"Is this true? Or a joke?"
As soon as I asked, my ladies-in-waiting frantically began to answer at the same time. It was difficult for me to understand them, so I shook my head and said,
"I'll read it myself."
It would be quicker that way. When I started to read the newspaper article, they fell silent.
Although an article may seem objective, I knew it might contain the journalist's personal feelings and intentions, so I tried to extract only the relevant information.
However, that information alone was full of surprises. The contents of the article could be summarized as follows,
1. The results of a paternity test conducted at the temple revealed that the princess did not have Emperor Sovieshu's blood.
2. Empress Rashta lived with another man before her marriage to Emperor Sovieshu, and she even had a child with him.
3. Empress Rashta concealed her previous marriage from Emperor Sovieshu.
4. The real father of the princess is Empress Rashta's first husband.
5. Emperor Sovieshu angrily deposed the princess as a result of the paternity test results.
I had assumed that Rashta had a child before she became Sovieshu's concubine, but how did the truth surface?
It was a little disconcerting. I cursed Sovieshu and Rashta on their wedding day because I didn't want them to be happy, but I didn't expect their relationship to end up so badly.
A journalist named Joanson went as far as ridiculing Empress Rashta. He remarked that it was contradictory for her to openly mock me for being a 'remarried empress' when she had also been married twice.
— Of course, unlike Empress Navier, Empress Rashta was not recognized as a legitimate wife in either her first or second marriage.
Laura was reading the newspaper over my shoulder, and she asked anxiously,
"Couldn't that journalist get in trouble for talking about it publicly? His Majesty Sovieshu will be furious when he sees this."
But Countess Jubel answered calmly,
"That journalist must have known that His Majesty would overlook it. If this story has reached us all the way here, it must have already spread throughout the Eastern Empire."
Rose clicked her tongue and said, "The Eastern Empire... is very lively."
Mastas asked curiously, "So... what will happen now?"
Now I understood why my ladies-in-waiting had come in with such unusual expressions, especially Laura and Countess Jubel. Unlike Rose and Mastas, who could fully enjoy the situation, both Laura and Countess Jubel were tied to the Eastern Empire. Their families, memories, estates and assets were all from the Eastern Empire.
After he belittled me for Rashta's baby, it felt good that Sovieshu was in this situation. But since I was born in the Eastern Empire, it was awkward to see the Imperial Family become a mockery.
Laura asked another question.
"Your Majesty, what will you do?"
All my ladies-in-waiting fell silent and waited for my answer. They had expectant faces.
But in this case, isn't the answer obvious?
"It's shocking, but... what can I do?"
Should I console Sovieshu by saying, 'I'm sorry that Rashta's daughter is not your daughter'? Should I console Rashta as empress of a neighboring country? Should I condemn her actions as the former empress? Or should I mock them?
