I Married a Sick Husband

Chapter 20

Ten days later.

“I heard you spend almost every night at the central palace these days.”

Meredith, who was sipping tea without much thought, was startled by the unexpected question.

She looked up and found Empress Dowager Blair looking at her with a benevolent smile.

“Is that right, dear?”

She seemed to have a pretty high expectation for an answer.

Meredith removed her lips from the teacup and replied, fiddling with the handle.

“…Yes.”

“The two of you, I was worried that the marital relationship would be bad, but I’m glad. You seem to be doing well.”

“…Thank you.”

“Can I look forward to the good news?”

“Your Majesty.”

Meredith immediately called Blair with a bewildered face.

It was still a smiling face, but Meredith knew it was dangerous.

‘…There is nothing more threatening than me giving birth to an imperial son.’

The present emperor had to die without an heir.

That way, her son will inherit the throne.

“… To tell the truth.”

“Say it, dear.”

“I have something to tell you.”

Meredith set the scene as if she were going to tell a very important story.

Blair tilted her head slightly to the side.

“What is it?”

“You know that whenever I see you, I tell you about his condition.”

“Yes?”

“I’m afraid his condition is no different than it was before I married.”

Meredith had a very woeful look on her face as she said this.

Blair responded with a wistful look.

“Oh no.”

“So… I’ve never done anything you’re looking forward to since I got married.”

“Ah, my God.”

Blair sighed.

“I was looking forward to hearing that a baby will visit the imperial palace almost every day.”

“……”

“Maybe the Emperor’s condition will be restored.”

“If that were the case, I would have already told the Empress Dowager.”

Meredith recited with a gloomy look on her face.

“I’m just happy to take care of him every night and sleep in the same bed as him.”

This was the only truth that was told to Blair.

After finding the cure, I slept on the same bed as the emperor for 10 days.

The curse did not improve as soon as the cure was implemented.

However, the emperor certainly seemed to be in better shape than he was at the beginning.

Meredith smiled unconsciously, recalling the emperor, who had fewer coughs than before.

“I’m just happy to be like this, Your Majesty.”

“……”

“If you continue living like this, maybe His majesty will be well soon, one day.”

“Yes. Of course, it should be. You have to see the heir.”

Blair smiled and sip the teacup in front of her.

It was when Meredith was looking at the figure a little nervously.

Blair’s voice was heard again.

“Oh, come to think of it, there was something I wanted to say to you, dear.”

“You can say anything, your majesty.”

“Dear, hasn’t it already been a while since you became the empress?”

Come to think of it, it was about a month since I became the empress.

Meredith nodded her head.

“But you’ve been so indifferent to social activities.”

“Ah…”

Meredith quickly put on a look of shame.

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. It seems that I have been too indifferent to social activities because I have been learning the affairs of the palace and caring for His Majesty.”

“No, no. It’s not something to apologize for.”

Blair smiled mercifully and shook her head.

“I also thought my dear would need about a month to get used to it.”

“……..”

“Where can one experience the life of an imperial? You have a new role as an empress, and it takes time to adjust to the new environment.”

“Fortunately, it wasn’t too difficult with the help of His Majesty.”

This was a strange sarcastic remark against Blair.

Blair did not hand over all of the original duties to Meredith.

The reason was that Meredith had just entered the palace and didn’t know anything yet.

‘But the truth is that you don’t want to lose your power in the palace.’

As a result, Blair was still doing half of what Meredith was supposed to do.

Meredith didn’t like that very much.

The reason was that it was an act to narrow the position of the empress anyway.

However, she did not point that out because she had to prevent a collision with Blair at the moment.

“But the story you gave me today is worth remembering. We’ll have to hold a social gathering right away.”

“…….“

“That way, there will be no problems in managing the palace well later. You understand what I mean, right?”

“Of course, Your Majesty. I’ll keep your advice in my mind.”

Meredith smiled gently.

* * *

Blair was right, though still.

I had to hold a social gathering at least once.

Meredith made her social debut very late, even after her being established as an empress.

So social activities didn’t seem very familiar nor did I have any experience.

‘But as long as I’m the empress, I cannot avoid social activities.’

It was also important for the empress to win the hearts of the ladies and gain loyalty.

It was because if she was able to solidify her position and she could receive appropriate help when needed.

Meredith held back her reluctance and sent invitations to a tea party to prominent social figures.

“I’ve sent out invitations to everyone.”

Of course, there was also the Schwartz family. It was terrible that Meredith had gotten married and still see the faces of Duchess Schwartz and Katarina, but she couldn’t help it.

“Well done, Yulia.”

“I can’t wait. It’s your first social gathering since you became the empress.”

Yulia looked unusually excited.

Meredith, who was looking at Yulia, asked.

“Will I be able to do well?”

“Of course. Your Majesty, you’ll do just fine.”

Julia nodded her head as if she believed in her.

“And I’ll do my best to make sure there’s no problem. So don’t worry too much.”

“Okay, thank you.”

Up until this point, Meredith had not given much thought to this first social gathering.

As a result, she had never expected that a turning point in her life would occur in that situation.

* * *

After a while.

“Are you having your first social gathering tomorrow?”

Meredith, who was preparing to sleep holding hands, as usual, looked at the emperor.

“How did you know?”

“There’s very little news in the palace that I don’t know.”

“…ah.”

I forgot for a moment.

Who the man, who sleeps holding hands every day, was.

“Yes, Your Majesty. The Empress Dowager advised me to hold a social gathering.”

“I don’t know much about social affairs.”

The emperor hesitated and opened his mouth.

“Is there anything I can do for you tomorrow?”

“What?”

“Is there anything I can do to help tomorrow?”

“Help…?”

Meredith said, narrowing her brows slightly.

“I don’t understand what you mean.”

“…..”

The emperor was at a loss for words for a moment but soon explained word by word.

“I’m asking if there’s anything I should do to save your face.”

“Oh, face.”

Meredith then realized what he meant by that.

But it didn’t help much, so she immediately put on a perplexed expression.

“I do not know. I’ve never thought of it that strategically…”

“It’s messy. What if something goes wrong?”

“Is it difficult?”

“Externally, you are married to an emperor who no one would find strange if he loses his breath tomorrow.”

At that point, Meredith let out a grin without realizing it.

“Your Majesty, do you refer to yourself that way?”

“It wasn’t wrong until I met you.”

“I’m proud and honored to hear that.”

Meredith thought for a moment and added.

“I’m pretty sure I know what kind of difficult situations would arise.”

Perhaps a mischievous question will be asked about the first night with the emperor.

No, I’m sure that will come up.

Read at Travis translations only.

As I emphasized to the Empress Dowager that I and the emperor only ‘sleep’.

‘There’s no way this story wouldn’t have spread to the social world…’

Meredith didn’t expect Empress Dowager to not tell anyone else about her story.

“But it’s not a story that hits me that much.”

“Why?”

“Because it is true?”

“Naive. But that’s not the point.”

“Anyway, there’s no rumor of discord with you, so there won’t be anyone challenging my authority. But I can’t tell everyone that you’re getting better.”

“……It’s like that too.”

After replying so, he was silent for a while before he started smiling again.

When Meredith looked at the Emperor with a face as if she was asking why he muttered candidly.

“It’s the first time my situation has been so miserable.

“Why do you say that? The truth is that you are healthy.”

Meredith said to the emperor with a bewildered expression at the unexpected self-deprecation.

“If you really value my dignity, come to the meeting tomorrow.”

“…Is that so?”

“If you don’t mind.”

“That’s fine. I also attend political meetings.”

“But I have a question.”

“Ask me.”