Chapter 96

Marquis Croix, who had come for a report, found that the emperor was about to leave the office. He bowed his head.

“I’ll come back later, Your Majesty.”

Kaiden, who glanced at him, answered clearly.

“I’ll listen as we walk.”

As he moved, Marquis Croix quickly followed him and opened his mouth.

“The grain sent from the Eastern Plains has arrived in the central.”

“All of them?”

“Yes. It is said that they spent enough money considering the amount of rot and loss along the way.”

“Since the will of Duke Cherkah and Prince Raymond coincide, there should be no problem in the East.”

The 1st Consort Isabelle, who was associated with both, played a big role.

“That is correct. Lately, there have been no quarrels, and it is very quiet.”

“The East is good on its own, but the West is problematic. I knew everyone would try to get out of the way now that the 2nd Consort is back, but I didn’t expect them to be so shameless.”

“I apologize.”

Marquis Croix looked into his master’s eyes and said.

“It’s not for you to apologize for.”

After hearing a few more reports, Kaiden sent Marquis Croix back. Then he walked slowly under the sun.

Those passing by could not take their eyes off while glancing at each other, even while urgently taking precautions. Something about the black-haired and blue-eyed man made the viewer wonder even though he was simply moving.

After a while, he arrived in front of the White Rose Palace. The White Rose Palace was in the midst of preparation to welcome its new occupants, but it was empty inside today.

Kaiden, who doesn’t like the hustle and bustle, told everyone to go away. Standing for a moment, he saw someone approaching from the other side of the road that Kaiden had walked. The other party stopped right before Kaiden and greeted him lightly.

“I see Your Majesty.”

“Raise your head.”

Elisha looked up at Kaiden with sky blue eyes.

“What do you think? I ordered the decoration of the palace for you. It will be difficult to change later, so look at it now and tell me if you want to change anything.”

The emperor’s hand reached out in front of Elisha’s eyes. Elisha put her hand on his, and together they passed through the entrance to the White Rose Palace.

How soon will this rumour spread throughout Barossa? Elisha was able to affirm that it would not take half a day.

By the time she returned to the 2nd Consort’s Palace, some of the maids would look at her with blushing cheeks, rejoicing that their empress consort would soon become Her Majesty the empress before they got scolded by Marie.

“What about the exterior wall decoration? The flowers in the garden don’t have to be white rose. You can plant something else.”

After that, the emperor stopped talking. As soon as he stopped walking, Elisha looked back at him.

“Are you sure you’re looking? It seems like you’re just thinking about something else.”

No one knew if he was referring to the White Rose Palace or himself, but it didn’t matter.

“I don’t need the White Rose Palace, Your Majesty.”

“I’m not giving it to you because you need it. You must move because you’re useful.”

“I’m not saying I’m going to reject the candidacy. I will yield the White Rose Palace to other young girls who will be chosen as candidates for the empress, and I will stay at the 2nd Consort’s Palace.”

“I think you want to throw another prey to the 1st Consort and me and step back. But it won’t go your way, so please stop trying.”

They were a picturesque couple walking through the garden, but in reality, they were just having a dry conversation that was going back and forth.

The emperor found a place to rest not far away and led Elisha there. The garden, the pride of the White Rose Palace, could be seen at a distance.

Neither of the two paid a single glance despite the landscape that even those who do not like flowers could admire.

“Who do you think moved the desert dwellers among the Western nobles? So many people hate you that I can’t reduce the number.”

“You’ve asked that question before. When asked the same question repeatedly, some people might let their guard down, but I’m not one of them, Your Majesty.”

“You’re right, 2nd Consort. You’re not that kind of person.”

“And does Your Majesty have any idea? I guess this is proof that you don’t.”

Maybe it was because both had a habit of grasping the other’s habits and inferring the following words. The conversation continued as long as it was not intentionally interrupted.

They couldn’t be called good friends. Rather, they turned their backs on each other at any time according to their interests, and if it was more than that, there was a high possibility that they would become enemies with weapons.

However, Kaiden also liked this conversation with the 2nd Consort. Looking back, it seemed to have always been the case after the reunion at the crown prince’s training ground.

Even when they stood up in a heavy atmosphere, Kaiden’s mood didn’t change as much.

“By the way, Marquis Blemir has been away for his duties. The crown prince must be very disappointed. I heard he came to you. Did you greet each other well?”

The emperor asked as if he had suddenly remembered, but how could that be?

“Yes. We had a brief moment to clear up our misunderstandings. Anyway, we share the same feelings for His Highness the crown prince. Having a good relationship with each other is not without results, so we decided to try to get along well from now on.”

She also answered as if it were nothing, but the content was anything but nothing. The emperor’s woman was a bondage that could not be escaped, but the title of being the emperor’s child was not like that.

It was a bell that marked the beginning of a ferocious fate, and at the same time, it was a red carpet that had been rolled down so that one could walk as a noble prince.

The sound of the bell and the carpet’s quality would differ depending on each situation, but the intention that encompassed them never changed.

A good cause.

One of the emperor’s children. The only chosen one would be able to escape the shackles of being the emperor’s child and become the emperor himself!

