I’m Sorry I’m Not Qualified to Be Empress - Chapter 41

Chapter 41

When Hans answered without even a second of hesitation, as if it was too natural, Rose’s forehead crumpled.

“I know. But if you look for a way, you’ll find it. Mineral and forest development has long been our family’s dream business.”

“Are you here to do business? Are you trying to complete the family’s long-cherished business by becoming the Helevant hostess?”

Rose was furious when Hans took her words as a joke.

“Don’t kid around. I’m being serious.”

“Did Maxim Lancert ask you to hand over the business of the Etoile family to the North instead of the dowry?”

“Hans!”

Rose looked at him with a really angry face.

“You don’t have to think so crookedly! It’s just my opinion. Since I can be close to our parents, it’d be nice if our family advances and expands here. That’s what I thought.”

Hans looked at his enraged little sister. He opened his mouth and spoke in a dry tone.

“Haven’t you ever considered that he might be using you?”

“Maxim Lancert is not such a man! No, I don’t even care if he uses me.”

A loud shout escaped Rose’s mouth without her realizing it. Seeing his younger sister like that, Hans pressed his lips together slightly. He narrowed his eyes and said, as if trying to decipher his sister’s thoughts.

“Now that I look at it, you seem to trust him quite a bit. Have you already fallen in love with him? In fact, he’s pretty cool. Quite manly.”

At Hans’ words, Rose’s ears turned red.

“Oh my God. Please, please. Don’t say anything weird!”

Rose pressed her forehead as if she couldn’t communicate with her brother any longer, and wiped off her sweat.

Rose was furious, just like how she was in the past. When Hans saw his younger sister like that after a long time, he closed his eyes and smiled.

“Huh? What’s happening to old Bruno?”

Natalie, who was so absorbed in her embroidery, didn’t even know they were on the boat. She spoke in a surprised voice. Rose and Hans turned their heads.

Old man Bruno, who managed the Castle’s diverse chores, was running towards the shore of the lake, waving to them.

From a distance, it seemed like a greeting, but it was a little strange for him to continue waving his hand even as he fell.

“No! My La-lady! We’re in trouble!”

Natalie jumped up from her seat and screamed. She held up the embroidery that had fallen from her knees. Water dripped from it.

“In the boat… water…”

When Rose and Hans looked down at the bottom of the boat, water was gushing in from the stern, where Natalie was sitting.

“Damn it!”

“What do we do!”

Rose and Hans looked at each other in dismay. The current coming from the broken side of the hull grew stronger over time.

“The boat’s sinking! We will all die!”

Terrified, Natalie was trembling. A memory of herself stumbling on a drowned corpse in the river several years ago resurfaced and drove her to extreme fear.

“Calm down. We won’t die!”

Rose spoke calmly to Natalie.

“Let’s get out of here quickly.”

She then spoke urgently to Hans. He was already rowing at full speed, without even having the time to respond to Rose’s words.

“Aaah! I think the boat is tilting! There’s too much water in it! I’m going to die!”

Natalie squatted down, crying. As the water level went past her feet, she abruptly got up. As she moved her body to and fro, the boat slanted even more.

“Natalie, don’t move! Just sit down!” Rose shouted.

“Yeah, don’t worry, Natalie. It’s nothing serious.”

Using a calm and gentle voice, Hans reassured Natalie, but his face was soaked with sweat from rowing.

“But the water! There’s more and more water. I can’t swim. I’m going to drown!”

As Natalie kept making ominous remarks, Rose urged her.

“Who’s going to die? It’s dangerous if the boat shakes, so hurry up and sit! We’ll save you even if you fall into the water!”

Hans quickly planned in his head how to deal with the current situation while rowing.

‘I’ll paddle quickly and get as close to the shore as possible before the water level gets any higher. Even if we capsize, Rose and I can swim, so we can hold onto Natalie and put her on the overturned boat. People will come to our rescue.’

“Kyaaa!”

Natalie, restless, eventually slipped into the water on the bottom of the boat and leaned towards Hans.

The boat wobbled once. One of the oars Hans was holding fell into the water.

“Damn it!”

Hans, who had lost his patience, shouted. As it fell into the water, Rose’s eyes shook in fear.

Tulio was the first to notice the strange sight in the middle of the lake.

“Oh? What’s wrong with them?”

The scene of the boat floating on the lake was a little different from the peaceful scene before.

“Bruno? Why is that old man lying there?”

