The Abandoned Empress Will Not Return

It was the beginning of dawn when the sun had not risen yet.

 

The street was dark and silent without a single light.
Only the sound of crickets echoing in the bushes traveled through the early morning air.

 

“Can you walk?”

 

It was impossible to ride a horse in case someone was caught.
Everyone looked out on days when horses’ hooves clopped.

 

Facing Cerdian, who asked in a worried voice, Rodelia slowly nodded her head.
However, unlike her courageous answer, she did not have enough strength for even a short walk.
This was because she hadn’t eaten properly.

 

But she couldn’t show that she was having a hard time, so she walked resolutely.  After walking for about thirty minutes, Rodelia finally reached the entrance of the Bator Mountains.

 

“Can we go there?”

 

Rodelia looked up at the endless Bator Mountains with fearful eyes.
She couldn’t see nor hear anything beyond the fog.

 

It was known to be a difficult place even for professional mountaineers.
She was only worried as she would become a burden to Cerdian.
Contrary to her worries, however, crossing the Bator Mountains was easier than she thought.
It was thanks to the knights that accompanied her.

 

Two of her attendants in the red cloaks walked slowly from the Bator Mountains to greet her.

 

“Your Majesty, you can ride a horse from here.”

 

The husky voice of a woman was heard loudly.

 

“You id*ot, she’s no longer the filthy empress of Thebes.”

 

The woman next to her suddenly interrupted.
The two women started bickering.

 

It was a little embarrassing to hear ‘the filthy Empress of Thebes’ in front of the former empress but it was not unpleasant.

 

“Stop.”

 

Cerdian seemed to have been through this many times and sighed resignedly.
When he gave them a look that said they were pathetic, they turned to look at her and hesitated.

 

“It is an honor to meet you.
From the Grand Duchy of Luvenia, I am Federica Green, a knight who stands by His Highness’ side.”

 

The first to greet Rodelia was the tall woman with a husky voice.
She lowered her hat and gave a light bow.
She was a cool-looking person with calm auburn eyes and shiny, grayish short hair.

 

“But what should I call you.”

 

“Ah……”

 

Federica asked what to call her and Rodelia was just about to answer.
Next to her, the smaller woman who had been waiting for Federica to finish her introduction hurriedly intervened.

 

“Me!”

 

Seeing Rodelia turn her gaze away in surprise, she smiled awkwardly for a moment before taking off her hood.

 

“I am Angela Green, one of the knights who stand by His Highness’ side.  Feel free to call me Angela.”

 

Rodelia nodded.
She couldn’t help but be surprised once more by her appearance.
Because Federica and Angela’s looks were very similar.

 

She would have had a hard time telling who was who had it not been for Angela’s smaller frame and longer hair.

 

“As you may have already noticed, we are twins.”

 

In Thebes, or perhaps anywhere else, twins were not common.
Therefore, when people see twins, they usually find it strange, and the same was true for Rodelia.

 

However, it was something that she could not rudely show.
She pretended to be unconcerned and greeted them.

 

“Yes.
It’s nice to meet you both.
I think you can just call me Rodelia.”

 

Rodelia smiled at them.

 

“Yes, Lady Rodelia…..”

 

Angela glared at Federica who blankly answered her question, seemingly bewitched by that smile.

 

“We have to leave now.
The day will break soon.”

 

Cerdian, who was checking the condition of Rodelia’s horse while they talked, briefly cut off their conversation.

 

The preparations for departure were probably complete.
As soon as he finished speaking, the Green sisters, as if they weren’t smiling just before, closed their expressions again and pressed their hoods down tightly.

 

“Let’s go.”

 

Cerdian reached out to Rodelia next to the glossy black horse.

 

 *

 

Crossing the Bator Mountains was really easier than she thought.

 

There weren’t many places where the forest was thick and unlike the appearance that it looked like it was covered in fog, the inside of the mountain range was very peaceful.

 

It was too uneventful to be known as a notorious mountain range.

 

She was intrigued.
What made such an empty mountain turn into such a terrifying mountain?

 

Rodelia looked up at the endlessly towering Redwoods and asked the Green sisters, who were leading her horse.

 

“Was the Bator Mountains originally such a tranquil place….?”

 

As soon as she finished her words, the eyes of the green sisters caught on at the same time.
Among the faintly smiling women, Angela was the first to speak.

