Chapter 47
Chapter 47. Not a Molester
Emperor Emeritus Maxiul slammed his fist on the desk in anger at the news of an uninvited guest coming without an appointment. The letter written in neat handwriting fluttered to the floor.
It was a short letter of just one line saying she would visit the detached palace today, without even the common courtesy of a greeting.
After that day in the garden, his son Tatar began to control all his authority as if he had made up his mind. Not content with confining him to this narrow, old detached palace, he even tried to control who he met, and the occasional news he received was only gloomy stories of his subordinates being driven out of the empire.
In this situation, the most despicable person was coming to visit the palace.
“How dare a Veshnu native…!”
Because of that incident, his relationship with his only sister had completely soured. Megina said she would consider talking if he properly apologized to the Empress, and after much deliberation, he decided on a formal apology, but that thought completely disappeared due to Duke Castallo’s visit today.
Maxiul pulled out a letter written in neat handwriting from the drawer. Unlike his angry state just moments ago, he read the letter again with a pitiful expression.
Eurene. He had always felt guilty for not properly taking care of her after his wife’s death, but he never thought she would contact him first like this.
The letter was short, but the content within was not a pain that could be so easily summarized.
A child who still remembered the Baloua flowers her mother loved when she was alive. Although she could no longer see those flowers due to the Empress’s decision, she was happy to be able to set foot in a place full of memories, even if just for a moment.
Her mind thinking of her mother struggling with rumors was noble, and her nature of not holding onto hatred despite being disliked by the Empress for no reason was warm like sunshine.
Indeed, she was a noble child worthy of the true Tessibania royal bloodline.
“I’ve been too indifferent all this time. I should have paid attention to this child like I did with Megina…”
Apologizing for not being able to visit often until the end, she wrote that although she couldn’t see him at the Empire Foundation Day due to her mother’s opposition, she would like to see him if there’s a chance next time.
“It’s unthinkable for a member of the royal family not to attend the Empire Foundation Day banquet.”
Although he was tied down like this now, he had enough power to let that child into the Empire Foundation Day banquet.
Above all, thanks to another force he had recently contacted that was helping him, he had subordinates who could move while avoiding Tatar’s eyes. When the time comes, he could even break Tatar’s arrogant pride.
The Emperor Emeritus carefully folded his niece’s letter, the first he had received from her, and put it back in the drawer.
Soon, the firmly closed door opened without even asking for permission. It showed how low his prestige had fallen.
Despite the savage grinding of his teeth, the other person stood before him with no change in expression.
“Judging by your face, you seem to have been well, Your Majesty the Emperor Emeritus.”
“You dare show that brazen face. Do you think I haven’t heard of your infamy just because I’m cooped up in this detached palace!”
He had no intention of continuing to play along with someone who behaved so impolitely. One slap on the cheek was enough.
As in almost all regressions, Vinea decided to cleanly give up on the Emperor Emeritus in this life too.
It was clearly more efficient to do other things than to spend time waiting for the Emperor Emeritus to change, no matter how you looked at it.
“Infamy, how strange. His Majesty wouldn’t have blocked the newspapers reaching Your Majesty the Emperor Emeritus. Haven’t you seen the articles?”
Vinea, looking around the room, picked up a newspaper that had fallen to one side of the floor, dusted it off with her hands, and dropped it on the low table.
The front page of the newspaper still had a large article praising the ‘Radiance of Blessing’.
“A Veshnu native that you so despise has saved the people of Tessibania. How do you feel about that?”
“You must have stolen something that wasn’t originally your destiny! Don’t be so arrogant about something that would have been resolved even if it wasn’t you!”
Originally, all this praise should have been enjoyed by Eurene. At times like this, the coolness of the former emperor is remarkable. Everything he says without knowing anything is the truth.
“If that’s what you think, there’s nothing I can do. It seems you have no intention of apologizing for raising your hand to my cheek that day…”
She hadn’t expected it from the start, given his high pride.
Come to think of it, she had cut the Emperor Emeritus’s throat in other regressions more times than he had raised his hand to her cheek, so it wasn’t particularly bothersome.
Recalling the Emperor Emeritus’s head rolling on the dirt ground, Vinea continued.
“I heard that Duke Castallo visited here just now.”
“How dare you put people on me!”
“Why would I go to such troublesome lengths for someone who’s practically confined here?”
Vinea took out a small card from her bosom and placed it on the desk, but the Emperor Emeritus pretended not to see it.
“What did Eurene Castallo say? To help her attend the Empire Foundation Day banquet?”
“…!”
At the Emperor Emeritus’s stiffened expression, Vinea laughed as if she had expected it.
“I understand your desire to help your poor niece, but I don’t want that. I’d like things to stay quiet at least until this Empire Foundation Day.”
“Indeed, that child wasn’t mistaken. To bring such an evil thing into my empire…!”
“You’re still living in the past, I see. You’re just like someone I know. You should wake up to reality soon. Both he and you…”
The Emperor Emeritus trembled with both fists at the sight of Vinea shaking her head.
Eurene’s eyes must have been right. That pure and kind child was an opponent who could only be helplessly overpowered.
“I will never let things go as you wish. That child was born with royal blood. She’s not someone the likes of you can stop or allow.”
“I wonder about that. Do you know what I’ve brought?”
Vinea slid the card on the desk towards the Emperor Emeritus.
