Chapter 168 - <Short stories 6.3>

"… You are aware that I do not have a first wife, right?" Lucretius became even angrier as he continued, "Did you come here thinking you can get your niece to become my first wife? Using the dead chancellor's name?"

Norma swallowed hard. There was no going back now. She had to push on.

"Yes, that is why I came here today."

Lucretius slapped the table in anger. "How dare you!"

Norma raised her voice as well. "Your highness! You will be meeting with the most important foreign figures, and if there is no one by your side, this will be a clear message for every nation to send their princesses for you to marry. Many kingdoms will become unhappy at your change in not accepting foreign women to be your wives and concubines."

"…"

One of the reasons for not accepting foreign princesses and noble ladies for marriages was to save money, but the biggest reason for Lucretius to want this was to eliminate other kingdom's attempt at interfering with royal succession.

They already had an unfortunate incident with Genoa recently, and Lucretius wanted to prevent similar happenings in the future.

Many other nations, however, did not like his plan. Sending their women could be a painful event and those women basically became a hostage. However, if these ladies bear the emperor's child, it became possible for their respective homelands to gain power as the child could become the next ruler of Cransia.

When Lucretius officially announced his intention to eliminate this tradition, there were some protests from different nations.

Lucretius smiled sharply. If Bina saw it, she would have become nervous because this smile only appeared when Lucretius was truly angry.

Norma continued, "So your highness, to prevent the other nations from getting the wrong idea, you have to appear with a wife by your side."

"… So I need to take in a Cransian woman as my first wife?"

Norma nodded. "Yes, and… once the empress learns of this, she will calm down and return home."

"If I get another wife, it will help convince my empress to return to me?"

Norma's mouth felt dry. The air felt sharp and painful against her skin. The tension in the room was palpable.

Norma decided that she needed to bring out her best argument.

"Your highness, do you still not know why her highness, who is a thoughtful lady, left like this?"

Lucretius frowned again in annoyance. "Do you know what you're talking about, Duchess?"

Norma knew this was a dangerous territory.

She had to tread carefully. "Yes, I do know. Recently, I met with her highness in private and discussed this matter."

"I do know that you had a meeting with her, but I didn't realize you talk about this. What exactly did you talk about?"

Norma smiled bitterly. She knew it. The empress didn't even tell his highness about the necessity of getting more wives. It made sense as a woman's jealousy was a powerful emotion.

This was good. It would make this conversation much easier.

Norma felt relieved as she continued, "I suggested to her highness that your highness needs to get a first wife to stabilize the kingdom and get more children."

The emperor finally lost it. "A mere duchess making such a suggestion to the empress! How dare you!"

"I did it because my loyalty wouldn't let me be silent." Norma continued strong. "And at the time, her highness refused my advice."

"Of course!"

Norma pretended to be emotional as she added, "But now I understand her highness' true intention, and I am forever grateful and impressed at her great wisdom and sacrifice."

"What are you talking about?"

"The reason why her highness left so suddenly was most likely because of my advice. Her highness is giving you a chance to marry your first wife and have her stand by your side during this celebration. This is what the empress wants for you!"

***

Norma left the emperor's office. Her legs trembled and her head felt foggy.

At least, she said everything she planned to say. After she was done, all the emperor did was just stare at her silently.

'At least… He didn't immediately get angry and reject my idea.'

This couldn't have gone better. The emperor listened to her, and that was all she could hope for.

Even if the empress came back and claimed this wasn't her intention, it would be too late. Norma would just insist that no good empress would ever leave like this in the middle of an important national celebration. Norma would claim that she guessed the empress' intention because she believed in her highness' wisdom.

If the emperor danced the first dance with Yulia on the last day of celebration, everyone would assume he meant to have her as his first wife. There would be diplomats from every major kingdom, and they would believe this as well.

This was really happening. Norma would make sure that this happens.

Norma walked fast with a hopeful heart. She had to return home and start preparing Yulia.

The next day, she received a message from his highness's assistant.

Her plan was a success.

***

Amarince looked outside the window. She felt cold. It wasn't winter, but her body shook and she knew why.

She closed the curtain as if to run away from the blue sky and the sun.

Darkness covered the room and Amarince stumbled to her bed. She pulled a suitcase from underneath and opened it.

She exhaled as she looked at the content. It was an expensive and luxurious dress. It was something she could never afford. On stage, she often wore extravagant dresses, but they only looked expensive. They were always made of poor and low-quality material.

However, this dress was different.

Amarince patted the dress with her trembling hand. It was the highest-quality silk only worn by high-ranking noblewomen. A mere singer like her could never dream to wear such a dress.

However, yesterday, she did.

Amarince picked up the mask that was sitting next to the dress.

Black decorated with real onyx and black pearls…

Beside it was a wig.

Long black hair.

Amarince whimpered in fear.

"W, what have… I done… What should I do…?"

These were given to her by that man. Jusepe, or Christian… No, Roberto!

She didn't know how, but he managed to somehow get an outfit that looked very similar to that of Empress Sa Bina. With the mask and the black wig, Amarince looked very much like her highness last night.

When she put on the outfit, Amarince knew immediately who she was supposed to be imitating. As Roberto dragged her, she cried out to him.

"W, what are you trying to do?"

Roberto smiled kindly and replied, "I am setting up a snare. A very simple one."

Amarince suddenly realized that she was to be the bait.

Therefore, she followed Roberto's instruction last night. She walked into a room full of noble ladies and pretended to be surprised. She then ran away.

Amarince could easily guess what it would look like.

The rumor about the empress having an affair with another man would spread fast. Tears rolled down her eyes.

"Oh…!"

When they were done, Amarince insisted she wanted to keep the outfit. Roberto looked suspicious as if he didn't trust her.

At first, Roberto told her he was doing this to let some important people know his true identity as the composer. He, of course, didn't let her know these important people were the emperor and the empress. He also didn't tell her about how he would start a vicious rumor against the empress.

'If I knew, I wouldn't have helped him!'

However, Amarince suspected that if she refused, he might have killed her. She remembered the feeling of his hands squeezing her neck.

Amarince also remembered their conversation after the incident.

"What… are you planning to do?"

"I will approach her now."

"Approach who?"

"The woman who will soon be devastated because her husband will scorn her unfairly. The rumor will start, and he won't be able to stop himself from getting angry at her."

Amarince couldn't believe how evil this man was.

'How could he…!?'