I Married a Sick Husband

“Ha, the arrogance of not knowing where she stands is still the same!”

 

As soon as she checked the reply she received from Meredith, Catarina let out a sigh as if she was shocked.

 

“Father, look at this girl! I think she really believes that she’s the empress.”

 

“She has been holding out in the imperial palace for several months, so it’s easy to get mistaken.”

 

The Duke of Schwartz replied as if he was not surprised.

 

“I don’t think it’s a place I created for her.”

 

“That’s right! It’s so annoying to watch. Why on earth do I have to crawl around for something like this?”

 

Catarina, who was in the middle of a fuss, soon calmed her excitement and muttered.

 

“But, she will be kicked out soon.”

 

After she returned from the monastery, Catarina passionately persuaded her father.

 

In the current situation, if they let Meredith be as she is, then she would never be a factor to their advantage.

 

She would definitely continue to hinder their plans, so they had to be prepared to get rid of her at any time.

 

As a result of her constant persuasion, she succeeded in getting him to agree to kick out Meredith.

 

All she had left to do was get Blair’s consent.

 

“First of all, I’d better go and say hello to Her Highness the Empress Dowager. Her Highness the Empress Dowager must be waiting for me.”

 

At the moment, Catarina was planning on visiting Blair to tell her of her plans.

 

***

 

That afternoon, Catarina visited the Empress Dowager’s palace in her dapper gold dress.

 

Her father, the Duke of Schwartz, was also present.

 

“Her Highness the Empress Dowager, greetings after a long time.”

 

“Welcome, Princess Schwartz.”

 

Blair greeted her with the same friendly attitude as she always had.

 

“It’s been a really long time. How have you been?”

 

“Thanks to the grace of Your Highness the Empress Dowager, I am well…”

 

Catarina habitually tried to say that she was doing well.’

 

‘… Honestly, I almost died.’

 

She felt that in good conscience she could not tell such a serious lie.

 

“… I tried to get along well.”

 

Although she ended up not doing well.

 

“I see. Please sit down first.”

 

Blair gently checked Catarina’s current status.

 

“I heard you went to a monastery, you must have suffered a lot.”

 

As Blair spoke to her in recognition of her hardships, Catarina felt memories of her difficult times quickly passing by in her mind.

 

Then, her passionate emotions welled up in her heart and brought tears to Catarina’s eyes.

 

“Yes, really. It was a time of endless suffering…!”

 

“Don’t cry, princess. Anyway, you still managed to return like this, right?”

 

“Yes, Your Highness the Empress Dowager.”

 

Catarina then smiled.

 

“Actually, I came to see you today for three reasons.”

 

“Three reasons? Tell me.”

 

“First of all, of course, I have come to greet Your Highness the Empress Dowager.”

 

“What about the second?”

 

“I would like to dethrone the current empress and appoint a new empress.”

 

“….”

 

After hearing Catarina’s words, Blair was silent for a moment and then asked.

 

“The reason being?”

 

“My sister has a grudge against me and my family. She will probably continue to try to hold us back and interfere with our work.”

 

“… But I guess you forgot.”

 

Blair’s gaze fell on Duke Schwartz.

 

“It was the duke who first told me that he wanted to make his ‘illegitimate daughter’ the empress.”

 

“….”

 

“I just agreed to that request. Duke, did you make a mistake in judgement?”

 

“… I apologise, Your Highness.”

 

The Duke of Schwartz bowed his head as if he was ashamed.

 

“I never dreamed that she would turn out to be so clever and cunning.”

 

“… She is indeed clever and cunning.”

 

“Yes. I’m sure everything she is doing now is a lie and a pretence.”

 

Well… isn’t that the same for them too?

 

“We’d better nip it in the bud before it’s too late.”

 

“But there is no justification.”

 

Blair responded as if she was troubled.

 

“Unfortunately, she is the child I personally nominated as the empress. I can’t say two things with just one mouth.”

 

“Don’t worry about that, Your Imperial Highness.”

 

Catarina hurried out.

 

“I will create the justification.”

 

“The princess will?”

 

“Yes. I plan to bring the reputation of the Empress to ruin.”

 

“That won’t be easy.”

 

“But we have to do it. If there is anyone who stands in our way, shouldn’t we uproot them by the roots?”

 

“… Okay, then.”

 

Blair nodded.

 

“If you can, do it.”

 

“Do you agree?”

 

“There is no reason why I cannot agree.”

 

With those words, Blair smiled meaningfully.

 

“But in the process, something as unfortunate as the last time shouldn’t happen. In that case, the result is worse than not doing anything at all…”

 

“Of course, Your Highness the Empress Dowager. Do not worry too much!”

 

Catarina was so enthusiastic about having gotten everyone’s approval that she paid no heed to Blair’s quiet warning.

 

Blair looked at Catarina intently and asked about her last reason.

 

“What about the third?”

 

“Ah.”

 

Only then did Catarina return to her senses and quickly replied.

