I’m Sorry I’m Not Qualified to Be Empress - Chapter 61

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Chapter 61

“Mhp!”

He showed her the situation outside through a crack in the broken window. Soldiers saw two horses parked and were searching around.

Rose had no idea that they were following her.

‘So earlier!’ It made sense now that Maxim passed the man. He already knew that Rose and the soldiers were chasing him.

“If you want to kill all those bastards and get your great family involved, why don’t you keep talking?”

Although angry, Rose had no choice but to keep her mouth shut. Those outside were members of the Imperial Family. If Maxim and they were to fight and there were casualties, a big problem could arise.

Then, everything she had worked so hard to get would be in vain. Rose looked at him and nodded as if understanding.

“Let’s go over there.”

Maxim took Rose’s hand and went further inside the brewery. He found a lid leading to the underground and lifted it up with all his might.

“You can go out through the back door.”

Rose grabbed his arm because she was reluctant to go down to an unknown basement without knowing where she was.

“Are the soldiers stupid?”

Despite her dissuasion, Maxim went down the stairs leading to the basement without delay.

In the basement, it was difficult to breathe because of the rancid smell that stung her nose. There was something sticky like mud stuck to her feet. It was dark and maze-like in the tunnel that was dug deep to store alcohol.

He looked around and quickly walked somewhere with Rose. A few glimmers of light were streaming in from where he headed to. She found a wooden door small enough to have to bend over to get out, but it was locked shut from the outside.

Rose grabbed the doorknob and shook it, but it only made a creaking sound without opening.

“Move.”

Maxim moved Rose to the side and kicked the door hard with his foot. After two or three kicks, the door lock was smashed open.

Fresh air entered through the broken door and she felt like she was going to live. Maxim stretched out his arm through the opened lock and unlocked the door from outside. The door opened helplessly.

“Come out.”

He put Rose out first, then looked behind him and went outside.

“Here—!”

When she crawled out of the narrow passage, she found that it was connected to a place far away from the brewery building. From there, she could see the soldiers who had not yet left. Rose and Maxim lowered their bodies, passed through the bushes, and ran further into the forest.

How much did they run? Black clouds gathered in the sky and suddenly, rain poured down. Rose looked up at the sky with worried eyes. It didn’t look like the rain would stop any time soon.

“It will rain more. We should go back to the brewery.”

“No. It’s too late.”

“All the soldiers would have gone back. Let’s go to find the horses.”

As the clothes gradually got wet and the cold permeated her body, Rose began to get nervous.

‘We might have to stay up all night in the woods for nothing.’

‘How will we go home without a horse?’

As she trudged after him, Maxim pointed to somewhere.

“Over there.”

She looked up and saw smoke coming out of the chimney of a small private house.

“It’s a house where people live! They might be wary of strange people.”

“Let’s go borrow a horse and go back.”

Rose was persuaded. With just a horse, they could go home quickly. It made more sense than going back to the brewery that was already too far.

“Then let’s go.”

Rose quickly accepted and ran toward the private house after him. Raindrops were getting heavier than before.

It seemed to growl and make a bizarre cry in the dark gray sky overcast with dark clouds.

Splat— Drops of bright red blood bounced off the white curtains like dots.

“Kyaaa!! Yo-Your Highness!”

Sasha was startled and pressed herself to the head of the bed. With a silk duvet wrapped over her bare body, she trembled and watched the situation before her eyes.

It happened in an instant.

She was lying on the bed when a soldier hurriedly knocked on the door. Seeing that he knocked directly on the door of the Crown Prince’s inner chamber, it seemed to be about something that had been secretly ordered by him. And the knock had an ominous feeling.

Cassiax’s eyes, which had been happy as he had enjoyed playing with Sasha, became sharp in a flash. He received a report from a soldier himself, covering only his bottom with a white silk cloth.

And it happened in an instant. The soldier’s neck fell and rolled over the floor.

“Get rid of it.”

His voice commanding his servants did not sway even with the slightest bit of emotion. The room, which had been heated with loud moans and scorching passion, was filled with cold blood.

Sasha’s spine shivered. It was creepy that she rolled around mixing her body with that man who easily blew off someone’s head, as if he was killing ants.

She felt as if ants were crawling on her bare skin. But she loved him. She loved his cruel side.

Madam Trisha had warned her, ‘Give your body but never give him your heart.’ To have him in your heart is to spread the poison of a snake by yourself. It’ll slowly paralyze you and then it’ll self-destruct.

Sasha realized that the poison had already spread throughout her body. Even if she were to die by his hand like that soldier, as a mere bug, she knew there was no way she could leave him now.

