Word Count - 2,592 words
"Have you heard? The empress and emperor finally slept together last night! I'm sure after this month passes, the empress will announce her pregnancy in just any day!!"
Eleanor who was just busy playing her dollhouse paused for a moment as she heard her maids gossiping from behind.
Though she kept her eyes on her toys.
But focused her hearing on her gossiping maids. Father and her majesty slept together last night? Will they have a baby?
"If the empress gives birth to a son...what will happen to the crown prince?"
"Have you forgotten? The emperor made a royal decree six years ago that even if the empress conceives a son, crown prince Evan will remain as the heir to the throne."
"But what if the empress changes her mind? I know she's close with the crown prince, and is okay with it. But...what if she..."
"Yeah...after all, she is the empress. If she wishes for more power, she should put her future son on the throne."
Eleanor's eyes widened, the worry and concern for her twin brother was quick to cover her thinking. If father and her majesty ends up having a son...then what will happen to my twin brother? To me...
Will her majesty won't like us anymore?
Will father forget us?
"The emperor must've already forgotten about the previous empress, that's why he already spent the night with her majesty-"
The gossiping maids suddenly stopped talking when the door opened.
Their eyes widened as the empress and young crown prince walked in.
Y/n looked at them with one brow raised.
"Get out."
"Y-your majesty...!!!"
"Don't make me repeat myself."
The maids rushed outside. Lady Finger followed them outside as well as the head nanny of Princess Eleanor.
Y/n looked at Eleanor who was staring blankly at nowhere. "Your highness."
Eleanor looked at her with teary eyes, though she also looked furious.
"I heard from Lady Jill that you didn't want to take your lessons today. May I know why?"
The princess didn't answer, instead she clenched her fist and glared at Y/n.
Has father...already forgotten about mother? Because of her majesty...?
"Your highness, you promised me and the emperor that you would start studying properly if we let you take in a puppy-"
"I don't want..."
Evan was taken aback upon hearing his twin-sister's response.
He knows his twin-sister could be stubborn, but Eleanor does not respond so rudely even when she does not want to do something that wass for her to do
The young crown prince looked at the empress with a bit of fear, anxious if her majesty got mad because of Eleanor.
But to his surprise, Y/n looks normal.
"Princess Eleanor, your lessons are very important. I know that you know you shouldn't skip them. We give you enough time to play, rest and do whatever you want. But there is a limit to that. You also have to do your duties as a young royal."
The h/c-haired woman remained calm, despite Eleanor's refusal. Her gaze softened when she noticed that Eleanor had begun to look scared, but still quite mad.
She knows why.
She heard of the gossiping of the maids.
And she knows that they could be the reason as to why Eleanor is being like this.
"I...said I don't want..."
Y/n let out a sigh.
"Eleanor...don't be rude to her majesty." Evan tried to speak to his twin-sister, but Eleanor only ignored him.
"May I at least know why, princess? Are you feeling sick?" Y/n asked the young girl.
Eleanor's lips trembled, she gritted her teeth. "Leave me alone!" And that was when Y/n got real shocked. The young girl had shouted at her, while tearing up.
"Stop telling me to do things! Stop ordering me around! Stop acting like you care for me! Stop pretending to be kind! A-and stop..."
Y/n and Evan didn't notice the person who just arrived as they are still shocked from Eleanor suddenly getting so furious that she's now shouting and crying.
"Y-your highness..." Y/n mumbled.
Erwin who just arrived was surprised to hear what his daughter had said.
He looked at Y/n, and immediately saw the offended expression on the empress' face.
"You are not my mother anyway!"
"ELEANOR!"
Eleanor felt terrified the moment she heard her father's furious voice. She looked at her father who was staring at her with disbelief.
The emperor looked at Y/n. He was surprised when the empress bowed at Eleanor. "It seems I have come at the wrong time, princess. I will just come back."
Y/n calmly turned around, she met Erwin's gaze. She didn't say anything and just bowed at the emperor.
The empress walked past the emperor.
"Empress..."
She stopped for a moment when Erwin called her. "Your majesty, it is best if you talk to the princess first. I can just wait."
Erwin kept quiet as he let Y/n leave.
"Evan, you should go with her majesty."
