As soon as the door closed, Eleanora erupted in a fit of hysterical laughter, tears flowing from her blue eyes once more.
She sat up on the bed again as she buried her face into her crossed arms.
'If he had just removed me from my position at the start then this never would have happened.'
'If he had just rejected me immediately to take as his wife, instead of submitting me to this torture over the last four years, then maybe one day I could have learned to live a life without him.'
She was here only because of him.
Because he asked her to be his empress, this empire wanted her as their empress.
She could have tried to live a normal life as a knight and forget about him if he'd freed her earlier.
'Maybe I could have even found someone to love me dearly.'
Eleanora kept crying till she couldn't cry anymore and fell asleep after being tired of all the sobbing.
'Just what am I to you? How can you humiliate me like this?'
…
The next day Eleanora got ready at eight o'clock for the regular meeting with the higher members of the Empire Council.
Eleanora's nanny Maria tied her long silver hair into a bun where Rena was helping her with accessories.
Underneath her blue eyes, Eleanora could see the dark bags from the stress and lack of sleep she had experienced the night before.
Red marks were all over her neck, reminding her about the emperor's unusual behavior again and she sighed as she picked up the makeup brush to hide them.
Unfortunately, using makeup had shown little results in covering it up.
Thus, she had no choice but to change into a high-neck dress.
Eleanora's appearance was a clear representation of her family, Dalton Duchy.
The silver hair and blue eyes were a dead giveaway to their ancient Duke lineage.
Eleanora was born four years after the emperor.
It was almost guaranteed they would be married; their families always had been so closely knit because of their loyalty to the throne.
The priests had even prophesied about their union, which would bring great success to the empire; they had been correct as she brought great success to this empire.
But in the process, she lost herself because of her deep love and her toxic obsession with him.
…
Inside the meeting hall, Eleanora sat on the empress's seat on the emperor's right side.
She could feel the emperor's gaze on her from time to time as always.
Before, she could feel shy because of his gaze but now she didn't feel like that anymore.
Eleanora just kept her eyes glued on the papers in front of her without even knowing the context.
The eyes of the other ranked imperial members and nobles also bore into her as she kept her eyes cast down.
Everyone knew.
They knew how humiliated she was feeling, how scorned she was right now.
The meeting was the usual items, border patrols, and country alliances.
No one dared to ask her any questions for a change and acted as if she wasn't even there.
And to be honest, Eleanora wished she wasn't.
She had told Rena; that they would leave at the end of the week.
She still needed to organize her things and ensure the empire had enough to keep it running for at least a little while.
She hoped that no one would notice her missing for a few days.
With any luck, if she can make it out from the empire then they wouldn't find her even if they tried.
"What do you think, Empress?"
Marquise Rosalie asked her suddenly and Eleanora looked up sharply in surprise, breaking out from her deep thoughts.
She didn't expect anyone to address her during this meeting at all.
Eleanora coughed, clearing her throat, and tried to think back on whatever they had just been discussing.
She had carelessly let her mind wander too much.
"Well... that's umm...,"
Eleanora started hesitantly, but thankfully the door burst open at that moment, sparing her from having to answer.
However, a man with shiny silver hair, wearing silver armor and a blue cape came to Eleanora's view.
'Father?!'
She didn't expect it would be her father, Duke Alexander De Xavier Dalton to come storming in so suddenly.
'Wasn't he on the borders for the past year?'
The Duke of Dalton looked furious and internally Eleanora began to whimper.
'Is he also here to pity me like them?'
Eleanora closed her eyes tightly, as he thought her father might blame her too but what she was waiting for never came.
"What is the meaning of this?!"
Duke Dalton demanded while leaving her confused.
But to everyone's surprise, his blue eyes turned to the emperor, not her.
Eleanora looked up and saw the emperor staring back stoically, his face completely unreadable.
Or maybe he just genuinely didn't care.
"What seems to be the matter, Duke Dalton?"
"You've shown up unannounced which also caused a huge disruption to our meeting."
The emperor spoke with annoyance in his tone and the frown on Duke Dalton's face deepened.
"Don't play dumb with me!"
Duke Dalton shouted.
"You think you can humiliate my family like this and I'd just continue to loyally serve you?"
"She is my daughter! The mother of our empire, your empress! And yet you let some mistress bear your child and name them heir?"
Then breath caught in Eleanora's throat.
'My father is... defending me? Going against the Emperor?'
Duke Dalton had always been more loyal to the imperial family than anything else, because of the blood oath they swear during their knighting ceremony.
It was sad but the father-daughter pair had never been particularly close because of that after her mother died.
Her father became more loyal to the throne and kept himself busy defending the borders; not returning home for several months.
The emperor's jaw tightened in anger and frowned.
"I think you need to calm down, Duke."
The emperor said slowly with his sharp gaze moving on the empress, which made her shiver.
Everyone could hear the warning in his words, but Duke Dalton seemed to either not notice or not care.
"Calm down? Calm down?!"
Duke Dalton yelled while Marquise Rosalie and Duke Hertz could feel the upcoming danger.
"No, I have allowed you to disrespect her for too long, Your Majesty!"
"She is a daughter of the Daltons and deserves your respect, even if only purely for her Duke lineage."
"To think you would throw her aside as if she was trash and impregnate another woman is unacceptable."
The emperor was becoming angrier by the second as the Duke of Dalton continued his words.
"Duke Dalton_"
The emperor attempted to speak but her father continued to rant, cutting him off.
"Your father would be disgusted if he were alive, Your Majesty! My daughter does not deserve this- Am going to take her away!"
That was it. The emperor finally lost it.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY TAKING HER AWAY?!"
The emperor roared at her father and Marquise Rosalie and Duke Hertz stood up from their seats to hold back Duke Dalton from snapping at him.
"If she cannot accept that then that is on her! Lady Jena will be having my child, and they will be named as heir. That is final!"
"Now I suggest you see yourself out from this meeting immediately and go calm down, Duke!"
A murmur of agreement echoed in the room from everyone present.
Duke Dalton, who was suppressing his chilly aura, released it in a fit of rage at the complacent attitudes toward everyone around him.
Everyone immediately became silent, bowing their heads as they were shivering from his cold magic aura.
"Calm down, Xander!"
"You are going to make it complicated!"
Duke Hertz whispers in a low voice but Duke Dalton can't calm down at all, instead, he grows angrier.
His blue eyes darkened to warn that his aura was on the surface and was about to lose control and the room became tense.
Everyone could feel his power exuding from him. He looked as if he was about to lose control at any second.
The emperor scoffed at his attitude, and it was enough for all hell to break loose.
One could see Duke Dalton finally snap internally, making Eleanora feel worried.
"THAT'S ON HER?!"
"SHE GAVE UP ON HER FAMILY FOR YOU AND THIS EMPIRE, NOT TO GET TREATED LIKE THIS!"
"HOW DARE YOU DISRESPECT MY DAUGHTER LIKE THIS?!!"
Duke Dalton shouted with a killing intent flashing on his blue eyes, as he launched himself with his sword across the table towards the emperor.
"FATHER!! NOOO!"
Eleanora screamed with horror as the other two tried to stop him, but it was too late.
!!!
Everyone gasped in horror as her father had already taken out his sword and held it on the emperor's neck, where the imperial soldiers who were guarding the emperor, pointed their swords at the duke's neck.
And Eleanora lost her last hope to stay in this place any longer…