When she first saw Cornelia, Empress Meredes thought, as she always did, that the damned daughter would bow her head and approach first.
But what she saw was Cornelia walking forward with her head held high...
'You dare to ignore me now?'
The dirty little blot on her perfect life.
Cornelia was such a presence for the Empress.
That's why Cornelia deserves to be nice to her.
Not only did she not expel the intrusive and disgusting child, she raised her normally, gave her a royal family title that should have belonged entirely to her son, and even sent her to marry into a prominent family.
However, for the first time, the daughter, who had to beg for affection in front of her, was ignoring her and her niece who looked at them…
For the first time in her life, Mercedes felt this angry.
"Stop!
Cornelia!"
Then Cornelia turned around.
“Did you call me?
Your Majesty the Empress.”
“What are you doing?”
"Yes?
What?"
“Why are you ignoring your mother!”
Cornelia put on a puzzled expression at the Empress's hysterical voice.
“Ignoring you?
Obviously I said hello to Her Majesty the Empress.”
“Are you saying that just nodding your head is a tribute worthy of the Empress?”
“It is against etiquette for me to say hello when you don't speak to me first, and besides, didn't Her Majesty tell me to keep a low profile?”
What she said about staying out of sight was definitely something she had said in the past.
But even with that being said, isn't it right that all children should be nice to their mothers?
The Empress raised her voice in frustration.
“Since when do you maintain such good manners!
Can’t you just come and say hello?”
“Cornelia Odile Brant greets Her Majesty the Empress Moon of the Schwanhild Empire”
It was such an impeccable greeting that it was frustrating to find fault with it...the problem was that it was not a good greeting between family members.
The Empress's eyes turned feral.
'Is this thing making fun of me now?'
Just as the Empress was confused, Cornelia lowered her head.
“Then, since you have nothing more to do, I will leave.”
Upon notice unilaterally by her daughter,
The Empress raised her voice as she touched the back of her neck.
“The adult has not finished speaking yet, how very arrogant you would be!”
Cornelia tilted her head.
“I thought you would do the same thing this time because you always greeted me and ignored me, well, I'm sorry if I offended you...”
She apologized verbally but there was no sincerity.
This was certainly the case.
The daughter was fighting her...
“How dare you be so rude to me!!”
It was at that moment when the angry Empress raised her hand.
“Auntie, Cornelia seems to be upset about something, so please forgive her...”
“كم هذا سخيف!! ألم تشاهدي ما كانت تفعله بي؟”
Then Madeleine approached the Empress and spoke quietly.
“Yes, but you must forgive her...”
Madeleine, rolling her tongue in her mouth, quickly whispered in the Empress's ear.
“Remember, you had something to say when you met Cornelia.”
It was exactly as her niece said, there was a good reason to call her daughter, who she didn't look at because she didn't look like her.
'Yes, I have to be patient now, everything I do is for my son...'
The Empress showed patience and spoke calmly.
“I will forgive you now, so later...”
“This is strange.”
"What?"
“I can't remember making enough mistakes for you to forgive me.”
After speaking, Cornelia raised one corner of her mouth.
It was a clear laugh.
‘How dare you!!!!
'
So far, I've tolerated it because I have a purpose, but I couldn't let this behavior go unpunished.
The Empress raised her hand to slap her naughty daughter on the cheek.
But the hand that was raised towards Cornelia stopped.
“What do you think you're doing now?”
“Previously, Her Majesty the Empress told me when I was about to get married, the moment you get married, you no longer become a family member.”
“So?
Now that you’re from a different family, are you telling me not to punish you?”
Then Cornelia whispered so that only the Empress could hear.
“Yes, there is a child in this body...”
Upon hearing these words, the Empress's brow wrinkled.
“What does that matter?”
She was the Empress herself, and the mother of the next Emperor, Prince Franz.
She would face some criticism from the nobles if she struck Cornelia, who had Brant's heir, but she wouldn't mind this.
‘By the way, this ugly thing is pregnant, so if I do well, we can make the Brant family property for my son, that old Brant vixen, who has been in high spirits lately, will be crushed.’
