I’ll Quit as The Empress
Chapter 38: 8 Minutes

Fabian had a strong body, so he wouldn’t collapse in the cold rain. But his pride was different when there was no one in the midnight garden.

He didn’t make a mistake about the time because his pocket watch had the most accurate second-hand in the Empire.

“…….I don’t understand.”

At first, he thought there was a mistake. But it was impossible for Serus, who was ordered by the Emperor, to make some error in his job.

It must be Evelyn, then, who had a reason to be late. Perhaps the little prince was suddenly sick, or the clock in the royal palace was running late.

“Well, I could forgive you once.”

Fabian whispered to himself with a kind heart. Then a long time went by. The rain didn’t stop, and the moon which not as strong as he was, seemed to be tired of hanging in the night sky.

“Is there an accident?”

His head was full of doubt. Was the Felice Family in danger perhaps? It’s not usually the case. But to say that, Felice Palace was too quiet.

Suddenly, before he realized it, the rain was pouring, and Fabian stood nervously in his spot.

“It can’t be….”

The clouds above his head were gone. No matter how much he tried to endure, the expression of Fabian was full of anger. The only person who could make Fabian wait was his father, the Sun Emperor, who had died when Fabian was 16 years old.

“She’s…really..” Fabian’s eyes trembled slightly. The sun was about to rise, and she made the Emperor wait all night. What kind of disloyalty was this?

Fabian stood for a long time in one place until his legs were numb. Cold raindrops soaked Fabian’s hair, and extreme fatigue consumed his entire body. Then, he nervously took the watch out of his pocket.

’12:07.’

The Empire’s most precise clock showed that seven minutes had passed the promised time.

“Something is wrong.”

Fabian muttered with a confused face. What was the eternity of time that he had just felt? He had no doubt that the sun would rise soon. Because he had been stuck in one position for too long, his feet, trained in martial arts, became sore.

“It can’t be.”

Tik..tik… The clock needle barely moved a single space. 8 minutes. No. Something was wrong. He had to see it through.

“Serus!” Fabian raised his voice.

Serus arrived a little later than usual since Fabian told him not to show up earlier. But look at how he only approached him after eight minutes, then we could tell that Serus had left Fabian for a long time.

“Your Majesty, it’s raining, so let’s go back for today.”

“That’s not the problem.” Fabian said, his face was cold.

“But, if you do this…..” Serus sighed deeply in his heart.

Was the Princess really crossing the line?

It didn’t matter whether they divorced or not, no matter if this was the territory of the Felice Kingdom, they were all in a position to obey the imperial authority. But Evelyn refused to accept the Emperor’s request, thus ignoring his commands.

“Felice Kingdom and Princess Evelyn, to them, I….” Fabian squinted his eyes with a serious look.

“It seems that something unusual has happened.”

“Yes. ·····Yes?” Serus lifted his eyes to see his master, and his unquestioned glance returned. Even his face was filled with worry.

“Probably, it’s not normal. They’re pretending to be in peace now, but there must be something wrong.”

“How could you think that way???”

“Look.” Fabian showed his pocket watch.

“Yes. It’s 12:08, Your Majesty.”

It’s still 12:08 a.m. The second-hand was moving very slowly.

“You can’t tell after seeing this.”

Serus blinked. Now he seemed to have understood the situation. But he didn’t know what to say, to make Fabian realize the so-called ‘wait’ and ‘impatient’ ?”

“Forgive me Your Majesty, but I’m not sure ….”

“The princess seems to be in danger I need to check this out.”

Fabian hastened away immediately, and Serus pursued him desperately while he racked his brains.

“Your Majesty, you can’t go further into the women’s palace.”

“We must save Evelyn!”

Serus made a decision at this point. He didn’t have a choice but, to tell the truth.

“Actually, she won’t come… because it seems the princess doesn’t obey your order.”

“Really? What’s going on? How serious is it?”

Serus was at a crisis. He couldn’t keep his mouth shut, but he couldn’t tell a lie either.

“She had a chat with Lady Akshire … and then she went to bed early…”

“No,…are you sure?”

“I checked directly with the chief of staff. I did it three times.”

Blinking, Fabian slowly closed his eyes and then opened them.

“The chief asked the maid’s bedroom to go in and see her. They checked it three times. The Princess is sleeping now ….”

Fabian’s face was hardened. No matter how serious the report he heard, this kind of expression rarely appeared on his face, But this time, it seemed that Fabian was speechless.

