Diana's voice trembled. Suddenly, her hand pushed Lucas by his shoulder. With her incredible strength, Lucas struggled with his lean frame and fell from Diana's body.
"What's wrong?"
"What's wrong?"
Diana tried to remain composed. She once dreamed of a paradise where she would live happily ever after with a lovable person. But now she realized things were different. He turned out to be a bastard who didn't even have the basic knowledge of dealing with a human being.
"I heard his highness. However, it's not easy to give Trisha a Marquess title."
"Do you think that is a problem?"
Diana was Lucas' only empress. But Lucas seemed to treat Diana as a mere living doll who would just produce a successor.
"Anyway, negative public opinion will subside after some time if it happens. Trisha deserves the title."
It was unusual in the empire to bestow a title to anyone. Especially if only made out from his whim and not based on merit.
"A lot of people are envious of Trisha. She's suffering because of malicious rumors."
"Trisha…" Lucas repeated the name as boringly as anyone would say it. "Trisha is a girl with a big heart."
Ever since, the relationship between the three of them was downright wrong. Diana couldn't find peace with the prevailing situation she was in. She decided to just give up. She could not tolerate any longer the relationship between Trisha and Lucas.
"I can't withstand the rumor that she's my mistress."
Enemies came to mind and into Lucas' eyes. It was a matter of Trisha's honor as well as his image. He tried to keep secret their relationship for a long time being an emperor who valued his reputation more than anything else.
"If you, as the Empress, will show a warm welcome to Trisha, these rumors will die down."
"That… would you tell me why?"
"Of course, you are the empress and a good friend of Trisha."
Diana's fingertips trembled. There was no need to express this feeling now. Lucas wouldn't even understand whatever she would reveal. She looked at him sharply but said nothing.
"Show us your genuine friendship."
"Ha …"
Lucas did not hear Diana's sarcastic laughter. She didn't feel like she was going to get any angrier. Shame and disgust boiled within her. Lucas uttered the word "friendship" without thought of its real meaning. Friendship? Was that not such a terrible word to describe this situation? There would never be a place for Diana in what Lucas called friendship.
"Friendship …"
Diana grumbled bitterly. Friendship is a very ideal thing. Friends care for each other's welfare and stick with each other through tears and laughter.
For a man and woman, they can play hide-and-seek in a room, grab their hands without hesitation and may get engrossed with each other's feelings. Soon they can kiss each other impulsively. Then mutually, they will share intense emotions and passionate affairs.
Trisha showed up once before, proudly revealing the traces of the red kiss mark left on her neck as if it was a diamond necklace. It was evident to her, who made it. For Diana, she knew Lucas did it, and Trisha was proof that he enjoyed their affair.
Trisha was a good friend of the empress and the emperor's best partner. The painful truth didn't matter since the emperor always wanted to have his way.
"Oh, it's too dragging. I have enough for today."
Lucas touched his dead pe*is and put on his pants. He mumbled a rebuke to Diana with some harsh words. Being the Empress, Diana had to just lie down submissively and had to open up her legs.
"That's enough. Let's keep going. I need you to get a new place for Trisha in the imperial palace."
There were days when Trisha wasn't in the palace. But Lucas now wanted her to become a member of the imperial family officially. It is, of course, an excellent benefit for Trisha if Diana gave it to her as the empress.
"I hope she likes her new garden. It's just nearby."
The garden was named after the empress to celebrate Diana's birthday. Of course, it had the best location in the palace being right in front of the Empress' quarters.
"Is that all?"
All emotions disappeared from Diana's voice. Her strikingly beautiful, blue eyes, as still as the lake, were calm. Diana was a sober woman who tried not to show her feelings. Her beautiful face did not bear any trace of great joy or sorrow . It was just as beautiful as a flower beyond human comprehension. Her sobriety made her beauty even more mysterious.
Somehow she was a perfect Empress.
But to him, Diana more like a beautiful garden plant. Lucas liked the composure of Diana as if she were just vegetation; he found her serenity a perfect opportunity to be able to run around with the rabbit-like Trisha.
"Oh, I almost forgot."
Lucas slowly approached Diana picking up the hem of her dress. The last time she sat next to Lucas was in public, wherein their two seats were attached to each other.
"I want to give Trisha a meaningful gift."
From the eyes of Lucas, sweetness radiated. Of course, such generosity wasn't meant for Diana. She struggled very hard to endure nausea that she was feeling now.
"I told the imperial craftsman that you have the best ruby. I asked him how about making a necklace with it."
The precious stone had sentimental value for Diana. It was handed down from generation to generation by her mother, who died in a carriage accident when Diana was young. Lucas did not know about it.
"Trisha's beautiful red eyes are best suited for this ruby."
"Yes."
As Diana calmly spoke, Lucas smiled brightly as he thought of Trisha wearing the beautiful jewelry. The smile pierced Diana's chest like an ice drill.