CH 17

Alexei and Eleonora exchanged passionate gazes, and the scene of them conversing was firmly seen by all those in the room. Though they couldn’t hear the contents of the conversation, seeing the two of them speak so seriously together, they began gossiping about how Eleonora, a candidate for Empress, might’ve been chosen.

Sergei, who heard their conversation from start to finish, didn’t end up understanding anything and was troubled.

“What’s wrong, Sergei?”

Alexei spoke out to Sergei who had a complicated expression on his face.

“There’s nothing wrong, Your Highness.”

If he asked what ham and pie were referring to here, then there would’ve been no point in Alexei having, for whatever reason, spoken ambiguously in the first place.

Sergei decided to ask about the true meaning of the conversation after the ball ended.

“Your Highness, it’s about time to return to the reception hall. There are many people eagerly waiting for you there.”

Hearing that, Alexei smiled cynically.

“People waiting to flatter me.. the demon emperor? How dull. Only some are meritorious. The rest are just incompetent people who weren’t ambitious enough to join the anti-emperor faction.”

Until Alexei became emperor, the anti-emperor faction was overwhelmingly dominant. Actually, Alexei, who was most suitable as the firstborn with the proper bloodline, not being selected as crown prince, his half-brother being selected as crown prince, Alexei becoming the captain of the black knight cavalry, the aristocrats actively or passively joining the anti-emperor faction, may have all been a reasonable trend.

However, some nobles continued to stay loyal to the emperor as he was the reason the empire still existed, and those who thought poorly of the anti-emperor faction’s outrageous behaviour. Those nobles were financially penalized and chased out of the central government, but they did not yield to this and instead endeavoured to enthrone Alexei.

“But I suppose I should show my face to my loyal retainers. Let’s go, Sergei.”

“Yes. Now, should we also send envoys to guard Eleonora-sama? There might be people aiming for the seat of the empress planning to harm her.”

Hearing that someone might attack her, Alexei trembled violently.

“Arrange it immediately. Tell them to guard her without her noticing. Don’t behave in a way that will scare her. Then, investigate her and report to me. She doesn’t seem like a normal woman.”

Seeing how Alexei looked at Eleonora in a special way, Sergei was hopeful that Alexei could love once again.

It was only after Alexei was taken back from the Magic Forest that Sergei was ordered by his father, the prime minister, to act as Alexei’s aide. At the time, the prime minister had expressed a neutral position but appeared as though he switched to the anti-emperor faction to make Alexei the next emperor.

He told the empress he placed his son at Alexei’s side to monitor him so the anti-emperor faction would be less attentive. Then he paved the path for Alexei to become emperor.

At that time, Sergei was fifteen and Alexei was nine.

Sergei remembers his meeting with Alexei as though it had just happened yesterday.

A beautiful prince, with a dark gaze full of hopelessness, rejecting everything. That was Alexei.

At first, he thought Alexei was a lethargic and expressionless child who neither laughed nor cried, but he soon realized he was wrong,

Far from lethargic, Alexei devoted himself entirely to disciplining himself. From scholarship to swordsmanship and magic, he continued to train that even adults would find difficult.

The first time he saw Alexei smile was ten years after they met.

When he killed the captain of the black knight cavalry, Sergei saw him make a refreshing smile.

Seeing that bright smile, Sergei knew he trained his swordsmanship just for this day.

Since Alexei never talked about what happened in the Magic Forest, Sergei had no way of knowing what happened. He only knew from his father that the man Alexei killed was the black knight cavalry captain that had saved him.

He had some kind of grudge against the man that saved him. Though he wanted to investigate more about this matter, other than the captain, all the knights who were at the scene had already died. There was no one left who knew the events of that day.

To his knowledge, there was no one Alexei liked. Sergei thought it was because he didn’t understand love.

“Your Highness, Eleonora-sama isn’t just beautiful, is she? Her etiquette is also magnificent. There may be other families who would be superior backers but the Purpleus dukedom is not bad either. Their family origin is honourable and extends to even before the founding of this empire.”

Sergei sincerely hoped that Eleonora would be someone who could teach Alexei what love is.