Tools from the toolbox were scattered around Bruno, who had fallen on the dirt floor. He was beckoning and shouting at the boat.

“Come back! Come on!”

Rishar stood up with a serious face.

“I think there is something wrong with the boat!”

“What?”

The knights who had been resting, each got up and looked at the lakeshore at once.

“Your Majesty!”

Rishar shouted for Maxim. Maxim had already thrown away the sword he was polishing and jumped down from the stone wall that was taller than a human. He ran towards the lake at great speed.

The knights followed him quickly.

As the current crashed against the hole the water was entering from, the hole got bigger and water rushed in at greater speeds. Eventually, the boat leaned over and the three of them fell into the lake. It happened so quickly that Rose hit her forehead hard against the hull of the boat and fell into the water.

“Oh, I’m dying! Young Master!”

“Damn it! I’m freezing to death!”

Hans pulled onto Natalie, who couldn’t swim, and guided her to hold onto the overturned boat. Natalie hugged the hull tightly as if it were her last lifeline and gasped.

Then, Hans looked around him in search of his sister.

“Rose?”

But Rose was nowhere to be seen. Of course, he thought that she was also in the water, but his heart sank when he couldn’t find his younger sister no matter how hard he looked.

“Rose!”

Hans dived into the water and frantically searched for her. Rose, apparently unconscious, was sinking deep into the hazy water.

‘No! Rose!’

Hans cut through the current and approached her, but someone from her other side grabbed her first with great speed. It was Maxim Lancert.

He wrapped her in his arms and quickly swam up to the surface.

In the moment of panic, Hans, who stared blankly at the figure in the water, soon came to his senses and went up to the water surface.

“Bring blankets and clothes quickly!”

Freddie instructed the servants, and the soldiers around pulled another boat and boarded it.

When Hans broke the surface of the water, Natalie was trembling and holding the overturned boat with a blue face.

“Young Master! The lady… The lady… huuuaaaahh.”

Rose was already far away, being carried by Maxim. After a while, another boat arrived to rescue them.

Hans, who carried Natalie and placed her on the boat first, was very nervous. He thought he needed to quickly check with his own eyes if Rose was okay. When he arrived, she was lying on the floor and Maxim was giving her artificial respiration.

“Rose!”

“The Queen will be fine.”

As he ran to her agitated, the knights stopped him and reassured him.

Hans, exhausted from his struggles to save Natalie from the water and to find Rose, managed to stand still and watch his younger sister. Rose’s face was so pale that he staggered in despair.

“Rose…”

Knights with huge builds surrounded her, so there seemed to be no room for him to get in.

Maxim was pressing on her chest as water dripped from his body and hair. His eyes were desperate as if he was on a battlefield

“Please.”

“God.”

The Black Wolf knights, who were feared by the enemies because they wiped out everything that breathed in front of them, were staring at Rose’s face with impatient eyes at this moment. In Hans’ eyes, it seemed strange, as if it wasn’t real.

“I think she’s already dead. She must be died.”

When Tulio made an unlucky comment, Rishar screamed.

“Shut up! You stupid bastard!”

“Look at her face. She’s no longer part of this world. She’s already crossed the river of the dead!”

Slap!

Rishar, who couldn’t stand it, hit Tulio in the face. After being hit, Tulio shut his mouth tightly and turned his gaze back to Rose.

“Uukk!”

Finally, water came out of Rose’s mouth. She gasped with an anguished expression and let out her breath.

“Haaak!”

“She’s alive!”

It was rough, but when sounds of her breathing returned, everyone clenched their fists and screamed.

Tulio, who was hit by Rishar for making a fuss earlier, exhaled a breath of relief. He secretly looked up at the sky and drew a sign.

“Bro…ther…? Nat…alie…?”

Rose opened her eyes and looked around with difficulty. Hans clasped her hand.

“I’m here. Don’t worry.”

After confirming that she was okay, Maxim got up and spoke in a worn-out voice.

“Take them inside.”

After that, Freddie was busy giving orders to the servants.

“Prepare a change of clothes and raise the temperature of the room. Where is the physician?

“I’m here!”

It was a nightmare-like moment for everyone.

“Her Majesty will be alright. Heaven saved her.”

As one of the servants wrapped a blanket around Hans’ shoulders, Hans gave a grateful look.

He murmured, looking anxiously at his younger sister being moved inside.

“Rose. You are completely a part of this place now.”

Hans noticed another person standing there with him. He quietly looked at Maxim Lancert, who was watching Rose with the same eyes as him.