Chapter 40 Tea and Unhealed Wounds
The atmosphere in the afternoon tea room was different today.
There was no sound of spoons clinking against porcelain, no laughter or chatter, only heavy, stifled breaths.
The Empress sat opposite Didier, her back perfectly straight, staring at her son with a gaze that was hard to read, a mix of worry and anger.
"People are starting to whisper, Didier," the Empress's voice broke the silence. It was cold, yet piercing. "About you. And that girl. Lysandra."
Didier didn't touch his tea. He stared at the pastry on his plate. "It's not what they think, Mother."
"It's always the same," the Empress scoffed, setting her cup down with a sharp clack. "Gisella has been your fiancée for five years. Five years, Didier! Since you were both fifteen. The Mercer family isn't just anyone, they are the main pillars supporting this throne."
Didier looked up, his eyes flashing with emotion. "I don't care about the Mercers. And I care even less about Gisella."
The Empress fell silent for a moment. Her usually elegant face suddenly looked ugly. She remembered something. Something bitter. "Do you think love is a game? Something you can just discard when you get bored?"
"I'm not bored, Mother! I'm sick of it!" Didier stood up, pushing his chair back harshly. "I'm sick of Gisella. I'm sick of her sidekick, that Ilse girl, who follows her around like a shadow, with her disgusting, fake behavior. Everything about them feels like a scripted play!"
The Empress stared at her son, then slowly leaned forward. "Sit down, Didier."
Didier hesitated, but sat back down.
"Your father," the Empress's voice dropped, barely a whisper. "He never loved me. Not once."
Didier was stunned.
"He looked at Claus's mother with eyes full of adoration, and looked at me... only as a piece of palace furniture he had to keep. I spent twenty years here, in this palace, waiting for a single word of love that was never spoken. It crushed my soul, Didier. Slowly, every single day."
The Empress stared deep into Didier's eyes. "I don't want you to do the same to a woman. Don't marry someone just for the sake of status if you're going to let her heart die slowly from your indifference."
"Then call off the engagement!" Didier exclaimed, his voice trembling with hope. "I don't love Gisella. I like Lysandra. She's real, Mother. She doesn't ask me to be anything. She just lets me be... myself."
The Empress looked at Didier with a gaze full of grief.
"The Mercers control the grain for half the kingdom, Didier. End this engagement, and you seal the fate of thousands who will starve before the winter is out. Is your love worth that many lives?"
"Let them," Didier answered shortly, cold and determined.
Didier walked away without waiting for permission. He left his cooling tea, left his mother still frozen in bitter memories, and stepped out ready to burn everything down if he had to.