Chapter 13 – Ex-husband’s Visit (2)

Gloria, who had avoided him whenever she saw him, looked at him straight since yesterday, and even boldly demanded.

“Please be my Empress, Duke!”

Was the woman with deep blue eyes staring right at him really Gloria? He couldn’t believe it despite actually experiencing Gloria holding onto him and asking him to be hers.

Eyes fixed on the sky, Kaien turned and grabbed his jacket hanging from the coat rack. He left the room suddenly, without any regrets, and the sound of the door closing behind him echoed.

He didn’t know the reason why Gloria’s fever was going up and down.

“It shouldn’t be a serious illness.”

A word of concern flowed from between Kaien’s lips, although his appearance didn’t show any kind of interest in that woman.

* * *

A large bag of ice on her head, Gloria calmed herself with Diana and Berne’s fuss.

“Erun… is here.”

“Will you be okay, Your Majesty?”

Berne was serving Erun briefly, while Diana went to Gloria to announce the visit of Marquis Lebossi.

‘Yeah. There is no way that guy wouldn’t come.’

Heh. Gloria smirked at Erun’s behavior, showing up after she canceled their appointment, afraid that she would cancel their engagement. Diana’s fingers twitched at her cold smile.

‘That expression again.’

The Princess’s purple eyes were trembling as if the Emperor’s change of heart was unsettling. Gloria had not had any bad feelings for Erun until yesterday. He was the perfect assistant to his fiancée and did the job for her… Indeed, Marquis Lebossi was the perfect person for the current Emperor.

Gloria grabbed the ice pack from her head and fiddled with it, then asked Diana.

“What did he say when you told him I wouldn’t see him?”

“He’s very concerned about Your Majesty and asked if he can see you just once.”

“Ha! Such a mischievous bastard.”

She cursed at the answer, thinking that it would ease the emotions inside her a bit. Startled by Gloria’s harsh words and actions, Diana widened her eyes and looked at her. The Gloria she knew would never say such harsh things. Who was this woman in front of her?

Even though she understood Diana’s expression, Gloria couldn’t hold back her anger. In a situation where she already knew Erun’s inner feelings, she couldn’t view her ex-husband’s behavior as good.

‘As soon as my position is established, I will erase you from the world.’

Suddenly Gloria was impatient, biting her nails and frowning.

‘If I throw this out now, that guy will definitely notice. He’s such a meticulous person that I shouldn’t give him any chance from now on.’ Gloria thought as she put her hand on her forehead.

In particular, Erun must have come here because she had punched him and otherwise acted differently than usual.

‘Damn it! You never visited when I was sick in the past, but you show up now because you are anxious.’

Gloria smiled bitterly, thinking he was a terrible man. Her physical strength was weak, and she had often fallen ill, and each time Erun said, ‘If I leave, Your Highness will not be able to rest properly. I’ll see you then when you get well.’ He only sent letters.

‘The one who always received his letters was too busy to meet him so he came to see me.’

Gloria squeezed the ice pack in her hand. The coldness felt through her palm was so painful that her hands throbbed. But knowing that there was something even more painful than that, she closed her eyes tightly.

She wanted to sentence Erun to death immediately for deceiving her all this time.

‘Now it’s your turn to suffer!’

Gloria’s deep blue eyes began to shine coldly. The trust that had been built up for a long time was already broken. A feeling of betrayal worse than hatred was consuming Gloria.

‘Do you think I’ll fall for it twice?’

She placed the ice bag next to the bed. With an anxious look responding to Gloria’s behavior, Diana asked as she jumped out of bed and put on her slippers.

“Are you going to meet the Marquis? You’re not feeling well, you should rest…”

“That one came to me on the pretext of being my fiancé even though I obviously refused. Even if he quietly retreats now, he will stick around with all kinds of excuses in the future.”

“Your Majesty.”

“So I’m thinking of meeting him at least once.”

Gloria walked towards the full-length mirror, roughly tying a nearby gown over her body. Before her was a slender lady with tousled red hair and gentle eyes.

‘Even if I wear expensive clothes and display the crown of the glorious Emperor on my head, can’t I get rid of this appearance of tenderness?’

‘Should I learn from Kaien? Would it be okay to learn from him? When he makes you feel suffocated like prey in the face of a hungry carnivorous beast?’

Even though she knew that the problem was not part of her, she looked into the mirror, blaming herself for her mild impression.

Looking at her worried expression through the mirror, Gloria spoke to Diana.

“I resent my father, Diana.”

“How?”

