Prince Delmar’s etiquette teacher and Duke Ximel’s confidante, Viscount Colette, left the imperial palace bewildered.
‘I don’t know what this is all about.’
The dynamics of the imperial palace have changed rapidly since the founding of the Empire.
The current Emperor also won the throne after a fierce power struggle with his brothers.
But it was the first time he had seen the change with his own eyes.
‘I never thought that the rumored Prince from the mistress would settle down so successfully in the Imperial palace.’
The incident started a year and a half ago.
Western aristocrats, including the Duke of Ximel, convened a public meeting by surprise.
The justification was sufficient. It is said that there was an incident in which Peter Country on the western border kidnapped the citizens of Vladin and turned them into serfs.
The matter was important, and even Count Menelik of the County added that he had suffered damage, so the Emperor was obliged to respond.
The Emperor headed to the conference hall where the public meeting was held.
The Viscount Colette, who was at the Imperial Palace just in time for etiquette education, also followed the Emperor.
Although the meeting, which was supposed to take half a day, led to an all-night meeting as the meticulous and thorough Duke Ximel reviewed it several times, everyone agreed that they should be careful because the people of the empire were kidnapped anyway.
The meeting went smoothly.
‘I don’t expect His Majesty would do something like that…’
Until the Emperor started talking to himself.
“What are you talking about?”
Duke Ximel, who was reading the result of the meeting under the window overlooking the morning star, stopped talking.
After a moment of silence, she answered skillfully.
“It seems I spoke a little too fast, Your Majesty. I’ll read it again.”
“Did you say you wanted to name it?”
“…Therefore, the abduction of imperial citizens by Peter Island Country must be prevented, even at the cost of war….”
“A name that won’t be called anyway?”
The Duke of Ximel stopped talking again.
Some nobles had a very funny and irreverent thought that perhaps the Emperor might be talking in his sleep.
Some nobles blamed themselves for not understanding the meaning of the Emperor, wondering if that was some kind of code.
It was really absurd. How can the Emperor talk to himself at a public meeting without going crazy?
It was when almost everyone’s thoughts were not keeping up with the situation.
“Oh, my, so that rumor was true.”
The Duke of Ximel flopped down. She looked very desperate.
If they wondered what she meant by “rumors,” they were admitting to themselves that they had no social power.
Other nobles pretended to know what rumors were and kept their mouths shut, but Viscount Colette was different.
He muttered as he had agreed with Duke Ximel beforehand.
“I’ve only heard that Your Majesty would show himself like this from time to time, but I never dreamed that the situation would be this serious. As Vladin’s servants, we are all disloyal….”
Colette is an etiquette teacher. He is a regular visitor to the imperial palace.
In the chilly public hall, his testimony resonated with considerable weight.
His whispers seemed to reach only one person.
“What if I don’t like it?”
The Emperor gazed into the sky and laughed languidly at only one person.
The subsequent steps were set.
Menelik hurriedly escorted the Emperor out of the conference hall, and the remaining nobles, who witnessed the shocking situation, changed the agenda of the public meeting.
“Wouldn’t it be nice for His Highness Prince Delmar to act as the regent?”
“But, isn’t His Highness too young? Besides, he hasn’t been engaged yet. I think it’s only right that Her Highness Empress Consort Diana, is the regent.”
“It’s not that I doubt Her Majesty Empress Consort’s abilities, but it might be a hasty judgment….”
It was a sluggish meeting, no different from not talking.
Duke Ximel, who had been listening to the conflicting opinions, finally opened her mouth.
“I understand your opinions, but there is no way to be sharp right now. Everyone is saying that they are anxious to leave it to His Highness Prince Delmar and that they are anxious to leave it to Her Highness Empress Consort Diana. For our subjects, we have no choice but to pray for His Majesty the Emperor’s recovery.”
The nobles, who had been talking as much as possible, were awakened by the worrying words that Duke Ximel had chosen.
Yeah. They’re anxious about the two of them.
Prince Delmar is young and has never shown the ability to rule an empire.
In everyone’s memory, the Prince was only smiling like a dismembered doll. He is not a person who can run an empire coolly or decisively.
Meanwhile, Empress Consort Diana has been in command of the imperial palace for a long time, so she has more to show than Prince Delmar.
She has a moderate temperament, as if water mixed with water and alcohol mixed with alcohol, so no force is clearly against her. However, she lacks the power of her family to support her in case of emergency and her friendly forces to be on her side. (T/n: As if water mixed with water and alcohol mixed with alcohol means to not have one’s own opinions or arguments and for one’s words or behavior to be unclear.)