“……”

Whether or not this was a positive thing, Surprisingly, Fabian seemed to be able to feel and understand a little about the pain of human relationships. Serus nodded in appreciation for the patience of his master.

“Your Majesty, let’s go back to your place.”

“No, you go back alone.”

“……….Y-Yes?”

Fabian sat down again on a bench in the garden with a calm look.

“My thought was too short. I think she didn’t want to show the people in this Kingdom that we had a secret meeting at night. So there’s no chance for them to spread rumors.”

“Oh, Your Majesty….” Serus blurred his words. He didn’t know what to say when he looked at Fabian’s face, full of confidence.

Even though he was simply trying to deny that, it wasn’t easy to accept such a rejection. But it seemed, Fabian was thinking in a totally different direction.

“Then I’ll go back now.”

Serus sighed deeply. There was nothing he could do right now.

Anyway, after tonight, Fabian would realize. The fact that he was clearly rejected, and waited without a promise was a ruthless one.

Though he was an emperor, it was a feeling that he had no choice but to learn himself.

****

The chat with Rebecca didn’t stop. At one o’clock in the morning, the two women finally returned to their own bedrooms. They promised that they would block Nora from entering their rooms tomorrow.

Evelyn felt at ease as she lay down on a fluffy bed. She liked the sound of the rain knocking on her window.

“Ah, It’s raining…”

Even before she finished speaking, Evelyn burst out laughing at herself.

“He…..what a foolish idea.”

Fabian wasn’t someone who wanted to get caught in the rain in the garden. It was impossible to happen even if Evelyn was born twice again.

And he waited an hour for Evelyn? It was impossible to even in a dream.

“But, if it were possible …… no, no …something like that wouldn’t have happened.”

Evelyn was reflecting on her past. It hadn’t yet happened. But it seemed like it had happened in the past to Evelyn, who had been through it all and now returned.

“He has made this …”

Evelyn almost raised the curtain and peeped into the garden without realizing it. But she realized it was just useless. Her marriage to Fabian had always been the same.

When he lifted her heart with just a little hope, she soon had to cover herself deeply in fear.

“Now I don’t expect anything.”

Evelyn simply concluded and closed her eyes. She had a good night’s sleep if she didn’t have any worries.

At the same moment, Evelyn had no idea, that Fabian had been waiting for her all night long in the garden.

Fabian was very stubborn, trying to deny the facts until dawn broke on the horizon. And his lip trembled as the bright sun was shining on his face.

“Your Majesty, let’s go, ······.”

“Okay.”

Fabian struggled to get up from the bench. Only the seat where he was seated wasn’t wet. But fortunately, Serus was the only one who watched the scene all night long.

“Ha….She dared to break my order…”

Looked like what he said just now wasn’t the answer for Serus. The intense feeling he felt at this time was rare and made Fabian’s black eyes froze coldly. It was the anger that came after the denial of reality.

“Is that the answer for me? Oh … well that’s what you mean.”

Since he noticed that the garden could clearly be seen through the window from Evelyn’s residence. So, she must know that Fabian had been waiting for her because he had never broken a promise.

In other words, Evelyn deceived him.

“Deception is unacceptable.”

In Fabian’s mind, Evelyn had crossed the line. It was nice to have violated the Emperor’s orders now. And Fabian couldn’t forgive himself for forcing himself to wait. He opened his eyes to the emotion that had flooded in his heart.

“I’ve seen the wrong person. I didn’t expect her to be such an arrogant and unkind woman.”

If Evelyn heard this, she would be dumbfounded. In fact, Fabian only waited seven minutes with a good heart, and the rest of the time before dawn was spent in vain while denying the truth. That’s why Fabian felt so angry right now.

“Is this the way of Felice Kingdom? I knew it well……”

Fabian never had any grudge against other people. He hated the Pope, but it was his position as Emperor.

“It’s pretty good to make me think of this.”

Only

In the first place, before the Emperor hated someone, that ‘object’ would disappear. Because it had to be removed from the Emperor’s sight first. And it was the Emperor’s job to deal with all hatred and remorse and make someone take care of it.

“Would you like to punish someone?” Serus, who had been keeping his eye on him, asked carefully.

“Yes.”

Fabian didn’t hesitate.

“But it wouldn’t be fair to just punish. I’ll pay back this time in the despicable way of Felice’s Kingdom.”

Fabian’s strong jawline was tightened. This time, Serus also seemed like he didn’t have time to comment. Though he felt that something was going wrong somewhere.

No one thought that it would be so difficult to return to the Imperial Palace without any problems.