The next morning during our teatime, Lucretius asked me in surprise, “I heard that yesterday, you asked whatever is left of your personal budget to be spent on the shelter?”
I spread orange jam on a warm scone and nodded. I knew he would ask me about it.
“Yes, I did.”
Lucretius still looked confused. He probably considered those people to be a nuisance who didn’t pay any taxes.
He didn’t consider them his subjects. Even the regular people of Cransia probably hated them.
He finally couldn’t wait anymore.
He asked, “Why? As the first wife, your budget is significant. It is based on the average number of wives over the generations, which means about fourteen… Four wives and ten concubines. Since you are my only wife, the budget currently is a quarter of what it used to be, but it is still the most amount of money for a single wife in history.”
I knew what this meant. Lucretius was treating me like an empress and that was why I received such a generous budget for my wing.
He continued, “The dowager empress insisted on taking double the amount! But you… you haven’t even spent a tenth of your budget and ended up wasting the rest of it into the shelter.” He studied me for a second before asking, “Why?”
I answered casually, “It’s nothing. I felt bad for those people and I had some money left over. Just think of it as a simple charity work by your idle wife.”
Lucretius shook his head. “I can tell that you aren’t telling the truth. Didn’t I ask you to be a little bit more honest with me?”
If he asked like that, I had no choice but to tell him the truth.
“It’s really nothing special, and I’m not lying.”
“…”
“I just felt guilty, so I gave them what I had to make me feel better. I’m just being a coward.”
Lucretius looked unconvinced, but this really was the truth. To be honest, I myself didn’t know why I was doing this. When I didn’t explain further, he gave up.
“Well, I guess it doesn’t matter. The budget was for you to use as you wish… I just don’t understand why you would waste your money on something like that. Anyway, as you have ordered, a large number of necessities have been sent to the shelter this morning.”
“I see…”
“I hear those poor people are now calling you the goddess… I guess it’s not a bad thing.”
Goddess…
Then I was probably the most selfish and cowardly goddess in the world.
***
That night, the dowager empress returned to the main castle.
We, the emperor and I, greeted her as she walked in with her princesses. Lucretius smiled annoyingly.
“Your highness, congratulations. Now I get to see my beautiful new sister.”
“… Thank you.”
The dowager empress’ smile was confident. She looked around before locking her eyes on me.
“So it has been almost a month since we last saw each other. Has there been good news with you since then, first wife?”
I bowed apologetically.
“… Not yet.”
“Oh no… But don’t worry. We don’t have a male heir, but we still have plenty of legitimate princesses.”
She laughed loudly.
The dowager empress now no longer had a chance to bear a male heir, but Lucretius also still remained childless. So for now, Princess Liliana was still the number one heir to the throne after Lucretius.
At the dowager empress’ comment, Liliana trembled as if she was whipped. Roselia hung onto her sister’s dress and looked around nervously. It was hard to watch them in this state of absolute fear. I could guess how the dowager empress relieved her anger after the birth of another daughter.
Lucretius asked brightly, “So where is my baby sister? I would like to see her.”
When the dowager empress nodded, a nanny who was standing far away approached us with a bundle.
The baby had the same shocking red hair as her sisters and mother. Lucretius complimented her.
“I’m sure she will grow up to be a great beauty just like her mother.”
“I’m flattered.”
“So what is her name?”
“I named her Margaret. Normally, the father would name her, but as the former emperor has passed, I did it myself.”
“How pretty. It suits her.”
It was a normal conversation, but the tension between them was palpable. Everyone, including myself, barely breathed.
Suddenly, I noticed a familiar group of people. I didn’t expect to see them here. Darker skin and lighter hair.
I murmured to Samantha.
“Genoa’s Prince Coronel and Princess Ludia… Right?”
Why were they still here? The celebration was over, so they should have returned like the rest of the guests.
Instead, it seemed like even more of Genoans came. There was a whole group of them.
Samantha turned towards them to check.
When she did, she nodded and explained to me, “After the celebration, they wanted to visit with their aunt, her highness Ksania, for a few more days. They got permission from the emperor.”
“Ksania?”
“She is the third wife of the former emperor.”
I remembered. It was the woman who glared at me on the first night of the ball. A woman from Genoa.
She was standing here. She looked like she was in her late 20’s or early 30’s. She was beautiful with her dark skin and silver hair. She was definitely too young to have been the old emperor’s wife, just like Katleyanira.
Samantha continued, “My guess would be that Genoa wants to make Princess Ludia the next empress no matter what.”
“Oh…”
Even after the embarrassing insult from Lucretius at the ball, they still couldn’t give up.
I supposed becoming the Cransian empress was worth it. It seemed that the sibling now recruited their aunt’s help as well.
I said to Samantha, “Yes. It seems like her highness Ksania decided to help her niece.”
Samantha nodded. “Yes. The fact that her highness Ksania came to the welcoming event for the dowager empress means a great deal. In the past, she made sure to avoid the dowager empress at all cost. Her highness Ksania had a huge grudge against the dowager empress. Genoa as well.”
“A grudge?”
This was the first time I heard about this. When I looked curious, Samantha made sure no one was listening before answering me.
“You are aware of how the dowager empress interfered with the current emperor’s marriage plans for a long time, right?”
“Yes, I remember… Are you saying Ksania was supposed to marry the current emperor?”
Samantha answered bitterly, “… It’s true.”
“…”
“Her highness Ksania just turned 30 this year, which makes her only three years older than the emperor. It was not a bad match. Genoa sent her highness to become the next empress.”
This made sense to me. It wasn’t uncommon for a younger man to marry older women in an attempt to get an heir as quickly as possible. Ksania would have been a good match for Lucretius.
Even a nobody like Lisbeth was planned to become Lucretius’ concubine, so a princess from a powerful nation like Genoa definitely had a good chance to become the Empress. Of course, the dowager empress wouldn’t have liked the idea.
Samantha continued, “At that time, the dowager empress interfered to change the plan and made Princess Ksania marry the old emperor as a concubine. Princess Ksania was in her teens at the time.”
“…”
I could understand her anger towards the dowager empress.
I nodded in agreement.
‘This could mean they could be helpful to me. An enemy of my enemy could be my friend.’
Just then, my eyes met with Ksania’s eyes. When I nodded lightly, her beautiful face crumpled into anger, disgust, and… jealousy.
It was so shocking that I froze.
She then turned away and looked at someone with such a yearning.
She was looking at Lucretius.
“…”
‘This man…’
Being his only legal wife was making me a target for so many women.
This was not good.
