When the Female Lead Went Off-Script, the Main Male Lead Became the Tyrant's Empress - Chapter 35.2
The door opened and closed.
Once Arden disappeared, the room became quiet again as though nothing had happened.
Haster looked around at the flowers decorating various parts of the room.
The fresh blossoms brightly illuminated his room.
Just as he had told Arden, Haster liked flowers.
However, it wasn’t simply a matter of taste. The feeling had arisen because of his deceased parents.
The people Haster regarded as his parents were the previous Grand Duke and his stepmother, Princess Merea.
He had no memories of his birth mother, nor was he particularly curious about her.
Most nobles formed families through arranged marriages.
But his father and birth mother had been different.
They had met by chance at a social gathering and fallen passionately in love with each other.
Not long after they married, they conceived a child, the fruit of that love.
Everything seemed to be going well.
However, in the year Haster turned one, his birth mother asked for a divorce.
She insisted that she had fulfilled her role by giving birth to a child who could continue the family line.
Although it was sudden, the Grand Duke wasn’t particularly surprised.
He knew of his wife’s free-spirited nature.
Rather than remain in Yse as the Grand Duchess, she was someone who wanted to roam freely like the wind.
She loved her husband and child.
But she loved herself more.
The divorce proceeded quickly.
The Grand Duchess willingly relinquished every privilege and possession she had enjoyed as Grand Duchess, including her parental rights and custody of her son.
And then she left forever.
When Haster was three years old, the Grand Duke took a new wife.
His second wife was the Emperor’s younger sister.
Despite her exalted status, the Imperial Princess was practically a burden.
She was incapable of bearing children.
It was an era in which producing children was considered important.
That was especially true for members of the imperial family.
Imperial Princes and Imperial Princesses who failed to ascend the throne were used as pieces in political marriages to establish alliances with foreign countries.
But an Imperial Princess incapable of producing an heir could hardly be used for a marriage alliance. She was in a position where she could not even maintain a marriage with a noble of her own country.
Watching his younger sister grow older in a corner of the imperial palace, the Emperor introduced her to the Grand Duke.
On the surface, it appeared that he was merely arranging a marriage for his beloved younger sister, but in reality, it was a political move involving several calculations.
Whatever the intentions behind it, they married not long afterward.
Despite her circumstances, Princess Merea was an optimistic person.
Her lively energy drove away the rigid, dreary atmosphere of the castle.
When she met Haster, her face overflowed with happiness.
She loved him as though he were a child she had given birth to herself.
Before long, she became completely devoted to her stepson, and Haster accepted her as his mother and followed her.
The relationship between the Grand Duke and the Princess wasn’t bad.
They were faithful to each other.
Neither of them kept lovers, as nobles and members of the imperial family commonly did. They always addressed each other respectfully, and neither neglected their respective duties.
There was no love between them, but there was a peculiar bond and mutual respect.
After Princess Merea died, the Grand Duke visited his wife’s grave every three days regardless of the weather or season and personally brought flowers.
They were flowers from the greenhouse he had given the Princess as a wedding gift.
Once, Haster had asked his father whether he loved his mother.
The Grand Duke looked at his son for a moment before answering in a stern voice.
“As long as there is trust and devotion, no other feelings are necessary.”
Those words lodged themselves deeply in Haster’s mind.
A relationship in which two people remained faithful to each other even without affection.
He believed that was the ideal marriage.
His father hadn’t loved his mother, but the fact that he continued visiting her grave at regular intervals until his own death had come from profound respect.
He had even gone so far as to leave the words, ‘Don’t forget to bring flowers to your mother’s grave,’ in his will.
She had been an excellent spouse and the best mother.
So she deserved to be treated that way.
After the previous Grand Duke died, he was buried beside the Princess’s grave.
Just as his mother had done, Haster devoted himself to tending the greenhouse and the flowers within it, and just as his father had, he placed flowers at both graves every three days.
Flowers stirred nostalgia in Haster.
It was a distant, wistful feeling.
He approached a nearby vase.
When he touched a flower with his finger, he felt the distinctive velvety softness of its petals.
They’re pretty.
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