
I just don't get one thing...why did Maruba die and why is it thanks to her that they escaped?

Maruba is an heir to an old rich family so im guessing she has her heir's rights given to hiiragi if she ever dies. so her family's power is stronger than the shitty older brother and thats why they were able to escape since hiiragi is now the heir. Maruba got killed because those two girls who was having sex with hiiragi got jealous of maruba for always being around hiiragi all the time.

I made the mistake of reading the novel
before I came here and while I don't really regret it because I love the empress, it's really frustrating.
I really hate the emperor not because he didn't love her because that's somewhat understandable, but because he couldn't even be bothered to respect her, for all she had done. He couldn't even be bothered to extend basic courtesy to a person, a woman he grew up with.
He's just a whole different brand of cute and I love just watching him and the fl converse.
Also, wow, what a dream!