Chapter 101 - Only I Can Protect Myself (2) (1/2)
Chapter 101 – Only I Can Protect Myself (2)
“I’m forbidden from entering the palace?”
I was with my brother when the Emperor’s messenger came to give him the news. The messenger shrank back when Koshar yelled angrily at him.
“Yes. And if you push or threaten Miss Rashta again, you will be punished for threatening the Imperial family.”
“Who was pus.h.i.+ng who?!”
Koshar gave a roar, tearing a cus.h.i.+on with his fist, and the messenger scurried away.
“Can you believe this!”
Koshar didn’t calm even after the messenger escaped the room.
“I pushed her?! Would she even be fine if I pushed her?”
“Brother.”
“Navier. Is there a problem with her tongue or your husband’s ears?”
“Brother.”
My attempts to calm him went unheard. I approached Koshar and knocked him on the back. He held the torn cus.h.i.+on close to his bosom and ground his teeth, but after a moment he slumped and apologized.
“…I’m sorry for the cus.h.i.+on.”
“It’s fine. How about you? Are you alright now?”
“Had you not been there, I might have beaten the servant who delivered the message.”
“Drop your temper.”
“But—!”
“You’ll regret it.”
I was completely dejected by this news, but I was sure that my brother, who caused this, felt far worse. In a situation where the people on “our” side were many and Rashta was one, my fiery-tempered brother simply approaching Rashta would already be considered a threat. If she had spun that as my brother’s fault, that would have been much more understandable.
However, she claimed that she fell because my brother pushed her. Wasn’t that a complete lie? Sovieshu even believed her and gave my brother a restraining order. It was the same when Prince Heinley was asking about the letters. Rashta was a duplicitous woman.
“You need to be careful in the meanwhile, brother.”
“Careful about that d.a.m.n woman?”
“Did you hear how the d.u.c.h.ess Tuania got divorced?”
“Somewhat.”
“Rashta’s the one who played a part in the divorce. She stirred up old rumors about d.u.c.h.ess Tuania and manipulated them to be far worse.”
“!”
“She’s not just a concubine. She’s clever.”
Sovieshu unequivocally believed in Rashta’s words, and Rashta herself had the ability to manipulate public opinion and win people’s favor. In the midst of that, she was also bearing the Emperor’s first child. It was best not to collide with her.
My brother looked at my face, and couldn’t hold back the swears in his mouth.
“s.h.i.+t! d.a.m.n rotten thing!”
***
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That night, Koshar found himself drinking with his friend Marquis Farang.
“Hey, drink slowly.”
Marquis Farang looked on worriedly as Koshar drank like a fish, but the marquis’ concerns were dismissed.
“I want to get drunk. Leave me.”
“I’m worried that you’ll get drunk and cross the palace wall.”
“You can stop me, right?”
“Are you serious? I can’t stop you even when you’re sober, so why do you think I can stop you when you’re drunk?”
Koshar snorted and poured another strong drink in his gla.s.s.
“My mother and father nagged me as soon as I got home. It will be bad for Navier if I take any action, so for her sake I have to keep a low profile.”
“…Koshar.”