Book 6: Chapter 13
The empress placed her teacup down, watched the tea inside swish around gently and remarked, “It sounds noisy outside.”
“Yes. It looks like His Majesty has begun to move.” Castell picked up the teapot but didn’t pour the empress any more tea.
The empress went to look outside. However, the frosty windows covered her view. She was unaware of what was happening outside.
Castell smiled as he watched the empress. He then asked, “Your Majesty, shall we go and take a look?”
The empress looked outside. Actually, she was just looking at the frosty windows. There was both anticipation and concern in her eyes, but she didn’t answer Castell, and he didn’t press her for an answer.
Having served the empress for so many years, his experience told him that when the empress doesn’t answer, she’s most likely thinking. It was best not to disturb her while she was thinking.
After a long period of thinking, the empress chuckled softly, grasped her tea-cup and said, “Don’t worry about it. There’s no need to go. This is his palace. We’re all guests. I won’t interfere with my son’s business. I’ll leave this all to him. If he fails, I’ll carry him back to the royal capital and let him continue being my son in peace.”
The empress chuckled and then jeered at herself, “I feel like I’m becoming more and more self-contradictory. On one hand, I hope my son succeeds. But on the other hand, I don’t want him to succeed. I’m becoming stranger and stranger.”
“No. You are just becoming more and more like a mother.”