Evan nodded, he glanced at his twin-sister who was quietly crying. "Y-yes...father."
--
Lady Finger, Historia and Frieda stared at Y/n with worry and concern. None of them dared to speak as they're all afraid that they might annoy the h/c-haired woman.
Ever since Y/n left the princess' palace, she didn't talk for the rest of the day.
She only did whenever she needed something.
Y/n didn't eat her lunch, snacks nor dinner.
She went on with her day doing nothing but working.
No matter how many times they convinced the empress to eat, or take a break, Y/n only refused and threatened that she would fire them if they didn't listen to her.
But of course, they know the empress didn't mean it. Y/n just wanted to be left alone in silence.
What the h/c-haired woman received from Eleanor was very hurtful.
"We should go..."
Historia and Frieda looked at Lady Finger.
"But..."
"It's okay. Let's give her majesty the silence and peace she wants."
The two young maidens nodded. They left with Lady Finger and Sir Reiner and Lady Annie who were the ones keeping guard of the empress.
Y/n sighed in relief when her people left.
Though she feels bad because they had to go through the midnight rain.
Once again, it is raining this late at night.
"You are not my mother anyway!"
Y/n looked down, brows furrowing. She shook her head, and sighed for the thousandth time today.
She understands Eleanor's hurtful words, and why the young princess acted like that.
She doesn't blame the young girl.
After all, Eleanor is a child, and children could be sensitive. They get hurt easily, get mad easily, become happy easily or just get sad easily. Children are innocent. They're young people who have a lot to learn.
Eleanor got hurt because of what her maids said, she got mad because of that and got sad thinking about it.
But Y/n still can't avoid feeling hurt, even when she's an adult, she still gets hurt.
She wasn't trying to become a mother to Eleanor, nor to Evan. She was doing her duty as their second guardian. She was caring for them because she respects the previous empress.
Or maybe that's what she thought...
She didn't want to believe that she is actually trying to be a mother to them.
She cared for the emperor's twins genuinely.
•• Prologue ••
Y/n reached her hand out to the rain, catching the raindrops with her palm.
She kept a neutral face, despite liking the cold feeling of the rainwater on her hand. Her e/c-eyes stared up at the night sky, it's dark and it's pouring.
The rain isn't that heavy, but it's enough to soak the surroundings.
It's already twelfth in the midnight, she was going for a night stroll when the rain suddenly poured, and kept her stuck waiting inside the Lotus pavilion.
(Lotus pavilion - is a place inside the Eldian imperial palace in which the emperor resides whenever he wishes to unwind during his free time)
"Empress..."
The h/c-haired woman was taken aback, hearing a familiar voice behind her.
She looked back, only to be surprised, seeing her husband. The emperor.
"Your Majesty." Y/n bowed to the emperor as a curtsy, which the emperor acknowledged by nodding his head.
"What brings you here? It's not good for you to be outside tonight, it's raining." The h/c-haired woman looked behind her husband.
She raised a brow seeing that the emperor doesn't have his royal knight or any of his maidservants. "And why are you alone, you can't-"
Y/n was taken aback when her husband smiled at her, she went silent while she stared at the emperor. He shouldn't be smiling...what's gotten into his majesty?
"You sound just like a wife, Empress."
The h/c-haired lady felt confused. She doesn't get what the emperor is trying to say. "Pardon? But I am your wife, your majesty." Y/n said, her tone was laced with confusion, but she still sounded polite.
She has to be polite. It's the emperor she's talking to. Even if she is his wife, she still has to be respectful.
"You are...but you only act as an empress."
Y/n wasn't able to say anything.
She only stared at her husband, and for a moment, she was lost into his icy, blue-eyes. Her calm heart suddenly skipped a beat while she stared at her husband's gorgeous face.
"Don't get me wrong, I don't mean to offend you or what. What I'm trying to say is that...you're more of an empress to me, than my wife. Hearing you nag me...feels so different from how you only talk to me about political affairs." The emperor stood beside her, he kept his hands behind him as he stared up at the dark, and night sky with pouring rain.
The h/c-haired woman immediately looked away when her husband looked at her.
Somehow, she feels nervous.
