STP 04

Chapter 4

Secrita, the eldest daughter of the Francitz Ducal Family.

She was, without question, the woman of the highest status in the Rasol Empire.

She had been so from the moment she was born, and she remained so even now.

“Oh! Yes……! I’m Theodora di Elenor Selene…… Your Majesty.”

Theodora, who had been completely dazed, remembered her etiquette and immediately bowed her head in surprise.

She was a beautiful and noble woman who was the complete opposite of Theodora in every way.

She shone like the sun, and Theodora could hardly bring herself to raise her head in her presence.

Someone like her would never have such low self-esteem as Theodora did, nor would she entertain the foolish thought that it would be better to become a target of hatred than to do nothing.

“Raise your head, Theodora.”

Secrita gently lifted the chin of the woman who had her head bowed. Then she smiled, her eyes curving softly.

“There is no one here, other than me, who is of higher status than you.”

“Oh, yes…… Yes, Your Majesty.”

Her beauty was enough to make even women of the same sex fall for her.

Theodora’s face flushed slightly as she blinked rapidly.

“What I just said…….”

In an instant, the atmosphere surrounding her changed. Secrita swept her gaze over everyone with narrowed eyes and spoke with authority.

“You’d all do well to remember it.”

Then, deliberately muttering as though speaking to herself, she drove the point home.

“If you don’t want to be thrown out.”

“Yes, yes! Your Majesty!”

“I will keep it in mind, Your Majesty!”

At those chilling words, all the women of the harem were startled and bowed their heads.

The Empress, who had been looking at them with disdain, soon took Theodora by the hand and pulled her along.

“Come. I’ll show you around the Imperial Palace.”

“Oh, yes. It would be an honor, Your Majesty.”

She followed Secrita with a blank expression.

But soon, anxiety began to creep in. Even as she hurried along with small steps, Theodora bit her lip anxiously.

Back when her mother was still alive, the king’s mistresses had cruelly tormented a woman who came from a servant’s background and had not even been granted a title.

Theodora did not know what the Queen had been thinking, but she had turned a blind eye to it.

Even though Theodora had been very young at the time, those terrible scenes had remained so vivid that they still came back to her as if they were happening right before her eyes.

‘She took my side in front of the women of the harem…… But perhaps she’s actually trying to torment me. Should I tell her the truth now?’

If Secrita knew that she and the Emperor had not spent the night together, perhaps she wouldn’t torment her.

‘What should I do?’

Her head felt as though it might explode as she struggled to decide whether telling the truth or keeping silent would be better for her.

Her eyes darted around nervously with fear as she swallowed hard.

“Why are you so nervous?”

As though she could see straight into Theodora’s mind, Secrita turned her clear eyes toward her.

“Theodora.”

Secrita slightly lifted the corners of her lips as she called Theodora by name.

“Well…… um…….”

“Oh, it’s all right if I call you by your name, isn’t it?”

“Oh, yes…….”

She fumbled for words, not knowing what to do. Contrary to her expectation that the Empress would be hostile toward her, Secrita was so kind and gentle.

And the truth was, Theodora’s confusion wasn’t only because Secrita’s attitude toward her was so different from what she had expected.

“Was I acting too familiar? You just seemed like a cute little sister, so I couldn’t help myself.”

Never once in Theodora’s life had someone—let alone someone of higher status than her—shown her kindness.

Even if it was merely a false kindness shown on the surface, even that was something Theodora desperately longed for.

“B-but…….”

“Hmm?”

“Your Majesty…… don’t you dislike me……?”

Even as she struggled to get the words out, she asked rather directly.

“I mean, I…….”

“Why would I dislike you, Theodora? Because you’re a secondary consort? Or because you spent the night with the Emperor?”

“That too…… and I…… I’m a princess from a defeated kingdom. No one…….”

She couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence.

No one even paid attention to her.

A sudden wave of sorrow overwhelmed her, leaving Theodora unable to finish her last words.

A warm spring breeze passed between the two women.

Secrita simply looked at her for a long while. Then, as though she had realized something, she slowly raised the corners of her lips.

“Now I understand why the Emperor takes an interest in you.”

“……Pardon?”

“This is a secret, Theodora.”

She lightly placed her index finger against her lips and continued.

“Raud and I aren’t like that.”

“What? If you’re not like that……?”

“There is only one thing I can tell you right now.”

Theodora quietly looked at Secrita, who was meeting her gaze.