To die by his hand, or to leave him and die in agony, but to die anyway.

“Wh-where are you going, Your Highness?”

He prepared to leave in a hurry.

“Your Highness!”

Cassiax left the room without looking at Sasha, who was calling him anxiously from the bed. He could hear the knights and attendants waiting outside following him, walking fast towards somewhere. Pearl-like tears fell from Sasha’s eyes, who was left alone.

‘Are you going to that woman? That woman who came to the capital. The only woman in the world who can enrage His Highness like fire.’

Sasha gripped the sheet with trembling hands.

A middle-aged woman and two younger siblings stared at them with their mouths open as if they had seen a ghost.

“We’re not here to harm you. If you lend us a horse, we’ll return it right away.” Rosé was trying to calm the family, who was shaking in front of the door.

The woman who looked like the mother came to her senses and shook her head.

“I don’t have anything to lend to you.”

“Please. I’ll give you money.”

“Really. My husband went out in the morning and hasn’t come back yet. He went to the market to sell firewood, but it’s raining so he won’t be back tonight.”

It was a disaster.

“There really isn’t.”

Maxim, who had already inspected the stables, said resignedly. The woman was afraid that he would even threaten the children, so she quickly hid them behind her skirt. The sword he wore around his waist was threatening enough.

“Then what?”

“Let’s stay here for one night and go back when the rain stops.”

“I beg your pardon?”

Rose was confused and asked again, but Maxim already walked in front of the mistress. She and the children took a step back each time he approached.

“Do you have an empty room?”

“No. There is no room!”

However, another response came out of the mouth of the innocent-looking young daughter.

“It’s upstairs! My sister’s room on the second floor is— mph!”

The fearless child spoke with sparkling eyes and her mouth was blocked by her mother’s palm.

“Eugenia!”

The boy, who seemed a little more mature, called out his sister’s name in a hurry.

Maxim looked at the struggling child with a cold gaze and then placed something on the table. On the old table, the big gold coins flashed, and the eyes of the mother and siblings widened.

“If it were me, I’d rather stay warm all winter with this rather than leave a room empty.”

Maxim didn’t add anything more. The children’s mother could not take her eyes off the gold coins and swallow dryly. She was increasingly anxious that the man would take it back.

As he said, they could survive the winter with just one gold coin. Even if they didn’t have much, they wouldn’t have to worry about the children getting hungry because of food in this secluded forest. The woman hurriedly walked out, rubbing her hands against the broken apron.

“The room has been empty for a long time, so it’s dusty. Please warm up by the fire for a moment.”

The mother’s eyes, which had been filled with wariness until just now, became quite polite.

“While you’re eating hot soup, I’ll light the room and change the sheets for you, My Lord.”

After seeing the mother’s reaction, the children jumped forward like puppies.

“Wow! Look! I’ve never seen such a pretty shiny coin, Oppa!”

The girl, curiously, picked up the gold coin. The boy, who appeared to be a proud head of a family that was protecting his mother and younger sister, also approached the sister with excited eyes. The boy took the gold coins from his younger sister, bit the coin with his teeth and reflected it in the light.

“No bite!”
[tl/n: if a coin was pure gold, there shouldn’t be any teeth marks]

The child quickly put his hand behind his back, fearing that he might steal the gold coin again.

“Bern! What are you waiting for? Hurry up and go get some firewood.”

The mother slapped her son on the back and took the gold coins and put them deep into her chest.

“All right!”

The child hurriedly ran to the warehouse. The family who gained gold coins moved quickly with excitement.

While they were busy organizing their rooms, Maxim was sitting alone on the sofa in front of the fireplace. Unsettled by this sudden situation, Rose gently hugged her shoulders. She was exhausted from running in the rain all the way here.

“It’ll warm you up.”

She heard a cute voice and turned around to find the little girl. A child with freckles on the bridge of her nose was holding a bowl of soup with tiny hands.

“Thank you.”

Rose grabbed the bowl of hot soup with both hands. It seemed that she could live just by melting the cold of her hands. The child carefully took the bowl of soup to Maxim too, but she couldn’t even get close to him because of how scary he was. She set it down near the sofa and returned with a face that looked like she was about to be eaten by the devil. Rose glared disapprovingly at his back, which didn’t move an inch.

If he had told her where he was going in the first place, she wouldn’t have followed him secretly. And this accident wouldn’t have occurred.

What dangerous person was he going to meet in such a place?

Besides, how dangerous was the person he was going to meet?

He seemed rather angry with her.

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────