Running Away Before the Runaway Empress

Chapter 2

Anyway, the stuck-up emperor falls hopelessly in love with the empress and desperately tries to save her once he learns she has little time left to live. The empress recovers, although not through the emperor’s efforts, and the empress eventually forgives him after putting him through hell.

Knowing that a repentant male lead can be quite appealing, Lelia still thought that forgiving him might not be the best idea now that she was living the story. Bringing his mistress and openly mocking the empress—hell was what he deserved.

The empress’s shoulders trembled slightly. Glancing at her out of the corner of his eye, the emperor continued to whisper sweet nothings at his mistress.

Lelia clicked her tongue but kept quiet after Sara jabbed her in the side. Unable to bear the sight, the empress lowered her gaze.

“Your Majesty, I heard a new jewel has arrived...” the mistress began, cautiously glancing over at the empress.

The emperor saw this and declared for everyone in the room to hear, “If you want it, I will of course buy it for you.”

Lelia wanted to punch the emperor in his smug, cheating face. She couldn’t imagine how the empress felt, enduring the humiliation of watching her husband’s infidelity.

“…I am not feeling well. May I retire early?”

“Not to worry. I’ll leave.”

The emperor couldn’t stand the idea of the empress leaving him first, even if she was only leaving the room, so he rose with his mistress. The attendants and maids followed the emperor, and the empress watched them leave until they were out of sight.

Standing behind her, Lelia couldn’t see the empress’s face but noticed her frail frame trembling. Soon, the trembling ceased, and the empress slowly rose and returned to her quarters.

The empress struggled so much because the emperor was her first love. He had pretended to love her to use her family and then brought his true love, his mistress, into the palace as soon as he could.

The empress’s family was outraged but could do nothing. By imperial law, nobles could not divorce unless the spouse died or was missing for more than two months. Thus, the empress ended up isolated, waiting in vain for the emperor to return to her, until she finally gave up.

And ran away.

It was the only way to escape that hell.

Not long after leaving the palace, the empress discovered she was ill. Though she eventually found a cure, the long period of suffering took a toll on her body. Lelia felt a deep pity for the empress, but she was still determined to save herself.

I must resign to avoid getting beheaded.

She decided to escape from this palace.

Lelia immediately submitted her letter of resignation to the head maid, who, after glancing at the letter, summoned Sara.

When Lelia shook her head, the head maid kindly waved the resignation letter and asked, “Shall I tear this up, then?”

“I’ll bring her,” Lelia conceded.

Soon, Sara arrived with Lelia. The head maid massaged her temples, clearly stressed. “Sara, it seems you’ll need to re-train Lelia. I’m busy, so can you handle it?”

Sara looked puzzled. “May I ask why, my lady?”

The head maid handed Sara the resignation letter without a word, and Sara’s jaw dropped. “A resignation letter?!” she nearly screamed. Lelia couldn’t comprehend why her resignation was such a big deal.

Sara repeatedly apologized to the head maid and dragged Lelia back to their quarters, slamming the door behind them. She thrust the resignation letter at Lelia, shouting, “Tear it up immediately!”

“Why won’t they just accept it?” Lelia asked, genuinely confused.

“Because you can’t just resign!” Sara exclaimed.

Maintaining her distance from Sara’s outbursts, Lelia tilted her head in confusion. Sara, placing her hands on her hips, sighed.

“It’s clear you’ve lost your memory since that incident, so I’ll explain again starting with the most important rule of this palace.”

“Is this going to be boring?” Lelia asked, a bit apprehensive.

“It’s certainly not as gripping as a blade aimed at your neck.”

“Fair enough,” Lelia admitted, eager now to hear the rules. Sara, smirking at Lelia’s quick change of attitude, raised a finger.

“First, resignation letters are only submitted for marriage or in special circumstances.”

“Why?” Lelia asked.

“Because once you’re a maid of the palace, no secrets can leave these walls,” Sara explained.

“But they let you leave if you get married,” Lelia pointed out.

Sara licked her dry lips and whispered softly, “Once we are married, our in-laws become hostages. If palace secrets ever get out, the whole family will be executed.”

Lelia’s face turned ashen. “Why did I ever come here?”

“Because working here brings wealth and honor,” Sara replied.

“Wealth sounds good, but I don’t want honor,” Lelia murmured.