“There should be a name written on the back. It’s the name of a knight guard included in this Veshnu delegation.”
“Whatever you know, I have more than enough Veshnu people to vent my anger on besides that knight. It’s those that Tatar himself has offered to me.”
The Emperor Emeritus thought Vinea would surely be angry.
How furious must she be that her husband, who had shared her flesh, not only left her countrymen to die but even offered them up?
However, contrary to the Emperor Emeritus’s expectations, Vinea only showed an indifferent face.
“That’s a matter between His Majesty and Your Majesty the Emperor Emeritus, not something for me to be concerned about.”
“You devil…”
“Huh, you say interesting things. It doesn’t seem like something that should be said by someone who enjoys murder, attaching plausible reasons by dragging in the late Empress for their own venting.”
“They were those who deserved to die. Things not worth living. Veshnu people will always be like that to me!”
“In my eyes, Your Majesty the Emperor Emeritus is not much different. The number of Veshnu soldiers you’ve cut down on the battlefield must be double that of the people harmed by the criminals you’ve killed.”
The Emperor Emeritus’s wrinkled mouth twisted with anger at Vinea’s attitude of not giving in a single word.
“I’ve talked too much. The knight’s name written here is the person Your Majesty the Emperor Emeritus has been desperately searching for.”
A question bloomed on the Emperor Emeritus’s face.
The person he had been desperately searching for? The Emperor Emeritus, who had been carefully recalling his memories, remembered something and hardened his expression.
“Is this your brother-in-law, Your Majesty the Emperor Emeritus? The cause of the late Empress’s rapidly deteriorating health, the Veshnu knight who killed her brother on the battlefield.”
The late Empress collapsed at the news of her brother’s death from an arrow to the heart on the battlefield, and she never recovered her health, meeting her death just like that.
The Emperor Emeritus, who dearly cherished the late Empress, directed his anger towards the Veshnu people, and that was the reason it had continued until now.
“You must want proper revenge, don’t you?”
“…”
The Emperor Emeritus looked down at the card Vinea offered with anger-filled eyes, without saying a word.
“Choose. Is it your niece whose face you can barely remember, or revenge for the late Empress you loved? If you choose the former, I’ll immediately have someone safely return that knight to Veshnu, and if you choose the latter, I’ll hand him over to you.”
Vinea stood up from her seat. The Emperor Emeritus neither raged nor shouted, but kept his mouth shut and avoided Vinea’s gaze.
“Well then, I hope you make a choice without regrets.”
* * *
It was after lunch when Vante, who had stayed in his lodgings for a full half day, moved.
He had thought incessantly without proper sleep. His uncle and family, the throne or death.
Having finished his thoughts, he clenched his fist. Even if he thought closely of his uncle, it wasn’t to the extent of ignoring the danger to his family.
“It won’t go as you wish, uncle. Even if I have to stab a knife into your heart…”
Vante, with the pouch given by the coachman attached to his body, opened the door.
An old but clean lodging with many people coming and going. It was undoubtedly a place his sister had carefully chosen for him, who needed to hide.
Since he had left his ring behind, he needed to cover his face to some extent, so he left the lodging with a thick cloak wrapped around him.
Once outside, the atmosphere of the street, more excited due to the Empire Foundation Day, greeted him.
Similar yet different from Veshnu. The clothing, street food, crafts, and building styles were like that.
The kind sister in his memories had icy blue eyes as if in a dream, but it was indeed the kindness of the sister he remembered that had even assigned people to allow him to roam freely like this.
He could only guess that his uncle’s influence had something to do with his sister changing like that.
Briefly escaping from the complicated situation, he looked around to refresh his sunken mood.
The vitality created by people moving busily with various stories filled his lungs with fresh air.
“I haven’t walked around this comfortably since becoming crown prince. It’s been a while, this kind of thing.”
Although the family members who used to walk the streets with him were not by his side, he decided to willingly enjoy the freedom he had encountered after a long time.
He was trying new street food he had never seen before and looking at interesting clothes by holding them against his body when suddenly crowds began to gather in the street.
“What’s this…!”
“—Alright, there will be a street inspection for tomorrow’s parade! Please step back for a moment!”
“Ack, don’t push!”
“Let’s make way! Can’t you see there’s no space?”
“The alley, the alley! You can go in through the back, can’t you?”
Because the capital guards opened up space by clearing the middle of the road, people crowded on both sides got tangled up and stuck in the middle.
Unable to move either way, he heard a voice that seemed to be suffering similarly next to him.
“Ugh, it’s tight…”
When he turned his head to check, a woman who looked like a noble lady was stuck among the people alone without any attendants.
“Hmm.”
If left like that, it was clear that the lace bonnet she had carefully worn would be ruined.
He should have refrained from getting entangled with people unnecessarily, but there was no one here who would know his face, having become the crown prince of Veshnu just two months ago.
‘It should be fine to help just for a moment.’
Vante stood firmly behind the back of the unknown lady.
Suddenly finding more space around her, the lady looked around and raised her large eyes to meet Vante’s gaze.
Clear green eyes contrasting with her sky-blue hair seemed to contain a clear wind. Vante’s eyes widened slightly.
It was the same for the other person. Surprise and confusion spread across her face as she confirmed his face.
“You…”
Vante raised both arms as if to show he wasn’t a molester, his eyes curving.
“Not a molester.”
