The Remarried Empress (Reader Insert)

Chapter 1

You walked out of Sovieshu's office with your brows furrowed but changing that expression into the common smile you've come to practice, time and time again as you saw one of your lady-in-waiting's, Beatrice.

She smiled and gave a small bow. "Anything you need your highness?" she asked.

"Beatrice please have a carriage prepared for a two week trip, you may return home. I shall let the other ladies know about this"

"Of course your highness," 

She bowed once more and left. You would have to travel to find some important information. Of course, this would be in secrecy so as to not alert the public. You already had a way as to not bring any attention to your whereabouts. 

You brought your index finger and thumb to your chin in thought. 'Wilwol would be a place to gather even more information along with visiting the chief wizard of Calenzalo. Hopefully, the elder won't be too busy with his own work.'

 You made your way toward the empress's room and greeted the ladies residing inside. A big pile of papers and books was found near the empress. This was not uncommon to anyone that knew Navier. As a child, she had always spent her time reading books to prepare for taking on the role of empress. Your mother was the same, everyday piles of books and papers with nonstop reading. A playful thought you came up with growing up was that Navier was brainwashed into loving books by mother. 

"Empress?" You looked at her with a slightly amused look as she peered over her book, giving you a knowing look that implied not to say anything about the piles of books and papers surrounding her. 

"I just wanted to let you know that I shall be leaving today to personally give the invites to those in the special banquet. I will still have time to work on the preparations for the New Year celebration, so there is no need for you to do my work on my behalf," you already knew she would take care of some things while you were gone with or without you telling her this.

"Is there a reason for you to do this?" she questioned. 

"Sovieshu thought it was best for diplomatic purposes with foreign nations," you responded. "Because of this, I will be heading towards the border in the Parme region". Navier had a certain glint in her eyes as she acknowledged what you were indicating.

"You might see my brother?" She said, you nodded with a smile on my face "You can write him a letter that I can give to him".

They haven't seen each other in years after Navier took the position of empress. He was always a handful as a child due to his short temperament. Therefore Duke Trovi sent him away to protect Navier's new image as empress. Now he protects the border from bandits in the outer regions of the Eastern Empire. 

He was a dear friend who stirred a lot of trouble for you but you didn't mind. In fact, you welcomed the shenanigans in your youth. Seeing bratty young nobles squirm brightened your day.

Of course, that trouble-making attitude disappeared after your brother took the throne. You couldn't risk ruining Sovieshu's image as well with incidents, not that you've ever been caught even before. 

Navier handed you her sealed envelope. "Please be careful once you are near the border princess". You smiled and nodded "I will Empress."

And with that, you departed to the Parme border.

~

The carriage ride was overall very sedentary. This was a very usual occurrence in carriage rides like these. Nothing to do but wait until the next destination. 

You felt the carriage come to an abrupt stop and heard three knocks on the door. You opened the small window and spoke with a serious tone. "What's the issue?"

"One of the knights up ahead have discovered a group of bandits while trying to reach the town in Parme. They were separated into groups of two. Seems that they are preparing for an ambush"

"How many of them were spotted?" 

"About 20 your highness"

You only had 8 guards along with you and would be easily outnumbered. Why are there so many bandits in one area? Unless they knew of your arrival ahead of time, strange. Truly they weren't smart if that's what they were attempting. "How far away are we from the Parme?"

"We aren't that far off, shall we send for backup? They should be here no less than 20 minutes"

"Yes and have them surround the area. We will continue on our way at the same pace. If you can please see to it that Lord Kosair is a part of the backup group, he will be of great help."