The Abandoned Empress

I smiled in spite of myself when he was so embarrassed, but I struggled to hold back the uncontrollable laughter.

‘He is still so cool. He is too handsome to wear just uniforms.’

Although he was now in his mid forties, he looked only in his mid thirties. His silvery hair with fine texture came down to this chin, and his strong build and wide shoulders made many noble women long for him with a sigh. I was told that when he occasionally attended a party, young widows and young ladies were fascinated by him. As such, I thought it was too strict for him to only wear uniforms just because he was a knight. So, I intended to use this golden opportunity to order custom clothes for him.

“Excuse me for a moment, Marquis,” said Mrs. Rosa, who came out with a tape measure.

I observed her attitude just in case she might be interested in him, but she just focused on taking measurements for his new clothes nonchalantly. Then she brought a booklet that collected fabrics and handed it to me, asking, “What kind of fabric or design do you like?”

“Well, what do you like, Daddy?”

“… I have no idea. Can you choose for me?”

“Sure. Please don’t complain later.”

My father, who looked at me smiling bashfully, flinched for a moment and avoided my gaze.

‘What would suit him?’

Although I bugged him for wearing a uniform all the time, the 2nd Knight’s uniform with a mix of navy blue and silver suited him well enough to be the perfect fit for him. So, I had to take it into account.

After discussing with my father for a long time, I came up with an outline of his dress and got up when he stopped me suddenly and looked back at Mrs. Rosa.

“Are you Mrs. Rosa?”

“Yes, sir.”

“As I’m here, I also would like to order dresses for my daughter. Formal dresses, please.”

‘Huh? Why formal dresses all of a sudden?’

I looked at him with a puzzled expression, but he continued, without caring about my reaction, “Consult my daughter for details. As for her dress, all I want is just one thing. Embroider the crest of my family on the collar and hem. ”

“Daddy?”

My eyes popped open. What did my father say now? Is he really serious about handing me the right to succeed the family? I have not yet become his formal successor yet. Me, who has not yet become a formal successor? In the empire, the only one who can have the collar and hem of their formal dress embroidered with the crest of his family is the head of the family or an appointee who can represent his authority when he is absent.

“Are you serious, Daddy?”

“Yes.”

“Why, are you doing this all of a sudden… ”

“Because I felt you could manage well when I examined how you were training.”

My father patted my shoulder gently with a faint smile. He asked Mrs. Rosa to visit his mansion sooner or later, then he stood up.

‘The right to represent his authority?’

Fully elated with pride, I went out of the shop with my father. As soon as I came out, hot air blew over me. Frowning, I made a shade with my hands. My father was frowning after checking the fountain in the center of the square.

Why is he upset? It seemed that the floor was clean with no particular problem.

‘But…oh, my.’

“Can you see it?”

“Yes, it’s serious. If it doesn’t have …”

There was little water in the fountain. Because of the unusually hot weather, water has started to dry up even though it was just the fifth month. Given that even the best-managed capital in the empire had water scarcity, it was obvious that lots of people would suffer from shortages of water.

Damn it! Why are we having a drought when we just overcame the great famine only recently? Suddenly, I felt goosebumps.

‘There was no sign of this before I came back from the past. What happened? Is the future that has changed little by little completely twisted?’

“It is a sign of drought at a time when the emperor might have to leave the palace…This is serious.”

“What do you mean? The emperor has to leave the palace?”

“Well, I have to be careful about saying this, but you know that his health has been failing since last winter. That’s why the crown prince has started to focus more on his work these days.”

“Yes, I know. But why did his condition suddenly … ”

Since last winter, the emperor has begun to hand over a large amount of work to the crown prince. Not only did he delegate diplomatic negotiations with the Lua Kingdom to the crown prince, but also he had the crown prince take over the inspection of the knights. I heard that this spring the crown prince presided over about half of the political meetings.

Thanks to this, I rarely bumped into the crown prince after I met him at the National Founding Day festival. Because I decided to withhold my judgment of him until Jiun came, I wanted to avoid meeting him as much as possible, so it was fortunate that I didn’t see him often. But it was certainly unusual that he had to concentrate on political affairs suddenly.

“As you know, it’s already very hot this year. So, top ranking officials began to strongly request the emperor to move to the summer palace during the summer for his health.”

“Ah… ”

It was said that magic existed when the first emperor founded the empire about a thousand years ago. There are scholars who doubt it because there is none who can use magic now, but the majority believed that magic existed. In fact, there are three vivid examples of proof of this in the empire.

The first of these was the covenant between the emperor and the Monique family, and the second was the summer palace my father mentioned.

The eleventh emperor, who favored a certain concubine, had the concubine take the place of the emperor’s concubine, who had exercised mighty power as the second wife of the emperor until then. Originally, the emperor’s concubine was an honorable position given to the biological mother who gave birth to the crown prince when the queen could not deliver him.

But since the 11th emperor, the emperor’s concubine was recognized as the emperor’s most beloved wife.

In any case, one very hot summer the emperor’s concubine collapsed due to the sweltering weather, the emperor hired a court magician to find a cure for her. So, the court magician grew a tree with special magic then weaved the branches of the tree to make an awning on the roof of the Imperial Palace. Perhaps because the awning was bewitched, the emperor and his concubine were cool for some time during the summer.

Then one day, there was a conflict between the 11th emperor and the magician. The magician left the empire, and because of the awning that remained even in the winter, the Imperial Palace was cool in the summer but very cold in the winter, making it uninhabitable.

Eventually, the eleventh emperor declared that he would move the Imperial Palace to a new capital. So, the legend has it that the new palace built at that time is now the current palace, and that the palace bewitched at the time became the summer palace for the succeeding emperors.

“Oh, that’s why you met the emperor.”

“That’s right. Sooner or later the emperor will formally announce his plan.”

Summer palace? I only heard about it, but have never been there.

While I was walking, lost in thought, I stopped, surprised, because my father suddenly stopped.

‘Where am I now?’

As I looked around, I saw a strange landscape. Low-story houses and shabby streets. As I was so absent-minded while talking with my father, I didn’t know that I left the nobles’ district. Only

“Daddy, we have come too far from our mansion. Let’s go back. ”

I gently pulled his arm, but he wouldn’t move. When I tried to pull his sleeves once more, he suddenly walked away after staring at somewhere for a while.

‘Ugh? What’s the matter with him?’

I thought I had to follow him first, so I quicked my pace to catch up with him.

He walked with big strides and barely stopped walking in front of a remote alley.

‘Is he looking for something here?’

I looked around, but the narrow alley was quiet without any humans. I looked up at him, tilting my head. I saw his lonely blue eyes and vaguely blurred look. It looked like he was immersed in memories.

‘Does he feel nostalgia here?’