Sara looked at Lelia sympathetically, wondering how hard she’d hit her head to become so different. She gripped Lelia’s shoulders firmly. “There’s no reason to question it. The founding emperor made these rules, so we follow them. It’s the law of the palace. Just obey.”

Lelia sighed in half-resignation. “I have one more question. If this place offers so much wealth and honor, how can anyone find honor in living like a hostage?”

“Do you know what’s most important for a noblewoman?” Sara asked.

“Money? Power?”

Sara shook her head, almost pityingly. “Marriage. Marriage is everything for a noblewoman.”

Lelia nearly protested but bit her tongue, knowing it wouldn’t help to argue with Sara.

Sara continued, “Becoming a maid here guarantees an alliance with a good family. Even if you’re from a declining noble family, having a daughter serve in the palace ensures support from the palace. The third empress was a maid, you know.”

Lelia wasn’t particularly swayed by this. Didn’t this mean no one had managed the maid-to-empress transformation since the third empress?

Despite Sara’s warnings, Lelia’s curiosity about the palace’s strict secrecy grew. “What kind of secrets are they hiding by enforcing such measures?” she mused aloud.

Sara sighed again. The palace’s rules were as natural as breathing, but Lelia seemed to be questioning everything. This wasn’t something Sara could explain away. She looked at Lelia sternly. “If you don’t follow the palace laws, there’s no guarantee that you will make it out of here alive.”

Though Sara’s tone was threatening, it was also sincere. Lelia’s face turned pale again, prompting Sara to quickly change the subject. “If you really want to leave, you’ll have to appeal directly to the empress or the emperor.”

Lelia’s face lit up momentarily. “Then I could...”

“But no servant who has ever appealed to them to leave the palace has survived,” Sara informed. Lelia’s fleeting hope crumbled. She tore up her resignation letter and tossed it in the wastebasket before flopping onto her bed.

Sara pulled her up forcefully. “Get up! Starting today, you’ll re-learn all your duties as a maid!”

Lelia cursed the novel for not mentioning the complications of a maid’s resignation. Dragging herself out of bed, she asked, clinging to hope, “What if I run away?”

“Can you fight? Can you fight Archduke Arctylus? Or the heads of the three great families? And their soldiers?”

Lelia’s spirits deflated further as Sara grew more intense. Arctylus was the empress’s family. The archduke was her twin brother.

“Not even close,” Lelia admitted.

“Then don’t even dream about it. The only ones who can break through the palace guards are the heads of the four great families and their commanders. No one else.”

“Not even the emperor?”

“Hmph. That man is all talk—” Sara, startled, clapped a hand over her mouth.

Lelia pretended she hadn’t heard anything and stepped outside the quarters.

How did the empress escape then?

The novel only said, “The next day, the empress had disappeared,” leaving the details of her escape a mystery.

***

To survive, I have to stop the empress from escaping, Lelia thought, but soon found herself wondering if it was right to save herself at the empress’s expense.

Riddled with guilt, Lelia turned to Sara for insight. “Sara, what would happen if the empress escaped secretly?”

“We’d all be executed for failing to protect her,” Sara replied without hesitation.

I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I must prevent your escape, Lelia thought. She couldn’t let innocent servants die. In reality, everyone mattered, not just the main characters.

I need to find another way for her to live well without escaping, Lelia thought, revisiting the novel’s events in her mind and searching for a solution.

After escaping the palace, the empress discovered her illness and lost all residual feelings of tenderness for the emperor. She could not waste what remained of her precious life on garbage like him. She sent him a letter sealed with her signet and vanished completely. She knew that if she remained missing for two months, the marriage would be automatically dissolved, but she had no intention of returning.

Her letter was simple:

“I no longer love you.

Do not look for me.

From this day forward, the empress is dead.

I hope you and your mistress live happily ever after.”

Whether she genuinely wished him well or was being sarcastic, the emperor was deeply shocked. He couldn’t believe the empress, who had loved him unwaveringly, had suddenly changed her mind. Losing interest in his mistress, he obsessed over what hidden motives the empress might have, only to realize he truly loved her. Forced and sudden as it seemed, the emperor set out on his path of regret.

Is there any way to use this information to escape? Maybe I could escape with the empress?

But why would she take someone as useless as Lelia along?

Lelia felt disheartened.