TFCP| Chapter 8

Episode 8: Empress Abigail

To hide her confusion, Ranael avoided Selina’s approaching gaze and absentmindedly brushed her fingers over a rose.

“Sorry, but I’m not very good at remembering faces.”

“That’s okay. I was a little sad back then too, since we didn’t get to talk much. I heard you were very weak back then, so who would have thought you’d become the Crown Princess?”

Selina spoke with a bright, innocent smile. Ranael felt sick of this way nobles talked.

“So is this her way of saying, ‘How did someone like you become Crown Princess?’”

Marianne turned pale at Selina’s words as well. She glanced around nervously, her round eyes darting between Selina and the Crown Princess.

The words did not hurt Ranael at all. The duke, Raphiana, and Blea had already torn at her heart with far crueler things. Compared to that, this felt like a child’s prank.

She wondered what Raphiana would have done. The words slipped out on their own.

“It’s nice to be the Crown Princess. I get to meet people like you too.”

Ranael smiled lightly, snapped off the rose she had been touching, and handed it to Selina. Selina accepted it without saying anything.

“At the end of the day, you’re still just my maid.”

That was what the Crown Princess’s gesture seemed to say. Selina’s face stiffened slightly. Marianne quickly stepped in, trying to change the mood.

“How is the Crown Prince? Everyone is curious. He’s never had any scandals before.”

“He’s kind. He treats me well.”

“Oh my, Your Highness is so beautiful. I suppose even the stone like Crown Prince couldn’t help himself.”

“He dotes on me so much. He even said I was his first love.”

She remembered the desperate look in Karsian’s eyes when he asked about Raphiana.

“What a fool of a man, loving such a horrible woman.”

Ranael spoke lies with a deliberately cheerful smile. Selina’s expression twisted visibly.

“Sigh. This is all pointless.”

She thought stepping on Selina after being provoked might make her feel better, but it did not.

“Oh my! Did His Highness really say that?”

Marianne exaggerated her reaction on purpose. Ranael could not shake the feeling that this was all a cheap stage play. She simply smiled and kept walking.

That afternoon, the Empress summoned her. When Ranael arrived at the reception room of the Empress’s palace, Empress Abigail greeted her with a gentle smile.

“Welcome.”

“I greet the Empire’s radiant moon.”

“I wanted to meet you sooner, but only now do we have the chance to talk. Is palace life bearable? If anything is difficult, feel free to tell me.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

“I heard you met Raynard.”

She looked far too pure and elegant for someone with a grown son. At Abigail’s signal, maids brought in tea.

“Yes, we ran into each other by chance in the garden yesterday.”

“He’s a good, bright child.”

“He seemed intelligent and kind.”

Ranael spoke honestly. She had told so many lies that even the truth felt like a lie.

“That’s right. When Raynard was younger, he followed his brother everywhere. The two of them together were just adorable.”

Abigail drank her tea with perfect manners. Ranael slowly raised her own cup and watched her. She looked like a loving mother, full of affection.

Not knowing what to say, Ranael kept bringing the teacup to her lips.

“After studying abroad, they were apart for so long that their relationship grew distant. The same with me. That’s why I hope the Crown Princess will help me. So I can mend my relationship with my son.”

Abigail spoke gently. By now, Ranael could not help but notice. The Empress was testing how much she knew.

It was a very political request. At the same time, it was a test to see whether the Crown Princess was sharp enough to understand it.

Duchess Chloe had once told her this. Publicly, the Empress was known as a stepmother who loved the Crown Prince like her own son. Even so, voices among the nobles insisting that Raynard should be Crown Prince never died down.

The Empress and Raynard both acted as if they had no great desire for the throne. And yet, they never strongly silenced those voices either.

Whenever the empire needed to show off spirit power, Raynard always stepped forward. Among the people, it was even said that Raynard suited the throne better than Karsian, who had no spirit power.

She remembered the Crown Prince warning her to be careful of the Empress last night.

“I will help as much as I can with sincerity. But I believe the Crown Prince’s own will is the most important.”

Ranael answered carefully, drawing a clear line. One of Abigail’s eyebrows twitched.

“Of course. Naturally. I’m so pleased such a sharp daughter in law has come in. Oh, right. I heard Selina entered the palace as your maid.”

“I was introduced to her this morning.”

Ranael could not taste or smell the tea at all. The Empress’s eyes scanned her from head to toe. It felt as if she were being swallowed whole.

“She’s my niece, so please look after her. Her father raised her very gently, so Selina is still immature. Even if she’s lacking, please understand, for my sake.”

Abigail smoothly returned to her gentle smile. Selina’s smile looked exactly like hers.

After that, only empty, draining conversation followed. A conversation of masks. Ranael wanted to escape the Empress as soon as possible.

As the Crown Princess left the Empress’s palace, Abigail stood by the window and watched her back. A faint smile spread across the Empress’s lips.

“I heard you spoke with the Empress.”

Karsian asked coldly. Whenever the Empress was involved, he became especially tense.

“Yes. She summoned me. She said she was sad that things had grown distant between you.”

In the dark room, Ranael felt her way to the table by moonlight and picked up a cup. Even as she drank, she could feel the Crown Prince’s persistent gaze.

“Hah… did she say anything else?”

“She acted like a good mother. And she really does look like one.”

“Mother? Don’t even say that word. It’s disgusting just to hear it.”

Ranael looked at him. His discomfort was obvious when the Empress was mentioned. Since they had shared a room last night, she thought he would not come today.

He must have rushed over the moment he heard she had met the Empress. She had expected surveillance from his side too, but being checked on so quickly felt strange.

They were not people who trusted each other. The brief kindness he had shown last night had vanished just as easily.

That made Ranael feel miserable. As expected, he was not someone she could trust. Just someone to use.

“You really don’t get along.”

“She’s someone who’s always looking for a chance to kill me. She’ll target you too.”

After saying that, the Crown Prince looked away. He realized he was snapping at someone who knew nothing. The tension eased slightly, and Ranael changed the subject.

“I’ll be careful. Oh, Helena introduced the maids today.”

“I know. Be careful of Lady Felice as well. She’s likely the Empress’s pawn.”

“There are a lot of people to watch out for.”

Ranael let out a short laugh.

“This man is surrounded by enemies too.”

For a moment, the Crown Prince overlapped with herself in her mind. His stepmother and younger brother were aiming for the throne and his life. His marriage to the woman he loved had fallen apart. Even his fake wife planned to use him.

She had no right to pity anyone, but still, she felt a little sorry for him. Ranael quickly erased that feeling. It was pointless.

She was exhausted after a long day. She wished Karsian would just leave. She wondered if newlyweds really had to spend every night together. They were not even a real couple.

“You must be tired. Please rest.”

“Are you sleeping here again tonight?”

Seeing her tired face, Karsian naturally lay down on the sofa. His long body stretched out under the moonlight, like a statue.

Ranael panicked. If he left, she planned to call Nahar and hear the information he had gathered.

“Of course. We’re newlyweds, aren’t we?”

Karsian smiled, looking far more relaxed. He was an unnecessarily kind and earnest husband. Ranael complained silently as she lay down on the bed.

Despite her thoughts, her exhausted body was quickly pulled into sleep, without mercy.