgiven her.
There was a difference between hitting him in shock and hitting him with the intent to kill.
“The weight of that sin is different too.”
“Haha, yes. You wouldn’t kill anyone, right? Even if you were to beat the maids almost to death.”
He added the remark sharply, as if stirring the cold air around her.
Yusian knew why she wouldn’t kill the maids—because even she couldn’t just get away with it if she did.
“The past is just the past. Nothing like that will happen again.”
“Really? I must say, I’m surprised. That nothing has happened until now.”
In the past, a few maids would have been beaten already. But Yusian, returning to the palace, hadn’t heard a thing. It seemed suspicious, rather than fortunate.
“It almost sounds like you’re disappointed. I didn’t think the chancellor had a hobby of watching people get beaten.”
Ria sharply responded to the subtle sting in Yusian’s words.
“Haha. I could never. I was just curious.”
Yusian laughed as he spoke.
But Ria knew his ‘curiosity’ was really a trap to corner her.
Any answer she gave, Yusian would pounce on to get what he wanted.
No wonder Liarna in the original story had also felt uncomfortable around him.
They weren’t close, and he was always ready to pull her down. Moreover, as chancellor, he was a dangerous opponent to be careful of.
“Whether or not he could do that is unknown. How could anyone read another person’s mind?”
“True. Just as I cannot know Her Majesty’s thoughts.”
Previously, Ria might have been slightly readable, but today she was not. Nothing could be read from her. Her face showed only annoyance and indifference toward him.
It was a reaction the former empress would never have shown.
“By the way, what happened to your cheek?”
Yusian finally noticed Ria’s slightly swollen cheek and asked.
“I got bored and smashed it against the wall.”
It was a ridiculous lie, but she didn’t want to tell the truth to the person in front of her.
“Haha. You even joke, Madam. I heard the Duke of Seronian visited the palace today.”
Ria responded indifferently, as if she already knew about the duke’s visit.
“Did the duke hit you? I mean, even if he is your child, he shouldn’t hit the empress.”
Yusian spoke with feigned concern, but Ria knew the meaning behind it.
He didn’t recognize her as empress. His ‘concern’ was meaningless. It was clearly a trap to get her to admit something.
If she admitted the duke hit her, Yusian would demand punishment for the Duke of Seronian to assert authority.
But it didn’t concern her. Whether the duke lost his title or was humiliated… as long as he didn’t die, it didn’t matter.
“So why were you hit? Did the duke say something absurd?”
So she was hit while resisting?
Yusian opened his mouth again, pretending to be curious. But it was another trap.
Answering would admit she was hit and lead to questioning the duke’s absurd words.
“Yes, the wall was ridiculously hard, so I smashed into it.”
Ria used Yusian’s question to give that excuse.
“Even so, fathers are fathers. They defend you with ridiculous excuses.”
Yusian smiled.
He seemed like he might back off, but Ria knew better. Whatever answer she gave, he would cling to it to get his desired response.
She felt annoyed.
She was the one who got hit, the one angry, yet why did she have to endure this?
She had no intention of siding with him. She was only annoyed.
“Whether you believe me or not is your choice, Chancellor. But every word you say feels disrespectful, and it makes me disgusted.”
It wasn’t proper empress etiquette, but even that was filtered for Yusian.
She was very displeased.
“I never intended that. I only said it out of concern.”
“So the chancellor is… concerned for me?”
‘Hah.’
Ria scoffed.
“Of course. You are the only empress of this empire.”
‘Right.’
She laughed inwardly.
‘That’s the gaze of someone “concerned”? More like a hyena waiting for an opportunity.’
‘But when will the emperor come?’
For the first time, she was actually looking forward to the emperor arriving. She wanted him to come quickly and deal with this man.
She was tired of the back-and-forth conversation, the unnecessary emotional battles.
If you dislike something, say so. If you like it, say so. She preferred honesty. It was better if Yusian just said he disliked her, that he wanted her to step down.
In that sense, Baron was easier to deal with.
Today he hid his feelings for some reason, but Baron had never concealed his hostility before.
He hadn’t set traps or pretended kindness.
