Chapter 13

Elisha indifferently ignored the blue gaze that penetrated her, but the others in the training ground did not.

Asensio tried to give a late greeting among the confused people, but the emperor raised a hand and blocked it.

He opened his mouth without giving a glance to the others.

“2nd Empress, you are very good at swordsmanship. I didn’t know that.”

“It’s just some pretty tricks.”

In response to Elisha’s reply, the tip of the Emperor’s chin fell to the floor and he turned to Dominique, who was still stunned.

“Those who have been defeated by the sickly 2nd Empress who can’t even deal with mana are ignorant garbage.”

The ‘garbage’ he was talking about included not only Dominique, but the entire 2nd Knights Order.

What had happened a while ago was definitely an event that took people’s hearts out of it.

In the beginning, they could’ve asked for the 2nd Empress and the Crown Prince’s forgiveness by stopping Dominique.

However, the 2nd Knights missed their chance.

They only realized the seriousness of the matter.

It would be his great luck if Dominique could be relieved of this sin, unfortunately, he couldn’t.

The 2nd Knights were worried that the range of sins that should’ve been limited to only Dominique would widen and they would be imprisoned as well.

Because with their acquiescence, the situation had eventually  gone beyond the worst and came to an end that couldn’t have been imagined by all.

In front of the emperor who was entitled to judge, the 2nd Knights could neither obey their master’s will nor become a loser together with their colleagues.

How can a knight still be a knight if he has nothing in his heart?

Thud! Thud!

The knights of the 2nd Knights clasped their knees to the floor and bowed their foreheads toward the emperor.

“We’ve done wrong, Your Majesty!”

“Please forgive us!”

But again, they were wrong.

Elisha’s voice pierced the back of the head of the 2nd Order members whose heads were about to hit the floor.

“You guys are really strange. Why do you beg to His Majesty when you have done wrong to your master?”

“…”

There was no one here who could dismiss her words as those of the sickly 2nd Empress.

The 2nd Knights, who were stunned, didn’t know what to do, so they looked at each other, then, the Emperor said above their heads.

“Everything that is attached to Atien is mine, even a single stalk of grass. Everything the Crown Prince gets, am I not allowed to get?”

Elisha knew the Emperor was trying to test her.

She should take a step back and hide it, as the time had not yet come.

However…

Change had already begun, and Elisha was attracting attention.

It would be better for her to reveal herself a little bit when there was still the Western Tower to distract their opponents’ eyes, rather than arouse curiosity by tying it up too tightly.

Besides, Elisha had to see the end when it started.

She never gave up when things didn’t go as expected and she couldn’t get what she wanted.

It was such a temperament that made Elisha strong, but it was also the main culprit that deepened her hateful temperament.

Her fingertips tingled, and Elisha clenched her fist tightly and extended it.

‘It’s alright.’

‘Now that I know what’s really important, I won’t lose my way.’

Elisha raised her face straight and spoke to the Emperor.

“Who would deny that fact? It’s because they’re bad. If I had made a mistake as a knight of the Crown Prince, I would have been punished only as much as the Crown Prince could inflict, but now, isn’t that not the case?”

“The 2nd Empress means that they will receive a greater punishment than I, the Emperor, can inflict?”

“Isn’t that right, Your Majesty?”

Elisha asked.

It’s a clear intention that you might have to give out what you have in order to see what’s inside.

The Emperor closed his eyes slightly, and slowly nodded his head.

“Actually. That’s true. Then I’ll have to show the emperor’s dignity. What should I do? Shall I kill them all as an example? Or should I make that asshole so that he can’t hold a sword again?”

He muttered it out to himself, but Elisha naturally accepted the Emperor’s words as if he had spoken to her.

“That’s a good way, but since they betrayed the knight’s code of chivalry, I want them to get more shame than simply leaving scars on the skin.”

The Emperor blinked as if implying her to continue, and Elisha continued in a calm tone.

“Please disband the current 2nd Knights as punishment for their wrongdoing. And this time, with the mercy of a parent and not the master of the Empire, please watch over the Crown Prince so that he can use his powers and create his own knights. It will make them realize how they have betrayed a wonderful master.”

Elisha’s continuous provocation towards Dominique was to let him bring out his best move and countered it.

This was the reason why Elisha had decided to face Dominique with her sword.

Of course, she had never thought of ending it like this…

The process of spreading the word about today’s affairs, conflicting the interests of various noble forces, and bringing it to the desired location must be long and difficult.

“Hmm.”

Suddenly, a wrinkle formed on the forehead of the Emperor.

He thought the conversation was interesting, but it seemed that the excitement had gone down.

“Does the 2nd Empress think it is possible for the Crown Prince to create a new 2nd Knights Order on his own?”

The 2nd Knights were formed before the Crown Prince faction was united.

At that time, those who were already outstanding belonged to the 1st Knights with Rohan, and those who were being held tightly in the hand of the 1st Empress Isabelle were about to be established as the 3rd Knights…

Among the remaining ones, the most useful ones were selected and became the current 2nd Knights.

It is impossible for new talents to fall from the sky among such numbers, if that is the case, then why should they become the empty shells of the Crown Prince’s limbs?

Therefore.

“Possible.”

Elisha answered without hesitation.

There’s only one possible outcome from this.

Elisha shook her head as the Emperor tried to look back at the one he had left behind beyond the entrance to the training ground.