 

“Lady Rodelia, don’t even get me started.
Do you know how long we have waited to bring you on this day?”

 

“Indeed.
Commander Cerdian was very nervous.”

 

Then, Federica waved her hand and let out a sigh.
When Rodelia didn’t erase her puzzled expression, Federica continued.

 

“The road to Bator Mountains opens only once a month.”

 

“What…??”

 

“So, during that time, anyone can come to the Grand Duchy.
On other days, they’ll probably get lost in the mountains and die or they’ll be eaten by wild beasts.”

 

Federica recited the ghastly words without a single change of expression.

 

“But we don’t know exactly when that day will be.
It’s a top secret that only Commander Cerdian knows about…..”

 

After her lengthy explanation, Federica shifted her gaze to Rodelia.
Rodelia’s expression turned serious at the seemingly nonchalant attitude.

 

‘Is it okay to tell me such an important thing…….
What if I reveal something like this somewhere?’

 

Moreover, seeing that Cerdian didn’t say anything made her even more worried.

 

‘Is internal management working well?  Can Luvenia hold up?’

 

Thousands of thoughts raced through Rodelia’s head.
Because of her last three years as empress, she couldn’t stand these things.
You can probably say that it was some kind of occupational disease.

 

However, it is impossible to be presumptuous.

 

As Rodelia seriously contemplated, the Green sisters burst into laughter.
Her severely distorted brow slightly evened due to this.

 

As she looked at them with confused eyes, Federica quickly apologized.

 

“I’m sorry, Lady Rodelia.
You are so cute that I couldn’t help it….”

 

“What…..??”

 

“I think I understand why Lord Cerdian fell in love with you so much.”

 

Federica only said incomprehensible words like cute and love.  Rodelia’s expression contorted even more seriously.

 

“Your serious expression is quite cute, Lady Rodelia.
Isn’t that right, Your Highness?”

 

Angela had finally stopped laughing and joined in.
After speaking, the girls turned their eyes to Cerdian at the same time.  Cerdian had been walking a little ahead, stopped and looked back.

 

“You should tease innocent people in moderation.”

 

He looked at Rodelia and smiled.
Certainly, the way she frowned when preoccupied with something was quite cute.

 

“….Yes, that’s right.”

 

Cerdian gave a short agreement and turned his head.
His short answer made the Green Sisters burst into laughter.
Thanks to that, Rodelia’s face couldn’t help but turn red.

 

 *

 

As Rodelia crossed the Bator Mountains, she learned many things.

 

Contrary to rumors, the people of the Grand Duchy of Luvenia were not violent.  This was something she learned from her experience with the Green Sisters.

 

And that the business situation in Luvenia was not as bad as she had misunderstood.  In fact, she found out that this was a joke.

 

Lastly, Cerdian is suffering from an unknown disease.
This was the most important thing and no one knows what caused it.

 

“I heard that it is a kind of curse that afflicts the Grand Duke of Aizen, but Lady Rodelia will be able to learn more about it gradually.”

 

She tossed out words with underlying meanings but didn’t comment further.
The Green Sisters probably didn’t know either.

 

‘If that’s the case, I’ll be able to find out gradually, as they said.’

 

For a fleeting moment she had this thought that Cerdian disappeared because of that.
Actually, it didn’t matter if she didn’t know.
She had no way to fix it anyway.

 

They also said this.

 

“When you arrive in Luvenia, a surprise gift will be waiting for you.”

 

She was so curious that she secretly asked but they didn’t seem to want to tell her easily.
So she stopped asking.
As they said, she’ll find out when she arrives anyway.

 

It took only one day for Rodelia to reach Luvenia.
They said that the record for the fastest outsider to reach Luvenia was one week and it must have been an amazing record.

 

When she arrived, the people of the Grand Duchy who had been waiting for her, sprinkled white petals as a sign of welcome.

 

Their welcome was great but Rodelia couldn’t keep her mouth closed at the sight of Luvenia.
It was because it was very different from what the people of Thebes knew.

 

Rumors spread that it was an uninhabitable place because it was so closed off but that was not the case at all.

 

The surroundings were all covered with green mountains, and the houses built everywhere made her feel as if she was in a fairy fortress.

 

She felt confident that she would be able to adapt well here.