Moreover, it was known to everyone here that influential families were expressing their dissatisfaction due to the recent unreasonable schedule of selecting the Prince’s wife.
With the secrets shared, the public meeting ended without proper measures.
Some thought, ‘Let’s turn this anxiety into an opportunity.’ and someone else thought, ‘Is there anyone else we can entrust this empire to?’.
“It was pretty fancy for a social funeral.”
Duke Ximel, who had a worried expression the whole time, smiled and muttered as soon as everyone left.
As she said, the public meeting became the Emperor’s social funeral. The Emperor once again secluded himself, as he had done before the public meeting.
While waiting for the Emperor to recover, Delmar and Diana alternated to act as regents, but it didn’t work out.
This was because it was not outstanding enough to stop the anxiety and doubt rooted in the nobles of the Western Council, the core of Imperial power.
It was a year later that the Vladin Empire, which had been the eye of the typhoon, regained its composure with the political situation in chaos due to the constant provocations of provincial governments abroad and distrusted domestically.
“You said that all the people who were taken to Peter succeeded in escaping?”
“Even the elite knights of the Imperial palace failed, so how on earth?”
The people of Vladin who returned said the same thing.
A dark-haired masked man approached them in despair and promised to help them escape.
When they arrived at the time he said, they saw the landowners who had treated them like slaves crouching and tied to a rope. They also saw a ship that they could use to escape.
Who the hell are you, and how can I repay the favor?
“As a member of the Hadasa who neglected you, it’s a belated atonement, so don’t worry about it.”
That’s what he said.
A member of the royal family with black hair?
Once they had their mouths shut, rumors circulated very quickly among the nobles.
Since the nobles heard it, the rumors must have also reached Diana’s ears.
It was a time when there was a rumor that there was a child between the disappeared black-haired mistress and the Emperor, which overlapped with the testimonies of the escaped imperial citizens among the nobles.
The Viscount of the Southwest joined forces with Peter Country to raise a rebellion. It was a man who turned anxiety into opportunity.
The rebels, who had been advancing towards the capital with fierce momentum, suddenly lost momentum. It was because the monarch of Peter Country died due to someone’s surprise attack.
The late arrival of the capital defense forces said they saw someone heading to the palace with the body of Peter’s monarch tied to his horse.
Colette was at the imperial palace that day.
He saw a corpse thrown in front of Diana sitting on the throne, a man with black hair shaking off the blood from the tip of his sword, and even seeing that man getting down on one knee and taking off his mask.
“Aurelio Revinas Hadasa. I dedicate Peter to Vladin.”
Collette will never forget that face.
Intense red eyes that were far different from the calm and intelligent way of speaking.
Weak Colette passed out when he met his gaze. So, the story could be heard from the attendant with twinkling eyes.
Surprisingly, the man who introduced himself to Aurelio said he didn’t want anything.
Before Hadasa, he said he was just doing what he had to do as a citizen of Vladin’s empire.
He said that it didn’t matter if stopping Peter’s rebellion was left as Empress Consort Diana’s achievement, that it didn’t matter if he was exiled again after ignoring his existence, and that he would humbly accept punishment rather than reward like when he was young.
“At this point, the Empress Consort would think that it would be more of a problem to throw away Aurelio. There were so many people who witnessed the scene, and the exiled one cut Peter’s head alone, so if she banished him again, wouldn’t she be concerned about who will be next? She’d think it’d be better to keep it close by and keep an eye on it.”
As Duke Ximel said, Empress Consort Diana proclaimed that she had subdued Peter.
It was inevitable to quell internal chaos.
Up to this point, it was like listening to Prince Aurelio.
But she didn’t kick Aurelio out.
She couldn’t do it, and it couldn’t be helped.
“It was pretty flashy for a social birth.”
Although his existence was still ‘officially’ secret, rumors are always faster than edicts.
The Prince, who had been kicked out, returned with all the hands and feet of those who had kicked him out tied.
Collette agreed heartily with the Duke of Ximel’s assessment.
But there was something he was curious about.
‘Her Highness the Duke knew that there was a hidden Prince, so it’s understandable that she arranged the situation for him to appear. But how did the exiled Prince know all about the situation in the capital? And why did he say he didn’t want anything?’
No one could answer the question.
He was just vaguely thinking about how long the days of the Prince who lived in confinement quietly must have been.
Colette walked out, looking back at the Imperial Palace.
On a night when the shadows of the imperial palace eat the starlight, only the lights of the northern tower flickered.
