Empress of Another World

Forty Three

I bowed lightly and greeted them. My maids, who were standing behind me, bowed as well respectfully.

“Good morning to his highness the emperor. Good morning to her highness the dowager empress.”

The dowager empress and the emperor were sitting across from each other.

The emperor had a fake smile plastered on his face. He stood up and stepped forward to give me his hand.

I wanted to slap it away, but the dowager empress and Lisbeth were watching me closely. I wouldn’t make a stupid mistake of showing them my true feelings.

I pretended to be shy as I lowered my face and placed my own hand on top of his.

The emperor said to me, “You look so beautiful this morning, my wife.”

“… The dowager empress is here too, your highness. You’re making me blush.”

I sounded so fake I almost made myself sick!

However, no matter how much I disliked him, I stood close to him and looked as if I was the happiest woman in the kingdom. The emperor escorted me to the sofa across from the dowager empress. I sat down next to him.

I didn’t see for myself, but I was sure Lisbeth must have looked awful as she saw me with the emperor. I had hoped the dowager empress saw Lisbeth’s expression.

I took the tea from the dowager empress’ new maid and smiled broadly.

“Are you feeling well this morning, mother?”

I could see the veins popping on the dowager empress’s forehead. No one believed I meant well when I called her ‘mother’, perhaps except for naïve Lisbeth. I did it to goad the dowager empress. I had hoped she would make a mistake at some point if she became angry enough.

Well, she didn’t become the empress by losing her temper easily. She was the one who survived the dangerous life of this castle and reached the highest position possible for a woman. She was dangerous.

The dowager empress hid her frown quickly and returned to her serene expression.

Katleyanira smiled innocently and replied, “Of course. My baby and I have slept very well last night.”

She patted her enormous belly exaggeratedly. It was so large it looked like a full moon.

I guessed it must be hard for her to even walk.

Depending on whether it was a girl or a boy, my life here would change dramatically. In my own world, it would have been possible to know the sex by now, but here, all we could do was wait.

After patting her belly for a few seconds, the dowager empress put on a surprised expression. She turned to me and apologized. She looked almost sincere. Almost.

“Oh, no. I shouldn’t have said anything in front of you, who went through such an unfortunate incident recently…”

“… It’s ok.”

What a liar.

If I really did lose my baby, her words would have hurt me badly, but I didn’t, so I had no problem with her comments.

It would have been strange for me to look perfectly okay, however, so I had to pretend to look upset. It had to be a fine balance of looking heartbroken but trying to hide it in front of everyone.

I must have done a decent job because I saw the dowager empress looking satisfied. I felt annoyed, but I let it go.

The dowager empress said to me, “I never knew my own sister-in-law would do something so horrible, but there is nothing to worry. Once I give birth to a prince, the royal family won’t have to worry about a legitimate heir. You, my dear, won’t have to feel the heavy burden of reproducing anymore.”