Chapter 39.1 (1/2)

“No, you’re honestly pretty.” said Damian with a clear voice.

The empress looked at Charlize with a devastated face.

The empress said in a trembling voice.

“Ah, Charlize, it’s no wonder you’re on the side of the Crown Prince rather than mine… …”

“This ribbon is a keepsake of Her Majesty Empress Sun.”

“Really?”

The Empress glanced at Damian with an apologetic look, she had assumed the ribbon to be something ordinary, not a heirloom.

After that, she coughed and opened her mouth.

“Looking at it again, it’s a very pretty ribbon.”

“Is that right?” questioned Charlize.

Despite the instant change in her attitude like a flip of a switch, Charlize still looked up at the Empress with a sparkling gaze in her eyes.

It’s as if her body language screamed out, “As expected, my empress!”

Damian was saddened by how different Charlize treated him compared to how she had treated the empress.

Just then, Charlize turned to look at him.

“That’s right, hey. Are you hungry?”

“Huh?”

“I have some soup that her Majesty, the empress sent me earlier. I’ll bring it to you!”

Then without even listening to Damian’s answer, she proceeded to scurry out of the room in a hurry.

Damian and the Empress, who were suddenly left alone, looked at each other with awkward expressions.

Damian’s pupils trembled with great intensity.

What should I do? I should say something. First of all, I’d like to say thank you.….

“Prince.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” replied Damian anxiously.

The Empress had called Damian at the exact time Damian was about to open his lips.

Damian, slightly nervous, looked up at the Empress silently.

“I didn’t travel all the way to the Crown Palace to see the Crown Prince eat.”

“…. What?”

“Because of this situation, I just came because I was afraid the crown prince would feel burdened.”

The Empress did not raise an eyebrow and spoke with that characteristic expressionless face of hers.

Damian felt unease at that unexpected look of hers.

Come to think of it, the empress was a person with very few expressions.

The empress carried on speaking in a voice, indifferent to Damian’s discomfort.

“Have I told you before? It is my duty to protect the Crown Prince.”

“I remember.”

“I am fulfilling that obligation. Also.”

Also?

Damian tilted his head.

The empress had been talking for some time now, it was rare for her to speak for long and yet she continued.

“Charlize is always concerned about you, Crown Prince, so there are some things I can do to help her and you in that endeavor.”

No, wait.

Even though she said, ‘Charlize is concerned about me,’ there was the slightest hint of irritation across the Empress’s face… …

Am I overreacting?

Damian, who was lost in his train of thought, gave a faint smile for a moment without realizing it.

‘If Charlize really cares about me… … ‘

With that single thought of his, Damian’s mouth became sweet as if he had taken a bite of candy.

‘What’s this tingly feeling, I feel?’

It has been ages since someone had cared for him so thoroughly.

Is that why?

… … In any case, it wasn’t a bad feeling.

The empress who had been observing Damian smile and gaze aimlessly, narrowed her eyes.