The Abandoned Empress Will Not Return

Thanks to Rodelia’s wit, she was able to overcome the situation safely.
However, Rodelia’s time stopped at that moment.

 

She has been dethroned for a month now.

 

Rodelia never went outside in all that time.
People came by every day to see her who they were curious about.

 

Thanks to this, Rodelia was engulfed in endless melancholy.

 

There was no salvation for her.

 

She suffered from insomnia everyday, having barely fallen asleep, she’d wake up covered in sweat from another nightmare.
The huge snake ate her every night and when she awoke, the feeling of someone watching her made it even more painful.

 

Everyday, it repeated, she felt like she was going crazy.

 

Rodelia was getting thinner.
Her cheeks, which had been full of life, sank pale and the green eyes that contained a green forest also faded.

 

Every night, tossing and turning, she thought.

 

My life will end someday, right?

 

However, at the end of her painful imagination, Cerdian was always there.  He brought her out of her negative thoughts that seemed to never end.

 

The days she spent with him were now only happy memories.
Of course, Cerdian may have been using her to place Sola as the empress.
However, she didn’t want to think so negatively.

 

‘Because it would be too miserable.’

 

Rodelia recalled the happy memories of her life.
If others saw it, they might stick out their tongues and say that they would rather die, but she didn’t want to die.
A lingering attachment to her life still remained.

 

Rodelia wanted to live for herself because she had never done that before.
Therefore, she couldn’t die even under these circumstances.

 

Determined to live on, she began to eat her meals regularly.
Everything was unfamiliar and she was clumsy as she had never done anything to get her hands wet but she improved as she did them.

 

She made several plans with the thought of leaving this place someday.

 

Rodelia gradually adjusted to her commoner life.
After making potato soup for dinner today, she finished washing the dishes, which she had become accustomed to and lay down on her bed.

 

‘Should I really repeat this until I die?’

 

However, as soon as she lay in bed, disturbing thoughts invaded her mind again.
Rodelia closed her eyes tightly, trying to dispel those thoughts.

 

All the streetlights were turned off and a black night fell over her room.

 

The chatter of the guards could be heard outside the door.
She had been keeping an eye on them all day long.
In preparation for her escape, she noticed a pattern: her guards changed shifts late into the night while she was asleep.

 

The night was so quiet that if you listened carefully, you could hear them talking.  Today, they talked about a lot of things.

 

Then, thud–

 

She heard the sound of something falling, and the conversation abruptly cut off.
Then the old wooden front door squeaked open.

 

The creaking of the old wooden floor echoed with the sound of footsteps.
The sound of footsteps got closer.
Rodelia pulled the blanket over herself, clutching the dagger she had placed next to the bed in fear.

 

Her body trembled like crazy as she remembered that day.

 

Could it be the attackers from a few days ago? Or did someone send an assassin?

 

The radical imperial faction might have sent someone to assassinate her.
They used to do all sorts of dirty things for the Emperor.

 

Fear pervaded her hands and feet.
She held her breath, hoping the intruder wouldn’t come this far.

 

Soon, the sound of footsteps stopped and the door opened.
There was no sound of the door closing.
Someone knew she was here.

 

Rodelia gripped the dagger in her hand even harder.
However, her body was shaking uncontrollably.
Has she been like that for a while?

 

Then she heard a voice that she so longed for.

 

“Your Majesty.”

 

Rodelia, in disbelief, pulled back the blanket that was covering her.
After confirming the owner of the voice, she let out the breath she had been holding and involuntarily shed tears.

 

 It was Cerdian.

 

 *

 

The Grand Duchy of Luvenia was a city-state surrounded by rugged mountain ranges.

 

In order to invade the great empire of Thebes, they’d have to pass through Luvenia, however no one had dared to attack because of the ever-changing climate.

 

It was a day with exceptionally good weather, one that only happens a few times a year in Luvenia.

