The Abandoned Empress

Chapter 24

I hurriedly looked back at my father and Duke Verita, but they were not aware of his disguised expression. They smiled at him gently. I looked back at him with anxiety. I could feel some mixed feelings in his smiling blue eyes, something like hostility or resentment.

I noticed his face losing color. I felt a little better now, but my fingertips which had grown cold began to tremble again. I grabbed the hem of the doll I was holding. My father's face hardened when he looked back at me.

"You look pale, Tia. Are you okay? "

"Ah, yes. I'm okay."

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty. Please allow her to leave. My daughter is very weak these days, so I think she should take a break."

"Yes, please go ahead."

"But daddy, you have to ...."

"Don't worry about it. Today, I stopped by briefly because I have to take care of something urgently."

The boy stood up, while watching my father reaching out and lifting me up. I met his cold eyes over his shoulder. There was hostility, resentment and some other feeling in his dark blue eyes.

'Why is he looking at me like that? Why does he hate and resent me? What the hell did I do to you?' He ignored my affection and hurt my feelings. I should duly hate and resent him.

I breathed out in anger. This was not fair. Even though I was the victim, I was trembling with fear that I might repeat my past instead of resenting him. I hated the reality that I couldn't even feel hostile towards him because the fate of my family was interlocked with the imperial family. I was so frustrated about the fact that while the memories of my painful and grievous past were so vivid, he couldn't remember anything.

After he took his gaze from me, he passed by my father. His coldness seemed to sweep over my whole body.

As my cold body shuddered, I buried my face in my father's arms for a scrap of comfort.

"Good morning, my lady."

"Fine, Lina. Good morning to you. "

Did my physical chemistry change when I returned to my childhood? It was really difficult for me to wake up early in the morning when I was the emperor's concubine, but I could wake up without any difficulty these days. My body always felt heavy in the past, but it felt light as a feather now. Smiling at Lina who was surprised to see me wake up early, I got out of bed.

"Look out the window, my lady. It snowed. "

"Really?"

As I opened the curtains covering the windows, I saw snow everywhere. White snow piled up on frozen ground and white snowflakes on the branches of the trees came into my view. Servants were sweeping the snow with large brooms, with white steam coming out of their mouths, while white frost sat on the arm badges of the knights guarding my mansion.

"It snowed a lot. If I don't have any schedule today, I would like to take a walk. "

"You bet, my lady. I'm sorry for that."

"Well, I can't help it. I have no time, so let's get ready. "

"Yes, my lady."

It was the second New Year's morning since I came back to my childhood. They didn't consider the New Year's Day as a big holiday in the empire, but this time it was different because this year marked the 25th anniversary of His Majesty's taking office.

I heard that the government planned a grand event to celebrate the emperor's achievements of reviving the falling empire. One of them was the performance of a play. All the noblemen in the capital were supposed to watch it. It was not mandatory, but they didn't dare refuse to come, so it was sort of mandatory for them to watch it.