Seeing Gloria’s resentful look, Diana asked, clenching her hands tightly. Who made Gloria, who was as elegant and beautiful as a watery flower, that way? Who hurt her that much to say she resented the late Emperor?

Gloria examined the red-haired woman in the mirror. Pale white skin from lack of sunlight. Small lips and slightly drooping eyes made her seem like a weak-minded person.

“If it was going to be like this, you should have fathered a lot of children. Why am I the only one?”

She closed her eyes helplessly and uttered the same words again.

‘Late Emperor. Father. I resent you.’

‘You must have thought that your warm touch and overprotection were the greatest love. Did you want me to live an uneventful life by being protected and growing up beautifully and marrying a good man?’

‘Even blaming you like this, I’m angrier at myself for rationalizing it.’

So…

Gloria raised her hands and slapped her cheeks with all her might. Surprised by the sudden action, Diana rushed in, but Gloria did not stop and continued to pinch her cheeks hard. A tingling pain remained on her cheeks, and her appearance in the mirror was funny. Her eyes quivered as if about to cry, but she kept them wide open while pinching her cheeks with a fierce look.

She forced a smile with all her might. ‘Laugh.’ Even if she had to hit and pinch her cheeks, she didn’t want to show her uneasiness in front of Erun.

Being betrayed and killed once was enough, she did not want to surrender. Gloria looked at her red cheeks and muttered in a small voice.

“…I’m going to become a beast, Father.”

“…”

As Gloria spoke, Diana paused her hand midway as she was about to touch her cheeks. She couldn’t catch it properly, but the sight of Gloria vowing to her deceased father that she would become an animal rather than a human caused her heart rate to increase.

Gloria smiled broadly at Diana.

‘That one time is enough for the weak Gloria Blake.’

Gloria spoke to Diana, who looked at her silently in confusion.

“You must marry well. Don’t screw it up like me.”

“Pa- pardon?!”

“You must always remember that a man who always smiles brightly is a dangerous person.”

Gloria put her hand on Diana’s shoulder and said in a regretful tone.

‘Right. Now that I’m back, I’ll take care of you as much as a husband takes care of his wife. I’ll protect you more than your older brother to make sure you survive this time.’

That was something she couldn’t say to Diana.

Dropping her hand, Gloria started walking towards her damn frickin’ fiancé waiting alone in the reception room.

* * *

Gloria pretended to have a headache and put her hand to her forehead. That was how she was able to hide her hostile expression.

‘I don’t even want to look at him.’

Unable to sense the cold gaze covered by her hand, Erun sat on the sofa across from her and asked with concern.

“Are you feeling okay, Your Majesty?”

“…Of course.”

With her fists clenched, Gloria barely resisted the rising desire to punch his disgusting face and raised the corners of her mouth with all her might.

‘If only I could take that disgusting face down with a fork just once.’

Contrary to how the flames of anger were soaring inside her, Gloria gracefully raised the teacup. She was repulsed by the quality time drinking tea with this brazen man, but she didn’t show it.

Erun sighed seeing her usual calm appearance. The sigh full of relief made her tighten the grip holding a teacup, but Erun spoke like a man in love with a sweet smile.

“I’m worried because you’re so sick. I want to always be by your side, but the wedding is far away.”

“Time flies fast, don’t be so impatient.”

‘I’d rather die now than marry a man like you and be poisoned later.’

To Erun, who spoke with his green eyes twinkling, Gloria spoke as if to appease a child, but her intentions were the exact opposite.

A deep smile appeared on Erun’s lips as if he was satisfied with Gloria’s answer.

‘I must have misunderstood the woman who punched me yesterday.’

He was shocked that the Emperor showed such an attitude when the wedding was just around the corner. His cheeks still tingled because she hit him hard, but Erun was relieved by Gloria’s usual appearance.

‘As expected, it was worth seeing her face.’

Erun smiled contentedly as he looked at Gloria shining like a jewel in front of him.

Beautiful red hair that looked like a translucent ruby thread. In contrast, the deep blue eyes reminded him of the sea. Her white skin and fine hands were like pearls, and her full lips were red and moist as pomegranate.

‘Just hold it in. If you have a child after embracing her, it wouldn’t be good.’

Erun held back his lustful thoughts thinking of the wedding that was only a few months away.

Gloria flinched at his explicit gaze, but she hid her expression pretending to savor the tea.

‘I’ll have to pluck those eyes out later, too.’

——

tl/n: Okay, I know what I said a few chapters ago. So… let’s forget it cuz it gave me the creeps translating just this much lmao

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