Her turquoise eyes, like the sea, were incredibly gentle.

Secrita continued speaking with a smile still lingering at the corners of her mouth.

“Trust Raud. He’s not as frightening as you might think.”

“A child……?”

She called a man as fierce as a tiger a ‘child.’

Because it became even harder to understand what the Empress was truly thinking, Theodora’s eyes spun in confusion.

Looking at her as though she found her adorable, Secrita answered.

“I’m older than Raud. I’ve known him since he was very young.”

“Oh! I see…….”

“Yes. Though I can understand why you might think otherwise. He has such a sharp-looking face.”

At her words, Theodora unconsciously lifted the corners of her lips into a faint smile.

After hearing Secrita’s words, the uneasiness that had been trembling inside her strangely began to settle.

It was still an unfamiliar and frightening place, but the fact that there was at least one person who treated her kindly made this place far better than the Kingdom of Selene.

“Oh, it’s already this late. I have a meeting, so I think I should be going now.”

“Oh, I must have bothered Your Majesty too much…….”

“No. If the other women are ever mean to you again, you can come to me and tell me on them. Of course, the best thing would be…….”

She let the end of her sentence trail off before lightly tapping Theodora on the tip of her nose and adding,

“For you to become strong on your own.”

Leaving those mysterious words behind, Secrita turned gracefully and walked away from her.

Theodora watched the Empress disappear into the distance, then slowly turned around.

A few steps away, Gentle was waiting for her.

“Your Majesty.”

Now that even Secrita had so openly taken Theodora’s side, Gentle’s face was even more flushed than it had been that morning.

“I knew it when Your Majesty was given the status of a secondary consort and even Lilliana Palace as a gift. There must be something special about you, Your Majesty.”

“Hmm…….”

“Apparently, His Majesty even ordered a garden to be built behind Lilliana Palace.”

“A garden?”

Theodora tilted her head in surprise.

Looking at flowers was the only hobby she had been able to have while living in the attic.

‘How did he know that I like flowers? It must just be a coincidence, right?’

Could it really be that he had even the slightest bit of affection for her?

Even if it was nothing more than a momentary whim, Theodora wanted to believe it.

Even if what Raud had done to her was an act of plunder in which he took her country and killed her family, she wanted to believe that, for her alone, he had been her salvation.

She looked at Gentle and smiled faintly.

But unfortunately,

“Eek!”

That smile did not last long.

“Your Majesty!”

It was the middle of the night, when everyone was asleep.

At Theodora’s scream, the guards stationed outside and Gentle rushed into the room.

Within Gentle’s field of vision were assassins dressed in black masks.

They were probably assassins sent by the other women in the harem to keep her in check.

Soon, Theodora came in as well, trembling as she covered a small wound on her face.

“Your Majesty, are you all right!”

Gentle immediately rushed to Theodora and wrapped her arms around her.

“Huff, huff……!”

The assassins who had broken into Lilliana Palace were soon taken down one by one by the guards.

Tears filled with fear streamed down her deathly pale cheeks.

That was when it happened.

“……How……!”

Raud entered the room, seemingly furious.

So great was his anger that red demonic energy was flowing around his body.

The demonic energy that soon spilled from Raud’s body stretched out like snakes before piercing straight through the bodies of the assassins.

With his arrival, the assassins who had been clashing swords with the guards were instantly dealt with.

Raud frowned and gestured with his chin for Gentle and the guards to leave.

They each picked up one of the fallen assassins and left the room.

Soon, only the two of them remained in the room. A suffocating silence hung between them.

A faint sob escaped Theodora’s lips. Terrified, she desperately pressed her lips together to hold back her crying.

But perhaps the sound only made Raud even angrier.

He abruptly turned his head toward Theodora and growled in a low voice filled with rage.

“Get up.”

Then he grabbed Theodora’s wrist and forcibly pulled her to her feet while she was still trembling on the floor.

“Y-Your Majesty…….”

“I told you before.”

Raud’s red eyes gleamed fiercely.

“You have exactly one thing to do. As my spoils of war…… live.”

He stared directly at her with the eyes of a beast that looked ready to devour someone at any moment.

“I don’t want my spoils of war to die by someone else’s sword.”

“S-sob…… I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…….”

“Live.”

Raud grasped Theodora by both shoulders and looked straight into her eyes.

“Is that really…… so difficult?”

Strangely, beneath that sharp gaze, there was a deep sadness that Theodora could not understand the reason for.