 

Cerdian opened his eyes late to the sunlight peeking through the window.
He usually woke up before dawn and started working but today his eyelids opened especially late.

 

He got out of bed and went to his desk.

 

Cerdian’s office was very similar to him.
Papers were neatly arranged on the desk with dark decorative objects and several fountain pens were stuck in a long tube in the corner of the desk.

 

Cerdian took out a fountain pen.
After picking up the papers on the desk again, he started signing the ones he hadn’t seen before.

 

The only sounds in the room were the flipping of papers and the rustling of a fountain pen. 

 

Upon hearing the sound in his room, his chief of staff who was waiting outside the door knocked.

 

It was a slightly off-beat knock that broke the regular sounds.

 

“Come in.”

 

Cerdian raised his gaze from the paperwork and looked towards the door.
The chief of staff entered with an armful of newspapers.
He headed for his desk, reciting the main points from last night and today’s schedule.

 

“And finally, a week’s worth of newspapers from Thebes.”

 

When he placed a bundle of newspapers on the desk, Cerdian’s eyes lit up.

 

Due to the topography of Luvenia, it was not possible to bring newspapers every day, so he used to get a week’s worth of newspapers at once, which Cerdian was very displeased with.
For him, the rough terrain was no problem.

 

Cerdian reached out and opened the newspapers one by one.
And when he picked up the last newspaper, the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

 

 

His plan has succeeded halfway.
Cerdian chuckled and turned the newspaper over.
He then paused and a meaningful gaze stayed in one place for a long time.

 

[T/N:… at the expense of…haa]

 

 

Tak, Cerdian closed the newspaper. 

 

A meaningful smile crept across his face.

 

“Certainly.”

 

*

 

The person in front of her was surely Cerdian Aizen.

 

Not a ray of light leaked in but it looked exactly like him.
Those red eyes and glistening silver hair that she will never forget….

 

[T/N: girl please don’t -_-…]

 

The only one she knew like that was Cerdian.
Rodelia rubbed her hazy eyes.

 

‘Am I dreaming right now?’

 

But no matter how much she rubbed her eyes, that man was Cerdian Aizen.
Rodelia, in disbelief, pulled her blanket away and quickly stood up.
And for a long while she stared straight into his red eyes.

 

Yes, this must be a dream.
Because he couldn’t have been here.
It was clear that he had forgotten her.

 

If so, can’t I keep looking at him a little more?

 

Just… To make the happy memories clearer.
Only then will she be able to endure these hellish days.

 

Hot tears welled up in her eyes, blurring her view but she didn’t wipe them away.
If she loses sight of him even for a second, she’s afraid that he’d disappear at any moment.

 

The illusion in front of her slowly raised his lips.
It was so similar to the last time she had seen Cerdian that tears finally dripped down her face.

 

‘This dream….
it’s so vivid.’

 

Nothing could have been more cruel.
Rodelia broke down and sobbed.
The tears she had been holding back for so long burst out all at once and wet her cheeks.

 

Even when she found out that Kane was using her, when she was dethroned from the position of empress, and when she was confined here and was cursed at by the people, these were tears that she had held back well.

 

In this dream where Cerdian appeared, she let out her tears as if she had lost her mind.

 

A warm feeling passed over both cheeks.
Rodelia buried her face in her hands.
However, as if she was being tortured with hope, her dream became clearer.

 

The sound of footsteps came closer and closer.

 

Before long, her hands covering her face were lowered by cold hands.
Rodelia’s body trembled at the vivid touch.
Soon, her tear-stained reddened eyes slowly lifted up.

 

“I’m here to pick you up.”

 

Rodelia’s eyes widened wildly.
The touch of his hands and his soft voice cannot all be illusions, she finally realized.

 

The person in front of her own eyes was none other than…

 

It was Cerdian, whom she had missed so much.

 

***

T/N: So Cerdian wants the throne which was originally his.
What I don’t quite understand, why must Rodelia have to suffer in that plan of taking back the throne?

***