Chapter 33

"!!"

"Since we last met, wrinkles have formed around your eyes and mouth. They will surely increase. Your skin is thin and prone to wrinkling."

Mrs. Gix leaned in close to Diane, whispering into her frozen ear.

"I know what weapon you are using to try to pierce His Majesty's side. Yes, you do resemble him. You remind me of him."

"Stop wagging your snake-like tongue. Shut up."

Diane, horrified, tried to pull away from Mrs. Gix, but the old woman did not let her go easily.

"Do you know when Lady Beatrice passed away?"

"......"

"Twenty-nine."

"......"

"Because she looked so young, she had no wrinkles. To His Majesty, she is a twenty-nine-year-old, a flower in full bloom, who will never age. But your twenty-nine, your thirty, your forty. Time will pass for you, unlike Lady Beatrice."

Only then did Mrs. Gix release Diane and step back. She then examined Diane's eyes carefully with a cold, snowy face and added, as if giving advice.

"Use the money to call a skin care specialist instead of sending a merchant to the Empress. Do you want more wrinkles? How many young women with blonde hair and blue eyes, younger than twenty-nine, are there?"

'How many women, just like you, are trying to take the Emperor's side by wearing the skin of a dead person and struggling for a bit of favor? I will mock your foolishness to my heart's content.' After cruelly wounding Diane Poitiers' heart with her words, Mrs. Gix left the Ivory Palace leisurely. Even after Mrs. Gix left, Diane stood motionless in the office. After a long while, she slowly turned her head to look around the office. The sky-blue velvet wallpaper, the gold molding, the ceiling painted with masterpieces, the gleaming chandeliers, and the fine objets d'art decorating every corner. It was a beautiful and luxurious space.

"It's mine."

'It's what I have earned and built.'

How much had she cherished and nurtured this palace? Where in this palace had Diane Poitiers not left her touch?!

"How dare they try to drive me out of this palace?"

The more she thought about it, the angrier and more indignant she became. How dare they, with just the title of Empress, try to drive her out of the Ivory Palace?! How dare they?! What does that woman have? What does she have besides that name?!

'How can she reduce me, who has guarded His Majesty's side and managed the palace, to this in an instant? ... Just because of the title of Empress.'

"What is so special about that title?"

'I want to be His Majesty's only wife.'

It was a sincere whisper after countless hesitations. But it seemed that for the Emperor, it was not a matter of hesitation. As soon as he heard her request, he replied.

'No. You cannot.'

"Why couldn't I?"

She couldn't bring herself to ask for a reason. Despite her boasting to Renoux, it was just her own thoughts. The Emperor was not someone who liked to be questioned or probed for reasons.

"Why couldn't I? Just for that Empress title. Why couldn't I have that title, which is just a name?"

She felt a chill, a chill even more intense than when she and Renoux wandered the cold streets. It was colder now than when they braved the harsh winter with nothing.

"That title was important to me."

Diane finally voiced the sincerity that had churned within her. As soon as she said it, tears welled up. She collapsed and wept, repeating over and over that the title was important to her. She wanted to be his legitimate wife and the supreme ruler of this country. Why couldn't she?

She endlessly asked, digging into her own heart, and cried without end. Suddenly, she sprang up and rushed off somewhere. With trembling hands, she opened her vanity and took out a mirror, quickly examining her face. As Mrs. Gix had said, there were indeed more wrinkles around her eyes and mouth.

"Crying will make them worse."

Diane carefully wiped away her tear marks with a handkerchief, muttering to herself. Then she jumped up and called for Lorraine.

"Call a skin care specialist right now! Hurry up!"

'How many young women with blonde hair and blue eyes, younger than twenty-nine, are there?'

The last words Mrs. Gix left behind echoed in her ears like a curse. No, it was definitely a curse. ＊ ＊ ＊ Meanwhile, at the Baldur Dukedom, the Empress's visit was kept secret. She even insisted that she did not need any maids. The absence of a hostess made the lack of proper attire a significant issue, but it was quickly resolved. Mrs. Gix was indeed a resourceful person. She had secretly delivered Adel's luggage bag to the duchy, even though Adel had not informed her of her visit.

"Is there anything else you need?"

"Everything is sufficient now."

With a book on one side and a cup of coffee on the other, she looked very content. It seemed that as long as her meals were brought to the library, she could stay there for a few days without anyone knowing and manage everything on her own.

After guiding the Empress to the library, Lionel headed to the Duke's office. When he reported, "The Empress says she has everything she needs," the Duke nodded.

"Then it would be best to have a light meal in the library and ask her a few questions."

"She said she would answer your questions sincerely."

"I never thought the Empress was the founder and head of the Tower Resistance."

The brothers nodded at each other. They had tried to find a way to oppose the Tower in Ehmont but failed, losing countless amounts of money and people in the process. To think that the Empress, whom they had considered valuable even as just a skilled individual, was actually a key figure in the Gotrop Tower Resistance! Although they did not voice it, the same question formed in both their minds: Why did such a person come here?

Thinking about the Empress, Theseus remembered something he wanted to ask his brother.

"Lionel."

"Yes, brother."

"Why does the Empress insist on using a formal tone with you?"

Lionel frowned, looking troubled.

"She said it's to make me look different."

It was a sufficient answer. Considering their natural appearance, it was a significant result for the effort put in. Theseus slowly nodded.

"You are performing your role as an advisor very well."

"Mother used to say that if she were alive, my back would be bruised, but now that she knows the Empress is the founder of the Gotrop Tower Resistance, her opinion has changed."

Lionel chuckled, and Theseus exaggeratedly raised an eyebrow.

"Since you're doing it, you might as well do it well. That's what I mean."

"Is that so?"

"Yes."

Lionel laughed out loud, putting his hands in his pockets, and Theseus laughed with him.

＊ ＊ ＊ While Diane was obsessively examining her face with the skin care specialist,

"Madam, His Majesty has arrived!"

At Lorraine's urgent words, Diane sprang up, quickly rubbing off her makeup. She swiftly removed her earrings and jewelry, pushing them into a drawer, and hurriedly unfastened the jeweled brooch on her dress, tossing it aside. The thought of being in a deep hell turned to a flight to the gates of heaven at the news that the Emperor had arrived. She opened the door, looking gaunt, and saw the Emperor walking towards her at the end of the corridor.

"Your Majesty."

Diane called out in a frail voice, bowing her head. She looked as if she might break at any moment. The Emperor's steps, which had been quick, slowed. The tension in his brow deepened.

"Your Majesty."

Her face was gaunt, and she looked even thinner. Her waist was so slender it could be encircled with one hand, and her lips were pale and bloodless. It seemed as if her delicate neck could not even support the weight of her hair. She looked like she was dying. A black sea in his chest churned again. Drowning in its waves, Karl squeezed his eyes shut and held his breath. He stopped, unable to approach Diane any further. Seeing this, Diane approached him. Confirming the Emperor's face, which was contorted in pain, felt like her wounded feet, scarred from walking through a pitch-black hell, were healing. She even felt a kind of ecstasy.

Yes, he is angry. He feels sympathy for my treatment. How pitiful I must be. He must hate the Empress. Yes