She began to wonder if Erwin came here to talk to her about the young princess.
"We've been married for how many years already, empress?"
Y/n cleared her throat, she's doing her best not to show any change in her stoic expression.
Why is he even asking me that?
"I've been an empress for six years already, your majesty." The emperor nodded, he kept his eyes on his wife.
"Six years..."
Y/n looked at the emperor, her brows furrowed, seeing melancholy in her husband's eyes.
"We've been neglecting each other for six years already."
The emperor faced her, staring straight into her eyes, making her feel flustered (but of course, she won't show it to her husband.) "I'm sorry."
Empress Y/n raised a brow.
"For what, your majesty?"
Her husband looked down, his lips turning up into a bitter smile.
"Because not once...have I ever tried to reach out to you. It must've been hard staying here, without anyone close to you living inside the palace."
Y/n clenched her fists.
She feels irritated, and she doesn't even know why.
Maybe it's because of what happened earlier.
"With all due respect, your majesty..."
Her husband stared at her, waiting for her to continue.
"I don't need your apology, especially not your sympathy."
The h/c-haired woman looked down, swallowing the lump on her throat.
"You don't need to apologize for neglecting me. After all, you don't love me. We only got married to keep the peace between our countries. I understand if you weren't interested in me as a woman. Also, you did the right thing by keeping me here only as your empress, and not as your wife. I know you want to respect the late empress and to not hurt the prince and princess."
Y/n looked at the emperor. She's hurting, yet she keeps her usual expression. Her stoic facade that she's mastered since growing up.
"Please don't apologize or feel guilty about how our marriage is, your majesty. I do not have any problem with it, and I can assure you that I will never have any concern about us not being a sweet, married couple." Y/n coldly stated.
She was taken aback when the emperor sadly smiled at her.
"Is it just me...or you've become even colder than the first time I saw you?"
Y/n's eyes went round when the emperor walked towards her, making her begin taking a few steps backward.
She only stopped the moment her back bumped onto a porch.
The emperor stopped right in front of her, blue-eyes stared straight into her eyes, as if he was reading her sleeping soul.
"Just like the rain tonight, you're as cold as the rain. No...you're colder than the rain, empress. I'm afraid I might freeze to death."
Y/n felt a strange heat rush to her face when the emperor leaned his face closer to her, placing his hands beside her head, locking her in his tall figure.
"Y-your majesty...you're too close..."
The h/c-haired woman shut her eyes, feeling annoyed with herself for stuttering. She brought her hands up and placed them on her husband's chest.
"It's inappropriate for us to be this close when we're outside-"
"But there's no one around, empress."
Y/n stared at her husband with disbelief.
Seriously...what's gotten into him?!
"You must be thinking what could've happened to me and why I'm acting like this." The emperor let out a small chuckle, seeing her caught off guard.
"Your Majesty...I'm certain you're not drunk. It's late already. We should get going. You still have a lot of things to do tomorrow."
Y/n let out a heavy sigh. She gently pushed the blond-man away from her, and she was able to do so.
But before she could even leave, the emperor already had a hold on her hand. She looked back at her husband, Erwin Smith, ruler of the Eldian empire.
Y/n gasped when Erwin pulled her close to him, wrapping an arm around her waist, while he also kept a hold on her left hand.
"You're cold yet so warm."
At this point, Y/n thought she might just faint anytime.
Her heart is racing so fast and beating so fast, she feels so nervous, and her face feels hot. She's flustered at how close she is to the emperor.
This might be the first time they've been so close to each other. In a more intimate way.
"Y-your majesty, what are you doing...?" Y/n asked.
Y/n's breath hitched after her husband leaned his forehead onto hers.
"I'm cold."
The h/c-haired woman gulped.
"W-we can just go back inside, your majesty. So please, let go of me..."
"Y/n..."
She stiffened in her place, hearing Erwin's soft tone that called her name.
"How long...will it take for me to win over your heart?"
Y/n stared at Erwin with a surprised look, the blond-man kept a stare into her eyes. He stares so deep, that Y/n feels like she'll drown in his eyes.
"How long will it take for me to make you fall for me?"
No way...
Has the emperor...fallen for me?!
___________________________________
___________________________________
:)