The number of knights raised by the Emperor and Marquis Blemir would be quite large, but if she relied on them, then all of this would have been in vain at best.

What Elisha was looking at was a bigger, bigger tidal wave.

“There is the Capital Guard.”

“The Capital Guard?”

At some point, the blue pupil of the Emperor, which had been recurrent, expanded greatly.

Elisha filled in the picture for the Emperor quickly.

“Yes. The bastards and knights from each aristocratic family were gathered together to form a guard unit belonging to the Capital Guard.”

“What are you going to do with the herd of wild dogs that have been told not to bark anywhere?”

“They became wild dogs because they don’t have an owner. And what’s wrong with a wild dog? A wild dog is willing to lick the feet of the one who promised to become its owner, even if they don’t give him greasy food and a good bed.”

“Do you think their tongues are clean because no one’s gone out so far? Instead, they would have dyed their fangs with blood. What’s the point of using wild dogs who’d even accept unqualified people without honor who won’t even give them greasy food and a place to sleep?”

The Crown Prince, who is not a great aristocrat or the Emperor, who does not need wild dogs, would rather be the perfect owner for them.

More than Elisha herself in the past, even.

Because Asensio is a noble and lovely boy worthy of sacrifice that must be protected.

And one more thing.

“If Your Majesty trusts and watches over the process, they will be the new 2nd Knights, who will be good for what you are about to do.”

“Does the 2nd Empress know what that means?”

“Have I ever spoken out of words without meaning?”

Elisha did not avoid the Emperor’s gaze.

Kaiden was an emperor wielding a powerful Imperial power.

However, it was not absolute.

This is because the power of the nobility, which had been strong since the time of the previous emperors several generations ago, was currently at its peak despite the current emperor being called the best timber.

In general, when the power of the emperor was strong, the rights of the nobility were weak, and in the opposite case, history flowed according to the result.

What would happen if the two powers that should naturally harmonize, have a strong enough presence to face each other without losing?

The Emperor did not like the great aristocrats who eroded his power.

In such a relationship, he was able to be relatively generous with the nobility of the Imperial family, the nobles of small and medium-sized families, and the emerging powers that could oppose the existing great aristocrats.

As Elisha mentioned, if wild dogs become loyal dogs and guard the Imperial Palace, they will not only be able to rip off the wealth of the great aristocrats…

It will create hope and create more people who want to be like them.

Elisha was not wrong.

Because the Emperor did not deny her.

Kaiden ran a hand through his dark hair.

Those indifferent sky-blue eyes were frankly a bit funny, but they were in contrast compared to the conversation they just had.

There was no need to explain or confirm anything.

When one said one, the other said two, and when one pointed to four, the other answered six.

Most of the conversations the two of them exchanged could not be guessed by those around them, and even half could not be understood, but the two of them were accepting more than a dozen.

It was the first time the Emperor had met such a communicative person.

As the Emperor stared at her, Elisha wondered if he was offended by the fact that she seemed to be reading his insides.

However, if she is recognized as a useful tool rather than a potential enemy to be a threat, the range in which Elisha can move increases.

‘Come on, you emperor.’

‘Make a judgment.’

The Emperor opened his mouth towards Elisha, who had hidden the three children behind her back.

“There were a lot of things I didn’t know about the 2nd Empress.”

“Isn’t it enough to find out from now on?”

“Can you tell me?”

“If Your Majesty orders it.”

Elisha answered by placing her right palm over her left heart.

It was not as a woman of the emperor belonging to the inner palace, but as a servant of the emperor, but none of the two people who could be called the parties involved expressed strangeness, so how dare the others intervene.

“Alright then. Let me remember.”

What’s more, the Emperor accepted the greetings of the 2nd Empress with a strangely satisfied expression on his face.

After that, the Emperor pointed his chin at the 2nd Knights, who were exhausted from hearing about their brutal treatment on their heads.

“About them… Yes, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to do what you said. There’s no reason to let garbage roll around in the Imperial Palace.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Elisha sighed inwardly.

But it didn’t end there.

“You told me something good, so I should reward you.”

The Emperor stretched out his hand toward his man, who was quietly waiting on the other side of the training ground.

“Did you call me, Your Majesty?”

“It’s dangerous for someone like the empress to go out alone outside the palace. However, I can’t put a wizard of the Western Tower as her escort and let them go to the Capital Guard in the capital. So, I ask you to accompany the 2nd Empress.”

It was a sudden event that had nothing to do with Elisha’s will.

Elisa’s eyebrows faintly frown upon seeing the approaching person.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Eyes with the same color as his hair, as soft and polite as his voice, glanced at Elisha and then fell away.

Translator’s note

“Do you think their tongues are clean because no one’s gone out so far?”

Before this paragraph, Elisha said something about a wild dog that is willing to lick the feet of those who promised to be its master. So the emperor’s reply implied whether Elisha is sure that they don’t have a master yet just because those people are still in the Capital Guard.

Elisha “tricked” the Emperor into believing that she and the Crown Prince will move as his people. I put “” because it is not clear whether Kaiden realizes this and just plays along or not.

The Emperor fears the power of the old, great aristocrats and accepts Elisha’s plan because of it.

At the end of the chapter, the Emperor basically puts an eye on Elisha to observe her movements, which implies that Kaiden doesn’t trust her 100%. Although, this Rohan seems to have a past with Elisha?