Chapter 160

NMRJKM Side Story Chapter 1

The seasons have changed. The palace staff of the imperial palace has been sufficiently replenished, and the empire is beginning to stabilize once again. Of course, my husband has had a lot of hardships in the meantime.

“The neighboring kingdom caused some trouble at the border.”

“So what did you do?”

“…I sent them away.”

“Oh, you sent them to hell. Good job.”

Carlothian seemed to be trying not to tell me any harsh stories, but I understood perfectly.

He made a troubled expression, but to me, he was just a bit cute.

“Is it okay to kill them all like that?”

“I sent a warning.”

“So you’re saying if they want to, they can declare war.”

“…We should avoid war as much as possible.”

“But if they provoke us, you’ll fight back.”

“….”

I hugged his waist while lying down. Carlothian gently wrapped his arms around my shoulders and kissed my forehead. There was a rustling sound from the sheets covering us.

“So, does that mean we have to go to the palace today?”

“Yes, His Majesty wanted to discuss some matters.”

Here, His Majesty refers to Luciano. He has successfully completed his succession. This means that Dorothea is now Her Majesty the Empress.

And I am the very close friend of Her Majesty the Empress, Duchess Denaves. People have been gossiping.

It’s a sight to behold after so many years. Who would have thought that Ariadeline and Dorothea would become close friends? While people whispered behind our backs, they smiled on the outside, expressing envy for our relationship.

Don’t be fooled, you guys.

Dorothea and I would just smile at each other whenever that happened.

As I reminisced for a moment, I lightly pushed against Carlothian’s chest and slipped out of his embrace.

He reached out, perhaps feeling reluctant. I took his hand, kissed his palm, and said, “Let’s go to the palace together. I want to see Her Majesty the Empress too.”

“Oh, let’s do that.”

He soon sat up and kissed the marks left from last night. A short, wet sound made me flinch slightly. I barely pushed him away and rang the bell.

A moment later, in the dressing room.

The maids looked at me seriously as I changed my clothes.

“Can’t we… cover it up with makeup?”

“No, it looks too much like a bruise.”

Haha, it reminds me of old times. The marks on my skin from Carlothian’s kisses were so red they looked like bruises. It’s probably better to cover them up. I chose a neat dress that came up to my neck.

“Because of you, I can’t wear a pretty dress.”

As I grumbled and stepped out from behind the partition curtain, Carlothian was standing there in a suit. He was wearing the new clothes I had bought for him not long ago.

My complaints vanished. So what if I’m wearing an old-fashioned dress? My man looks this perfect. I walked briskly toward him and placed my hand on his cheek.

He rubbed his cheek against my palm.

It was warm. So warm it made me feel alive. I rubbed it and laughed.

“As long as you look good, that’s all that matters.”

Smack.

A kiss on the inside of his palm. Just like I had done. It was his response in place of words. As I chuckled, Carlothian glanced at my dress. He had a satisfied look on his face. The moment I saw that expression, I narrowed my eyes for a moment.

“You didn’t do that on purpose, did you…?”

“Maybe.”

Carlothian swiftly grabbed my waist, preventing me from saying more. I was taken aback, but it looked kind of cute.

They say if it looks cute, that’s all that matters.

I chuckled inwardly as I went down to the first floor with him and got into the carriage heading to the palace.

Inside the carriage, I played with the collar of Carlothian’s clothes and his fingers.

Every time I intertwined my fingers with his, his hand twitched. I found his reaction amusing, and after teasing him a few times, he coughed.

“…Wow.”

His face turned red.

“What are you thinking with just some finger play?”

I asked playfully, but he remained silent. It was nice to see his ears turn all the way red.

So, I placed my hand on his shoulder, straightened my back, and kissed him softly on the ear. The shoulder I was holding twitched again.

“I can’t help it.”

As I laughed, he immediately pulled me close by my waist.

“Come here.”

“You already have me trapped.”

His lips met mine roughly. Our breaths mingled, and the warmth of our tongues mixed, making a soft, wet sound.

Ah, all the lip balm will be gone. Well, the maid will have some, so it should be fine.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and responded passionately. I tickled the roof of his mouth and rubbed the concave part of his tongue, and when I gasped for breath, I briefly pulled my lips away only to attach them again.