However, the Empress couldn't help but hesitate at Cornelia's persistent words.
“If I delay any longer and keep His Majesty the Emperor waiting, I will tell His Majesty that it is because of the Empress, will that be okay?”
To the Empress, the Emperor was not an equal companion, but a superior person to be served.
‘If I go against his will, he might hurt my son.
Moreover, today, this poisonous snake is walking around…’
In the end, the Empress had no choice but to relax her hands.
After a short while, the Empress stared at her daughter and opened her mouth.
“Come to the Empress’s Palace after you finish your private meeting with His Majesty the Emperor...”
After finishing her words, the Empress left the place before she heard her daughter's answer.
I sat in the middle of the pond in the Emperor's greenhouse, and sighed...
'I had to endure for a little while...'
She obviously tried not to offend the Empress, but the habit of speech, which had become a habit in her adolescence, was not easily corrected.
I tried to deal with it, but the Empress's expression was getting worse every time I opened my mouth.
But the reason I don't worry so much is probably because now I'm not afraid of hating her.
'Because she doesn't think of me as her daughter in the first place..'
It was like that a little while ago...
No matter how much I say, she will raise her hand even though I am pregnant.
There is no way for her to love me...
But I didn't realize this fact early on before I went back in time, and it took me 30 years to give up her affection.
'Anyway, going to the Empress's Palace, what the hell is going on?'
I know how much she hates mingling with me, that's why looking for me isn't enough, and it's definitely not a normal thing to see that she's waiting for me.
I kept retracing my vague memories.
What the hell happens this time of year...oh, maybe that's it?
Before returning, around this time, the Empress first summoned me to the Imperial Palace.
And what did she say to me...?
“His Majesty the Emperor has arrived.”
With the voice of the head of the room, the garden door opened.
I hurriedly got up from my seat.
A respectable middle-aged man was entering the greenhouse...
Aside from the platinum blonde hair, his face looked exactly like mine, allowing me to recognize that I was his daughter without even a paternity test.
“It's been a long time”
She smiled brightly as the Emperor, who leisurely crossed the bridge across the pond, was unaware of this.
‘Now it’s time to start trading seriously…’
Then I lifted the hem of my skirt and slowly lowered my head towards him.
“Greetings, Great Sun of the Empire, Your Majesty the Emperor.”
Sitting on a chair in the greenhouse, the Emperor spoke to me.
“Do you want to sit down?
Princess?”
My father, who still calls me princess, is Leoford VIII, Emperor of Schwanhild, the only empire on the continent.
But when he calls me that, it's not a sign of affection.
He just does not like that she is reduced to a mere aristocrat, and above her a member of the Brant family, whom he hates intensely.
An emperor with such inclinations will help me divorce Eric...
“Yes, Your Majesty the Emperor.”
When she sat across from him, the Emperor brought out the work first.
“I want to hear why you asked to see me.”
Originally, the Emperor had no way to reach the main point from the beginning.
This is because he, the eldest son by lineage, was an emperor with more legitimacy than anyone else and ruled as king over all.
It was like that in my case.
He always ruled as emperor even in front of his daughter Anna.
The Emperor rarely listened to my request even if I always looked at him and bowed as much as possible.
Even though I said that I would be the one to watch over the Duke's family, the Emperor took long enough to accept my request enough to dry my blood…
Even when Damian was sick, he was still sick.
When I asked for the leaves of the World Tree kept by the Imperial Family, what I heard was…
“If I save your child, what will you do for me?”
But this time things were different.
'You will have no choice but to fulfill my request.
I have the upper hand this time..'
The Emperor stared suspiciously at his daughter sitting in front of him.
‘She was avoiding contact with me to protect that man…’
I already knew that Cornelia was in love with Eric Lennon Brant.
That's why I didn't believe my daughter who replied that she was getting married for the sake of probation in the first place.
However, the reason why he proposed to marry the princess was to prevent the Duke from associating with other families by marrying the princess.
He intended to take advantage of this situation when the princess proposed marriage to look for a weakness.
“By the way, what is the reason for calling me..?”
The reason he called his daughter was to know her inner thoughts.