The queen’s toast

''This empress will like to leave, your majesty.'' Unable to sit still in the tense atmosphere between them, Rose stood up, preparing to leave for the empress's palace. She had stayed long enough. The queen wouldn't be able to label her as an empress who did not care for the emperor.

Besides that…the fact that she was feeling uncomfortable in the emperor's presence was unsettling to her.

Was she feeling awkward?

Rose wondered, not understanding why she would feel awkward.This kind of the relationship wasn't new to her, so why exactly was she feeling awkward? Because the person was the emperor? But she wasn't the empress who had feelings for the emperor.

Sensing movement at the corner of her eyes, Rose turned to her side, down below the stairs, and saw the queen approaching them with one of her ladies-in-waiting in tow. Her eyes caught the two goblets on the tray in the hands of the lady-in-waiting.