Ah, this is going to be a mess.

When I finally regained my senses, my lips were completely wiped clean, and only Carlothian’s lips were tinted with a faint pink.

I burst into laughter and rubbed his lips with my thumb to clean them.

“I can’t live like this.”

“It’s your fault.”

“That’s one of your bad habits, you know.”

Squeak.

In the meantime, the carriage had come to a stop.

Feeling a tingling sensation under my lips, I realized we must have been kissing for quite a while. I cleared my throat. Surely, the driver sitting in the front could hear everything.

Carlothian jumped out of the carriage as the driver opened the door. He held onto the door and looked back at me.

“Are we going straight to Her Majesty the Empress’s palace?”

“Well, there’s nowhere else to go.”

“Then I’ll come back for you later.”

“Okay.”

It was a brief farewell from Carlothian. We exchanged a glance, and the carriage headed back toward the Empress’s palace.

By the way, as soon as rumors spread that Luciano’s mother, the former Empress, had used the demon’s power, there were already talks of her being deposed.

This was because her daughter, Yermondi, had also practiced dark magic.

Luciano was currently troubled by such issues as well. It seemed that the temple was also somewhat suspicious of him.

‘I did say that Luciano wouldn’t do such a thing.’

It appeared that the High Priest, who had been struggling this time, wanted to make sure that Luciano attended the sacred ceremony.

If there were any connections to demons or dark magic, there would have been some reaction during the sacred ceremony.

And the result was, of course, a safe passage. Nothing happened. Fortunately, Luciano was able to wear the emperor’s crown without incident.

However, the suspicion regarding the empress remained, leading to discussions about her needing to undergo the sacred ceremony as well. But for some reason.

‘The former Empress did not respond to that.’

Currently, she was safe from being deposed thanks to Luciano’s power and was residing in the Dowager Empress’s palace.

For reference, the Dowager Empress’s palace was quite far from the Emperor’s palace. Perhaps it was also intended to prevent the Dowager Empress from easily interfering in politics.

While I was thinking this, the carriage came to a stop with a squeak once more. I took the driver’s hand and got out of the carriage. At the same time, someone greeted me.

“I’ve been waiting. Duchess Denaves.”

“Oh, how did you know I was coming?”

“Well, you tend to appear unexpectedly.”

It was Dorothea’s maid. She smiled brightly and gestured.

“Her Majesty the Empress is waiting for you.”

Oh, so Dorothea knew I would come. Have I been too out of touch lately? I scratched my cheek and gave an embarrassed smile.

Dorothea’s maid led me through a large corridor and soon passed the reception room. We arrived at a terrace that overlooked a large garden.

“Welcome, Ariadeline!”

“Your Majesty!”

“Oh, don’t call me that!”

“But isn’t it quite nice?”

“Sigh, I still can’t get used to it.”

Dorothea was being dramatic. I laughed heartily and sat down across from her. A white table was set up on the terrace, with light snacks and tea laid out.

A sheer white cloth fluttered gently in the breeze. The weather was nice, and it didn’t seem bad to have tea outside.

“By the way, how did you know I was coming?”

“Well, I asked Luciano, and he said that Duke Denaves would be coming tomorrow.”

“So that’s how you knew?”

“If the Duke of Denaves is coming, there’s no way Ariadeline wouldn’t come to see me.”

Oh. I felt like I was completely figured out. I smiled awkwardly, and Dorothea returned the smile.

“By the way, I heard there was some friction with the neighboring kingdom in the border region. Is that okay?”

“Oh, um. It seems they’re claiming it was a mistake on their part.”

Ah, that’s not a mistake.

“Still, starting a war in this situation would be a bit much.”

They were probably planning to take advantage of the situation to start a war. Those kingdom folks.

“That’s true. I hope it gets resolved well.”

I took a sip of the tea that the maid filled, pretending I didn’t know anything. Dorothea, though aware of everything, sat there with a look of feigned ignorance.

“We’ll have to soothe them somehow.”

How would we soothe them? If you call a sword a conversation, then that’s a conversation.

‘But it really doesn’t seem like they plan to start a war. They just want to intimidate us.’

I set down my teacup.

Even though Dorothea and I met often, there was always something new to talk about each time. We spent our time chatting so simply.

Little did we know that Carlothian had arrived.