If the people behind Ascensio, who would compete in the contest, were the strongest summoner across the empire, and one of the only three swordmasters in the empire, wouldn’t his odds be unparalleled?

Even when the two moved separately, they had built up their forces at an unpredictable speed. It remained to be seen how far the momentum of the two of them would grow together, but there would never be a time it got ridiculed.

So, how much power would Ascensio, who was adorned with the insignia of a powerful heir to the throne, have?

At that time, he would shine on his own and drive people around without anyone’s help. Would it still be possible to treat the child as a mere hostage?

Marquis Blemir reached out his hand when they really needed it. Thanks to this, Blemir, and not Elisha, who the emperor bound, was able to bring Ascensio to the fore.

If Elisha herself could only protect the safety of the crown prince, Marquis Blemir would become a sharp sword above all else, slashing anything that stood in the way and moving forward.

It was such a strange feeling to feel secure in anticipation of other people’s abilities, so Elisha laughed unconsciously. She didn’t know what it looked like to the emperor.

“Is that all?”

“What?”

“Is that all Marquis Blemir wanted from you?”

Not knowing the emperor’s intentions, Elisha could not easily open her mouth. It was better not to spit out hasty words. But the emperor suddenly spoke out of nowhere.

“Do you know how the woman of Barossa can be free?”

It was the first time she had heard of such a thing. Elisha’s heart pounded. She wanted to leave if she could. Because what Elisha wanted wasn’t wealth and glory.

But if a woman of Barossa suddenly disappeared, nothing could be done to regain her tarnished honour. And her children would be covered by the filth.

But what if you could legally leave Barossa without causing any problems?

Instead of asking, Elisha waited. That man would do whatever he wanted regardless of herself, so she didn’t have to be swayed.

“You’re very clever. You’d be dozens of times better than Marquis Croix if I let you manage the court affairs right now.”

The emperor reached out and tucked Elisha’s hair, which was flowing down to the side, behind her ear.

“Once the emperor hands over the throne to the heir, all the members of the imperial family of the previous generation will retreat into the shadow of Barossa. At that time, if the husband who became the situational situation dies and disappears, the empress and the consorts will be given a chance to make a choice.”

When it came to the empress or the consorts, they were usually daughters of powerful noble families. Most of them devoted themselves despite their safety for the glory of family, even though they couldn’t have intervened in the battle for succession. And the moment when the successor was decided, they were unlikely to survive except for one who became the winner. Even if they were alive, they would die soon.

The remaining winners were either the emperor’s biological mother or the noble women of equal status.

Even if the empress retreated into the shadows, her authority would not be easily broken, and she would share favour with the families who had helped the chosen successor. There was no way she was going to leave Barossa.

On the other hand, some women who came from mediocre families whose existence was buried together would become too old and weak to go out into the world outside Barossa’s walls. In the end, the choice that the emperor had mentioned existed in name only, and even a few people knew that there was such a thing. But having that basis was enough for Elisha.

“Are you sure you heard me right? And yet you look so happy?”

Elisha looked at the emperor, not knowing what kind of expression she had on her face.

The emperor was smiling at her. Emotions dwelled on the face of the suffocatingly beautiful man even when he was quiet, and everything around him lost its colour and bowed before him.

It was not even in full bloom. It was only a slight fold in his eyes and a loosely pulled corner of the mouth, but it looked clear. A soft voice flowed through the open lips.

“You want me to die.”

It wasn’t hot or cold; it was calm as ever. Elisha blinked once and then shook her head slowly.

“No way, Your Majesty.”

“Marquis Blemir probably knows that story just now. One of the people who created and revised the laws to be used in Barossa with the emperor, including the empire in the early days of its foundation, was the centrist lord, Duke Fontana.”

“Is that so?”

Suddenly, the atmosphere turned dangerous. Elisha was indifferent on the outside, but on the inside, she forged a blade and awakened her mind.

“Jaylene also came a while ago? After stopping by your place, she only saw her husband and went straight back. She didn’t even show her face at the Imperial Palace.”

He definitely didn’t say it because he felt sad about that… Elisha thought as she looked at the emperor, wondering what nonsense he was speaking of.

“No, Your Majesty.”

“What do you mean no?”

Instead of answering, Elisha looked directly into the emperor’s blue eyes. She could say anything, but she chose not to say anything.

“I thought I’d have to see what was in your hands that moved the mind of the unruly Marquis Blemir and the Knight Commander, who was as hard as a stone.”

“…”

“I think I know one at first glance, but I don’t know the other.”

The emperor tilted his torso toward Elisha and raised her chin with his index finger.

Elisha’s body stiffened. He had kissed her in a similar position the other day.

“Should I teach you  how to breathe this time?”

As if it were a joke, the muttering emperor took his hand off Elisha and leaned his back on the chair again. Elisha thought it was finally over, but it wasn’t.

“Come to my bedroom in the Imperial Palace at night. A kiss isn’t bad, but that’s not enough. I’ll have to find out more. What you, a woman, have. What I didn’t recognize before.”

The figure of a completely stiffened woman was contained within the top-class jewel-like blue eyes.

It was a clear, flat refusal, but the emperor didn’t care.

The price she had to pay for the deal in the name of love was still valid.