The Sub Male Lead is Burning with Jealousy - Chapter 9 Part 4
When it came to determining right from wrong, Rahil may have wavered, but the Empress was someone who firmly upheld the correct course of action. Against her steadfast reasoning, it would have been difficult for Rahil to stubbornly stand his ground.
As a result, Rahil’s long-standing unrequited love was finally shattered. This was perhaps only possible because Anais, as Empress, harbored not even a shred of personal affection for Rahil.
Because she disliked him.
Up to this point, Theodore didn’t think it was a bad outcome. Rahil had always been a formidable rival, and Theodore didn’t want him lingering around Angelica, who had become his wife.
However, when the Empress began pushing Angelica away, things became complicated. In truth, this had been foreseeable, given the rumors surrounding Rahil and Angelica. After all, no woman would tolerate her husband’s first love. The opposite would also hold true.
Even so, Theodore wasn’t overly concerned. He had unconsciously assumed that Rahil’s love for Angelica would persist indefinitely. He believed that any real crisis would only arise after the Empress bore a child, as Rahil would inevitably change once that happened.
But the change came faster than Theodore expected. Rahil ‘truly’ fell for the Empress and began to be swayed by her. It was far more intense than his past infatuation with Angelica, where the world seemed to revolve around her. It was as if that had been mere play, and this time, it was the real thing.
Moreover, the Empress was not someone to be taken lightly. She was the complete opposite of the somewhat naive Angelica. While she might appear to act on emotion, she always left herself a way out. In her quarrels with Rahil, she consistently maintained the position of the weaker party, leaving Rahil unsettled.
She was a true noble lady but different from the noble ladies he’d always seen. Even without having a private conversation with the Empress, just hearing about her from Angelica, Theodore judged that Rahil would not be able to escape from the Empress’s grasp.
The Empress understood how sincerity worked on people like Angelica or Rahil. While innocence and cunning might seem like incompatible traits, she had managed to combine the two seamlessly.
“You’re not feeling bad about this, are you? His Majesty was being considerate of you. After all, you’re newlyweds.”
The fact that the dragon had targeted the Empress and the Emperor had rescued her was top secret. In the past, Calix Ducy would have been the first to know and would have rushed to help the Emperor. However, this time, they had been left out entirely—under the guise of the Emperor’s ‘consideration.’
“Still, we should have been told!”
Angelica, though now the Duchess of Calix, had once been a knight of the Imperial Household. Her outburst was predictable. She was likely upset at being excluded from the ‘exciting’ matter of a dragon. Theodore felt mildly annoyed.
“Angelica. Dragons are no trivial matter. His Majesty must have had his own plans.”
Plans that evidently excluded them.
“But I could have protected Her Majesty the Empress by her side!”
“His Majesty has already entrusted that task to the Young Marquis. Remember? Francis Ruol. That quiet, uninteresting man.”
Angelica fell silent as she recalled the handsome man who had passed her by without a glance. Francis Ruol was the kind of beauty one might want to strike up a conversation with at least once, but he wasn’t someone you could easily get close to. Even Angelica’s natural charisma seemed ineffective on him.
“But he’s a man! I’m a woman! He can’t follow her everywhere! I can protect Her Majesty the Empress better!”
“Only someone who has been diligently training can make such claims.”
“Ugh! Theo, you’re so mean!”
She was a knight who enjoyed wielding her sword in battle, but she had never become a Sword Master. The main reason was her reliance on talent and her aversion to hard work. It might have been a bad habit developed because she and those around her were always too supportive of her.
Angelica had never truly experienced failure. Sure, she had faced minor setbacks that caused no real harm, but never a crushing defeat that would lead to significant despair.
It was only natural, given that she was the daughter of a ducal family, gifted with an extraordinary talent for the sword, breathtaking beauty, and a bright personality.
The only shadow in her life was the absence of her parents, but she had a grandfather and a cousin who loved her all the more to make up for it.
To obtain everything without effort was undoubtedly a stroke of fortune. Yet Theodore sometimes found that fortune unsettling.
A brilliantly shining light was bound to fade someday. That’s how the world worked. Just as a fully bloomed flower wilts and the young eventually age, the bright fortune that shone on her wouldn’t stay by her side forever.
“You know that seeing you would only make Her Majesty uncomfortable. She’s probably anxious right now, and your absence is actually helping her.”
Emilio spoke with a sharp smile. He likely didn’t realize how cutting his words were, nor how they might upset Angelica. He was the type to believe that speaking the truth could never be wrong.
As expected, Angelica furrowed her brow, and Theodore sighed. Angelica liked the Empress and, even if she didn’t, she wanted to get closer to her simply because she was Rahil’s wife.
‘It would be troublesome if she ends up making the Empress uncomfortable even at the Harvest Festival.’