Prince Delmar’s etiquette teacher and Duke Ximel’s confidante, Viscount Colette, left the imperial palace bewildered.
‘I don’t know what this is all about.’
The dynamics of the imperial palace have changed rapidly since the founding of the Empire.
The current Emperor also won the throne after a fierce power struggle with his brothers.
But it was the first time he had seen the change with his own eyes.
‘I never thought that the rumored Prince from the mistress would settle down so successfully in the Imperial palace.’
The incident started a year and a half ago.
Western aristocrats, including the Duke of Ximel, convened a public meeting by surprise.
The justification was sufficient. It is said that there was an incident in which Peter Country on the western border kidnapped the citizens of Vladin and turned them into serfs.
The matter was important, and even Count Menelik of the County added that he had suffered damage, so the Emperor was obliged to respond.
The Emperor headed to the conference hall where the public meeting was held.
The Viscount Colette, who was at the Imperial Palace just in time for etiquette education, also followed the Emperor.
Although the meeting, which was supposed to take half a day, led to an all-night meeting as the meticulous and thorough Duke Ximel reviewed it several times, everyone agreed that they should be careful because the people of the empire were kidnapped anyway.
The meeting went smoothly.
‘I don’t expect His Majesty would do something like that…’
Until the Emperor started talking to himself.
“What are you talking about?”
Duke Ximel, who was reading the result of the meeting under the window overlooking the morning star, stopped talking.
After a moment of silence, she answered skillfully.
“It seems I spoke a little too fast, Your Majesty. I’ll read it again.”
“Did you say you wanted to name it?”
“…Therefore, the abduction of imperial citizens by Peter Island Country must be prevented, even at the cost of war….”
“A name that won’t be called anyway?”
The Duke of Ximel stopped talking again.
Some nobles had a very funny and irreverent thought that perhaps the Emperor might be talking in his sleep.
Some nobles blamed themselves for not understanding the meaning of the Emperor, wondering if that was some kind of code.
It was really absurd. How can the Emperor talk to himself at a public meeting without going crazy?
It was when almost everyone’s thoughts were not keeping up with the situation.
“Oh, my, so that rumor was true.”
The Duke of Ximel flopped down. She looked very desperate.
If they wondered what she meant by “rumors,” they were admitting to themselves that they had no social power.
Other nobles pretended to know what rumors were and kept their mouths shut, but Viscount Colette was different.
He muttered as he had agreed with Duke Ximel beforehand.
“I’ve only heard that Your Majesty would show himself like this from time to time, but I never dreamed that the situation would be this serious. As Vladin’s servants, we are all disloyal….”
Colette is an etiquette teacher. He is a regular visitor to the imperial palace.
In the chilly public hall, his testimony resonated with considerable weight.
His whispers seemed to reach only one person.
“What if I don’t like it?”
The Emperor gazed into the sky and laughed languidly at only one person.
The subsequent steps were set.
Menelik hurriedly escorted the Emperor out of the conference hall, and the remaining nobles, who witnessed the shocking situation, changed the agenda of the public meeting.
“Wouldn’t it be nice for His Highness Prince Delmar to act as the regent?”
“But, isn’t His Highness too young? Besides, he hasn’t been engaged yet. I think it’s only right that Her Highness Empress Consort Diana, is the regent.”
“It’s not that I doubt Her Majesty Empress Consort’s abilities, but it might be a hasty judgment….”
It was a sluggish meeting, no different from not talking.
Duke Ximel, who had been listening to the conflicting opinions, finally opened her mouth.
“I understand your opinions, but there is no way to be sharp right now. Everyone is saying that they are anxious to leave it to His Highness Prince Delmar and that they are anxious to leave it to Her Highness Empress Consort Diana. For our subjects, we have no choice but to pray for His Majesty the Emperor’s recovery.”
The nobles, who had been talking as much as possible, were awakened by the worrying words that Duke Ximel had chosen.
Yeah. They’re anxious about the two of them.
Prince Delmar is young and has never shown the ability to rule an empire.
In everyone’s memory, the Prince was only smiling like a dismembered doll. He is not a person who can run an empire coolly or decisively.
Meanwhile, Empress Consort Diana has been in command of the imperial palace for a long time, so she has more to show than Prince Delmar.
She has a moderate temperament, as if water mixed with water and alcohol mixed with alcohol, so no force is clearly against her. However, she lacks the power of her family to support her in case of emergency and her friendly forces to be on her side. (T/n: As if water mixed with water and alcohol mixed with alcohol means to not have one’s own opinions or arguments and for one’s words or behavior to be unclear.)
