I Won’t Accept Your Regrets

And Jeremy… Where did he go?

I suggested that he return to the Empire together, but after that he disappeared from sight.

He helped me a lot in the past, so I would like to answer him in the same way at least once. But our connection was cut off.

"Ah, Ellie. Would you like to go to the square with Carlisle? Today there is a performance. There is something to see."

Carlisle's eyes sparkled at Lumont's words.

"Mom, mom. I want to go there."

Carlisle looked at me with his trademark puppy eyes. When he looked at me with that look, it seems I could never have answered no.

"Then let's go together."

"Yes!!!"

Carlisle answered excitedly.

First of all, I had already completed my mission today, so the day was free.

As Lumont said, there was a small musical orchestra in the square.

I loved the music and the voices of children in the square playing in the warm spring sun.

"Mom, what is it? The sound is so beautiful."

I saw the tool Carlisle was pointing to.

"It's called a harp."

"So big and cool. I also want to play on it. Can I play?"

"Of course. You will definitely succeed."

Carlisle's eyes folded beautifully into a crescent shape. Then I looked at the man playing the harp again.

Now I couldn’t take my eyes off his melody, which Carlisle liked so much. This is the first time I see him looking at something other than toys with such sparkling eyes.

I wondered if it was really worth teaching him the harp?

It's too early for that… It would be nice to let him know what he wants to learn.

He really likes this kind of music… Just like Raymond.

I didn't really care about music. I wasn’t interested in operas or concerts, but Raymond loved to hear them.

When he listened to waltzes and strings, his emotionless face was always relaxed.

I stared at Carlisle, not taking my eyes off.

Although he looked more like me, sometimes I felt uncomfortable when I noticed a minor habit or trait that resembled Raymond.

It seems that he still left an indelible mark.

Involuntarily raising my head, I saw a woman approaching the orchestra.

An aristocrat in a beige hat and yellowish dress in the imperial style.

It was Lisa, and her shiny blonde hair was styled under the hat.

And as if she felt my gaze, she immediately turned in our direction.

I instinctively grabbed Carlisle's arm. I thought she might suspect something.

However, Lisa just glanced at me and turned away with a bored face.

Only then did I remember that I had changed my appearance.

Lisa, as usual, thought that the commoners were staring at a noble person.

Even though I'm glad she didn't recognize me, I hated myself for trying to hide Carlisle from her. He didn’t commit any sin.

It's scary to even think about what will happen when it becomes known about the existence of Carlisle. I left the Empire in the first place to avoid this.

Raymond and Lisa.

So little time has passed since my return to the Empire, but the most uncomfortable people are already vying with me.

"What happened, Mom?”

Carlisle glanced at me as I grabbed his arm tightly.

"Are you hurt?"

"No. It’s okay, so you can keep playing."

Carlisle turned his back again, and I didn't want to worry anymore about what was happening to Lisa.

If I hadn't heard the gossip behind.

"It's Lady Sios, isn't it?"

"Yeah. You see, over there, the carriage with its symbol."

Although there were mostly commoners in the square, it wasn’t without the nobility. There were also shops for the wealthy nearby.

It seems that some noble ladies recognized Lisa. But their choice of words struck me as odd.

Why do you call Lisa ‘Lady Sios’?

It's been six years since I filed for divorce and left the Empire.

It’s time to learn to call her ‘The Empress’.

Did I hear wrong?

"Lady Sios doesn't seem to age at all. Whenever I see her, she is always so beautiful."

Lady Sios.

Lisa Sios, not Empress of Agrita. For the nobility, title is an important element of status, so the noble ladies behind me would not call her any different from protocol.

That means… her status hasn't changed since I left.

Later, I heard more talk about Lady Sios.

"That's for sure. So beautiful, but still won't get married. And why, I wonder?"

"Oh, don't tell. It looks like he wants to punish her. This is a humiliation for a woman.”

"His Majesty is very cruel… Lady Sios gave birth to his child in a foreign land. And the place of the Empress is vacant…"

As if she thought she had said it too loudly, this young lady looked around carefully.

"Be careful with what you say. His Majesty is very sensitive to the story of the former Empress."

"But really? Rumors say that His Majesty can’t forget Lady Croft, and took out all the pain on Lisa."

And at that moment my face turned to stone.

He hasn’t forgotten me. But those words that he could never love me were still fresh in my memory. But suddenly he ‘can’t forget’.

Ridiculous gossip, nothing more.

"Well, I don't even know. His Majesty and Lady Croft were not very close. But what happened now? The Emperor has such a cold character, therefore, perhaps he simply doesn’t want intimacy. Oh god, we have to go now."

The gossiping ladies moved away, and I could no longer hear them.

Now I looked at Lisa with completely different eyes.

I thought Raymond and Lisa were, of course, married. So, I didn't look for news about them.

While studying my father's problem, my thoughts were only about the Emperor's policy and trade documents.

I didn't want to see their personal life with my own eyes.

I thought the love story between Raymond and Lisa would have a happy ending, but where did it go wrong?

Raymond, Lisa and me.

On the square, it was only a demonstration of her beauty and love.

Smiles appeared on the lips of people, but not mine.

Lisa now joined the crowd and listened to the orchestra.

Raymond didn't marry her for the same reason he's looking for me?

Indeed… it was because of me that he didn’t let Lisa to the throne?

No, there is nothing to feed yourself with this nonsense.

I shook my head, as if shaking out all this nonsense.

Whatever is in Raymond's heart, it doesn't matter to me anymore.

Even if he and Lisa don’t see a happy ending, the relationship between me and Raymond will not change because of this.

Because we are already done with that.

So I forgot about Lisa and just watched the concert.

* * *

Outside the capital of Lund kingdom.

It was the time of day when the sunset blazed like it was devouring the sky.

Shops were closed, crowds of people moved to the streets with bars.

The light came on in one window after another, mercenaries crowded, drunk people already appeared.

A man in a dark brown robe passed the drunks and opened the old door in the alley.

"We are still closed…"

The large red-haired man who had just put the chair off the table froze.

"Jed, I just want a beer."

Jeremy took off his robes, grabbed a chair, and sat down at the bar.