 

“The last reason is the marriage between me and His Highness the Prince.”

 

“Do you want to get married, Miss Catarina?”

 

“Not only I, but His Highness the Prince is also older now. Also, wasn’t our marriage planned from the beginning?”

 

At that moment, she remembered what the Duke of Schwartz had told her a while ago. She couldn’t help but question the dowager empress.

 

“Could it be that you don’t like me as your daughter-in-law anymore?”

 

“Catarina, that’s rude!”

 

“That’s okay.”

 

The perplexed Duke of Schwartz hurried to warn his daughter, but Blair seemed unconcerned.

 

“But I never thought I’d hear that question.”

 

“I’m sorry if I was rude. But Your Highness the Empress Dowager seems to be somewhat lukewarm about this marriage.”

 

“It’s not like that. but…”

 

Blair pinpointed something.

 

“Strictly speaking, our promise was that after Fabian becomes the Emperor, we would take the princess as Empress.”

 

“….”

 

“Yes? That’s how I remember it. When did that turn into two people getting married?”

 

“But… isn’t that what it means?”

 

“There is a difference. Timing is a very important issue.”

 

Blair shook her head.

 

“Have you ever thought about how much more wary the emperor would be of us if you two were to marry now?”

 

“But…”

 

“Fabian has now returned home much sooner than we had planned. I don’t think it’s necessary to pay attention to every little detail, but I don’t think we should do anything that makes us stand out.”

 

Catarina couldn’t argue with a cause that made so much sense.

 

“… Then, even if it’s not now, His Highness the Prince ascends to the position of emperor, you will definitely take me in as your daughter-in-law, right?”

 

“I promised you so.”

 

“All right. Then I will wait.”

 

Catarina surprisingly backed down obediently.

 

Blair guessed that she only needed her confirmation.

 

Blair laughed.

 

“So, are all three matters resolved?”

 

“Yes, Your Highness the Empress Dowager. You’re probably busy, so we’ll take our leave.”

 

“Is it so? Be careful on your way back.”

 

“Yes, Your Highness. I hope you will be well until our next meeting.”

 

Catarina bowed quite politely and then withdrew from Blair’s presence with the Duke of Schwartz.

 

And Blair, who was thinking about something for a moment, called her maid.

 

“You called for me, Your Highness the Empress Dowager?”

 

“Contact Duke Arvid .”

 

Blair gave instructions.

 

“He said he wanted to see me.”

 

It was time for her to change hands.

 

***

 

Meredith’s tea party was not hastily scheduled because of Catarina, rather it was an event that had been scheduled from the beginning.

 

‘She obviously took me in mind and scheduled it a week early on purpose.’

 

But Catarina thought it was all a ruse by Meredith.

 

‘Anyway, it was a clever mistake. Why are you thinking of trying to overpower me as soon as I return?’

 

But Meredith’s trick will never work.

 

‘You’ll regret setting up your tea party a week before mine.’

 

Catarina had a high-level plan of her own.

 

After exposing her hypocrisy at Meredith’s tea party, Catarina was sure that everyone who was disappointed with her would attend her tea party which was to be held a week later.

 

‘As long as that happens, there will be a clear comparison between mine and Meredith’s situation.’

 

‘This is truly a life-changing opportunity!’

 

‘No, it’s just everything going back to normal.’

 

From the beginning, she was someone who would be in a prestigious position where everyone would look up to her.

 

On the other hand, Meredith was an illegitimate child who was as disgusting as a bug.

 

‘We’ve been separated from our positions for too long.’

 

Now it was time to put everything back to where they belonged.

 

***

 

Meanwhile, Theodore also heard that Catarina had returned and was beginning her social activities again.

 

Additionally, he heard that Meredith had been invited by her to a tea party that would be held soon after.

 

“Is there really a need to show her mercy like that?”

 

Theodore was sceptical.

 

“I think we can just leave it alone.”

 

“Maybe this is my chance.”

 

“What chance?”

 

“People don’t change.”

 

Meredith smiled.

 

“This is an opportunity to strongly imprint this proposition on everyone.”

 

“Are you going to reveal her true colours?”

 

“I’m sure she’ll try to knock me down the same way I did. Princess Schwartz is someone who must repay what has been done to her in the same way.”

 

Meredith planned to take advantage of that.

 

“I will return it to her, so that she will fall into the trap she set by herself.”

 

Meredith predicted with a confident smile.

 

“I am confident that this incident will be enough to completely destroy the Schwartz family.”

 <Continued in Volume 4> Hi, finally done with Volume 3 of the novel. Now, 2 more volumes to go to complete this novel. It's been so long since I started this novel from the middle of Vol. 1. Anyways, I'll be taking a break to prepare chapters and also for Ruel to catch up to the current release.

Hope you guys enjoy this novel as much as I have, and enjoy Meredith's and Theodore's journey in realizing and confirming their love for each other. See you soon in a month^^