Moreover, it was known to everyone here that influential families were expressing their dissatisfaction due to the recent unreasonable schedule of selecting the Prince’s wife.
With the secrets shared, the public meeting ended without proper measures.
Some thought, ‘Let’s turn this anxiety into an opportunity.’ and someone else thought, ‘Is there anyone else we can entrust this empire to?’.
“It was pretty fancy for a social funeral.”
Duke Ximel, who had a worried expression the whole time, smiled and muttered as soon as everyone left.
As she said, the public meeting became the Emperor’s social funeral. The Emperor once again secluded himself, as he had done before the public meeting.
While waiting for the Emperor to recover, Delmar and Diana alternated to act as regents, but it didn’t work out.
This was because it was not outstanding enough to stop the anxiety and doubt rooted in the nobles of the Western Council, the core of Imperial power.
It was a year later that the Vladin Empire, which had been the eye of the typhoon, regained its composure with the political situation in chaos due to the constant provocations of provincial governments abroad and distrusted domestically.
“You said that all the people who were taken to Peter succeeded in escaping?”
“Even the elite knights of the Imperial palace failed, so how on earth?”
The people of Vladin who returned said the same thing.
A dark-haired masked man approached them in despair and promised to help them escape.
When they arrived at the time he said, they saw the landowners who had treated them like slaves crouching and tied to a rope. They also saw a ship that they could use to escape.
Who the hell are you, and how can I repay the favor?
“As a member of the Hadasa who neglected you, it’s a belated atonement, so don’t worry about it.”
That’s what he said.
A member of the royal family with black hair?
Once they had their mouths shut, rumors circulated very quickly among the nobles.
Since the nobles heard it, the rumors must have also reached Diana’s ears.
It was a time when there was a rumor that there was a child between the disappeared black-haired mistress and the Emperor, which overlapped with the testimonies of the escaped imperial citizens among the nobles.
The Viscount of the Southwest joined forces with Peter Country to raise a rebellion. It was a man who turned anxiety into opportunity.
The rebels, who had been advancing towards the capital with fierce momentum, suddenly lost momentum. It was because the monarch of Peter Country died due to someone’s surprise attack.
The late arrival of the capital defense forces said they saw someone heading to the palace with the body of Peter’s monarch tied to his horse.
Colette was at the imperial palace that day.
He saw a corpse thrown in front of Diana sitting on the throne, a man with black hair shaking off the blood from the tip of his sword, and even seeing that man getting down on one knee and taking off his mask.
“Aurelio Revinas Hadasa. I dedicate Peter to Vladin.”
Collette will never forget that face.
Intense red eyes that were far different from the calm and intelligent way of speaking.
Weak Colette passed out when he met his gaze. So, the story could be heard from the attendant with twinkling eyes.
Surprisingly, the man who introduced himself to Aurelio said he didn’t want anything.
Before Hadasa, he said he was just doing what he had to do as a citizen of Vladin’s empire.
He said that it didn’t matter if stopping Peter’s rebellion was left as Empress Consort Diana’s achievement, that it didn’t matter if he was exiled again after ignoring his existence, and that he would humbly accept punishment rather than reward like when he was young.
“At this point, the Empress Consort would think that it would be more of a problem to throw away Aurelio. There were so many people who witnessed the scene, and the exiled one cut Peter’s head alone, so if she banished him again, wouldn’t she be concerned about who will be next? She’d think it’d be better to keep it close by and keep an eye on it.”
As Duke Ximel said, Empress Consort Diana proclaimed that she had subdued Peter.
It was inevitable to quell internal chaos.
Up to this point, it was like listening to Prince Aurelio.
But she didn’t kick Aurelio out.
She couldn’t do it, and it couldn’t be helped.
“It was pretty flashy for a social birth.”
Although his existence was still ‘officially’ secret, rumors are always faster than edicts.
The Prince, who had been kicked out, returned with all the hands and feet of those who had kicked him out tied.
Collette agreed heartily with the Duke of Ximel’s assessment.
But there was something he was curious about.
‘Her Highness the Duke knew that there was a hidden Prince, so it’s understandable that she arranged the situation for him to appear. But how did the exiled Prince know all about the situation in the capital? And why did he say he didn’t want anything?’
No one could answer the question.
He was just vaguely thinking about how long the days of the Prince who lived in confinement quietly must have been.
Colette walked out, looking back at the Imperial Palace.
On a night when the shadows of the imperial palace eat the starlight, only the lights of the northern tower flickered.