Ria frowned, wishing this chancellor would disappear—either by magic or when the emperor came to deal with him.
But the chancellor didn’t seem to know Ria’s thoughts and made no move to leave.
“Aren’t you busy? If you’re done, you can go now.”
A clear dismissal, but Yusian didn’t feel bad and stayed.
“Fortunately, I’m still on leave today.”
Yusian smiled.
Ria thought inwardly how unpleasant even his smile could be.
“Then why don’t you go rest?”
It wasn’t a request to go, but a thinly veiled attempt to kick him out. Still, Yusian stayed shamelessly.
What else did he want to provoke?
Ria’s face was full of annoyance.
“Madam, you don’t seem happy to see me. It’s been so long.”
Ria looked straight at him.
‘Does he really not realize? Surely not.’
“Why would I be happy to see you?”
“Haha, still honest as ever.”
“I think honesty isn’t enough. Even if you’re not busy, we’re not happy, so just leave.”
Fed up with his shameless attitude, Ria spoke coldly. Yusian shrugged helplessly and stood.
Ria thought he was finally leaving, and for a moment, she was relieved.
“Ria!”
The emperor appeared, opening the door.
“You’re here?”
Ria acknowledged him casually, feeling no need for formal greetings.
But then his expression stiffened when he noticed she wasn’t alone.
The young man with her was a stranger.
Since she had lost her memory, everyone was a stranger, but still…
“What is this?”
Cartrian asked coldly, displeased.
“The chancellor,” Ria explained. She told him what she knew, knowing Cartrian had no memory of people.
Yusian, however, didn’t know about Cartrian’s amnesia. It had been kept secret.
“Your Majesty?”
“What is it?”
“You… aren’t happy to see me?”
Yusian looked hurt, as if Ria was looking at him like a worthless person.
“Even a chancellor shouldn’t just barge into the empress’ room.”
Cartrian frowned, ignoring Yusian’s question.
“You treat me as a stranger after just a few days? And you even care about the empress, who you didn’t pay attention to before.”
Yusian acted excessively hurt.
“So?”
Cartrian wasn’t concerned—his focus was only on Ria.
“Then let’s go eat. I’ve been waiting, and I’m hungry.”
Especially after dealing sharply with Yusian, it made him seem hungrier.
Ria ignored Yusian and said,
“Okay.”
Cartrian immediately focused on Ria alone and nodded shyly.
Yusian frowned.
He had heard the emperor’s attitude toward the empress had changed, but seeing it in person shocked him.
Based on his previous memories, this was a different emperor.
Even Freya hadn’t received such treatment.
Cartrian’s devoted, almost blind affection shocked Yusian.
“Can I join the meal?”
Yusian had wanted to leave but changed his mind.
“No.”
“No.”
A sharp, definite refusal.
Ria felt satisfied watching Cartrian instinctively refuse without needing her hint.
It was a small thing, but for Cartrian, it was important.
“Your Ma—your—ha?”
Yusian, briefly hurt by Cartrian’s refusal, tried to call him, his voice playful and high-pitched. Ria, bristling at the creepiness, was about to throw something. But Cartrian acted faster.
Cartrian’s face twisted as if he had seen something he shouldn’t have.
“Ugh.”
Yusian groaned as he was narrowly hit.
It was a book. The corner had scratched his cheek.
“Huh?”
Yusian frowned, thinking the empress had thrown it. He couldn’t believe the chancellor would do such a thing.
His cold gaze shifted to Ria, who held something but wasn’t actively throwing it.
“I did that. Any complaints?”
Cartrian looked at Yusian coldly. Yusian forced a smile.
“Ria.”
“Huh?”
Cartrian called Ria’s name.
“Throw it too.”
“Huh?”
Ria looked briefly bewildered. She felt the urge, but it was unnecessary now.
Cartrian had already done it.
Still, Cartrian looked at her apologetically, urging her to throw the book.
“Your Majesty, is this really necessary?”
He had thrown it and now encouraged her to do the same.
Yusian looked at them like a parent seeing a child misbehave.
“Anyway, I want to eat too. No, I must eat.”
He looked as if he would stomp his feet on the floor.
It was another sight Ria could hardly bear to watch.
